The key is to begin in our own backyards, look at needs within our communities and then decide to do something about them. The dedicated women selected as this year's recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award have changed lives, one good deed at a time. To celebrate their accomplishments, bestselling authors have written stories inspired by these real-life heroines.In this book, Meryl Sawyer honors the work of Gracie Cavnar, founder of the Recipe for Success Foundation.We hope More Than Words inspires you to get in touch with the real-life heroine living inside of you.

    The one where the white knight rushes in to save her from the clutches of evil. They fall in love, have babies, and live happily ever after. By that definition, my life should have been a fairytale too. When I was eight years old, Caven Hunt saved me from the worst kind of evil to walk the Earth. It didn’t matter that I was a kid. I fell in love with him all the same. But that was where my fairytale ended. Years later, a one-night stand during the darkest time imaginable gave us a little girl. It was nothing compared to the pitch black that consumed me when I was forced to leave her with Caven for good. At the end of every fairytale, the happily-ever-after is the one thing that remains consistent. It wasn’t going to be mine, but there hadn’t been a night that passed where I hadn’t prayed that it would be hers. I owed Caven my life. However, I owed that innocent child more. And that included ripping the heart from my chest and facing her father again.

    What you didn't know was that I was breaking mine too.I thought they’d be enough–my husband and my son. That I’d get home and everything would go back to the way it was . . .Before the war. Before the ambush. Before you.But, no matter how hard I try, I can’t erase the trauma we shared. I can’t seem to forget the way my heart beat in time with yours. The truth is I’m lost without you.I thought the nightmare was over when they pulled us from that hole in the ground, but nothing could have prepared me for the war I’d face at home.I know it’s selfish of me to ask, but, please, I have to see you one last time. . .All my love, Scottie

    One impossible choice From the moment her suspicions are confirmed, Lily knows she’s screwed. What the hell is a nineteen year old with no future going to do with a baby? She can barely take care of herself. She needs help. In walks Sloan McClain, the only man Lily has ever truly wanted — and the brother of the boy whose baby she’s carrying. While Lily expects a great number of outcomes when she tells Sloan her news, him proposing marriage and asking her to keep the baby is not one of them, especially not when she has every intention of giving the baby a better future by giving it the home she can’t. Having spent the majority of his life protecting his brother from the bone-breaking fists of their father, Sloan is no stranger to hardship, loss and abandonment. He has learned long ago never to rely on anyone to take care of what was his, and that baby is his. He isn’t about to let Lily give away his family, nor can he allow that child to destroy the future he has built for Cole. His only option: marry the mother and claim the baby as his. But no secret ever stays hidden forever.

    This year we’re back for a second helping, and you can indulge too! This stunning limited edition collection features thirteen BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors...You can make a difference while you read! All proceeds from the sale of Sweet Seduction will be donated to the Diabetes Research Institute via Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.Featuring a foreword and a bonus book by New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Renee Jones.From New York Times bestselling Author Lexi Blake comes LUSCIOUS, a novella set in her Masters and Mercenaries world. When Macon Miles meets sweet waitress Alison Jones, he knows she’s trouble, but he can’t imagine how her secrets will rock his world.Sparks fly in Texas when a soldier comes home to the girl he left behind in New York Times bestselling author Mari Carr's WAITING FOR YOU.Sex. Lies. Romance. Love. My life has it all. I do what I want, when I want and no one can stop me. This isn't a story of how I found my prince. Or my how my prince found me. This is my life. My diary. This is the true diary of 'that girl'. CONFESSIONS OF A SEXAHOLIC by New York Times bestselling author JS Cooper.New York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards revisits Tag and McKenna, a power couple who have gone from infatuation to adoration in ADORED (Club Destiny #7.5).New York Times bestselling author Karen Erickson presents RED HOT NIGHTS a brand new, very sexy contemporary romance about finding love in the most unexpected places...When love is determined, it will always find a way. From New York Times bestselling author Megan Hart comes PERFECTLY RECKLESS, a new novel about love, lust, loss and rediscovery between two people who should never have fallen in love…or out of it. Spend some time with Nikki and Damien Stark in this sexy and sensual bonus story SEDUCE ME in J. Kenner’s STARK EVER AFTER series of novellas.When Random Acts of Crazy's bass player, Joe Ross, gets injured in an unfortunate sex act that gains nationwide coverage, it's tatted-up Tyler (aka "Frown") to the rescue for their first big concert. THE RANDOM TOUR: LOS ANGELES by New York Times bestselling author Julia Kent.For fans of such films as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Wild Things comes a ménage romance posing the question, can two men share the same woman forever? UNCONVENTIONAL (The Manhattanites) by Avery Aster.With INDECISION, Elisabeth Grace brings you another hot story with heart that follows a small town's wild child and the police officer who tries to tame her--he has no idea what he's in for.From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Hawkeye comes THE BILLIONAIRE YOU KNOW, the newest tale in her bestselling Billionaire series.In STICKY by New York Times bestselling author Nina Lane, a plate of sugar cookies sparks an edgy, red-hot affair between married PTO president Madeline Collins and the hot, new school principal, who teaches her a very dirty lesson.From New York Times bestselling author Roni Loren comes WANDERLUST, the story of a magazine writer who needs to land the big story and the bad boy rockstar who’s determined to protect his band’s secrets. His plan? Get her off her game by getting her into his bed.And bonus book HOT SECRETS by Lisa Renee JonesDon’t forget to check out SWEET TALK and SWEET DREAMS, two more limited edition collections from Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research... read and help the fight against diabetes!

    I walk the shadows like darkness itself. I hide in the corners where nobody looks. I live by no rules, I have no boundaries, I take no prisoners, and I never, ever blink. I am not your knight in shining armor; I’m your worst nightmare. My name is James Fenici and you are my target. Only one of us is getting out alive, and that’s not gonna be you. Once your name is on my list, your life is over. It’s a deal I make with death, it’s a contract I sign in blood, it’s forgone conclusion—get used to it.My name is James Fenici and I’m as dirty as they come. But then one day I saw her. And every monster I thought I was. Every fact I thought I knew. Every dirty promise I ever turned down came back to slap me in the face.My name is James Fenici and I think I am in love.-----------------------------------Dirty, Dark, and Deadly, #1This is a SERIES. This is BOOK ONE. This is a NOVELLA. It used to be part of the BEND Anthology. COME will be re-released on June 23, 2014 and there will be a cover reveal for COME BACK, BOOK TWO, on June 25th.

    Slowly, she started putting the pieces back together of her life. Knowing that she may never open herself up to love again. That was until the day Derek came into the picture.Why does this gorgeous stranger seem to care so much, so suddenly?Derek Jordan's charm drew her in with an instant connection, and familiarity that helps her feel at ease. Her heart is falling at his feet, but as their relationship grows, so does a secret from both of their pasts that neither saw coming. One by one, the threads slowly start to unravel.Can their newly sought love stand up against the secrets that life is unlocking to their pasts? Or can they decide together that moving forward and forgetting the past is the only option for them to find true happiness?**Intended for Mature Audiences**

    Now 20, she is determined to have a career in fashion design. Just when she decides to pursue her career, Jason makes it clear that he's suddenly interested. But does becoming Jason's woman mean choosing between the man she loves and everything the world has to offer?

    To Possess. To own her. *****When Lana Bloom learns the devastating news that her mother is dying, she is faced with a terrible dilemma. The one thing that can save her is the one thing she does not have. For young and Innocent Lana, the unthinkable is her only choice. When she walks through the door of that exclusive restaurant she has no idea of the seismic shift her life is about to take, for the highest bidder will not be the rich man she has accompanied. *****Fate drops her at the feet of the deeply mysterious and dazzlingly gorgeous american banker, Blake Law Barrington. Throbbing with raw masculinity and arrogance, this is a man who owns all that he pursues. And now he wants her. Lana cannot deny she is both intrigued and intoxicated by the world Blake inhabits and the smouldering passion he stirs in her body, but she is also fearful for this man is addictive and right now she is very vulnerable. *****She knows she should focus only on the arrangement, but how can she? When he has opened a door that cannot be closed.. *****Recommended for 18+ due to mature themes and sexual content

    The young couple plans to marry before they head to college, and their future seems bright with promise. Everything changes one spring night when their six closest friends, including Brian's younger brother, are killed in a fiery car accident that Carly and Brian witness. The trauma leaves Carly unable to speak, and Brian is forced to make unimaginable decisions about a future that once seemed so certain. With Carly incapable of going forward with their plans, Brian leaves home—and Carly—for good. Fifteen years later, disturbing new clues indicate the accident that wrecked so many lives wasn't an accident at all, bringing Brian home to face a past——and a love——he's never forgotten.

    Arranged marriages don't happen in the modern world, so how did the irrepressible Daisy find herself in this fix?Alex Markov, as humorless as he is deadly handsome, has no intention of playing the loving bridegroom to a spoiled little feather-head with champagne tastes. He drags Daisy from her uptown life to a broken down traveling circus and sets out to tame her to his ways.But this man without a soul has met his match in a woman who's nothing but heart. Before long, passion will send them flying sky high without a safety net... risking it all in search of a love that will last forever.

    Dirty. Untamed.I moved to the woods to get away from the bullsh*t of the city. People there don't understand a man like me.I work hard, and my hands are as calloused as my heart.And nothing's gonna change that.But now I've met Harper.And my whole f*cking world has changed.But this girl keeps running.I need to make her stay because she's having my baby.I'm gonna make sure I'm the only man she ever needs again.HarperI never expected my fiancé to break things off.I'd saved myself for my wedding night, and now I'm left wondering why.Needing to get away, I ran to my uncle's cabin in the woods.But a storm has left me stranded on Jax's doorstep, and soon enough he takes me in his arms.And on the floor. And on the table. And in the great outdoors.Our time together has left me with a big problem ... a problem a wild man like him can't fix.A problem that makes me run ... because I need a man who believes in true love and commitment.I need a man who is ready to be a father.*** *** *** *** *** ***NOTE: Originally published as a five-part serial titled TIMBER. This includes all five parts, plus 15,000 extra words of bonus material: ACE 1.WARNING: This story contains graphic language and an untamed man who takes a virgin. Please don't read if you're not ready for hot sex that will make you reach for that vibrator hidden under your pillow. If the batteries are out, your own hand will do. No shame, babycakes. Enjoy this steamy story! You deserve it.