It comes out of nowhere. There’s no logic to it. It’s not methodical. It’s not scientific. It’s pure emotion and passion. And emotion and passion can be dangerous because they fuel love…and hate.I’m now a reluctant connoisseur of both—an expert through immersion. I know them intimately.When I fell in love with Miranda, it was swift and blind. She was the person I’d elevated to mythical status in my head, in my dreams.Here’s the thing about dreams, they’re smoke.They’re spun as thoughts until they become something we think we want. Something we think we need.That was Miranda. She was smoke.I thought I wanted her. I thought I needed her.Over time reality crept in and slowly dissected and disemboweled my dreams like a predator, leaving behind a rotting carcass.Reality can be a fierce bitch.So can Miranda.And I can be a fool...who believes in dreams.And people.And love.Note from the author: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is recommended for mature audiences only.

    Twelve years, three cities, and too many pairs of stilettos later, Shaelyn Lawrence is back in the one place she vowed never to return: New Orleans.Thankfully, her hometown stint is temporary. Better yet, she has a plan guaranteed to get her out ASAP: Return her aging-but-still-crazy grandmother back to health;Help her cousin with her boutique;Evade Brady Taylor, her high school sweetheart, a.k.a the reason she fled Louisiana in the first place.Brady isn't even a footnote... until one unexpected run-in with him changes everything. She shouldn't be tempted by his drawl, she shouldn't be tempted by the promise of his kiss, she shouldn't want him.But she does.Oh, boy, this was so not the plan.----------Twelve years, one city, and too many issued traffic tickets later, Homicide Detective Brady Taylor is all geared up for being promoted to sergeant within the New Orleans Police Department. Or, he would be — if he wasn't sitting in third place.Thankfully, he's cut out every possible distraction:Hanging out with his buddies;Women;And, God help him, football.His life should be distraction-free... but then Shaelyn Lawrence waltzes back into it, with her sexy red lips, curvy body, and her f***-me heels. Brady should run in the opposite direction. He definitely shouldn't spend time pursuing her, kissing her, or landing her in his bed.But he does.Shaelyn may have left once, but Brady is determined to prove that Shaelyn belongs in New Orleans. She belongs with him. For fans of Jill Shalvis and Lauren Layne, Maria Luis’ new sexy contemporary romance will leave you laughing and desperate for more! SAY YOU'LL BE MINE is the first full-length novel in the NOLA Heart series, but can be read as a standalone.

    Learning to let go after the tragic killing of her Navy Seal husband in the Afghan War proved to be mission impossible. But after five long years and countless hours of tears and healing, Kennedy has moved on.KIA? No. Liam Flanagan is alive! A Special Ops team uncovers the bunker he was held prisoner in and Liam has a second chance at life. However, five years is a long time. Soon life deals another blow. His wife has remarried and his daughter calling a man he hates daddy.Caught between the past and the harsh realities of the present, both Liam and Kennedy fight for the love they've had and forgiveness for all they've lost. Before Sunrise, promises to make you a believer in the happily ever after we all deserve.

    His name is Remy, and while I didn’t recognize him upon meeting him again, he sure as hell remembers me.It would be easier just to turn my back on him a second time, especially since that’s exactly what he wants, but there’s no way I can let the tormented young man go. At least not without trying to make things right first. The problem is, even if I can make up for leaving Remy behind so long ago, I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk away from him twice.I don’t know what that means, but I do know that it scares the hell out of me.Because needing in my world comes at a heavy price… one that not even I can afford to pay.RemyHe gave me hope when I’d had none left, but he forgot about me just like all the others…I fight. That’s what I do. It’s who I am. But when Luca Covello walked into the dark, dirty room my captors were keeping me in so long ago, I’d already decided to do the one thing I hadn’t in the three years since I’d been taken from my home and family.Give up.Then he’d been there, like a bright light in a sea of darkness, and I’d had something new to fight for, to stay alive for… the day Luca came back to get me like he’d promised.Except he never came.And now, eight years later, he’s decided he wants to play the hero and save me. Well, I don’t need saving. Not anymore… not ever.Along with two years of sobriety under my belt, I’ve got a good job, a decent apartment, and I’ve managed to put my past where it belongs… in the past. No one, not even the gorgeous, mysterious businessman, is going to mess things up for me. If he’s come seeking forgiveness, I’m fresh out.And if he’s come seeking something else… well, let’s just say that when I’m done with him, there’s no way he’ll forget me this time around. Trigger Warning: For those who would like to see the trigger warnings associated with this book, please either download the sample or use the "look inside" feature and go to Trigger Warning page for more information.

    Or for him. Or anything that had to do with Cal Donovan from Boston. Meeting him had been a complete and utter surprise, taking me one hundred percent off guard. I met new people every single day in my line of work and none of them affected me. Wasn’t that the way of things though? You could meet a thousand people and they’d all mean nothing to you. But then you’d meet that one and they suddenly meant everything.

    But when I needed him the most, that was exactly what he did…Wilderness guide Xander Reed has spent fifteen years trying to forget the night he turned to his best friend in his darkest hour, only to find the young man who’d sworn to always have his back was turning his on Xander instead. Two thousand miles and fifteen years of building a new life in the quiet backcountry of the Rocky Mountains should have been enough to put the memory of Bennett Crawford out of his mind forever, but old wounds run deep and when Bennett suddenly reappears in his life as part of a wilderness expedition Xander is guiding, the scars he thought long healed break wide open.I’d only ever wanted to protect Xander from getting hurt again. I never considered the one he needed protection from was me…Bennett Crawford was faced with an impossible choice the night his best friend needed him.He chose wrong.As the only son of one of the wealthiest families in New England, he should have had the world at his feet, but losing his best friend at the tender age of fourteen changed everything. And even though Bennett’s managed to hide behind a mask of contentment as he takes his place at his father’s side in the family business, inside he’s searching for the piece of himself that’s been missing ever since Xander Reed walked out of his life. Bennett’s only saving grace is his work with a group of inner city kids, and when he’s given the chance to show the troubled teens that there’s a bigger world out there waiting for them if they just have the courage to reach for it, he takes it.But when he steps off that bus for what was supposed to be a week of fun and adventure, he’s instantly returned to the past when he discovers their expedition guide is none other than the boy he let go so long ago. Only, the soft-hearted, insecure little boy Bennett once knew is gone, and in his place is a brooding, bitter man who isn’t interested in second chances.People leave. I know that now and nothing Bennett has to say to me will change anything…All Bennett wants is another chance to show Xander that friendship was only the beginning. But when a stubborn Xander refuses to even hear him out, Bennett realizes he’s going to need to fight dirty.Because now that he’s found Xander again, he’s not letting him go a second time…

    It’s a mistake—a steamy, mind-blowingly satisfying mistake. But a few nights of passion with the superwealthy bad boy prove to have long-term effects when Cleo’s world is unexpectedly turned upside down.Dante has cultivated an enviable, jet-setting lifestyle: beautiful women, exotic destinations, and luxury without limits. He’s not looking to be domesticated, and certainly not by his assistant—even though he can’t get her out of his mind. Still, he knows he has both the responsibility and the financial means to help Cleo.Though Cleo has no interest in Dante’s money, her lack of prospects gives her little choice but to accept his help. But living under the same roof, Dante discovers he wants more, and if Cleo lets down her guard, she just might find what her heart’s wanted all along.

    The only thing she knew for sure was that she was going to marry him. Just as soon as she could convince him that she didn't have cooties. But tragedy tore her away from him before they ever got a chance at their happily ever after. And the worst part? He forgot all about her.Ten years after Summer lost everything, she's given a fresh start in the witness protection program. The only rule: don't speak to anyone from her past. A rule that's hard to follow when she finds out that the boy next door is living right down the hall. Unlike him, she never forgot. But she knows that the future she once dreamed of is no longer an option. And if she reveals her identity, she could get them both killed.Miles fell in love with the girl next door when he was eight-years-old. When she disappeared in the foster care system, it felt like a piece of him was missing. So when she shows up in his life again with a different color hair and a new name? It doesn’t fool him. And this time he'll do whatever it takes to keep her.

    As a widowed father to a daughter he doesn't recognise, he really has no time for his mother's interference with his love life. She and her church friend can stop handing out photos of him to the single ladies of the congregation and let him try to be the paternal and maternal figure his daughter so desperately needs. Abigail Yeboah ignores most of what happens in her mother's church. She's focused on her budding business and she's certainly not interested in playing Evil Queen to Liam McNamara's brat. But when Abigail catches his daughter in an act of vandalism, she finally understands it's not only the child who needs her, but the man.

    She found the love of her life and lost him. Yet, even when she felt nothing romantic for the friend who helped her through hard times, a sense of obligation pressed her to give him a chance. Winter didn’t expect her ‘friend turned lover’ might just be the death of her. When Cord Kesso decided to step in and rescue Winter and her daughter from what looked like a bad situation during a snow storm, he felt an instant attraction to the pixie of a woman. Offering her a place to wait out the storm through the holidays was the gentlemanly thing to do. If they made a connection, even better. When Cord saw something he wanted, he went all in. Fighting Winter’s doubts was one thing. Fighting for their lives…a whole other thing entirely. all books are loosely connected and can read as standalone. For adults 18 and over. Strong Language, Explicit Sex, and Violence.

    A harrowing past haunts her every time she looks in the mirror, and she can’t escape the violence of her everyday life. More and more, her thoughts turn to Evan Salinger, the boy she knew in high school. The boy they called a mental case. A loner. A freak. The boy who seemed to know things no one could know. For a few short weeks, Jo had found perfect solace in Evan’s company, sneaking every night to meet him at the local pool. In the cool of the water and the warmth of Evan’s arms around her, Jo had tasted something close to happiness. Cruel circumstances tore them apart, and four years later, the sweet memory of their time together is dissolving under the punishing reality of Jo’s life now. Evan seems like a fading dream…until he reappears at the moment she needs him most. Guided by Evan’s strange intuition, they flee her small Louisiana town, and Jo begins to suspect there is something more to his sudden return than he admits.Over twelve days across America’s heartland, deep secrets come to light, buried pasts are unearthed, and the line between dreams and reality is blurred as Evan and Jo fight to hold on to their soul-deep love, and discover that there is more than one way to save a life.***How to Save a Life is a complete second-chance STANDALONE novel with shades of the paranormal. It carries the characters from high school through to their early twenties. It is not YA; mature subject matter, and sexual situations. TRIGGER WARNING: domestic violence (on the page) and mention of sexual abuse (off the page) For readers 18 years and up.The Dreamcatcher novels are a series of interconnected STANDALONES, each with shades of the paranormal. It is NOT necessary to read them in order, though some characters appear in other novels.

     Breast cancer survivor Edie Williams is ready to live. Divorced. Mother of two. She’s planned the vacation of a lifetime for a reboot, only to encounter an awakening adventure—Tommy Carrigan. Manager of the band Collision, Tommy Carrigan has his plate full. Independent. Carefree. He’s on an annual holiday with his band family, when the unexpected happens—Edie Williams. Love might be just what the doctor prescribed, but can it survive the world of rock-n-roll? +++ If you enjoyed The Sex Education of M.E., you’ll love After Care, another romance for the over-forty from L.B. Dunbar. Continue the adventure previously published in Love Notes, the newsletter of L.B. Dunbar.

    On the court, he's down forty-love. A knee injury is shutting down his game, and the paparazzi are splashing his love life on every magazine. A comeback is in order, but the makeover he needs to save his faltering career is in the hands of the woman he loved and left fifteen years ago.While single-mom, Izzy Connors, sees people for who they really are through the lens of her camera, even without it, she knows Jason isn't the star he appears to be. Although his charm and good looks haven't dimmed since he broke her heart, all she sees is his wasted talent and playboy lifestyle.Can Izzy put the past behind her and help Jason get his game, and his image, back on track? Or will the click of her camera shatter his world as well as his heart?Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0090QWA1M.

    beyond belief.In another life, he’s probably my soul mate.However, lately things have changed. He’s started looking at me differently.His eyes drop to my lips as I speak.His hugs are tighter…. longer.Our fights are more passionate, his jealousy insane.I know it’s all in my head….it has to be.They say to never love someone who treats you like you’re ordinary.I don't. To him I'm a queen.But our story is complicated.And as much as I love Nathan Mercer with all of my heart. . .He’s the one man I can never have.

    fictional hero of best-selling romance novel, A Laird to Love 2. the perfect manTwenty-six is too old to believe in fairytales, but tell that to Lovie’s roommate. Convinced she’ll find a real life version of her ultimate book boyfriend, Calum MacKenzie, Jo drags Lovie along on her quest. Lovie’s no cynic *ahem* but she knows The Calum is a myth. A construct. A freaking unicorn! And there are warmer places to spend the holidays than the Scottish Highlands.If Duff had his way, he’d never step foot in Inverness again. Only his best friend’s wedding and Duff's ailing grandmother could bring him home. Duff’s plan is keep his head down and stay out of trouble. Hard to do when the groom targets a pretty blond tourist for one last conquest.When Duff and Lovie meet, snowflakes, sparks, and insults fly. He’s instantly attracted to the sexy, sharp-tongued American. She’s just glad to have someone to hang out with, especially the bad boy with a mysterious past. Lovie is determined to learn his secrets, but as they grow closer, Duff is forced to choose between his best friend and his heart.