To celebrate their accomplishments, bestselling authors have honored the winners by writing short stories inspired by their lives and work.This special eBook is yours at no charge because Harlequin is committed to celebrating women's efforts and supporting the causes that are meaningful to them. By sharing Rhonda Clemons' story, we hope to turn awareness into action and mobilize others to make a difference.To find out more or to nominate a woman you know, please visit HarlequinMoreThanWords.com.

    He lives for the moment, indulging in temporary pleasures. Until Lady Caroline Seton sets her eyes on him and the heat of her gaze lures him in. Now he wants more than one stolen kiss, he wants forever. But Caroline hides a dangerous secret, one that could cost him his life. Will his love be enough to save them both...?Genres: Dark Fantasy / Vampire / Historical / Regency

    plus one or two dukes, one heiress, and one headstrong beauty—to a surprise snow storm, the comfort of a blazing fire, and the heat of a lover's kisses...A CHRISTMAS ABDUCTION by Madeline HunterCaroline Dunham has a bone to pick with notorious rake Baron Thornhill—and a creative plan to insure his undivided attention. Yet once in close quarters, she finds herself beholden to their smoldering connection. A PERFECT MATCH by Sabrina JeffriesWhisked away from a wintry ball by a commanding colonel, Cassandra Isles struggles with her feelings for Lord Heywood. For he is a man sworn to marry only for money—and Cass is an heiress who will accept nothing less than love. ONE WICKED WINTER’S NIGHT by Mary Jo PutneyDressed as a veiled princess, Lady Diana Lawrence is shocked to discover that the mysterious corsair who tempts her away from the costume ball is the duke she once loved and lost. Now ensconced with Castleton at a remote lodge, will she surrender to the passion still burning hotly between them?

    The Mackenzies gather for a clan Christmas and Hogmanay in Scotland. In the chaos of preparations for the celebration--the first of Hart and Eleanor's married life--one of Ian's Ming bowls gets broken, and the family scrambles to save the day. Daniel busily runs a betting ring for everything from the hour Eleanor's baby will arrive, to whether Mac's former-pugilist valet can win a boxing match. Ian begins a new obsession, and Beth fears that the loss of one of his precious bowls has made him withdraw once more into his private world.

    So when he sees the alluring Miss Pippa Welby from across a crowded ballroom, he vows to make her his. But the bold and spirited Pippa has sworn never to marry into the haute ton. Now Lucas must win her the only way he knows how—one wicked kiss at a time.The daughter of a wealthy tradesman, Pippa has been sneered at by the upper echelons her entire life. So when the duke arrives on her doorstep with an invitation to her own engagement ball—to him—in ten days, Pippa hatches a daring plan. She must lose the duke before the ball, or risk losing her own heart.

    But, when she needs to do some research of this kissing kind, things may get a little more heated than she expected.Research has never been so fun.WARNING: This 11k short has no vampires, shape shifter or scorching sex, but it might make you snort your diet Coke out your nose.

    Welcome to the Sinners Club... Secret Desires Faith Pelly is tired of being the responsible daughter. She longs for adventure with a man who will introduce her to the secrets of carnal desire. But she never dreams she will meet the Savage Rake who flirts with her, seduces her and takes her as his own… Dark Secrets Asked to investigate charges of treason, the Earl of Westbrook attends a house party determined to discover the truth. That includes using all his sensual wiles on the lovely Miss Pelly, a beguiling young woman eager for erotic excitement with a man who will fulfill all her secret fantasies. And he plans on being that man...

    But when his brother inherits the viscountcy and pleads for his return, the opportunity to show his contempt and loathing for the Society who turned its back on him proves to be far too enticing to resist.When the dishonourable Lucas Dempsey steps into the ballroom after a four-year absence, Helena Ecclestone is quick to label the gentleman a murderous rogue. That is until she stumbles upon a secret conversation and feels a moral obligation to see justice done. But while the ladies swoon over his handsome countenance, Helena is determined to look beyond such superficial features, intrigued to find the true character of the gentleman he hides beneath his arrogant façade.

    Although she flatly refuses to tell him her name or how she came to be riding with a raiding party, Duncan cannot countenance imprisoning a woman in his dungeon but neither can he release her without compensation. Unable to ransom her back to her family, he treats her as an honored - though exceptionally well-supervised - guest. He takes to calling her Reva and determines to seduce the truth of her identity from her. There’s just one problem - the reiver may steal his heart before he can reveal her secrets.This story was originally published in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance.

    Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined.

    But Teresa sets terms, too: with each bridegroom she finds, the earl must pay her increasingly intimate rewards . . .

    By her parents, her brother, even the servants. So she was secretly able to develop her talent for painting well beyond the usual watercolors. Too bad no one will let her actually use it—women are rarely accepted into the Royal Academy. But when a connection at the Haverhall School for Young Ladies gets Charlotte her dream commission, she'll do whatever it takes to make it work. Including disguising herself as "Charlie."Flynn Rutledge has something to prove. His lowly upbringing is not going to stop him from achieving his artistic dreams. This commission is the key to his future, and his partner, an unknown youth in oversized clothes who is barely old enough to shave, doesn't exactly inspire confidence. But Charlie does inspire Flynn's artistic passion—something he worried he might have lost forever. For all his street smarts, nothing can prepare Flynn for the shock of Charlie's true identity. He doesn't care that she's a woman, but a lady of the ton is a different matter altogether.

    In an innovative new twist for anthologies, each author is reintroducing a secondary character from a previous book to star in his own story!A resourceful beauty's determination to locate the true father of a poor foundling sets off a society scandal—and ignites a fire in handsome Reggie Carmarthen's world-weary, aristocratic heart in Stephanie Lauren's unforgettable Lost and Found Captivated by the fetching, marriage-wary noblewoman he finds concealed in his shrubbery, Harry Chamberlain, the roguish Earl of Granville, agrees to help the delightful lady escape...while hatching a plan to woo and win her himself in Christina Dodd's smoldering The Third Suitor A wounded hero, James Reyburn has no expectations of romance—until a storm-tossed beauty with a secret blows into his life in Elizabeth Boyle's enchanting The Matchmaker's Bargain

    With varying expectations, each girl accepts her turn with the good luck charm—and a chance at happily ever after—secretly fearing the gypsy’s tale may be nothing more than a plot to sell a worthless piece of jewelry.

    An unpaid companion to his aunt, she's used to being ignored.The black sheep of the family, Leo has nothing but his good looks and noble birth to recommend him. Hannah ought to be appalled at what she's witnessed, but there's something about Leo that draws her to him.When Leo claims he can prove that women can feel desire as passionately as men, Hannah is incredulous. Her own experiences have been uninspiring. Yet she can't bring herself to refuse his audacious proposal when he offers to tutor her in the art of lovemaking. As the tantalizing, wicked lessons continue, she begins to fear she's losing not just her inhibitions, but her heart as well. The poorest of relations, she has nothing to offer Leo but herself. Will it be enough when their erotic education ends? 22,000 words