But sometimes, it’s not hard to tell at all....Twelve years is a lifetime when it comes to age and love. And if the man is your father’s best friend... Well, let’s just say unrequited feelings tend to be awkward. But Laney knows what she wants. Who she wants., and she’s a firm believer that sometimes a girl just has to go for broke and take a chance....Rand Mitchell has done everything he can to avoid Laney Wyatt due to his awareness of her and, in a small town, that’s not easy, especially when his 911 call results in Laney appearing as his EMT. But it’s then, with her blushes and smiles and follow-up visits, that he wonders if maybe he’s not the only one fighting his feelings?Tragedy strikes Laney and her family, and Rand steps up to help Laney. But with their age difference, her father, and small town gossip stacked against them—can what they feel really be love?

    It’s accessible only by plane- the better, he thinks, to hide his scars from the rest of the world. What Theo doesn't know is that the island has an incredible secret, one that gives him hope… hope of future happiness, despite the horrible scars that make him a recluse. Hope to be had in the arms of a mysterious blonde he hasn't yet met…

    But romance gets derailed by head colds, constant bickering, and assaults from ankle-breaking cobblestone streets. Their daughter develops a gelato addiction. Mike’s Italian partner has a coronary. And as for amore . . . Mattie tells Mike to handle things himself—and storms back to America. Mike is trapped. Leaving Italy will blow a promotion; staying might cost him his wife and family. While reeling from Mattie's frantic departure, a replacement liaison is assigned—a top-notch, beautiful young Italian woman who is instantly smitten with Mike and determined to reveal the passions of her homeland—whether he wants to see them or not! Normally immune, Mike is tempted—but is headstrong, voluptuous Julietta worth the risk? “Funny, Sexy, Heartbreaking, Hilarious” In Poggibonsi, Dan Alatorre tells a compelling and hilarious story while giving its serious and heartfelt themes fair treatment. Protagonist Mike Torino is a hard-working family man who is struggling in his marriage, and when temptation looms on a business trip in Italy, he can't help but indulge. His winding and sometimes bumbling misadventure leads him on a journey that ends only when he discovers what is truly important to him. Funny, sexy, and at times heartbreaking, Poggibonsi is much more than a riotous romp. It's an exploration into what makes us human and drives us through life. - Allison Maruska, The Fourth Descendant and Project Renovatio trilogy “Outrageously funny” Poggibonsi is disarmingly charming; a laugh-out-loud, bumbling romp through lust and love in central Italy. Alatorre captures the breathtaking romance of the novel’s namesake perfectly, peeling back each layer of story until all that remains is genuine, raw emotion. An outrageously funny, guilty pleasure of a read. - J. A. Allen, Old Souls

    She and her two young children must now face a holiday season filled with so many reminders of what they've lost. But when a coworker who’s raising his young nephew moves next door, Rae discovers that the support of a good friend, and the gift of a child, can bring back some of the joy of the season.

    The afterword explains where the ideas for the stories came from.

    Their shared secrets drove them apart. But now they're together again in this riveting novella that begins where New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne's Sleep with the Lights On ended.She may have been blind for twenty years, but Rachel's always had an uncanny gift for seeing through people—and she distrusts her assistant's new boyfriend at first sight. Amy isn't interested in Rachel's misgivings, though. She's too eager to celebrate Thanksgiving by introducing her family to the new man in her life.Then Amy doesn't show up for the holiday….Desperate to find her missing friend, Rachel has no choice but to turn to Mason. Their investigation into Amy's disappearance takes them ever deeper into danger—and reignites the attraction that they've both sworn to resist. Now it's a race against time as these reluctant partners fight to stave off passion and save a life.

    Each title in the series, The McClains of Legend, Tennessee features a member of that big, bull-headed McClain family as either the hero or heroine. Each story is sweet romance (also known as wholesome romance). Readers enjoy being able to share the stories with daughter, mothers, and granddaughters. So pop some corn, pour some sweet tea, and settle into your comfy chair for a relaxing read. Midnight in Legend, TN Midnight Shelby is starting over. A real estate agent's virtual tour of a large two-story brick building on the main street of the small town of Legend, Tennessee caught her eye and she's leaving her smarmy ex-husband, the big city, and corporate life behind. The town is struggling but Midnight has ideas that will give it new life as well. Martin McClain was born and raised in the Legend area. His family has lived there for generations, and he feels a duty to preserve the past. The website his son Daniel created has been good for business, but although Martin is a real estate agent by trade, he’s wary of newcomers’ motivations. Especially Midnight Shelby, who seems bent on changing everything...even him. **This title was previously published by Turquoise Morning Press.**

    For the first time since leaving The Realm, Clint has dared to be happy, getting hitched to his bride to be, Mai. But when the town faces a deadly approaching enemy, the gunslinger feels compelled unholster his seven-shooters to face it... and the dark magic it brings with it.From the creators of Yesterday's Gone (Platt) and Fat Vampire (Truant) comes this reinvention of both the western genre and unicorn lore. Written for children and teens -- but complex and awesome enough for adult readers -- Unicorn Western is "Harry Potter without wizards, with gunslingers, with talking unicorns and epic unicorn fights, and with more turkey pie."

    Find out where it all began in this delicious novella!If life is like a box of chocolates, Cat Butler has tasted them all–and decided on none. It's no wonder she can't keep a job, even though her mother's health depends on it. Just when she finds herself up a creek without a paddle–again–a benevolent friend throws her a lifeline. In the form of a job at, of all places, a phone sex hotline. Not exactly what she had in mind, but if it pays the bills for her mom's expensive nursing home, what's the harm?Successful entrepreneur Flynn McGrady knows a thing or two about responsibility. So when his mother has a stroke, he knows the right thing to do is relocate to Atlanta to be near her while she recovers. He's got a plan for everything–except for feisty Cat, who finally gets his mama to talk again. Talk dirty, that is, and he's not pleased. Cat is gorgeous and sassy to boot…too bad she's not the type to settle down.Cat and Flynn may have bigger fish to fry, but the sparks between them are hotter than hell. And when they finally give in to temptation, the results are explosive. Can a girl who follows her heart and a guy who follows his head find their way to forever?

    If losing her job, her Mercedes, and her good name weren’t enough, she’s now on her way to the morgue, sentenced to three-hundred hours of community service for a minor altercation with a cop (totally not her fault). Her grey cloud has one silver lining…the hunky hottie medical examiner. When the local body movers fall ill, it’s up to the doctor and Dinah to take their place. As the body count begins to rise, Dinah falls into a mystery that might have her wind up on her own slab. Moving Violations is a funny adventure into Stephanie Bond’s Body Movers world.

    For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?

    For nineteen-year-old Mickey, Instagram offers a tantalizing portal into the world she wishes she inhabited. Though beautiful, cunning and privileged, Mickey finds herself with a stalled modelling career, an escalating drinking problem, few friends and next to nothing in the bank. To numb her growing despair, she spends her days frantically refreshing her Instagram feed, obsessively tracking the movements of Insta-famous model Gemma Anton.Gemma is a perfected version of Mickey, living a seemingly perfect life: a skyrocketing career, a famous photographer boyfriend and adoring followers--the life Mickey wants more than anything for herself. She studies every detail Gemma offers through the window of her phone, trying to absorb, learn, mimic, become the object of her growing fascination.Then, a chance encounter thrusts Mickey into a world of opportunity, and she is met with surprising, and immediate, success. But as her online persona begins to take over her life, Mickey finds it increasingly difficult to separate reality from the fa�ade of Instagram.Engrossing, sharp and astute, Like Me is a shimmering portrait of infatuation, disconnection and identity in the digital age--and a dazzling introduction to a brilliant new voice in contemporary literature.

    A large but cozy suburban home shared with a charming husband and two brilliant children. A celebrated career as a writer, complete with mahogany shelves and a summer book tour. A life full of adventure with her friends and family by her side.Instead, Marci lives alone in 480 square feet of converted motel space next to a punk rock band, hundreds of miles from her friends and family. She works in a temporary accounting assignment that has somehow stretched from two weeks into nine months. And the only bright spot in her life, not to mention the only sex she’s had in two years, is an illicit affair with her married boss, Doug. Thirty is not at all what it is cracked up to be.Then the reappearance of an old friend with whom she had made a drunken marriage pact ten years earlier opens a long-forgotten door, and the lines between right and wrong, heartache and happiness are all about to get very blurry, as Marci faces the most difficult choices of her life. Following in the footsteps of Something Borrowed and Something Blue, The Marriage Pact is a delightful debut that will have readers laughing, crying, and falling completely in love.

    However, though I think some of them are great, some aren’t, and some are profoundly dated. I am aware that there are those out there, who will just buy these without a second thought, so I have to edit, be selective, and I damned well have to show some respect for my readers. Kindle in this respect can be a danger for a known writer, because you can publish any old twaddle and someone will buy it. Time and again, I’ve had fans, upon hearing that I have this and that unpublished in my files, demanding that I publish it at once because surely they’ll love it. No they won’t. A reputation like trust: difficult to build and easy to destroy. I’ve therefore chosen stories other people have published here and there, and filled in with those I really think someone should have published. Here you’ll find some Polity tales, some that could have been set in the Polity (at a stretch) and some from the bleak Owner universe. Enjoy! Neal Asher 04/06/18

    One year. Many stories. The Winchester Hotel is an active property in Beverly Hills, California. Luxurious and discreet, it is a perfect location for business meetings, weddings, affairs, and other important life events - including the death of an A List celebrity. Told from the omniscient perspective of the room, the reader has a front row seat to the drama that unfolds in the suite. Although each chapter is unique, the characters' lives intertwine in a way only possible in a major metropolis like Los Angeles.