Carol Maloney Scott

Published book

The Only Normal Sister

Victoria Benton Franklin is the only normal one. She has the steady job, the ex-husband safely across the country, the daughter at boarding school, and one modest dream: turn the crumbling farmhouse she's loved for years into her own B&B. Then a thirty-three-year-old developer named Alex Morrison buys it out from under her to build an amusement park — and has the sheer nerve to move into her spare room as her tenant.

Now the man who bulldozed her dream is making coffee in her kitchen, winning over her impossible family, and proving infuriatingly hard to hate. Which would be plenty to ruin any December — even before the paparazzi chasing her famous ex roll into town and her three sisters' carefully arranged lives start detonating one by one.

By Christmas Day, the only normal sister will have to admit that none of them ever were — and that the man she swore she'd never forgive might be the best thing to happen to her all year.

Published book

Daisy's Diary

The badgers are closing in. Mommy won't stop dating jerks. And somebody around here has to keep this cul-de-sac safe.

Meet Daisy Ratzenberger: nine pounds of pure fury, decorated operative of the Secret Wiener Society, and devoted protector of a lonely lady named Claire — a woman with a hopeless talent for bringing home exactly the wrong man.

Armed with her trusty iWeen, a squad of imaginary dachshund colleagues, and an unshakable belief in her own importance, Daisy documents it all: the date who lost his pants, the doctor who rubs bellies with two fingers (TWO FINGERS), the mysterious storm-drain Portal to the badger underworld, and the suspiciously wonderful young writer across the street who might — just might — be one of the good ones.

She can't drive (long story — a file was lost). She can't work a phone (no thumbs). And she definitely can't tell Claire which man to choose. But when Daisy's big chance at freedom goes wildly wrong, she'll discover what every dog secretly knows: the real mission was never the badgers.

A laugh-out-loud, tissue-alert retelling of There Are No Men from the only witness who saw it all — from under the coffee table.

Some agents get medals. This one gets belly rubs.

Published book

Adventures of City Girl

When Tara Silverthorne catches her husband with donuts in places donuts should never be, her twenty-year marriage implodes faster than a botched soufflé.

Fleeing her suburban life for a trendy Richmond apartment, forty-two-year-old Tara thinks the hardest part of starting over will be learning to parallel park. She’s wrong. Landing a job at a high-end shoe company introduces her to torturous designer heels and her charming French boss, who’s still nursing a decades-old crush. Between her meddling seventy-something neighbor Dinah, a hot twenty-five-year-old practice boyfriend, and a mysterious cidery owner who may or may not be involved with the Vietnamese mob, Tara’s new single life is anything but simple.

Add in a daughter dropping out of Harvard, a son suspended for defending the family honor, and a mother having her own midlife crisis, and Tara’s “fresh start” feels more like controlled chaos. But when unexpected new responsibilities come her way, she discovers that sometimes the family you choose is exactly the one you need.

Published book

The Funeral Date

What's the most impulsive thing you've ever done?

Addison thought she had it made with a cute, devoted boyfriend and a good job at his family's boutique hotel, but when the crazy, demanding guests at the Irish-themed inn push her over the edge on St. Patrick's Day weekend, Declan sides with his family.

Eager to escape and do something wildly out of character, she considers an invitation from the hot bourbon sales rep who wants to whisk her away to his family home in Kentucky, but there's one catch - he needs a funeral date.

You've never met a family like this one!

This series is perfect for fans of family dramedy, witty banter, quirky characters, sweet new love, and lots of juicy secrets!

Published book

The Parent Feud

She didn't know her family was in the running for whackiest clan of the year, but there's no hiding it now!

Addison and Carter spent quite a week in Kentucky after her life imploded in Annapolis, and she escaped reality to her new potential love interest’s ancestral home in the rolling countryside of Lexington horse country. The weeklong funeral celebration for Carter’s great uncle Bernard was odd enough, but nothing compared to the huge secret that was revealed during the family gathering.

Fortunately… or unfortunately just when things went sideways Addison received a frantic call from her mother in Detroit asking her to come home right away. It seemed her once happy parents were deeply involved in the marital feud of the century and her mom was seeking a referee… or maybe someone to take her side in the battle.

Eager to once again escape her current situation, Addison makes her excuses and prepares to return to her childhood home for the first time in many years. However, being the great guy he is, Carter happily agrees to tag along… what better way to meet your new girlfriend’s parents than to visit in the midst of flying dishes, a tent on the lawn, and a whole new batch of family secrets and lies?

The Parent Feud is Book 2 in the Meet the Family series and introduces us to Addison's family... hahahahaha... she may have forgotten what things are like back at home.

Published book

The Wedding Bells

What happens when the man of your dreams goes off the rails pursuing HIS dreams?

Addison is settled into her new life with Carter in the beautiful, but hot and prickly town of Tucson. Their new business, The Wedding Bells, is doing well and they are both excited about hosting a lovely wedding that will bring both of their families together in blissful harmony.

So, that’s the fantasy.

The reality is that Carter is driving Addison bonkers with his manic personal habits and poor business skills and thinks that throwing money at a problem is the solution to any mishap or minor inconvenience. While they are not even living together yet, Addison is wondering if it’s acceptable for married people to live in separate houses.

Cue the arrival of the families and the fun really starts! Can the whole gang from the Lennox and Lemieux clans co-exist in peace and harmony at a two-week long wedding celebration during monsoon season in the desert?

And what is the groom’s mother hiding and will it unravel the delicate balance of the whole event?

The Wedding Bells is Book 3 in the Meet the Family series, and it wraps up the family dramedy and the romantic future of our favorite couple, Addison and Carter.

Published book

Love Pixies

Wait... what? FAIRIES ARE REAL?

For three lifelong best friends, a college graduation trip to Ireland is supposed to be their last hurrah before starting their jobs, and taking on the stresses and responsibilities of adult life.

Heather, Tiffany, and Amanda are on a mission to turn the Emerald Isle upside down…or at least wreak a little havoc, drink a wee bit too much, and kiss hunky Irish boys…before returning to their hometown of Chicago.

When Rhiannon, a powerful fairy, pays a surprise visit to their adorable, thatched-roof rental cottage in County Clare, and persuades them to sign one-year Love Pixie contracts, their lives are drastically altered. Newly armed with fantastical superpowers, charmed necklaces, and the ability to turn ordinary substances into enchanted pixie dust, the girls join together to fight ‘love crime’ and help assigned couples on the brink of disaster build bridges back to happiness.

It all sounds quite exciting, until they realize that learning how to use powerful magic is not only time-consuming, overwhelming, and confusing – it’s not easy to hide from their family, co-workers, and most importantly – potential love interests.

To complicate matters even more, the trio is repeatedly tempted by the fairy’s rebellious sister, Aideen, who challenges them to break the rules. Perhaps if they listen to the ‘bad fairy’ they can finish their assignment quicker...and get back to work…and play…before anyone is the wiser.

However, the girls were raised to know that there are consequences to bad behavior – at least in the non-magical world.

Afraid to ask if there is such a thing as magical jail, the two more sensible Pixies hope to rein in their most wayward partner - before their contracts are terminated...and their couple’s relationship implodes into a pile of ordinary dust.

Published book

Nobody Tells Lia Anything

Lia needs ANSWERS from beyond, NOT matchmaking!

When twenty-something Lia’s grandmother dies, her life is knocked upside-down. In order to satisfy the terms of her inheritance, Lia is forced to move to the family’s apartment complex in the scenic mountain town of Applebarrow, leaving behind her dead-end job and long-term boyfriend, Jason.

While she’s happy to fulfill her Granana’s unusual dying wish to play social director to the eclectic group of tenants, she’s surprised to discover they are not what she was expecting. Her days as an RA in her college dorm were inadequate preparation for personalities such as a jealous librarian who names her Thanksgiving turkeys, a charmingly naive mechanic who thinks New Wave is beach music, and a volatile menopausal woman who claims to be a delicate flower.

To add to the mayhem, she meets Logan, an attractive young bartender with a penchant for rescuing her from absurd antics, such as losing her phone to a raccoon and thinking Long Island Iced Teas contain little alcohol.

As Jason’s behavior becomes increasingly suspicious and erratic, Lia can’t help being drawn to Logan’s thoughtfulness, wit, and intense blue eyes.

While adapting to her new community, secrets and lies emerge, and Lia wonders what the deceased, AND living, people in her life are hiding.

Working to uncover the evidence, Lia hopes a wacky, unexpected visitor from beyond will provide the answers she craves – before she loses her grip on reality, and the love of her life.

Published book

Something Molly Can't See

Sometimes you can't see what's been in front of you all along!

Thirty-something, single mom Molly’s dreams came true when her new friend, Lia, invested in her dollmaking business, and Molly’s Dollies was born.

Unfortunately, her romantic dreams were shattered when her husband of over fifteen years invested in a pyramid scheme – and ran off with all their money, and the woman at the top of the pyramid.

No one has seen or heard from Ray in over a year, and Molly is finally opening up to new love. She babysat Tucker Swanson many moons ago, but their five-year age difference no longer matters, now that he’s a strong, sexy, and successful man.

Unfortunately, as soon as Tucker acts upon his lifelong crush on Molly, Ray suddenly turns up and hinders their newfound romance with his own agenda.

While juggling argumentative teens, waitressing, and her new business, Molly further complicates her life by agreeing to attend a ‘silent’ retreat with her neighbors that is anything but Zen, and eventually finds herself in a champagne glass hot tub – but with the wrong man.

When she finds an unexpected guest from the great beyond eating a chicken leg on her toilet, a whole new set of questions and obstacles arise to keep her and Tucker apart. Past and present secrets begin cropping up like the first flowers of spring, and Molly looks to loved ones old and new to help her find her long-lost aunt.

As she struggles to uncover the truth about her family’s past and Tucker’s present, she can only hope to salvage true love with the man of her dreams - before the rest of the people in her life make her as crazy as a bedbug.

Published book

Dazed and Divorced

What do single people do?

It’s been almost twenty years since Claire met her ex in high school, and now she finds herself thrust into the dating world for the first time as an adult, armed with little more than confusion and lack of experience.

Not only is Ron the only man she’s ever been with, she’s also coping with the loss of her fertility, and if she goes on one more hideous blind date – possibly her mind.

Determined to avoid both online dating and meetup groups, she endures fix-ups with all sorts of memorable characters, such as weepy Pete, the drunk skunk, the cheap hot-dog eater, and let’s not forget - the unholy speed dater.

As Claire becomes more depressed over her plight, her best friend Jane prompts her to redirect her maternal longings by adopting an adorable wiener dog puppy. Dixie is not a human baby, but hopefully she will provide her new Mommy with a diversion from the parade of loony men marching through her lonely nights – that’s if Mommy’s house and sanity survive the destructive cyclone that is an untrained three-pound ball of craziness!

Unfortunately, while Claire is trying to move on, her ex Ron is trying to pull her back into the past, and his life. Determined to win back his wife’s affections, he offers to help Claire with home repairs as he tries to implement ‘Operation Friends’ in an effort to persuade his wife to give him another chance.

However, Ron is struggling with his own adjustment to single life, and isn’t finding it easy to ditch the Amazon woman, or his new ‘mail order bride’ dating site hobby, no matter how much he has convinced himself that he and Claire belong together.

Published book

There Are No Men

Will any man make it to a second date?

Divorced thirty-something Claire doesn’t know who’s in her dating pool—but she’s doing her best to avoid shark-infested waters.

Leaving her clueless and insensitive husband behind was a smart move after losing her fertility, but now she’s riding the wave of flying toupees, strange men in leather thongs, and drunken nights in painfully impractical shoes.

Claire desperately wanted to be a mother, but now she’ll settle for one middle-aged man worthy of a second date. After a long drought, men are flooding her shores and she’s drowning in choices.

There’s Justin, the 25-year-old IT boy-genius with the GQ looks and cougar fetish, who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. A woman would have to be a blind, lesbian nun not to fall for him, but he reminds Claire of her wasted youth.

And then the charming but mysterious Dr. Nathan appears, but he’s cheating on her with his medical mistress—a demanding cardiology practice.

To further rock her boat, Claire’s ‘stable’ career in publishing has been tossed about by her floundering company’s launch of a new line of trendy, salacious books. Cookbooks aren’t selling these days, but this stuff is flying off the shelves—and challenging Claire’s attitude about sex, work . . . and her tempestuous new life.

When her best friend convinces her to buddy up with the aspiring writer who just moved in across the street, Claire rejects the idea—he has already caught her in more than one embarrassing and scantily clad situation.

Giving in to her friend’s nudging, she tries to ignore the details she discovers about him, including his hard rock night gig and his mesmerizing blue eyes, in the hopes his literary talents can pull her publishing house up from the bottom of the ocean.

Claire’s dilemma begs the question: Are there NO men or TOO MANY?

Published book

Afraid of Her Shadow

How much baggage can one couple carry?

Forty-something, self-proclaimed cougar, Rebecca is committed only to her cats and her career. Her veteran single-girl lifestyle has been peaceful and happy – that is until she started dating age-appropriate Steve, an entomology professor with a sweet smile and demeanor to match. Who knew an insect scientist could be so appealing?

The problem? Steve is a widower with baggage to spare. Memories of his late wife fill his home. Smiling photos and jars of bugs serve as constant reminders of Steve’s continued attachment to his dearly departed wife, Noreen, who shared his passion for creepy crawlies!

Now that Rebecca is facing her commitment phobia by moving in with Steve, she is becoming more unhinged. Behaving more like her zany friends than her level-headed self, she burns her butt at the tanning salon, crashes on energy drinks, and even loses a hamster.

Throw into the mix a few delusional relatives, a sarcastic teenager, and a fluffy dog who sheds a new dog every day, and Rebecca doesn’t recognize her old self.

And if that isn’t enough to push her over the edge, her smokin’ hot ex returns, reminding her of a simpler time with a man who carries no more baggage than a wallet.

Published book

The Juggling Act

Which ball will she drop first?

Now that her dating days are finally behind her, Claire is enjoying a blissful life with her new husband and baby boy. Gone are the drunken nights in impractical shoes, and Internet dates with men who lose their hair…and their pants.

Unfortunately, she’s discovering that life as a married, working mom isn’t turning out to be the perfect happily ever after she dreamed about. She adores her little boy, but her husband’s behavior is about to make him eligible for the Most Disappointing Spouse of the Year Award. His unwillingness to help around the house and his slacker work ethic are frustrating enough, but the constant parade of beautiful, single women in his life has Claire in a constant state of distress.

But didn’t she realize that the cute front man of a popular cover band would attract hot, young women with perfect cellulite-free legs? And whose idea was it to hire the curvy nanny with the sexy accent?

When an unexpected business trip pops up – with a super-hot, much-too-young former love interest, Claire’s own loyalty is put to the test. A publishing conference in Key West may be the ideal escape from her troubles, but will she be tempted by the forbidden in a town full of swingers and breakfast alcohol consumption? And why does everyone they meet think the business colleagues are on their honeymoon?

Scrambling to cover up innocent, but suspicious circumstances, the couple struggles with honesty, loyalty, and what it means to share the truth in marriage. As they sink deeper into their gloom, will they find their way back to wedded bliss, or finally succumb to the enticement of new…and uncomplicated romance?

Published book

Accidental Makeovers

Can a career makeover beautify her love life?

Twenty-something, single mom Bianca yearns for more. The cosmetology license she worked so hard to get is collecting dust while she waitresses for her mother’s catering business, but she has no clue how to turn her dreams of being a makeup artist into reality.

Adding to her unhappiness is her dead-end relationship with her immature, video game-obsessed baby daddy, Max. Although he runs a successful business and Bianca still gets a thrill whenever she sees him play the drums in his cover band, Chain, she can’t deny that he’s starting to feel like her big, tattooed second child.

In desperate need of a life makeover, her fortune takes a positive turn when she crosses paths with an impulsive, runaway bride who has the connections to help Bianca achieve her goals. Suddenly, doors are being opened for her and she has a fabulous, new job that’s reigniting her zest for life. Too bad Max isn’t on board with these changes, and he starts acting like a jealous jerk, which brings their faltering relationship to a boiling point just about the time Bianca meets Eric, a sexy and charming financial manager.

Eric comes from a different world, but one that Bianca is increasingly eager to join. She expects her friends and family to be supportive of her budding romance with Eric, but to her surprise, they’re all on Team Max and they rally behind him when he launches a campaign to win her back.

Nothing wrong with bar fights, fake girlfriends, and strategically placed rodents when they're all in the name of true love, right?

Quite by accident, her world is transformed overnight, but can a career makeover beautify her love life?

Published book

The Smart Chicks Guide to Career Happiness

If you’d love to wake up looking forward to a fun and rewarding work day, deeply aligned with your career sweet spot, Carol Maloney-Scott will lead you to Career Happiness Discovery!

Are You Ready To: Conquer your limiting doubts and fears? Uncover your true career calling and purpose? Replace confusion with a crystal clear vision? Form your supportive and inspirational tribe? Create the map to guide you to your dream work? Develop the confidence to grab your career dreams?

If so, this fun and actionable guide will help you to FINALLY discover what you've always wanted to do, and provide the strategies, tools, and motivation to help you manifest your ideal work into an exciting reality.

Why do so many people fail to find their ideal work, and spend years mired in a career rut, with no idea how to pull themselves out and start loving every day of their lives, not just the weekends?

If you want to conquer this career confusion and attract the work you were meant to do, read on and grab your shovel. You're about to dig yourself out of the career rut for good.

In The Smart Chick's Guide to Career Happiness Carol will lead you through her 6 Tickets to Career Discovery:

Courage – identify and overcome limiting beliefs and fears around career change Clues – begin to dig into possible paths based on interests, values, and motivators Clarity – define the target by looking at skills, experience, and job market conditions Community – create a network of support and information to further define targets Compass – design your step-by-step Career Happiness Map for your desired work Confidence – master outreach to the unpublished job market and make the mindset changes needed to follow the map

Your career is a HUGE part of your LIFE!

Therefore, it isn’t just about finding a new job – it’s about crafting the life YOU want to live through the lifelong pursuit of meaningful work, adventure, and FUN!

The time to start is NOW!