An Unexpected Christmas Gift by Madeline HunterJenna Waverly has closed her inn, anticipating a blissfully quiet Christmas, until a snowstorm brings the first of several strangers to her property. Lucas Avonwood, as charming as he is secretive, is on a mission to track down a scoundrel, but the inn’s lovely owner is giving him a more compelling reason to stay... When We Finally Kiss Good-Night by Sabrina JeffriesWhen Flora Younger first met Konrad Juncker, she thought she’d found her match, only to have her hopes dashed. Konrad is now a famous playwright whose plays Flora has secretly panned in reviews. But a chance meeting in a secluded inn may help them rewrite this star-crossed romance... When Strangers Meet by Mary Jo PutneyKate McLeod is shocked to find that a fellow guest in the snowbound inn is the dashing sea captain who may or may not be her husband. Captain Ramesh Langdon barely remembers that night in Bombay, but the desire they discover now will be impossible to forget, or to ignore...

    But all their trials on the battlefield can't prepare them for their greatest challenge yet: winning the hearts of four willful Scottish beauties. After years of fighting abroad, Ian MacDonald comes home to find his clan in peril. To save his kin, he must right the wrongs from his past...and claim the bride he's long resisted. As a young lass, Sìleas depended on Ian to play her knight in shining armor. But when his rescue attempt compromised her virtue, Ian was forced to marry against his wishes. Five years later, Sìleas has grown from an awkward girl into an independent beauty who knows she deserves better than the reluctant husband who preferred war to his wife. Now this devilishly handsome Highlander is finally falling in love. He wants a second chance with Sìleas—and he won't take no for an answer.

    They are the best of the best, chosen for their superior skills in each discipline of warfare. And to lead his secret Highland Guard, Bruce chooses the greatest warrior of all. The ultimate Highland warlord and a swordsman without equal, Tor MacLeod has no intention of being drawn into Scotland’s war against the English. Dedicated to his clan, the fiercely independent chief answers to no one—especially not to his alluring new bride, bartered to him in a bid to secure his command of the deadliest fighting force the world has ever seen. The treacherous chit who made her way to Tor’s bed may have won his hand, but she will never claim his heart.Although her husband’s reputation is as fierce as his manner, Christina Fraser believes that something softer hides beneath his brutal shell. But the only warmth she feels is in their bed, in glorious moments of white-hot desire that disappear with the dawn. When Christina’s reckless bid to win her husband’s love goes awry and thrusts them into danger on the eve of war, Tor will face his ultimate battle: to save his wife and to open his heart—before it’s too late.

    BOLD. BRAVE. Laird Gavynn MacEuann's a man of action and skill. Both in battle and with the lasses. Notorious for towering strength and matchless features, he takes what he wants and never loses - but conquering this particular castle is easy compared with claiming and then controlling the beautiful, spike-tongued lass he frees by mistake.STUNNING. SPOILED. STUBBORN. Lady Brielle Dilbin is headstrong. Proud. She'd rather molder in a dungeon than accept her father's will. If the mud-covered Highlanders would give her a moment, she'd tell them so. Or make their leader understand. Or do something other than deal with passions and forbidden lusts that no gently-bred lady should have to endure; especially connected to the man who orders her silence and then demands obedience as well. --short story originally published in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance, Jan 2011EXCERPTShe'd be the death of him yet.Gavynn ducked his head before pulling back up and sliding his hands along his hair to sluice water, ignoring where the lass stood, arms wrapped about her while she shivered in place. The burn was hip-deep on him. Cold, clean, fast moving, and difficult to hear over. Gavynn amended that. He couldn't hear much over his own heartbeat. All of it made him vulnerable. This wasn't a good idea, but he hadn't had one since meeting her. His chest and belly were tender with bruising, his muscles throbbed with the work he'd forced on them, and the woman's linen under-dress was as useless as a film of white mist would be.She was true beauty; in form as well as face. Well-formed. Lush. Curved in all the proper places. Possessing heavy, hand-filling breasts, a narrow waist, and hips well-rounded to greet and satisfy a man. When she'd bent forward to wash her face, his groan almost made it through clenched lips. Gavynn grabbed hand-scoops of water, angrily splashing cold and wet all over. Then he bent his knees, dipping to his armpits in chill. All in an effort to divert the pressure building in his groin as blood filled the area, engorging and hardening, and angering him with how little his mind controlled anything.Nothing worked. He couldn't keep his eyes and thoughts off her. Gavynn lifted his head to the twilit sky, close to howling his frustration. And when he brought his head back down he got a full dose of his utter stupidity. He hadn't even heard them. Gavynn sent the curses soundlessly before rising to face a solid wall of armor-clad men atop horses. They carried torches. Possessed full weaponry. And all he claimed was the sword at his back.

    Darach, Lachlan, Callum, Gavin and Kerr fight for their clans, for each other, and for their own true loves.When forced to choose between duty and honor...Darach MacKenzie vowed never again to let a woman near his heart after his betrothed betrayed him. It sparked an intense feud between his clan and the Frasers. With all-out war on the wind, Darach can't be distracted—not even by a sweet and charming lass who desperately needs his help.This Highland Laird will find a way to have both...When Darach rescued Caitlin MacInnes from the clutches of vile Laird Fraser, she vowed to never let men or misery rule her life again. With Darach and the MacKenzie clan, Caitlin finally feels safe. But when Laird Fraser shows up to claim what's rightfully his, or go to war, Darach will have to use all his brawn and brains to protect Caitlin—even if it means losing his heart.

    After years of adventuring in exotic India, wealthy rakehell Lord Dyan St. Laurent Dare has been forced to return to England and assume the title of the 4th Duke of Darke, along with the attendant responsibilities, chief of which is to marry and produce an heir.Seeking to escape familial pressure, Dyan drops in on old friends whose house parties are a scandalous secret among society's elite, but, along with his hosts, Dyan is astonished when his childhood sweetheart, Lady Fiona Winton-Ryder, nicknamed Lady Arctic, unexpectedly arrives. Fiona had scornfully dismissed him fifteen years before, and Dyan had left not just her but England, yet their long-ago, simmering attraction has only intensified...now it sizzles.Fiona has come to save a friend from a compromising situation, but the shock of encountering masterful, arrogant, senses-stealing Dyan after so many years takes her breath away and leaves her emotionally teetering. Nevertheless, coolly assured and every bit the earl's daughter, she remains determined to rescue her friend, but will she be able to ignore her lifetime fascination and evade Dyan?Dyan knows this party is no place for a lady like Fiona, but, by using the heat of the moment, could he - just possibly - melt Lady Arctic's ice, and, at last, capture her heart?A classic Regency-era historical romance novella, includes explicit love scenes.

    He is in need of a bride, but if he falls in love, he dies. His fervent hope is that by marrying— and having a son—without love, perhaps he can break the curse's chains forever.Enter beautiful Thea Martin—a duke's headstrong, errant daughter and society's most brilliant matchmaker. Years ago, she and Lyon were inseparable, until he disappeared from her life without a word. Now she is charged with finding Lyon's bride—a woman he cannot love for a man Thea could love too well.

    Not only has he broken ties with his longtime mistress, his mother has publicly announced her wish for him to marry a suitable young lady―if only to help him raise the twins left in his care. Hiring a governess should solve some of Will’s problems…but when he meets the candidate in question, he finds himself in an entirely new predicament.TO DO A WALLFLOWER’S JOBMiss Margaret Lacey is brainy, beautiful, and, once upon a time, Will’s betrothed. But she bowed out of the engagement―and, since then, has never been the same. A tragic accident robbed her of everything, and now, at age twenty-three, her marital prospects are slim to none. Penniless but not without pride, Meg convinces the vexingly handsome Will to hire her for the job. What neither of them could have expected from this arrangement, however, is an attraction that burns stronger than ever. Are these two lost souls finally ready to be schooled in the art of love?

    But when an enemy endangers her life, he'll move the Highlands themselves to save her. For though Annabel's not the bride he planned for, she's the only woman he desires…

    When he gets into a tussle with her—and she can hold her own—Crispin knows he has finally met his match.Miss Gwen Prim is mortified that she attacked a duke, but even more concerning is the way her resolve melts when she's near him. She's never felt this way about a London gentleman in her life. And with the magic of Christmas in the air, she may end up with a proposal she didn't expect...in this delightful Regency gem, The Duke and Miss Christmas by New York Times bestselling author Amelia Grey.

     Can the memories of the past be put aside for the sake of love? A Tormented Highlander… Duty-bound to seek revenge, Broderick MacConnaway, son of the Thane of Dunkeld, lives haunted by memories of his lost wife Aisling. Forming an alliance with the Lochlann family presents its own trials, but if the marriage allows him to fulfil his vengeance, then so be it. Even if the guilt over Aisling prevents him from ever loving again... The Lochlann Lass… With her uncle seeking to marry her off advantageously, Amabel du Mas, great-niece of Brien, Earl of Lochlann, is still empathetic to the plight of Broderick MacConnaway. Believing she would never meet a man she would look at twice - let alone marry - Amabel nonetheless knows a ghost lies between them. A ghost that she may never be able to lay to rest... Revenge Takes a Strange Path… But when sinister intentions surface and Amabel is captured before she has a chance to reveal them, Broderick is forced to see past the deceptions and begin another campaign of vengeance. With conflicts between powerful clans escalating and the well-laid plans unraveling into senseless violence, Broderick has no choice but to work together with his new wife to bring Aisling’s killers to justice. But can they find love? Will Broderick find a way past the memories that torment him? Or will he fail, and risk losing yet another wife?

    Unfortunately, Lady Celeste’s nephew, the rakish Quill Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is determined to interrupt her studies one way or another...Bequeathing Beauchamp House to four bluestockings—no matter how lovely they are to look at—is a travesty, and Quill simply won’t have it. But Lady Celeste’s death is not quite as straightforward as it first seemed…and if Quill hopes to solve the mystery behind her demise, he’ll need Ivy’s help. Along the way, he is surprised to learn that bookish Ivy stirs a passion and longing that he has never known. This rogue believes he’s finally met his match—but can Quill convince clever, skeptical Ivy that his love is no fiction?

    . .Highland beauty Catriona Kincaid cares nothing for propriety—or even her own safety—when she storms the grounds of Newgate Prison. Determined to return to Scotland and restore her clan's honor, she seeks the help of Sir Simon Wescott, a disgraced nobleman and notorious rogue. She is prepared to offer him both wealth and freedom, but she never dreams the wicked rake will be bold enough to demand a far more sensual prize.Some like it seductive . . .Simon is shocked to discover the tomboy he met long ago has blossomed into a headstrong temptress. Although he's sworn off his dreams of becoming a hero, he can't resist playing knight errant to Catriona's damsel in distress. Both adventure and peril await them at her Highland home, where they will risk their lives to vanquish her enemies . . . and risk their hearts to discover a passion beyond their wildest dreams.

    Four fierce warriors from Ireland and Scotland... Four heroines determined to resist them... One dagger steeped in the blood and treachery of kings. THE KING'S OUTLAW, by Kris Kennedy1193 - Outlawed and on the run, Tadhg O’Malley has one mission: escape with the valuable dagger of Jerusalem before a brutal nobleman hunts him down. Trapped and almost cornered, his plan is simple: kidnap the innocent merchant with the long hair and complicated eyes. Igniting a raging passion is not part of the plan. Neither is falling in love. Both endanger their lives, his mission, and with it, the kingdom. TAKEN BY THE HIGHLANDER, by Eliza Knight1306 - A week before Lady Rose Munro is to wed a neighboring laird, she is abducted on the road by a wicked and dangerously handsome stranger. Highland warrior, Malcolm Montgomery has been ordered by King Robert the Bruce to steal Rose and her son from the suspected traitor she is about to marry—gifting him with an ancient and much sought after dagger as payment. Rose shouldn’t trust her captor. Shouldn’t feel her body heat at his simple touch, or allow him to press his fervent lips to hers… Malcolm shouldn’t be seducing the woman he is sworn to protect. Shouldn’t desire her, for she’s not meant to be his… Succumbing to passion threatens them both, and falling in love is absolutely not an option. STOLEN BY A HIGHLAND ROGUE, by Vonda Sinclair 1619 - When the infamous dagger is stolen from Highland chief, Dugald MacKerrick, he will do whatever it takes to reclaim it, even abduct the wife of the aristocratic thief, but what if his beautiful French hostage isn't who he thinks she is? Deep in the rugged Scottish Highlands, Dugald discovers not only is his captive, Camille Bouchard, more than he expected, so is the passion raging between them, threatening everything he thought mattered to him. HER WICKED HIGHLANDER, by Jennifer Haymore1816 - Maxwell White is the newest member of the Highland Knights, an elite mercenary group sworn to protect the Crown. His first assignment is to keep independent and spirited Aila MacKerrick safe from a madman determined to get his hands on a treasure she unwittingly possesses. But Aila isn’t going to simply allow some Highlander—as handsome as he might be—to capture her and whisk her away to an abandoned castle. She’ll fight to the death for her freedom...as soon as she rids herself of this pesky, insistent desire that makes her far more inclined to run into his arms than away from them....

    No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions. Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.