Sweet Caroline

Welcome to my book! Below, you will find the blurb for this book, some information about my books in general, tropes and trigger warnings. Feel free to skip whatever part you want if you’re afraid of spoilers! After the trigger warnings, the first chapter immediately starts.

Blurb:

A hailstorm, a sexy neighbor, and a lot of lustful feelings are the start of an epic love story in the erotic romance novel “Sweet Caroline”.

After pining after her ex for a year, living with her parents and working shitty temp jobs, Caroline finally breaks free. New town, new job, new life. Of course, she manages to shut herself out of her apartment during her first week in her new apartment. A handsome stranger invites her in, and a hot affair begins…

Nathan is hot as fuck and more than willing to help Caroline explore her sexuality in ways she never even imagined. Caroline is more than happy to let him into her bed again and again. But who is Nathan really? And why won’t he share any details about his life with her? Is she willing to risk her entire future for him?

With exes popping up left, right and center, Caroline is in for one hell of a year. Chances are it will all blow up in her face and she’ll end up losing more than she gained. Oh well, at least she gets some mind-blowing sex to soften the blow.

Information about the series:

Most of my books are part of the “Sweet Caroline Universe”. This book is the very first book in the series, so that’s all you need to know, really. All books can be read as a stand-alone, since every single book has a different MC (main character). If you’re looking for a sexy romantic stand-alone, this is the book for you! If you’re looking for the start of an epic romance series, then this is also the book for you! For more information about my books, check out “GUIDE TO BOOKS BY GODDESS HEDONE” right here on Inkitt.

Tropes:

Age gap, forbidden love, parent and child’s teacher, one-night stands leads to love, emotional scars, HEA (Happily Ever After).

Trigger warnings:

This story contains lots of (very graphic) sex and profanities (‘fuck’ is my favorite word). This book also contains scenes that may depict, mention, or discuss: outing (to 1 person, small scene), workplace harassment (MC), pedophilia (not the MC), sexual assault (MC), sexual harassment (MC), divorce (not the MC), infidelity (not between MCs), alcohol consumption & abuse (small side character), childbirth (MC in the epilogues), infertility (not the MC, side character), pregnancy (MC in the epilogues), physical assault (MC, one small scene), BDSM (no sub/dom relationship, but enjoyment of pain during sex).

To be clear: the warnings make the book sound darker than it is. It’s an erotic romance novel with humor embedded as well, but I do mention certain subjects in certain scenes, and not everything is unicorns and rainbows, so I try to put down EVERY possible trigger warning just in case you have trauma that you don’t want to revisit, or you want to be prepared.

With all that behind us, are you ready for… THE FIRST CHAPTER! I know I am! Enjoy & don’t forget to comment!

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Chapter 1

Shit. Shit. Fuck. This is just the perfect start of my brand-new life. Rain pouring down on me, groceries in my hands and my keys inside, where I can’t get them. How the hell am I going to get into my place if my fucking keys are inside?

Grumbling profanities, I grab my phone and try to keep it dry by shielding it with my jacket. Who can I call? It’s already 10 pm. I shouldn’t have left my grocery shopping until ten minutes before the store closes. The only people who have spare keys are my parents and my best friend Shaughna, but all three of them live three fucking hours away. I can’t expect any of them to drive all the way here. Besides, I’d still be outside in the rain for three hours.

I could drive to them and spend the night there, but my car keys are inside as well. Why did I choose today to forget to check the weather forecast? Why didn’t I just take my car? And why didn’t I take an umbrella? Every single time I leave my umbrella at home it starts raining. I have the weird power to turn sunny days into goddamn hailstorms just by leaving my umbrella and walking out in a sundress.

If tonight is any indication of how my life is going to turn out in this new town, I am in for a bumpy ride. What was I thinking, moving so far from my hometown just because I was fed up with seeing my ex move on without me? Sure, I had managed to get a great job and a cheap apartment here, but that doesn’t mean this is home yet. Yet here I am, standing outside my apartment that isn’t a home. In the rain. Alone. Without anyone to call.

I guess the only thing I can do is call a cab and get my soaked ass over to a hotel. I’ll just have to wait to call my parents or Shaughna tomorrow.

Before I turn to leave, I kick the door. Hard. Stupid goddamn closed door.

“Hey! Stop kicking that door!”

I turn around to see a man standing a few feet behind me, holding an umbrella.

“I can kick my own fucking door if I want to!” I shout back. I am not in the mood to be told off.

“If it’s your own door, then why don’t you just go inside?” The man sounds amused.

“Because my keys are inside and I don’t know anyone in this stupid hellhole of a town and the only people with spare keys are too far away and it is too fucking late and my car keys are inside and-”

“Okay, I get it,” he interrupts my rant. “Come on. Follow me.”

Before I can ask what he means, he walks over to the door of the apartment next to me and I can hear his keys clanging. Of course he does have his keys. Not everyone is as stupid as I am.

For a second I question if I should be following a man I don’t know into his house, but it is cold and I am wet and – yeah, I don’t need any more reasons.

“You are dripping wet,” the man says the moment I step into his small hallway. “I’m gonna get you a towel.”

He isn’t wrong. I am wet and cold and shivering. With a sigh, I put my grocery bags on the mat and take off my shoes, not wanting to drag dirt into his apartment. I take off the light jacket I have on and throw it on the floor with my shoes. My dress is soaked too, but I can’t take that off, obviously.

“Getting naked already?”

I look up and take in the man properly for the first time. I hadn’t looked him in the eye before or even gotten a proper look of his face, so I allow my eyes to travel over him now. He is in this late thirties and he has messy brown hair. He’s wearing a suit, with a tie and everything. It’s a bit wet and muddy, but he still looks good in it. His black shoes are muddy as well and he left footprints in the hallway, so I guess I shouldn’t have worried about my dirty shoes. Even though his suit doesn’t show much skin, obviously, I can tell he is quite well-built underneath. My eyes make their way back up and I notice his dark green eyes taking me in as well, smiling when he gets back up to my face.

“Okay, so you think I’m hot,” he says with a smirk. “Right back at you, door kicker.”

“I don’t think you’re-” I interrupt myself and laugh. It’s no use, he is just teasing me. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“No problem.” He smirks. “You do know I can see your bra, right?”

I curse and look down, realizing he is right. My yellow sundress isn’t designed for rain. No wonder he invited me into his apartment. I must look like a floozy.

He hands me the towel and laughs when I hold it in front of my chest. “How about you take a hot shower and get into some dry clothes while I open up a bottle of wine?”

What the hell is happening?

“What did you buy anyway?” The man moves over to my grocery bags and peeks inside. He is a lot closer than before and I’m little uneasy with him so close to my see-through sundress. “Oh wow,” he comments. “Were you going to cook this late at night? A gourmet meal, no less?”

I can’t help but smile at that. “It was meant for tomorrow, actually.”

“I’m hungry now.”

What the hell is up with the guy? He invites a girl he’s never met before into his apartment, tells me that I look hot and that he can see my bra and now he’s telling me to go have a shower and implying I should cook for him? What. The. Hell.

“I’m really grateful that you got me out of the rain,” I tell him, making sure the towel is still covering my breasts. “Really grateful. But I need to call a cab right now so I can get a hotel room for the night. I’ll call my friend tomorrow to get my spare keys from her.”

“No need for any of that,” he tells me with smirk. Why are men who smile in such an arrogant manner always so damn appealing? “There’s a spare bedroom here. I’m sure I can find you a shirt to sleep in. You can save yourself the money and the trouble. Plus, I could use some company.”

I give him a curious glance. He keeps teasing me, making insinuations about what we should be doing tonight, but that last remark feels like it was the truth. Why would he need company from a rando on the street, kicking her own door?

“Okay,” I decide. I really don’t feel like running around town trying to find a place to stay. I’ve been low on cash for months, so I’m even sure if my credit card would even cover the cost of a hotel room at this point. My new job starts in a week, so I have to wait another seven days before I have any kind of cashflow again.

“Okay?” The man smiles and it looks so genuine that it lights up his face. I notice just how piercing his green eyes really are and that he has dimples. Cute, beautiful, sexy dimples.

“I figure this is a good a way as any to meet my new neighbor.” I shrug. “Point me to the shower, will you?”

“My pleasure.”