Title: Falling First Hell

Series: Hellman Brothers Series

Author: Marika Ray

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Tropes: Cinnamon Roll Hero; Reverse Grumpy/Sunshine; Small Town

Release Date: March 30, 2023

"These two had me basking in all the feels as they tugged at my heartstrings and tickled my funny bone. It is impossible not to laugh out loud as you read this book, but your heart is also going to wickedly ache for Andi." -Gladys, Goodreads

"I know all good things must come to an end but I am not ready to say goodbye to this series! ...the perfect epilogue that left me in tears." Booked On Lattes

"...another hilarious and sweet rom-com from Marika Ray." Jenn, Goodreads

I’m unemployed and down to my last dollar—thank you stranger who bought my coffee when my card was declined this morning. If that wasn’t bad enough, I just T-boned the truck belonging to the guy I was meeting on a first date.

Ethan Hellman, small town sweetheart with a secret, and an instant—unbelievable—love for me despite me denting his truck.

It’s not that I don’t believe in love per se. It’s just that I’ve done the calculations—it won’t happen to me. And especially not now when I’m bouncing off rock bottom with the bruises to prove it.

But Ethan doesn’t seem to care about all that. He offers me a job, a place to live…and a rock on my finger. I just have to turn my back on my career, pretend to be giddy in love, and be the face of his new company. His constant sunshine makes me grumpy. It’s also kind of addicting. So I agree to his terms and find myself living a life I don’t even recognize.

Things are going surprisingly well when someone from my past reappears offering a similar lifeline. I’ll have to make some tough decisions that just don’t compute in my logical brain.

Ethan may have fallen first, but I’m afraid I’ve fallen harder.

I’d done more crazy things in the last forty-eight hours than I’d done in my lifetime. And apparently, I wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Marching across the room, I flung open the door and didn’t even wince when it slammed against the wall with a bang. 

“Ethan?” I called, heading toward the living room. 

“In the kitchen,” he called back.

I hightailed it in that direction, not giving my brain a chance to talk me out of this. I, Andrea Higgs, was going to grab life by the horns—err, Ethan by the ears—and kiss the hell out of him. I wasn’t sure how and I wasn’t sure if it would even be any good, but I was going to do it.

He was standing by the refrigerator, door open as he pondered the contents. His head came up as I approached and his lips started to curve up in a smile I wanted to taste. I walked right up to him, stepped on his foot, and lifted up onto my toes to mash my lips to his with all the finesse of a toddler. His eyes popped wide open. I knew this because my eyes were wide open too.

I couldn’t even explain what happened next. I was a first-party witness to the whole thing, but it didn’t make any sense. Usually this was when the snoozers would make a boob grab like that was enough to make me wild for them.

This was not the move Ethan made. He changed from the mild-mannered man I’d agreed to work for and fake marry to the kind that growls like an animal. I knew it was him because I felt the vibration of his chest as the growl was let loose. His arms came around my waist and my eyes slammed shut. My legs climbed him like a koala in a love tree, a move he must have anticipated because he grabbed my hips with both hands and spun us until my back knocked against the refrigerator.

Someone whimpered but it couldn’t have been me because Ethan’s tongue was familiarizing itself with mine. The room began to spin and the fever was back. Ethan’s lips were not like that of a fish, I was happy to find out.

Ethan’s rough palm swept across my jawline and into my hair, tilting my head to the side so he could devour me like a TSwift album the night it was released. My thighs quivered with need and Ethan pulled back just enough to whisper against my lips.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since the second I saw you.”

 

Marika Ray is a USA Today bestselling author of steamy and sweet RomComs, spending her time behind a computer crafting stories, walking any beach she can find, and making healthy food for her kids and husband whether they like it or not. Prior to writing novels, Marika held various jobs in the finance industry, with private start-up companies, and then in health & fitness. Cats may have nine lives, but Marika believes everyone should have nine careers to keep things spicy. All her books come with a money-back guarantee that you’ll smile at least once with every book.

More information can be found at www.marikaray.com

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