She feels simultaneously lost and trapped by a future already mapped out for her. Then her beloved grandmother dies, and Raya jumps at the chance to spend her last free summer at the ashram in India where her grandmother met and fell in love with her grandfather. Raya hopes to find her center and her true path. But she didn't expect to fall in love... with a country of beautiful contradictions, her fiercely loyal cousin, a local girl with a passion for reading, and a boy who teaches her that in Sanskrit, there are 96 different ways to say the word "love." A modern retelling of the classic Indian legend of Shakuntala and Dushyanta.

    Finished with college, she should have been planning her wedding. After all, Ginny and Josh were made for each other—everyone said so. Except the love of her life didn't agree. Now Ginny is back in her hometown, unwillingly single, and stuck in a dead-end job. When she discovers she's pregnant, Ginny is convinced her life is ending. Instead of planning a future with Josh, she's learning the truth about morning sickness, juggling bills, and seeing just how far designer jeans can stretch.Her life-plan never included dating again (not even with her too-hot new boss), or being a single mother at 23. Now, with the help of her best friends, Annie and Jen, Ginny must try to re-imagine—and rebuild—a life she never wanted.

    The moment she realizes her parents' latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she's out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later -- the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What's not surprising: he's not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.Jay Shah looks good on paper...and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He's also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

    Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…

    Her specialty is troubled teenagers. A teacher in a public school for years, she knows kids and the men and women who teach them!"In COP OF THE YEAR master storyteller Kathryn Shay pens an emotionally powerful tale that leaves you breathless. Woven into this riveting plot are wonderfully written characters that grab your heart and don't let go. Bravo Ms. Shay!" RT Book Reviews***Winner of Best Superromance of the Year, the Golden Leaf Award and the Desert Quill Award as well as numerous 5 star ratings from reviewers.***The last thing by-the-book Captain Mitch Lansing wants to do is work in a high school classroom to improve relationships between at risk kids and the police department. Mostly, he doesn’t want to deal with teenagers. But when he meets unorthodox teacher, Cassie Smith, his world goes off kilter. So does Cassie’s. She's totally against all he stands for, so why is it she finds herself attracted to him? The further they go into the year, the more they’re drawn to each other. And the more the kids also come to care about Mitch. However, because of his past in Vietnam, he tries to distance himself from everybody. He can’t, and he must learn to accept Cassie and her kids into his life. With several highly emotional scenes and deeply moving situations, this story will go straight to your heart.Praise for COP OF THE YEAR:“Kathryn Shay writes from the heart! Her stories are about real people with real lives. You will laugh and cry with her characters. COP OF THE YEAR is sure to be one of the best books to hit the shelves this year!” The Literary Times“Prepare yourself for a fabulous emotional ride that will have you reaching for the tissues and leave you with a renewed sense of hope.” Genie Romex Reviews“Kathryn Shay has penned a most unusual novel. The teacher/cop relationship feels natural enough, and the dialogue is a standout. But oddly enough, though I found the romance to be satisfying, it's the secondary characters of the kids I remember most from the story. The teenage pregnancies, the gang involvement, the drug usage all are a part of today's high school scene, but Shay makes this a story of hope, not despair. The ending almost brought me to tears. Three cheers!” The Romance Reader“Ms. Shay writes a strong and compelling dissertation on a very real and complicated social issue of our time, weaving in an unforgettable, touching love story.” Old Book Barn GazetteIf you like books about cop romances, teacher romances and teacher student relationships, be sure to read the rest of this high powered series, BECAUSE IT’S CHRISTMAS, COUNT ON ME, BETWEEN TWO WORLDS and IF YOU WERE MINE.

    This vivid portrayal of the universal search for love brings with it a darker tale, heartbreaking in its poignancy.

    But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realizes just how much work is involved - especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to mistakenly believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list. Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but travelling to Ireland to persuade the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter. Determined to rise to the challenge she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she's confronted with more than she bargained for - Dermot. The man is maddening, temperamental and up to his ears in a nasty case of writer's block. But he's also infuriatingly attractive - and, apparently, out to add Laura to his list of conquests ...

    Married to three brothers in a single ceremony, she and her now-sisters spend their days hard at work in the family's "china room," sequestered from contact with the men--except when their domineering mother-in-law, Mai, summons them to a darkened chamber at night. Curious and strong willed, Mehar tries to piece together what Mai doesn't want her to know. From beneath her veil, she studies the sounds of the men's voices, the calluses on their fingers as she serves them tea. Soon she glimpses something that seems to confirm which of the brothers is her husband, and a series of events is set in motion that will put more than one life at risk. As the early stirrings of the Indian independence movement rise around her, Mehar must weigh her own desires against the reality--and danger--of her situation.Spiraling around Mehar's story is that of a young man who arrives at his uncle's house in Punjab in the summer of 1999, hoping to shake an addiction that has held him in its grip for more than two years. Growing up in small-town England as the son of an immigrant shopkeeper, his experiences of racism, violence, and estrangement from the culture of his birth led him to seek a dangerous form of escape. As he rides out his withdrawal at his family's ancestral home--an abandoned farmstead, its china room mysteriously locked and barred--he begins to knit himself back together, gathering strength for the journey home.Partly inspired by award-winning author Sunjeev Sahota's family history, China Room is at once a deft exploration of how systems of power circumscribe individual lives and a deeply moving portrait of the unconquerable human capacity to resist them. At once sweeping and intimate, lush and propulsive, it is a stunning achievement from a contemporary master.

    It's addictive romance reading that gets more satisfying as you journey further into these characters experience. Book one of the LOVE in the USA series features Daisy Blanchard and Belmont (Jack) Lord. Don't be surprised by the hot and fast start, Daisy and Belmont have a lot to learn about love, and here is where their education begins. It was one intense week in late October. I probably should've slowed our pace but I wasn't thinking clearly. I had just learned my boyfriend and best friend were engaged via a Facebook post, which left me heartbroken and wrestling with ghosts from my past.But Belmont Lord was so convincing and uninhibited, unlike me. He also had demons of his own. We threw caution to the wind. Could fate had picked a more perfect time and place for two people to meet?Yes, it was one steamy and surprising week, but was it long enough to make us last forever?Find Her, Keep Her: A Martha's Vineyard Love Story is the first sexy, sensual and addictive contemporary romance in the LOVE in the USA series by author, Z.L. Arkadie.This manuscript has been updated as of 6/18/2017. Sex scenes are still frequent but they are no longer written in graphic detail. Also, some of the details that were hard to swallow have been made palatable. Although, do realize that I had chosen to write two imperfect human beings. In later books, as they choose to make their relationship work, they also choose to resolve their personal issues. After all that is the theme of the LOVE in the USA series--true love, real love is another catalyst in life which helps evolve two people for the better. So I write love stories more than romance, and from book one through twelve of this series, you will be able to read the difference. Visit zlarkadiebooks.com to learn more about the author.

    Be it a blessing or a curse, Daphne (a hopeless romantic and perpetual single girl) catches the bouquet at every single wedding she attends. Daphne’s love life is a mess. Her first love, Mayson, haunts her heart and keeps her from pursuing happiness with any man who comes along. As she struggles to move on from the one who got away, Daphne wonders if she will ever break her curse and find her happily ever after.

    The only place he's ever thought of as home now belongs to a woman who doesn't want it, and he must keep her there for thirty days—or it will be lost to them both.

    Having lost both her parents and grandparents, and with nowhere else to go, Layla is moving from Florida to a small town in North Carolina to live with the only family she has left: her estranged uncle and aunt.The last five years of Layla’s life were spent appeasing her less-than-loving grandmother, followed by being her grandfather’s caretaker. Growing old before her time, Layla lost her identity. Now she must learn how to allow herself to be the one cared for and loved.Life takes an unexpected turn when Layla meets Will Meyer. His breathtaking good looks are enough to catch her eye, but his sincerity and passion are everything she needs to find the strength and confidence she lost — and lead her into love.When tragedy once again strikes Layla’s life, her hope is all but completely crushed. Through it all, Layla learns what it means to truly love and be loved.

    Once upon a time an English girl went to New York to live out her very own fairytale! Florist Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better, she has a flourishing business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak ...For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? A sparkling, romantic comedy about an English girl who finds herself in the city where dreams can come true - or so she thinks!

    She's taken step one and gotten engaged to a reliable man, but she's beginning to question their relationship. Does he really love her, or is she just arm candy for his political career? Why is her future mother-in-law getting increasingly hostile? Worse, why does he stand up for his mother when she says those awful things, instead of protecting her? Cathy is full of self-doubt. Both of her options—going through with the wedding or breaking off her engagement—are beginning to look like a nightmare either way. She knows her friends will back her up, but she's the one who has to make a decision that's going to tear her apart.

    When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?