Chapter 1

December 31st

I just looked back upon the past year's diary entries. Who knew making a New Year's Resolution to lose my virginity would end up like this? Jail, Emergency Room visits (not just one), billionaires, cops, sex clubs, and my damn virginity flying like a flag that refuses to budge from the flagpole even in the middle of a hurricane. Oh, the adventures I've had! Now, let me recap how we got to where I currently am—and I still can't believe where that is. Good thing I wrote it all down. Hang on, cause it's one wild ride.

December 31st , One Year Ago . . .

Paige Turner pulled her coat tight against her as she braved the December wind funneling loudly down the streets of New York City. Her red hair whipped her in the face from under a puffy pink knit hat.

"Son of a bookworm," Paige muttered as she plucked a strand of hair from her eye and trudged forward.

It was the last day of the year and she was meeting her friends at their spot to discuss New Year's resolutions. It was the day of the year Paige somehow hated the most and loved the most. It was the day a whole new future could be planned. Promises made for a better life. But it was also the day Paige realized how lonely and uneventful her life really was. How, in this big, wonderful, wild city, could anyone feel all alone when you're surrounded by millions of people? She still hadn't taken a risk beyond moving there for college.

Paige discovered books could take her away from her everyday life when she was six years old. She grew up in a small town in Vermont where her family ran a bed and breakfast on their Christmas tree farm. Paige had been told to stay out of sight when they had guests since it was supposed to be a relaxing time for those customers. Apparently, having a six year old running around wasn't relaxing. That's when Paige discovered that books could take her on adventures without ever having to leave her room. She'd solved crimes, traveled the world, had a pet monkey, and fell in love. Over and over again. By the time she was in high school, she had more book boyfriends than there were boys in her small school.

Paige wasn't teased as an ugly duckling since that would mean she'd have to take her red head out of her book long enough for someone to decide if she was pretty or not. She thought she'd find solace in an academically challenging school far away from her small town, so she applied to and went to college in New York City. It was the complete opposite of the little town where she'd grown up.

She'd gone out on dates in college, but second dates weren't very common. Even when someone from her British Literature class had asked her out, their second date had ended in a near fistfight over Captain Wentworth from Jane Austen's Persuasion. Paige had argued his letter to Anne was way more romantic than anything Lord Byron wrote and the date had gone downhill from there.

While Paige had great academic success in college, garnering high honors and graduating with distinction, she realized almost too late that finding a job involved more than academic success. She had to actually talk to people when interviewing for a job. Still, she managed to find a great job with Griffin Publishing. While she wasn't technically an editor yet, she did work for the boss himself, Jack Griffin, as an assistant editor. Well, in a way. Jack had a pool of people who worked for him who handled a range of duties from getting his coffee to reading manuscripts and giving him notes on them. That's what Paige did. It wasn't the perfect job, but it was one she hoped would lead to her becoming a junior editor and then finally to a senior editor in charge of acquiring romance books for the company. While she wasn't in her dream job yet, she did enjoy it. Paige didn't have to talk to anyone—everything was done via email and it paid enough for her to get her own apartment and maintain a steady supply of romance books.

The wind whipped up again and Paige ducked her head as she reached for the handle of Café Felix. She had to force the door open against the wind, but it was worth the effort. Café Felix was her refuge from the cold, hard world outside. The owner, Felix Zayas, had created a bookworm haven inside. He served gourmet coffee, tea, and hot chocolate along with sandwiches, pastries, and desserts. There were several tables, but the majority of the café was filled with comfortable sofas and big soft chairs. They created little nooks perfect for either alone time with a good book and a coffee or book club meetings. Café Felix was where Paige got her morning coffee, met with her friends to talk books after work, and got lost in a book even in the middle of New York City.

"Finally!" Leah called out from their favorite corner with two overstuffed chairs, a loveseat, and a coffee table in the middle. "I ordered your regular." Leah pointed to the counter where Felix smiled at her and set down a big mug of caramel hot chocolate.

"Thank you, Felix." Paige cradled the mug with her cold hands and breathed in the rich scent.

"Happy New Year, Paige. Which book are you all discussing tonight?" Felix worked ten-hour days. He had an incredible drive and a thriving business for someone who had just turned twenty-nine. His rich brown eyes and megawatt smile, along with dark brown hair with just the right amount of curls that made you want to run your fingers through it didn't hurt business either.

"No book this week. Tonight, it's all about our resolutions and a recap of our year. We talk about our favorite books of the year and what we want for this upcoming year," Paige told him.

"I know how rowdy you all get when discussing books. Don't make me call the cops," Felix joked. Kind of. If you want to get a bookworm riled, all you need to do is either tell them the movie was better or diss a book boyfriend. Then it was on.

Paige laughed. Felix liked to tease them for their bookworminess, but Paige had caught him reading some of their book club books more than once. He was a secret bookworm himself. They just needed to draw him out of his cocoon. "Happy New Year, Felix. You know, you're welcome to join us anytime."

"I'll keep that in mind. Happy New Year, Paige. Hope it's your best one yet."

Paige headed over to her friends. All her worries, all the work stress, all pity parties of being a twenty-five year old virgin with no love life evaporated because the one thing Paige Turner had in volume was good friends.

"Took you long enough." Leah rolled her bright blue eyes at her but had a smile on her face. Paige was always late. "Which book was it this time?"

"One that my boss will never publish, but was so good I begged him to consider it in the email I just sent him. The hero and heroine had chemistry that literally burned the pages as I read them. I think my fingers might be singed. It shouldn't be relegated to the romance imprint just because it's a romance. It should be under the main publishing house's banner."

Leah and Paige had met the day Paige moved into her apartment four years ago. Like Paige, Leah had just graduated from college and was moving into the apartment one floor below Paige's. They became instant friends when they'd both discovered their shared love of romance novels. They'd started the book club that night with a cheap box of wine and packing boxes all around them.

Leah was everything Paige was not. Leah was determined, outgoing, and confident. She was an unashamed, unabashed romance bookworm. She read alien romance with three penises on the cover in public and then told people they should read it too if she caught them looking. That was just Leah.

"Do you think your boss will listen?" Amelia asked as she set down her large mug of tea.

Amelia had been the next person to join the book club two weeks after Paige and Leah met. Café Felix had recently opened a block from their apartment. Paige and Leah had gotten their coffees and were looking for a place to sit when they spotted Amelia. She was doing her best to blend in with the chair, which was the same brown color as her chin-length bobbed hair. She'd been wearing a red headband, red rimmed glasses, and her sweet smile was hidden behind the e-reader she had her nose buried in.

Leah, being the outgoing bookworm, took a seat across from Amelia and asked what she was reading. Amelia had blushed redder than her headband and stammered that it was just a book. Leah had made a noise but then turned to Paige and asked what she thought about the latest romance novel they were reading.

Amelia's head popped up with her eyes wide behind her glasses. "No spoilers!"

And with that comment, Amelia had joined their book club.

"No way will that fine-ass boss of yours publish a romance novel," Eli, the final member of their book club said as he crossed his legs and gave her a knowing look.

Paige met Eli in the market down the road from her apartment when his earbuds' Bluetooth had unexpectedly disconnected from his phone and the whole produce aisle heard the audiobook about the eggplant the hero had in his pants. Paige had gasped, but not in disbelief like the other people in the aisle. "Have you gotten to the part where Tank shifts into a werewolf yet?" Paige had spun around and asked him, and the rest was history.

Eli sat on the loveseat next to Amelia with his legs crossed, looking like a male model. His incredible good looks seemed at odds with their mere mortal looks. Eli was a dancer on Broadway with an aspiration of leaving the chorus and becoming a leading man-type main character. Every inch of him was muscled hotness, and he knew it. He went through boyfriends faster than Paige went through books, which was saying a lot. However, like her, he usually had no second dates.

Paige sighed. "You're right, Eli. I'm sure he won't even read the first page. It's a shame because it's one of the best books I've read this year. Even though romance is the bestselling genre and publishers use it to prop up other projects, it still isn't a genre the great and powerful Jack Griffin would bother taking seriously. I'm hoping he'll at least pass it onto a junior editor who can then recommend it to Griffin Publishing's romance imprint to buy."

"Maybe that should be one of your resolutions," Leah said.

"What should be?" Paige asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"Be more assertive at work. Step out from behind the book or the computer and take a risk in life. Fight the good fight for the books that deserve to be read."

"I take risks," Paige protested.

Eli rolled his eyes. "Girl, trying a Colonial American historical romance instead of a Regency historical is not taking a risk."

Amelia snorted and hid behind her large mug. "Oh, come on, Amelia. Not you too." Paige pointed her finger at her friend. "You have had a crush on Felix for years, and you've never said more than hello to the man."

Amelia blushed and cast a quick glance at Felix. "I do not have a crush."

"Bullshit," Leah said under a fake cough.

"Oh, and you and Eli are without fault in your dating lives?" Which was about the most Amelia had ever stood up for herself for something beyond her thoughts on a book.

"We have dating lives, unlike you and our resident virgin." Eli looked at Amelia and then Paige.

"Hey, don't drag me into this," Paige said. She'd admitted her virgin status to the group after several glasses of wine during book club last year. They gave her crap for it, but it was clearly out of love and not mockery.

Last year they'd been discussing a really hot scene and whether that position was really that orgasm-inducing when Amelia had stammered that she'd never tried it. They'd all confessed that none of them had actually attempted half of the things from the books they read. Then, for some inane reason, Paige had blurted out her biggest secret. She was still a virgin.

"No, I think you should be dragged into this," Amelia said, setting down her mug. "All of us have things we want to do and accomplish, but we're more bookworms than book dragons." Amelia paused and inhaled sharply as her eyes widened. "That should be our resolution for this new year! To take risks. To go after things we've only read about and bring them into real life."

"Babe, if that happened the whole chorus line would strip down and sing while doing high kicks for me," Eli smirked.

Paige shook her head. "No, Amelia's right. Even though you and Leah are more outgoing than Amelia and I, it doesn't mean you ‘re taking personal risks. When was the last time you had a serious date where you were honest with who you were and not pretending to be someone you're not?"

"You go right to the heart of it, don't you?" Leah asked, glancing uncomfortably at Eli.

Paige shrugged her shoulder. "Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I don't see things."

"Well, there is a violinist I've been too nervous to ask out. He doesn't do casual and"—Eli looked guilty—"I might act a little more carefree than I actually am."

Leah gasped dramatically. "A man lying about his prowess? No way!"

The ladies laughed, but Eli gave Leah a faux glare. "Those who throw stones in glass houses..."

"I know, I know." Leah sighed. "I admit it. I haven't been on a real date in eight months."

"No!" Amelia gasped. "You talk about your dates all the time."

Leah looked so embarrassed that Paige felt bad for her. "Most of the alleged dates are with men in books with a couple of app hookups thrown in."

"This is why we're besties," Eli admitted. "Same. And now my violinist thinks I'm a slut."

"If we could only be the heroines, or heroes, in our romance books," Paige said, absently glancing at her backpack filled with the books they'd read this year.

"That's it!" Leah shot up off the back of her chair. "That should be our resolution. We live the year as if we were the main characters in our favorite books."

"Oh, I love it," Eli sat up straighter.

"I don't know if I could ever be that brave," Amelia said, glancing once again at Felix.

"You ask out Felix," Leah said before turning to Eli. "And you be the real you and woo your violinist. I'll do the same. But, Paige, you have the most work."

"Me?" Paige didn't like where this was going now. They were bookworms. It wasn't like they were used to going on adventures. That's what made books so wonderful. You could go on an adventure every time you turn a page. All from the safety of their homes and without fear of rejection.

"Yes. And I know just how you should do it." Paige really didn't like the look Leah was giving her. "I dare you, for your resolution, to take the cues from your favorite romance novels and bring them to life—on dates. One date for every different trope that you read. We all have until 11:59 pm on the next December 31st to accomplish these resolutions."

"No way." Paige shook her head. Her heart started beating rapidly just thinking about being brave enough to do even a fraction of the things she read.

"I'm in," Eli said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a book. "I swear upon my favorite book I will be the ultimate bookworm and take the lessons from these characters and practice them in my real life."

Leah pulled a book out from her purse and set her hand on her book, then looked at Amelia and Paige. Amelia glanced once more at Felix and dug a book out of her tote. "I'm in."

All her friends turned to Paige and waited. Could she really do this? Paige opened her backpack and looked down at the book in it. It was an erotic novel that had stuck with her all year. She might have dreamed she was the heroine more nights than she could count. But, there was no way... or was there?

"Aren't you tired of living behind the pages of books?" Leah asked gently.

"I love my books. They never let me down," Paige admitted.

"But what if we find the kind of love they talk about in our books? They could serve as our guide."

Paige had to admit that Leah had a point. Paige dreamed of that kind of love, or at least that kind of mind-blowing sex. At this point, she'd sleep with the next man who walked in the door to get rid of her virginity. She glanced back at the book in her bag and took a deep breath, thinking here goes nothing.

"I'm in."