Turn My Head Series

In the weeks leading up to their wedding, Gabriel Pernoud and Alicia Drummond work to put a number of issues to rest concerning not just themselves, but their family situations. Their mothers, two women who are as different as night and day, become the focus of their lives as they come to grips with Gabriel's mother having been away for so long when he truly did need her while he was being raised by his older brothers, and Alicia's mother being a controlling idealist. Adding to the drama, the couple discovers that they produced an addition to their little family well before schedule which will force other decisions to be made well in advance of previous plans. And, as usual in the Pernoud and Drummond clans, family members are constantly underfoot and giving unsolicited advice.

Beth Hartke Pernoud and her husband Ed Pernoud find out they are going to be parents after previous disappointments. Due to turbulent water under the bridge with Ed's father, Beth's dad refuses to accept their clandestine marriage, and the reality that they had been sneaking around spending Romeo Nights together for four years. Now, with a crisis in the pregnancy and Beth needing to be more dependent on family, she and Ed have to come to grips with how their lives are about to change including her quitting her job, and buying a house in the same neighborhood as his brothers, both moves she was reluctant to make before the baby was conceived. This interlude is the fifth book in the "Turn My Head" series. The story follows the romances of seven brothers, sons of a wealthy family, who fall in love forever at first sight. Previous installments include Turn My Head, Break Through, Third Time's the Charm, and Conflict of Interest.

Mae Jones, getting desperate at looking for a job not in an office, answers an ad for "Household Manager" tending to the lives of seven brothers living in the old money suburb of St. Louis, Ladue. When the big front door opens at the French chateau style house, she comes face to face with the elusive and amazingly handsome billionaire Adam Pernoud, head of a family of seven brothers who lost their parents years earlier, and have no one but each other. From the time he lays eyes on Mae, Adam's head is turned. He, in typical male fashion doesn't quite know what to do about it. His brothers notice, and tease him mercilessly all while pursuing their passions: engineering and hockey. They love hockey so much, that in their very own frat boys' paradise, they built themselves a hockey rink on the back part of the estate. Mae walks into this world unawares, and works to organize their lives. The very first weekend of her employment with the Pernouds, Mae finds herself snowed in at the estate where she and Adam get to know each other. He explains his philosophy regarding being rich - with all that money comes a lot of responsibility - and she decides that his wealth is just too much for her, a hang-up from growing up under a domineering mother's thumb. Spooked, she withdraws, and Adam is left to figure out why. After a week, they have it out in the most important room in any American household - the kitchen. Then, as happens in the American midwest, a bolt of lightning splits a tree and almost kills Mae, driving her into Adam's arms and bed.

In the turbulent St. Louis spring, Ben, the second of the elusive Pernoud brothers clan, is working to finish his bridge project and nursing the new reality that his older brother is getting married and leaving him at home to run the business while he spends a pre-honeymoon in Europe. His head turns when a local television reporter, Darcy Platt, is sent out to his brother Adam's estate following a storm to cover the damage done to the property when a tree falls on a historic building. For her part, Darcy is one of the legendary small town "pretty girls" who has been made paranoid about it over the years. Nursing an abuse she has not shared with anyone else, Ben helps her make a break through as the pair navigates the rituals of courting and trying to get her controlling parents to understand that their pairing is for real.

When Ryan Fallon and his twin sister made a pact at the end of high school to never marry, neither of them knew that Josie Miller would walk into their lives. They certainly did not know that Ryan would fall for her, or that she would fall just as hard for him. Now, Josie is homeless and without a job, facing a week without her family, too. Ryan agrees to take her in, and the pair proceed to talk dirty while they explore their mutual attraction during a whole lot of family drama.

Margot Dolan was desperately trying to keep her busy life together when Damian Pernoud walked through the door of the women's shelter where she worked. He was there to determine what would be needed for a massive renovation of the facility along with what the women who ran the non-profit wanted from his family in terms of a donation. One look at Margot, and Damian's head turned. There was only one problem: Margot's father was the state senator responsible for awarding state road construction contracts, and before Damian and Margot even get a chance to really get to know each other, a conflict of interest threatens to come between them.

Sarah Jane Rappaport returns from an unsuccessful antiques scouting trip to find her boss waiting for her. He offers to forget the cost of her unfruitful trip, one of many, in exchange for a physical relationship. She turns him down flat, and leaves behind her worldly possessions in a work sponsored living space. She takes refuge with a friend who is engaged to the brother of her boss's arch-nemesis, Christian Pernoud. Christian Pernoud is the third of the infamous Pernoud brothers, some of the richest men on the planet. He is a structural engineer specializing in retrofitting vintage buildings. Known as the family smart aleck and using Beethoven sonatas to sooth his wounded heart, Christian's head was turned by Sarah Jane years earlier. She didn't believe him, and turned him down flat. That didn't change anything for Christian, and when he discovers what his old high school enemy does to his Sarah Jane, basically to get revenge on him, he decides to rescue his damsel in distress. Because of the nature of Sarah Jane's employment, she needs expensive lawyers to help her get out of the mess. Christian finances her legal bills, and foots the bill for expenses, all of which Sarah Jane can pay back once she can get the liens taken off of her bank accounts. The nasty insinuations from her former boss that she ran to Christian after his proposition force Christian and Sarah Jane to marry. They believe their marriage is in name only. No one else does. On a trip to deal with business overseas, both Christian and Sarah Jane come to the conclusion that they want to marriage to be real, but have to come to grips with throwing out an agreement made in the heat of the emergency. They find out the third time getting married is the charm when his family forces the issue of a church wedding rather than a simple legal agreement.

In the sixth book of the Turn My Head series, Rosemary Fallon, granddaughter of United States Senator Aidan Dolan, and gifted violinist, is home in St. Louis from Zurich while her grandfather lives out the end of his days. Unbeknownst to the family - at least Rosemary and her lover Francis Pernoud, sixth of the wealthy family that was suddenly losing bachelors at a rate of six in a year, didn't think they knew - she and Francis had been secretly, and very much in love since high school despite the pact that Rosemary and her twin brother Ryan made when they were seventeen to never marry. Against the backdrop of the Senator dying and the family drama surrounding that including the fate of Rosemary's prized violin made by one of the great 18th century masters of Cremona, Rosemary and Francis discover that they cannot keep the attraction a secret. They eventually admit the truth, and take their time working out the details including Francis owning up to not really being the Last Man Standing.

Interior designer Tara McKenzie took a new job in a new city, St. Louis, with a boss who really doesn't seem to like her. Mickey Dolan resents the fact that his partner hired his design team while he was out of town, and that goes double for Southern Belle Tara. She gives off all the vibes of being amazingly high maintenance, Mickey's least favorite feminine trait. Through a series of work related encounters, Mickey finds out that he his wrong about his Southern Belle, and learns to trust her with his family's renovation projects, and his most closely guarded secrets regarding the company. In a relatively short period of time, their mutual attraction blossoms, and Mickey finds out that Tara was once betrayed by a man she should have been able to trust. The pair work through some difficulties before Mickey admits that he was wrong about her being High Maintenance, and Tara figures out that she really can trust him with her whole being.

Following the demise of her marriage, Maureen Dolan is working to put her life back together and move on from dependence on family for a number of forms of support. She is keeping her Irish dancing school going, and learning to live on her own again. Linus Drummond is dealing with his father's departure from the family, his mother's slow moving terminal disease, his sister marrying one of his best friends who just happens to be Maureen's oldest brother, and a mess in the family business that Linus is suddenly running. In the meantime, the two have been avoiding each other for what they considered to be a very good reason: the danger his job presents. While all of this is going on in their lives, three weddings happen within Linus and Maureen's circle. During the receptions, they let their bodies do the talking while they ballroom dance and come to the realization that they had been walking around each other for most of their lives, and were now ready to become the latest couple in the family and friends circle that tended not to branch out. Maureen is the next bride in line, and the families in the Turn My Head series make sure she and Linus cannot escape that reality.

Twelve years have passed since veterinarian Sean Dolan ran from the girl he was attracted to into the arms of a woman he came to loathe. In that time, he married, had two children, divorced, and now is faced with the reality that the woman he really wanted is no longer under age, but very much old enough to make her own decisions. Marianne Drummond has spent the last twelve years trying to ignore and forget Sean Dolan sprinting away from her when she was sixteen. Following a rebellious phase when she tried to get back at him for not waiting for her, and while she was busy defying her father's plans for her, Marianne settled into being a professional violinist, and traveled the world as a substitute in various orchestras. Now, she's decided to stay home for a while as constantly being on the road got really old. Due to circumstances, the pair find themselves in each other's orbit. They begin the task that should have taken place years earlier of getting to know each other. One night, things go a bit too far, and at that point, there was no turning back. Sean and Marianne would be together forever whether they are ready for it or not.