Love Experiences #22

When her fiancé abandons her at the altar to elope with a roadhouse dancer, Celie Merrell makes a desperate decision: she'll marry her devoted best man, Don Niven, to save face in front of four hundred guests and escape the scandal. But what begins as a practical arrangement aboard a honeymoon cruise becomes something far more complicated as Don's real feelings surface, forcing Celie to confront whether pride and old heartbreak are worth sacrificing a second chance at happiness.

Linda thought she'd found lasting love with Bill, a dependable man, until the charming and glamorous Whit Randall blew into River Town and swept her off her feet. As she becomes increasingly drawn to Whit's exciting sophistication, Linda finds herself torn between the security of her engagement and the intoxicating thrill of a dangerous attraction. When Bill returns unexpectedly, Linda must face the consequences of her choices and discover what really matters to her.

When Thelma's glamorous sister Charlotte uses her as a stand-in to keep Jack Anders—a talented songwriter—occupied while she chases a more promising connection, Thelma finds herself torn between loyalty and the feelings she's secretly harbored for him. A single evening together reveals there may be far more between them than Charlotte ever cared to notice, but Thelma's caught in the impossible position of helping the woman who's dangling Jack like a prize to be claimed only when convenient. What begins as an awkward dinner becomes an emotional turning point neither of them saw coming.

A young woman desperate for rent money agrees to a disastrous evening out with middle-aged men at a nightclub, only to literally collide with Wilson Breen, a famous writer-explorer who sees through her circumstances. When she's locked out of her boarding house that same night, Wilson offers her shelter in his apartment—and what begins as a rescue becomes something neither of them expected. In "Mad at Men," Alice discovers that sometimes the right person appears exactly when you need them most, though questions linger about Wilson's mysterious past.