Teachers' Lounge Series by Smartypants Romance, Hazel James

When Hartley Billings is selected to compete on her favorite reality TV show, she only needs to do two things to win a million in first place in the final leg.Not murder her teammate.The last step would be a lot easier if she wasn’t paired up with her ex, the guy who obliterated her heart in college.Court Mueller isn’t thrilled either... moreWhen Hartley Billings is selected to compete on her favorite reality TV show, she only needs to do two things to win a million in first place in the final leg.Not murder her teammate.The last step would be a lot easier if she wasn’t paired up with her ex, the guy who obliterated her heart in college.Court Mueller isn’t thrilled either. His one shot at earning prize money and escaping his lackluster life in Green Valley rests in the hands of the woman he gave up six years ago, the one he’s stuck with 24/7 for the next three weeks.With their thorny past now their present, Team Hartbreak only needs to do two things to survive this season of Xtreme clear boundaries.Never, ever cross them… no matter how tempting it is.‘Ex Marks the Spot’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Teachers’ Lounge series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe. less

Love isn’t past tense—it’s the future.Clay Meadows runs a fast mile, but that hasn’t helped him catch the one who got away.His jam is teaching Shakespeare, coaching track, and camping in the mountains.The last thing he wants is a scaredy cat art teacher with wild blond hair and devilish charm joining him on the Green Valley High senior retreat.Or is it?When his lifelong crush and best friend’s sister is assigned as his co-chaperone, Clay sees an opportunity... moreLove isn’t past tense—it’s the future.Clay Meadows runs a fast mile, but that hasn’t helped him catch the one who got away.His jam is teaching Shakespeare, coaching track, and camping in the mountains.The last thing he wants is a scaredy cat art teacher with wild blond hair and devilish charm joining him on the Green Valley High senior retreat.Or is it?When his lifelong crush and best friend’s sister is assigned as his co-chaperone, Clay sees an opportunity.He’ll cure her fear of bugs, bears, and flimsy tents. She’ll fall in love with the wilderness. He won’t fall in love in the process.Even in close quarters—and a shared tent—Clay vows keep his school crush firmly where it belongs—in the past.Until she edges open a crack in his heart and allows him to believe she likes what she sees.Ally Dalbotten is stubbornly self-sufficient and determined to protect her heart from unreliablemen.She hates camping. And dirt. And wild animals. And the wilderness, for that matter.The last thing she needs is the gung-ho hottie of the English department revealing his Clark Kent alter-ego and flexing his camping muscles—along with his pecs.But under the façade of a man who runs from commitment Ally finds a vulnerable soul with asecret he’s carried for years.Ally has a choice—risk that Clay is another guy destined to break her heart…or trust that he’sthe one who will love her forever.'Past Tents' is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #4 in theTeachers' Lounge series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe. less

Dr. Polly Alberton is all out of laughs. She snorted from sheer absurdity when her husband of twelve years announced he was leaving her and their two kids to become a full-time yachtsman. She laughed in disbelief when the nanny she’d hired announced she won the lottery and was moving to Arizona mere weeks after she and her kids moved back to her father’s country home in Green Valley, Tennessee... moreDr. Polly Alberton is all out of laughs. She snorted from sheer absurdity when her husband of twelve years announced he was leaving her and their two kids to become a full-time yachtsman. She laughed in disbelief when the nanny she’d hired announced she won the lottery and was moving to Arizona mere weeks after she and her kids moved back to her father’s country home in Green Valley, Tennessee. And she straight-up cackled when she looked at herself in the mirror one day, only to find she no longer recognized the person she’d become. Because after all, isn’t that what happens when you play the role of the dutiful daughter, wife, doctor and mother, you lose yourself in the process?Aside from her kids, the only other joy in her life comes from reading romance—which no one knows about. Not her ex-husband, not her judge father, and certainly not the twenty-four-year-old valet driver who keeps giving her flirtatious looks every Sunday at her required weekly brunches with her father.Jace Vargas is an aimless twenty-four-year-old with an eclectic résumé that includes valet driver, Lyft driver, and freelance clown—so he’s a regular barrel of laughs. But it will take more than a bunch of hot air to get to know proper Polly Alberton. The thirty seconds he spends valeting her car each Sunday are his favorite seconds of the week. And it’s not because she tips well. It’s because her car stereo plays whatever audiobook she’s been listening to, right up to the time her Bluetooth disconnects. She’s a gorgeous, buttoned-up paradox, cloaked in layers of mystery . . . and he desperately wants to find out what’s underneath.When Polly hires Jace to be her kids’ nanny, those layers start to shed one at a time. And throughout the course of a summer, along with a six-year-old spitfire, a brave ten-year-old, some magic tricks, and laughter, they both might find the things they’ve wanted most—with the help of each other.‘The Best Medicine' is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #5 in theTeachers' Lounge series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe. less