Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book contains chapters focused on Vorkosigan Saga, and Vorkosigan saga planets. More info: The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of them concern Miles Vorkosigan, a physically disabled aristocrat from the planet Barrayar whose life (from before birth), military career, and post-military career is a challenge to his native planet's prejudices against "mutants."

    Four Very Sexy Soldiers. Single Dads, Second Chances, Friends to Lovers and More! All in this specially priced box set! Over 800 pages of Steamy Small Town Military Romance! LUCAS — When the unthinkable happens, Army Ranger Lucas Sprigg is called into a mission he never saw coming. It’s a long road from being an elite Army Ranger to a single parent, but Lucas throws himself into his new life whole-heartedly. Isla Jenkins is an all American girl, who loves tailgating, football, and her favorite pair of jeans. Lucas and Isla connect in an online message board for single parents and bond over their struggles. In a moment of panic, Isla tells her ex she’s engaged. When she tells Lucas, he suggests that maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all. Is their plan so crazy it just might work? Or just plain crazy? MILES — One year, no drama, no heartbreak, and definitely no sex. Miles and Penny meet at his parent’s annual holiday gala, neither one is looking for anything more than a hot hook-up. Months later, their paths cross again, and Penny is shocked by what Miles needs next. It’s trust fund trouble—times two! Miles and Penny have to play nice if they’re going to walk away with their futures secured and their hearts intact. Can they do it? A Soldier For Christmas — When Christmas hits the desert, things get hot! Staff Sergeant Derrick Lawley Another year away from home on Christmas. As a counter-intelligence officer with the US Army, my job doesn’t come with paid time off, not even for the holidays. Sophia Rossi I'm in Jingle Bell Hell. It's the week before Christmas and I'm giving Ebenezer Scrooge a run for his money. Performing for hundreds of military troops turns out to be the perfect distraction, especially after I meet Derrick Lawley. FINN — Scars. Regret. Heartbreak. Finn It’s been three years and I can’t think of a single day that doesn’t include a memory of the woman I’m in love with. The woman I pushed away. I’ve tried running. Hell, I ran damn near to the ends of the earth in my days as an active duty soldier. Alyssa He isn’t supposed to be here. Invading the little bubble of peace and normalcy I’ve created. One look across a crowded room and the past spills out from the shadows and I’m back to facing the same question I haven’t been able to answer since that final goodbye... Why? The Army Wives collection includes three full length novels and one Christmas Novella. Happy endings all around and no cliffhangers! Come laugh, cry, and most of all LOVE with these hot soldiers and the fierce women who love them in this special edition box set. Intended for 18 and older due to some seriously kindle-melting steam!

     When a woman with horns and hooves came to my door, I could have stayed in bed. I could have ignored her invitation to a world unknown. Instead, I saved her life. And that changed everything. She is a marvelous creature, with fickle desires and a mischievous glint in her onyx-black eyes. She is brazen and brash and bold — though vulnerable. She is hunted. But she is not without hope. A goddess of resplendent grace and beauty watches over the mythical races of the dark forest. She awaits a champion to save them from the brink of a violent extinction. To protect the women I grow to love, I must abandon my small and backwater life to become something more. I must become her emissary. A holy goddess who sees without sight. A muscled cyclopean beauty en route to the castle's door. A thirsty satyress with a penchant for cherry wine. Together, we will reshape the world. WARNING: This book contains violence and gore, explicit sexual encounters, puppets, a goddess with no love of privacy, monster girls in mortal danger, a pampered prince, dazzling divine artifacts, insatiable women, blessed intercourse in a holy temple, death and dismemberment, a god whose anger ignites at deception, a pageant dressing room of hideous horrors, and a rapist who gets tossed into another dimension.

    They were both married, one with a family, but both of them needed something more. They found that in each other. Monroe’s husband finds out about her little trysts with Becky, and he kicks her out and wants a divorce. She is devastated, even more so when the two women find out that Monroe’s husband had spread the word. Becky has to now face her husband, and she doesn’t know what to expect. What he suggests next, leaves her speechless, and a little wet.

     HIGHLANDER IN HER BED: American tour guide Mara McDougall visits a London antique shop and spots perhaps the handsomest bed ever. Then she bumps into the most gorgeous man ever - an irresistible Highlander she can't forget. Not even when she learns that she's inherited a Scottish castle. Sir Alexander Douglas has hated Clan MacDougall since he was a medieval knight and they tricked him into a curse-the curse of forever haunting the bed (the very one that Mara now owns) that was once intended for his would-be bride. But Mara makes him feel what no other MacDougall has-a passion that he never knew he'd missed. Red-hot chemistry ignites from the moment Sir Alex and Mara meet.” ~ A Romance Review HIGHLANDER IN HER DREAMS: After stepping through a magical gateway, Kira Bedwell finds herself in fourteenth century Scotland, face-to-face with Aidan MacDonald, the irresistible Highlander who has visited her in dreams. Now that their romance transcends dreams to reality, they find themselves under attack by Aidan’s enemies. It will take all of their courage and will for their love to survive beyond time itself… Aidan is a Romantic Times K.I.S.S of the Month Hero! “Highlander in Her Dreams is a fun, sexy story. HOT.” ~ Romantic Times Magazine TALL, DARK, and KILTED: Cilla Swanner has been jilted by her lover, and she is struggling with a jewelry business that’s far from sparkling. She needs a getaway someplace quiet and remote. Someplace like Dunroamin Castle in Scotland. But what she finds there may be more than she can handle. Centuries ago, the roguish Scots knight known as Hardwick was renowned for his swordmanship, both on and off the battlefield. But a traveling bard cursed him to wander the world forever, pleasing a different woman each night with no hope of fulfillment or true love. Then Hardwick meets Cilla, who may be his only chance for salvation. “Tall, Dark, and Kilted is outlandishly funny one minute and seductively sensual the next.” ~ Wild on Books SOME LIKE IT KILTED: Mindy Menlove lives in a castle that was transported stone by stone from Scotland to Pennsylvania. When she must sell the estate, her plans soon unravel. She's bound for the Hebrides, a place she'd hoped to avoid. Once there, she's confronted by the castle's original builder, who happens to be maddeningly irresistible and seven hundred years young. Bran of Barra was a legendary Highland chieftain. Since his demise he's enjoyed his ghostly pleasures - until a feisty female from across the Atlantic claims that she's come to Scotland to restore his ancestral home. It's a task she hasn't accepted willingly, and if the roguish Bran doesn't change Mindy's mind about his bonnie homeland - and him - neither of them will ever find any peace. But unexpected passion can be the most powerful... "Bran of Barra is one of the most compelling heroes I've read. I wouldn't mind having him show up in my bedroom to carry me back in time to his castle." ~ Love Romances & More Enjoy these tales filled with Highland magic and the beauty of Scotland!

    So when I get to intern at a leading shoe brand, I think it’s my big break. But I couldn’t have messed it up more if I tried. 
Someone has stolen my designs, and the dashing Mr. Preston is making it hard to concentrate. He’s the CEO, he’s twice my age, and he’s totally out of bounds.

Can I keep my job, my dignity, and my heart, or have I just ruined my whole career before it’s even started?

Kyle
My shoe company is losing money. I should be worried, but all I can think about is the intern, Penny, and her soft curves and the delicate arches of her feet.
But she’s the intern and I won’t exploit my position, no matter how much she begs me to.
Penny is book six in the Curvy Girls Can series. Short, sweet and steamy insta-love stories about women with big curves, big attitudes, and big dreams and the alpha men who are man enough to love them.High heat, oh so sweet, and always with a happily ever after. Each book in the series is a standalone. No cliffhangers.Read less

    Will Summer Daize be able to help Steele, or will her secrets make matters worse?

    But she's managed to find herself right in the middle of one. She's caught between a rock and a hard place as her faith and devotion to God clashes with the lustful passion she feels for the forbidden man who has forced his way into her heart. Her simple small-town girl life quickly begins to spin out of control as she battles her demons and tries desperately to keep her unholy desires a secret. Short story. Approximately 12,000 words.

    Tobias and Adelaide gave her a roof over her head and trained her to run the Trading Post, as well as, prepare her to run a household. When they left her with the Post and everything in it to retire to New Mexico, her adventures began. Red's reputation as a young boy with his wolf was wide spread. He was honest in all his dealings and generous to the neighbors. Micah Downs was confused by his attraction to the young boy until he was shocked to find out that Red was not a young lad, but a beautiful woman.

    Fight Monsters. Gain Power. Become King. When Kit Jones inherits a house from a long-lost relative, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot – until a mysterious orb in the attic transports him to a far-away land of islands, tropical forests, dangerous creatures, and harpies. But these aren’t your typical harpies – they’re smoking hot, white-winged and know how to defend themselves. Thrown head first into battle, Kit must learn how to fight, command his new abilities, and tame the desires of the beautiful harpies if he wants to have any hope of not only surviving, but leading his girls to victory against a vicious enemy seeking to wipe the harpies from existence. Warning: Harpy Core features explicit sexuality, hot harpies, savage creatures, giant monsters, melee combat, winged flight, fallen kingdoms, assassination attempts, deadly jungles, a sun-splashed archipelago, magical orbs, hidden temples, and a whole lot of bad guys getting speared in the face. If that doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, steer clear.

    But now, Bianca needs a favour, and the only man she can turn to is her ex-husband. He's already broken her heart once. Can she trust him again? ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS The widowed Lady Elizabeth Sanderson is no longer interested in men. Her life is ordered, calm and boring: just the way she likes it. So why can't she stop thinking about billionaire bad boy Antonio Casacelli, and the way his body seems to call to hers? THE TYCOON'S CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE The last thing Marcos Casacelli needs is a ward to babysit, especially not one as spoiled and indulged as the Hollywood starlet Kat Van Buren.Kat's not just running from any scandal or heartbreak, though. Her life is at stake, and the one man who can protect her seems to hate her with a passion. THE SHEIKH'S CHRISTMAS MISTRESS Charlotte Faber falls head over heels with The Sheikh Malik Desara the moment she sees him. She thinks he loves her, too, until he propositions her... to be his mistress! How can she accept? How can she refuse?

    But the family is devastated when the influenza pandemic claims the life of Lucinda’s older sister. Seventeen-year-old Lucinda must put aside her own dreams and step into her sister’s life as mother to two toddlers - and wife to a man overwhelmed by grief.

    He was an outcast in his younger years; and unable to get a girlfriend...but nowadays as a grown man he can't keep the ladies off of him. Read about how Nolan thirsts and craves for the taste of a woman's vagina, all the way down to the fragrance of it. Read about how a woman stands no chance with this sexual genius. A must read erotica short story!

     ***** FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED ***** Lady Lily Gardenbrook, eldest daughter of the Duke of Elbury, is perilously close to being a spinster. After three Seasons, she still hasn’t accepted a suitor – but not for lack of candidates. Lady Lily has a secret – a secret which would lead to scandal, should it ever be revealed. A secret which relates to the thing which matters most in her life. She hopes for love, yet a husband would never want her, if that secret was known – to marry would mean losing everything. Trent Weatherton, Marquess of Canterford, serves the Crown as a gentleman spy, always monitoring those of the ton for anything untoward. He has never been one to socialise much, but his role requires it of him. Convinced that marriage and spying could never make a good mix, he is unprepared for his reaction to Lady Lily Gardenbrook, which makes him question every assumption. But when Trent’s men discover that secret correspondence travels in and out of Lady Lily’s family residence, he must investigate – for what if the woman he is coming to care for is a threat to the Crown? Can Trent discover what is really happening, before he loses his chance at love? Can Lily overcome her fears, and allow the possibility that love might not steal what is most important to her? Will they each discover that the other is not at all what they seemed, in the best possible way? Or will the chance for love be lost, and Lily be doomed to life as a spinster? Read the whole series ! A Spinster for a Spy (Lily) A Vixen for a Viscount (Hyacinth) (coming soon) A Bluestocking for a Baron (Rose) (coming soon) A Diamond for a Duke (Camellia) (coming soon) A Minx for a Merchant (Primrose) (coming soon) An Enchantress for an Earl (Violet) (coming soon) A Maiden for a Marquess (Iris) (coming soon) A Heart for an Heir (Thorne) (coming soon) If you love great Regency romance, you'll love these !

    She filled my head from the moment I saw her…I knew she wasn’t my typeMy world was far too dangerous for her to ever seeI had moneyI had powerI had models at my fingertipsI’d convinced myself that was enoughLove, a family, a real homeIt wasn’t meant for men like meMen with guns in their pocketsAnd enemies in high placesThe crime syndicate was my worldAnd there was no place in it for loveBut then there she was at the pastry shop.Trashae.I had to have her.She was beautiful.Dark.Sensual.Strong.One look at her and my life spun out of control.Now she’s showing me her daughter, who has my eyesAnd I can’t help but feel like there’s far more she’s hiding… Note: Mobster's Forgotten Baby Daughter is a steamy romance between a mobster looking to face his past and the woman he left behind...the mother of his baby daughter.