Sometimes the Laws of Attraction can end up giving us just what we need...

Come meet the sexy-as-sin Courtlandt brothers and the women who can't resist them.




TITLE: Laws of Attraction

AUTHOR: Stephanie Morris

AUTHOR URL: http://www.stephaniemorris.webs.com

GENRE/THEME: Contemporary Interracial Romance

URL TO THE BUYING PAGE: http://www.classactbooks.com/Laws-of-Attraction-by-Stephanie-Morris-_p_161.html

SERIES: The Courtlandt’s of California – Book 1 of 4

Blurb:
Cassandra Edwards has always planned to have it all—a successful career, a wonderful man and a great family. She thinks she is well on her way to accomplishing her goals until her fiancé takes his ring back. She is stunned, disappointed and hurt but realizes some of her dreams are still obtainable even without a good man by her side to do it with. She comes up with a plan to have it all on her own. Unfortunately things don’t go as intended. While her career is taking off, she meets unimaginable obstacles when it comes to getting the family she wants. One thing she is certain of she wants a baby, not a relationship. When she meets Mark Courtlandt, one of her brother’s friends, she knows immediately he is the man who can give her what she wants.

Mark Courtlandt is shocked when Cassandra propositions him. He never expects to be asked to father a child with no commitments or strings attached. The problem is Cassandra is the woman he has been searching for—not just to be the mother of his child either. It isn’t long before he realizes that past hurts in a prior relationship are what have sent her off down this determined path. Knowing a casual relationship with Cassandra will never do, he sets out to show her that when it comes to the laws of attraction she can’t fight what is meant to be.


Excerpt:
The doorbell rang and she made her way downstairs. Looking through the peephole, she saw it was the movers. After giving them a few general instructions she stepped back and let them get to work. She propped the front doors open and stepped outside. The movers began with the boxes. They had just gone inside with the first when Troy’s SUV pulled up followed by another. Troy didn’t have the vehicle shut off before Kevin, Michael, and Zander hopped out of the vehicle.
“Aunt Cassie,” they cried out in unison.
A smile spread across her mouth. She knelt and extended her arms, laughing as they almost knocked her over. Her nephews had definitely grown since she last saw them. It was amazing how things changed from one month to another.
“Okay boys let your aunt breathe.”
The three rascals snuck in another squeeze before moving back. She and Lora embraced before Troy swept her up into arms. Her grip on her brother was just as tight as his was on her. He swung her around and she laughed. When he stood her on her feet she placed a sisterly kiss on his cheek.
“It is good to see you.”
“You too.”
When he pulled back she saw five tall and strong men standing behind her brother. “Are these the guys that are here to help?”
Troy nodded and began introducing the guys that he had brought along. There was Falcon who wasn’t really her type. The fact he wore a wedding ring only confirmed it for her. Chandler was introduced to her next. He looked to be more of her typed than Falcon, but a wedding ring surrounded his finger as well. Introduction to Chad came after that and even though there wasn’t a ring on his finger physically he didn’t attract her. Tyson followed and he was more her type than Chandler but his wedding band dashed her hopes. She might be going the right route by finding an anonymous donor. The first three men she met where either not her type or attached. Not a good start.
It made her wonder if all of the decent men in California were taken. Tyson stepped aside and her breath caught in her throat. The man standing before her was breathtakingly attractive.

“This is Mark.”

He held out his hand. Luckily it was the left. What was even better was the lack of a wedding ring. It gave her hope. The instant the words left her mouth she realized what she was saying. She wasn’t looking for a man…just a baby.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” she murmured.
Mark smiled and she was certain that her heart stopped in mid beat. “The pleasure is mine.”
It took everything that she had to force herself to remove her hand from his and turned her attention to Troy before she got herself in trouble. She wanted to strip off her clothes and jump him, from a mere handshake. Clearing her throat she smiled at her brother.
“The movers have started unloading the truck. I requested that they put the boxes and furniture into the incorrect room. It should make things a lot easier.”
Troy nodded. “Okay then, we can hang back until they finish unloading the truck. After that you can tell us what you would like done.”
She gasped in a mocking fashion. “You are going to let me tell you what to do willingly?”
Troy chuckled. “Enjoy it while you can.”
Lora shook her head before stepping forward. ”Do you have your grocery list ready?”
Cassandra gave her sister-in-law a puzzled look. “I finished it last night.”
Troy groaned and pulled out his wallet. He handed at least a hundred dollars if not more to Lora who pocketed the money.
“If you give it to me. I will go grocery shopping for you courtesy of your brother.”
She finally caught on and laughed. “Made another bet against me Troy?”
“Yes I did. I’m sure I will learn one day.”
She shook her head. “Everyone come on in. I don’t have anywhere for you guys to sit yet, but feel free to check out the house while the movers finish unloading.”
She led the way into the house. Once every one was situated, she headed for her car in the garage. Her purse was still in the glove compartment, a bad habit she was trying to break. She reached in and pulled out her grocery list. When she handed it to Lora, she told her to add beer and a few more snack items to the list for the guys.
After that Lora was out the door with the list. Several minutes later, the movers finished unloading the truck. With a sincere thank you she tipped the movers before sending them off. Turning around, she faced the six guys and three boys that were going to be working for her the next several hours. She convinced Troy and Falcon to put her bed together. Mark and Chad were assigned to rearranging any furniture that needed to be moved. She asked Chandler to assemble the equipment in the office. Tyson was responsible for setting up the bed and furniture in the downstairs guest bedroom. She gave her nephews towels to dust and clean with. It kept them preoccupied while she went upstairs.
She directed Troy and Falcon in setting up her room. Once they had it together, she sent them to organize the other guest room, then went to her office. Mark and Chandler were there. She showed them where she wanted her desk set up, as well as her bookshelves, once she had the room arranged like she wanted it she left the men to arrange the items and assemble everything that needed to be assembled.
She went back downstairs and checked on the boys. She smiled as she watched her nephews. It was so hard to believe that the boys were growing up. She could still remember holding each of them for the first time. It felt like yesterday, but looking at them now she knew that it wasn’t. Her nephews reminded her of Troy and herself growing up. Three years separated her and her brother. There were only two years separating the boys. Michael was the oldest at the age of eight. Lora and Troy were getting ready to celebrate their eleventh year of marriage.
Troy married Lora in his early twenties yet neither one of them had regretted the decision. She had always held out hope to find a man that was as good to her as Troy was to Lora. Her experience with Spencer made her hope dwindle.
Exhaling deeply, she tried to push aside the hurtful memories of the disastrous relationship she’d shared with Spencer. A connection, that in the beginning she thought might lead to something similar to what her brother and his wife, along with their parents had. Unfortunately her relationship with Spencer had fizzled out, or rather imploded, the reason why she decided to focus on her second dream instead—children.
After making sure the boys were okay and didn’t need anything she went back upstairs to her office. She began to unpack her books. Half an hour later she was finished. Just as she was getting ready to start hooking up the computer the doorbell rang. Looking out of the window she saw it was Lora. Running down the stairs she answered the door, calling to the men to come and help with the groceries in the house.
Lora helped Cassandra put away the groceries before going to help her sons dust and clean. Cassandra rubbed her hands together in anticipation because she was going to have the chance to break her new stove in. Cooking was one of her favorite hobbies. She was always trying out or coming up with a new recipe. First she had to locate the pots and pans she needed to cook with. Not to mention the dishes she would need to serve her guests.
Once she had all of the dishes out of the box and put away, she broke down the boxes. Twenty minutes later she started pasta and broccoli boiling and chicken browning. She began cutting up Parmesan for her Alfredo sauce. Smiling to herself she began to hum. She was glad for all of the help that she received today. Things went a lot smoother because of it. Now all she had to do was get the blue-eyed stranger she met today out of her mind. She didn’t come all this way to be distracted by an attractive man…unless he was willing to father her child.