Her shock turned to turmoil when she met Sean Canady, the police officer who arrived to question her...and inspired a dangerous desire.Something powerful--and beyond reason--had brought Maggie and Sean together. Something that spoke of an interwoven past, and a passionate torment that began generations before under a blood red moon. For on that night of erotic seduction, Magdalena Montgomery became a vampire, and began a century-long quest to find the one man whose love was pure enough, strong enough to save her from the darkness within...

     But when she discovers their sister Vivienne is actually being courted by Adrian Kane, the mysterious viscount rumored to be a vampire, she decides to accept his invitation to a midnight supper and do some sleuthing of her own. To both her delight and her dismay, she soon finds herself falling under Kane's bewitching spell. After all, what's a proper young lady to do when her sister's suitor arouses more than just her suspicions?

    But a still more fearful secret lurked within its storm-tossed turrets. For every bride who entered its forbidding walls was doomed to leave in a casket.The BrideMystical and unfettered, Nicoletta had no terror of ancient curses and no fear of marriage...until she looked into the dark, mesmerizing eyes of Don Scarletti. She had sworn no man would command her, had thought her gift of healing set her apart, but his was the right to choose a bride from among his people. And he had chosen her.The BargainCompelled by duty, drawn by desire, she gave her body into his keeping, and prayed the powerful, tormented don would be her heart's destiny, and not her soul's demise.

    With her trademark "sassy dialogue, lusty lovemaking [and] irreverent humor"* New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson delighted fans with her wickedly sexy and wildly funny anthology, Dead and Loving It-stories in which the worlds of the Wyndham Werewolves and Undead Queens collided. Now she returns to that sensual and irresistible after-dark realm of werewolves, vampires, and mermaids in three more original novellas--including an all-new Betsy Taylor novella.

    She prefers lively shades of pink to dismal black (soo not her color), plus she’s a hopeless romantic. In need of a steady paycheck to support a compulsive cosmetics habit, Lil starts Dead End Dating (DED), a Manhattan-based matchmaking service that helps smart, sophisticated singles like herself find eternity mates–and may even help her stake a claim to her very own Count Right!When Lil meets geeky vampire Francis Deville, she knows he’s the perfect first client. If she can hook up Francis–after a little revamping, of course–she will prove her skills to the vampire community and turn DED into the hottest dating service in the Big Apple. But just as her business takes off, Lil meets the (literally) drop-dead gorgeous bounty hunter Ty Bonner, who is hot on the chase of a serial killer. Instantly drawn to the luscious vamp stud, Lil really wants a taste. But as a made vampire, Ty can’t procreate–and Lil will settle for nothing less. Luckily, between “vampifying” Francis and helping Ty solve his murder mystery, Lil has no time for silly romantic entanglements . . . even if Ty is all that and a Bloody Mary chaser!

    If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken control of the world. In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria’s heart is torn between London’s most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her dark, dangerous duty. And when she comes face-to-face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between duty and love.

    Now a ruthless vampire and an age-old demon are determined to enslave Cin and steal her power for their own. Her only hope is The Righteous, a band of warrior vampires who slay the rogue undead. Among them is Michael, a fierce swordsman who inflames Cin's most primal hungers. Showing her a sensual pleasure beyond anything in the mortal realm, she must choose between the human existence she has always known, and immortality as a vampire—a new life filled with forbidden urges, dark yearning, and unearthly passions.

    Chloe's psychic gift allows her to save the child from certain death, but the earl remains in grave peril...But When He Steals Her Heart...Julian Kenwood knows someone is trying to kill him and he suspects his scheming wife and her lover are behind the plot. But Julian is shocked when Chloe, a captivating, dark-haired stranger, warns him that sinister forces are indeed at hand - and exposes a devastating secret that changes his life forever...Will She Resist - or Surrender?As Chloe reveals her plan to save Julian, neither can deny the attraction that grows each moment thy're together. Chloe knows the highborn earl could never love her as she loves him. But when danger strikes closer than ever, Chloe must risk everything - or lose Julian forever...

    Creatures of extraordinary beauty, power, and sensuality, they possess the ability to shape-shift from human to dragon and back again. Now their secret—and their survival—is threatened by a temptation that will break every boundary.Dubbed the Smoke Thief, a daring jewel thief is confounding the London police. His wealthy victims claim the master burglar can walk through walls and vanish into thin air. But Christoff, the charismatic Marquess of Langford, knows the truth: the thief is no ordinary human but a "runner" who's fled Darkfrith without permission. As Alpha leader of the drákon, it's Kit's duty to capture the fugitive before the secrets of the tribe are revealed to mortals. But not even Kit suspects that the Smoke Thief could be a woman. Clarissa Rue Hawthorne knew her dangerous exploits would attract the attention of the drákon. But she didn't expect Christoff himself to come to London, dangling the tribe's most valuable jewel—the Langford Diamond—as bait. For as long as she could remember, Rue had lived the life of a halfling—half drákon, half mortal—and an outcast in both worlds. She'd always loved the handsome and willful Kit from the only place it was safe: from afar. But now she was no longer the shy, timid girl she'd once been. She was the first woman capable of making the Turn in four generations. So why did she still feel the same dizzying sense of vulnerability whenever he was near?From the moment he saw her, Kit knew that the alluring and powerful beauty was every bit his Alpha equal and destined to be his bride. And by the harsh laws of the drákon, Rue knew that she was the property of the marquess. But they will risk banishment and worse for a chance at something greater. For now Rue is his prisoner, the diamond has disappeared, and she's made the kind of dangerous proposition a man like Kit cannot resist.

    Would that I could undo the past—when I entered the sanctuary of the Knights Templar to wrest from them the Holy Grail, only to discover the chalice I raised to my lips was not the sacred relic but a hellish cup of damnation. Now I shun the day and all things human, driven by an ungodly thirst. And yet...Never have I known a maiden the like of Prudence Ryland, whose beauty and spirit awaken a heart I feared long cold and dead. But her young life is slipping away, and she also seeks the deliverance of the Grail—unaware that the cost of her search could be her soul. I must help Prudence, for in six hundred years, no other woman has stirred my passions so. But dare I tender to my beloved that which she most desires—the sensuous "gift" of forever that is both rapture and a curse: my immortal kiss?

    Join New York Times bestselling authors Cathy Maxwell, Jeaniene Frost, and Tracy Anne Warren, along with USA Today bestselling author Elaine Fox and RITA Award winner Sophia Nash, for tales of noble danger and devilish desire.Delicate young ladies must be protected from him.What do you do with three dukes‚ a dog named Duke‚ and a devil? You put them into an anthology! We′ve combined five of today′s bestselling and popular authors into one volume to deliver romance like you′ve never experienced before. First he steals her clothes, then he steals her heart.Most would be terrified of this powerful vampire—but not him.He's "the catch of the century". . . but she's the only one he can't have.A young miss demands a kiss. But he won't rest once she's touched her lips to his.With four dukes and one devil, there's no limit on love.

    He is also an agent of the Council--the centuries-old cabal that governs vampirekind, preserving their secrecy and destroying those who betray them.When a cryptic summons leads him to the scene of the brutal killing of a powerful Council member, Luca begins the hunt for an assassin among his own people. But instead of a lone killer he discovers a sinister conspiracy of rogue vampires bent on subjugating the mortal world.All that stands in their way are the conduits, humans able to channel spirit warriors into the physical world to protect mankind. Chloe Fallon is a conduit--and a target of the vampire assassin who's killing them. When Luca saves her life, an irresistible bond of trust--along with more passionate feelings--is forged between them. As more victims fall, Chloe and Luca have only each other to depend on to save the world from the reign of monsters--and salvage their own future together.

    . . but immortality comes at a price. . . . On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural St. Andrew, Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet evening--until a mysterious woman, Lanore McIlvrae, arrives in his ER, escorted by police. Lanore is a murder suspect, and Luke is inexplicably drawn to her. As Lanny tells him her story, an impassioned account of love and betrayal that transcends time and mortality, she changes his life forever. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Lanny was consumed as a child by her love for the son of St. Andrew’s founder, and she will do anything to be with him forever, but the price she pays is steep--an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate.

    Ever since, the Llewellyns, an ancient Vampire slaying family, have been in the permanent employ of the monarchy.Now Henry VIII is on the throne, and his father’s bargain has almost been forgotten. Until corpses drained of blood start turning up in the most inappropriate of places, including the king’s bedchamber. But are these people the victims of the Vampires-or of the Druids?To save the king from a nameless assassin, Rosalind Llewellyn, Vampire hunter extraordinaire, must form an uneasy alliance with a known Druid slayer. Sir Christopher Ellis hails from a family that has protected the Vampires for centuries, yet Rosalind has no choice but to rely on his help. And with her life threatened and her loyalty tested, Rosalind may even have to acknowledge the unthinkable. This sworn enemy may be her soul mate.

    HamiltonAnita is attending a friend's wedding when Nathaniel, her pomme de sang, makes known in no uncertain terms that he wants to take the relationship to the next level. Anita's subsequent actions take her to a place she has hitherto carefully avoided.***This short story is a condensed version of Incubus Dreams, book 12 in the Anita Blake series! "Dead Girls Don't Dance," by MaryJanice DavidsonVampire Andrea Mercer is literally dug up by an old crush, Daniel Harris, and during a trip to Minnesota to see the vampire queen, her desire for him reignites."Originally Human" by Eileen WilksSuccubus Molly Brown discovers a gorgeous, naked man in the woods and decides to help him recover his memory."Burning Moon" by Rebecca YorkAll werewolf Grant Marshall wants to do is rip out the throat of the man who killed his wife–then swim out into the Atlantic Ocean and never come back. He tracks his wife’s killer to a small New Jersey seaside town, where he meets Antonia, a blind tarot card reader--the woman with the power to change his fate.