All I Have (Farmer’s Market #1)

9780373609192.indd

All I Have was originally available as part of the HarlequinE Contemporary Romance Box Set Vol II from June-Aug 2014. Then as a single title from September 2014-present.

As of July 2015, All I Have has yet another new start as a Superromance. This means the same cute, enjoyable story, but with an extra 25,000 words! (The story itself hasn’t changed, the Superromance version offers added scenes, and a deeper more complex look at family/conflicts).

All I Have is Book 1 in my Farmer’s Market Story Series. Book 2 is All I Am. Book 3 is All I Want

Buy Links:

(Harlequin) (Amazon) (Kobo) (iBooks) (BN) (Goodreads)

(please note: print editions are only available through Harlequin.com)

Let the battle begin 

Mia Pruitt wishes Dell Wainwright would keep his shirt on. The Naked Farmer lures customers by stripping to his perfectly worn jeans while he and Mia sell vegetables from competing stands at the farmer’s market. It’s time for a showdown, and they’re each in it to win.

Yet when both farms end up in jeopardy, Mia and Dell suddenly find themselves on the same team. If their rivalry was hot, their attraction is steaming, but they can’t seem to agree on a plan. If they could only learn to grow together, they might reap the best harvest of all…

Praise for All I Have

“…this book was all about the romance. It was so sweet, so perfect. Dell and Mia had great chemistry, and I really enjoyed the banter between them. Theirs was a very believable romance, and it was all kinds of swoony goodness.” Kindles and Wine

(HarlequinE Version):

“So if you like books where the nerdy girl grows up and the hot guy likes her or books where sexual tension sizzles across a market table brimming with cabbages, this is your bag. It’s a quick read, but an enjoyable one.” A Review from Elyse at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

“I had never read Nicole Helm before and what a gem I found! … The farm setting, the battle at the farmer’s market and the chemistry these two share is truly something special. Highly recommend this one…”-Smexy Books

Old Covers

(short version)

20140416-214734.jpg

Box Set (6/14-8/14)

Old Blurb:

Mia Pruitt’s done sacrificing. More geeky than glamorous in high school, she let Dell Wainright, the town’s sexy party boy, overlook her while she waited for Mr. Right—who never came. Now it’s time for some changes. Time to take control of her family’s farm and her sex life. And Dell’s the perfect guy to give her a hands-on lesson in passion.

Only, Dell’s her toughest rival at the local farmer’s market. With developers circling his father’s land, he’ll do whatever it takes to prove he’s responsible enough to take the reins. Whether it’s stripping off his shirt to entice women to his stand or temporarily joining forces with Mia to rescue both of their businesses.

But crossing the line between work and pleasure reaps more complications than either of them see coming. And they’ll find out just how hot competition can get.

Excerpt:

Chapter one

“Guh.”

Mia ran smack-dab into her sister’s back, causing the pallet full of cabbages she was carrying to drop to the ground. Green spheres bounced against concrete and rolled in every direction.

“Damn it, Cara.”

“Sorry.” But Cara didn’t move. She stood frozen directly in the path between the truck bed and their stand at the farmer’s market, cabbage strewn about her feet.

Mia looked where Cara’s gaze was transfixed and groaned. “Is he serious? It’s not even fifty degrees. Can’t he wait for July for that crap?”

“Who cares?” Cara fanned her face with her hand. “He can take his shirt off any day he wants. And if he gets cold, I will gladly step in to warm him up.”

Dell and his stupid shirtless antics had put a serious dent in their farmer’s market profits last year. Cara didn’t care, but this wasn’t her full-time job. Mia was the one taking over the farm.

Dell Wainwright might look like a god among men, but she’d jump around naked in front of everyone before she let him put her out of business. This farmer’s market was the best thing to happen to her share of Pruitt Farms, and to her personally. In the past five years she’d been selling here, she had finally learned how to come out of her shell.

Yeah, Dell was not screwing that up. Six-pack abs or no six-pack abs. “Stop drooling and pick up the cabbage.” She gave Cara a nudge with her boot. “He’s the enemy, remember?”

“If the enemy looks like that I’ll gladly turn myself in. What kind of torture are we talking?”

“Gross.”

“If you think that’s gross, you need your eyes checked.” Cara flipped her hair over her shoulder and bent down to pick up the cabbage at her feet. Her eyes never left Dell.

Mia groaned again, but set to unloading the early spring haul onto the table under the Pruitt Farms tent. Meanwhile, Cara made no bones about watching Dell’s every move.

Cara was always dating or talking about guys she wanted to date or pinning hot celebrity pictures to her Pinterest page. It wasn’t that Mia didn’t appreciate a hot guy, she just didn’t understand obsessing over one.

Probably because twenty-six-year-old virgins didn’t know what they were missing.

Mia set up the pallets, the price signs, made sure everything was just so, and maybe on occasion her gaze drifted to Dell and his broad, tanned shoulders as he hauled his own farm’s offerings from truck to table.

He was still the enemy, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t look.

“So glad to see you girls back this year,” Val greeted, ever-present clipboard clutched to her chest. “All year, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Couldn’t kick us out if you wanted.”

Val wasn’t looking at her anymore, though. She was drooling over Dell, right along with Cara. Mia resisted the urge to hurl a cabbage across the aisle. Knowing Dell, he’d probably make a big show out of catching it.

“Uh-huh. Very good. See you next week.” Val wandered off to Dell’s table. In two seconds flat Dell was making her giggle and blush.

“You can’t stop staring, either.”

“I’m picturing strangling him.” And if that picture included wondering what his skin might feel like under her hands it was just curiosity, not interest.

“Hey, whatever floats your boat.”

A group of women descended on Dell’s table. Usually the first hour of the first week of the market was virtually empty, but today had a bit of a crowd. A mainly female crowd.

Not fair. What’d he do, advertise? Male stripper does Millertown Farmer’s Market.

The group of women laughed and Dell made a big production of picking things up and putting things down and flexing and—ugh—he really was despicable.

“You’re blushing.”

“I am not!” Damn it. She totally was. Well, she’d come too far to be flustered by a pair of perfectly toned forearms. She was not the little girl who hyperventilated in the bathroom between classes if a boy even said hi to her.

It had always been a joke, anyway. Say hi to Mia Pruitt and watch her self-destruct into a blushing, babbling mess.

Dell wasn’t saying hi to her, joke or no joke, and he most certainly wasn’t a boy. He was an adult man and she was an adult woman. A confident, strong woman no longer the laughing stock of her tiny Missouri farming community.

Every time someone bought a head of broccoli or cabbage from him meant it was a head they weren’t buying from her. So, essentially, he was stealing from her.

Nobody liked a thief no matter how white their teeth were or how charming their grins might be.

“You know what?” Mia dropped the cashbox onto the ground next to her chair with a loud crash. “Two can play his little game.”

Cara laughed. “What does that mean? You going to take your shirt off?”

“Not exactly.” Mia narrowed her eyes at Dell flirting with a young mom who carried a baby on her hip. Both mom and baby were charmed. Mom bought a bag full of vegetables. Probably wouldn’t eat half of them before they went bad.

Mia might not have muscles and a five o’clock shadow women swooned over, but surely she could do something to undermine Dell’s sex-sells philosophy.

If you couldn’t beat ’em, join ’em. She wasn’t sure how to join them yet, but she would damn well figure it out before next week.

Extras:

I got the idea for this when my critique partner sent me the link to this story.

Pinterest Board

Soundtrack to Writing