Only people who have never lost anyone they loved with all their heart can blindly believe those words. What if I didn’t want to move on? What if I wanted to wake up every morning with that familiar ache in my chest, knowing I’d never see her again? But, life can change in a moment.I knew that better than anyone … So, when I couldn’t get those mesmerizing green eyes out of my head, I decided to do something about it. Would one night with her be enough, or would my heart decide it was finally time to move on from the past?

    and why she died ...Ten years ago, during a party gone out of control, beautiful, vibrant Emily plummeted to her death, leaving her three best friends and sorority sisters— Natalie, Laura and Madison—devastated. None of them has ever forgotten that night, or the role each may have played in Emily's death, the guilt that has pursued them, and the loss they still suffer.Now an unknown writer has rocketed onto bestseller lists with a novel that eerily mirrors their own story. Who is he? How does he know the intimate details of their lives? And why is he accusing one of them of murder? As they begin to unravel the startling truth about their friend, each will rediscover a love she lost long ago and uncover secrets that will forever change her life...From #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes a romantic and suspenseful story of three best friends and a terrible, life-changing secret.

    Like the rest of her family, Boone has never given up hope that Portia would return. But when she turns up battered, skinny as a twelve-year-old boy, afraid of everything and unable to talk about what happened, he does the only thing he can—try to help her heal. He summons the town doctor and Portia’s parents, and sets out to put this beautiful, broken woman back together again. Through her family's love and Boone's gentle affection, Portia gradually comes back to herself, and starts to fall for her old friend in a whole new way. But one thing threatens her fragile hope for recovery: The man who took her promised that if she ever escaped, he'd kill her. Slowly. And someone is definitely watching her...waiting to make his next deadly move.

     Eight-year-old Becca and twelve-year-old Hunter cling to each other and life after surviving a plane crash which stole their families. Two Souls Seeking Love. Each year, from the time she was old enough to travel on her own, Becca met up with Hunter on the island that altered their lives forever. Until he stopped showing. Her constant. Her link to the past. Gone in the blink of an eye. Two Lives Bound by Secret. Suffering more heartbreak, Hunter returns to the one place he’s always sought comfort, the island where he and Becca met. It was the place that stole from him, and in the same instance gave to him. He hasn't been back or spoken to Becca in four years. Though he’s sure she must hate him for disappearing, Hunter discovers the girl gone, now a woman in her place. Hunter is determined to prove to Becca he isn’t the same twelve-year-old boy of yesteryear. But someone isn't happy about their reunion... Strange things begin happening. Letters start showing up in their hotel rooms and at home with cryptic messages. Two Broken Hearts Heal as One. With the mystery unsolved, Hunter convinces Becca to spend the remainder of the summer back home with him, both for safety and to give them a chance to discover the adults they’ve now become. Will love get a chance to blossom, or will the past come back and tear the masterpiece of their love apart once and for all?

    There’s a reason Aiden’s the best at what he does—he only goes by the book. Sure, it’s taking some time to track down the criminals who are stealing and outright butchering the good ranchers’ animals, but he’ll serve them justice in the end.Amaryllis Long has been a Texas Ranger for five years and her experience trumps anything this newbie operation in Wyoming has seen. She’s locked and loaded, ready to break all the rules if it means getting her criminal cuffed and stuffed. Only thing is, she needs an extra set of cuffs for her sidekick Aiden. The lawman might be hunky as hell with hidden tattoos and secrets as long as a summer’s day, but she knows best.Asking Amaryllis to stop and think before she acts is like asking a pig to stop eating. She’s reckless, annoying… and a damn good kisser. Half the time Aiden doesn’t know if he wants to throw her in the back of the truck and have his way with her or hog-tie her and leave her alongside the road. They might both be fighting for the same goal but if they can’t agree on how to handle the situation, how can they succeed?

    Stay with me. Just until I don’t need you anymore…’ When Willa Henderson flew to Chicago, she was just supposed to pack up her brother’s apartment and ship everything inside it back to LA. That included packing up his roommate's things up as well. It was a big ask, but Dave was her big brother, so Willa agreed. The last thing she was expecting was to run into said roommate - the intense German named, André Bauer, a photojournalist who was supposed to be in Afghanistan working for the next few weeks - on her first night there. She also wasn’t expecting him to throw her out on her a** without even trying to let her explain who she was and why she was there. Let’s just say it was…hate at first sight. From the moment they met, they didn’t like each other, and neither of them really had any interest in changing that fact. But one thing they did know, was that they were unequivocally attracted, and it didn’t take too long for them to collide. With both of them screwed up by their pasts, neither of them could handle a relationship if they tried - André is a self-confessed a**hole. Willa is a self-confessed commitment-phone and gets angry whenever she feels. Then there's Willa’s brother, who could very well kill André if he found out he’d slept with his sister. But, when desires go unchecked, there’s little that can change the outcome, and eventually Willa and André agreed to give in – just until they got each other out of their system. They expected it would take a week, maybe two. Then they could walk away without anyone getting hurt. Before each other, that arrangement might have worked out, but there was something there - an intensity they couldn't explain. As layers are peeled back and secrets are revealed, they find themselves in a state of need that neither was prepared for... Before You is a standalone contemporary romance with no cliffhanger and its own HEA.

    But he’ll break every rule to protect her.Nick ClarkI clipped a shiny, new FBI badge to my belt, thinking I could save the world. Four years later, the shield’s got some dents, along with my idealism. And there’s one cold case that’s come back to haunt me.A killer has resurfaced, and all my instincts tell me he’s after the victim that got away. I’ll break every rule in the book to protect beautiful, scarred Meadow. Because I’ve done the most dangerous, most distracting thing an agent can do. I’ve fallen for her.Meadow HolidayI don’t believe in fairy tales. Not after an attack left me a half a woman. But when Nick swears to protect me from my worst nightmare, his charm cracks my resolve to guard myself. One kiss shatters it.But, like the evil villain in the tale, the killer won’t stop until he finishes what he started. And our happy ending balances on the point of a knife.Chasing HonorMoney can’t buy love. But a dangerous secret could cost them their lives.Ethan LenoxEight years ago, I was left holding the baby, but I have no regrets. I’m a good single dadand a good cop. While I haven’t exactly been a monk, dating—and trusting my heartagain—are off the table.When I catch a photographer snapping pictures of my kid, I go into hyper-protectivemode. But Honor’s pictures are as arresting as her pretty eyes, and when she answers myad to rent a room at my house, I begin to wonder if she’s another heartbreak…or a secondchance.Honor SullivanGotta travel light when you’re on the run. Luckily, secrets don’t take up much room. Ineed a place to stay just long enough to figure things out, but when I get a look at mynew landlord, my heart flipflops.Ethan and his daughter are everything I’ve been missing. But just when I’m beginning tobelieve I’ve found refuge, my secrets find me. One of which I hadn’t even known I wascarrying. This one could not only get me killed, it could endanger the little family I’vecome to love.Finding MercyDEA Agent Jason Walker became a widower at twenty-eight. Two years later he’s still torturing himself with guilt. They’d married young, and she’d been his first love, but her illness changed everything. They’d fought a losing battle and he’d held her to the very end. Now he just wants to be left alone with his misery and memories.Mercy James is no stranger to grief and loneliness. Her brother’s death of a drug overdose, and her police officer father’s death in the line of duty were the driving forces behind her pursuit of a career in the DEA. In spite of—or maybe because of—her past, Mercy doesn’t believe in feeling sorry for others, or for herself.When a case brings Jason and Mercy together, and their attraction heats up, can her tough, straightforwardness help Jason learn to live in the light again? He’d lost his first love, but is he ready for a forever love?

    She’s sprung from jail by a commanding civilian the Loyalist military refer to only as leopardo rojo. Calli is inexplicably drawn to him.When Calli formally meets Nicolás Escobedo, the bastard half-brother of Vistaria’s president, she realizes she is in trouble for it is the mysterious leopardo rojo. Their attraction is powerful and mutual, despite everything they do to deny its existence. Vistaria totters on the very brink of revolution and anarchy. It needs only a tiny nudge to tumble the country into the abyss of bloody war. Then the Insurrectos learn that the President’s brother is having an affair with a hated Americano...Red Leopard is Book 1 of The Vistarian Affair series. It was previously published, but has now been re-edited, repackaged with new front and end matter and re-released along with the other two books in the first half of the series.

     Included this box set are STEAM, SMOLDER and SMOKE, all of them full-length romance novels by MacKenzie Stowe. Come to the small town of Easton where the men are strong, sexy and confident and will do everything in their power to win the woman of their dreams. As a BONUS, included is the prequel: SIMMER

    It’s not like I haven’t done this 146 times before. It’s not like I’m NOT the best in the business. I am the best at this because as sick as it sounds, I WANT to be here. I love doing what I do. I can tell you that I have been in this line of work for the last 13 years. I didn’t quite fall into it, I actually sought it out. I am undoubtedly the best in the industry. I am respected amongst all the big players. I am the biggest player of them all. If a rookie tried to come along and show me up as an example of their capabilities, it didn’t take long for me to work out what they were about.There is no hesitation. No second thoughts. No doubts. No emotions. No feelings.’ ~ Anna BrookesAnna Brookes is the most dangerous woman that you hope you will never know.Her life of danger started the day she turned 15.The 13 years that follow shapes her life to have her become the most deadly and lethal woman.HiT 149 becomes her most difficult target. Does she pull the trigger or does she risk becoming the target herself?

    Er, Dad got around). Fans of laughter, tears, and tingly bits will love this series from a USA Today bestselling author. This boxed set contains two standalone novellas that not only give you a glimpse of the Ponderosa Resort world, but introduce you to folks you'll be seeing again in the new Juniper Ridge Romantic Comedy Series.About Mancandy Crush (novella 1)A SPECIAL PONDEROSA RESORT NOVELLA!Josh Mattis is totally over getting his heart stomped six years ago, so what’s with the mule kick to the chest when he spots the girl who ghosted him? Turns out she’s not his teenage fling, but her twin sister—and she needs a fake date to her cousin’s wedding.Valerie Vincent would rather shove sewing needles in her eyes than have one more person tell her she needs adventure. All she needs is a quiet reading nook and a chance to enjoy Bree’s quirky Christmas nuptials in the summer sun at Ponderosa Resort. Okay, she’d also like to skip the pitying looks when her twin trots out her fab new fiancé, but Val can fix all that with one rugged river guide who’s happy to play her arm candy.As Josh and Val bond over weird eggnog and messed-up mistletoe hunts, the July sun isn’t the only source of scorching heat. Will the past be a blast of icy cold reality, or can their fling last longer than a peppermint fudgesicle on a hot day?About Snowbound Squeeze (novella 2)A SPECIAL PONDEROSA RESORT NOVELLA!Gable Judson needs a hideout. A safe place to escape the shambles of his Hollywood life. When college pal James Bracelyn offers a secret cabin an hour from Ponderosa Resort, Gable’s got the car pointed toward Oregon faster than paparazzi pouncing on a nip slip.Gretchen Laslo needs a retreat. Not just to work on her PhD dissertation, but to flee the messy breakup that left her inner critic shouting “duh, girl.” Meeting sexy, mysterious Gabe the night before she leaves is just another reminder to stay focused on her brain, because her heart’s kind of a dumbass.When a Bracelyn family mix-up collides with the worst storm to hit Central Oregon in years, Gretchen and Gable end up accidental roommates. Roommates without internet or TV or—God forbid—an ice cream maker. With both hiding secrets they’d rather not reveal, whatever will they do to pass the long winter nights?

    Her sweet little body against his. Under his. Her screaming his name until she admits she’s never had better.Now he’s found her again, working in a bookstore of all places, and she’s just as gorgeous as he remembers. Only Katie thinks he can be redeemed. That there’s a good man underneath his darkness.He’s not so sure.But then Katie becomes his. Katie and her daughter.And he’ll risk everything, including fighting the devil himself, to protect them.

    Not that I have time for her crap.I’m a stockbroker in training and the last thing I need is to cater to my high-maintenance sibling’s every desire.And her first request? To learn to ride horses. So she can enter the wedding on one.You’ve got to be kidding me. We’ve never even touched a horse before.With lots of peer pressure and guilt tripping, we head to a breathtaking ranch, and lucky for me, the horses aren’t the only beautiful things to look at.The riding instructor is honestly the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Everything about him sends me in a tizzy.Best of all, he’s nothing like my sister’s rich jerk of a fiancé.Wealthy guys are the worst. I work for them, with them, and avoid them at all cost.This hottie and I hit it off, and he offers to be my plus-one to the wedding, with a fake romance attached to it.I couldn’t be more thrilled until things start to not feel so fake anymore.I’m falling for his charm, his way with words, his scorching body.He’s perfect, until he’s not.Turns out, he’s a billionaire in disguise. And here I thought things wouldn’t be fake for long.Guess I was wrong.

    The Carringtons who live here are a different breed. They’re hard working people, people who have a love for the land—and a passion for those who mean the most to them. Book 1 Native SilverHe wants her.  She wants his ranch.When Shawnee Carrington returns home to help her grandfather win his fight to keep his land, she goes up against David Santiago, a man she's hated and loved with equal passion for years.  She's determined to beat him, and win the horse show his sister always dominates as well, with the help of Native Silver, her beloved horse.  But her plans will only work if no one realizes Native Silver is blind.  A beautiful straying daughter of the land, a stunningly handsome descendant of the conquering conquistadores who loves her…his sister, recently divorced from a European royal, an aged grandfather losing his grip on reality, and a blind horse—all have a stake in the Californio Days equestrian competition.   Who will win the hearts and minds they yearn for—and who will win the trophy itself? Book 2  Destiny RanchShe desperately needs to find her father.  He needs to make sure she can’t.Carly Stevens needs to fill in her past so that she can face her future.  She takes a job caring for Joe Carrington's children, only to find that she's stepped into the middle of her own mystery--and into a struggle with an irresistible rancher who's own heartbreak has destroyed his trust in love. Book 3--Sweet DesperadoShe’s hanging on for the reward money—but can she last that long?  Jessie Carrington is a rancher and that's all she's ever wanted to be, but when she gets a chance to play bounty hunter, she takes it.  She needs the money badly.  But once she id's the fugitive, he turns the tables and now she's the captive and on an emotional roller coaster ride as she falls for him, ruining all her plans.

    She’d rather snort lines than think about that. She’d rather do shots of marshmallow-flavored vodka until she can’t remember.When Griffin Fawkes arrives with the news that her father’s dead, she isn’t sure if she cares. He wasn’t much of a father anyway. The only silver lining here is that Griffin’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and Leigh wants him bad.Griffin owes his life to Leigh's father. The man begged him to keep his daughter safe. But Griffin didn't expect a cocaine-fueled party girl who barely seems to care about her own safety. It seems like she'd rather destroy herself than anything else.Even worse, he didn't expect he'd care about her. He knows he's too damaged to ever really be with a woman. The best he can do is to make sure she’s safe from whoever could hurt her. Including herself. Including himself.Of course, fighting off men with guns is starting to seem easier than keeping his hands off Leigh.