And now for something whimsical or fiecely compeetive and exhilarating, you choose!
Bicyles in Romance!
I love how in Hstoricals the bicycle is use as a pivot point in women's freedom of movement and dress. The Rationial Dress Movement brought us bloomers, the ability to move, and not have our long skirts catch on fire. Yea! Check out: A Bicycle Built For Two by Margaret Brownley There are also great plots about bike touring in the West: Marci's Desire by Sara Luck.
Paranormals need more bicycles: I found one awesome Fantasy Romance about Velodrome Racers: The Velo Races by Emily June Street. I can't help but think of Pod Racing in Starwars.
In Comtemporary Romance, we get everything: The Tour de France, bike couriers, cross counrty biking, mountain biking, Xtreme spots, and heroines with cool baskets on the front of thier daily rider.
Enjoy these wonderful Bike Celebrating Romances!
1. Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox $2.99!
When Lexie Marshall places an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find someone friendly and fun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets Tom Geiger—a lean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the adventure she’s spent years planning.
Roped into the cycling equivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn’t want to ride with a chatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly doesn’t want to want her. Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her thighs really turns his crank.
Even Tom’s stubborn determination to keep Lexie at a distance can’t stop a kiss from leading to endless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride ends, where will they go next?
2. The Midwife's Secret by Kate Bridges
If Amanda Ryan's Secret Past Were Known, Her Fresh Start In Life Would Come To A Dead Stop.
No one would readily accept a divorced, barren midwife. Not even, she feared, Tom Murdock. For though he'd roused her slumbering womanhood, she could never be the wife he deserved...!
Just when his battered faith in human nature was almost restored, Tom Murdock discovered that Amanda Ryan had outright lied to him, destroying their chances for happiness. Or had she? For this feisty, independent woman, who could never give him the family he'd dreamed of, had made him desire things he'd never imagined...!
3. Touched To The Heart by Elsa Winckler $2.81!
When it comes to men, if physiotherapist Caitlin Sutherland didn't have bad luck, she would have no luck at all. To help cope, Caitlin starts blogging in her spare time, about the types of men she meets and the bad dates she goes on.
While on duty during the annual Wines to Whales bicycle race, a gorgeous, sweaty cyclist walks in and sets her hormones dancing. But he is Don Cavallo; one of the four Cavallo brothers — hotel tycoons, famous as much for their business skills as for the number of beauties regularly seen on their arms.
Don Cavallo has his own issues with the other sex. He has yet to find one who is interested in him and not in his money or hotels. But when this sexy physio puts her hands on his back she not only touches his body, but also his heart.
They've both been burned before, but neither of them can stop themselves from playing with fire.
4. Stiletto Heels or Bicycle Wheels? by Lindsey Paley $2.99!
When stressed out New York executive Rosie Hamilton inherits her Aunt Bernice’s run-down cottage, it couldn’t have come at a better time. With her love life, if she could call it that, exploding in her face and suspension from her job swinging through the corporate jungle, she reckons a couple weeks in Devon could be just the escape she needs from the glamorous, yet trauma-strewn landscape of her life in Manhattan.
But life hidden away in the thatched lodge is dull, and how can she contemplate tackling the jungle of a garden in her Louboutins and Armani skirt suit?
Rosie, uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy masquerading as community spirit, yearns to return to her old life of social indifference, until she stumbles upon her aunt’s old, hand-illustrated recipe book. With no other activity to occupy her time, she bakes, bakes, bakes as if her life depends on it. With no form of transport either, Rosie takes to the road on Bernice’s ancient bicycle, warm Devonshire scones in the wicket basket up front.
She even has time to date! Austin, her aunt’s handsome, sharp-suited solicitor is straight from her New York wish list of boyfriend material; and Charlie, the local luxury Spa Hotel’s general maintenance guy, definitely not her type, irritatingly chirpy and lacking in life’s ambition.
With recipes from Aunt Bernice’s own baking book for you to try at home; Corporate Manhattan or rural Devon? Austin or Charlie? ‘Stiletto Heels or Bicycles Wheels?’ Which would you choose?
5. The Velo Races by Emily June Street
Cutthroat velocipede racing enthralls the citizens of Seren, and Emmeline Escot was born to ride. There’s only one problem: she’s a girl. Serenias—the high-born women of the city—live tightly laced lives, cloistered by their families before marriage, rigidly controlled by their husbands after.
Emmeline watches her twin brother gain success as a professional racing jockey while her own life grows increasingly narrow. Yet her hunger to ride never dies. Ever more stifled by the rules of her life, Emmeline rebels—with stunning consequences.
Can her dream to race survive scandal, scrutiny, and heartbreak?
6. Chain Reaction by Ross Goldstein
Three years ago, rising cycling star Cal Scott abruptly quit the T Mobile team and returned home to California, determined to abandon cycling forever. At least that was his intention. Now Cal’s father has an offer for him: Come to Italy, bring your bike, do some recreational cycling, watch a race, no strings attached.
But Cal suspects that nothing from his bulldog-defense-attorney father comes without strings; after all, the trip coincides with Bassano del Grappa’s torturous race up the ferocious slopes of Monte Grappa. A win could mean re-entry into the pro cycling echelon, and on a personal level, heal the painful memories that preceded his decision to abandon a cycling career at the brink of success. In Bassano del Grappa, when his father introduces Cal to his old friend Gianni Di Salvo, former Giro d’Italia winner and famed cycling coach, Cal is proven right. Di Salvo offers all the support and coaching Cal needs to win the race, if Cal can get his head and heart “right” with competing again.
Di Salvo’s Squadra Diavolo team is full of brutally competitive local riders, and Cal’s fire for good fight still burns hot—as does his flame for Di Salvo’s beautiful ciclista daughter, Daniella. Pressured by rumors and coaxed by Daniella’s friendship, Cal undertakes a quest to purge himself of the past, fall in love, and win the race. On the journey, he just might learn that beyond the cutthroat side of pro cycling is the essence of the sport: being pushed beyond one’s limit to achieve the impossible.
7. A Bicycle Built For Two (Beaus and Buttons) by Margaret Brownley $3.99!
No one can pedal a bicycle around turn-of-the-century New York without a license, so Amanda Blackwell's cycling school has become all the rage. The innovative establishment provides an income for the independent miss and her brother Donny, a special child. But in one afternoon, everything goes to hade in a handbasket. Amanda's uncle is suing to put Donny into an institution and Damian Newcastle, the handsomest man she ever met, rides into her life to ruin everything.
Architect Damian Newcastle has a dream—to build the highest skyscraper in New York so his wheelchair-bound son can see "the world" from atop the building. He just needs the land occupied by Amanda's cycling school to do it. But the building collapse that ruined his father's company caused Amanda's father's death. He and Amanda are supposed to be enemies, yet they are experiencing an overwhelming desire neither can put the brakes on. If only they can ride tandem on the byways of love, they have this chance of a lifetime to heal their hearts.
8. The Story Guy (Novella) by Mary Ann Rivers 99 cents!
I will meet you on Wednesdays at noon in Celebration Park. Kissing only.
Carrie West is happy with her life . . . isn’t she? But when she sees this provocative online ad, the thirtysomething librarian can’t help but be tempted. After all, the photo of the anonymous poster is far too attractive to ignore. And when Wednesday finally arrives, it brings a first kiss that’s hotter than any she’s ever imagined. Brian Newburgh is an attorney, but there’s more to his life . . . that he won't share with Carrie. Determined to have more than just Wednesdays, Carrie embarks on a quest to learn Brian’s story, certain that he will be worth the cost. But is she ready to gamble her heart on a man who just might be The One . . . even though she has no idea how their love story will end?
9. Marci's Desire by Sara Luck
Two different worlds . . .
The daughter of a high-ranking Treasury official, as game for mastering the new contraption called a bicycle as she is for studying art and photography, Marci Winters turns heads inside Washington, D.C.’s dazzling social circles. When the collegeeducated beauty is caught in an intimate encounter with political operative Stanton Caldwell, a crushing scandal threatens, forcing an appalled DeWitt Winters to send his daughter far away.
One thrilling passion . . .
Armed with her camera, Marci arrives in the grandeur of Yellowstone National Park and discovers a natural wonder: Lieutenant Myles Cade McDowell. Stationed at Fort Yellowstone to protect its wildlife from poachers, Cade hears of a test to be conducted across 400 miles of demanding terrain to prove the worthiness of an Army bicycle corps. Believing bikes could streamline how the park is patrolled, Cade joins the great ride himself. Capturing the adventure in a photo essay is a spitfire from the East who also captures Cade’s heart—but can she keep pace pedaling alongside this muscular and competitive military man? The lieutenant will soon discover that the open frontier— like love itself—is full of surprises!
This month-long bicycle trip across summertime Alaska is her chance to get Rex back. Yes, he'd made a mistake, and she'd divorced him for it. But she has no intention of failing at this marriage. Then there is the complication—the cop, Wade. When she met him she'd made a complete idiot of herself, and low and behold here he is, on the same darned vacation.
Getting Rex back is her only objective. So why does she keep tumbling into Wade's arms? He's made it clear he isn't looking for anything but casual relationships. She thought she'd made a big enough fool of herself when they met. So just how big a fool will she make of herself with one man—while trying to win back another?
Do you have more? Gimme! Vote for the best of the best on my Goodreads list: Bicycles in Romance.