Catherine Ryan-Barrett, running from the fame and fortune of her family name, wants nothing more to spend the winter alone and sequestered in her high mountain cabin. She is not prepared for a party crasher. After spending two months together, they form an unlikely friendship that deepens even further. But after the spring thaw, Jen leaves and returns to her life in Santa Fe—and to the man who wants to marry her. All she knows of the woman who rescued her is her name . . . Ryan.

    Of all the ways she could have said it, she'd chosen these specific words. Not "I won't hurt you," or "I'm not going to hurt you." Those words would have calmed my fears. But no. She chose "I don't want to hurt you."Computer analyst Leslie Howard knows all too well that the fastest way to a broken heart is to ignore Lesbian Dating Rule Number One: Never, ever, get involved with a straight woman. Yet, despite her better judgment, and serious warnings from her friends, she finds herself battling a growing infatuation with her very straight - and very attractive - co-worker Sara Stevens.Haunted by memories of past rejection, Leslie is understandably hesitant about coming out to Sara, yet she doesn't want to jeopardize their friendship by being dishonest about who she is. When Leslie finally trusts Sara enough to tell her she's a lesbian, Sara fulfills Leslie's worst fears and cuts her off.Hurt and angry with herself, Leslie vows never to trust Sara again, and seeks solace in the arms of a seductive young golf pro. When Sara sees Leslie with her new lover, she is forced to confront her own hidden desires. Then, a long business trip together turns into an emotional tug-of-war, as Leslie and Sara struggle to control the raging passions that could bring them together - or tear them apart.

    Nic's had theatre friends and orchestra friends, but never just friend friends. And she's certainly never had a relationship.But on the very first day, she falls in with Katrina the Manic Computer Chick, Isaac the Nice-Guy-Despite-Himself, Kevin the Inarticulate Composer... and Battle.Battle Hall Davies is a beautiful blond dancer from North Carolina. She's everything Nic isn't. Soon the two are friends - and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you're attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?

    She's a very successful real estate agent, happily married to a man who encourages her to live the independent life she loves; and they're actively working to have a baby.The wrench in the works is that Blair favors adoption, while her husband David desperately wants to have a biological child. The fates are against them, and they finally seek the help of a group of reproductive specialists. One of the doctors, a surgeon named Kylie Mackenzie, eventually becomes a good friend to Blair. And she needs all of the friends she can get when things start to go horribly wrong at home. As her marriage teeters on the brink of collapse, she relies more and more on Kylie's friendship.Kylie's happily gay; Blair's happily straight. But the way they structure their relationship leads friends and family to privately question whether the pair is setting themselves up for heartache. They eventually come to a crossroads, which could either destroy their friendship or turn it into what each of them has been seeking. The question is whether each woman can change her view of herself and her needs. The answer is all that matters.

    So with her last breath, she implores her beautiful granddaughter, Lillie, to flee to the family’s polo estate in South Carolina and seek the protection of someone Abigail has come to trust—Swain Butler. What Lillie doesn’t know is that she is putting herself in the hands of a woman who may be the biggest family secret of them all.“Be careful,” Abigail cautions Lillie. If sleeping dogs must be roused, then call them forth softly.

    Newly widowed, she is finally free to acknowledge the unspoken wishes of her heart. But will Maggie and Celia have the courage to overcome their fears... and trust each other enough to finish what never got started? 2nd edition.

    As partner to her father’s vast cattle ranch, she has enough to keep her busy without taking on a serious relationship with any of the women who clamor for her attention. When a neighboring aging rancher fills the Fleming’s life with aggravation and vandalism, Taylor is forced to confront the old man’s estranged daughter, Jen Holland. But convincing Jen to intervene becomes another task entirely.After an accident leaves Taylor with imposed bed rest, her cowgirl independence is tested to the limit. Soon Jen is facing an ultimatum. To keep her father’s property from being sold on the courthouse steps, Jen must dust off her nursing skills and take on a job she could never have anticipated——being caregiver to the stubborn Taylor Fleming…

    Real estate guru Krista Wyler is soon at the mercy of the Arizona desert when she learns she has inherited her family's business, Wyler Ranch. Her aunt is dying and her uncle is no longer capable of making decisions. Krista reluctantly moves in, but her plan is to sell the ranch as soon as possible. Rae Jarrett, the strong, stubborn vet who has cared for the ranch as well as the horses, objects to her selling and offers her aid. Krista resists the help as well as her attraction to the mysterious vet, but decides instead to turn the ranch into a dude ranch. Soon city folk are knocking at the door ready to pay good money to get a chance to herd the Wyler cattle across Arizona. The plan seems full proof until Krista herself, along with Rae, has to set out on the trail with them. The journey leads to a life changing adventure neither woman could have foreseen and will never forget.

    Whenever there's a murder or a mystery to solve that involves the preternatural; she's the witch they call. When she's called in to help the local cops work on a mysterious murder case, she finds herself needing all the help she can get. A bloodthirsty werewolf is loose in the city and on a killing spree. As if her plate weren't full enough, a strange she-wolf seeks Kassandra's aid, asking her to help find her missing brother. Kassandra soon learns that the strange she-wolf serves two masters, and one of those masters has taken quite an interest in her. In a world where vampires have charmed their way into modern society, where werewolves walk the streets with their beasts disguised by human skin, Kassandra Lyall has a secret of her own to protect. She's one of them.

    Not that paperback romance writer Carolyn has ever noticed. She sees Alison as a close, loyal friend; she has never questioned society's conventions.When Alison negotiates a lucrative contract for her, Carolyn seizes the unexpectedly large advance to fulfill a passion of her own. Beginning in Paris, scene of her brief, calamitous marriage, she will immerse herself in great music from the world's great orchestra's.Paris brings a dramatic encounter with Nicolas Frost, the remote, driven young conductor who is creating a reputation for musical brilliance. When the smitten Carolyn discovers the conductor's masquerade - necessary to achieve recognition in the male - dominated higher echelons of classical music - she is suddenly faced with the true nature of her powerful attraction to Nick.Meanwhile, Alison has found her own consolation. But does sweet, passionate Samantha have any chance of winning Alison 'a affections away from Carolyn? Can there be any future for Nick and Carolyn?Find the answers in this captivating, deliciously romantic and erotic tale from one of our most entertaining storytellers.Editor: Christi Cassidy

    This time...it's worse.Ice begins when a boy is kidnapped from a London park and Detective Inspectors Alex Blake and Maggie Campbell are brought together to work on the case. While their goal is the same, their work ethics are not. Intelligent, perceptive and at times disobedient, Alex Blake does what she believes it takes to do her job. Maggie Campbell has a slightly different approach. She believes that rule books were written for a reason. Unexpectedly, their dynamics mesh, but when her feelings for Alex become stronger than she wants to admit, Maggie provokes the worst in Alex to ensure that they will never be partners again. Three years later, fate brings them together again. Their assignment is simple, but a plane crash gets in their way. Now, in the middle of a blizzard, they have to try to survive...and fight the feelings that refuse to die.

    So, she figures trying a love spell her grandmother left her won’t hurt. Worst case: her life will stay the same. Best case: her fellow second-grade teacher James Friedlander will fall in love with her, and they’ll live happily ever after.Except…oops!Ava accidentally places the spell on her principal, Libby Lubbock. Libby is wrestling with her own issues in the love department, namely the fact that she’s deciding whether to give her ex a second chance after the ex cheated. Libby is beginning to think she’s the type who is better off single.The spell can be undone, but it requires Ava and Libby getting to know each other better. Lots better. Libby agrees to the undo because no way does she want to fall in love with Ava if she can help it. However, perhaps the last paragraph in a letter Ava's grandmother wrote is right: “Why all these crazy steps? My great-great grandmother, the witch, strongly believed that things happen for a reason. This time with the ‘wrong person’ will help determine if the wrong person might be the right person, after all.”Can Libby and Ava cast a love spell that has nothing to do with abracadabra magic and everything to do with the magic of true love?*** This novella is 24,000 words.

    Her sometimes-costar Robyn Ward is magnetic, glamorous, and devastatingly beautiful, the quintessential A-List celebrity on the fast-track to super-stardom. When the two meet on the set of 9th Precinct, Caid is instantly infatuated but settles for friendship, positive that Robyn is both unavailable and uninterested. Soon Caid sees that all is not as it appears, but can she take a chance and risk her heart when the outcome is so uncertain?

    Ali Torveau knows just how fragile life can be—she sees death and tragedy every day in the trauma unit. Battling the dark forces of fate is her life’s work and she doesn’t want or need anything else, certainly nothing as transient as love. Plenty of women try to change her mind, but she never has any trouble saying no. Not until the day firefighter Beau Cross shows up in her ER and sets Ali’s carefully ordered world aflame.

    Her plans to hide out and heal her wounds go by the wayside as she gets drawn into the daily lives of the quirky locals and becomes fast friends with Maddie Stevenson, the enigmatic physician who has returned to the backcountry community to take over her late father’s medical practice.Ann McMan weaves a story of life and love in the beautiful mountains of Virginia.