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Coming soon from Carina Press and Charish Reid

She’s a prim professor with a missing book and he’s the librarian who wants to...check her out.

Read on for a sneak preview of Overdue Love from Charish Reid.

Chapter One

Subject: Collaboration with Pembroke University’s English Department

Victoria,

I look forward to meeting w/ you re: internship. Might be a bit late. Btw, looks like you got an overdue book w/ massive fines...

For the Duke’s Convenience?

We might need to discuss

Cheers,

John

Even as her face burned with embarrassment, Victoria managed to read the email twice before staring out the window of her office. Three p.m. on Pembroke’s campus was cloudy with a stiff wind blowing the scarves and jackets of students who hurried to their next class. The middle of October was colder than folks had anticipated, since Illinois had experienced a scorching summer. But the town of Farmingdale was dealing with a cold snap that forced Pembroke University students to change out their flip-flops for UGG boots. The chill that burrowed its way into Victoria’s meager office was replaced with a furnace in her chest. She glanced back at the email and read it once more. Her eyes settled on the book title and narrowed.

For the Duke’s Convenience.

“I returned that,” she whispered to her computer screen. As she calculated the length of time it had been since her last visit to the Farmingdale library, she clicked on their website. Her account was flagged with a fine. Victoria’s eyes went round. $27.10. “Jesus, effin’ Christ.”

Perspiration pricked her scalp and under her arms while she searched for answers. The account information didn’t tell her much, but the amount was alarming enough. She clicked back to John Donovan’s email and tried to read his tone. Joking, laid-back, and late. He would be tardy to their first meeting, which was just as annoying as the overdue book comment. Her time was precious and getting more scarce by the day. After their meeting, she would have to gather the graduate students for an emergency meeting regarding the writing center. Later that evening, she’d have to start on the first wave of grading. She’d made the mistake of assigning papers to two classes only two days apart. On top of all that, she’d stolen a library book.

Victoria needed some air.

She gathered herself and shook out her arms in a desperate attempt to cool her armpits. A dull headache joined the itchy sensation of her too-tight braids. She resisted the urge to scratch, since she’d only gotten them done yesterday and still wanted them to have that fresh look. Oh, but she could have used an ibuprofen. Victoria swung her glossy black braids, some decorated with cowrie shells and gold cuffs, behind her shoulder and smoothed down her skirt before leaving her office.

In the hallway, she glanced at the open doors and spotted Paula’s office. Paula Michaels was an adjunct who shared workspace with two other part-time lecturers. When she wasn’t lesson-planning, the rest of her time was spent writing romance novels that made women flush and swoon. She admired her friend’s passion to create and grade papers at the same time. She peeked in Paula’s workstation and saw her friend with her feet on her desk, balancing a pencil between her lip and nose.