Fate, however, has decreed her betrothal to his best friend, Sir Geoffrey Longford - a handsome and imposing knight, yet hardly the man she wants to wed. When Sir Geoffrey is bound in betrothal by his father, he could not have expected the beautiful stranger to win his heart the moment they meet. Nevertheless, the fascinating Lady Alyse has done exactly that, and his feelings for her only grow as he learns more of her gentle yet spirited nature. But Alyse’s infatuation with his friend casts doubt on whether she can ever return his regard and their wedding day is fast approaching… Will he have time enough to win her love?

    She trusts him to help find her lost child….Kieran sold himself into slavery to save his brother's life, but Iseult, with the face of an angel, gives him hope that he can again be a free man. Determined to find her child, Kieran may finally have his freedom—although now his heart is tied to Iseult's forever….

    Now she'll seduce it. A trained thief, Desirée of Canterbury can wriggle out of any tight spot with a coy smile. Until she meets her match in Nicholas Grimshaw, the most feared lawman in the shire. Ruggedly handsome and all brawn, Nicholas is the key to avenging the unjust execution of her elderly guardian. Yet the crackling passion burning between them, stoked by every stolen touch, could defeat all her plans. Nicholas is bound to Desirée by a debt of honor-though the lush, quick-witted beauty may be the death of him yet. Unwillingly installed in his household, Desirée mischievously disrupts his well-ordered life until he doesn't know whether to kiss or kill her. But soon Nicholas must use all his wiles to save them both from a merciless enemy...and, finally, claim her merry heart.

    With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife. Being the logical scientist he is, Alex decides to take his friend's advice and treat his quest for a bride just like a science experiment... Caroline Sinclair is still trying to scrape her jaw off the floor after hearing her cousin, Lady Olivia's, latest announcement when the object of their conversation, Alex Banks, Olivia's intended, arrives for what Caroline assumes is a bout of drawing room chitchat with his betrothed. But when an experiment is mentioned, Caroline, who cannot resist a science experiment any more than she can deny her lungs air, volunteers to help before she even knows what his latest experiment is!

    If you like your heat “wickedly hot” with yummy alpha males and headstrong young women, then dare to enter the Cavern of Pleasures… The last person Vale Montressor Aubrey, the Marquess of Dunnesford, expects to see walking into Madam Botreaux's Cavern of Pleasures is his wife. Fortunately, she does not recognize him behind his mask for he has no intention of revealing his secret life as a Dom to his new bride. Harrietta, the new Marchioness of Dunnesford, knows that she, modest in means and countenance, should consider herself lucky to be married to such a desirable man as the Marquess, even if he is rumored to have had more mistresses than one can count. But if he can have his fun, why not her? And the dashingly handsome Lord Elroy seems just the man to make her forget about her loveless marriage. Vale knows that Elroy, also a secret Dom at Madame Botreaux's, can’t be trusted not to hurt a submissive. To protect Harrietta, Vale must claim her as his own, but he soon discovers this feisty wife of his isn't so easy to tame. Especially when things start heating up in the Cavern of Pleasures.

    She risks everything to rescue the fierce MacGrath warrior from the battlefield where he’s left for dead by her clan. She only knows she is inexplicably drawn to him and he wants peace as she does. When her clan learns of her betrayal, they seek vengeance. Dare she trust the enemy more than her own family?Laird Alasdair MacGrath is driven to end two-hundred years of feuding with the MacIrwins. But by taking in and protecting Lady Gwyneth and her son, he provokes more attacks from his mortal enemy. As the danger and conflict surrounding them escalate, Alasdair and Gwyneth discover an explosive passion neither of them expected. With the arrival of a powerful man from her past, a horrible decision confronts her--give up her son or the man she loves.

    Yet those women had never met a man like Ian MacKinnon. He's journeyed to her castle to learn her legendary skills so he can exact vengeance against the English. His viciousness on the battlefield stands in stark contrast to his tenderness in the bedroom. But he will soon move on, leaving Scotia to face a conflict for which she has no training: her duty to the Stone versus her desire to follow her heart.

    By offering him a kiss in lieu of the jewels she had to leave behind, she commits the very type of act that caused her exile. When her dour guardians extend her punishment to performing charitable work at the local orphanage, she's further tempted by the home's owner, a provincial gentleman who stirs her passion in a most wicked way.HE WAS HER DOWNFALLDesperate to save his orphanage from financial catastrophe, Montgomery "Fox" Foxcroft leads a double life as a highwayman. The arrival of wealthy, well-connected Miranda, whose kiss he can't forget, presents a lawful opportunity to increase his coffers. His problems seem solved-until she rejects his suit. Out of options and falling for the heiress, Fox must risk what principles he has left and take advantage of her wicked ways-even if it ruins them both.

    His two younger brothers were lost to him, perhaps forever, and now a dark mission of revenge had brought the ruthless ship captain to England.Penniless aristocrat Mercedes Leydon was beautiful...and desperate. Colin Thorne was claiming the estate of her dissolute uncle, the Earl of Weybourne, as payment for a gambling debt. She was treated as a servant at Weybourne Park, but it was home to her and the earl's children. Now Mercedes would use anything—lies, promises—even her own body—to stop Thorne from destroying their lives.A man consumed by the fires of vengeance. A woman determined never to love. An unexpected passion that could damn them both...

    Undertaking a quest to recover treasure stolen from his family seems the perfect solution - but Murdoch is not counting upon a curious maiden who holds both the secret to the theft and his sole redemption.Isabella is outraged to find her brother’s keep besieged by a renegade knight - especially one who is too handsome for his own good or hers. After a single encounter, she becomes convinced that his cause is just and decides to unveil the true thief, never imagining that their single shared kiss has launched a battle for Murdoch’s very soul.As the treacherous Fae move to claim Murdoch forever, Isabella seeks to heal the knight who has stolen her heart. But will Murdoch allow her to take a risk and endanger herself? Or will he sacrifice himself to ensure Isabella’s future?

    BOLD. BRAVE. Laird Gavynn MacEuann's a man of action and skill. Both in battle and with the lasses. Notorious for towering strength and matchless features, he takes what he wants and never loses - but conquering this particular castle is easy compared with claiming and then controlling the beautiful, spike-tongued lass he frees by mistake.STUNNING. SPOILED. STUBBORN. Lady Brielle Dilbin is headstrong. Proud. She'd rather molder in a dungeon than accept her father's will. If the mud-covered Highlanders would give her a moment, she'd tell them so. Or make their leader understand. Or do something other than deal with passions and forbidden lusts that no gently-bred lady should have to endure; especially connected to the man who orders her silence and then demands obedience as well. --short story originally published in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance, Jan 2011EXCERPTShe'd be the death of him yet.Gavynn ducked his head before pulling back up and sliding his hands along his hair to sluice water, ignoring where the lass stood, arms wrapped about her while she shivered in place. The burn was hip-deep on him. Cold, clean, fast moving, and difficult to hear over. Gavynn amended that. He couldn't hear much over his own heartbeat. All of it made him vulnerable. This wasn't a good idea, but he hadn't had one since meeting her. His chest and belly were tender with bruising, his muscles throbbed with the work he'd forced on them, and the woman's linen under-dress was as useless as a film of white mist would be.She was true beauty; in form as well as face. Well-formed. Lush. Curved in all the proper places. Possessing heavy, hand-filling breasts, a narrow waist, and hips well-rounded to greet and satisfy a man. When she'd bent forward to wash her face, his groan almost made it through clenched lips. Gavynn grabbed hand-scoops of water, angrily splashing cold and wet all over. Then he bent his knees, dipping to his armpits in chill. All in an effort to divert the pressure building in his groin as blood filled the area, engorging and hardening, and angering him with how little his mind controlled anything.Nothing worked. He couldn't keep his eyes and thoughts off her. Gavynn lifted his head to the twilit sky, close to howling his frustration. And when he brought his head back down he got a full dose of his utter stupidity. He hadn't even heard them. Gavynn sent the curses soundlessly before rising to face a solid wall of armor-clad men atop horses. They carried torches. Possessed full weaponry. And all he claimed was the sword at his back.

    Bold, Tangled and Torn are now compiled in The Handfasting, Book 1 of The Handfasting Series, and no longer available individually.

     Or the gliding ottoman that has a—oh, dear. That’s not an ottoman. Set in the New York Times bestselling Her Billionaires world of Mike, Laura and Dylan, this is a sweeter romance, with a few spicy elements thrown in for flavor. **The story originally appeared in the LOL#3 Romantic Comedy Boxed Set** New Adult Contemporary Romance, 11,500 words (approximately 56 pages printed). This is a stand-alone short story with a happy ending. The characters are connected to Julia Kent’s New York Times bestselling Her Billionaires series, but you don't need to have read Her Billionaires to enjoy this story.

    One night, she unexpectedly comes into possession of a golden medallion. But when the man who left it with her is immediately murdered by soldiers of the Royal Navy, she’s afraid to admit she has it. Unsure who to trust, she’s caught up in crossfire between navy officers and a pirate captain, who, realizing she possesses the object he’s been paid to find, whisks her away to his ship during the fight. Privateer Captain Zane Fox is not interested in the mystical healing powers the medallion is said to hold, even though the legends claim it can bring a dying man back to life. He only plans to procure the medallion, drop the chit off at the next port where she’ll be safe, and collect the money he was promised. However, as they fend off storms at sea and attempt to outrun the Royal Navy, the two are also fighting the attraction they feel for one another. But when they are captured, Zane must choose between recovering the medallion and saving Lianna from the noose. And soon it becomes clear to him that the medallion is not the only treasure worth risking his life for.

    . . with holiday cheer. Merry Christmas from the Norse Pole.Bolthor's BrideBolthor the Skald has been there for his fellow warriors, both in battle and as a friend. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, so to speak. This gentle giant, now scarred and retired from the fray, has never found a woman who loves him despite his rough appearance—and his poetry, which is woefully bad.Enter the sexy, Saxon widow Katherine of Wickshire Manor, a woman in need of a strong man to take care of her, her four children, not to mention about two hundred chickens, in the style none of her first three husbands could manage.When Viking meets Saxon, the sparks do fly.note: This short story was originally available on the author's website for free but have since been removed.A Viking For ChristmasBodyguard Erik Thorsson, a fiftieth generation Viking, meets Jessica Jones, dressed as a cute Santa Claus, when she stages a righteous attempt to rob the local Piggly Jiggly. All Jessica wants is a refund for a Burping Bear toy, which the store refuses to honor.Fortunately, or unfortunately, Jessica takes hostage another Santa in the store, Erik himself, after accidentally shooting the Little Debbie cupcake display. For the first time in five years, since his beloved wife died, Erik finds himself head over Santa boot heels in love, but how to convince Jessica that he's not her Christmas curse, but instead a Christmas miracle.note: This story was originally titled Naughty or Nice and published in The Night Before Christmas anthology