Now the enemy lay in her bed...Rescuing a Viking pirate from the ocean after his ship wrecked on the shores of Pictland was bound to bring Ilisa trouble. After all, she knew well of the savagery of the Vikings--she had experienced it first-hand. But her heart would not allow her to abandon someone in need. Unfortunately, nursing him back to health rouses a part of her she didn't know existed and soon she's the one in need.Alrek's well aware of his own need when he awakens in this beautiful Pict's home. With his plans to venture to new lands on hold, he resolves to thank Ilisa for her help in any way he can--but not in the way he longs to the most. He must prove not all Vikings are the same. But his own savage past threatens to destroy any progress he makes and her people soon make it clear he will never be accepted.Can they bridge the gap between two cultures or will their differences--and the dangers they bring--forever keep them apart?

    Now it is 150 years later, and Cassandra Verrere is desperate to find the riches in order to save her family from poverty. Unfortunately, only a Neville can help her. Clearly, he considers his hatred of her as much his birthright as the dowry is hers--but even an ancient family feud is no match for the passion that soon burns between them.

    When a fortune-teller reveals that she and her sisters have the power to end the Curse of Clan McBride forever, pragmatic chocolatier Mari McBride dismisses the claim as nonsense. But when a series of tragedies befall her family and send her on a quest to save those she loves, she turns to mysterious gunslinger, Luke Garrett, for help.Luke’s desire to protect--and seduce--the beautiful Menace leads them both into danger. The violent collision of Luke's past and present reveal sinister secrets that push Mari further away. Is she cursed to be the next victim of McBride bad luck? Or will the true love of a wicked man be her--and her sisters’--salvation?

    The intensity of his gaze burns through her disguise, making her throat dry, her cheeks pink. Caro's gambled her reputation to be here, and can't risk letting anyone close enough to expose her secret--no matter how much her body craves to give in....

    But it was the more intimate "hello" in the arms of Cooper DeWitt that sent her heart racing—and made it all the more difficult for her to tell the brawny plainsman that she wasn't the woman he'd sent for….When she jumped from the stage, shining with true grit and spewing tall tales, Cooper DeWitt thought he just might have struck gold. Raised with the Sioux, Cooper needed a wife who could brave the frontier and corral his restless heart. The problem was, his would-be bride had no intention of marrying him!

     A YULETIDE KISS (short story) Half-Viking shieldmaiden Kimbery of Rivenloch has until Yuletide to choose a bridegroom…or one will be chosen for her. But when the barbarian Brude the Brutal travels to claim his betrothed, he finds himself bewitched instead by a runaway bride.

    Not a vision. No glimpse of the future disturbed me. It was more a shadow of approaching danger. Snatched by a notorious Viking chieftain, Thora is set to leave her homeland on a ship bound for Iceland. But when her captor is murdered an altogether different journey begins ...

    She and her identical twin, tomboyish Gwendolyn, are kidnapped and taken aboard a Viking ship. While the handsome captain mistakes Gwendolyn for a boy and appoints her his servant, Anora captures his heart and he vows to have her. To preserve her sister's maidenhood, Gwendolyn initiates a dangerous game. Will the twins be rescued before Gwendolyn surrenders to her own passion?

    Every stray glance, every chance encounter threatens to reveal the secret passion that keeps drawing them together.But finally after years of flirting with disaster, Crispin and Henrietta find themselves locked in a wine cellar, and now there is no denying the love and loyalties that have lured them and torn them apart time and time again. Will this one last chance, this tempting night of desire be the one that ignites a fire that will never be extinguished, no matter the price?

    She knows their brutality first hand, having lost the men from her own family and village to their swords. When she encounters and wounds a Viking warrior one stormy night, she has every right to want him dead. Instead, she allows him shelter in her cottage. Although she fears him, his confidence and teasing manner give her pause. He acts as if she belongs to him. As if he knows her. Ronan didn’t expect Arienh to recognize him. Why should she? They were both just children when his uncle forced him into a raid against her village. But Ronan risked his life to protect the young Arienh from his marauding kinsmen. Now that the time has come for Ronan and the other warriors to choose wives, he has returned to claim the beautiful girl who captured his heart so long ago.But for men accustomed simply to taking what they want, wooing the courageous, headstrong Celtic women is easier said than done. And for Arienh, who always sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of her people, trusting—and loving—a Northman may be impossible. By turns poignant and humorous, Loki’s Daughters is a stirring tale of unlikely lovers, forged in dangerously opposite worlds yet bound together by sacrifice, strength, and undeniable passion.

    Two years later, he has returned to Norsex, this time to wreak vengeance on those who plotted to destroy him. He is shocked to discover that the lovely woman who helped him regain his freedom is the sister of the tyrant who sought to take it away.Not a day has passed without Princess Isabel of Norsex thinking of the handsome Viking who crossed her path. But when her peaceful world is threatened by barbarians, the last thing she expects is to find Kol at their helm. Now, with danger lurking in every corner of her kingdom, Isabel finds herself torn between her sworn allegiance and her traitorous heart.

    A quiet child, he is tormented by his brothers and loathed by his powerful and autocratic grandmother. In an attempt to encourage Brunin's development, his father sends him to be fostered in the household of Joscelin de Dinan, Lord of Ludlow. Here Brunin will learn knightly arts, but before he can succeed, he must overcome the deep-seated doubts that hold him back.Hawise, the youngest daughter of Lord Joscelin, soon forms a strong friendship with Brunin. Family loyalties mean that her father, with the young Brunin as his squire, must aid Prince Henry of Anjou in his battle with King Stephen for the English crown. Meanwhile, Ludlow itself comes under threat from Joscelin's rival, Gilbert de Lacy. As the war for the crown rages, and de Lacy becomes more assertive in his claims for Ludlow, Brunin and Hawise are drawn into each other's arms.Now Brunin must defeat the shadows of his childhood and put to use all that he has learned. As the pressure on Ludlow intensifies and a new Welsh threat emerges against his own family's lands, Brunin must confront the future head on, or fail on all counts....

    So he carries her away to his ship. But is Rorik intent on saving her - or having her for himself? Yvaine, is wary of her warrior rescuer. She is his captive - and it's palpably clear what payment Rorik seeks as his reward...

    To escape, she flees for the country, where she meets a handsome, if stubborn, man-and soon finds that when it rains, it pours...

    The tempting bestseller features a fish-out-of-water heroine, a hidden family treasure, and a Scottish laird who would rather die than be married.Temperance O'Neil is a women's rights activist in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. At the age of 29, she had given little thought, time, or attention to her love life and thrown all of her energy into helping the city's poor and downtrodden women. But when Temperance's widowed mother shows up with her new husband, Angus McCairn, everything changes. Angus has control over the O'Neil money and uses it to force Temperance to move to Scotland, where he's determined to make a "proper" lady of her. This results in a brief but amusing battle of wills that culminates in a blackmail deal: If Temperance can make Angus's nephew, James, take a wife within the next six months, then she can have her money and her house back. Temperance travels to James's home in the Highlands, only to discover a huge, filthy, ramshackle house and a style of living that is far from the city ways she is used to. Showing up under the guise of being the new housekeeper, Temperance sets about tidying up the place and finding James the perfect woman. While trying to sneak a humorous parade of inappropriate candidates past James's watchful eye, Temperance finds herself falling in love with the man. But just as she comes to this realization, the perfect match for James shows up: his childhood sweetheart, who is now a widow. Torn between the work she once did, her passion for the people in her new life, and her love for James, Temperance makes a hard decision that forces her to risk everything she holds dear. Deveraux makes good use of historical detail and creates characters who are charmingly and believably flawed. There's a fun mystery to solve regarding a hidden family treasure and the reason behind Angus's determination to see his nephew married off, and plenty of obstacles to overcome. All of it is seasoned with Deveraux's trademark humor and passion, a recipe that never fails to satisfy. --Beth Amos