My Secret Life #42

A beautiful girl groomed for stardom since infancy finally gets her Hollywood break at sixteen—but the spotlight that made her a household name is suffocating her, leaving her longing for the simple life she's never been allowed to live. As Glory Pearce climbs the ladder of fame, she realizes that her neighbor Danny Beale, who's quietly pursuing his own dream of becoming a doctor, sees her as a person first—a realization that forces her to question whether all the glamour in the world is worth the price of her own freedom.

A young woman in the office is determined to get the attention of Jeb Hollis, the aloof sales manager who treats her with nothing but professional distance—until he deliberately keeps her late one evening, revealing a carefully calculated plan to finally talk to her alone. When his real feelings come to light, she discovers that his coldness was a strategy all along, and what begins as frustration quickly becomes something much warmer.

Isabell Inner, our town's greatest teenage inventor, comes up with her most ingenious creation yet—a double-headed soda bottle that lets two people enjoy a drink from one bottle for the price of one. When her boyfriend John's tight budget leaves them unable to afford two separate sodas on a sweltering day, the spark of inspiration hits, and Isabell sets out to solve the problem with her usual resourcefulness and her father's encouragement. Her clever invention becomes an instant sensation, with orders flooding in from around the world.

A young woman at the Durham Company masquerade ball shares a kiss with a handsome designing engineer named Mike—a man who never seems to notice her at work—and finds herself desperately hoping he'll discover her identity. When circumstances thrust them together in the drafting office and Mike finally realizes who she is, "For the Love of Mike!" explores what happens when shyness gives way to honest confession and a chance at something real.

After graduating college, Olivia sails with her Aunt Emma from San Francisco, only to be swept away by the charm of a tropical island—and the attentions of Neil Swanlea, the son of her aunt's longtime pen pal. As the island's reputation as a place of romance works its subtle magic, both Olivia and her aunt find themselves caught between caution and desire, wondering whether the feelings blooming around them are real or simply the spell of paradise.