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Melinda Curtis' Sweet Romance Report: 4 on my TBR pile

Melinda Curtis
Special for USA TODAY
The Best Laid Plans by Amy Vastine.

The Super Bowl of the romance world is over (Valentine's Day). Spring is toying with most of us, but if you write romance, love is always in the air. And in the Sweet Romance Report, you can always find a few clean, wholesome romances. Sweet romances have no explicit sex, but still create that heart-fluttering feeling of falling in love. Here's my to-be-read sweet romance pile this month — a story about life being more than a simple plan, a contemporary Western, a Young Adult paranormal romance, and a collection of Regencies set during the Napoleon era. (Blurbs courtesy of the publishers.)

The Best Laid Plans by Amy Vastine. Emma Everhart's life is going according to plan. Finish nursing school with flying colors … Check. Get a great job in the ER… Check. Marry a handsome doctor and have two babies, three years apart… Not quite yet. But with a dreamy new doctor joining the hospital staff, she's so close she can almost taste the wedding cake. Now is not the time to let the tall, dark and flirtatious paramedic Charlie Fletcher distract her! He may be the best date and best kiss she's ever had, but he's definitely not part of her plan. No matter how he makes her feel… (Book two in the Chicago Sisters series.)

The Cowboy Next Door by Roxanne Snopek.

The Cowboy Next Door by Roxanne Snopek. When plucky single mother Leda Plett goes next door to retrieve her wandering pooch, she doesn't expect to find a handsome stranger lounging about like he owns the place. She certainly doesn't expect him to go all "white knight" about her deadbeat ex, or her knees to go all wobbly at his sexy smile. Rodeo-star turned agent Eric Anders is used to managing people and clearly, the boots-and-sundress wearing mouthy mama needs someone to manage her. He wants to help; her spirited spark and quick wit have nothing to do with it. But when Eric's good intentions end up bringing only hurt and humiliation, he's forced to face the fact that he doesn't always know best. Leda is stronger and wiser than he knew, and his arrogance may have just cost him the one girl he now can't live without.

Starfall by Brenda Hiatt.

Starfall by Brenda Hiatt. The electrifying conclusion to the Starstruck series! M, no longer a nerdy nobody, has finally been acclaimed Sovereign Emileia, ruler of the Martian colony Nuath. But at what cost? Without her soulmate Rigel, life seems pointless but she's expected to shake off her heartbreak and assume her responsibilities. Reluctantly, M does what she must until an unexpected discovery restores a glimmer of hope for the future. Now she is determined to do whatever she can to salvage her longed-for happy ending—if it's not already too late. (Book four in the Starstruck series.)

Beaux, Ballrooms and Battles: A Regency Anthology. Nine stories of love tested by the trials of war during the showdown between Wellington's "Infamous Army" and Napoleon's Grande Armée.

Melinda Curtis is an avid reader and a USA TODAY bestselling author. She writes both sweet and steamier romances. Her latest sweet release, One Perfect Year, Actually, is out now from Harlequin Heartwarming. Her website is www.melindacurtis.net.

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