Carolina/McCloud Brothers Series by Patricia Rice

Cleo Alyssum has a plan: stay sober, keep her job, and bite her tongue until Social Services relents and returns her little boy. Then Jared McCloud, a celebrated cartoonist and bull-headed extrovert, shatters Cleo's carefully constructed serenity by demanding that they help their drug-dealing neighbor's neglected children. Cleo knows Jared is right... moreCleo Alyssum has a plan: stay sober, keep her job, and bite her tongue until Social Services relents and returns her little boy. Then Jared McCloud, a celebrated cartoonist and bull-headed extrovert, shatters Cleo's carefully constructed serenity by demanding that they help their drug-dealing neighbor's neglected children. Cleo knows Jared is right. Risking everything they thought they wanted, the pair join forces to save the children and face a new realization: there's more to life and love than either of them ever planned or dreamed. Previously titled: Almost Perfect less

A lot has happened to Mara Simon since she was a teenager. And although on the inside she's still the sweet, sensitive girl she was back then, the face she shows the world is that of a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood producer with a movie to make and a schedule to keep. She can't let the fact that Tim McCloud, her first and only love, has turned up on her set rattle her... moreA lot has happened to Mara Simon since she was a teenager. And although on the inside she's still the sweet, sensitive girl she was back then, the face she shows the world is that of a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood producer with a movie to make and a schedule to keep. She can't let the fact that Tim McCloud, her first and only love, has turned up on her set rattle her. With so much riding on the success of this film, all she can do is ignore the way his presence makes her rethink everything she thought she wanted out of life and turns her steely facade to jelly. Tim McCloud didn't even recognize her when she walked into his office. The girl he knew had been replaced with a sizzling bombshell. Underneath the paint and glitter Tim sees that the girl he used to love has become a woman with an incredible mind and a loving heart. Their goals are wildly different but he can't ignore the fact that her presence makes him rethink everything he thought he wanted out of life. Now, to win her back, he must show her the difference between Hollywood artifice and real happiness. . . . less

In Carolina Girl, gifted writer Patricia Rice gives readers a marvelous novel about two very different people who, against all odds, end up with a common goal: to spend their lives together. . . . Born and raised on an island off the shores of South Carolina, Aurora Jenkins isn’t about to let her home’s rural beauty and delicate ecology fall victim to over-development. Her life takes an unexpected turn, though, when she meets Clay McCloud. No one has ever affected her so deeply... moreIn Carolina Girl, gifted writer Patricia Rice gives readers a marvelous novel about two very different people who, against all odds, end up with a common goal: to spend their lives together. . . . Born and raised on an island off the shores of South Carolina, Aurora Jenkins isn’t about to let her home’s rural beauty and delicate ecology fall victim to over-development. Her life takes an unexpected turn, though, when she meets Clay McCloud. No one has ever affected her so deeply. But their views on the island’s future don’t mesh, and Aurora will have to win him to her side if she is to have any chance of protecting her home . . . because she knows it’s already too late to protect her heart. Clay McCloud was hiding out on the serene little island, enjoying some richly deserved down time. He wasn’t looking for a fight or trouble or even a knockout redhead—but that is exactly what he got with Aurora, a woman who is all contradiction: part business mogul and part goddess. Her beauty and the attraction he feels for her are undeniable. And though he has certain rules about women like Aurora, leave it to a bad boy like Clay to decide that rules are meant to be broken. . . . less