This Thing Called Love

By Sloane Reynard

Sienna always thought her type of man was slim and handsome. And it wasn't until she moved to Atlanta to live with her fiancé-- and met his bodyguard, Sam-- that she realized the truth.

Her type? Big. Burly. Bearded.

The wildfire of attraction between them rages out of control, but can Sienna convince Sam she wants him for him, and not merely for what he can do for her?

This is a complete, steamy, happily-ever-after short romance with a lot of humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sloane Reynard
• Release date: Dec 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463874257

Sloane Reynard

Sloane loves to interact with her readers! Sign up for her mailing list and receive a free short story: http://eepurl.com/gLrbdf Sloane Reynard has been writing fiction for years, but it's only now that she has decided to publish her work to the world instead of saving it for a select few. She is a lifelong compulsive reader and enthusiastic writer since her youth, when she would create alternate scenarios for her favorite soap opera characters. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years. When she's not working, Sloane is playing with her cats, Fiona and Jasper, cooking (she likes baking and is the queen of buttercream frosting), and puttering around her little cottage in the woods.

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Copyright © 2020 Sloane Reynard

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This book is dedicated to Caro, who has been

an enduring treasure in my life for almost two decades.

A splendid talent, I wish her every bit of the best.

Chapter One

Sometimes, Sienna Harvey wondered if there were something magical about Sam Connolly, some mystical force that bypassed her entire lifetime of experiences and thoughts and feelings and preferences and all rational thought to send a message directly to her lizard brain that said, forget everything you thought you wanted in a man.

There was no other way she could think of to describe how she’d left her family in Maine to join her fiancé, the flawlessly handsome Zachary McDonald, in Atlanta… then taken one look at his unusually large, not-at-all-handsome bodyguard and disregarded almost everything else. Something inside her had exploded into full, quivering life the first time she’d heard that rasping rumble of a voice of his.

She was sure it had quite a lot to do with Sam’s body. In her measured opinion, it was the stuff of dreams. Not a maiden’s dreams, no; those were of delicately modeled cheekbones and golden curls and nonthreatening androgyny. Those pristine dreams had melted like dew beneath the noontime sun after being initiated to womanhood by some tragically bad sex with Zachary.

She wondered how she’d been so incredibly wrong about the McDonald scion. Wealthy and handsome, he’d seemed so good on paper. In reality, however…

Zachary had tried to engage her in an awkward and inept attempt at cunnilingus, during which Sienna felt more embarrassed than any other time in her life, to the point where she was intensely relieved when it ended and he climbed aboard for the actual sex. Zachary’s enthusiastic, rabbit-like thrusts had served only to piston him speedily toward climax, but arousing Sienne had never really been one of his priorities, she suspected.

With a squeal, he’d became a member of the less-than-illustrious Four Pump Chump Club and collapsed on top of Sienna, panting hard. She’d slithered out from beneath him, shuddering with disgust as the condom— lacking