Marcus Wyndham never asked to become the Earl of Chase. The Duchess never asked to be illegitimate. And neither of these two asked that their fates become so entwined. Marcus is passionate, quick to rage, just as quick to laughter. He's tough, opinionated, domineering, known as the devil's own son. The Duchess is serene and aloof -- she has silence down to a fine art. She is always in control, her smiles as rare as bawdy jests in the pulpit. She is self-reliant once she realizes that a very special talent can make her so, a talent no one suspects. Surrounding this unlikely pair are three servants cast in the Shakespearean mold: Spears, Badger, and Maggie -- all cocky, smart, good plotters and better friends, who don't know the meaning of subservient.

When a daredevil football stud tries to get into your yoga pants, you know class is about to get interesting. The New York Times bestselling author of Down & Dirty returns with Hot & Heavy. Sage: Although I come from a long line of free-spirited yoga teachers, sometimes I wish my life could be just a little more normal. More ordinary. More boring. Easier said than done, especially since it’s on me to keep my family’s studio up and running every time my mother wanders off to find herself. But that’s when my best friend sends me a sexy new student: Shawn Wilson, a slick wide receiver with a death wish and a chip on his broad, muscular, irresistible . . . wait, what were we talking about again? Shawn: They say I’m an adrenaline junkie. The truth is, I only really feel alive when I’m risking my life: Snowboarding, parachuting, BASE jumping . . . the kind of fun team management considers breach of contract. When my coach orders me to take yoga to “center myself,” I’m pissed—until I get an eyeful of delectable, flexible Sage Kaufmann. Unfortunately, she’s determined to keep things between us strictly business. But if Sage can get me to enjoy downward dog, maybe I can convince her that scorching hot sex could be the perfect shot of adrenaline. With their own sweet HEAs, Tracy Wolff’s red-hot Lightning novels can be read together or separately: DOWN & DIRTY | HOT & HEAVY

A sexy standalone... Seduced for a night. Taken forever. With only nine months left at Stanford, and despite being top of her law school class, Lori Havens takes leave to care for her sick mother. That means she juggles three jobs, the best of which is researcher for novelist, and syndicated columnist of "Cat Does Crime," Cat Summer. One evening after finishing up her work at Cat's apartment building, Lori has an encounter with a sexy stranger, and does something out of character. She goes home with him. The night is perfect, he's perfect, wealthy, powerful and from out of town. Morning comes, and despite their connection, Lori leaves before he finds out she's far from the equal he believes her to be. She's not a charity case and she's not after his money. She will make her own. In other words, she leaves before her prince charming finds out she's no princess.  Flash forward a few months, Lori’s mother is healing, and Cat's husband, Reese, has merged his firm with another and Lori lands an internship there, with school credit and scholarship money.. Everything is falling into place. That is until fate reveals a wicked twist of events and Lori walks into a conference room to find her new boss, Cole Brooks, one of the partners, is her one-night prince charming. One sizzling shared look across a boardroom, and it’s clear: this man is not done with her. It’s not long before Lori is informed that she’ll be working high profile cases with her one night prince charming which will require long nights and travel, starting immediately.

One of the most important and blazingly original writers of his generation, George Saunders is an undisputed master of the short story, and Tenth of December is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet. In the taut opener, “Victory Lap,” a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In “Home,” a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antiques store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders’s signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation. Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human. Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in Tenth of December—through their manic energy, their focus on what is redeemable in human beings, and their generosity of spirit—not only entertain and delight; they fulfill Chekhov’s dictum that art should “prepare us for tenderness.” Advance praise for *Tenth of December “Tenth of December shows George Saunders at his most subversive, hilarious, and emotionally piercing. Few writers can encompass that range of adjectives, but Saunders is a true original—restlessly inventive, yet deeply humane.”—Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad “George Saunders is a complete original, unlike anyone else, thank god—and yet still he manages to be the rightful heir to three other complete American originals—Barthelme (the lyricism, the playfulness), Vonnegut (the outrage, the wit, the scope), and Twain (the common sense, the exasperation). There is no author I recommend to people more often—for ten years I’ve urged George Saunders onto everyone and everyone. You want funny? Saunders is your man. You want emotional heft? Saunders again. You want stories that are actually about something—stories that again and again get to the meat of matters of life and death and justice and country? Saunders. There is no one better, no one more essential to our national sense of self and sanity.”—Dave Eggers, author of A Hologram for the King* From the Hardcover edition.

Avery finds out too late that her heart isn’t cut out to be a call girl. She’s too attracted to Sean. Avery doesn’t just want Sean’s body, she wants his heart. When he sent her away, Avery was devastated. Trying to pick up the pieces is hard, especially since she can’t get another job. Caught in an impossible position with her employer, everything hinges on making this next client happy, but things don’t go as they should. To make matters worse, Sean shows up at the worst time. Avery dreams of a chance to start over, to erase Sean from her life forever and leave her old life behind. But, it’s beginning to look more and more like just a dream.

The book follows Sydney Sage, a young Alchemist that is forced to hide inside a ritzy boarding school in Palm Springs, California so that she can protect Jill Dragomir, a Moroi princess. The Alchemists one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. There are those who want Jill dead by an assassin's hand in order to provoke a civil war within the Moroi court. The assignment provides Sydney a way to redeem herself from previous disgrace but her close proximity with Jill, Eddie, and Adrian cause her to question everything she thought she knew about herself, Alchemists, and the world in general. During all of this Sydney finds herself also questioning her relationship with Brayden, someone who is seemingly perfect for her in every way. Even as she cares for him, Sydney finds her attentions also being drawn to someone that she can never be allowed to be with. As secrets come to light and loyalties are given a trial by fire, Sydney has to find a way to make it through all of this with herself and all that she cares for intact.

A failed revolutionary attempt drives the hero of Hudson's novel to seek refuge in the primeval forests of south-western Venezuela. There, in the 'green mansions' of the title, Abel encounters the wood-nymph Rima, the last survivor of a mysterious aboriginal race. The love that flowers between them is soon overshadowed by cruelty and sorrow... One of the acknowledged masters of natural history writing, W. H. Hudson forms an important link between nineteenth-century Romanticism and the twentieth-century ecological movement. First published in 1904 and a bestseller after its reissue a dozen years later, Green Mansions offers its readers a poignant meditation on the loss of wilderness, the dream of a return to nature, and the bitter reality of the encounter between savage and civilized man.

A novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps.

First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - March, 1959 - the story involves a number of paradoxes caused by time travel. It further develops themes explored by the author in a previous work, "By His Bootstraps", published some 18 years earlier.

One hot kiss plus one reckless night equals eating for two. Definitely not the equation Sunday Knight was looking for when she decided to let loose and trade her good girl persona for a night of primal fun. The worst part? She has no clue who the baby daddy might be. Her father is so proud.

Isabel remembers nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have. Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, her lethal speed, and her superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat. Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.

She's known him her whole life, but not like this. Pampered and spolied, Cecily Blake has always seen handsome and wealthy Marcus Henshaw as an uncreachable celebrity. And then he comes to her rescue when she needs him most, changing both their lives forever. The chemistry between them is intense, but their differences are extreme. Can they overcome the obstacles on their rocky road to love?Cecily's Blake's life as a pampered princess has left her ill prepared to take over her family's Montana ranch. But that's exactly what happens when her father is sent to prison. Destitute and desperate, Cecily must give up her dreams and her future to try and learn how to turn a profit. The last thing she needs is to fall in love, and certainly not with a neighbor she's known all her life. Marcus Henshaw is too old, too rich, too handsome, and too unavailable. In short, he's the worst possible choice for her at the worst possible time. Marcus has a different opinion, though. He doesn't see his age, his wealth, or his longtime girlfriend as an obstacle between them. He has always gotten whatever he wanted, at least until he decided he wanted Cecily. Who would have thought the flighty girl he watched grow up would turn out to be the most captivating woman he ever met? And who would have believed that someone so close could be so out of reach? As he tries to convince Cecily to give their rocky romance a chance, someone unexpected starts throwing obstacles in their path, making them wonder if getting what they wish for just might be the worst mistake of their lives.

THEIR LOVE IS FORBIDDEN—BUT IT WILL NOT BE DENIED. In Dark Ages Britain, a king's daughter must decide what matters more: love or duty.BRITAIN, 624 ADRaedwyn—daughter of King Raedwald of the East Angles—has just been handfasted to one of her father's ealdorman. Although highborn women wed to strengthen political alliances, rather than for love, Raedwyn still hopes for a happy marriage like that of her parents'. But, her optimism is shattered on her wedding night.Raedwyn's life shifts unexpectedly when outlaws ambush her new husband's party on their journey back to his long ship. She finds herself captive of a bitter, vengeful warrior —Ceolwulf the Exiled. He has a score to settle with King Raedwald and Raedwyn is his bargaining tool.Caelin, Ceolwulf's enigmatic son, follows his father on his quest for revenge. Fiercely loyal to her own father, Raedwyn isn't prepared for her wild attraction to Caelin—or for its consequences. In a world where to go against a king's word means death, Raedwyn must decide what matters more: love or duty.

R.L. Mathewson (1979-Present) was born and raised in Massachusetts. She is known for her humor, quick wit and ability to write realistic characters that readers can easily relate to. She currently has several paranormal and contemporary romance series published including A Neighbor From Hell series.  Growing up, R.L. Mathewson was painfully shy and was known to hide behind a book or two. After high school she attended college, worked as a bellhop, fast food cook, and a museum worker until she decided to take an EMT course. Working as an EMT helped her get over her shyness as well as left her with some fond memories and some rather disturbing ones that from time to time show up in one of her books. When a back injury left her unable to work as an EMT any longer she began working in Residential homes only to discover that she just didn't have the stomach for the job.  Today, R.L. Mathewson is the single mother of two young children that keep her on her toes and enjoy scaring the heck out of her with their antics. She has a bit of a romance novel addiction as well as a major hot chocolate addiction and on a perfect day she combines the two. When she's not writing she's playing online Scrabble, coloring with her kids, or trying to figure out how one of her kids managed to get a chocolate pudding footprint on the ceiling. Author's series:NEIGHBOR FROM HELL SERIES PYTE/SENTINEL SERIES HONEYMOON FROM HELL SERIES ​HOLLYWOOD HEARTS SERIES​​​

Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, tells a powerful tale of poverty and undying hope in his moving novel No One Writes to the Colonel. 'The Colonel took the top off the coffee can and saw that there was only one spoonful left' Fridays are different. Every other day of the week, the Colonel and his ailing wife fight a constant battle against poverty and monotony, scraping together the dregs of their savings for the food and medicine that keeps them alive. But on Fridays the postman comes - and that sets a fleeting wave of hope rushing through the Colonel's ageing heart. For fifteen years he's watched the mail launch come into harbour, hoping he'll be handed an envelope containing the army pension promised to him all those years ago. Whilst he waits for the cheque, his hopes are pinned on his prize bird and the upcoming cockfighting season. But until then the bird - like the Colonel and his wife - must somehow be fed. . . 'Marquez writes in this lyrical, magical language that no one else can do' Salman Rushie 'Masterly. He dazzles us with powerful effect' New Statesman 'One of this century's most evocative writers' Anne Tyler

It wasn't her first choice, for Seonaid Dunbar had, like her brother, been trained as a Scottish warrior at her father's knee; but fleeing to an abbey was clearly preferable to whacking on Blake Sherwell with her sword -- which she'd happily do before wedding the man. No, she'd not walk weakly to the slaughter, dutifully pledge troth to anyone the English court called "Angel." Fair hair and eyes as blue as the heavens hardly proved a man's worth. There was no such thing as an English angel; only English devils. And there were many ways to elude a devilish suitor, even one that King Henry ordered her to wed. No, the next Countess of Sherwell was not sitting at home in her castle as Blake thought: embroidering, peacefully waiting for him to arrive. She was fleeing to a new stronghold and readying her defenses. Swords and sleeping drafts, Claymores and kisses. This battle would require all weapons--if he ever caught her. And the Chase was about to begin.

***NEW YORK TIMES* BESTSELLER For fans of* Fifty Shades of Grey, Bared to You,* and *Release Me* comes an all-new erotic series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees.** ** ** *I knew better than to risk my heart.* *But fierce passion comes at a high price.* I grew up believing in right and wrong, good and evil, black and white. I knew better than to trust. And then I met Tyler Sharp. Bold, charming, and dangerously sexy, Tyler always gets what he wants. But his smile can be deceiving, his dealings sordid, his ambitions ruthless. I thought I was the one woman strong enough to resist him, but our need for each other was too urgent to deny. One look and I was in trouble. One touch and I was hooked. One night and I became his. And now that I’ve fallen, there’s no going back. ***Heated *is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences. ** *FIRST TIME IN PRINT: THE BONUS STORY “TAKE ME” * **Praise for *Heated*** ** * * ** “A steamy story with a dark edge. Recommended for those seeking crime drama with spice.”**—*Library Journal*** * * “Kenner may very well have cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them, and this second installment of her Most Wanted series goes a long way toward solidifying that claim. Her characters’ scorching, scandalous affair explores the very nature of attraction and desire, redeeming and changing them beyond measure. . . . Fans will no doubt love the games of power, overwhelming passion and self-defining relationship that Kenner has crafted, and come away eager for more.”**—*RT Book Reviews*** ** * * ** “Fans of erotic romance will enjoy *Heated*. The plot is complex, the characters engaging, and J. Kenner’s passionate writing brings it all perfectly together.”**—Harlequin Junkie** ** ** “In Julie Kenner’s typical masterful storytelling, nothing is as it seems. We are taken deeply into the plot twists and the danger of this erotic journey. The chemistry first felt by both Tyler and Sloanne during their first encounter roars into an all-consuming fire neither one can put out. . . . Take the same journey I did and you will not be disappointed!”**—As You Wish Reviews**

Since his wife's death, world-famous author Ford Newcombe has lived a solitary life, void of creativity -- or love. Then Jackie Maxwell tears down the walls of his isolated world with her sassy wit and fierce intelligence. Ford's heart is touched by his vivacious assistant -- and his imagination sparked by her knowledge of a strange story that drives them to a small North Carolina town brimming with secrets. There, they will trace the mystery of a woman said to have loved the devil himself...and discover not only the truth about a crime from the past -- but a passion that holds the promise of a new life together. Jude Deveraux, whose "enchanting and extraordinary" (Chicago Daily Herald) novels have enthralled millions, creates two of her most memorable characters in this powerful bestseller.

During a dire battle against the fearsome Skinners, Daine and her mage teacher Numair are swept into the Divine Realms. Though happy to be alive, they are not where they want to be. They are desperately needed back home, where their old enemy, Ozorne, and his army of strange creatures are waging war against Tortall. Trapped in the mystical realms Daine discovers her mysterious parentage. And as these secrets of her past are revealed so is the treacherous way back to Tortall. So they embark on an extraordinary journey home, where the fate of all Tortall rests with Daine and her wild magic.

**BY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR HM WARD  Money. Power. Sex. ** This can't be happening. Maybe storming off to the club and getting sloshed was a bad idea, but I couldn't handle all that's happened. Forget for a while, that's all I wanted. After dancing with the wrong guy all night I planned on forgetting everything troubling me while rolling around in his bed. The problem is the guy is Pete Ferro and I'm me. It's a horrible plan to get all sinful and sweaty with him, but it's exactly what I need. One night with no connections, no worries, and a guy who isn't after my money or my family. Screw it. I'm going to get lucky. Genre: New Adult Romance   This story unfolds over multiple volumes   Length: Approx. 130 pgs