PATRICK RIORDAN ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT NOTHING COULD MATCH THE ADRENALINE RUSH HE GETS FROM HIS JOB. BUT THIS CHRISTMAS, PATRICK’S PULSE IS REALLY RACING... The Riordan brothers may have a reputation for being rough-and tumble, but Patrick has always been the gentle, sweet-natured one. These days, his easygoing manner is being tested by his high-octane career as a navy pilot. But for the Riordan brothers, when the going gets tough…the tough find the love of a good woman. Except the woman who has caught Patrick’s attention is Jack Sheridan’s very attractive niece. Angie LeCroix comes to Virgin River to spend Christmas relaxing, away from her well-intentioned but hovering mother. Yet instead of freedom, she gets Jack Sheridan. If her uncle had his way, she’d never go out again. And certainly not with rugged, handsome Patrick Riordan. But Angie has her own idea of the kind of Christmas she wants—and the kind of man! Patrick and Angie thought they wanted to be left alone this Christmas—until they meet each other. Then they want to be left alone together. But the Sheridan and Riordan families have different plans for Patrick and Angie—and for Christmas, Virgin River–style!

Blake Smiley searched the country for just the right place to call home. The professional triathlete has traveled the world, but Thunder Point has what he needs to put down the roots he's never had. In the quiet coastal town he can focus on his training without distractions. Until he meets his new neighbors and everything changes. Lin Su Simmons and her teenage son, Charlie, are fixtures at Winnie Banks' house as Lin Su nurses Winnie through the realities of ALS. A single mother, Lin Su is proud of taking charge and never showing weakness. But she has her hands full coping with a job, debt and Charlie's health issues. And Charlie is asking questions about his family history—questions she doesn't want to answer. When Charlie enlists Blake's help to escape his overprotective mother, Lin Su resents the interference in her life. But Blake is certain he can break through her barriers and be the man she and Charlie need. When faced with a terrible situation, Blake comes to the rescue, and Lin Su realizes he just might be the man of her dreams. Together, they recognize that family is who you choose it to be.

The loss of their close friend draws four women together.And a summer spent sorting through personal effects offers the perfect challenge—and the perfect escape. Sable—Her bestselling novels have made her a star, but the woman who has everything, in fact, has nothing but a past she is desperate to hide. Elly—The intellectual who has hidden herself within the walls of academia, afraid to admit she is tired of being alone. Barbara Ann—The talent behind twenty-six romance novels wakes up one day to discover she's lost control of her career, her sanity and her family. Beth—Her popular mysteries have become the only way she can fight against the secret tyranny of an abusive husband. In The House on Olive Street, away from their troubles, the four women discover something marvelous: themselves. And along the way they realize a dream. For, in telling the story of a remarkable woman, their own lives begin to change.

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE A WALK? Alasdair Masters is in a rut.  He just hit forty, has been nearly celibate for the past year, and his life has turned into a daily sequence of lonely patterns that revolve around avoiding human contact.   His tidy life is turned on its head when a hot young blonde at the gym that’s been pseudo-stalking him decides to rock his world.  A very young blonde.  Way, way too young for him.  The problem is, he can’t seem to tell her no, and she just keeps coming back for more. It doesn’t help that he’s ninety percent sure she’s a criminal, and still, he can’t seem to turn her down.  What is a dull introvert to do when a chaotic cyclone that oozes sexuality comes twisting into his life?     At first, he thinks she’ll give him a heart attack, but after his twenty-year marriage ended a year ago, he’s been a little lost, and when she comes crashing into his life, he realizes that he’s never felt more alive. Is a walk on the wild side just what he needs to get his life on track or a disaster in the making?  Is it possible for someone that much younger to be just what he needs, or is she a fortune hunter, as everyone keeps telling him?  Is it his hormones telling him that the mysterious younger woman is the one, or could it be more?

I hear screams in my head. I see blood on my hands. When I look in the mirror I see a stranger. How is it that I can remember bits and pieces of my life, but nothing of any importance and nothing that makes any sense? Everything is twisted and nothing is right. I’m choking with every breath I take, suffocating on the unknown. Two days ago, everything changed. Two days ago, the people I should trust the most became strangers in my convoluted head. The dreams I have can’t be real. The fleeting memories that whisper through my mind are scary and wrong…they have to be. If they aren’t, I have something much worse to fear than my fractured mind. I need to find out the truth, even if it destroys me. I've been told my name is Ravenna Duskin. I’m eighteen years old and I live in a prison…

Iris Greenfeder, ABD (All But Dissertation), feels the “buts” are taking over her life: all but published, all but a professor, all but married. Yet the sudden impulse to write a story about her mother, Katherine Morrissey, leads to a shot at literary success. The piece recounts an eerie Irish fairy tale her mother used to tell her at bedtime—and nestled inside it is the sad story of her death. It captures the attention of her mother’s former literary agent, who is convinced that Katherine wrote one final manuscript before her strange, untimely end in a fire thirty years ago. So Iris goes back to the remote Hotel Equinox in the Catskills, the place where she grew up, to write her mother’s biography and search for the missing manuscript—and there she unravels a haunting mystery, one that holds more secrets than she ever expected. . . . From the Trade Paperback edition.

Atta Olivia Clemens had received St. Germain's darkest gift. Would his love save her from the True Death? "A skillful blend of history and fiction, given added spice by the fact that its heroine happens to be a 500-year-old vampire".--Library Journal.

A curse of the moon....A curse of the moon forces Irezlie to kill and survive. The question is; can she stop herself from doing this every month the moon is full? With these dark poems Irezlie slowly finds out the truth of herself and the curse.

Sylvie thinks she is happily married, but her husband keeps rocking the boat, by wanting physical intimacy. At the end of his tether, he calls in his aunts to talk to Sylvie. She is returned to her family in disgrace. Unable to bear things, she leaves for the big city. There, she falls for her boss, and things take an unexpected turn.Sylvie thinks she is happily married, but her husband keeps rocking the boat, by wanting physical intimacy. At the end of his tether, he calls in his aunts to talk to Sylvie. She is returned to her family in disgrace. Unable to bear things, she leaves for the big city. There, she falls for her boss, and things take an unexpected turn.Her boss helps her to get a divorce, and then makes a confession to Sylvie. Sylvie is shocked, and delighted by the confession.

Mathew Tenoch Harrison (Matty to his friends) a student at UMass Amherst,finds himself in the postion to be "Humanity's Last Hope".The old cowboy sat in his chair on the porch of the new cabin. He watched the rim of the desert. How many more days would there be? He knew this was his last hurrah.The hired hand didn't understand, but it didn't matter anymore. It was almost over.Today...thought the old man, it has to be today, I feel it in my bones.He sat on the porch and looked at the sky: the hired hand told him there would be no ride today, bad weather coming.As he watched, the clouds were bizarre, all piled up, shouldering one another for the best place, the big ones black and lowering. The pink air thick but so clear, you could almost see tomorrow."My gawd!" the old man cried as he gazed at the sky, "it's the end of the world!"He wanted to sit on the porch and watch but the hired hand hustled him inside the cabin. The rain turned to hail the size of golf balls. So big they could kill a new born calf.The storm finally passed and the sun came out. The old man, the hired hand and the Indian housekeeper went out and sat on the porch and looked at the fresh new world.The edge of the desert grew hazy; the cloud of dust on the horizon grew bigger. "There they are," shouted the old cowboy, "here they come!"The water crazed herd of range cattle drove for the bloated arroyo, the smell of water making them mad. The bawling cattle elbowing and pushing their way passed the porch. They stamped and bellowed and the dust filled the old man's nostrils and he thought it the sweetest smell.Life coursed through his old bones and he stood and swung his old Stetson in the air and whooped and swore, pleasure flowed through him, and he was young again.But soon they were gone.The old man sat down heavily, age settled back on his shoulders, "I'll finish tomorrow, Ramona," he said to the old Indian housekeeper, "it'll be O.K.".The hired hand watched with foreboding, what will be finished tomorrow?

15 Civic Square uses the setting of the fictitious National Civic Bank to delve into the challenges and complexity of modern life at a time when "money" is constantly in the news.15 Civic Square uses the setting of the fictitious National Civic Bank to delve into the challenges and complexity of modern life at a time when "money" is constantly in the news. "A Day at the Top" traces the inner thoughts and turmoil of the CEO, while "The Tipping Competition" follows two close friends and co-workers through the chaos of a corporate restructure. Finally, "The Project" is the story of a customer who just can't take it any more.These three stories were first published in "Cracks in the Ceiling", and now form Book 1 of this new series.

This short story will give you the talking points, so that on your next museum visit you can pose perceptive questions to the Curator about provenance and authenticity of the artworks. Lee Roberts will also instruct how to deal with the FBI.What Does a Strip Club, a Dead Man and a Dove Ice Cream Bar All Have in Common?Peaches DonnellyPeaches has a major problem: she's just been fired.Unaccustomed to filling her days with nothingness, she embroils herself toute suite in the recent murder of a childhood friend.However, standing between her and the solving of this heinous crime are two pesky daughters, a selfish opera singer sister, the diet from hell and two sexy men she can't resist.Add to this bubbling pot a hasty decision to go undercover as a stripper and you have a story rife with drama, laughs and a little dash of danger.Follow Peaches and the always funny cast of characters in this first installment of a rollicking series of cozy mysteries.

"My arms are full, but I feel so empty." Chase was facing the holidays feeling more than hollow. He was miserable, hen-pecked by his girlfriend, Victoria, and he was becoming downright bitter. Was there any way to renew the Spirit of Christmas in Chase’s heart? Maybe Emily holds the key...but will Victoria let go easily? Will Chase find what he’s looking for this Christmas?"My arms are full, but I feel so empty." Chase was facing the holidays feeling more than hollow. He was miserable, hen-pecked by his girlfriend, Victoria, and he was becoming downright bitter. Was there any way to renew the Spirit of Christmas in Chase’s heart? Maybe Emily holds the key...but will Victoria let go easily? Will Chase find what he’s looking for this Christmas?A Christmas Romance inspired by Peace First winner Nicholas Lowinger’s story of giving back, “To Whom Much Is Given” is a charming story of a young man’s awakening to a higher calling of serving others.

Art has always been Blake McGrath’s life. Scarred by tragedy, he’s hiding from the world on a lonely beach, struggling with loss and bitter regrets. Connie is a disillusioned art dealer with troubled relationship issues of her own. Through her sudden mysterious appearance, Blake once again returns to the craft he has mastered to prove to himself that there is hope, that redemption is possible… and that love can last.