To be qualified to earn the coveted prize, a book (published in 2011), must score higher than 8.0 on twenty questions provided to six randomly selected reader judges. This year's winners were the best of the best!NEW FORMATTING!Lies have consequences…Twelve years ago, Max Crayton had no choices. Honor bound to hunt a traitor, the government declared him dead to the outside world. He completed his mission, but lost the only woman he ever loved and a child he never knew existed.And so does breaking a woman’s heart…Max was her life, her very heartbeat. After his death, alone and haunted by a dangerous past, Kat Jannsen made the ultimate sacrifice to keep their daughter safe.When Kat discovers Max is alive her carefully constructed jigsaw puzzle life is torn to pieces. But an old enemy has been watching…waiting to strike. As the danger mounts, she has nowhere to turn but to Max. She can trust him with her life, but does she dare trust him with her heart?

    An heiress changes her identity and starts a new life away from her father’s ruthless, self-serving world, only to find herself falling in love with the slick, corporate player her father sends to bring her back.This version appropriate for older teens and adults.

    She pitches her idea all over town, but no one's biting.A chance meeting thrusts her into the lap of movie studio billionaire, Oliver Tate, the most powerful man in Hollywood. He is exquisitely handsome, seductive, and full of secrets.Oliver agrees to produce Scarlett's movie, but for a price. Will their love be the ultimate reward or the biggest mistake of her life?Compulsively readable, Deep Focus is an emotionally intense, sexy love story you won't want to miss.

    So far, all the risks he’s taken — like moving to San Francisco and joining Riley O’Brien & Co. — have paid off. Now he’s ready to take the biggest risk of all: acting on his feelings for Kyla Andrews. As a trainee in his department, she’s off limits. But as soon as Kyla moves on to another job, he is going to make her his. He’s waited long enough… When tragedy struck Kyla’s family years ago, she started playing it safe. She doesn’t take risks with her job or her heart, and she refuses to be a cliché – the foolish woman who falls for her sexy boss. Yet Jake is everything she has ever wanted, and it’s impossible to resist him and his enticing kisses. Just when it seems that the gamble they took will pay off, Jake’s past threatens his future with Kyla. He knows lady luck is fickle, but she’s always had a soft spot for him. He’s hoping she won’t turn her back on him when he needs her the most…

    Enjoy this short, sweet, and a little steamy peek at the gang as the Random series continues.This is a 60-page short story set in the Random series after Random Acts of Hope and features all of the main characters from the first four Random books (except for Mavis the Chicken. Sorry.)**This story originally appeared in the LOL vol. 2 boxed set**

    Probably not in retrospect. In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead. So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it! Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way. I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

    Snow covers the ground and love is in the air in the southern city of Savannah.I’ve only recently gotten out of the military, but my best friend’s father gave me a good job at his security firm.The last person I expected to find working there was my best friend’s little sister – all grown up.She’s beyond beautiful and such a handful – in more ways than one.I can’t help but think about what we could be if she would stop being so damn difficult, but it’s part of her charm.She’s in for the adventure of her lifetime with me, and it’s going to start one winter night soon.

    Finally finished with college, she heads to her favorite shabby motel on Florida’s Gulf Coast where her aunt and uncle always save her room twenty-four. She quickly finds out, though, that The Gull Motel is not just her home away from home. It’s hers to manage while her aunt and uncle take an extended trip. Skip McComber, The Gull’s former maintenance man, has been working on Savvy’s nuts and bolts for years. Now the new owner of the bar next door, his mission is to renovate a pirate bar while being a walking temptation for the girl he can’t get off his mind.For Savvy, keeping her cool running a motel in Florida heat is one thing, but navigating the steamy waters of a former fling takes a whole other kind of savvy. In addition to the motel and the man next door, Savvy stumbles on a plot to swindle land from the residents of Barefoot Key. Devalued properties tumble like dominoes until Savvy musters her colorful crew from The Gull Motel to make the pillagers walk the plank.

    She doesn’t believe in marriage, and she’s learned to only count on herself. At her Uncle Walter’s insistence, and a little emotional blackmail, she returns to Misty Harbor Cottages to help him for one last summer in a place that's really the only home she’s ever known. Cole Zamora has worked at Misty Harbor for more than half of his twenty-three years, and imagined someday owning the place. He met Jenna when they were ten-years-old, and his young heart fell hard for her, relishing every summer she came back. That is, until two years ago, when she broke his heart and never returned. Uncle Walter proposes a challenge between the two, with the winner becoming the new owner of Misty Harbor. Now, there’s a real chance Cole could lose his heart and his home. Jenna isn’t sure which worries her more—a summer of rivalry or romance? One Last Summer is a 100-page novella in the clean & wholesome romance category.

    But he’s not sure he can get through his high school class reunion. Then he meets the new girl in town. Adrianne Scott loves Sapphire Falls. The sleepy little town has been the perfect place to escape her fast-paced, high stress lifestyle. Her only plans now include opening her candy shop and living a quiet, drama-free life. Until Mason Riley bids four hundred dollars just to dance with her. Mason sure doesn’t look—or kiss—like a genius scientist geek. In fact, he makes Adrianne’s heart pound like nothing she’s ever experienced. Passion like this with a guy who travels the world and parties at the White House should probably be a red flag for a girl who wants a simple boring life. Good thing no one falls in love in a weekend. WARNING: read only if you don't mind some naughty words, sexy times described in great detail, humor, small town quirkiness, meddling best friends, mud in the kitchen, references to bisexuality, oh and talk about candy... and that's not a euphemism for anything... actual candy.

    His name brought back memories of a man so handsome that a young girl had fallen in love - and made a fool of herself. A man so unique he'd spoiled Sharon Philips for any other love.But now her father's will had joined their lives once again. In a final attempt at matchmaking, Dad left half his California horse ranch to Sharon, the other half to Braddock - provided they were husband and wife.A quick wedding. A quick divorce. A quick sale of the ranch. It seemed simple. But time had only fueled their passion. Could taylor erase ten years of pain and show Sharon that loving him was her destiny?

    We’re no longer just best friends…

    He also knew she wanted nothing to do with romance, and for very good reasons. So what did he do? He was the best friend she needed for five long years.The day Joss comes to tell her best friend that she’s ready for love—with another guy—it’s like a punch to his … well, you know.How does he show her that the real love of her life isn’t the random guy who bought her a pickle cupcake at the bakery? Well … he needs to wage war--one touch, one moment at time. Joss isn’t the only stubborn one in their friendship, and he’ll prove that the man for her has been right in front of her the whole time.

    Last Times. Connections. And No Regrets...I only wanted a tattoo. A mark on my body to remind me of who I used to be. Something to hold onto when I started my penance for all the things I’d done wrong, the bad choices I’d made by the time I turned nineteen. Instead, I found a night of possibility, of truth, of hope for the future. And the most intense physical connection I’ve ever had. The only one I’ve ever had, and one I will never forget.Trey...When she walked into my tattoo shop, I knew she was like me. Harley had secrets. She had a messed-up past, and things she wanted to run from, or forget ever happened. I couldn’t let her go. So we agreed on one night – to spend it together wandering around the city, getting to know each other, the clock ticking because we knew tomorrow would bring an end to the possibility of an us.Unless tonight was only the start.How can one night be the start of something when tomorrow it has to end?

    She's a former ballerina. Can they risk getting involved when a little girl's heart is involved? Isabella Harper lived in the bright-lights of New York, a performer at the top of her field until a career-ending injury drove her home to find a new dream. If she can’t dance anymore, at least she can open a studio and help other dancers find their own dreams. Tanner Ross has been burned before, left to raise his daughter alone. He won’t consider a relationship with anyone who has their eyes on the horizon, unwilling to risk his or his daughter’s heart by falling in love with someone destined to leave again. He had no plans to get involved… and then he met Izzy. A few stolen moments turn serious quickly, and neither of them knows how to react. Just when she thought she’d built a new life for herself, Izzy receives an offer she cannot refuse. Tanner's hopes of building a future with someone are dashed. Will she stick around or will the draw of the spotlight be too much to resist?