Not According to Plan

With: A.M. Madden

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For one night of Jade’s life, she dared to do something reckless.

Her birthday. A bar. Karaoke. And a man so hot he could melt the sun.

Sparks flew. Lust took over. For one night of her life, she felt alive.

Then she was back to her "boring" life.

Career-driven. Goal-oriented. Always planning ahead.

But nothing could have prepared her for the positive pregnancy test.

They weren't that reckless.

There goes Jade’s "boring" life.


And what happens when she tells the father?

Excerpt:

Copyright © 2020 by A.M. Madden.

When a firm hand clamped my shoulder, I realized Nate had plopped down on the stool beside me. “What the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you home in your fortress, avoiding people who like having fun?” 

“Shut it. I needed a drink.” 

“In here?” he asked, an amused smirk on his face. “You despise this place when there’s a game on.” 

“Yeah, well, temporary insanity.” 

“So, what’s going on with you?” 

“Isn’t that a loaded question?” I quipped without thinking. 

“You okay?” he quickly asked.

“Long story.”

At that moment, Brad came back, slinging a dishtowel over his shoulder. Typically, the females in the vicinity began giggling and whispering at seeing identical triplets in one location. Ignoring it, Brad said, “Did you tell him?” 

“Not yet.”

“Tell me what?”

I held Nate’s gaze, but the words caught in my throat. 

Brad took my silence as an opportunity to blurt out, “We’re going to be uncles.” Nate’s expression mirrored Brad’s from when I told him, and it had nothing to do with our likenesses. “Jade is pregnant.”

“Say what?” Nate said. When Nate then said, “Who is Jade?”

“Someone I met.”

“How did you meet?”

The grin on Brad’s face caused a scowl on mine. “Jade is the beauty I rigged him to meet at my bar on Kismet Karaoke Night. He needed to get laid, dude.” 

“So, this is actually your fault?” Nate accused with an eye roll and sigh before turning back to me. “And you slept with her that night?” 

“Yeah,” I said like a child being scolded. Predictably, my brother, always the counselor, listened intently as I explained the chain of events that led to where Jade and I were now. Once done, his silence continued to stretch. “Say something,” I prodded. 

“How well do you know this woman?” The question should have irritated me, but I couldn’t blame him for playing devil’s advocate. 

“Well enough,” I said, knowing it was a weak explanation. 

“Great answer,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “I leave you two for a few weeks and all hell breaks loose. I’d expect this from him,” he accused, thrusting a thumb at Brad. “Not from you.”

Brad instantly flipped him the bird. “Hey, I have a stupid question,” he said. “Did you use condoms?” 

“Of course, I did.”

“Gold Shields?”

“Yeah. What’s your point?”

“Dude, there was a massive recall on them. It was all over the news.”

My gaze flicked to Nate. “Is he kidding?”

“Afraid not. You didn’t know?”

“What the heck? Cars get recalled, not condoms. Don’t they realize they’re playing with people’s lives?” 

“Yeah. Thus, the recall,” Brad offered with a chuckle. “Obviously, you don’t have sex enough to keep on top of these things.”

Giveaway: 
One signed paperback copy of Not According to Plan to one lucky person leaving a comment or email entry. (US only)

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST March 24th. Due to GDPR regulations you no longer need to submit your email address in the comments. If you have been selected as a winner your name will be posted at the top of the post. You may then contact maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com to claim your prize. Your email address will be shared with the author/publicist providing the giveaway.