She has missed her friend dearly and is ready to celebrate his safe return.Until she learns of Tristan’s impending betrothal to another.Suddenly, the magical season loses its appeal. The only man she’s ever loved, admittedly one she could never claim as anything but a friend, might soon be lost to her forever.Thirty years after the Border Series ends, a new saga of family, loyalty, and love along the turbulent Anglo-Scottish border begins.Authors Note: If you like short prequel stories, multi-generational families, friends-to-lovers romance and holiday magic with a bit of extra spice, put Kissed by the Knight on the top of your reading list.

    Her cold exterior masking a world of hurt, she despairs of ever finding true love. But when a mysterious stranger comes to her, hurt and desperate on a snowy Christmas Eve, she never dreams that opening the door to him will change her life forever... and show her the true meaning of Christmas.A holiday novella set in the De Montforte world, written by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The De Montfortes.

    She doesn't fall over herself to gain the attention of the gruff and virile stablemaster, Rufus Blackthorne. She performs her duties most diligently, hoping one day to become housekeeper of the grand ducal manor.Stranded together, anything can happen...When Vera is forced to take shelter from a storm with the big, handsome stablemaster in a cottage with just one bed, she can't deny the sparks flying between them. Nor can Blackthorne deny how much he wants to strip the prickly housemaid of her wet garments and get her into that bed.In Bed with the Stablemaster is set in the Rogue Files world and can be read as a stand-alone, but it does tie into the series. Basically, it's a very sexy love story happening "belowstairs" between a housemaid and the stablemaster... while The Virgin and the Rogue is happening upstairs.

    And that problem is his future niece-in-law. When the clever and capable Lady Eleanor Vane—understandably—runs off into the night rather than marry his horrible nephew, the Duke has a choice. Should he catch Eleanor and return her to her fate—or make Eleanor his own instead?My Dirty Duke - Joanna ShupeViolet knows that her father's best friend, the Duke of Ravensthorpe, is the most powerful man in all of London with a reputation for sin. But nothing can stop Violet from wanting to shed her wallflower ways and fulfill her darkest, most forbidden desires...even if it means seducing a man twice her age.An Education In Pleasure - Eva LeighAs a governess to the Duke of Tarrington, Cecilia Holme resigns herself to a passionless life. Except now the old duke is dead and Owen, the new duke, is very tempting—and much younger. Is the chance to give Owen an education in pleasure too enticing to refuse?Duke For Hire - Nicola DavidsonAs her fiery clergyman father chases away all suitors, Miss Ada Blair is resigned to spinsterhood. Yet while she can’t wed, bedding might be another matter. One man meets all her requirements for a discreet and expert pleasure tutor—Jasper Muir, Duke of Gilroy—but he insists on a very wicked contract…The Duke Makes Me Feel... - Adriana HerreraDukes and their demands are nothing new for Marena Baine-Torres. Her newfound success has her little apothecary teeming with ill-mannered aristocrats. But as tiresome as they are, she needs the business. When the unflappable Duke of Linley storms into her shop and makes her an offer she’d be a fool to refuse, Marena soon finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime with a man who is as infuriating as he is intriguing.

    The revelry of the ton is a reminder of Christmas four years ago, when his first love, Thomas Bennett, broke his heart and fled to New York without a word. So when he encounters Thomas at a holiday ball, Alexander is determined not to let on how much he still hurts. Thomas has returned for one reason only: Alexander. Having finally come to terms with his forbidden desires, he will do whatever he must to convince Alexander to give their love another chance. But instead of the happy, carefree man Thomas once knew, Alexander is now hard and cynical. Saddened to know he's to blame for the man's bitterness, Thomas resolves to reignite the passion he knows lies hidden behind the wall of disdain...28,000 wordsAlso part of the Men Under the Mistletoe Anthology

    He leaves to pursue a graduate degree only to discover love and loss. Home again, the last thing he expects is for Logan to confess his feelings for him. Can their friendship survive a cold winter one night stand or is Logan looking for more than Jake is ready to give him?Note: Need You Now was previously published with this title as well as Midnight Clear. Other than title there are no significant changes to the story.

    Leland isn’t just his boss, though. He’s the son of the company’s CEO. And Brian has fallen in love. Hurt by too many stolen kisses and nooners at seedy hotels, Brian finally broke off their secret affair two weeks ago. Leland isn’t ready to let Brian go and he isn’t above seducing Brian — again — to give them both what they really want for Christmas: each other.This free short story was originally written for the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's 2010 holiday event and appears in the event's Stuff My Stocking: M/M Romance Stories that are Nice and… Naughty anthology.

    A Children of Graistan Novella Injured in body and soul, Jocelyn, Lord of Freyne, is reluctantly swept into Yuletide festivities--only to find redemption in the arms of Avice of Lavendon, the woman he spurned.

    He soon learns that thwarting the French was much easier than playing guardian to three young ladies, and decides the simplest solution is to marry them off. * Louisa Whitton needs to find a husband of her own choosing before Christmas. At her sister’s house party, she meets the perfect gentleman—thus foiling her grandfather’s plans. However, Marston refuses to even think about courting her until his sisters are wed, and he has the audacity to ask her to wait. Louisa’s grandfather will never agree, so she sets out to find the perfect substitute for Marston, forcing him to choose between his sisters’ future and his own.~ * ~In Catherine Gayle’s To Enchant an Icy Earl...As the Earl of Fordingham, Tristan Cavendish has lived by the code his father beat into him for so long he’s driven everyone in his life away, including his brother. Now he is alone. Loneliness dictates he must change, so he sets out to make amends with his only sibling. Alas, his brother seems none too inclined to hear him out, and a woman who must be a vision from Fordingham’s dreams walks into his path. Now, more than ever before, he knows he must change his ways or risk driving her away as well…but how? * Calista Bartlett is on the hunt for a husband—but one who is nothing at all like the betrayer who was her former beau. When she sees the Earl of Fordingham across the room at a soiree, she knows she’s found the very man who is everything her one-time beau was not. Fordingham presents an icy façade to the world, but Calista discovers a passionate man who kisses her feverishly and warms her through to the bones. Can she ever convince him to let down his guard permanently?~ * ~In Ava Stone’s My Lord Hercules...Miss Miranda Bartlett is on a mission to locate her missing friend. Determined hoyden that she is, she’ll do whatever it takes to get the answers she seeks too, even if that means dressing like a dandy, sneaking into a gaming hell, and surrounding herself with London’s worst reprobates. However, she didn’t plan on bumping into a Herculean gentleman along the way. The handsome and honorable Lord Harrison Casemore immediately thwarts her plans and seems determined to save her at every turn, making it more than difficult to accomplish her task. * Ever since Harry Casemore spotted the exotic temptress trying to pass herself off as a fop, he’s been drawn to her. He hasn’t figured out what she’s after, but he’s fairly certain he’d sell his soul if she’d just let him help her with whatever it is.~*~In Jerrica Knight-Catania’s A Penny For Your Thoughts... Penelope Bartlett has had a rough year, to say the least. She lost her eldest brother and her father in one fell swoop, and to make matters worse she had to miss out on her very first London Season. Now she's in the thick of the Little Season and all she wants to do is run away. It's torture to watch her siblings fall in love and she's simply not in the mood to make merry with all of them. Especially when they treat her as if she's still a little girl in leading strings. 
* Enter Drake Lockwell, Viscount Flitwick. He, too, is typically eager to escape crowded ballrooms and matchmaking mamas in favor of his own company in a deserted garden or library. But a chance meeting in his brother’s garden one night changes everything. Miss Bartlett is young and impetuous, yet he can't help but fall prey to her charms. Perhaps she will be the one to finally mend the hole in his heart...

Or will his secrets be more than Penelope is able to handle?

     Train robbers, amnesia, love at first sight to a confirmed bachelor, and marrying the wrong man to save the right man. On Leila’s way to meet her intended as his mail order bride, Dan McCall, a federal agent, finds her lying on the side of the road unconscious. He rescues her and she attaches her heart to him immediately. Dan is NOT the marrying kind...or is he? Joe, her intended, is not happy to lose yet another mail order bride, and takes drastic measures to insure their marriage. Leila faces a dilemma, risk the man’s life who saved hers, or marry a man she despises.

    The festive season is looking bleak—until he loses a wager and must spend an evening at London’s most hedonistic pleasure club.Delilah Forbes has long reigned as the city’s Mistress of Sin, and when the infamous duke visits her club, she’s soon eager to introduce him to sizzling passion. But even as lust becomes more for two lonely souls, they know a duke and a madam can’t have forever after. Or can they?This story was previously published in the historical Christmas anthology, Have Yourself a Merry Little Scandal. Please note it contains explicit language and sexual content.

    If his poor fiancée had not died, he would now be wed to her instead of Abigail. But then Abigail begins uncovering some of the secrets that are a part of her husband’s life and wonders if perhaps there is hope for their marriage after all.Derek, Lord Westdale, wasn’t sure why Abigail married him; she obviously despised him. On the other hand, he knew exactly why he was marrying her: she was the only woman he would ever love, despite his having offered marriage to another. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to convince Abigail that he never really betrayed her after all.Can their decoding of a secret Christmas cipher bring an end to their misunderstandings and help them create their own special Christmas tradition?

    The arrangement suits Grady just fine—until an unassuming woman rings his doorbell, awaking his long dormant passion with her fearlessness. All he wants is to make the fiery blonde his forever. But will he have to become the monster everyone thinks he is to get his Christmas wish?Emily Ashworth is desperate. The Youth Center has been robbed of all its money, and as the director, she has to find a way to give the town’s needy children the Christmas they deserve. With nowhere else to turn, she ventures to the mansion of a mysterious billionaire to ask for help. Warned to expect a beast, Emily is shocked to find Grady Sinclair a handsome and very sensual man. With steamy kisses under the mistletoe and seductive whispers while hanging the wreath, Emily finds there’s more to Grady than meets the eye. Is this misunderstood billionaire just a lonely soul who needs the gift of love for Christmas?This edition of The Billionaire's Christmas, which was previously published in A Maine Christmas...or Two - A Duet: The Billionaire's Angel & A Mermaid Isle Christmas, includes editorial revisions.

    In the face of her parents’ rejection she realizes that a single stolen kiss could cost her everything. Sent to her aunt and uncle’s home in Scotland, she finds something in the rugged highland beauty that steals her heart…and a highland man, who seems her other half. Iain MacLeon, chieftain of the clan MacLeon, has one thing on his mind in a time where politics are like a tempest brewing—sheep. He loves his people and his land but he didn’t know he also needed a woman to share the load. And then he sees her…the flame-haired Englishwoman who steals his heart and holds it hostage against all his beliefs and all he holds dear. But how will he persuade his clan to love her as he does?

    Will a wicked night of passion on a winter's night lead to the greatest love? Or only to betrayal?Wicked Deeds on a Winter Night was previously published in the Seduced under the Mistletoe Anthology.MISCHIEF AND MISTLETOEGood intentions, a devilish viscount, and wicked misdeeds pave the road to matchmaking!Miss Callisto Middleton desires to see her mother happy, and that means using the right amount of mischief to encourage two lovers to see what is right before them!Unfortunately, Graham, Viscount Sherbrooke is just as determined to rescue his father from supposed scheming ladies who wants to marry into his wealthy family!First it started with a kiss, dancing under the stars....and then more kisses! Even knowing the charming rake has no serious intentions Callie finds herself unable to stop thinking about him, or his kisses.Heartbreak is certain if she follows her desires. If only he weren't so irresistible . . .Mischief and Mistletoe was previously published in the 'Once upon a Christmas wedding Anthology'.LETTERS TO EMILYTwo years have passed since Lady Emily’s beloved Maxwell went to fight in the war. With only letters and one hot night of loving to keep her warm on the coldest of nights, she tries to embrace the future after learning of his death at the Third battle of Picardy. One way to forge forward is to marry his twin brother, Marcellus Alexander Wynwood, The Marquis of Blackthorn, a man she does not love, but one who rouses dark needs in her.Marcellus wanted Emily from the first moment he saw her two years ago, but had watched from a distance as his brother Max charmed her into falling hopelessly in love with him. In her state of grief over Max, Marcellus ensures her needs are met, breaking down her barriers, tormenting her with wicked erotic loving as he slowly binds her to him.Despite this, he fears he will lose her once it is revealed that her beloved Maxwell lives. Marcellus prays Emily can surrender to his needs and soul deep desires.