It's the ideal size and location, right on the waterfront in Doubtless Bay, New Zealand. The only fly in the melted chocolate is Maisey's brother, Kole. He wants the shop for his photography business, and he's about to sign the lease.Tasha and Kole Graham have trod the wafer-thin line between friends and enemies since they were teenagers. Privately, she acknowledges Kole has grown up into a fine figure of a man. Okay, to be honest, he's so sexy he often dismantles the speech center of her brain. But he's still the most irritating guy on Earth.Kole tries to think of Tasha as just his sister's best friend, but it's getting harder and harder. Literally. And he's having trouble hiding it. So when their friends suggest a bet with the shop as the prize, and it means he can get his hands on Tasha, he's quick to agree. The Shakespearean-style scheme? To get the other person to fall in love with them. In eight days.Both are confident their attraction is only physical. Both are going to get into trouble. But who will win the bet on Midsummer night?Warning: Sultry and steamy, with rising temperatures. And the sub-tropical weather's pretty hot too. Adults only.

    He never thought he would find his second chance in love. Sebastian Blackburn Earl of Grimshaw is more the perturbed at the loss of his last governess. It would seem that she only used her employment as a means of securing a desirable match. Now he is in need of a new teacher for his two motherless girls and this time Lord Grimshaw won’t be trusting a solicitor to secure the position. He’s learned the hard way if he wants something done right, he’ll have to do it himself. Miss Hannah Jacobson is desperate for any employment at this. After a year harassed by Baron Edgley and then a shameful dismissal without reference when she refuses his advances, Hannah is now blackballed from any governess position in all of London. Hannah is desperate to secure not only her own living but also has her impoverished parents and many siblings dependent on her financial support. Lord Grimshaw is exhausted by the countless young, beautiful, and sociable candidates that the solicitor provides when suddenly Hannah Jacobson walks in. She is plain, and thread barren. She wears unsightly large spectacles and a matronly cap that nearly covers most of her face. Lord Grimshaw is sure this wallflower won’t be catching anyone’s eye any time soon and hires her on the spot. Hannah knows this is her last chance to secure a living and leave with an outstanding recommendation to offset her previous employment, but will she be able to suffer all those outlandish and controlling rules the Earl suggests for the sake of her family? And what happens when she suddenly finds herself being stalked by Lord Grimshaw’s footman? Will Lord Grimshaw be able to see through his new governess and discover the secret that’s been troubling her? And how will he react when though he has to a proper mother for his children, his heart draws itself to Miss Jacobson continually with a strong desire to protect her? Introducing the "A Mysterious Governess for the Reluctant Earl" Novel - Discover NOW The New Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance Book by Abby Ayles! "A Mysterious Governess for the Reluctant Earl" is a historical regency romance novel of approximately 90,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Page Count: around 340+ pages Get This Book FREE With Kindle Unlimited! Enjoy!

    He is both feared and scorned by those under his command. But under his harsh exterior lies a tortured soul, haunted by a tragic past...Cassia is a peasant healer, with a secret admiration for the fearsome lord Gisborne. When fate thrusts him into her hands, she soon finds he lives up to his fearsome reputation. But she also learns there is more to him than meets the eye...Soon they are drawn into a passionate but dangerous affair. Will they find true love...or be destroyed by it?

    The book is historical fiction, with romantic elements, set in 1878 Paris and London. The book is the first in a series of three entitled the Legacy Series.It is the tender story of Suzette Camille Rousseau, a young woman in late 19th century Paris, who makes a difficult journey from innocence to maturity. After losing a sheltered life with her father, Suzette is thrown into the harsh reality of poverty, struggling as a homeless woman on the streets of Paris. In order to survive, she faces difficult choices that offer little hope of redemption. Her journey takes her from the charities of St. Vincent de Paul, to a local laundry house where she toils endlessly in filth and squalor. To her surprise, one of her customers is the Chabanais, the most famous brothel in France that only caters to aristocrats. Like a fly drawn to a spider's web, the mistress of the brothel entices Suzette into a world of opulence, comfort, and beauty, but there is a price to pay -- her innocence. Succumbing to a life of prostitution, she meets a handsome English Lord who saves her from the unthinkable.

    Not much time to complete the bucket list she's had since she was twelve. The first item is the hardest--"Get married"--so she turns to the only man she knows who can help.Paul, a barely reformed bad boy, has inherited a fortune from his mother, but his life is defined by his conflicted relationship with his father--a white-collar, organized-crime boss who, thanks to Paul, is being brought up on federal charges. Without Emily's testimony, his father might walk, so Paul agrees to her unconventional proposal. He'll be her husband for her last three months.They agree that she'll testify against his father and he'll help her complete her bucket list. It's not supposed to be a true marriage. No consummation. No future. No love.No love.She's supposed to die, after all, and love might not be enough.

     Compared to an arranged marriage to the odious Bernard Regent, a prairie schooner on the Oregon Trail doesn't seem like such a bad trade to Amethyst Kent. When desperate Martha Davis reveals her need for a mother's helper on the trail, Ami decides to up and leave the pampered life she's always known for a land of freedom. But trail life is hardly a tea party, and Ami must draw from the deepest wells of her faith to survive. With the sunset always before her, and Shiloh Talon, a handsome trail scout, guiding the way, she might just make it through.

    Living with the Hayden family in Paradise Falls, she is drawn into their complex relationships, especially the uneasy dynamic that seems to pit brother against brother: the older, taciturn Grayson, and Fleming, a handsome charmer. Attracted to Grayson -- but pursued by Fleming -- Fiona must decide where her true love lies -- and whether that love is worth sacrificing her dearest dreams.

    But when he finally fetches his bride-to-be from a secluded English convent, he finds he needs more than his knight's spurs to bring order to his life.When she was betrothed at fifteen to the legendary English knight she had never met, Lady Clio of Camrose believed that love was something magical. But her youthful hopes faded as she languished in a convent for six long years, never hearing a word from Merrick.Weary of war, Lord Merrick finds little peace guarding the wild Welsh borders, and even less with the wife whose trust he destroyed. But as Lady Clio comes to understand the dark knight she so blindly wed, she sees a chance to make her dreams come true. Amid the enchanted mists that envelop Camrose Castle, they will battle together to discover a place where all things are possible, even a love that is rare and wonderful.

    Until the person she blames for her heartache is assigned as her new client. Cade doesn’t take life seriously, finding it easier to drink his problems away than deal with them. But when Francesca steps back into his life, he’s forced to revisit the past. Can he bring himself to tell her the truth about her sister’s death? Will the truth bring them back together, or push them further apart?

    As she scrambles to maintain her fragile financial security and independence, she fears she may lose more than just The Shop on Main and her home.Nothing is working out like Bella planned--she finds out the man she is falling for, Owen Campbell, is the businessman at the center of all her problems.Owen has secretly longed to belong--somewhere--anywhere--his whole life. When he decides to give his long-lost brother, Jake, back his birthright, he unknowingly thwarts his briefly held hope of a place where he can put down roots and a family he longs for.Nothing is working out like Owen planned--neither Bella nor Jake wants anything to do with him.How can a man who is used to being in control and a woman determined to make it all on her own find a way to happiness?The Shop on Main is Book One of the Comfort Crossing series. Bella and her best friends, Jenny and Becky Lee, navigate the heartaches and triumphs of love and life in the small southern town of Comfort Crossing, Mississippi.

    But then Max Woodard, an enigmatic Army colonel with a gentle heart, offered her passion and a loving partnership in a brave new world...!Though a former prisoner of war, Colonel Max Woodard vowed to deal fairly with the Southerners under his governance. He yearned to understand them, most particularly Maria Markham, a womanly mix of true grit and glory. But could she ever love a man who wore the face of an enemy?

    Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain.When asked to photograph a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate, Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Hoping to open Woodmont to the public, Elaine has employed young widower Colton Reese to help restore the grounds and asks Libby to photograph the process. Libby is immediately drawn to the old greenhouse shrouded in honeysuckle vines.As Libby forms relationships and explores the overgrown—yet hauntingly beautiful—Woodmont estate, she finds the emotional courage to sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate. Beneath the vines of the old greenhouse lie generations of secrets, and it’s up to Libby to tend to the fruits born of long-buried seeds.

    Two lovers in Lisbon will be split by war — only to find each other again in a new land; a land as wild as their passion.Clara and Gabriel are in love, but when he is disinherited for loving her, she must refuse his marriage proposal. Now he must make his own way in the world without her ...But when, years later, the Portuguese court sets sail for Brazil to escape Napoleon, Clara and her family must leave as well. And in Rio de Janeiro Clara meets Gabriel again.He has made his fortune, and they can get married. But as they travel to Gabriel’s vast sugar estate in the interior, a letter from Lisbon confirms a dormant suspicion in him, and an abyss will open between husband and wife.

    On her way to London to announce her engagement, a young woman's unplanned stop in the village where she spent her childhood brings her in contact with a man and an antique mirror--and both will change her destiny.Originally featured in the anthology Masters of Seduction.

    Now, one divorce and one postcard from Giovanni later, Anne Marie follows her heart to Italy, where her former flame has promised to show her the sights. Giovanni is elusive but Marco Moretti, a mysterious, handsome Italian, seems to be everywhere. The persistent, irresistible Marco wants to find Giovanni as badly as she does so they team up to find him. And on the way they find something they didn't expect - love, Italian style.