This contemporary romance trilogy will make you swoon with pleasure! A HERO LIES WITHIN Kari Winslow is a Palm Beach news reporter, fighting not only to keep her job, but take over the nightly anchor spot. Her boss has axed her special runaway series, and wants “feel good stories” instead. She has only two weeks to come up with something big, or the special series will be taken over by the new anchorman who seems determined to ruin her career. Jake Harrington has returned from two tours in Iraq, and this wounded warrior is searching for peace – and a family friend who’s gone missing. He turns to his former love Kari for help. Though Jake hurt Kari badly once before, she agrees to help him under one condition: he must provide her with “feel good stories” about the everyday heroes he served with. But his memory is sketchy at best, and the only stories he remembers are the ones she doesn’t want to hear. Fate, it seems, has brought them back together – but can Kari ever forget Jakes’ bitter betrayal, and will he forgive hers when to save her career she must betray his trust…? HANDLE WITH CARE Shane Dawson, a medic captured and tortured in Iraq, is back on US soil, but now he must face his painful memories and personal demons. Lauren Reynolds is a widowed ER doctor with a son, Josh, who has ADHD. When the two meet, Lauren thinks Shane is the most wonderful, thrilling man she has met in a long time. But her child’s welfare is priority number one, and there are very compelling reasons to stay apart. Will they be able to overcome their issues to find that once-in-a-lifetime love? Handle with Care is a deeply emotional story about two damaged people and the power of love, healing, and unconditional trust. AT FIRST SIGHT War veteran Brent Harrington, a helicopter pilot who lost his sight when he was shot down in Afghanistan, is now back home in the US and struggling to come to terms with the fact that his sight may never return. Natalie Connors, a beautiful young woman fleeing an abusive relationship and looking for a fresh start, is hired by Brent’s best buddy, another war veteran, as a home health care aide to help Brent adapt to his newly darkened world. Thrown together by fate, they take the first tentative steps toward love… But when Natalie’s vicious ex tracks her down, can the passion and tenderness she and Brent share protect her? At First Sight is a highly emotional story about two damaged people and the healing they must go through before they can commit and find their happily-ever-after.

    He's sworn off the fairer sex and instead spends his waking hours overseeing the expansion of his family's hugely successful winery in the magnificent hills of Chianti, where he is happy to never see a model again, let alone date one.American supermodel Taylor McFarland might be blond, but she sure isn't dumb. And she's smart enough to know to avoid the shallow men who seem to migrate toward her type, the ones who presume that models are the wild women of the fashion industry who happily discard men like used tissues.Only Taylor's not that type at all; instead, she's intent on using the influence her position affords her to help those less fortunate than she.But when her good deeds means clashing with the quintessential heartless Italian player who she'd heard left model Gia Sandretti at the altar, well, she will happily give him a piece of her mind, and certainly not a piece of her heart.Black Sheep RomeoOn cloud wine...Sometimes trouble seems to find Matteo Romeo whether he seeks it out or not. Long regarded as the black sheep of the famed Romeo winemaking family, he's hardly surprised when he finds himself in yet another predicament, this time harboring an unauthorized farmhand who he's discovered hiding in a tool shed just as the grape harvest gets underway.Freespirited Lizzie Moretti has long prized her independence. Lizzie's been wandering around the world, working odd jobs to earn just enough money to keep on the go. Forced to flee an aggressive host in the middle of a rainy night while working on a farm in Tuscany, she seeks the shelter of a tool shed until she can figure out a plan. Alas, it happens to be on the estate of the wealthy Romeo family on the eve of the coveted grape harvest, when strangers like Lizzie are most unwelcome.She's never put down roots. And he can't seem to escape the roots that sometimes feel like they're strangling him. They both walked away from family, but can they find salvation in the very family they've tried to run from?Red Carpet RomeoLook who's grown up now...Valentina Romeo loved a romantic wedding, and couldn't wait to serve as an attendant in her favorite cousin Prince Luca of Monaforte's upcoming nuptials. She and Luca had reveled in childhood summers at the family estate on the Ligurian Sea. Many of her fondest memories were made there, along with one of her most humiliating, when Luca's college roommate Parker shunned her brave declaration of love.Investment banker Parker Hornsby hadn't been back to Monaforte since he was in college. Back then he'd spent a glorious summer enjoying idyllic days at his best friend Luca's family beach home. The fun was marred only by Luca's obtrusive younger cousin Valentina, who could barely mask her crush on Parker, forcing him to flatly cut her off before she got her hopes up. The last thing Parker wanted was to be accused of going after his friend's jailbait cousin, even if she was about the sweetest fourteen-year old girl he'd ever met.But when Parker shows up in Monaforte, paired in Luca's wedding with Valentina, all bets are off on whether he can restrain himself from the beautiful--and fully grown-up--heiress to the world-famous Romeo wine label, or whether he remains the nemesis she thinks he is.

    See author's note, below Pulling Home (That Second Chance #1) It's taken nine years and a cross-country move, but Audra Valentine Wheyton has kept her secrets safe. She's created the perfect life: a husband who loves her, a daughter she adores, and a position as head writer for an award-winning daytime soap. When her husband dies suddenly, Audra returns to her hometown for the funeral and faces a community that has not forgotten her meager beginnings and the man who has never forgiven her for marrying his brother. Jack Wheyton is a successful pediatric neurosurgeon who is about to become engaged when Audra walks back into his life with her daughter. He forgave his brother long ago for taking something that had been his, something he hadn't even realized he wanted until it was gone. But forgiving Audra is another story...and forgetting her? Near impossible. When a shattering illness strikes Audra's daughter, she turns to Jack to save her child and risks exposing a secret that will change their lives forever. A Family Affair: The Promise (Truth in Lies #7) Grant Richot sprinted through life, a boy wonder with talent, intelligence, confidence, and charm. He never doubted the world awaited him, just as he never doubted the right woman would come into his life—but only when he was ready for her. Anyone before that was simply preparation for the one. How wrong he was. Years and a tragedy later, Grant arrives in Maggie Finnegan’s hometown of Magdalena, New York—broken, uncertain, and searching for that second chance with the woman he cast aside. But Maggie’s no longer naïve and impressionable; she’s a confident, competent widow with a child, who has more at risk than another broken heart… Note from Mary: I love secondary characters: writing them, reading about them, even watching them on the big screen. Secondary characters support the “stars”; make them more vibrant and compelling. But when the story ends, I’m often left wondering what they’d do if they were in the “spotlight”. That’s why I’ve created special boxed sets that were part of That Second Chance series and the Truth in Lies series. These boxed sets let the reader follow the before and after of select characters as they first appear in That Second Chance series and later in the fictional town of my bestselling Truth in Lies series. Boxed Set One contains Pulling Home and A Family Affair: The Promise. I invite you to follow their journey!

    Includes: WRENCHING FATE, IRONIC SACRIFICE, CONJURING DESTINY, and a bonus exclusive of the first three chapters of the fourth book, UNLEASHING DESIRE!

    These are complete stories, not samples. The Trouble with Billionaires Charlotte has just moved to the perfect small town to build a new life with her son, Taylor. She wants him to grow up to be a better man than his father, whose rich lifestyle brought her nothing but pain during their marriage. When Taylor's handsome new t-ball coach, Nate Haverton, turns out to be a billionaire, she knows she has to keep him at a distance. But Nate is determined to change her mind. The Truth about Billionaires Jill is determined to prove she deserves her position at her father’s consulting firm, so the last thing she has time for is dating. Since her only experience with love ended in heartbreak, she isn’t tempted to break her own rule—until she meets Blake McDaniel. When she’s asked to take a job working with Blake, it’s a great step in her career, but the more time she spends around the attractive, determined billionaire, the harder it is to remember why she wants to stay single. The Trust of a Billionaire Hannah is determined to keep her beachfront property, even though she can’t afford to. But it’s her childhood home and she can’t bear to see it plowed down by Carter Ellis, the billionaire investor who keeps raising his offer to buy it. When Carter hires her to be his daughter’s nanny—providing her the income she needs to reject his offer—the irony is not lost on her. However, seeing him as a loving, worried father makes it difficult to enjoy her secret revenge—and even more impossible not to fall for him. A Tree for the Billionaire Getting hired as the personal assistant to the intelligent and attractive billionaire Christopher Warren seemed like a fairytale come true for Kate Ryan, but two years later, she hands in her two-weeks notice just before Christmas. How can she keep working for him day after day when she's in love with him? Not even the most beautiful and fascinating women in the world hold his interest, so there’s clearly no chance for her. Unfortunately, Mr. Warren seems determined to change her mind.

    “We can’t pretend like they haven’t.”I don’t break rules. EVER.1. NEVER mix business with pleasure.2. DON’T put my job in jeopardy.3. Absolutely do NOT fall in love with a client.Guess I should say . . . I didn’t break them, until I met my new billionaire client, Drake Slade.Arrogant, rude, hated by everyone in town, and 100% NOT my type.The day my perfect LA life was uprooted to move to middle-of-frickin’-nowhere Colorado was the day I was convinced my life was over.Raise and promotion be damned, what good is it if the only place in town is a Dollar Store?But here I am, wearing a denim skirt and cowboy boots, rootin’ and scootin’ my way around town, and square dancing my way into Drake’s bed.Don’t worry, I have a plan. Sort of.He’s just a little distraction to make my time here pass. After I get the town to love him, I can move back to LA.Now I just need to convince my heart . . .

    She wants isolation and tranquility. Instead, she finds Jack. After securing the perfect summer location to work on her book, Laura arrives at a small cottage on the North Sea in Scotland. There are no kids, no memories of the perfect life she once had, and no distractions…Until a chance meeting with the mysterious Jack Ross changes everything. No matter how hard she fights her desires for the sexy gardener with green eyes and a chiseled body, she can’t stay away from him. But Laura doesn’t know Jack is running from his past—and it’s about to catch up with him. Can the mysterious Jack mend Laura’s broken heart? Or will it crumble more as they strive to bring down a man who could destroy them both? Get set for a suspenseful read based on a summer fling that turns into something more.

    With a recent promotion from receptionist to co-assistant manager—not to mention the ongoing opportunity to live and work with her best friends—everything is perfect.Well, except for one tiny thing. Sasha has never had much luck in the boyfriend department, and the only guy she’s ever been interested in is event planner Dash, a Channing Tatum lookalike who is oblivious to her affections.But when a resort guest insists that Sasha work with Dash on an upcoming wedding, they are suddenly thrust into a three-month-long high-pressure environment. Sasha can no longer hide from Dash, and Dash has no option but to get to know Sasha.As expected, things get off to a rocky start, and when a mystery investor arrives at the island, the situation only gets worse. Sudden changes in the corporate hierarchy and bizarre managerial decisions mean that not only the wedding, but the entire resort’s future is in jeopardy.Can Sasha survive the chaos, make the wedding a success, and end up with her dream guy?She’s going to try.

    In return, he holds her captive.April Cooker loves her life as an ER doctor but in a horrific twist of fate she suddenly finds herself whisked away to a heavily guarded mansion in order to care for a man she found bleeding to death in an alley. This is no ordinary situation. She has walked into the world of Valentin Ivankov, Russian mafia don. Forced to tend to his injuries, April starts to learn more about the man whose life she has just saved and can’t help but wonder if she’ll ever see her own life again outside the magnificent mansion that has become her prison. Will this devastatingly handsome but dangerous man let her go or is she forever trapped in this world by her brutal captor?Book II: Escape is her only thought. He is determined to make her his, permanently.April has now learned who her patient is and he doesn’t seem intent on letting her go.When her own secret is revealed there is suddenly more at stake regarding her life than ever. As she catches glimpses of the real man beneath his cold and hard exterior, April is drawn into the dark, violent world of the handsome Valentin Ivankov. Will she be able to resist this dangerous man or will she find herself helplessly drawn into the arms of her Brutal Captor?Book III: Being drawn to her captor was never the plan. His tenderness something he never knew that he had.Russian mafia don, Valentin Ivankov, has taken Dr. April Cooker away from everything she’s ever known and, much to her shock, he’s now announced he’ll be taking her as his wife. Escape is still her only thought. But, while she attempts to gain his trust she finds herself unable to resist the pulse-raising effect he has on her.Craving the touch of her Brutal Captor is not something she ever would have thought possible and his tenderness something she never expected. Perhaps it’s not just her life that’s in danger but also her heart.Book IV: The captive comes to hold power over her captor.A mafia Don is expected to take a wife, not necessarily to love one. Marrying April was purely a strategy in order to gain leverage against his fiercest enemy. But now, Valentin finds himself helpless against her. Each day he sees more and more that without April his life would be empty and meaningless and he will stop at nothing to protect her. And it’s this that is planting April right in the crosshairs of the violent mafia war with the Ivankov family’s longest standing competitor, Capeci. Who just happens to be April’s father.Will Valentin’s love for April be the thing that destroys both of them in the end?Book V: Having a future with him is exactly what she wants, or so she thought.Against all odds, April has fallen in love with her Brutal Captor and the man who forced her to marry him. The passion she and Valentin share is like nothing she has ever experienced before and having a future with him is exactly what she wants. Or so she thought. April soon finds out that perhaps the only thing you can count on in Valentin’s world is betrayal and ever-present danger... especially at the hands of family.Book VI: It’s life or death for both of them. Is blood always thicker than water?The war raging with his enemy Capeci is not letting up and April finds herself forced, once again, to play the role of a pawn at the dangerous hands of her father. The extent of the Capeci’s stronghold over Valentin and the Ivankov bratva is finally displayed in a crushing blow that brings Valentin to his knees. A final showdown with Capeci is about to go down and April herself has been positioned as the sacrificial lamb. Is the new love of Valentin and April strong enough for them to triumph over this nightmare or is it true that at the end of the day blood is always thicker than water?

    Escape into the world of these protective alpha males and let them entertain you all night long. Book 1 - His Rock “Lena Hunt, you’ll be my wife for a week.” Being married to a celebrity may sound like a dream come true but it was never mine. Yet by some crazy twist of fate and a reality show, here I am, wife to recently retired Olympic swimmer Riley Boyle. Flawless physique and crazy rich. I have to be careful though, because at the end of the week, this will all be over. That’s how the show goes. Losing my virginity or my heart wasn’t in the script. Oh, and neither was carrying his child. But I guess fate has a way of writing its own stories. And it looks like my story as Mrs. Boyle is just beginning… Book 2 - His Surprise Package Am I really married to a billionaire!? Being married to a handsome, chiseled, rich hottie is every woman’s dream come true. But playing the role of Aaron Walsh’s wife felt more like a nightmare. I spend most of my time trying to figure him out. Yet, there we were, peeling back the layers of our true intentions. Discovering that no matter how hard we try, we can’t deny our magnetic attraction. Maybe we can be more than just married on paper. After all, a twist of fate brought us together. Actually, this could turn out to be my favorite mistake ever. Book 3 - Mr. Always & Forever Conner Blake. Chiseled chin and bedroom eyes. He stole my story then he stole my heart. When it ended, I swore that we were through for good. Now, seven years later, he’s back. Hotter. Slicker. When he ties me up, he knows I’m his for the taking. It’s so good, it feels like a crime. Then again, he’s the father of my child so maybe I should let him get away with it. But he’s not the only man in town who has me in their sights. Will he be able to protect me and my child? Book 4 - Married to The Royal Roommates by accident. A couple by agreement. A royal match by design. It all started out on the wrong foot... I showed up in her apartment almost n*ked. She tried to kill me with a guitar. But she needed money. And I needed a place to hide. We became roommates on paper. We ended up as lovers in bed. Now, I can’t get enough of her. I will make her body submit to my reign. I will claim her heart as my throne. There’s just one huge problem – Jess doesn’t know I’m a prince, a prince whose life and kingdom are currently and seriously in danger. Will she still stay with me when she finds out or will I lose her along with everything I’ve ever had? Book 5 - Accidentally Into You Enemies can make the best lovers. Introducing Grant Donovan. Brash. Bulging muscles. Chiseled abs. Millions in the bank. I get to have this hottie as my protector and roommate? Well then, welcome to Chez Donovan's to me.

    A war that involves goats, phallic chandeliers, stolen kisses in the rain, strawgasms, and eating out on the kitchen counter. A war that could damn well involve two hearts and a plan. Her plan doesn’t involve falling in love. His life doesn’t involve plans. This could be a problem.

    And I dream of having a family. A baby. So I went to the only person who I thought could help me. My fertility doctor.Who, in fact, is my younger brother’s best friend. The age gap should’ve been enough for me to keep a distance. But my heart didn’t listen. Playing by the rules had never gotten me anywhere.So I wanted the forbidden fruit this time. I wanted his strong arms to hold me tight. And his gorgeous eyes to look into mine. I knew what was coming.It was the one thing I didn’t want. Love.Full length standalone brother’s best friend romance. No cliff-hangers. HEA guaranteed.

    Match prequel novella)Scoring the Keeper's Sister, Book 1Scoring a Fake Fiancee, Book 2Scoring a Prince, Book 3Scoring wih the Boss, Book 4ANDFOUR BONUS EPILOGUES -- All new content with your favorite characters from each book!

    

     Contains all 4 full length new adult romance novels from the Custom Culture Series. #1 FREEFALL #2 CLUTCH #3 DRAY #4 RETT FREEFALL: After leaving high school, with a hard won diploma and the title of most likely to break hearts, Alexander "Nix" Pierce has left his wild, out of control years mostly behind him. A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop. Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.