Fans of romance novels by Debbie Macomber, Janet Evanovich and Susan Mallory will enjoy these fun, sweet contemporary romances. THE WEDDING GIFT (Book 1): After Julie Delgado’s restaurant closes, she temporarily takes over the catering position at the Rose Chalet, a full-service San Francisco wedding venue. She plans to dazzle the bride and groom so the Chalet’s owner will keep her around, but fate has other plans for her when the bride’s brother shows up for the first food tasting.Andrew Kyle is not only the Cuisine Channel’s Edgy Eats host and chef, but his recent review of Julie’s restaurant was the final nail in its coffin. Once he meets Julie at the Rose Chalet, he’s certain she’s playing it safe. And he wants nothing more than to be the one to break her guarded passions loose.But despite the undeniable sparks between Julie and Andrew–and the fact that he seems to believe in her when no one else does–can she afford to be taking risks with her cooking, with her career…or with her heart?THE WEDDING DANCE (Book 2): Phoebe Davis, the Rose Chalet’s florist, knows nothing is permanent—not the floral arrangements she creates, not the weddings she helps produce, and certainly not her parents’ marriage which ended in a bitter divorce. Certain that all relationships come with strings attached, she has always worked to live for the moment and not to have any ties…ever.Risking big is how Patrick left the family landscaping business, was the first Knight to graduate from college, and became an in demand architect. In California for a short while to work on a new home, from the very first moment he holds Phoebe in his arms, he knows he’s found his perfect match in the adventurous, alluring and intelligent florist.But will Phoebe dare let herself risk her heart on the most fragile and precious bloom of all? Especially when one dance with Patrick Knight is all it takes for her to start rethinking everything she’s ever believed to be true about love…THE WEDDING SONG (Book 3): Tyce Smith, the DJ and band leader for the top wedding venue in San Francisco, hasn’t written a new song in five years. Not since the fateful night he kissed the woman of his dreams, and she left him with nothing but a first name and no way to find her. When fate steps in a second time, he can’t make the mistake of letting her run again…even if the hurdles in the way of true love seem bigger than ever.After Whitney Banning comes face to face with the man she’s never forgotten and knows she never will—how is she supposed to stop herself from dreaming again? Especially when the desires she buried so long ago are sparked back to life by one dance, one smile, one more forbidden kiss…and a brand new song about a love that will last forever.THE WEDDING DRESS (Book 4) ~ coming October 15, 2012THE WEDDING KISS (Book 5) ~ coming Winter 2012

    All romantic suspense. Jen, the heroine of the first book, is Jerry's sister from the Edge of the Heat Series. Unauthorized Affair - Twenty-six year old Jen Mansko finds out the hard way that she's too trusting. Her apartment ransacked, her bank account emptied, and her heart broken, Jen has had enough and high-tails it to the only place she can think of where she will be welcomed – her brother's house. Anxious for a fresh start, Jen does something completely out of character and decides to become a cop. Soon, the athletic beauty with the striking-pink locks captures the attention of ex-navy seal Police Sergeant Hunter Foley. When she is vetted for an undercover assignment, Jen dares another feat and quickly wins the approval of the powers that be. Once embedded in the covert operation, yet another unlikely suitor is drawn to her. With two men on opposite sides of the law vying for her attention, Jen is forced to make a choice or risk having all she's worked so hard for ripped away from her. Unauthorized Deception - When blackmailing leads to leaving it all behind, Ivy is desperate for the truth. The man she'd come to love suddenly disappears, leaving a note on her bedside table, Ivy's world is shaken to the core. The man she knew wanted nothing more than to be a cop. He wouldn't have thrown it all away. It will be up to Ivy to find the answers, but the journey she embarks on is full of twists and turns. This sadistic game of cat and mouse will lead to a very unlikely source and familial bonds will be tested. After working so hard to learn to love and trust, Ivy must gather her resolve and push past the deception. Will Ryker still be the same man once the web of lies is destroyed? Unauthorized Obsession - Officer Kara Price has recovered from her injury and is back doing what she loves best, patrolling the streets of Westwood Harbor, praying that she never hears from her stalker again. But when her neighbor sees a man lurking outside her home, her partner finally forces her to take the case to the detectives. Her attention is distracted by a confident, cocky, gorgeous business owner who sets his sights on her and won't take no for an answer. Within days, her stalker turns from slight annoyance, to imminently dangerous, pulling her attention back to her current crisis. When the investigating officer suspects her new boyfriend is her stalker, Kara balks immediately. But when what they uncover in the investigation lands him in jail, Kara is torn between her heart and her safety. As her life spins out of control she holds tight to the hope that both of them will make it out of this alive and out from under suspicion. Unauthorized Return - Coleton, our handsome and rich poet from book 1 returns, battered, bruised, and a little more bitter than before. But when the Sgt. Aria Gale, the police officer assigned to protect him is the twin sister of the most recent woman to crush his heart, he wonders if standing and fighting is even worth it. When Coleton's car blows up, he has no more choice. He and Aria go on the run. But how will she react when she finds out about Coleton's involvement with her sister? Especially once he finds himself falling in love with her.

    It's addictive romance reading that gets more satisfying as you journey further into these characters experience. Book one of the LOVE in the USA series features Daisy Blanchard and Belmont (Jack) Lord. Don't be surprised by the hot and fast start, Daisy and Belmont have a lot to learn about love, and here is where their education begins. It was one intense week in late October. I probably should've slowed our pace but I wasn't thinking clearly. I had just learned my boyfriend and best friend were engaged via a Facebook post, which left me heartbroken and wrestling with ghosts from my past.But Belmont Lord was so convincing and uninhibited, unlike me. He also had demons of his own. We threw caution to the wind. Could fate had picked a more perfect time and place for two people to meet?Yes, it was one steamy and surprising week, but was it long enough to make us last forever?Find Her, Keep Her: A Martha's Vineyard Love Story is the first sexy, sensual and addictive contemporary romance in the LOVE in the USA series by author, Z.L. Arkadie.This manuscript has been updated as of 6/18/2017. Sex scenes are still frequent but they are no longer written in graphic detail. Also, some of the details that were hard to swallow have been made palatable. Although, do realize that I had chosen to write two imperfect human beings. In later books, as they choose to make their relationship work, they also choose to resolve their personal issues. After all that is the theme of the LOVE in the USA series--true love, real love is another catalyst in life which helps evolve two people for the better. So I write love stories more than romance, and from book one through twelve of this series, you will be able to read the difference. Visit zlarkadiebooks.com to learn more about the author.

    After working as an undercover FBI Agent in Los Angeles, Ryan gets a phone call telling him to come home to the small town of Keeneston, Kentucky. The woman he thought he was over is now in serious trouble. Sienna Ashton fell in love with Ryan Parker too late. He was gone from her life before she realized what he really meant to her. Now working as a sports psychologist, Sienna finds herself helping others figure their lives out. She thinks her chance of happily ever after is long gone until a murder brings Ryan back into her life and entangles them in a battle for their heart and their lives. Ryan and Sienna discover there is more going on than originally thought and now the two are in the fight of their lives. It doesn't take long for fireworks to ignite as passion and danger drive the couple toward a fate they never saw coming.

    Lila is charmed by the people of Auburn, from the blue-eyed lawyer with the southern drawl to the little old lady who unceasingly tries to set Lila up with her grandson. But when strange things begin to happen, Lila realizes some of her new friends are guarding a secret like it's a precious family heirloom. It's a dangerous secret, and it has come back to haunt them. Lila is caught in the middle, and her life may depend on uncovering it. But even if she can, can she stay in Auburn when not everyone is what they seem, and even the house wants her gone?

    It isn't until Jackson walks through their door that she realizes something may be missing in the recipe of her life. For the past year, Jackson has been dealing with the fallout of his wife's abandonment. He's had to learn how to be a single father to their eight-year-old daughter, and will do anything to fill the void her mother left. It isn't until he commissions Millie for his daughter's birthday party that he realizes he's forgotten that he's not only a father, but a man. They both think they're content in their lives, but sometimes the right amount of spice can turn an okay dish into a magnificent one. A Pinch of Salt may be all that's needed to bring Millie and Jackson the flavor they've been missing.

    When she returns home to mid-coast Maine for his funeral, she faces all that she left behind when she left seven years earlier. The pain of her own mother’s death, the fractured relationships with her father, and her first love. The life she had built for herself in New York - the art world, her boyfriend, her roommate who is also her best friend - allowed her to forget the grief and hurt she had left behind in Maine. But when her uncle leaves her a surprising inheritance, if forces her to face them, and the parts of her self she’s buried. As she searches for answers about herself, and where she belongs, she discovers how people and places shape us, and how understanding, forgiveness and grace have the power to transform us and the people we love.

    The Brides of Purple Heart Ranch series features Wounded Warriors, the women they fall for, and the loyalest pack of dogs you’ll ever meet! ON HIS BENDED KNEE Sgt. Dylan Banks lost more than just his leg in the war. His fiancée and family turned their backs on him as well. Now, he’s determined to create a safe place where wounded warriors like himself can heal. But a hidden zoning law requires all residents of the Purple Heart Ranch to be married. To save his dream, Dylan and his men will have to tie the knot—but can a man with such deep scars inside and out believe in love again? Maggie Shaw lost both her job as a veterinary technician and her apartment on the same day. Who knew her unreasonable landlord would kick her out for being four dogs over the one pet limit? Now, she and her gang of special-needs dogs are in trouble. Fate puts her in Dylan’s path with a proposal that seems too good to be true—but can her heart bear a loveless marriage of convenience? Dylan yearns to reach out for Maggie’s healing touch, but he keeps his distance, convinced his wounds are too deep for her embrace. Maggie sees past Dylan’s injuries, but if she fails to capture his heart they both could lose it all: her beloved animals, his ranch, and each other. HAND OVER HIS HEART Francisco DeMonti has always been a man with a plan. Though his last plan led to his entire squad being wounded on a mission in Afghanistan. Now he’s seeking redemption by getting all the men in his unit hitched so they can stay together and heal. But his own heart is under lock and key due to the shrapnel around it that could kill him at any moment. After years of scraping and saving, Eva Lopez finally steps foot onto a college campus only to be yanked away by the mean streets she came from. A local gang threatens her family’s safety until a wounded veteran offers a reprieve: marry a soldier in exchange for protection and the freedom to attend school. Fran has every intention of directing Eva towards one of his brothers in arms, men who aren’t in danger of a sudden death, but he can’t resist the brainy brunette and proposes to her himself. He’ll protect her for as long as he breathes, but falling in love is futile for a man with a ticking time bomb in his chest. Eva can’t help falling for the man who is making her dreams come true, but when he keeps her at arm’s length, can she convince him to make this marriage more than a convenience no matter how much or how little time they have left? OFFERING HIS ARM Reed Cannon may be a numbers guy but being minus one arm due to enemy fire hasn’t slowed him down. Now he’s faced with a new challenge—find a bride so he can stay on the rehabilitation ranch that has given him and his squad back their lives. Reed turns to a dating app to narrow down the selection of potential brides. The woman who matches him nearly 100% is accessible online, but out of reach in reality. Sarai Austin has done the impossible, she’s found a great guy online. The problem is now he wants to meet in person, and Sarai's not ready for IRL. Her profile picture was taken three years and thirty pounds ago. To hide her weight issues, she tells Reed she’s out of town on business.

    Unbeknownst to them, she’s been here before; it’s not her first rodeo. Two guys, one girl … Sawyer and Noah Weston, front men for BAD, have an awful habit of falling for the same girl. When Mel enters their lives, they are spellbound, both vying for her attention. Noah wears his heart on his sleeve, but Sawyer is a master at hiding his feelings—or so he thinks. All’s fair in love and war … Between Noah and Sawyer competing for Amelia’s affection, the stalker set on ruining her life, and turmoil affecting the group as a whole, Amelia is forced to make difficult decisions. Will she throw caution to the wind and give in to the magnetic pull Sawyer has on her, or will Amelia release the demons of her past and allow Noah to own her heart? This box set contains Just an Illusion—Side A and Just and Illusion—The B Side. *Mature Content- This book contains situations not intended for persons under the age of 18. Including, but not limited to - open door sex, cursing, alcohol and/or drug use, and possible triggers.*

    . . and the choices they make when they realize their lives aren’t exactly what they expected. Karyn Macadam is starting over after losing her husband to a skiing accident. A chance encounter with a backcountry pilot might be this young widow’s one shot at a new beginning, but only if she can let go of the past. Leigh Ann Blackburn is the perfect wife, until her husband grows more distant and she believes the worst. An outrageous plan to save her marriage turns the situation on its head and she soon learns not everything is as it seems. Joie Abbott, who always finds a way to mess up her life, has done it yet again. This time a bitter betrayal threatens to expose a heartache she desperately wants to keep secret, especially from her family. Through romance and heartbreak, laughter and tears . . . life is always better with your sisters at your side.

    Some lucky women focus on a career and make their own happily ever after. And then some women wake up after fifteen years of marriage and discover that their luck just ran out ... right into the arms of another woman.Jana Embers isn't one to sit back, though. The first thing Jana realizes she needs to do is empty the joint bank account, then she's thinking she might take a tire iron to her soon-to-be-ex-husband's truck. After that, she's not sure what she'll do ... Maybe she'll adopt a cat.After her divorce and a few too many crummy dates, Jana decides she doesn't need a man. A perfectly sized and shaped device and writing about the perfect hero will more than suffice. Determined to share her philosophy, she pens You Don't Need a Man, encouraging women everywhere to go out and experience life instead of waiting for a man to complete them.Three years later, Jana has a New York Times bestseller and a contract for a movie adaptation, but she also has a shoulder injury, which has put a crimp in her new carefree lifestyle. Worse yet, she can't write. Her only hope is Dr. Adrian Kijek, a renowned physical therapist who hates her simply because she wrote a book about not needing a man, or so she thinks ...WARNING: Although there are many adult situations in Some Lucky Woman, if say ... something crazy happened and a famous producer adapted this contemporary women's fiction into a movie, it would have a PG-13 rating. There are no erotic scenes, no graphic violence, and while there are a few allowed-on-TV curse words, there aren't a plethora of gratuitous foul words. Oh, and if you were looking for a cliffhanger, you won't find that here either. Please proceed at your own risk.

    When disaster strikes, their labels become irrelevant.“In a matter of minutes on a Friday night, I lost my school, my identity, the security of my first love, the personality of my sweet fearless brother, my best friend, my town, everything as I knew it. Everything changed.”"Minutes—that’s all it takes to change your entire life. How do you deal with that?”For high school senior Jules Blacklin surviving the storm is only the beginning. Faced with her life's new reality, she must find a way to rise from the wreckage and answer the question—how do you get back to normal when everything normal is gone?The From The Wreckage series is a Young Adult to New Adult series with one trilogy and multiple character spin-offs. Please see the reading order below:Jules and West's trilogy1. From the Wreckage2. Out of Ruins3. All that RemainsSpin-offs best read in order but CAN be read alone4. West: A male POV novel of From The Wreckage5. Into the Fire: Dani's story6. After the Fall: Austin's story7. Until We Crash: Jess and Carter's story

     Ebony Bell is living just exactly the life she wants. She has her very own magical bookstore, a wardrobe full of fabulously glitzy clothes, and a sweet bowl just brimming with lollies. But when a 6ft-tall annoyance by the name of Detective Nathan Wall walks through her shop door, her sweet life turns to ruin. As witch consultant for the local police department, Ebony has to work infuriatingly close with the man. And if that wasn't the worst thing that could happen, she slowly finds out that an ancient, thoroughly powerful entity might just be out to curse her. Very soon she finds herself ditching the ruby-red heels, dashing across rooftops, breaking and entering, and stuffing whole bookstores into bags. Oh, and possibly kissing annoying detectives.

    But as she forms an unlikely connection with her abductor, Luke, her adventure takes a strange turn.There is nothing magical about growing up in a mountainside castle, when it’s your prison. Kaya’s ruthless and powerful father keeps her under lock and key, watched every second of the day–and Kaya’s not really sure why. She’s just a normal girl…no one special. She doesn’t understand her father’s obsession with her safety – until she is kidnapped. Dragged through a brutal wilderness, Kaya’s captor shows her the devastating truth, and even though he has dark secrets of his own, she is inexplicably drawn to him–when the stars are in your eyes, sometimes the line between right and wrong is blurred. Passion obliterates common sense. Love... makes you reckless. As Kaya's father’s men and her devoted bodyguard scour the woods to find her, she wonders if staying in the arms of her abductor is the safer place to be. At least, that’s what her heart is saying—her head is saying run… Dangerously passionate and darkly romantic, SERENADE is a page-turning thriller and seductive love story.

    Meet these strong, independent couples, willing to risk it all on finding their happily-ever-after with the one that got away. IT HAPPENED IN VEGAS One little wager. What could go wrong? That's what Charlie King thinks when her friends dare her to reach out to the one man she's never forgotten. There's just one catch—he's the older brother of her former fiancée. Rodeo star Jared Drake is in Vegas for the Grand National finals when he spots Charlie. Their chemistry is instantly off the charts. There’s just one problem—his role in her broken engagement. This time around, can they beat the odds to happily-ever-after or will secrets from the past keep them apart forever? CRAZY VEGAS LOVE It's party time in Las Vegas when four former college roommates and best friends converge on Sin City. Add in a crazy drunken bet about finding "the one that got away" to see if there's a spark still burning after all these years—how bad could it be? The next day, after coming to her senses, Gloria Valenzuela had no intention of going through with the bet. Not until one of the other women played fairy godmother and arranged things so Gloria had no choice but to meet up with her ex. A world famous country music star, Kyle Greenwood had everything he'd ever wanted except for the one thing he'd left behind—Gloria. Then fate in the form of his matchmaking manager lends a hand and brings Gloria back into his life. Before the night is over, a simple practical joke escalates into more than either anticipate. Secrets from their past begin to unravel and threaten their last chance at happiness. Can they overcome their obstacles and hold onto their happily ever after? MARRIAGE, VEGAS STYLE It's party time in Las Vegas when four former college roommates and best friends converge on Sin City. Add in a crazy drunken bet about finding "the one that got away" to see if there's a spark still burning after all these years—how bad could it be? When Cynthia "Cyn" Evans finds herself without access to cash and credit cards, she tempted to cave in to her mother's demands to return home and become engaged to someone who's earned the family approval. That is, until she runs into Noah Cochran in the hotel lobby. What are the odds the one man she decided not to look for is right here in Vegas? Noah Cochran can't believe his luck. The consortium deciding on the contract for the brand new casino complex has narrowed its choices down to five contenders, and his company is at the top of the list. But he's the only unmarried businessman in the running, and if he wants to make a good impression, he needs a fiancee—fast. A fake engagement seems the ideal solution, until things spiral out of control. Will outside forces pull them apart when they've just found each other again, or can they hang on tight for their own happily-ever-after?