Grey. I’ve spent eight years wishing I’d fall out of love with Derek Knightley. Blowing out birthday candles, chasing after shooting stars, making it rain spare change into mall fountains—every time it’s the same wish: forget about Derek. But the day he walks back into my life, I realize there are two things time has yet to soften: my feelings for him and his chiseled jawline. It’s infuriating that my heart still races when he walks into a room. I refuse to fall prey to old unrequited love, so I decide the less I’m around him, the better. Avoidance is key. Unfortunately, Derek isn’t going to make it easy. As a teenager, I would have crawled on my hands and knees to attract his attention. Now I can’t seem to escape it. I’m not sure why he’s bothering. He’s not just out of my league—he’s out of my tax bracket. As the sole heir to the Knightley Company, he’s as close to American royalty as you can get. As for me, I’m just a part-time princess at Knightley’s flagship magical theme park. I spend my days playing make-believe, but Derek has no use for fairytales. His unwavering confidence makes it clear he thinks I’ll surrender in the end. He’s just biding his time. Making me sweat. His Royal Highness always gets what he wants. And he wants me.

    Now three bestselling Harlequin authors honor these remarkable women with stories inspired by their extraordinary contributions.In A Place in Her Heart, Boston bakery owner and women's shelter volunteer Katy McShea has traveled far to overcome her traumatic past. But apparently not far enough, because Callum Walsh suddenly reenters her life. The handsome navy SEAL doesn't have a clue how she felt about him in high school…or what happened after he shipped out. Five years ago, Cal thought he was doing the right thing. Now Katy�along with her mouthwatering miniature cupcakes�are awakening feelings too irresistible to ignore. All Cal wants is to cherish and protect her. Or will his guilt and Katy's reluctance to trust keep their chance reunion from becoming a mission possible?Look for A Place in Her Heart by Trish Milburn, along with two more free ebooks inspired by real-life heroines: Never Too Late by Christi Barth, and A Wing & A Prayer by Andrea Laurence. Visit the Harlequin More Than Words website at www.harlequinmorethanwords.com, or your favorite ebook retailer, to download these free novellas today.

    Then she discovered his secret life and her dreams of a happy--ever--after crumbled into dust at the realisation that he's her family's greatest enemy... Brokenhearted, Jill disappeared.Now Vitt has returned--to claim the tiny son Jill carried in secret and has sworn to protect! But to stay with her child, she must travel to Sicily and put Vitt's ring on her finger. Yet what kind of marriage can they have when it's based on secrets and a heat impossible to resist?From Harlequin Presents: Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.

    But Shropshire offers a distraction Sara never expected....Tree specialist Stuart Delaney is everything her former boss and ex-love isn't. He's reliable, kind, sympathetic... and from the sound of it, has a few romantic scars of his own. In fact, he's exactly what Sara wants in a husband-- and Stuart is crazy about her. Suddenly Sara finds herself engaged to be married to the perfect guy--but she doesn't love him. Still, if everything looks good on paper, shouldn't there be a happily ever after...eventually?

    Conduct very private negotiations!Obstacle: Natalie Rowland, longtime star of his X-rated dreams...Levi McPherson's tour of duty has an unexpected benefit: anonymous red-hot love letters! Someone he knows is mailing the rugged soldier her very explicit fantasies. And he's loving every word.On an unexpected leave home, he discovers his sexy secret admirer--Natalie Rowland, the longtime star of his own X-rated dreams!But he's not letting Natalie know her cover's blown...yet. That way, the exquisite pleasure of fulfilling each and every one of her naughty ideas is all his--and hers....

    But for now, she's going to enjoy every second....

    So when sexy Alaskan bachelor Quinn Scofield places an ad in her magazine to find a wife, Kay can't resist the opportunity to finally see what all the hype is about. Though city girl Kay was only looking for a red-hot fling, she's beginning to feel right at home, both in the small town of Bear Creek—and in Quinn's loving arms. A Thrill to RememberMeggie Scofield is ready to rejoin the dating scene after her divorce, and the town's masquerade party seems like the perfect place to start. Delighted when a gorgeous masked man catches her eye, Meggie is later stunned to find out the sexy stranger is actually Caleb Greenleaf, her former brother-in-law! Their chemistry is undeniable, but will one thrilling night turn into the love they've both been looking for?

    But Polly has been determinedly going it alone - the one thing she doesn't want or need in her life is her son's father, especially after the arrogant, aristocratic Italian hurt her so badly. But Alessandro leaves Polly no choice, for he intends to fight her for custody of their little boy.

    But it is a journey she knows she must take if she is to put to rest, once and for all, her misgivings about her mother's recent death. To an outsider, Middle River is a picture-perfect New Hampshire town. But Annie grew up there, and she knows all its secrets -- as did her idol Grace Metalious, author of the infamous novel Peyton Place, which laid a small town's sexual secrets bare for all the world to see. Though Grace actually lived in a nearby town, the residents of Middle River have always believed she used them as the model for her revolutionary novel, and some even insist Annie's grandmother was the model for one of Grace's most scandalous characters. With these rumors and whispers about Peyton Place haunting her childhood, Annie came to identify so closely with the author that it was Grace and her bold rebellion against 1950s conformity that inspired Annie to get out of Middle River and make a life for herself in Washington, D.C. It's been a good life, too. Annie Barnes is now a bestselling author, reaching that level with only her third novel. Success has given her a confidence she never had as a young girl in Middle River -- and it has given the residents of that town something new to worry about. When they hear Annie is returning for a lengthy visit, everyone, including Annie's two sisters, believes she's coming home to write about them. Though amused by the discomfort she causes in Middle River, Annie has no intention of writing a novel about the town or its people. It is her mother's death -- under circumstances that don't quite add up -- that has brought her back, and soon her probing questions start to make people nervous. When she discovers evidence of dangerous pollutants emanating from the local paper mill -- poisons that she comes to believe contributed to her mother's fatal illness -- Annie finds herself at odds with most of the town's inhabitants, including her sisters, both of whom are seemingly unfazed by the incriminating evidence she uncovers. Because the mill is the town's main employer, everyone is afraid of what might happen if Annie digs deeper, and their fears soon start to turn ugly. For Annie, though, there is no turning back, as passion and rage propel her forward in a determined quest. Coming face-to-face with decades of secrets and lies, she knows she must find the strength to move beyond the legacy of Grace Metalious, defying her past to heal the wounds of the town and her own family.

    With every good deed done, and helping hand offered, we are making the world a better place. The dedicated women selected as this year's recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award have changed many lives for the better, through their compassionate hearts and unshakable commitment. To celebrate their accomplishments, bestselling authors have written stories inspired by these real-life heroines.In this book, Jillian Hart honors the work of Mary Byberg, a committed volunteer for Nellie's Shelter for Women and Children in Toronto, Ontario.We hope More Than Words inspires you look inside your heart and to get in touch with the heroine inside of you.

    So when she is given tickets to take her son to see a live taping of the MyHeartChannel show Take a Chance, they go, even though it means she’ll have to stay up all night to turn in her latest article on time. To her shock, the daredevil star, Chance Risk, is none other than Graham Sawyer, the quiet accounting major she’d dated in college—someone she’d cowardly broken up with by note and hoped to never see again. When she makes a major mistake on her article, she has to swallow her embarrassment and reach out to Chance for an exclusive or risk losing her job. Chance Risk doesn’t talk to reporters. Not after the way he’s seen them destroy his brother’s marriage and career. But Take a Chance is starting to lose viewers, he’s desperate. Despite his better judgement, when Madelyn reaches out, he can’t resist the opening to figure out why she broke his heart eight years before. His only condition: she has to come to three filming locations with him and his crew to get a real sense of what the show is about. Swept up in adventure, they start to feel the chemistry from college rekindling. But the reason Madelyn left eight years before still looms between them. If Chance can’t convince Madelyn to take a chance on love, she’ll walk away again. This time forever.

    Freya was a wild child, but on the inside she always dreamed of happy ever afters and white weddings. It was a way to escape the troubles of home. Now she's grown up, stunning and successful, and she knows she can help Daniel and his daughter.But Freya's afraid of getting too close.... She still has her secrets, locked up tight. Could it be that after all these years, she's met the man who has the ability to see straight into her heart?

    What he had done had been unforgivable. But what he was going to do was almost as bad. Cage and Hal Hendren are as unalike as two brothers can be. Preacher’s kids, Hal has taken the righteous path, while Cage is the unrepentant black sheep of the family. The only thing they have in common is their love for the same woman – Jenny Fletcher. Jenny loves Hal for his commitment to his calling, but deep in her heart of hearts she wishes his desire for her burned as hotly. Only on the eve of his departure for a dangerous mission trip to Central America, when he comes to her bed in darkness and secret, does he take her with unexpected passion. When tragedy strikes and Hal is lost to her, it’s that night that Jenny cherishes, that Hal she misses. She yearns for that lover whose unbridled sensuality more resembled. . . Cage. For Jenny, Cage is willing to give up his wild ways. But to get on the straight and narrow, he must sin again.

    The very last thing he expects is the inheritance of his famous grandfather’s beach cottage on the sandy shores of Florida where he spent his childhood summers. Emeline Fischer is an aspiring artist trying to make ends meet, working an assortment of odd jobs while painting her dreams on canvas in hopes of landing her own gallery show someday. When she is Thomas’s waitress during her shift at the local beach diner, she immediately recognizes her sensitive childhood friend who promised long ago to protect her from her unstable home life when they were teens. The two friends take a journey into their past through a box of photos left behind at Cap Cottage and rediscover their mutual passion for art - and each other. Thomas doesn’t plan to fall in love with Emmy - but maybe he’s always been in love with her. Can he forgive himself for his past mistakes and start over in the only place that ever felt like home? Or will his guilt and the demands of his cutthroat, big-city career prevent him from following his heart and reuniting with the only woman he ever truly loved?