The Alaska Sunrise Romances Read online

  The Alaska Sunrise Romances

  Books 1-5

  Melissa Storm

  © 2018, Partridge & Pear Press

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  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; it may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination, or the author has used them fictitiously.

  * * *

  Editor: Megan Harris & Stevie Mikayne

  Cover & Graphics Designer: Mallory Rock

  Proofreader: Jasmine Bryner & Falcon Storm

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  Partridge & Pear Press

  PO Box 72

  Brighton, MI 48116

  To Falcon who taught me the meaning of love

  Contents

  Free Gift

  Must Love Music

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  13. Epilogue

  Must Love Military

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Must Love Mistletoe

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Must Love Mutts

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  15. Epilogue

  Must Love Mommy

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  13. Epilogue

  Get Text Updates

  Also by Melissa Storm

  About the Author

  Thank you for picking up your copy of The Alaska Sunrise Romances, Book 1-5. I so hope you love it! As a thank you, I’d like to offer you a free gift. That’s right, I’ve written a short story that’s available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers. You’ll receive the free story by email as soon as you sign up at www.MelStorm.com/Gift. I hope you’ll enjoy both books. Happy reading!

  Melissa

  Must Love Music

  Oscar & Lolly

  Chapter 1

  Oscar Rockwell drove slowly as he navigated the roads of residential Anchorage. When he hit a bump, the stowaway cat mewled from somewhere in the back of his car.

  “I’m being as careful as I can,” he explained in a soothing voice. “You wanted help. Well, you’re going to get it.”

  He turned left and caught a flash of dappled fur as it rushed from one side of the vehicle to the other. Oscar wasn’t really a cat person. Then again, he wasn’t quite a dog person either. He loved all animals, which is why he’d worked hard to finish veterinary school and open his own practice downtown. The feline passenger—currently pitching a fit as he drove—had shown up that morning on his doorstep, matted and angry with a practically bursting pregnant belly.

  Seeing as she was going to be a mom soon, he decided to take the cat to his own mother to learn the ropes. At least, that’s what he’d told her, emphasizing how big a favor she’d be doing him if she kept watch over kitty until those babies were born.

  Truth be told, his mother needed a project to keep her attention firmly focused somewhere outside of Oscar’s love life. Seriously, any project at all. The cat had found him at the perfect time, because he was this close to booking her and his father a cruise he couldn’t afford just to be rid of them for a couple weeks.

  “We’re here,” he told the cat as he pulled down the slope into his parents’ driveway.

  His mother Kelly ran to greet him the moment he stepped out of the car, peppering his cheeks with kisses. “You stayed away too long. Your father and I missed you!”

  “Uh-huh,” he said with a groan.

  “What uh-huh? We did!” she insisted, giving him a quick, tight hug as if she hadn’t just seen him a couple nights back.

  “Work keeps me busy,” he explained, wriggling free from her arms. “Speaking of which, I need your help.”

  “With work?” She moved her tongue to the side of her cheek as she did whenever she was perplexed. His father often said it was one of the “cute Kelly things” he loved most, but Oscar found it irritating.

  “Sort of. Hang on a sec.” He opened the rear door of his car, then fished around until he found the cat. She dug in with her claws, but he managed to extract her without causing either of them too much harm. “Mom, meet… this cat.”

  She crossed her arms and eyed Oscar suspiciously. “This cat? What’s her name?”

  “She doesn’t have a name.” He frowned for a moment before coming up with an idea to turn things around. “Yet. She doesn’t have a name yet. Maybe you can give her one?”

  “I’m going to name her Sadie,” his mother declared without a second thought. She came closer and scratched the stray between her ears.

  “That’s actually a really great name” Oscar handed the cat over to his mom, who quickly nestled the fur ball against her chest.

  “I’m glad you think so,” she said without missing a beat. “Because I met a very nice girl named Sadie at the pharmacy this week and you’re taking her out on Friday.”

  Of course. “No, Mom. No way.”

  She scowled at him, then spoke to Sadie in a soft, sweet voice. “He brings me a cat with no warning and that’s fine, but I try to find him love and he argues.”

  “Yes, you try. And you try. And you try. Haven’t you noticed that none of your setups ever work?” He grabbed the newly procured litter box and other supplies from the trunk, then led the mom and mom-to-be into the house.

  “This one will,” she said confidently once they’d shut the screen door and she’d set the cat onto the floor.

  Oscar rolled his eyes. “Sure it will.”

  “Do you want me to take this cat or not?”

  “Mom, stop threatening me over the cat. Are we really calling her Sadie?”

  His mother nodded and took a seat on the sofa. The cat came over to sniff her feet. It seemed the two were equal parts cautious and intrigued by one another.

  “Fine. Sadie is going to be having kittens soon. She showed up at my doorstep this morning, and I thought, ‘Who knows all about being a mom?’” He arched an eyebrow at her and waited until her features softened a bit. “You did such a great job raising me. I bet you could do an equally great job helping Sadie when the kittens come.”

  “I guess I do need a project. I’ve been kind of lost since taking sabbatical, and my research is stalled,” she said with a sigh. “And this particular project doesn’t sound so bad, especially since she’s named after my future daughter-in-law.”

  “What is with you? Why can’t you bug Noah or Sebastian? Why do you always have to be after me?”

  She raised her hands to her chest in mock indignation. “I bug you? Bug you? This girl is too good for Noah or Sebastian. Besides, they’re not settled with what they want to do yet. You, you have the education, the practice, everything in place except a family.”

  “How about a compromise?” he offered.

  “I take the cat and you take out Sadie? Deal!” She reached down to pet the cat, a look of triumph splashed across her face.

  “Listen, would you?” he grumbled. “I’ll go on this date with Sadie if you promise it’s the last time you’ll try to fix me up.”

  “But…”

  “If you’re really so convinced Sadie is perfect for me, then who knows? Maybe we’ll end up getting married and you can tell me ‘I told you so’ for the rest of my life. If not, then you need to stop setting me up.” He fixed a firm eye on her. “I mean it.”

  “And what about the cat?” his mother asked, patting for the cat to join her on the sofa.

  “You’ll still take care of her, won’t you?”

  They both watched as the cat tried and failed to jump up. Her belly was just too big, gravity just too much of a constant law of the universe.

  “Look at her,” he said with a sad voice. “She needs you, Mom.”
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  “Well, when you put it like that…”

  Lolly Winston kept her grip loose on the steering wheel as she drove through her new temporary home of Anchorage. Mountains dotted the horizon as far as the eye could see, and the crystal sky seemed to climb forever toward the heavens. It was a far cry from her hometown of Cleveland, but still she was happy to be there.

  Her whole life, she’d always done exactly as expected. She’d listened to her parents and minded her P’s and Q’s with everyone else. She’d gotten straight A’s in school and paid her own way through college, and now she kind of—okay, really—needed a break. Her great aunt Ann had recently undergone hip replacement surgery and needed a live-in aid to help her out for a while. Even though Lolly had only met her aunt once or twice at family reunions over the years, she’d jumped at the chance to come help.

  No one else in the family had the time to take out from their busy lives, let alone the desire to temporarily relocate to the frigid north. Lolly, on the other hand, saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally take a chance at the dream she’d always put on the back burner waiting for some day. Well, that day was today.

  If she didn’t try to chase her country music star dreams now, she’d find herself married, with kids, in some dead-end office job, and never able to go for it again. Lolly was not about to live a life of regrets. That’s why she’d decided to take a post-college gap year. Tending to her aunt would also take care of her room and board, which meant she could spend the rest of her time writing songs, recording tracks, and performing gigs.

  How sweet it would be to live life to her own beat for once.

  She’d always loved to sing, and others loved to hear her sing, but her parents told her she’d only be disappointed if she expected to make a living from her music. And ninety-nine times out of one-hundred, they would be right. The music business was tough to break into, but Lolly just knew if she worked hard enough and stayed true to herself, she could make it work.

  Yes, everything seemed to be falling into place. She’d even met an agent online who summered in Alaska and was keen to meet with her during her stay. If things worked out the way she thought they might, then the two of them would be in Nashville at the start of the new year, ready to debut a multi-platinum album with songs written by Lolly herself. She’d be the next Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert or even Reba McEntire. She could touch people—heal people—with her words and melodies, and she’d at last live a life that was true to who she’d always been, but had rarely shown to the outside world.

  Lolly Winston was made to be a star, and if she had to lose herself in the harsh wilds of Alaska to get there, then that’s exactly what she intended to do.

  Okay, so maybe Anchorage wasn’t exactly wild or crazy—or even cold this time of year—but it was new and uncharted territory for Lolly. All of this was. An agent had scoped her out once before during her college days. In the end, he’d turned out to be little more than a scam artist who wanted her to pay him all kinds of money upfront—or to pay him a visit in his motel room—before he’d even consider introducing her to the right people.

  But her new agent Kelley Lux hadn’t asked for anything apart from an in-person meeting to discuss how they might work together. A friendly middle-aged woman felt much more appropriate than a slack-jawed shark of a playboy, and that was another sign that Lolly was on the right track, that she was meant to venture to Anchorage and her whole life was about to change for the better.

  First, she just needed to get through this one little meeting, and then everything—everything—would fall into place, the way she’d always dreamed but never expected.

  Lolly parked her aunt’s old car outside Hunter’s Ridge Tavern, took a deep breath, and headed inside to meet her destiny face to smiling face.

  Chapter 2

  Oscar drummed his fingers on the old oak table inside Hunter’s Ridge Tavern. It had become a popular watering hole for the after-work crowd, ever since a reality bar makeover show had rolled through town, added a karaoke stage, and taken the mild huntsman theme to ridiculous extremes. Personally, he’d liked the place better before. The antler sconces, camouflage-printed menus, and the rest of the bar’s over-the-top décor grated on his nerves. Call me crazy, but I’d rather help an animal than hunt it.

  Yeah, he ate meat, but he could never bring himself to stalk an animal in its home, line up the crosshairs, and pull that trigger. His dad Wayne, on the other hand, loved the thrill of the hunt. In fact, the more testosterone an activity required, the better he liked it. That had to be why nurturing, gentle Oscar had become a mama’s boy, while his dad and brothers enjoyed all sorts of manly pursuits like hunting, snow machining, martial arts, and hockey.

  Oscar would much rather take a hike through nature or cuddle up for a night at home with his favorite furry friend. No wonder his mother thought she needed to fix him up so desperately.

  Well, who knew? Maybe this time her efforts would work. Maybe the woman he would one day marry was about to walk through that door and into his heart. But then again, she was already ten minutes late, and unless she had some great excuse, that was a major red flag for him.

  Ten minutes could make the difference between life and death. Ten minutes could change your life or even the world. What could be so important that this Sadie wouldn’t even call to let him know she was running late?

  He ordered another draft beer and debated how long he needed to stay before he could make a run for it. Five more minutes, he decided. He’d just finish his drink and be on his way. Surely his mother wouldn’t give him grief, if it weren’t his fault the date had been a bust.

  He took a sip from his ale, then another, followed by a chug.

  Yup, it’s time to go.

  He set the empty glass down and gathered his phone and keys from the table, fully prepared to make his escape, when in walked the most beautiful angel of a woman he’d ever seen anywhere—let alone inside a place like this. He felt like a cartoon wolf whose jaw had fallen to the table and eyes had popped from its head.

  Get it together, man, he told himself as he rushed over to introduce himself to the beauty with long wavy hair and a smatter of freckles across her nose. “I was just about to head out. I’m glad we caught each other before I did.”

  She extended her hand to shake his, her green eyes shyly making contact with his. “Sorry I’m late. I’m still learning how to get around. I’m sorry…” She let go of his hand and gave him an appraising glance. Was she disappointed in what she saw? Was she going to walk right back out of that door already?

  She took a deep breath and forced a smile, her discomfort apparent in every micro-gesture she made, every syllable she spoke. “I was actually expecting to meet with Kelley tonight. Did she send you in her place?”

  Oscar couldn’t believe it. His mother had finally gotten it right. She’d sent the perfect woman his way, but of course she had no idea this was meant to be a date.

  “Kelly’s my mom. I’m sorry she didn’t tell you you’d be meeting me tonight. Are you still okay with having a drink?”