Someone had to pay the bill, and she wasn’t going to leave until she had a check from Sam Stark. It wasn’t her fault he was jilted at the altar.Stark can’t believe he’s sharing details of his life with a caterer. He’s a private person, not one to have long, meaningful conversations with a complete stranger. So when Desdemona asks him, on a whim, to join her that evening for a play…he surprises himself by saying yes. A much bigger shock awaits—he’s about to meet Desdemona’s unusual family…

    Now his only wish is to live a long life with his beautiful wife, Grace. But how to thank the woman who has given him everything?This Christmas, Grace already has what she wants—unquestioning devotion, fierce protection . . . and the best sex a woman has ever had. Until terror strikes and Grace realizes that the best gift of all is a dangerous husband.Hot SecretsA Dangerous Lover NovellaJack Prescott knows how dark and cruel the world can be, but since marrying Caroline he also knows that it carries love and light. When a violent monster of a man breaks into Caroline’s bookstore on Christmas Eve, Jack, a martial artist and former Army Ranger, will stop at nothing to save the woman he loves . . . all the while hoping she remembers the combat lessons he has taught her.

    But when his latest job requires him to gain the trust―and get into the bed―of his newest target, the sexy, fiery Colonel’s daughter, he has a whole new challenge ahead of him. All evidence points to her being a traitor to the country he’s sworn to protect, but the crackling desire between them is too strong a feeling to ignore…HE’S TOO BAD TO RESISTZoe has always kept her secrets close to the vest. The only woman in a decorated military family, she’s been taught that to let someone close is to flirt with disaster. But when the dangerously handsome, alpha-strong Mercer comes blazing into her life full-speed, it’s all Zoe can do to resist his wicked seduction. As danger circles closer, Zoe must decide if she can trust him to protect her―but there’s no way he could be bad when he makes her feel this good…

    A weekend that will change her life…When actress Avery Scott’s assistant goes missing researching a role for Avery at an exclusive adults-only resort, Avery finds herself with only one choice: travel to the resort herself and look for clues. She hires an elite operative from Aegis Security to accompany her. She just doesn’t expect to get former undercover FBI agent Cade Blackwell—the man who ripped out her teenage heart twelve years before. One weekend at the sexiest resort in the world with the only man she’s ever loved will expose her to more than just a kinky new lifestyle. It’ll expose her to numerous wicked firsts that will test every ounce of her self-control. And if she’s not careful, she could lose her heart—and her life—in the process.First Rapture by Alexandra IvyMadison Philips has only one reason to return to Las Vegas: Luc Angeli. The tall, dark bad boy took her virginity on her eighteenth birthday and then walked away, now she’s back, and ready for revenge. Luc Angeli spent his youth trying to earn the approval of his philandering father. Now he’s his own man, but there’s still something missing from his life. He doesn’t know what it is until he catches sight of Madison across a balcony. Suddenly he knows this woman is what he’s been searching for, and this time he’s not walking away.First Taste of Darkness by Cynthia EdenHot sex. No regrets. Jess Delaney has spent her life playing the role of the good-girl. On a trip to Vegas, she decides to walk on the wild side when she meets mysterious Blake Landon. Rich, powerful, and carrying plenty of secrets, Blake is unlike any man she has ever met before. But as the passion burns between them, danger waits in the darkness…a danger that may just claim Jess’s life…First Ink by Laura WrightRush... Women in his bed, celebs and rockers in his chair, life is pretty freaking swell. Then she walks back into it again. Not for pleasure, but for pain. For Ink. A bleeding heart to match the one she left him with five years ago.Addison... She can’t forget him or the pain she caused him. All she has is a hope for redemption. But it’ll only work if he lets her inside his exclusive world, under his famous artist’s needle and into his bed—once again.First Surrender by Katie ReusHe’s dangerous, sexy, and everything she wants. And he’s about to make his claim…Hayden, the dangerously sexy, tattooed ex-SEAL is one of the best friends Sierra has ever had—and the main star in her wildest fantasies. But he doesn’t see her that way. And she’d die of embarrassment if he found out she was still a virgin.Hayden’s struggled to keep his attraction to the beautiful, dark haired casino chef a secret. But when an attacker targets Sierra, Hayden’s protective instincts go into overdrive. With the attraction between them burning out of control, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her and make her his.First Temptation by Joan SwanCounterterrorist agent Taft Walker is up for the challenge of posing as an adult store owner with a new female undercover partner who is also a sex-toy virgin. At least until he sees the real woman beneath her tough façade.Border Patrol Agent Zoe Brooks is ready to get off the front lines. She’s willing to tolerate a swaggering partner like Taft for a new opportunity. But she’s not prepared for the way he understands her deepest, sexiest desires.

    Lauren sees a wounded man in danger of losing everything to his inner demons, but the sensual, no-holds-barred fight for Ty's soul could cost Lauren her heart."All on the Line," - Abby Simmons fell hard for Lieutenant Sean Winthrop, but he sacrificed their relationship when he deployed to Afghanistan. Now he's home, full of regrets and intent on winning back the woman he never forgot. Abby gives Sean her body but holds her heart aloof, until one night of pleasure forces her to choose either her U.S. Marine...or life without him, forever.

    Entering the wrong house, by accident, she finds the nude sleeping body of a young man.Navy SEAL Kyle Lansdowne, on a mission to find his AWOL Team buddy, is staying at his buddy’s home while investigating the disappearance. When someone breaks in, he takes protective measures. He doesn’t expect to find that a beautiful young woman is responsible for his teammate’s abduction.What starts out as a meeting by accident becomes a hot affair neither one is ready for. Kyle is conflicted about getting Christy involved in his mission, but his hand is forced when he learns the same San Diego gang responsible for his teammate’s abduction has kidnapped her.Battling a cadre of dirty law enforcements hell-bent on getting military equipment, especially state-of-the-art firepower, Kyle is forced to admit that he would die to protect her.

    There she meets Hunter Phillips, the former SEAL and head of her Titanium security team, and quickly learns that coming to Pakistan might prove to be a deadly decision. Battling demons of his own, Hunter grudgingly leads Khalia's protective detail as a favor to his boss. From their first meeting it's clear she's going to be trouble, and that the cell that killed her father is hell bent on taking her out as well. Keeping her alive is one of the toughest assignments he's ever faced, yet through one harrowing situation after another she continually impresses him with her strength and inner courage. Even though he fights his feelings for her, it's a losing battle. And when the job is over, he doesn't know how he'll let her go.

    Three adventurous, irresistible women who don't mind teaching them. Add a secret FBI mission and a corrupt politician who wants them all dead, and watch the fireworks erupt. (Or is that gunfire?) A team that fights together sleeps together? Well, not ALL together. (But—okay, fine—love IS in the air.) (Seriously, these guys are hotter than a fire on a submarine.) "Action packed and breathtakingly romantic!" Susan Mallery #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author "...started with a bang and the tension never let up..." Paula Graves bestselling author

    Now a crisis has brought her home to a family in conflict, a logging empire on the brink of disaster, and seething secrets that make Heaven hotter than hell. Everyone in Heaven has a secret: Schyler's beautiful younger sister, Tricia, with her cruel lies; Ken, Tricia's handsome husband, who married the wrong sister; Jigger, the pimp and ruffian with plans of his own; and Cash, a proud, mysterious, and complex bad boy with a wild reputation. It is dangerous for Schyler to even be near him, yet she must dare to confront the past -- if there is to be any peace in Heaven.

    Honor, duty, courage, passion . . . the men of the Navy SEALs are a special breed of hero, and in these stories by eighteen top romance authors the SEALs are celebrated not only as symbols of devoted service to their country but as the kind of man every woman wants to love. They'll rescue a damsel in distress and her lap dog, too. They'll battle hometown dramas and international bad guys. When it comes to giving away their hearts, they'll risk everything. All proceeds from sales of SEAL of My Dreams goes to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans' medical research.Among them, the authors of SEAL of My Dreams have won dozens of writing awards including multiple RITAs from Romance Writers of America. Their nearly 600 published novels have sold at least 25 million copies worldwide. The SEAL of My Dreams roster includes many of the best-known authors in modern romance fiction. In addition, many have strong family connections to the servicemen and women of our nation's military, and many specialize in novels featuring heroes and heroines from all branches of service. Visit the authors at www.sealofmydreams.com.Contents:Foreword by Robyn CarrComing Home by Jami AldenBaby I'm Back by Stephanie Bond -- Southern Roads #3.5SEALed Fates by Kylie BrantGoing Dark by Helen BrennaFinding Home by HelenKay DimonSEALed With a Kiss by Cindy Gerard -- Black Ops #6.5Panama Jack by Tara JanzenWrapped and SEALed by Leslie KellyWorth the Risk by Elle KennedyTwenty-one Hours by Alison Kent -- The Dalton Gang #0.5Not Waving But Drowning by Jo LeighHer Secret Pirate by Gennita Low -- Crossfire #4 SEALed by Fate by Marliss MeltonSigned, SEALed, Delivered...I'm Yours by Christie RidgwayDog Heart by Barbara SamuelWhirlwind by Roxanne St. ClaireHolding On by Stephanie Tyler -- Hold Trilogy #3.5Letters to Ellie by Loreth Anne White

    She also has a phobia about large bodies of water. Needless to say, she is horrified when she is ordered at the last minute to join an international team of scientists going deep under the frigid waters of the Arctic on an ancient Russian rust bucket of a submarine. Her mission: to recover a tiny data card hidden somewhere on the sub by a murdered CIA mole…and while she’s at it, acquire the sub’s arrogant but annoyingly attractive commander as the asset’s replacement.When Julie’s life is suddenly threatened by an enemy agent hunting the same hidden microcard, she must turn to her nemesis for help. But the killer handsome Russian captain is hiding his own shocking secrets…Or this hot…Daring rogue submarine driver Captain Nikolai Kirill Romanoff is having the worst year of his life. Unfairly disgraced and demoted to driving the oldest, most dilapidated excuse for a diesel submarine in the entire Russian Navy, Nikolai’s youthful KGB past has come back to haunt him in a way he never anticipated: a compulsory undercover mission that will require all his considerable skill as an operative , a submariner…and as a man. Nikolai, his crew, and nine innocent scientists are now hovering at the bottom of the Bering Strait in a 2000 sq foot tin coffin, under attack from an unknown enemy, and he must extract information vital to their survival from a beautiful American spy—by any means necessary.As Nikolai and Julie frantically join forces to save the floundering vessel from a treacherous blitz attack that threatens to send them all to a watery grave, the two former adversaries find themselves fighting a losing battle against a sizzling attraction that far surpasses international borders, ancient hurts, and a ruthless common enemy.

    He has no memory of the past three years or of the Navy Seal mission that went wrong. Only two things kept him going: thoughts of his wife and the certainty that he must escape. A Sudden Homecoming. After Gabe is presumed dead, Helen pulls the tattered pieces of her and her daughter's lives back together. Married young and for all the wrong reasons, she's standing on her own two feet at last-and proud of it. Then comes the biggest shock of all--Gabe returns home. Gone is the distant, secretive husband he once was. This new Gabe is a man she could easily, finally, lose her heart to. But his memory is slowly returning, exposing a trail of government treachery...and jeopardizing his and Helen's second chance at love.

    Living off the land in rural Kentucky, they adhere closely to the words of the Bible. But there is more going on at their compound than either Elijah or Gracie realises. In fact, a man has been killed for knowing too much. When the victim's twin, Jake Baretta, arrives at the compound to search for his twin's killer, he struggles to keep his heart and attraction to Gracie to himself, and his mind on the job. Everyone knows the first rule of undercover work: Never fall in love with enemy.

    Permanently. Her brother's best friend--a sexy thrill-seeker she can't stop thinking about--won't reveal what he knows about the fatal shoot-out, putting Jenna at odds with the only man she trusts to keep her alive.Former military special operator Mick Fury would give his life to keep his best friend's irresistible sister safe. He took an oath to stay silent about their last mission, but Mick's will is tested by the white-hot attraction to Jenna he's tried to ignore for years. Now he must risk everything--even falling in love--to protect her from a secret that could destroy them both.

    He's providing refuge. Together, they'll fight for new love and survival...Laura Kensington is desperate to give her unborn child a fresh start. On the run from her late husband's ruthless family, she takes refuge on a Texas ranch. As her twisted mother-in-law hunts her down, she has one reason to be hopeful: a loving man who believes in second chances.Cade Bishop has dedicated his life to protecting injured and neglected animals. He didn't hesitate to protect the strong, beautiful Laura when she showed up on his doorstep, but he never expected the passion he feels for her. As the truth comes out, Cade dedicates himself to guarding the woman he's falling for.When the powerful family draws near, Laura and Cade will need more than a refuge to preserve their love and their lives. Love and Protect is the first standalone book in the Heroes of Evers, TX romantic suspense series.Love and Protect was previously published as Ever Hopeful.