Confessions of the Lovelorn #96

Florence Alston believed a movie philosophy would secure her future: control your man like a child, make all his decisions, and he'll love you for it. When she applies this ruthless approach to George Lenning, the man she's fallen for, it works beautifully—until the day he finally confronts her about the person she's become. A sharp-eyed look at what happens when ambition to dominate destroys the very thing you're trying to hold onto.

Nancy sets her sights on the perfect vacation romance, but her fixation on finding a dancing partner who measures up to her own skills causes her to overlook several genuinely good men—including Hank, Phil, Ted, Len, and Hal—who each hope for a chance with her. When she finally meets a man who sweeps her across the dance floor, Nancy gets exactly what she's been chasing, only to discover that prioritizing a single quality over everything else has left her with far less than she might have had.

Lorna Lewis has spent years battling cruel remarks about her appearance—freckles, glasses, weight—while only Cliff Hendricks showed her kindness back home. When her father's military transfer whisks her away to Japan for three years, she escapes the town's mockery, though she dreams of the one boy who ever treated her with respect. Returning home transformed by time and a new look, Lorna discovers that growing up may have done more for her confidence than any makeover ever could.

Dorothy Mills arrives in New York from small-town life with firm ideas about what she wants in a man—steady, dependable, and nothing like the flashy city types she distrusts. When her old hometown friend Hubert Wilkins proposes a sensible understanding, she accepts, only to find her resolve tested by Jack Rogers, the charming and impulsive neighbor who moves onto her floor. As New Year's Eve forces an unexpected encounter between Dorothy's careful plans and Jack's carefree nature, she discovers that knowing what you want and knowing a man might be two very different things.

Lucia Craig thought she'd moved past her college days—when cruel classmate Corinne Worth dismissed her as having "no man-appeal"—but a chance reunion brings her face-to-face with Corinne, who's now engaged to Tom Bradley, the very man Lucia once won over herself. When Lucia is hired to help decorate Corinne's honeymoon cottage, old tensions resurface as Corinne's arrogance and insults test Lucia's patience and professional composure. What unfolds in that cozy country cottage will challenge everything Lucia thought she'd put behind her.