As Christmas comes around, Joe only wishes for one thing. Will his Christmas wish come true?

    I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best," and I couldn't agree more. Life is like a paradox of love and pain that may never leave each other, but in the end, the coexistence is worth the journey. Striving for the best is human nature, but are you really prepared for the roller-coaster rides or do you give up?

    A sexy, steamy story of lesbian sex and seduction between two women, redhead and a blonde.

    Now Foster and Pike are determined to push her limits and let her wild side loose…Cela’s sexy game of Never Have I Ever with her neighbors has turned into a night of Truth or Dare, with her revealing her deepest desires and letting go like she’s never done before. After some seductive dancing, the trio decides to move to a more private location: a swanky hotel where Foster is determined to explore Cela’s wildest fantasies.As the heat between the three begins to sizzle, Cela finds herself drawn to Foster, whose dominance over her is almost too much to handle. But Cela’s got a secret she hasn’t yet shared, something that could bring their passionate encounter to a screeching halt…*Part 2 of an 8-part serial

    This story has been revised. A bite of a story… Claret isn't just a bar for the paranormal, but a portal to another dimension. It plays tricks on the mind, and whoever enters will experience agony or ecstasy. Once Nena steps insides Claret she realizes that the price to leave may be more than she is willing to pay. But once she is in Master Erach's hold, she realizes that the life she has experienced thus far doesn't compare to what the dominant and alpha vampire has in store for her. *This short story is told in the first person from the heroine’s point of view. This is also a quick read with an ending that doesn’t fit in the HEA or HFN category. It’s purely for enjoyment purposes and has some darker content. Please be advised.

    It sounds wonderful, and to top it all off, Terri has a single and very eligible brother, Richmond police detective Joe Coleman. Then Terri drops her bomb shell: the Coleman family is old-fashioned in more ways that one, and Terri has recently fallen afoul of her brother, who took care of the situation in the time-honored way. Could it happen again? There are issues unresolved between Terri and her brother, and Terri feels she needs to warn Melissa that no-nonsense Joe just might resort to spanking if he thought the situation warranted it. And that's not all: Terri's other brother and his wife are in a domestic discipline relationship, and are very open about it. As irritated as Melissa is that Terri has dragged her into family drama, Melissa also has a secret of her own: she's been fascinated with tales of old-fashioned over-the-knee-discipline forever, and the idea that that could occur in real life seems too much to believe. At first, the holiday celebration couldn't be better. Melissa and Joe feel an instant attraction, fueled by the fact that Joe quickly figures out that Melissa's interest in what had recently happened to Terri goes beyond mere concern for her friend. But Melissa has another secret, a dark terrifying reality from her past. Just when she feels the most safe, through an innocent mistake, the secret is revealed endangering everyone in the family. And Joe will do anything to protect his family…. Publisher's note: "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" is an erotic romantic adventure featuring the spanking of adult women. It is intended for adults only.

    She has always dreamed of being with a man who would be relentless in his expectations, a Dom who will push her to the edge, giving her the climaxes she craves and the bondage she needs. But she had never imagined that Phillp Dettmer would lay her bare to him, mentally and emotionally as well as sexually, or that the experience would change her life forever, leaving her stronger and more able to ask for what she needs.

    Her husband has left her, a schizophrenic alcoholic, to raise their youngest four children without his help. Her children watch through the living room window as the police come and arrest her for disturbing the peace, leaving them alone in the house. Thus begins the astonishing story of a family always living on the brink of disaster. The story unfolds, told through the eyes of Marie's children. Not only are they impoverished, but they are dealing with Marie's erratic and often bizarre behavior. Through it all shines Marie's sense of humor and her unconventional ways of dealing with her difficult situation. How they manage to not only survive, but to grow into well-adjusted adults is a true story that shows how the miracle of love can overcome all obstacles.

    Yet they are engaging and fascinating at the same time.We all had evil thoughts throughout our lives. What is it that makes us different from those who actually act upon it? Is it the act alone? These are questions that many ask themselves, and these stories will help dig into the elements and psychology behind some of the most terrifying killers in history.This collection includes four true crime books, volumes 1-4, and each is filled with a variety of murder cases, from spree killers to massacres to even cannibals. You will explore the background, the act, and the aftermath of their violent acts. Some pages will be painful to read, due to the detailed description of the violent acts and the emotions behind them.

    But what of its opposite -- the moment when it becomes clear that things are indisputably over? Dumped is a survey of every type of romantic crack-up, a group of stories full of the hilarity, wisdom, insight, and sometimes, yes, fierce revenges of some of the most memorable broken hearts in recent literature. Dumped sheds light on what can be the toughest part of human relations -- whether newly elucidating the misery we've all endured, or merely reminding us that others have had it far worse -- from the mother in Elizabeth Berg's Open House absurdly attempting to tell her son his father has left, to the betrayed wife in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to Slaughter," who beats her husband to death with a leg of lamb, then cooks it for the police. With contributions from such notable authors as Will Self, Saul Bellow, Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Lorrie Moore, Dorothy Parker, Andre Dubus, and Tobias Wolff, as well as rising stars like Lucinda Rosenfeld and Steve Almond, Dumped spans every variety of romantic catastrophe and every possible response to it; from the wise to the hilarious, the bitter to the bittersweet. This book is the panacea for problems of the heart.

    This collection-- dazzling, diverse, sophisticated-- demonstrates the enormous range of her talent between two camps-- alongside such contemporary issues as mortgage debt and medical error.

    I could hear it. There, beyond the beach, behind the tree-line. Off to my left, out of sight. I was still on the beach, just beyond the waterline. I crawled here a few minutes ago. I heard the rustling almost immediately; as soon as I had become conscious again. I didn’t know how long I had been there, apparently washed up by a higher tide sometime earlier. My clothes were still wet, so I must not have been here more than a few hours. I didn’t wake up coughing, so it didn’t seem that I had drowned. The life-jacket seemed to have kept me above water. I was on my knees, scanning the tree-line for movement, and listening…and trying to get my bearings. I had been awake for just a few minutes. The sun was up, but barely. Of course, we almost never saw the sun because of the ash clouds, but they were getting better every year. It had been 18 years since the cataclysm. If the cataclysm had taught us anything, it was to be careful and think things through. I wasn’t in immediate danger as far as I could tell. My only injury seemed to be a really painful, but minor head-wound from where I had been hit. We had left the compound on Tahiti early yesterday. Or was it the day before? I guess it didn’t matter. I guess I didn’t know for sure what day it was. I didn’t have a watch; we didn’t have much use for them. When you don’t have appointments, and no train to catch, precise times aren’t that important. I had intended to travel with just the cargo, but Aunt Irene hated the islands and wanted to go back to what she thought of as her home. For some reason, she expected to find the resort and the town just like she had left it. She was delusional. I might not have said that last week, but after what happened, I would have a lot more to say if there had been anyone to listen to me. What I couldn’t figure out was how she and Clark thought that they could survive a two year journey at sea in relative isolation, eating mostly fish. Irene was used to demanding that others do her work for her. How did she imagine that she would handle a trip like this with just me, Clark, and the four sisters? She didn’t even like any of us. My plan was to stay on a different end of the boat as much as possible. But that was all pretty much ancient history now. Last night, I was standing at the bow of the boat, watching the last of the sunlight disappear. It was going to be dark. The moon didn’t show much these days. Irene came up and stood beside me and said, “So, out there is Rangiroa?” I said yeah, but there was something strange about the question. She knew as well as I exactly where we should be and where our course was taking us. Yeah, the island Rangiroa and it’s neighbors was just in front of us. We’d be passing them overnight. There was something weird in her voice. She sighed and said, “Yeah,” and then I felt something hit me in the back of the head and I passed out. I woke up on the beach here, listening for something out there, beyond the tree-line.

    

    The hood raised her, but she's determined to let her humbled spirit take her out of it. Living a normal life is only a choice that she's made, however. Unlike Gianni, her mother, Tommy, is a bigger queen pin than any king pin in Tallahassee Florida and in the down south area. She takes care of Gianni and her two kids with no problems. Tommy could easily give Gianni the salon and big house that Gianni has always dreamed of, but Gianni wants to accomplish her goals on her own. Due to her mother being in and out of Federal Prison, Gianni reminds herself that she has two kids to think about, and she can not and will never leave her kids behind, like Tommy did her. Instead, Gianni allows her baby's father, Lamont, to take care of her and her kids. She feels he owes her that much, due to all the pain he's caused her. However, dealing with him has caused nothing but heartache, distraction and drama. After finding out about the third child that he could possibly have on her, she finally decides to stray away from him and focus on she and her kids. She meets a handsome and wealthy man by the name of Kreed at her mother's house during Tommy's known 'gambling day'. Kreed is a different breed, and though Gianni only wants friends so that she can do a little living, Kreed is hard to shake. He has that smart, hood, and smooth demeanor that Gianni admires. Being surrounded by drugs and a lot of money didn't mean a thing to Kreed. He loves his legal businesses and he enjoys living his life the right way. He's feeling Gianni just as much as she's feeling him, but he when Lamont finds out that there's a new man in town who's stole Gianni's heart, he makes she and her kids life a living hell. Which causes Kreed to bring out his old vicious ways! Tumultuous drama starts to unfold, and it will be up to Gianni to get everything in line to save what she has with Kreed.

    December 4, 1978.In an appalling demonstration of the way in which a charismatic leader can bend the minds of his followers with a devilish blend of professed altruism and psychological tyranny, some 900 members of the California-based Peoples Temple died in a self-imposed ritual of mass suicide and murder.The followers of the Rev. Jim Jones, 47, a once respected Indianaborn humanitarian who degenerated into egomania and paranoia, had first ambushed a party of visiting Americans, killing California Congressman Leo Ryan, 53, three newsmen and one defector from their heavily guarded colony at Jones-town. Then, exhorted by their leader, intimidated by armed guards and lulled with sedatives and painkillers, parents and nurses used syringes to squirt a concoction of potassium cyanide and potassium chloride onto the tongues of babies. The adults and older children picked up paper cups and sipped the same deadly poison sweetened by purple Kool-Aid.This story is part of the TIME Classic Coverage Collection from Time Inc. This is a reproduction of a story that appeared in the December 4, 1978 issue of TIME magazine. Time Inc. is one of the world’s most influential media companies – home to 90 iconic brands like People, Sports Illustrated, Time, InStyle, Real Simple, Food & Wine, and Fortune. The Spotlight Stories in this collection aim to provide you with a quick read on a single subject, highlighting our readers’ most popular stories and featuring great reporting from our Time Inc. journalists.