Falling for Max (Kowalski Family #9)

Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey is the ninth book in her Kowalski family series.

After being in Whitford, Maine for seven years, Max Crawford does not feel like a part of the community. He is fine working from home - most people don't know what he does and the rumors are flying - and seeing some friends on Sundays when they come over to watch sports on his large television. But on his monthly list of things to do he has added 'go on a date.' His friend Josh recommends getting into town more to meet people.

Tori Burns has been in Whitford for two years. She is graphic designer who works on book covers. She also works part-time at the Trailside Diner because she likes the human interactions. Her cousin Gavin is one of the cooks. She moved to Whitford to escape her parents' divorce and has sworn off romance.

When Max walks into the diner, Tori already knows who he is even though they have never spoken. Whitford is a small town and they have some overlapping friends. When Tori finds out about Max's quest for a date and hopefully for a wife, she agrees to help him get ready. He needs practice with small talk and becoming more comfortable around people.

Stacey has created wonderful characters in her Kowalski family series. Her stories are fun and romantic and fans will return to see their favorite characters in future stories.

Stacey, Shannon. (2014). Falling for Max. Ontario: Carina Press.

Taken with You (Kowalski #8)

Taken with You by Shannon Stacey is the eighth book in her Kowalski romance series.

Hailey Genest is the librarian in Witford, Maine. She loves her job, her house and her town, but she does wish she could find a guy to share her wonderful life with like all of her friends seem to be doing lately. The problem is that she has known most of the guys in town her whole life. If she hasn't found someone by now, she may be out of luck.

Matt Barnett is a game warden who is moving to Witford to help police the new ATV trails that lead all over the woods and into town - an expansion that is helping all of the local businesses including the Northern Star Lodge with came up with the idea. On his vacation before the move he just wants to spend time with his dad in the family cabin, but his ranger instincts kick in when he overhears two women who are lost in the woods.

Hailey would never in a million years guess that the unkempt mountain man who walked her and Tori back to their car is the clean shaven warden who is moving into the empty house next door. Of all of the embarrassing things that have happened to her in her life, why him. And they have already decided they are not right for each other based on their love/hate of the woods, but they may have to rethink that...

Stacey has created a wonderful series of romance novels featuring the Kowalski family and now expanding to their friends. Her books are fast reads that will keep your attention until after the last page.

Stacey, Shannon. (2014). Taken with You. New York: Carina Press.

Love a Little Sideways (Kowalski #7)

Love a Little Sideways by Shannon Stacey is the seventh book in her Kowalski family romance series.

Liz Kowalski has lived in New Mexico for years, but after visiting her family in Maine for her brother's wedding, she started to feel like moving home. There was really nothing keeping her in the Southwest since she broke up with her boyfriend of fifteen years. So she has packed everything she owns into her car and is driving home.

How embarrassing that as soon as she hit the town of Whitford, she also hit a tree. Now the police are on their way to help her with her car - and she is just hoping it is not Chief Drew Miller because the last time she was in town they sneaked away from a wedding to have sex.

Chief Miller is surprised to arrive at a traffic accident and see Liz Kowalski. After spending the afternoon with Liz months ago in what they both assumed was just a rebound, Drew has not been able to get his best friend's little sister out of his head. And even though they are adults, there is a code about dating your best friend's sister.

Shannon has given fans a treat with this installation in her series by revisiting the family camping trip that we read about in her first book in the Kowalski family series. The entire family has decided to make the camping trip a reunion by having the cousins in Maine join those from Massachusetts for a week. And Drew is invited because of his father...

Stacey, Shannon. (2013). Love a Little Sideways. New York: HQN.

All He Ever Dreamed (Kowalski #6)

All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey is the sixth book in her Kowalski family romance series.

Josh Kowalski is one of five siblings who own the Northern Star Lodge in Whitford, Maine. He is the one who runs the lodge and feels like the others left for lives they chose while he got stuck at home. He wants his chance to travel and figure out what to do with his life. But it took him years to tell his brothers how he felt - until a broken leg brought them home to help out. Now the lodge has been fixed up and if they turn a profit they will either hire a manager or consider selling the lodge.

Katie Davis have known Josh all of her life. They grew up together, her mother helping raise Josh and his siblings after their mother died. And she has been in love with him forever, but he thinks of her as a friend. If something doesn't change soon, Josh may move away and never know who she feels.

Stacey has created an extended family readers would love to join. The overlap of characters lets readers check on their favorites in future books. This is a fun romance series.

Stacey, Shannon. (2013). All He Ever Dreamed. New York: HQN.

All He Ever Desired (Kowalski #5)

All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey is the fifth book in her Kowalski family series of romance novels.

Ryan Kowalski has not been home much since he left Whitford, Maine for college years ago. After he graduated and accepted a job in a building company in Boston, he asked Lauren Carpenter to go with him - to take her son and run away from her husband to be with him. Lauren said no. Not only had Ryan never told her that he had been in love with her since he was a kid, but he waited until she was married to his best friend to ask.

Now, fifteen years later, Ryan will be spending an extended period of time in Whitford to help fix up the family's lodge. But if he times it right, he will rarely run into Lauren in town. Then he finds someone has been vandalizing the lodge and catches him in the act. A sixteen year old boy who has done almost a thousand dollars in damage - and is Lauren's son.

Stacey's series about the Kowalski family is filled with great characters readers will want to become friends with while reading about them. Since they are all related, past characters show up in other books and fans get to check in with them.

Stacey, Shannon. (2012). All He Ever Desired. New York: HQN.

All He Ever Needed (Kowalski #4)

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey is the fourth book in her Kowalski family series.

Mitch Kowalski has been called back to the the lodge he grew up in. The Northern Star Lodge has been in the family for generations. Now Mitch's youngest brother runs it. Mitch is going home to help out while his brother recovers from a broken leg.

Paige Sullivan has lived in town for two years. She bought the diner and fixed it up. Now she feels like she is home for the first time in her life. When Mitch walks in she knows who he is from both his resemblance to his brother and the stories told about him all over town. Mitch is a playboy who seems to leave a wake of women in his path. But, surprisingly, all of the women still think fondly of him.

Paige has no desire to become involved with anyone, especially Mitch. She is not going to give up her new home to follow a man around the country the way her mother has always done. But her heart and her head may have different ideas about whether or not to let Mitch into her heart.

Stacey's Kowalski family series is full of great stories with lovable characters. A great choice for a romance.

Stacey, Shannon. (2012). All He Ever Needed. New York: HQN.

Yours to Keep (Kowalski #3)

Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey is the third book in her Kowalski family series.

Emma Shaw's grandmother is coming to visit from Florida. Unfortunately, Emma made up a boyfriend to keep her grandmother from worrying about her. She lives in the big house she grew up in, and her grandmother is concerned that it is too big for one person. Emma loves the house. Now she has just a couple of days to produce said boyfriend and convince her grandmother it is a real relationship.

Sean Kowalski is the make-believe boyfriend. He just doesn't know it yet. He just got out of the army and has arrived at his cousin's bar to stay in the apartment upstairs until he decides what to do next. Then someone knocks on his door. A beautiful woman introduces herself as Emma, a friend of his sister in-law, and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend to put her grandmother at ease.

Stacey has come up with a fun premise to introduce her two main characters. Romance and awkwardness follow as Sean and Emma pretend to be a couple while trying to keep their hands off each other.

Stacey, Shannon. (2011). Yours to Keep. New York: HQN.

Undeniably Yours (Kowalski Family #2)

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey is the second book in her Kowalski family series of contemporary romance novels.

Kevin Kowalski owns a sports bar - Jasper's. And one night when he sees a customer getting too drunk and being impolite with his apparent date, Kevin cuts him off. Of course, the drunk guy gets offended, takes a swing at Kevin and ends up elbowing Beth Hansen in the face. Worse, the drunk jerk, who she was handling fine, was her boss and now she is out of a job.

Kevin can't get Beth out of his head. He only spoke to her once. And she did not thank him for losing her a job. Now, one month later, he sees her at his brother Joe's wedding. But after a lovely night, she does not leave her phone number and Kevin is afraid he will never see her again.Until Beth shows up at Jasper's to tell Kevin she is pregnant.

While they agree that is would be bad to date, since neither will know if it is only because they are going to be co-parents, Beth and Kevin try to become friends - while fighting an attraction that lead to the pregnancy in the first place.

Stacey has created a large lovable family in the Kowalski clan. Her characters will draw readers in and make them part of the family.

Stacey, Shannon. (2010). Undeniably Yours. New York: HQN.

Exclusively Yours (Kowalski Family #1)

Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey is the first book in her Kowalski Family series.

Keri Daniels is a journalist for an entertainment magazine. Her boss has just given her an ultimatum - get an exclusive interview with reclusive fiction author Joe Kowalski and get a promotion to editor, or lose her job. Her boss, who is obsessed with Kowalski, just found out that Keri and Joe dated in high school and is upset that Keri has not used to connection to gain the magazine a coup d'etat.

Keri has no desire to see Joe again. She left after high school and never looked back - leaving not only Joe, but his sister/her best friend Terry. She hasn't spoken to either of them since. Now she has a meeting scheduled with him.

Joe Kowalski is surprised to get a call from Keri Daniels. At one time he thought they would spend their lives together and when she left he was devastated. He knows she is a journalist and that her boss has been harassing him for an interview for years. While he has no intention of granting an interview, he does want to see Keri.

After one meeting Joe has a proposal. Keri must leave every recording and electronic devise behind and come with him for the next two weeks. For each day she lasts, she gets to ask one question. What she doesn't know is that she will be joining the Kowalski family vacation. Siblings, children, grandparents all at one campground for two weeks. And other than the children, whom she have never met, these are the people she abandoned after high school.

Stacey has written a fun romance novel with great characters. Readers will be endeared to the Kowalski family and keep coming back for more.

Stacey, Shannon. (2010). Exclusively Yours. New York: HQN.

Be Mine (Jackson Hole, Kowalski Family)

Be Mine includes stories by Jennifer Cruise, Victoria Dahl and Shannon Stacey.

Too Fast to Fall by Victoria Dahl is part of her Jackson Hole series. Jenny Stone is a bartender at the Crooked R Saloon. She also has a habit of driving too fast. Deputy Nate Hendrix has pulled her over six times for speeding in her classic car. He can't understand why she can't just slow down and be safe on the roads. After another warning, he makes her promise to take a driving course on safety. But when they see each other in the Crooked R, sparks fly.

Alone with You by Shannon Stacey chronicles the opening of a new bar/restaurant in upstate Massachusetts. Jake has only a couple of days in the city before he heads up to begin renovation on what will become a second location of Jasper's Bar and Grille. To see if it might fit into the new place, while in town Jake goes to a local bar for trivia night. He is paired with Darcy. After one great night together, they lose contact to be reunited when her boss sends Darcy upstate to help with the opening of the bar.

Sizzle by Jennifer Cruise is the story of an advertising executive and an accountant working on the launch of a new perfume.

Cruise, Jennifer. Be Mine. New York: HQN.