Baby It's Cold Out There: Aspen


Victoria H. Smith - 2016
     Asa Ricci just wanted to forget; he wanted to forget about her and the tug of war she had on his heart. His ex, Christine, announcing her engagement to another man was the final straw, which led him to the icy slopes of Aspen to escape and seek refuge in its beauty. He never thought he’d find another so much like himself. Noni Day hated her ex. She hated what he did, what he’d done to her when her career and life were finally starting to take off. She was just one phone call away from living her dream; the reality of owning her own restaurant was at her fingertips. He cheapened that, though. He broke her heart when all she was supposed to be doing now was living, celebrating her life and what good fortune lies ahead. He cursed her with the ultimate betrayal, and now, she just wanted the pain to stop. Her friend Willa thought a quick weekend getaway would be just the trick to ease her damaged heart and little did her childhood friend know, she might not be so far off. Noni kissed someone while on that vacation, a blond stranger with beautiful green eyes, because he asked her to. He wanted to help her, get her out of a jam, so she’d said yes. Never in her life did she believe he’d linger on in her head long after the kiss. Nor that she’d want so much more. BABY, IT’S COLD OUT THERE is a sneak peek into the story of Asa and Noni and is a short read of 19,000 words. As a short holiday story, it’s to act as a preview to the couple’s full book entitled BABY, BE MINE, which releases in 2017. Note to the reader: BABY, IT’S COLD OUT THERE is a happily-for-now story and does end in a small cliffhanger, which will be resolved in the couple’s full story BABY, BE MINE. LOVE IN THE CITY SERIES ORDER: BABY, BABY: CHICAGO (80,000 words) BABY, IT'S COLD OUT THERE: ASPEN (19,000 words) BABY, BE MINE: NEW YORK CITY (RELEASES 2017)

Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny


Rebekah Weatherspoon - 2018
    Sloan Copeland needed was someone to watch her kids. What she found was the man of her dreams…After a nasty divorce and a thousand mile move, Dr. Sloan Copeland and her twin daughters are finally getting the hang of their new life in Los Angeles. When their live-in nanny bails with no warning, Sloan is left scrambling to find a competent caretaker to wrangle her smart, sensitive girls. Nothing less will do.Enter Rafe Whitcomb. He's all of those things, not to mention good-natured and one heck of a whiz in the kitchen. He's also tall, and handsome, and bearded, and ripped, and tatted, wrist to neck. It doesn't take long for the Copelands to invite Rafe into their home. Just as quickly, both Sloan and Rafe find themselves succumbing to a heady mutual attraction, neither of them wants to deny. With every minute they spend under the same roof, this working mom can't help but wonder if Rafe can handle all her needs...

Let It Shine


Alyssa Cole - 2016
    This version features the original story, as well as a bonus short story, No Valley Low.***Sofronia Wallis knows that proper Black women don’t court trouble by upending the status quo, but it’s 1961 and the Civil Rights movement is in full swing. Sofie’s spent half her life being prim, proper, and reserved—as if that could bring her mother back—but the nonviolent protests happening across the South bring out her inner agitator.Ivan Friedman has devoted his life to boxing, loving the finesse of a well-delivered punch and the penance of receiving one. His family escaped from Europe before the horrors of WWII, and Ivan decides to help fight injustice in their new country, even if it goes against all his instincts as a fighter.When Ivan and Sofie meet, they realize that their pasts are intertwined and—with the sparks that fly between them—perhaps their futures will be too. With everything in their society lined up against them, will Sofie and Ivan be able to beat the odds? Or will their chance at love be destroyed by the tumultuous times they live in?

Flow


Kennedy Ryan - 2017
    Bristol Gray will be his tough, no-nonsense manager. But when they first meet, she’s a college student finding her way in the world, and he’s an artist determined to make his way in it. From completely different worlds, all the things that should separate them only draw them closer. It’s a beautiful beginning, but where will the story end? FLOW is the prequel chronicling the week of magical days and nights that will haunt Grip & Bristol for years to come. GRIP is the full-length conclusion of their story.

A Girl Like Her


Talia Hibbert - 2018
    Between her autism, her comic book nerdery, and the whiff of scandal her small town can’t forget, Ruth will always be Ravenswood’s black sheep. Since she prefers silence and solitude to gossip and pub crawls, that suits her just fine—until Evan Miller comes to town.Ex-military man Evan is gorgeous, confident… and he’s Ruth’s new neighbour. Unlike everyone else, he doesn’t seem to mind her crotchety ways or her cooking disasters. In fact, if Ruth didn’t know any better, she might think Evan likes her.But Ruth’s been burned before, and some lessons are hard to forget.She can’t let her guard down—no matter how many home-cooked meals Evan brings over. Because affection is temporary, trust is made to be broken, and the heat of desire is a dangerous thing to play with.So why does this man feel so safe?

Christmas With His Brother's Baby (Interracial Romance)


Teona Bell - 2015
    Then a few days before Christmas, the worthless jerk sent her divorce papers. Gracie is four months pregnant, and her husband doesn't know it. When Gracie's mother-in-law invites her to Christmas with the family, Gracie figures why not? She lost her dad a couple years ago, so she just wants one last Christmas before she doesn't have any family except her and the baby.From the first moment Asher Hawkes, Gracie's brother-in-law, comes to pick her up, she notices how he looks at her and how he's careful to make sure she's got everything she needs. Ash doesn't know her secret, that her husband left her or that she's pregnant. He doesn't know about the divorce papers, and Gracie wants to keep it that way. Unfortunately, from the day she steps into her in-laws' house, everything goes wrong.Gracie's attraction to Ash grows, but she's battling the feelings she still has for her soon-to-be ex-husband. She won't be the woman that moves from one brother to the next, but Ash won't give up once he learns what his brother has done. Things get complicated when Carter arrives, and all Gracie's secrets are revealed.This Christmas, it's not just about love and family. It's also about betrayal, jealousy, lies...and a foot to the throat.

One Night of Sin


Elle Kennedy - 2014
    She doesn’t do one-night-stands, but one look at sinfully sexy Gage Holt and she’s willing to reconsider. He makes her want to be bad for once in her life, and she’s prepared to take what she wants.Danger follows former MMA fighter Gage Holt like a shadow. Despite his successes as part owner of Sin, an exclusive nightclub in Boston, Gage can’t risk getting involved with a woman, especially one as sweet as Skyler. Still, he can’t resist a taste—and it’s so damn good he has to see her again. As addicted as he is to her, Gage knows there’s no future for him and Skyler—not with his past lurking in the dark corners of an MMA cage. But Skylar’s tougher than she looks, and she’s ready to fight for her man.

The Professional: Part 1


Kresley Cole - 2013
    . .Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.Rules are made to be broken . . .PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.Are you ready to play?Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true…

The Start of Something Good


Jennifer Probst - 2018
    As a former Special Forces paratrooper, he saw his fair share of conflict, and he came home with wounds, inside and out. At his sisters’ B & B and farm, he can keep all his pain at a safe distance. But quiet time isn’t easy when a fiery woman explodes into his life…It’s business—not pleasure—that brings Manhattan PR agent Mia Thrush reluctantly to the farm. Tightly wound and quick tempered, Mia clashes immediately with the brooding Ethan. Everything about him is irritating—from his lean muscles and piercing blue eyes to his scent of sweat and musk.But as the summer unfolds and temperatures rise, Ethan and Mia discover how much they have in common: their guarded histories, an uncontrollable desire, and a passion for the future that could heal two broken hearts. But will their pasts threaten their fragile chance at a brand-new future?

Delaney's Desert Sheikh


Brenda Jackson - 2002
    But when she reluctantly agreed to share a secluded cabin with an arrogant sheikh bent on seduction, she found herself enrolled in a crash course in human sexuality. Unfortunately, commitment and love were misplaced pages in her darkly handsome mentor's manual. Jamal Ari Yassir had intended to school Delaney in sensuality for his pleasure, but his plan backfired. Instead of loving and leaving her, he became engulfed by an irresistible passion for his sexy-as-sin cabin mate. Could his convenient summer lover be the woman he was destined to share his life with?

Shattered Lives


T.M. Pigatt - 2017
    I love women, all different types. I love the way it feels when I’m pounding into them. I love hearing them scream my name but most of all I love when they go home.” Is how CEO of Maxwell Publishing, Charles Maxwell, thinks. He’s never had a woman turn him down. That’s until he meets Samantha Clarkson. Samantha Clarkson is a woman who's running from her past. She keeps running until she runs right into Charles Maxwell. She does everything she can to stick to the first lesson she learned; men can't be trusted. Unfortunately, Charles isn't your normal man.

8 Seconds to Love


Monica Walters - 2019
    She’s strong, smart, independent, and well-rounded. Her life has already been figured out, and she is living it to the best of her abilities, along with her year-long boyfriend, Zaire. Things seem to be going well until Harper is given some news that stuns her, leaving her angry with herself for being so naïve. Zaire isn’t the man she thought he was. Still reeling from that news, she decides to go and have a great time at the Houston Livestock Show. Her interest was only in the concerts happening, but a certain bull-rider steals her attention. Doing her best to resist him only makes her want him more. Legend Semien, bull-rider extraordinaire and a legend in the making, has made his passion a professional career. He loves the risk and suspense of it all. Being in the limelight of the rodeo circuit, he’s cocky and expects to be able to get whatever he wants. That expectation applies to women too. His conquests always approached him, and he was living the life he thought was meant for him to live. The moment he sees Harper, he knows that he wants her. There’s something different about her though. She doesn’t approach him. Destined to make her his, he steps out of his comfort zone in a quest to get what he wants. While Harper and Legend are like night and day, they are attracted to each other like magnets. Despite the baggage and complications of their past lives, they attempt to get to know one another. Will they be able to leave their old lives behind in pursuit of a life together?

Nothing Personal


Jaci Burton - 2007
    Ryan McKay is a multi-millionaire with a problem. He needs a bride to fulfill the terms of his grandfather's will. Unfortunately, the one he chose just bailed on him and he's hours away from losing his company. Enter Faith Lewis, his demure, devoted assistant. Ryan convinces Faith to step in and marry him, assuring her their marriage is merely a business deal. Ryan is certain he can keep this strictly impersonal. After all, he's the product of a loveless marriage and for years has sealed his own heart in an icy stone. Despite Faith's warmth, compassion and allure, he's convinced he's immune to her charms. Faith will do anything for her boss, but marry him? The shy virgin sees herself as plain and unattractive, a product of a bitter mother who drummed into her head that she wasn't worthy of a mans love. But she agrees to help Ryan fulfill the terms of his grandfather's will, hoping she doesn't lose her heart to him in the process. But love rarely listens to logic, and what follows is anything but business.

Clash


Sawyer Bennett - 2015
    She slings insults with precision, not caring about the destruction she leaves in her wake. We clash in a battle of wills every time we’re around each other, and yet… I still fantasize about being lodged deep within her body.Clash (verb): to come together or collideI have never encountered someone that grates me the way Cal Carson does. His pompous, arrogant demeanor. A holier-than-thou attitude. Any interaction with “Saint Cal” ends in a verbal clash of epic proportions, and yet… there’s no one I’d rather have in my bed than him.Clash (noun): a battle, fight or skirmishHer breathy moans mingle with the sound of our flesh coming together, clashing with the silence that surrounds us, dispelling any notions I once had about Macy Carrington.Maybe I can break down her walls if we can call a truce to this battle.He whispers filthy words in my ear, provoking feelings I never knew were possible. The burning desire in his touch clashes with everything I once believed about Cal Carson.Maybe he can be the balm I need to soothe my broken soul, if only temporarily.**Cal and Macy’s story is a trilogy within the Legal Affairs series. All three books—Clash, Grind and Yield—must be read in order. You do not have to read the other Legal Affairs books to understand this trilogy.

Grading Curves


Naima Simone - 2019
    I didn’t know him when he taught me about the kind of pleasure I’d only read about in kinky millionaire romances. I didn’t know that when I walked into my college classroom the next morning the man who’d inked my skin and dirtied my body would be sitting in front of me. Dean Shaw is my student. My secret. And my downfall if the truth about us comes out. The problem is, he’s also everything I crave and can’t let go…