Or does it?I’ve been keeping a secret. One that could change a lot of lives, including my own. I came to Cross Creek to find my father. He’s the difference between life and death for me. During my search, I found love, only sexy builder Ethan Lockhart isn’t having any of it. I’ve done my best to make him mine, but he’s more slippery than a fish in a brook. I built my life here on a lie, but my feelings for this man are true. Will the secrets I keep destroy what Ethan and I creating?I’m not the guy anyone picks first, so when Angie Sutton started flirting with my brother, I wasn’t surprised—that is until I found out she was doing it to get my attention. But this time, I’m determined not to give my heart away—not until I know who she really is. Letting someone get too close too fast is a blueprint for disaster. No matter how deeply I’m drawn to her, I know she’s hiding something, and until she can be honest with me, we don’t have a future.Find out if the truth can really set you free in Guarded Hart, book three in the Cross Creek Series.

    Breathtaking reunions and tantalizing new strangers offer six friends a second chance at happily ever after in this delightful contemporary romance series: Beginning Again: Widowed in her twenties and now divorced halfway through her forties, it's time for Liz Fairchild to live life for herself . . . until sexy Collins strolls into her art gallery. Loving Again: Portland police detective Sam Richardson is instantly attracted to Amanda St. Claire, his prime suspect in a homicide. Is their growing interest putting both of their lives at risk? Together Again: Deputy DA Margo Keyes's homecoming is just the relaxation she needed . . . until hitting the sheets with ex-flame Tony Alessandro puts her in the middle of a federal investigation of industrial espionage. Trusting Again: A rich customer sweeps Cynthia Blaine off her feet with a whirlwind romance. But can she continue to ignore the clues that Marius has a dangerous secret? Believing Again: Called to the scene of the murder of a homeless veteran in a transient camp, Portland detective Danny Hartmann expects a routine case. Then she meets Jake Abrams and everything changes. Falling Again: When Fiona McCarthy's investigative piece and Nick St. Claire's photography assignment intersect, can their feelings for each other survive her need to get the story and his to frame the perfect shot? Sensuality Level: Sensual

    When her friend Doris proposed sending for a mail order husband for Gretchen, who was seven months pregnant and unwed, she hoped for the best for her friend, but still felt badly for herself. Darryl Miller has always been known as one of the demon horde. If he stays in Beckham, Massachusetts, he will never rise above the reputation, but he has nowhere to go! When he receives a letter from his sister asking him to marry her pregnant friend, he only hesitates for a moment. Two weeks later, he arrives in Salmon to marry a stranger. The only trouble is the stranger refuses to marry him. Within an hour, he finds himself married to another friend of his sister’s. Will he be able to make a go of life with the beautiful straight-laced schoolteacher? Or has he made a huge mistake leaving everything to travel across country? A Distant Shore: a Kansas Crossroads novelette by Amelia C. Adams Collette Barnard has traveled from England to America to work as a ladies’ maid for a spoiled socialite who doesn’t want the California life her husband is seeking. When her employer leaves her husband in the middle of the night, Collette is discharged and abandoned in the town of Creede, Colorado, with little money and no idea what to do next. When the kind hand of fate lands her at the Brody Hotel in Topeka, Kansas, she meets a handsome young man named Gabriel Brody, who is also struggling to choose the right path for his life. Perhaps together, they can piece together a future from the bits that have been left them. Mail Order M’Lady by Carra Copelin Lady Anne Medvale, the daughter of the Marquess of Thamesford, has created a scandal by running away with a prominent politician. In America, alone and penniless, she answers an ad in the Grooms’ Gazette and travels to Beaumont, Texas as a mail order bride. Morgan Grant, a dedicated cattleman/lawman isn’t looking for a wife, but circumstances present themselves and he marries an unlikely mail order bride. Can the two of them overcome their differences to live happily ever after? Mail Order Millennium by Peggy L Henderson Growing up in a privileged society may seem glamorous, but having every material possession has left Sherri Stucki feeling empty, exploited by her friends, and abandoned. A world where people see past her money seems like a far off dream, until a mysterious stranger offers her a second chance at the life she seeks. Alexander Walker learned the hard way that city life – and its women – were not meant for him. He must complete one final job before returning to a life of solitude in his beloved mountains. The last thing he needs is a distraction from a spunky socialite who seems like a fish out of water. As they travel together toward new destinies, Alexander and Sherri discover that the life they desire can only be found in each other. Mail-Order Brides of Coldwater Creek Josie by Margery Scott Josephine (Josie) Parker’s birthday is coming up, which means she’ll have to leave the Chicago orphanage where she’s lived her entire life. With nowhere to go and no future to look forward to, she agrees to become a mail-order bride to Cooper Thompson, a rancher in Coldwater Creek, Montana. Cooper Thompson is happy with his life. He has his work, his family, and enough money to get by. He doesn’t need – or want – anything more, especially a wife. When Josie arrives in Montana, she’s shocked to learn that Cooper’s sister actually wrote the letter, and that he knows nothing about it.

    Now Sam is putting down roots with his wife and daughter, and no amount of evil can stand in the way.Secure in their out-of-the-way stronghold, the proprietors of the criminal enterprises never planned on a man like Sam Blaylock—a man who would face the Devil himself to balance the scales. Sam never backed down from a bad situation.Rancho Diablo Western Series: Omnibus includes – Shooter's Cross, Hell On Wheels, The Hold Up, The Matamoros Bull, The Armadillo's Hole Saloon and Shooter York.

    As a single mother, she owns and runs a houseboat rental company in Sicamous, British Columbia.Quentin Callahan, a friend of Julie's brother, lives in Vancouver and has become a successful business consultant. Many years ago, on her graduation night, he rescued Julie when her date had too much to drink and now he's back. The attraction between Julie and Quentin is immediate, but his visit to his hometown is prompted by more than a longing to get away from the stress of business. His largest client has unsuccessfully tried to buy Julie's property. The ruthless company indicates to Quentin that if he does not talk her into selling, they ll drive her out of business. The ultimatum is an overwhelming burden on Quentin.Can the growing affection between Julie and Quentin survive the pressures of a harsh outside world?

    

    Over 800 pages of big love in a small town for readers who love hunky Southern men and the women who make them want to settle down. Big Love in a Small Town features the following three novels: Down A Country Road The very last thing on Grier McAllister’s Someday List is going back to Timbell Creek, Virginia, the town where she grew up. Timbell Creek holds too many bad memories for her, memories finally put to rest with a successful image consultant business in New York City and a hefty therapy bill. When an opportunity to choose a “Jane Austen Girl” for a visiting duke falls in her lap, the only catch that she must be from Grier’s hometown, Grier tells herself she’ll do what she needs to do and then leave it all behind for good. But Grier doesn’t count on finding that her mother is no longer the person she used to be. She certainly doesn’t plan on falling for an old boyfriend’s really hot brother! And it isn’t long before she begins to realize Timbell Creek is not only a part of who she was, but might be a part of who she is as well. Good Guys Love Dogs Desperate father Ian McKinley moves his delinquent teenage son to the small Virginia town of Keeling Creek, a place very unlike the New York City life he has been leading. Love takes him by surprise when he falls for Colby Williams, a woman unlike anyone he has ever been drawn to, a small town vet with a heart for animals and a fierce love for a teenage daughter she is also struggling to raise. But Colby has a secret in her past, a secret she's not sure her daughter will ever forgive her for. And as for Ian McKinley, he seems too good to be true. If she had learned anything from the one time she had thrown her heart fully into love, it was that it didn't last. Truths and Roses When Will Kincaid’s professional football career comes to an abrupt end in a single night, he’s left to figure out what he’s going to do with the rest of his life. He heads home to the small Virginia town where he grew up and crosses paths with Hannah Jacobs, the only girl in high school who had ever rejected him. It’s Hannah who once made him question the choices he had made, and it’s Hannah who’s making him question them all over again. But with the weight of a secret he’s managed to hide from the world his entire adult life hanging over him, he can’t afford to question his choices. Hannah Jacobs had once made the choice to deny her feelings for Will Kincaid, at the time finding it the only possible option for a young girl intent on burying a nightmare she only wanted to forget. The life she’s made for herself as a librarian in Lake Perdue is a quiet one, and she’s hardly prepared for the day when Will rams his fancy Ferrari into her dependable old clunker. But for Hannah, Will Kincaid can only stir up memories she had long ago put away forever. And there’s nothing at all good that can come from bringing them back to life again.

    Instead, he finds a jilted mail order bride, two ragged orphans and a basket of striped kittens.The thief abandoned his fiancée, a lovely blue-eyed beauty who steals Gideon’s breath at first glance. Ruth’s sassy and plenty exasperating. She’s taken in a newborn orphan girl and cares for the baby with grit and devotion. Gideon yearns to shelter both Ruth and the sweet baby. He can’t make sense of the protective instincts, turning his tidy thoughts all topsy turvy. Before long, he’s got more trouble than he can shake a stick at.Ruth claims to know nothing about the stolen money. But is she innocent or is she the real thief?Mail Order RebeccaAdam Barstow just wants to be left alone to mend his ways. The good Lord has other plans…As Adam works to turn over a new leaf, two orphans appear on his doorstep. They escaped a cruel orphanage. Adam can hardly turn them away and vows to keep them for a short spell, just until he finds them a decent home.But a few short weeks later a mail-order bride arrives. Rebecca is kind and gentle and believes Adam sent for her to help care for the children. He didn’t. Adam would dearly like to know who wrote Rebecca. Until he learns the truth, he’ll shelter his newfound, precious family.Mail Order HollyA Christmas Bride for the Texas Cowboy.Holly Ross travels to Texas a few weeks before Christmas as a mail order bride. She’s tasked with returning a stack of letters to a certain cowboy. His mail order bride has jilted him.Holly peeks at the letters as she journeys to Texas. She knows she shouldn’t snoop but can’t resist learning more about the cowboy, Jacob Barstow.When she arrives, her husband to-be isn’t waiting. Instead, she comes face to face with Jacob Barstow, the charming and protective cowboy whose letters she secretly read. Jacob will help Holly, but only if she accepts a marriage of convenience by Christmas Eve.

    She had her dolls just like most girls, but her dolls healed injured animals and went fishing. Real life was much more exciting and exhilarating, unless it involved Owen Mercier. 
When there was a gator that needed removing or a snake in someone’s house, the Game Wardens called Owen. He was as muscled as he was irritating, and that was a lot. 
Too handsome, too self-assured, too sexy. He was always telling her that she should give him a chance, but Owen had always been a magnet for women and Blyss found it hard to believe that he could be with one woman, her.
At least that’s what she thought until he saved her life. She had different problems after that. How is she going to keep herself safe from a man who already had her heart? And what happens when the criminals who’d tried to kill her in the first place need to stop her from exposing them?

     Within minutes of landing on his doorstep, Lanie Weatherford had succeeded in turning Reece Masardi's peaceful, well-ordered world topsy-turvy. Never had he met anyone like her! From her pet miniature horse to her pet causes, this outrageous, unpredictable community do-gooder was all heart -- and all woman... Lanie knew Reece's life had been bumpy lately, and he couldn't seem to bounce back on his own. It was up to lighthearted Lanie to teach him how to laugh again -- whether he was willing or not! But to her surprise, Reece had a thing or two to teach her...about romance. And soon they were sharing more than laughter -- they were sharing love.

    so using her to avenge his sister’s death will be sheer pleasure! Until he discovers that Lexie is a virgin. Now, out of duty and honour, he must propose... PRINCE OF SCANDALPrince Raul of Maritz resents the duty by which he must wed Princess Luisa Hardwicke. But the princess unexpectedly heats Raul’s blood... and he anticipates their wedding night with an excitement he never imagined he’d feel... WEIGHT OF THE CROWNNotorious playboy Prince Lysander Kahani is putting his bad ways behind him now he’s caring for his orphaned nephew. But one glance at buttoned-up nanny Alyssa Dene and he’s determined to make Alyssa a royal offer she won’t refuse...

     Meet the silver foxes on the shores of Barefoot Bay, and each book in the collection celebrates that timeless love that happens later in life. Don’t miss these three full-length contemporary novels tell timeless stories of second chances and redemption. BAREFOOT AT SUNSET *Voted one of "The Most Romantic Books of All Time" by thousands of BookBub readers! Forty-eight year old widower Mark Solomon believes every person has only one soul mate…and he’s met, married, and buried his. Jaded, jilted, and jobless, advertising copywriter Emma DeWitt thinks that eves that love is a marketing concept created to sell fairy tales and expensive weddings. But when the sexy silver fox surprises Emma with an irresistible offer to pose as his fake fiancée, they discover that it’s possible they are both wrong…and completely right for each other. BAREFOOT AT MOONRISE As a firefighter, Captain Ken Cavanaugh wants to use his 25th high school reunion to finally put things right with Beth Endicott, the girl he loved and let go two and a half decades ago. But when an old incendiary passion changes their lives in the course of one single night, Ken and Beth learn they both have to walk through fire for a second chance at love. BAREFOOT AT MIDNIGHT *Nominated for a RITA Award for Best Contemporary Romance* Lawson Monroe’s life is about to change when his friend and mentor makes a deathbed promise to leave Law a beloved bar in Barefoot Bay. But Law’s big plans hit a gorgeous brick wall when yoga instructor Libby Chesterfield proves her claims to the place are stronger. Battling an attraction that sizzles hotter than one of Law's cast-iron skillets and uncovering long-buried secrets with more twists than one of Libby's yoga poses, they'll have find a way to both get what they want...especially if what they really want is each other. Praise for Barefoot Bay books: “Lively, light, pure entertainment! This Cinderella story is “Pretty Woman” on the beach!” - Carly Phillips, New York Times bestselling author “Fun and engaging...a celebration of family and forgiveness!” -Publishers Weekly “Plenty of heat, humor, and heart!” - USA Today Happy Ever After “A love story with genuinely flawed yet sympathetic characters filled with raw, real emotion, this will warm your heart as you turn the pages.” - RT Book Reviews “Fun, light-hearted, super sexy...fans of Jill Shalvis, Carly Phillips, and Susan Mallery will definitely want to check out this series.” - TheBookPushers.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR Published since 2003, Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty romance and suspense novels. She has written several popular series, including The Dogfather, Barefoot Bay, the Guardian Angelinos, and the Bullet Catchers. In addition to being an ten-time nominee and one-time winner of the prestigious RITA™ Award for the best in romance writing, Roxanne has won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense four times, as well as the Maggie, the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, the Award of Excellence, and many others. A mother of two but recent empty-nester, Roxanne lives in Florida with her husband.

    Virtually broke, they turn to embarrassing home invasions and petty hits to rebuild their nest egg. In addition to each other, Callie and Creed have dreams. Creed’s is to retire and live in a scenic lake house. Callie’s is to romance a local hot mom. The same hot mom who happens to be the target of a creepy, dangerous stalker named Walter Develin.

    And It’s Not Happening Inside a Courtroom. Lawyers come in all shapes and sizes, male and female, brilliant and dim. Michael Gresham is a Chicago lawyer who is quietly—and sometimes not so quietly—going about his business, defending his criminal clients, and providing for his wife and children. When a new client walks in, the lawyer must have the upper hand in all dealings and the client must allow the lawyer to run the show. To do otherwise is to risk jail or worse for the clients of Michael Gresham. But without warning, a client turns on him. Without warning, Michael’s world is turned on its head one life at a time. Michael, being Michael, fights back. A trial takes over and the book begins a runaway contest with a runaway jury that neither the judge nor the lawyers can control. When it is over, the last man standing will walk away with his life and his world and the other will lose it all. The pawns are Michael’s wife and children—his everything. In the end Michael must face his own demons and try to lay hold of the person he is ultimately meant to be: the lawyer who roared.

    But they have two urgent matters to attend to before they leave: Prevent Gertie's cousin, Barbara, from marrying Harvey Chicoron and settle a score with their arch enemy, Celia.It's a simple mission.Until they discover a mysterious stranger has been tracking their every move.Who is he? And why is he also stalking Marge's Aunt Louanne, a woman with a few mysteries of her own?Undercover is book 1 in the Sinful Past series of stories featuring Ida Belle, Gertie and Marge in their younger years. Join the original Swamp Team 3 as they raise hell, solve mysteries, and keep the town of Sinful, Louisiana from going to pot. Oh, and maybe have a romance or two along the way. These stories take place from the 60s on up and can be read in any order.A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR: Undercover is a novella in the Miss Fortune World, wherein Jana DeLeon has allowed writers to create stories using the world of Sinful and the wacky characters it's famous for. I wish to thank Ms. DeLeon for graciously allowing other writers to explore their own writing in a most Sinful way.