Truly, Madly, Deeply: A Cupid's Academy story

By Jambrea Jo Jones

FROM POPULAR ROMANCE AUTHOR JAMBREA JO JONES

A Cupid' s Academy story

Can two college students stop fighting long enough to find love?

Christina Chrissy' Young hates Sinclair Brown. He always tries to outshine her. She wants to be the best, and she will be, even if she has to walk over him to reach her goal.

Sinclair is oblivious to the fact that Chrissy hates him. He has his head down and is just trying to get through college and maybe have a little fun along the way before life takes over.

What happens when the two are forced to spend time together? Can they work side by side to find love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839436680

Jambrea Jo Jones

Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug. She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She's addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime.

Book preview

Totally Enwtined Group books by Jambrea Jo Jones

Single Books

Wishing Star

Tell Me Now

Rayne’s Wild Ride

Playing With Fire

On the Home Front

Saving the Day

Love by Design

Tell Me Now

Forever Changed

Alliance

Retribution

Salvation

Freedom

Reward

Annihilation

Avenger

Dark Encounters

Dominate Me

Feel Me

Ride Me

Seeds of Dawn

Dreams

Secrets

Inequities

Origins

Redemption

Absolution

Semper Fi

Magnus

Ben

Collections

Saddle Up N Ride: A Fistful of Emmett

Stealing My Heart: Stealing Michael

Totally Five Star: Vegas Sin

Anthologies

Unconventional at Best: Operation: Get Spencer

Unconventional in Atlanta: Where Tomorrow Shines

An Unconventional Chicago: Love Don’t Die

Unconventional in San Diego: Blood on the Moon

Unconventional in Kansas City: Playing with Fire

Cupid’s Academy

TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY

JAMBREA JO JONES

Truly, Madly, Deeply

ISBN # 978-1-83943-668-0

©Copyright Jambrea Jo Jones 2023

Cover Art by Kelly Martin ©Copyright February 2023

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2023 by Totally Bound Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Totally Bound Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Cupid’s Academy

Can two college students stop fighting long enough to find love?

Christina ‘Chrissy’ Young hates Sinclair Brown. He always tries to outshine her. She wants to be the best, and she will be, even if she has to walk over him to reach her goal.

Sinclair is oblivious to the fact that Chrissy hates him. He has his head down and is just trying to get through college and maybe have a little fun along the way before life takes over.

What happens when the two are forced to spend time together? Can they work side by side to find love?

Dedication

Thank you, Susan and Mercy. The two of you have been there for me over the years, and I appreciate both of you very much.

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Google: Google Inc.

Fortune 500: Fortune Media Group Holdings

Arts United: Fine Arts Foundation

Goodwill: Goodwill Industries International Inc.

Bluetooth: Bluetooth SIG

Indeed: Recruit Co. Ltd.

Airbnb: Airbnb Inc.

Facebook: Facebook Inc.

Chapter One

I hate him! Christina Young slammed her way into the apartment and threw her bag onto the small table by the door, almost knocking it over with the force she used to rid herself of her backpack.

Her roommate, Holly, popped her head around the kitchen wall. Who?

Sinclair Brown, Chrissy said with a huff.

Of course. What did he do now? Holly wiped her hands on her jeans then came around the corner to join Chrissy in the living room.

Chrissy dropped down onto the couch, resting her head on the back of it and closing her eyes. Her anger left, and she was tired…so tired.

He thinks he’s so smart. Crissy crossed her arms. Now she was whining, and she hated herself for it. He always did this to her—put her on edge. He was such a showoff. And he was smart, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t. They’d been butting heads since freshman year.

Ah, so he showed you up on a project, did he?

No. Not this time, but the professor is making me work with him, and if he thinks he is going to take point on this project, he has another ‘think’ coming.

So…I should stock up on popcorn?

Chrissy picked a pillow up off the couch to cover her face so she could scream into the silky material. Once finished, she calmly put the pillow back where she’d found it.

"It’s for marketing. We have to create a digital and a print ad. We need to come up with the product before the next class. I will not let him pressure me into doing some slick car ad or anything like that. I want our product to be meaningful—something that can help people."

"Do you have any idea that he would want to do something slick? You probably haven’t even spoken to him about it." Holly sat down on the couch next to Chrissy.

"Well…no. But that is not the point." Chrissy put her arms back across her chest.

Come on. You’re usually not this irrational. He can’t be that bad. It’s a project and will be over with soon enough. Just worry about the grade. Compromise.

"I am not going to be the only one to compromise. He’d better know the meaning of ‘group’ and not try to go all solo on me. I’ve worked hard in this class, and I don’t want this project to bring me down." If she had been standing, Chrissy would have stomped her foot.

She was acting irrational and she knew it. There was just something about Sinclair that rubbed her the wrong way. He was always one step ahead of her, and she didn’t like it. She also didn’t like how childish she was being when it came to him. She was twenty years old, not in high school. Chrissy should be above the pettiness she felt anytime she thought about Sinclair.

Have you ever sat down and actually had a conversation with the guy? Holly put her arm around Chrissy’s shoulder.

Whose side are you on? I thought you were my friend. You should be encouraging me. Chrissy snuggled into her friend, liking the comfort Holly offered.

I am always on your side. I have been since high school when you defended me against the mean girls. I have your back. I just think you might have Sinclair wrong. I could be talking out of my ass here because I haven’t met him, but you should hear me out. Maybe you could take this opportunity to get to know him more and work things out. It can only help your assignment.

Chrissy sighed. She didn’t want to adult, and Holly shouldn’t be trying to make her.

We are meeting up for dinner. Can I invite him over here? Do we have food I can make?

I just put some chicken into the air fryer and mac and cheese in the oven. We should have enough for all of us. I’ll eat in my room so you guys can talk and figure out what you’re going to do your project on. Holly squeezed Chrissy before getting off the couch.

You’re a lifesaver. I really didn’t want to go to his place or a restaurant. I figured this would be neutral.

How is this place neutral when you live here? Holly laughed and turned back to the kitchen.

Whatever.

Chrissy needed to get her bag. She’d left her phone in there and hopefully she hadn’t broken it with the rough treatment of throwing it down. Before she’d left class, she’d exchanged numbers with Sinclair so they could coordinate. This week they had to come up with a company to do their advertisement on. They had two weeks to do the print ad, then another week to work on something digital. Four weeks total was all they had, and this assignment was forty percent of their grade.

Her phone was fine, and there were no text messages or missed calls. Good. Chrissy would reach out first and offer the apartment for them to work in.

Sinclair, this is Chrissy. Dinner, my place?

Great. The frat house isn’t the best for good food. Deets?

Chrissy gave him her address. He was going to be at her place in about an hour. She took her bag off the table so she could put it in her room. She wanted to get the supplies she would need and set them up on the table. Chrissy was grateful that she could live off campus with one roommate in a two-bedroom house. Not many kids her age could afford it. Her dad owned some rental properties and gave her and Holly a good deal. The caveat was that her grades had to stay in good standing. She still paid rent and had a part-time job, the same as Holly. She just had it a little bit easier than her fellow classmates.

Having a peaceful environment helped her with her grades. It was nice to have a place she could relax and not worry about a bunch of other people in her business.

After she’d grabbed her notebook, pen and laptop, she went into the kitchen to see if there was anything she could do to help her roommate.

* * * *

Sinclair looked at the address in his phone to make sure he had the correct house. This is the place. It was nicer than he’d expected. Not many college students could afford a place like this. He couldn’t. Sinclair was lucky he had the fraternity house. It wasn’t always ideal for academics, but he didn’t do too bad. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. He