Prim and proper middle school teacher Isabel Montenegro always runs the opposite direction from men like Ramon Romero. A foul-mouthed, uneducated, loose cannon has no place in her careful plans. But instead of running away, Isabel is completely captivated. The intensity of his nature, while a bit daunting, mesmerizes her in ways she can’t begin to understand. She’s unwilling to walk away—even when her instincts are screaming at her to run.
Romero has no idea what he's getting himself into when he first kisses Isabel. Shocked at the passion she invokes in him, he believes he can keep his usual short fuse under wraps. Falling fast and hard for someone so flawlessly sweet only makes him more aware that he’s far from perfect. If she is ever witness to his biggest imperfection, he’s sure she’ll bail. But when her meddling sister does the worst thing imaginable—bring other men between him and his Izzy—that fuse is lit and all bets are off.
Adult Contemporary romance
Romero was published in October of 2011. It's is part of my still most popular series The Moreno Brothers. I originally had no intensions of writing his story because he was just the hot headed, foul mouthed side kick in the rest of the books. But readers became so intrigued by him they begged to for his story and to my surprise it became one of the most popular in the series. So popular I later wrote a holiday novella for Romero and Isabel.
Hearing something in the front room, Romero sat up. He frowned when he realized he woke Isabel, but then smiled at her perfectly naked body.
“That’s probably Valerie.” Isabel got out of bed and searched her closet. “What are you looking for?”
“My robe. It’s in here somewhere.”
She found it, and hurried out of the room. Romero walked out into the bathroom. When he was done and out, Isabel rushed back into the room as the phone in the kitchen rang.
“I got it!” Valerie yelled from the front room.
Romero walked out into the kitchen freezing when he came face to face with Valerie. She seemed surprised to see him, especially since he was still shirtless and barefoot. Her expression amused him. “You gonna get that?”
“No,” she said, her eyes obviously trying to avoid his bare chest. “The answering machine can pick it up.”
The machine went off just as Isabel came out of the room, now fully dressed just as the machine beeped.
"Isabel, this is Michael. I just wanted to tell you I had a fantastic time with you Friday night …”
Isabel took a step toward the machine, but stopped when Romero stepped in front of her. The heat inside him was already on the rise. The kind of heat that made him do things he never wanted Isabel to be witness to. He swallowed hard, trying to understand what he was hearing. She’d said she was with her sister Friday night. He listened as the message went on.
“… I’ll be here a little longer than I thought, so I was hoping I could see you again before I leave …”
He couldn’t take his eyes off Isabel, feeling his heart beat pick up with every word the fucker on the machine said.
