Praise for Samantha Chase
“Utter Rockstar Perfection.”
-#1 New York Time Bestselling Author Rachel Van Dyken
“If you can’t get enough of stories that get inside your heart and soul and stay there long after you’ve read the last page, then Samantha Chase is for you!”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Melanie Shawn
“A fun, flirty, sweet romance filled with romance and character growth and a perfect happily ever after.”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips
“Samantha Chase writes my kind of happily ever after!”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Erin Nicholas
“The openness between the lovers is refreshing, and their interactions are a balanced blend of sweet and spice. The planets may not have aligned, but the elements of this winning romance are definitely in sync.”
- Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
“A true romantic delight, A Sky Full of Stars is one of the top gems of romance this year.”
- Night Owl Reviews, TOP PICK
“Great writing, a winsome ensemble, and the perfect blend of heart and sass.”
- Publishers Weekly
“Recommend Chase to fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Well-written and uniquely appealing.”
- Booklist
Chapter One
Most days, being Jamie Donovan was pretty damn awesome.
But today, it was fan-freaking-tastic.
Walking into his family’s pub, he took a moment to simply admire it in a way he never had before. For the next month, he was the one in charge. His parents left early this morning for a trip with their best friends, the Murphys. First, they were driving across the country—something they were dragging out for two weeks—and then they were embarking on a ten-day cruise to Alaska. The plan was for them to drive home afterwards, and when all was said and done, they’d be gone six weeks.
“And now I’m the boss,” he said proudly, even though no one was in yet to hear it.
Except…
“Well, boss,” Uncle Ronan said as he walked out of the kitchen, “the produce delivery is here early and they’re missing a few items.”
Jamie was prepared for this and wasn’t even bothered about the missing items. He was up for the challenge, and nothing was going to bring him down today.
Famous last words.
Two hours later, he was ready to pull his hair out.
Well…not really. He had really great hair and there was no way he would do anything to harm his appearance.
But he was frustrated.
The missing produce wasn’t an issue; he had simply asked his uncle to run to the grocery store to get what they needed. No, it was everything that happened after that—an internet outage in town meant they couldn’t process credit card payments and he couldn’t finish doing the online banking he was in the middle of. And while all that had been incredibly frustrating, it was the text he was currently reading that was going to push him over the edge.
Jenn: We need to talk Jamie. You’ve put this off too long and you’re going to be sorry
Jenn: You need to call me back today
Jenn: Now, preferably
Groaning, he sat down at the desk in the pub’s office. He was the king of the amicable breakup. It was a record he’d kept since he started dating in the seventh grade. Jamie had a rule about always ending things on good terms. That mindset—and his charming personality—had kept him from ever having a bad breakup.
Until this one.
This was the breakup that just wouldn’t end.
It had been six months and Jenn Randall kept popping back into his life like a bad penny. It didn’t matter how many times he told her it was over or that she deserved someone better or how much he praised her for being too good for him; she had been almost relentless in her pursuit of trying to get back together with him.
Only…
Now that he thought about it, she never said that she wanted to get back together—just that she wanted to see him.
Practically demanded it.
The weird part was how she never said why it was so important and when he told her he couldn’t or that he didn’t think it was a good idea, she backed off. Today was the first time there was a veiled threat.
Maybe he should have just agreed to meet up with her when she first asked months ago— hindsight and all that. Now it was just awkward and he wished she’d move on.
Still, he stared down at his phone and knew he had to at least say something. But he was afraid that even a simple response would lead to more drama, so he took the coward’s way out and put his phone on the desk and went out to see how the lunch crowd was doing.
Within an hour, the internet was back up and running, the produce distributor came back with the missing items, and right now, there was a line of customers out the door waiting for a table.
“Yeah, I got this,” he murmured as he walked around helping out wherever he could—bussing tables, delivering food, filling drink orders behind the bar, and flirting with the cute brunette who was waiting for a lunch order that had been called in.
“So…you own this place?” she asked with a coy smile.
“I do,” he replied smoothly. Technically, the Donovan family owned the pub and considering he was a Donovan, some would say he wasn’t lying. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.” She was petite and curvy, with big blue eyes—which were blatantly checking him out right now.
“I’m in town visiting a friend,” she told him.
“Lucky friend,” he replied smoothly. “I’m Jamie.”
Her smile grew a little. “I’m Mandy.”
“Nice to meet you, Mandy. How long are you in town for?”
“I’m only going to be here for a few days, but my friend raved about the food here. After all her bragging about it, I knew I needed to try it. So I’m going to surprise her with the burgers.”
“You’re a very good friend, and I’m sure you’re going to love the food.” He moved a little closer. “I’ll tell you what…I’ll throw in dessert on the house. Would you prefer the apple pie or the peanut butter brownies?”
“Ooh…you are speaking my language,” she practically purred. “I’m going to go with the brownies. Please.”
“You got it,” he said, giving her his most sincere smile. With any luck, he’d have her number before she left and perhaps plans to see her later tonight.
Within a matter of minutes, he was handing Mandy her lunch order, and she was handing him a slip of paper with her phone number. “Call me later and I’ll stop by when you’re done for the night,” she said with a sexy grin.
“Well now…I hope your friend won’t be too upset with me taking you out when you’re here visiting her.”
She waved him off. “She’ll be fine. She always goes to bed early so it won’t be an issue.” Then, with a flirty wave, she walked away, and Jamie watched the soft sway of her hips as she went.