She had the perfect life planned out with her perfect man. She was marrying the town’s most eligible bachelor. Until she wasn’t. Suddenly, on her wedding day, she’s spurned. What’s a girl to do but run away, her head tucked low in shame?Aniel West’s got a problem. His uncle’s will states that in order to inherit his own parents’ property, Daniel’s got to have a wife before his next birthday. Before his next birthday? There doesn’t seem to be time to find and woo a wife. Until his sisters concoct a plan involving placing an advertisement for a mail order bride.Seemed like a great idea at the time, but it seems Mother Nature has other plans. No sooner had Daniel collected his mail order bride than an earthquake struck and destroyed the town, sending the two into a head-spinning day of search and rescue. Among all the ravages inflicted on the town, can Daniel and Anna find what they are seeking and rescue their attempts to find love?

    One last adventure abroad with her botanist uncle and his family, and then she will do as her parents bid and wed the proper (and boring) viscount her mother has selected as Lily's ideal husband.James Huntington is on a mission. Retrieve his grandfather's lost journals from the wilds of Tunisia, and win the estate and fortune he so desperately needs. This quest will be the making of him--or his ruin.Thrown together on a botanical expedition, James and Lily's attraction is immediate, and impossible. Despite every reason to keep their distance, the two find themselves inexorably drawn together as they race to reach a hidden valley before their enemies can bring all their dreams crashing down.      *Formerly published as PASSIONATE by Kensington Books

    A twenty-first-century legal thriller with a twist, "The Partnership" reveals what happens to rich and powerful insiders as the business school mentality extends its tentacles across a once-noble profession. The themes resonate; "The Bonfire of the Vanities" still burns.Albert Knight has reached the pinnacle of power as one of the “magnificent seven”— leaders of the international legal powerhouse Michelman & Samson. Only one step remains: Knight and his archenemy Ronald Ratkin are front-runners to replace the Executive Committee’s retiring chairman.Knight and Ratkin were once best friends, but that was long ago. Despite their twenty-year animosity, each has embraced the firm’s transformation to a bottom-line business and the stunning wealth it produces. As the price of success, they endure and inflict profound personal damage along the way.When gifted trial lawyer Ronald Ratkin’s $100 million client defies protocol by interrupting the sacrosanct Executive Committee meeting, all seven attorneys are suspicious. The news, Ratkin suspects, could upset his ongoing billion-dollar trial, send stocks plummeting, and destroy his client, his law firm, and his personal wealth. But the wily Ratkin has a foolproof plan. Or will his own greed and that of his fellow partners undo him?***Praise for "Crossing Hoffa" One of the "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" -- Chicago Tribune "Gripping, tender, and intriguing" -- Scott Turow "A tale of mystery and intrigue" -- Booklist "Tightly woven and gritty" -- American Lawyer "Fascinating and moving" -- Bloomberg News "Riveting eyewitness history...Bravo!" -- Charles Brandt***About the AuthorSteven J. Harper is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and the author of two non-fiction books: true-crime award winner "Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster’s Story" and "Straddling Worlds: The Jewish-American Journey of Professor Richard W. Leopold."He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For thirty years, he was a litigation attorney in a large law firm that he joined upon graduation from Harvard Law School. He received combined B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from Northwestern.He and his wife have three adult children and live in suburban Chicago.Visit his website at: www.stevenjharper.com

    And I'm more tired and hungry than I have ever been in my life. Please let me come home.Compromised and wedded on the same day, Lady Miranda was fast finding married life not to her taste. A decaying manor and a secretive husband were hardly the stuff of girlish dreams. Yet every time she looked at dark, brooding Marcus Radwell, Duke of Haughleigh, she felt inexplicably compelled—and determined—to make their marriage real!

    

    Worse, the day she arrives at her destination, she learns he doesn't even want to get married. Having nowhere else to go, she convinces him to give her a chance to prove having a woman cook and clean for him will be the best thing that ever happened to him. Abe Thomas reluctantly agrees to take Phoebe in, though he doubts they will make a good match. They're much too different. While she sees the best in things, he knows the world is much darker than she can ever imagine. No woman in her right mind would be his convenient wife. He's sure when the stagecoach comes back to town, she'll be the first one on it. After all, two people so completely different can't make a good match, can they?

    Alone and afraid, Grace is offered a second chance at happiness. Miss Grace Thackery never believed that she would marry because she thought she was too plain. When a friend gives her a copy of Matrimonial News, Grace has hope that she might find a husband who is not focused on outward beauty, but instead can appreciate the other qualities she possesses. After corresponding with a man, Grace agrees to move to Montana to get married. However, when her future husband asks for a picture, Grace worries that he will cancel the engagement when he sees her photograph. An acquaintance convinces Grace to paint her face, add some padding, and wear a wig to alter her beauty for the photograph. Reluctantly, Grace agrees, but harbors a great guilt over being deceitful. When she arrives in Montana, the man she is supposed to marry leaves her at the train station when her appearance does not match the picture she sent. Alone and scared, Grace does not know what to do next. Hope is not lost… Grace meets a man that appreciates her looks and her character, but she also knows that allowing herself to have feelings for him will come with many challenges. Will Grace ever have a second chance at happiness? If you love historical western and mail order bride romance books with twists and turns, you will love this sweet and clean romance story. Authors Note: This is a clean, stand-alone romance, so there are no cliffhangers. This is a 35,000-word romance. The eBook version contains historical western and Regency romance bonus books.

    Her search to find help results in a marriage to Heston Miller, a trapper who's forced to marry or lose his land. Lenore had always determined she'd never settle for less than love, but love is an untamed emotion, and one can never tell where it might bloom - even in a frozen wilderness.This short-story is 10,000 words in length, and was written for a quick, enjoyable read. If you like the author's voice, look for her full-length novels in The Ozark Durham Series, Abandoned Hearts vol. 1, and Unexpected Kiss vol. 2.

    The innocent he's selected, however, has no plans to settle for anything less than marriage and will go to almost any length to secure him. With no other means for an income, the impoverished Andrew Black, Earl of Townson, makes an agreement that will put a definite end to his eight year poverty streak. But, in order to gain his fortune he must do only one simple thing: ruin an innocent young lady’s reputation enough to make her flee to America.Brooke Banks isn’t interested in marriage, or so she thinks. She came to London to have a good time, and that’s exactly what she’s doing. Widely known for her tendency to flout the rules, she suspects nothing when a handsome stranger appears on her doorstep. Thirteen days, a handful of kisses and one scandalous situation later, Andrew and Brooke will have to choose to stick to their original plans, or decide if a life together is worth the risk. ***This is a full-length novel, approx. 100,000 words.

    For Florence Peterson, it was to leave her teaching position in Missouri or have her life relegated to the same thing day in and day out. On a lark, she sent a letter to a school in Oregon, never dreaming they’d answer! Now all she has to do is decide if she should take the position. Because it’s one thing to dream, another to have it come to life. Alton Cutter had made the trip West more often than he’d like. Montana was fresh and new, and his brother was already there. With his wagons readied, the families in his wagon train readied too, all was well. Except for the crazy schoolmarm that had it in her head she could just “tag along.” He’d been planning this for too long to let some slip of a woman put a hitch in his plans. Let alone, his heart …

    With rumors of insanity swirling around them, his sisters desperately need a chaperone. Ferguson thinks he’s found the most proper woman in England–and he won’t ruin her, even if he secretly desires the passionate woman trapped beneath a spinster’s cap.One chance to break the rules...Lady Madeleine Vaillant can’t face her blighted future without making one glorious memory for herself. In disguise, on a London stage, she finds all the adoration she never felt from the ton. But when she’s nearly recognized, she will do anything to hide her identity–even setting up her actress persona as Ferguson’s mistress. She’ll take the pleasure he offers, but Madeleine won’t lose her heart in the bargain.One season to fall in love...Every stolen kiss could lead to discovery, and Ferguson’s old enemies are determined to ruin them both. But as their dangerous passion ignites their hearts and threatens their futures, how can an heiress who dreams of freedom deny the duke who demands her love?

    How could John Winterhawke, a fiercely independent and unsettlingly handsome half-Indian, possibly make room in his heart and in his life for her?As far as Hawke was concerned, the last thing he needed was a high-spirited, overeager Irish wife who knew nothing about surviving on the harsh prairie. But once the determined Lacey sensed the rough kindness and simmering hunger under Hawke's forbidding demeanor, she set out to match his dark passion with her own – and claim his wild heart on her terms.

    Hannah Kincaid is a Royalist spy who spirits away Scotland's crown jewels from under Cromwell's nose. Is it love that blossoms between them, or a deadly game of cat-and-mouse?

    

     Colin Emerson, the Earl of Ridgeway, has two unmarried sisters and a mountain of debt incurred by his late father. He has no choice but to marry an heiress. It is most unfortunate, therefore, when he falls in love with a penniless governess. Ava Conway has been making her way in the world since the death of her father. She takes a position as the governess to Lord Ridgeway's sisters, but finds her growing attachment to the earl threatens his family's future. Bound by honor, torn by love, can Colin do right by his sisters while following his heart? WARNING: This book contains explicit sexual content and adult situations. You will not like this book if you don't like either of those two things.