Book excerpt: SWEET NOVELLA Nick Berkley is happy being the best man, never the groom. Life is complicated enough with his thriving veterinary practice and working nights at the family pet store covering for his ailing father. He prefers dates to relationships. He doesn't need one woman to try to change him or his ways. Now his friend's Marine unit is shipping overseas and with only two weeks to plan a 4th of July wedding, Nick's put in charge of finding the perfect wedding cake when all the bakeries in town are booked for the holiday. Independent single mother Delilah Redmond still remembers the first wedding cake she watched a groom feed his bride. In that one magical moment, baking the perfect wedding cake became her passion. Six years later, Delilah finds herself wishing for more—more time with her son and more of a name for herself in the wedding cake business. But long hours in the kitchen with no recognition have left her feeling like a failure on both counts. Now Delilah's thinking of giving up her cake pans, and she hopes a vacation in the quiet mountain town of Starlight Hills will help clear her head…until she meets Nick, the desperate-for-a-cake best man. Sweet desperation has Nick making promises he's never made before and one woman's to blame. Now, pulling off the perfect wedding cake may force Delilah to depend on someone else…but she might also find everything she's ever wished for.