But when her brother’s police detective partner is injured in the line of duty and needs help during recovery, she makes an exception. Violet lost her father to the job seven years ago, and worries for her brother’s safety every day. The last thing she wants is to get up-close with her brother’s career-cop partner…again.For Noah Blackwell, being a detective isn’t just a lifestyle, it’s a legacy. So when he’s forced to take mandatory leave and deal with the trauma amnesia keeping him from identifying his shooter, it’s a literal case of adding insult to injury— and now he’s got to deal with an unwanted culinary caregiver on top of it. Never mind that he and Violet shared a steamy, secret kiss last New Year’s Eve. She rejects everything related to the job, and Noah’s not about to be distracted from recovering his memory and getting back to what he does best. No matter how pretty Violet is.Despite their differences, Violet and Noah share a surprising bond in the kitchen that grows into something neither of them expect. But as Noah heals and their feelings for each other extend from the kitchen to the bedroom, Violet knows she must make an impossible choice. She may wear her heart on her sleeve when it comes to food, but can she risk it all to put love on the line?

    Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.He cannot give in…Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…

    Who hires a virtual stranger out of a New York City coffee shop to care for their adorable grandson? Apparently Claudia Renaldi does.Widower Matteo Renaldi isn't pleased that his mother found a replacement nanny so soon after he fired the last one. Yet little Matty takes to Paige like no other nanny before. And Matteo can't deny he's quite taken with her as well. She's beautiful, sweet, and far, "far" too young for him.There's something about the gorgeously sexy Matteo that fills Paige with longing to break through his wall of formality and touch his softer side. But no one knows better than she that crushing on her boss is one thing. Acting on those feelings is forbidden. Foolish.InevitableWarning: Sexy, grumpy Italian hero who is determined to keep his walls up. No matter how much his son's sweetly beautiful nanny drives him to distraction

    -- This is a PREQUEL to Throttle Me -- This is a SHORT story featuring the entire Gallo family and told from Mr. & Mrs. Gallo's point of view. The Gallos are a loving Italian family filled with alpha males and one sassy sister. Each book in the series focuses on a different sibling.

    If she succeeds, her catering business, Fantasy Feasts, will flourish. If she fails, she may go bankrupt. But a lot can go wrong in one day: car accidents, spilled dip, crushed cakes...and the distraction posed by Ned Wyatt, sexy bachelor brother of the party’s shrewish hostess. Once he gets a taste of Claudia’s homemade chocolate kisses, he wants Claudia catering only to him.Story originally appeared in the Harlequin Valentine Anthology My Valentine 1993

    They made their life there. Got married, had kids, lived in the same houses that were always there along the streets that never changed. The whole white picket fence and tree swing might look good on greeting cards but in real life it was boring, at least to Sammy Jo.When Sammy Jo was a little girl she began dreaming of something bigger. Brighter. Something that wasn’t her town. She wanted to see the world and experience it all. Just how she was going to do that she had no idea. Because if her momma had her way, she’d marry one of the boys in town and be spitting out babies and going to church on Sunday with them all lined up in a row.The day Hale Christopher Jude III walked into the bakery she worked at, she knew he was it. That part of life she was missing. He smelled of foreign places and exciting things. He represented all the bright lights she dreamed of and simply put, she hoped he was her way out of this place.What Sammy Jo didn’t realize was things that appear perfect… aren’t. And chasing her dreams could lead to something very different.

    Now, as the only lion shifter in New Orleans, she enjoys freedom from politics as well as success in running her own business - self-defense training for psychics, spell casters and other shifters.Only one man knows why she left home at nineteen - Walker Gravois. He was there when her Seer mother, her mind twisted by magic, exiled Zola from the pride. More to the point, he stayed behind, shattering her young heart in the process.When he appears on her doorstep after ten years of silence, Zola is nowhere near ready to trust again. But with Walker's life in danger - and the passion between them burning hotter than ever - she'll have to choose between the safety of solitude and the risk of opening herself to others once again.***Length: 35 Pages/12,000 wordsGenre: Paranormal RomanceSeries: Southern Arcana #2.5 - http://www.southernarcana.comSet between Crossroads & Deadlock.***

    He hides the darkness in his past, content to run an island adventure company in the Caribbean with members of his former SEAL team—until resort guest Emma Richardson targets him for a vacation fling. Her fresh innocence and insistence on seeing hero material in Dex where none exists makes him yearn to be the man she deserves. And that terrifies Dex more than any war zone he's ever faced, until he discovers Emma has demons of her own…

    After all, she barely passed high school, flunked the driving test four times, and fell into a pool at her sister's wedding. Marcy is keen to continue her literary success, but she cannot think of a single idea for her next book. Hounded by her agent, family, and friends, she decides to sequester herself in a rustic cabin in the mountains. There, she finds herself face-to-snout with a surprise visitor—a rascally black dog who must have escaped from his owner at a nearby campground. Enter hunky cowboy Jackson Parker, who runs the stables for the campground and helps Marcy survive the antics of the ill-behaved, zany dog. There's something tender and gentle about this man, who could easily grace the cover of any romance novel. Soon Jackson has Marcy rethinking her own beliefs about what heroes are really made of...and what God intends for her life. It's cowboys, canines, and capers galore in this charming novella for animal lovers.

    The only saving grace is that Jack Donohue is finally hers. Usually her hunky man gives her everything she wants, so why is her groom denying her the one thing she wants right now?Jack thought his secretive wait-for-the-honeymoon plan was romantic, until he realizes he's only put Keely in a fighting mood. If he wants to get back on his temperamental bride's good side, he'd better find a way to sweep his cowgirl off her boots...fast.

    Easier said than done for Ashley who finds herself inexplicably drawn to the gorgeous stranger. When she decides to spend the evening doing things she normally wouldn't--like letting herself be seduced by this enigmatic man she only knows as Xander--she unknowing opens her world up to the lavish lifestyle of beautiful mansions, fast cars, and expensive clothes, because when billionaire Xander Boone wants something, he gets it. Part of his worldAs Ashley enters Xander's world of champagne and lavish gifts, they find themselves unable to deny the attraction they feel for each other. But when Xander's past comes back to haunt him, will he follow his heart or run from the feelings he has for her.

    It has since been expanded, revised, and re-edited.The only woman I want is the one I can never have.Harper. My best friend's sister. I've wanted her since I was eighteen, but she's always been off-limits. Now I'm home after years in the Marines, and nothing has changed--except everything has. Her brother is dead, and she's on a hopeless quest for answers about his death.And I want her just as much as ever.Someone is trying to kill her now, and she won't let me keep her safe. I have to protect her anyway, even if she doesn't trust me, even if she hates me for it. A man protects what's precious to him, whether or not he can ever claim her for his own.And Harper has always been precious to me.

    Cast away by the same people I thought were family, I was ready to take my own life. Until I met Nate. He didn't run away when I said I was sick. But I wonder why a handsome, funny, Mr. Right like him would love someone like me?My name is Nate and I have a secret.I met Jasmine at a crossroads in my life. She was beautiful, desperate, and inspired me in ways I didn't know were possible. She makes me better in everything and I want to help her get better, too. But I have a secret, one she doesn't have to know - until the time is right.

    Now he has to produce a fiancée in a matter of hours when they meet for dinner!It had always been Miranda’s priority to avoid Royston at all costs. He might be sexy, rich, and powerful, but he was also intimidating and demanding as the CEO of her company. When Royston catches and questions her in his office, he decides she’s just right for the role of fake fiancée. She’s beautiful, smart, can think on her feet, and she has a spark that captures his attention in all the right ways.Will she accept his real proposal to be his faux bride to be, and will their act become more than that?

    The big bike in her garage hasn’t been ridden for a couple years now. It is no more than a symbol of her loss and reminds her of her own lack of usefulness.When the very large, very excited Mikkel Gunnarsen arrives to buy it, his pleasure in the bike makes the decision to sell to the younger man much easier than she imagined it would be. The same is also true for the decision that ends with Mikkel spending the night in her bed.Kia knows the blissful moments with Mikkel are only momentary relief, but being with the younger man is certainly inspiring.