Jess needs a break and taking it far away from work is the only way to keep her mind off the many faces of evil waiting in the stack of case files on her desk.Running into the past wasn't part of the plan...Daniel Burnett was Jess's first love. She'd fallen hard for him in high school. Together they'd gone off to college with big dreams. But not all dreams come true. Jess hasn't seen Dan in ten years when they run into each other on Christmas Eve night...yet no force on earth can keep them apart.Show more Show less

    This year you won’t need cocoa, you’ll want a fan and a hot cowboy! You’ll find four hot cowboys in this scorching contemporary western romance anthology.The Novellas in SANTA WORE SPURS…Tied Up for Christmas by Desiree HoltBree Donovan has a thriving career as an architect in Chicago but a long-term relationship with her sub has turned very bad and she needs to get away. A client meeting in Texas prompts her to take some time to recover. Rafe Morales has been searching for the perfect sub for a long time but there always seems to be something missing. When he meets Bree there is instant attraction between them. Watching a performance at a private dungeon they each realize what’s missing is the need to switch, to play both top and bottom. An erotic, lust-filled weekend leaves them wanting more. Much more. The question is: can they make it happen?Breath for Heaven by Sable Hunter (New Series Spinoff)Cade and Abby have a history. Ten years ago they were in love. But something happened. Abby pushed Cade away and he never knew why. Since then, sparks fly when they’re together. Antagonizing one another has become their favorite sport. The only problem is… it’s all a front. They bicker because they both want the same thing – each other. A Christmas wedding brings them together and Cade is determined to learn Abby’s secret. He’ll do whatever it takes to win her love. Meet the King Family of El Camino Real – five brothers, one sister and a legacy as big as Texas.Hope for Christmas by Becky McGraw (New Series Spinoff)Cord Dixon, Mr. Laramie in the world of western clothing modeling, loses his job because he refuses to sleep with his female boss. Christmas is coming, and his bills are due, so he takes the only job he can find. A mall Santa.Socialite wedding photographer, Hope Carlisle’s life disintegrates when she ruins the wedding of the year. In one fell swoop, she loses her best friend, her business partner and her fiancé. Unemployed and needing a job fast, Hope takes a job as an elf photographer at the local mall. She is not looking forward to her new job, until she meets her sexy Santa.Individually, Hope and Cord’s lives seem to be a hopeless mess. But with the magic of Christmas in the air, they work together to reclaim their lives and find love in the process.A Cowboy for Christmas by Sandy SullivanA blizzard, a diner, and two lonely people…can it be love at first sight? Eli Chandler doesn’t believe in love. After being burned, he’s only looking for a little warmth for the hearth on a cold winter’s night stuck in a blizzard in Colorado. Catlin is alone at the diner, searching for her next big break in the storm to get home until a stranger walks in looking for some hot coffee and a meal.Two ships passing in the night…can there ever be more?

    Even the mayor’s Street Saviors taskforce of ex-cons, devoted to steering kids out of the thug life, are working overtime to stop the bloodshed. But who will stop the even greater threat that’s about to descend when a murderous psychopath steps out of the past?Memories of the infamous Blood Bath Killer still loom large, especially for homicide detective Angel Alves, who helped bring down the multiple-murderer whose rampage shocked the city. So when a pair of students turn up bizarrely slain, Alves fears that another serial killer is stalking Boston. A fear that becomes fact when his ex-partner, Wayne Mooney, recognizes the murders as the work of the Prom Night Killer—whose unsolved crimes have haunted Mooney for a decade. Now, with hands-on assistant DA Conrad Darget backing them, Alves and Mooney set out to stop grim history from repeating itself. But matching wits with a twisted mind is a dangerous game. Especially when there are no rules—and your allies really may be your enemies. Mixing edgy psychological suspense, hard-boiled realism, and staccato bursts of pulse-quickening action, 2 in the Hat makes another slam-dunk winning case for Raffi Yessayan, hailed by Robin Moore, author of The French Connection, as “the best prosecutor-turned-crime-writer to hit the streets since George V. Higgins and Scott Turow.”

    And even if her unexpected betrothed seems honorable and kind, can she trust his motives or the attraction between them? Ian McPherson came to Montana to salvage his family's dwindling fortune, not to take a wife. But he's instantly drawn to Fiona. He wants to protect her even if that means pretending that they're engaged. In a season of surprises and miracles, there's nothing he won't give to show Fiona his love is for always.

    And the whole world will be watching!

    YOUR HOME IS WITH ME NOW."Adelia Cunnane's uncle had written her. So Adelia had left Ireland to join him on what he had described as the finest horse farm in Maryland.Adelia agreed with her uncle about the farm. But what should she think about its owner, Travis Grant?She knew that he could master his strongest horse. She had seen his eyes soften at the birth of a foal. Yet his lips on hers demanded a submission that she was not yet ready to give -- at least not until he had spoken the words she had to hear.

    To find a bone marrow donor for his ailing baby girl, he'll hack into WITSEC to track down Maggie Gallagher-the only person who could be a genetic match. Yet by doing so, he is jeopardizing not only his badge, but Maggie's life, as well. Expecting to have to force Maggie against her will, Jake is unprepared for her willingness to help-and for the desire and hunger she arouses in him. Still, those forbidden feelings could make Jake reckless, and losing focus now isn't an option. With time running out and a killer on their heels, Jake has to keep Maggie alive-and give his daughter a Christmas miracle.

    Facing a messy divorce and doubting his talent as a writer, CJ is forced to confront secrets that have tormented him since childhood. To complicate matters, his brother Graham is running for a Senate seat, and the family is intent on keeping their most damaging secret in the family, for fear the truth, were it found out, would ruin Graham's chances at winning. But with CJ airing their dirty laundry in his books, the family is forced to deal with him. They decide on a familiar method for handling the problem: a hunting trip, and just the setting for an accident to happen. CJ must find a way to avoid being killed while exposing their toxic family secret, regardless of Graham's lofty ambitions. More important, CJ must come to terms with the newfound faith that compelled him to return to Adelia in the first place.

    But was the iron-willed academic truly the one they sought? Beautiful psychiatrist Dr. Maisy Dalton was unwittingly brought in to hypnotize the ruggedly handsome Zach into talking about the "memories" hidden within him. But the innocent doctor couldn't control her feelings for the mysterious man who spoke of mistaken identity and something called the Extraordinary Five. In her heart, Maisy knew Zach was telling the truth, and was willing to risk her life and love to help him unravel the secrets of MEDUSA and the potentially dangerous X5...Five extraordinary siblings,One dangerous past.Unlimited potential.

    Racing against time and the detective determined to send Jon to prison, Ann is soon embroiled in a fight for her life.

    From Fargo Rock City; Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs; Chuck Klosterman IV; and Eating the Dinosaur, these essays are now available in this ebook collection for fans of Klosterman’s writing on rock music.

    When a young woman on the brink of bankruptcy inherits a small cornerstone, the contents are sure to solve all of her problems - at least the ones the cunning hunk inside the stone doesn't create himself!

    Claire captures the passion and intrigue of France in a dazzling romantic suspense adventure.Janine Coulter has just gotten her big chance to prove herself, managing a prestigious exhibit at the Palace of Versailles -- and Luc Tremont, the security specialist, is clearly trouble. He's making decisions without her, under-cutting her authority. He's also too smooth, too virile, too dangerously handsome, too...well...French! And Janine has the uneasy suspicion he's not all that he seems.Luc resolutely ignores the powerful sizzle of attraction he feels when he meets Janine -- the quintessential California girl with her blond hair, blue eyes, and legs that seem to go on forever. But when thieves steal priceless treasures from the exhibit, and Luc and Janine give chase across the lush Burgundy countryside, their forced intimacy ignites the passion both have tried to ignore. Luc wonders what will happen when Janine learns his true identity -- but with dangerous men pursuing them, they may not live to find out....

    A man with a tree growing out of his head? A woman with children made of wax? A bird that can be milked? Let Alexander McCall Smith once again take you to a land where the bizarre is everyday and magic is real, with more illustrated stories from his celebration of African folktales.

    "This is a promise bridge, and it bridges a promise flowing from your heart to mine. It can't never be broken...the promise is part of you now, understand." Thus begins an unlikely friendship between Hannelore Blessing, a plantation mistress, and a slave girl named Livie. As the young women are launched on a harrowing journey of awakening filled with shared risks and nurtured promises amid whispers of the Underground Railroad and the rising tension preceding the Civil War, they discover their ability to trust, love, and ultimately take action.Aided by Colt, a devoted suitor hoping to win her heart, Hannah comes to understand that true friendship means letting go, so that Livie can be free to find a life and destiny all her own. However, a vicious slave catcher stalks the two women-and his unseemly motives and relentless pursuit threaten all that Hannah holds dear, as well as put her loved ones in unimaginable danger.