What’s a desperate and slightly mad laird to do? Why, take a page from his great-great-whatever-grandfather’s folio, and declare an ultimatum: Whichever daughter marries and has a son first, then her husband gets to be the next Laird Oliphant. There! Only a little bit sexist, and it should get the job done!Unfortunately, none of his daughters are interested. Take the youngest, for example... Leanna Oliphant’s goal is to lead as adventurous a life as possible, and it seems as if she’s going to get her wish, even without having to help things along (that fire was an accident, honest!). First, her father made that ridiculous proclamation, which she figures she can ignore, because the dear man is several eggs short of a dozen. Next, a handsome and mysterious man arrives at Oliphant Castle, claiming to be on a secret mission from the king (although he won’t say which king). Then Leanna, through some careful “negotiations,” convinces the delicious stranger to let her help in his mission, which leaves the two of them all alone in a dark and secret passageway.Then, a skeleton drops on them, completely ruining the mood.As one of His Majesty’s elite Hunters, Laird Kenneth McClure is on the trail of a missing royal messenger. The man’s secret mission had sent him toward Oliphant Castle, so that’s where Kenneth followed, looking for clues to the man’s disappearance. The brawny warrior doesn’t know who he can trust, particularly when one of the laird’s daughters offers to help in his mission. But bubbly Leanna is a ray of sunshine in his dark life, and too enticing to resist.When the pair of them discover the dead body mid-canoodle, Kenneth is fairly certain it’s not his missing quarry. Almost. Probably not. But…he’s beginning to realize things are not as they seem on Oliphant land, what with the mad laird, hypochondriac lady, more ghosts than he can count, six sisters, one wailing bagpiper, and who let this random donkey wander through the great hall?Does the delightful Leanna know more than she’s saying? Kenneth’s mission for the king may be the downfall of this crazy family, and he’s not certain it’s worth it.Warning: Contains silliness. And, like, a lot of anachronistic jokes. And plenty of really naughty bits. If you don’t have a sense of humor, you might want to skip this one.

    So her best friends devise a plan to help her out: she can hire their gorgeous new flatmate Gib to pose as her doting new fiancé! It sounds perfect – except Gib’s not all he seems… The Blind-Date Proposal Kate Savage has landed herself with the boss from hell – he may be gorgeous, in a brooding sort of way, but he’s on her case 24/7! Kate’s friends try cheering her up by arranging for her to go on a blind date. Only when Kate arrives she’s horrified to discover that her mystery man is Finn McBride – her boss! A Whirlwind Engagement Josh and Bella have been friends for years, but suddenly Bella is starting to see her Josh in a very different light – she’s falling in love! Worse, she’s just said that she’ll pretend to be Josh’s fiancée for a week in the Seychelles…

    A tall, rugged, imposing legend. He'd won a Pulitzer, interviewed kings and queens, presidents and movie stars. Carly Barnett, on the other hand, was a former-beauty-queen-turned-advice-columnist. Not exactly on the same level. Still, Carly was determined to prove that she was more than a pretty face. Mark wasn't sure the beautiful and spirited Carly had what it took to be a reporter, but he was sure that he wanted her. And Mark never denied himself what he wanted. Only, Carly was far better at uncovering the truth than Mark had given her credit for. And sooner or later she'd uncover the most dangerous truth of all—that he couldn't live without her. BONUS BOOK INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME! The Secret Child & The Cowboy CEO by USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard Trent Sinclair didn't forgive anyone, especially not Bryn Matthews, the woman who'd lied about the father of her baby. But when Bryn returned to Wyoming, Trent wondered if the time had finally come for him to take what he had always wanted—family and honor be damned.

    Folks tend to expect a little more action in the romance department from a former star linebacker and an ex party machine. But a decade in the Special Forces followed by career in fire rescue operations hasn’t left him much time to play Romeo. So he does the unthinkable — he hires an actress to pose as his bride for the weekend. Serena Chandler is supposed to be working on her doctoral dissertation, not filling in for her bestie’s slightly scandalous rent-a-date service. However, her short-term “husband” seems like a perfect gentleman, so she relaxes and decides to enjoy their weekend trip together while keeping things strictly professional between them. He’s made it clear he’s a no strings attached kind of man, and that’s fine with her. Their carefully negotiated agreement works right up to the point when a fire breaks out at his alma mater, and she becomes trapped in the gym. Watching the ripped and ready Ransom take charge in a daring rescue operation, however, makes all her best-laid plans go up in smoke. She finds herself scheming with her Mensa-level I.Q. for a way to turn their fake marriage into a real one. If they survive the fire, of course! Step into the world of Disaster City Search and Rescue, where officers, firefighters, military, and medics, train and work alongside each other with the dogs they love, to do the most dangerous job of all — help lost and injured victims find their way home.

    . . what's not to love about a military man? Meet these seven irresistible heroes who fight just as passionately for true love as they do for their country. Healing Beau: USA Today best-selling author Alicia Hunter Pace spins a poignant small-town story of healing and homecoming. After recklessly destroying his military career, Ranger Sergeant Beau Beauford retreats home to Beauford Bend . . . only to promptly impregnate his best and oldest friend. Christian Hambrick is made of guts, steel, and plain good sense, except for that lifelong torch she's held for Beau. When old secrets resurface, she'll wage full-scale war on Beau's past to preserve their future.Her Soldier's Touch by J.M. Stewart: When U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Colten Taylor returns briefly to Phoenix to bury his brother, he's shocked to see Rachel Madison waiting for him at the airport. He regrets the morning he walked away from her; coming from an abusive home taught Colt to put limits on all his relationships. But now that she has his son in tow, will he keep running?California Homecoming by Casey Dawes: After returning from duty in the Middle East wounded in both body and spirit, Hunter Evans volunteers to help Sarah Ladina fix up a run-down Victorian in the beach town of Costanoa. Can they get beyond their painful past and complicated present to find the love and respect they need?Island Pursuits by Heather Rodney-Diaz: Former U.S. Marine Adrian Mendez returns to his homeland of Trinidad and Tobago only to run into a feisty island goddess with one flaw - she has no love of anything military.Angel Without Wings by Mari Manning: After resigning from a promising army career to help his mother and wounded brother, Jesse McCormick struggles to save the family farm. Only one plan will earn him enough money to get his family out of debt - a dangerous assignment with a paramilitary group. But he's slowly losing his heart to Linnea Reyes, a war widow helping to save the farm. Can he give up her love just when he's found it?The Cormorant Club by Anji Nolan: When they're reunited by chance, Holly and Scott's attraction is as undeniable as when they met in a MASH unit in Vietnam. But when a murder-for-hire group starts targeting their war contacts, will they lose their second chance at love?Enlisted by Love by Jenny Jacobs: Ex-army officer Matthew Blake is eager to start a new career, until he comes up against the most challenging obstacle he's ever encountered: Greta Ferguson, the interior designer who challenges his every order.Sensuality Level: Sensual

    Fate has taken away everything former hot-shot Air Force pilot J.D. Rivera ever held dear--his family, his fiancée and his career. Inheriting his crazy aunt's broken down ranch in Los Rios, Arizona, is the last thing he wants. For J.D. the ranch is just another bad memory. But if he doesn't take over the ranch, all the people who work there will lose their jobs. And the one person who'd believed in him would cry in her grave. SHE COULD LOSE EVERYTHING... A traumatic experience caused Madeline Inglewood to withdraw from life, but now she's determined to change all that. Maddy believes her new job teaching English to Spanish speaking workers at the Tripplehorne Ranch is perfect for her new start. But when she arrives, her employer is dead--and the new owner is man with a secret. He's also dark, handsome, and if locals are to be believed--dangerous. And he has no interest in hiring an English teacher. But when sparks fly between J.D. and Maddy, love...redemption...and second chances are theirs for the taking...if they can let down their defenses long enough to trust each other. "Full of surprises. The pages seem to turn themselves. When a story engages my mind as well as my emotions, I know I'm hooked." 5 Stars --The Romance Reader

    Lured by promises of power and wealth beyond imagination, he has conspired with this sinister alien race to enslave the remaining population and administer Earth as an alien resource colony.With the southern hemisphere conquered, NEO turns north to crush NATO forces assembled under a new international protectorate, AEGIS.Undaunted by the overwhelming alien advance, military leaders prepare to implement an all or nothing gamble to turn the tide against NEO--THE CENTURION CODE.Uploaded to AEGIS soldiers through neural laces, the Centurion Code has the potential to even the odds against the genetically superior, NEO army--but at an unthinkable costThe CENTURION CODE is hardcore military science fiction at its brutal best.

    But Madison isn't just another plaything for the sheikh….A romance between a royal and a commoner is forbidden, yet Madison can't resist the passionate nights in Zain's bed, lying spent in his strong arms. Loving the crown prince is dangerous enough, but would Madison's latest secret—a royal baby of her own—derail Zain's reign for good…or end in happily ever after?

    Population: 150 (mostly men!). But the three O’Halloran brothers, who run a bush-plane charter service called Midnight Sons, are heading a campaign to bring women to town. While many of the town’s residents are skeptical of the scheme, they can’t deny that something seems to be in the air up there… Join the people of Hard Luck as they discover love in unexpected ways!Brides for BrothersThe Marriage RiskDaddy’s Little HelperBecause of the BabyFalling for HimEnding in MarriageMidnight Sons and Daughters (novella)

    Even more exciting, each of these stories will spin off into a series of its own. Maggie Shayne’s CHRISTMAS BLUESA true believer returns the music to a lonesome drifter’s soul.Miranda’s Shayne’s FINDING CHRISTMASA small-town coffee shop owner melts a humbug hero’s wounded heart.River Shayne’s A HERO FOR HANNAHCan a woman in grave danger learn to trust one more time?Jessica Lewis’s THE SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS BABYA lonely serviceman comes home for a holiday he’ll never forget.Grab a cup of eggnog, curl up near the tree, and fall in love with the holidays all over again!

    Expat Bronte McKnight is in the early days of her love affair with charismatic doctor Leonidas Papachristou. But as Bronte tries to live and love like a Greek, the economic crisis spawns an unlikely predator in the village. While she begins to question her sunny existence in Greece, an old love from Leonidas’s past also makes a troubling appearance. Now working as a freelance journalist, when Bronte is offered an interview with a famous novelist, and part-time expat, it seems serendipitous. But the encounter becomes a puzzle that takes her deep into the wild Mani region of the southern Peloponnese, for which she enlists the help of her maverick father Angus, and the newest love of her life, Zeffy, the heroic rescue dog. The challenges Bronte faces bring dramatic as well as humorous outcomes as she tries to find a foothold in her Greek paradise. But can she succeed?

    The map is worn at the folds--sometimes right through--and so place names are missing first letters or last or have a hole through the middle. We carry those maps with us always, and this map is mine--an island on the edge of the world and beyond it a place of dragons and sunken cities with bells that still ring a thousand years on... So begins Where Butterflies Dream, the fifth book in the award-winning Exit Unicorns series. The story opens in the winter of 1978 when Casey Riordan returns from three years in exile to find the world he left behind has changed. With little knowledge of his past, he fears the secrets which might well bring danger to his family, and the question he must answer for himself--whether a man can ever truly return home when he is no longer the man he once was. Pamela Riordan has grieved her lost husband for three long years but has forged a new life for herself in his absence. Still scarred from the violence which has so recently visited her, she wants only to keep her family safe and to find an oasis of peace in which to raise them. But in Northern Ireland peace always comes at a price. Jamie Kirkpatrick is forced to deal with the ghosts of his past in order to save his present, and the fragile happiness he has only just found. Casey's return forces all three to confront the ideas of what love means, what makes a family and how one copes with a history that weighs heavily upon the future. Even as they navigate the new territory of their personal lives, history keeps moving onward and all will be drawn into the the political maelstrom of the Irish Troubles. The storm will spread beyond the boundary of family to a new generation caught up in the tides of history, their fates rushing toward a merciless shore. Where Butterflies Dream is the story of a family, a people, a country and of that most mysterious territory of all--the geography of the human soul.

    

    And deadly. Born into the finest of Danish aristocracy, lovely Brekka Toft is drawn to the untamed wilderness of the American West. After being told it is perfectly safe, she travels to see the legendary red rocks of the Utah Territory only to find that the glorious scenery comes with bandits, hostile Indians, fearsome animals, magnificent storms, and a terrifying wildfire. Even her trusted escort from home now feels threatening. Can she trust her life to a seemingly capable, well-respected local rancher? After all, he is dangerously handsome.

    Of course it did fit a pattern of not being able to decide what she wanted to do with her life since grammar school. In college she had tried a variety of subjects, played sports, and partied, excelling at each, but she had graduated as undecided as she had been in grammar school. And the Ad, interview, and current speaker made the training sound like hard work and the job dangerous. But they had dangled two worms in front of her: the chance to see the lives of the rich and powerful up close and to protect important people. And she could quit if she decided it wasn’t what she was looking for—whatever that was. To everyone’s astonishment, can't-make-up-her-mind and party-girl Kate Mathis survives the training, makes agent, enjoys her job, and finds something she loves—outmaneuvering the terrorists.