The ego has landed.Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t sell, and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.Enter the star Editor, MacDermott Ellis: Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author--now as forgotten as last year's bestsellers and his nephew Nick: Tall, gorgeous, sweet, single and ready to sweep Kate off her feet. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions. As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn’t on the bestseller list this week,” she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.The story only an insider could tell.

    Especially not random guys in my local coffee shop. I mean, I’m a single working mom, completely devoted to my four-year-old daughter. This so isn’t me. It’s just that his backside is … phenomenal.Turns out his name is Tanner and he’s been watching me right back. Not at the coffee shop, but from his construction site across the street from my apartment. After a couple of flirty encounters, our mutual attraction leads to a no strings attached bargain based purely on convenience and pleasure. This arrangement is totally uncharacteristic for me, but it’s also perfect. Or so I tell myself. Before long, we’re spending time with each other that has nothing to do with our agreement and things between us start to feel all too real. When my swoony, completely unreliable, rock star ex comes back into town begging for a chance to reunite our family, things get … complicated. Suddenly, Tanner is jealous and I’m trying to figure out where I stand and what I want, torn between what makes me happy and what’s best for my daughter. No Strings Attached is a steamy stand-alone romance with a guaranteed HEA by the author of Hula Girl.★ Author's Note: No Strings Attached is based on a previously published short story titled One More Try. The main premise is the same, but there's a whole lot more romance and story to be had with No Strings Attached!

    Now free, he's unable to find work in the midst of the Great Depression. In desperation, he returns home to Ransom, Idaho, hoping his uncaring father will give him food and shelter, if not love. But the prodigal isn't welcomed home. Hudson Talmadge, who virtually owns the town, despises his son as much as ever, and Gabe is as powerless as an adult as he was as a child to win his father's approval. Hungry and hopeless, Gabe is rescued by the owner of a sheep ranch south of Ransom. Incredibly, Akira Macauley gives him a place to live and work to do. More than that, she gives him hope that he can receive forgiveness of his past - and perhaps even love. But when tragedy strikes Ransom once again and Gabe's life begins to unravel, he must either sink into an abyss of hopelessness or cling to a faith, hope, and love stronger than any he has ever known. First published in 2000 by WaterBrook Press, THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE won the 2001 RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, the 2001 Excellence in Media Silver Angel Award, and the 2001 Booksellers' Best Award for Inspirational Romance.

    Hope Hernandez were any more exhausted, she'd be the one on the gurney. Her drive for perfection leaves her scrambling to juggle an insane ER schedule, studying for boards, and her boyfriend—whoops! Ex-boyfriend.Fine. One less thing demanding her attention. Hope buries her pain in work. The truth is she’d get more affection from a dog, with less risk to her heart. Safe and uncomplicated. The second she sees the forlorn, retired military K9, Hope falls hard: he's sad and alone, just like her. They head to Colorado, aiming for a fresh start—if she can score the coveted ER job. Yet when a scorching hot veteran shows up to lay claim to her dog, he disrupts her careful plan. He's anything but safe—he’s dynamite. And he's oh, so wrong if he thinks he can charm Hope into giving up her loyal companion.Bomb disposal technician Grant Calloway's whole life blows up after an IED detonates at a Kosovo parade. He and his working dog, Mojo, save hundreds with their off-duty heroism, but reality bites hard: Mired in red tape, then bounced out of the Army for hearing loss, Grant's blindsided when Mojo's adopted out by a civilian who won't understand the needs of a military-trained dog. Grant's best friend deserves better. Grant turns his back on a lucrative job and instead hits the road for Colorado to track down his dog.He thought finding Mojo would be the hardest part, but the woman who took him won't listen to reason, and Grant's charm has no effect. Refusing to be diverted by her big brown eyes and gorgeous smile, Grant lays siege to reacquire Mojo—by whatever means necessary.A Boy and his Dog is a steamy, enemies-to-lovers medical / military romance. It contains profanity and sex scenes.

    She's dated so many great guys over the years, but hasn't fallen in love once. Not with any of them. It just isn't in the cards for her. So, when she approaches powerful, sexy Jack Sutton and proposes a temporary marriage-of-convenience, she's not one bit concerned that her heart will be on the line.Jack Sutton is used to having control over things, having things go his way. Things in his life aren't supposed to spin out of control. But Kelly Bradley flips his world upside-down and has him wanting more than he'd ever thought he would have. And, just when he realizes he wants a real marriage with Kelly, Jack finds himself racing to save the woman he loves.Before Jack and Kelly know it, not only are their hearts on the line, but Kelly's life is, too.Penalty Clause Andrew Weston and Jill Walsh had to be the two most unlikely people to fall in love. When Jill's first husband's love for her simply fizzled and died, Jill knew she'd never trust that love could last again. After Andrew's first love betrayed him in the most brutal way possible, he knew he might fall in love again someday, but there was no way he'd ever make himself vulnerable again by confessing those feelings if he did.Fate had a different ending in mind for these two, though, and when Andrew discovers his love for Jill, he knows the only way to get her to stay with him forever is to offer her an iron clad penalty clause in a prenuptial agreement. He stays with her forever or he loses everything he owns. The millions he's worked for, his property, his cars, everything. Now he just needs to hope that's enough to hold onto Jill forever.The Baker's BodyguardJesse Bradley never thought she'd need help going out into the world. But, after her sister was kidnapped, she began to have trouble going anyplace alone. An anxiety attack would start if a stranger asked her what time it was. Before she knew it, she as making up excuses to stay inside. Where things were safe.Zach Harris was going to change all that. The steamy, sexy bodyguard got her into counseling to help her overcome her fears. He went with her everywhere helping her learn to feel safe again.Jesse and Zach both feel the insane chemistry sparking between them. But will there be more than just chemistry for these two? Negotiation TacticsJennie and chad face love, adventure, and a lot more danger than they bargained for in this heart wrenching story of second chances. Jennie Evans' heart broke when she lost her high school sweetheart and husband just after college graduation and she has no interest in trying to heal it. She's built a good life with friends she loves and a job she can finally feel proud of. Chad Thompson couldn't be more different than Jennie. He wants love. He wants the whole deal: marriage, children, and forever with the woman he loves. It's just too bad that the woman he loves can't give her heart to him. When Jennie and Chad's friends scheme to bring them together, she lands in trouble and turns to the only man who's ever made her forget her husband, the one man she wants to avoid. Chad knows he can keep Jennie safe, but can he protect his heart in the process?

    Taking solace in the fact that she has a ski trip planned with her boyfriend of two years, she comes home to find that not only did he leave without her, he has broken up with her. A night on the town triggers a series of events that lead to Cat spending the holidays at a friends cabin on Lopez Island. Unfortunately, the cabin is already occupied by the dark and devilishly handsome Kirin Anderson. Kirin has his own reasons for spending Christmas alone and Cat has put a major wrinkle in his plans for solitude. As Kirin tries to navigate his instant attraction to Cat, he must balance her request to be alone, and his need to keep a secret. His care for Cat, and encouragement of her new life direction pulls Cat in, and she finds her heart at a much greater risk of breaking.

    It is then that he discovers a family secret. My Own Voice (volume I of Still Life with Memories):Ten years ago, when she was seventeen, Anita started an affair with Lenny, in spite of knowing that he was a married man. Now married to him and carrying his child, she finds herself condemned to compete with Natasha’s shadow, the memory of her brilliance back in her prime, before she succumbed to early-onset Alzheimer’s. Despite Anita’s lack of education, her rough slang, and what happened to her in the past, Lenny tries to transform her. He wants her to become Natasha. Faced with his compelling wish, and the way he writes her as a character in his book, how can Anita find a voice of her own? And when his estranged son, Ben, comes back and lives in the same small apartment, can she keep the balance between the two men, whose desire for her is marred by guilt and blame?The White Piano (volume II of Still Life with Memories):Coming back to his childhood home after years of absence, Ben is unprepared for the secret, which is now revealed to him: his mother, Natasha, who used to be a brilliant pianist, is losing herself to early-onset Alzheimer’s, which turns the way her mind works into a riddle. His father has remarried, and his new wife, Anita, looks remarkably similar to Natasha—only much younger. In this state of being isolated, being apart from love, how will Ben react when it is so tempting to resort to blame and guilt? “In our family, forgiveness is something you pray for, something you yearn to receive—but so seldom do you give it to others.” Behind his father's back, Ben and Anita find themselves increasingly drawn to each other. They take turns using an old tape recorder to express their most intimate thoughts, not realizing at first that their voices are being captured by him. These tapes, with his eloquent speech and her slang, reveal the story from two opposite viewpoints. What emerges in this family is a struggle, a desperate, daring struggle to find a path out of conflicts, out of isolation, from guilt to forgiveness.What’s in a name:The title Apart From Love comes from a phrase used in the story:After a while I whispered, like, “Just say something to me. Anything.” And I thought, Any other word apart from Love, ‘cause that word is diluted, and no one knows what it really means, anyway.Anita to Lenny, in Apart From LoveWhy, why can’t you say nothing? Say any word—but that one, ‘cause you don’t really mean it. Nobody does. Say anything, apart from Love.Anita to Ben, in The EntertainerFor my own sake I should have been much more careful. Now—even in her absence—I find myself in her hands, which feels strange to me. I am surrounded—and at the same time, isolated. I am alone. I am apart from Love.Ben, in Nothing Surrendered

    He becomes obsessed with proving his wife Kat's loyalty after discovering a hidden cache of journals and intimate photos which document a sexual appetite she has never shared with him, even though they have been married for ten years.Mark broods over Kat's journals – until fate provides a way for him to test Kat's loyalty.It's brilliant – as long as Kat never finds out.

    Things nosedive from bad to terrible when she finds herself in a shouting match with Gareth, resident doctor and her boss, on her first day.Between the love of her life urging her to return to Perth and a prickly, dismissive, and rude boss practically tossing her to the curb on day one, Mandy faces the coming year with thorns bared, determined to come out with her head held high. While she hones her doctoring skills in order to prove herself to the highly capable Gareth after their less-than-ideal first encounter, she might learn a little something about herself, too.

    When someone turns up murdered, Stella, to clear her name, is forced to investigate. But in a culture ridden with masterful liars, can she ever really find the truth?Stella seems to have her whole life ahead of her: she has just graduated with a dual masters in Psychology and Criminal Justice, she is engaged to the man of her dreams after a whirlwind romance, and she is moving to the East Coast with him as she prepares for the wedding and searches for a dream job, hoping to be a criminal profiler. She is unbelievably excited for her life together with Chris—until she meets his family.Stella, from a humble Midwestern upbringing, never felt comfortable around money, and she hates the world Chris comes from. She is in shock at the culture clash as she gets to know his elitist family and friends, all of whom look down on her. Isolated and demeaned, Stella wonders if she can live a life in such hostile surroundings.They move into the guest house on his estate, and things only get worse. As Stella meets his ex and his friends at his club, all of whom seem to know something she doesn’t, she wonders if Chris is really the man she thought he was. As she learns more about his past and discovers his dark side, she wonders if she has made a big mistake. Beneath its trimmed hedgerows and gleaming storefronts, Stella soon realizes that this wealthy town hides terrible secrets.But before she can decide what to do, a murder leaves her blindsided.Stella, implicated, her future on the line, has no choice but to investigate. As her dreams devolves into hell, Stella, still struggling to overcome her own traumatic past, questions everything around her—including her own sanity.Can she find the killer, and clear her name, before it’s too late?A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, HIS OTHER WIFE is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

    Does the occasional female tourist ever sleepover? Sure. But that’s nothing compared to PJ’s scorecard. PJ should be registered with the Center for Disease Control.Warm water, cold beers and no Shawna—life couldn’t be better on the island. Until George takes a little road trip to Colombia. Raúl, his boss at the bar, offered him a free ride. He always knew Raúl moved a little bit of cocaine. Who doesn’t? But guns?So… he absolutely should not write Shawna. That clever soul-crushing beauty destroyed him. Maybe it would be OK if she came for just a week? Just one week...

    A young woman is pushed onto the streets where she learns the harsh realities of what it means to survive, to serve justice, and to fight for the man she loves. As they navigate their way through Seattle's Underground, Monti & Sasha will break and warm your heart!"Sometimes you make so much history with someone, the present just don't make sense."In the summer of 1981, a serial killer preys on black, teenage prostitutes working Seattle’s arterial highways. But the eyes of youth are blind to danger, and Montgomery “Monti” Jackson is distracted by her own problems. She’ll be starting high school soon, and the return of her mother’s boyfriend heightens the tension in her fractured household.To add to her worries, Monti fears she may be in love with her best friend Sasha. But as close as they’d once been, now they couldn’t feel further apart. Sasha is a burnout punk rocker, and has befriended the neighborhood drug dealer. And when an eviction notice is posted on Monti’s door, a strange dynamic forms between them.One night, an altercation leaves her family penniless. So Monti turns to the very streets where a killer stalks and ensnares young women, beginning her journey towards understanding one, simple truth - sometimes your only choices in life are to love and survive.

     Book 1, A Soldier's Courage, Marie Hall writing as Summer Evans Love found... Nikki Jensen fell in love with the perfect man, Tyrese Morita. He's handsome, smart, and just like her, a soldier stationed in Baghram Airfield, Afghanistan. They shouldn't have found love during war. But they did. Life was chaos, but life was good. Until the day it wasn't. Until the day friendly fire ripped Ty away from her forever. Love lost... Hideo Morishita's life has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but nothing prepares him for the sight of the woman who steps through the doors of his PTSD survivors group. Pale, gorgeous, and also the widow of his best friend, Tyrese who'd died only three years ago. There are a million different reasons he should stay away from her and keep his distance. But when she turns those soulful blue eyes on him, he forgets everything except his need to save her from herself and maybe in the process, save himself too. Love reborn from the ashes of pain... Book 2, The Wright Brother written as Marie Hall From the moment he opened his eyes Julian Wright could only see the world in shades of gray. There was no noise, no sound, nothing. Deaf and colorblind, he was a loner. His world was bleak, silent and empty, until her. Until the day he met his neighbor, Elisa Jane Adrian. He wanted her. Needed her. The fractured part of him felt whole when she was around. Like the world wasn't so dark, so bleak, and so still. He knew it was impossible, but when he looked at Elisa he swore he could see color, could hear the gentle inhalations of her breath. He knows she feels it too, this magic, this desperate desire... And once a Wright sets his eyes on you, there's no going back. Ever... Book 3, A Moment, Marie Hall I killed myself tonight. Or at least I tried. But a woman I do not know refused to let me die. Liliana Delgado wrapped me up in her slim arms and told me things would be okay. But she doesn't know the demons I live with. The things that have happened to me. Every morning is a struggle just to get out of bed, and the nights are even worse. But the way she smiles at me... I feel something I've never felt before. Hope. ...will change our lives I should not have gone to that burlesque bar on Valentine's Day, but I did. My life isn't easy. I had a child when I was only fourteen, now I'm in college and things should have been easier. But they aren't. My life is spiraling out of control. Then I see Ryan Cosgrove sitting at a table with an empty, broken look in his beautiful blue eyes and something inside of me feels like he knows. He understands what it is to hurt, to struggle. So when I bump into him later that night, bloody, broken, and dying I know I'll do everything in my power to save him and maybe in the process, I'll save myself too. forever...

    It's probably a joke but given what just happened in my personal life, it's an excuse to get away.The last person I expect to see there is him, the dashing and mysterious stranger who was the only man who knew the truth that night.He invites me inside under one condition: everything he says is off the record. He'll answer my questions but I can't write about him.Then things get even more complicated.Something happens between us. His touch ignites a spark. His eyes make me weak at the knees. We can't do this. But then he looks at me in a way that no one has ever looked at me and I can't say no...

    A marriage of nearly half a century faces its greatest challenge when a stranger arrives, bearing life changing news. Although Steve and Kelly Boyd live together, they barely tolerate each other. Marrying in their teens and quickly becoming parents, the separation due to the war in Vietnam forms the foundation for the next forty-five precarious years.Filling the empty marriage with the companionship of her twin sister, Karen, and the family she made with Steve, Kelly’s life revolves around her six adult children.The stranger’s sudden appearance clarifies so much about Steve’s lifetime behavior to Kelly.Heartfelt conversations at the local coffee shop where son Reggie works as a barista, help the family resolve differences, build new relationships, and grow in acceptance of one another.At the end, love outweighs everything.