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Back Hearts on Hold Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Also by Charish Reid
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Epilogue
  46. Acknowledgements
  47. About the Author
  48. Carina Press Romance Promise
  49. Writing for Carina
  50. Carina eNewsletter

There was no telling if Victoria was a Pembroke Girl. She was a professor, after all, and John was no longer a teenager. He was a librarian now, and she was in need of his services. No matter what he wore, he was going to work with a woman who needed his expertise. With that in mind, he gave himself a firm nod in the mirror. John knew one thing about Professor Victoria Reese: she was in possession of an overdue library book.

For the Duke’s Convenience.

He probably shouldn’t have, but he added that humorous nugget of information in his email. Surely she could take a joke.

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Twenty-seven minutes late.

Victoria glanced at the clock sitting on her desk, while she outlined her library internship proposal. So far, it was a list of possible questions she had for John. So far, there were only two items on the list. Her concentration was elsewhere, but she still knew that her proposal had to be immaculate before she presented anything to the president. It would help if the man she was to work with arrived on time to start this process.

Twenty-eight minutes late.

She stopped typing to tap her fingernails against her desk. This was a poor start and a bad omen. Victoria didn’t know how John Donovan ran things down at the Farmingdale Public Library, but here at Pembroke, things ran like clockwork. Emails were timely, meetings ran according to the Robert’s Rules of Order, and people arrived to said meetings on time.

While she stewed in her righteous indignation, a knock at her door interrupted her thoughts. Victoria sat up straight in her chair, pulled at the lapels of her gray blazer, and smoothed her green silk blouse down. She took an extra step and ran her tongue over her teeth, rubbing at any red lipstick, and swung her braids over her shoulder. She didn’t know why she was taking careful measures for a man who couldn’t bother to arrive on time. “Come in,” she called.

The man who walked in was unlike any children’s librarian she’d ever met. Since the library website only offered his contact information and no photograph, Victoria couldn’t have prepared for this moment.

Mr. Donovan was positively gorgeous.

He closed the door behind him and flashed her a bashful smile. The air was sucked from the room like someone had smashed open a port window in her space capsule. Oxygen was plummeting to critically low levels.

“Dr. Reese,” he started. His voice matched his body: a masculine rumble from his chest, rough and hearty. From behind her desk, she tried to gauge his height and Victoria speculated he might tower over her by nearly a foot. He’s a G.D. Viking...