Cheap Thrills Series by Mary B. Moore, Simply Defined Art

Tabitha Moving to a new town isn’t easy, especially when it’s so you can bond with the half-sister you never knew existed until those ancestry DNA results came back. I took the leap and got a job at the school in Piersville as an art teacher and made an offer on the pretty little house that I’d seen online. What I never expected to find when I arrived was my sister catching her husband cheating on her, and then getting arrested for no reason by the Sheriff, Dave Bell... moreTabitha Moving to a new town isn’t easy, especially when it’s so you can bond with the half-sister you never knew existed until those ancestry DNA results came back. I took the leap and got a job at the school in Piersville as an art teacher and made an offer on the pretty little house that I’d seen online. What I never expected to find when I arrived was my sister catching her husband cheating on her, and then getting arrested for no reason by the Sheriff, Dave Bell. I was a sucker for tattoos, I was also a sucker for a tall man built like a wall.  And apparently I was a sucker for a guy with a badge and a big… truck. Call me old-fashioned, but being arrested, interrogated, and tortured (well, maybe not quite) wasn’t exactly romance, but everyone makes mistakes so I gave him a second chance. Until I found out the huge secret he was hiding – well, more to the point who he was related to. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you’re a twat. Fool me three times, no chance!  “DB” The people in the town I worked in were relatively easygoing, well aside from the Townsends. That family was a law unto themselves.Tabitha Newton, the new art teacher, breezed into town and into my life at the same time. I’d been called out to check on a house with a suspicious car in the drive by a concerned neighbor and had stumbled across the new woman sprawled across the living room floor. One accidental arrest, a trip to the station, and a friendly ‘getting to know you’ interrogation later, and I asked her out before she could find out who my stepsister was. It was stupid, of course she’d find out, but something about the woman had intrigued me so much that common sense hadn’t even come into it. There’s a way around that though because there’s a way around everything. If that fails, I’ll just arrest her again – because I can. less

JoseEvery little girl dreams of a big white wedding with their knight in shining armor. They’d have 2.5 kids, a beautiful house, birds flying around with crowns made of flowers, and live happily ever after. None of us ever dreamed of being divorced with a baby because we discovered that the knight was an evil ogre when we came home from a prenatal appointment and caught him in bed with another woman... moreJoseEvery little girl dreams of a big white wedding with their knight in shining armor. They’d have 2.5 kids, a beautiful house, birds flying around with crowns made of flowers, and live happily ever after. None of us ever dreamed of being divorced with a baby because we discovered that the knight was an evil ogre when we came home from a prenatal appointment and caught him in bed with another woman. Yet, here I was, twenty-six, a single mom, trying to find a magic spell to keep the ogre out of my life.My sister Tabitha’s arrival on the day I found him cheating brought something I needed into my life - someone who acted and loved like a real family member. I hadn’t even known she existed until that ancestry DNA testing gift, but it felt like I’d known her my whole life.Now I wanted my dream, but I wanted to have a fresh start and be me for the first time in years. I wanted to live my best life with my daughter, laugh every day… basically I wanted the dream without the knight.Then, my soon to be brother-in-law’s best friend dares me to go out on a date with him, and it’s not a dare I can say no to. EllisI’ve been a tattoo artist for years. I’ve met great people, weird people, pain’s in the ass, you name it, but I’ve never met anyone like Jose. We’re proof that opposites attract, but every time I ask her out she keeps saying no. So, I came up with a plan, a plan based on handing out dares knowing she wouldn’t say no to them. Why? Because she’s the most stubborn woman in the world. When that still wasn’t enough, I went ahead and submitted a photograph of the two of us into a competition in an ink magazine. Guess what - it won, so it’s now on billboards all over the country and she can’t get away from me. So now we’re living on a dare.And I dare Jose to say no. less

Katy Ever felt like you’ve had a crush on someone your whole life, but they never see you back? That’s what it felt like with Jarrod Kline. I worked in the same building as him, I gave him his jobs, I took his order for lunch… but that was it. Being shy didn’t help either. I wanted to be like the other women around me – ballsy, a go-getter, confident… I wanted to be like Tabby, Jose, Rose, and the Townsend women... moreKaty Ever felt like you’ve had a crush on someone your whole life, but they never see you back? That’s what it felt like with Jarrod Kline. I worked in the same building as him, I gave him his jobs, I took his order for lunch… but that was it. Being shy didn’t help either. I wanted to be like the other women around me – ballsy, a go-getter, confident… I wanted to be like Tabby, Jose, Rose, and the Townsend women. Then, one night after a lot of margarita consumption, we hatched a plan – the ‘Get Yo Man Plan’, aka GYMP. Now that I’m sober, I realize what we’ve called it, but the GYMP is motion and it’s too late to turn back now. Jarrod I was the longest baby the day I was born, the tallest in preschool, the tallest in kindergarten… you get the point, I’ve always stood out. The problem was, I was also uncomfortable with it. For once, I wanted to not be seen, to do something that no one could see me doing. I’d looked into how to become an audiobook narrator after Tabby’s suggestion, and it seemed easy enough. So now I was a mechanic by day and an audiobook narrator by night, but only a couple of people knew about that last part.And then Katy started working at the garage, and the scenes I’d been uncomfortable reading they took on a whole new meaning.I just have one question, what the hell is GYMP? less

Carter Years ago, Naomi was the girl who saved my life without knowing it. All it took was a handful of innocent words to change the decision I was about to make. I’d heard about her brother dying from one of our teammates, and I’d wondered if I’d ever be able to make the difference for her that she’d made for me back then... moreCarter Years ago, Naomi was the girl who saved my life without knowing it. All it took was a handful of innocent words to change the decision I was about to make. I’d heard about her brother dying from one of our teammates, and I’d wondered if I’d ever be able to make the difference for her that she’d made for me back then.Ending up in the same town hundreds of miles away from our hometown was a fluke, but what if I was her monkey wrench? I knew what loss was, and I’d felt the pain and how easy it was to suffocate under it, but what if I was the wrench that fits all of the pieces of her life and holds them in place so she could put it back together again for her and her niece. And what if she was mine?NaomiRaising my niece by myself wasn’t easy, but moving to Piersville from Fernandina Beach was the best decision I could have made for us. I just didn't count on Carter Lane being here, too. He’s always been quiet, but around me, that changes. I don't know what anything the guy does means, though. Carter’s helpful, he's great with Shanti, makes me laugh, and it blew my mind when he gave me the Blow Pop I'd given him all those years ago in a frame. But what does it all mean?Changing life paths isn't easy, but it's a damn sight simpler than trying to figure out a man’s mind. Especially his. less