A prequel short story to the Miss Pierce's Protegees series, set thirty years before. Contains a secret engagement -- and betrayal!A prequel short story to the Miss Pierce's Protegees series, set thirty years before. Contains a secret engagement -- and betrayal! This is a 5,000-word short story that leads directly into book 1 of the series, PLANNING ON PASSION.

Thinking that she'd put her runaway days behind her, Shannon Barry finds herself on the run again. Heading to San Francisco and traveling under another woman's name, she wonders if she's made the biggest mistake of her life. Thinking that playing the part of a mail order bride would be the answer to her prayers, Shannon finds out too late that she's heading toward a man who doesn't even want her.Thinking that she'd put her runaway days behind her, Shannon Barry finds herself on the run again. Heading to San Francisco and traveling under another woman's name, she wonders if she's made the biggest mistake of her life. Thinking that playing the part of a mail order bride would be the answer to her prayers, Shannon finds out too late that she's heading toward a man who doesn't even want her. Knowing there's no going back, she finally meets her husband to be, Dominic Campbell.Tall, clean shaven with sparkling blue eyes, he's everything she's looking for in a husband. The only problem is Dominic has other plans in mind and none of them include her.Can Shannon prove to Dominic that she's the girl of his dreams - or will coming clean on her identity ruin everything for her? Is Shannon always destined to be an Irish runaway? Discover all these answers now by downloading a copy. If you're looking for a mail order bride western romance to get swept away in, you've come to the right place.

Aynia doesn’t remember anything, save her name. Can Aeden help her remember who she is, the love they shared, and the importance of the quest for which she risked her life? Or will the power of an evil warlock shatter all they hold dear?Making a killing in business is one thing - doing it for real is another.Private Investigator Sam Dyke turns down a job that would require skills that he doesn't have - patience, computer-literacy, tact. Then he finds that the skills he does have - tenacity, aggression, street-smarts - are exactly the ones he needs for his next case - hunting down a cold-blooded murderer who seems to know what his every step will be.To solve the case Sam must negotiate with his ex-wife, cement a relationship with a new love, unravel an office-based financial fraud and fight off an arrogant murderer armed only with a pen-knife. Altered Life is fast-paced, bitterly comic and introduces a tough new English private eye who knows what he wants and, usually, how to get it.

In the very near future, the country is plunged into drought and unrest. Scare resources and constant heat are making life completely miserable. Casey doesn't think she can stand slugging back another gel pack or working one more shift at the wells. Fortunately, there's a solution: anyone over the age of seventeen can sign the Forever Contract and enter a utopian paradise.In the very near future, the country is plunged into drought and unrest. Scare resources and constant heat are making life completely miserable. Casey doesn't think she can stand slugging back another gel pack or working one more shift at the wells. Fortunately, there's a solution: anyone over the age of seventeen can sign the Forever Contract and enter a utopian paradise. While people's minds take a permanent vacation, their bodies get warehoused and hooked up to a complex array of sensors and feeding tubes. As Casey's brother says, "You upload your consciousness to the system and you're free to live as long as you want, however you want. No more pain, no more heat, no more awful dust, no more work. Just pure thought. It's what our species has always been meant for. Suffering is for philosophers. Not for me."Casey's ready to sign--a permanent vacation is just what she needs. There's only one problem: her boyfriend James doesn't trust it.Told from his and her perspectives, The Forever Contract is a 17,000 word (60 page) novella suitable for readers in grade 8 and above.Would you sign the contract?

This is the story of a widower who is induced by the FBI to hide another injured agent while she recovering. It is feared the terrorist cell she was undercover in, might be looking for her. The FBI does this by saying they have an orphan child, Annie, that needs a home. The Injured agent does come in contact with the terrorist again, but all ends well with Annie staying with her new father.Johnny is approached by the FBI and seduced into giving help to an agent recovering from her injuries. The seduction came about by the FBI promising he could adopt a little girl much like his own whom he lost at the same time his wife died in an auto accident. The injured agent is compatible at first and they are joined in marriage to provide cover for her. She was under cover in a terrorist cell and they might be still looking for her. At least that is what Johnny is led to believe. Johnny and Sandy set up housekeeping with their adopted daughter, Annie. Things are great for awhile. This is another of Happyhugo’s romances set in the town of Brattleboro in southern Vermont.

It is 1876, and San Francisco, the freewheeling “Paris of the West,” is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, Blanche will risk everything to bring Jenny’s murderer to justice—if he doesn’t track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It’s the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts. In thrilling, cinematic style, Frog Music digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue’s lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boom town like no other. Like much of Donoghue’s acclaimed fiction, this larger-than-life story is based on real people and documents. Her prodigious gift for lighting up forgotten corners of history is on full display once again in this unforgettable novel.

Undaunted by Knox's complicated history with sexual addiction, McKenna pushes forward in her relationship with this deliciously flawed man. She experiences the highest highs as they discover each other, along with the lowest lows, and worries that his past may not be entirely behind him. But when a complication from her own past demands attention, she's forced to decide where their relationship is headed, and everything she thought she knew is questioned. Warning:* This book contains a stubborn alpha male with addiction issues and loads of sexual tension between two damaged characters. Read at your own risk. When I Surrender is book two in the When I Break series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kendall Ryan. The story concludes in book three, When We Fall*, which is available now.

From New York Times bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks comes the next adventure in the Love at Stake series, featuring a Master vampire and his love affair with a woman of many secrets . . . Vampire Zoltan Czakvar is on the hunt for the truth about his father's death. He's been searching for a very long time—since 1241, in fact. And he is not about to give up, even when he's attacked by a woman with striking blue eyes and a hell of a right hook! Neona is also on the hunt. She's looking for a mate, and she thinks muscled Zoltan will work just fine. After all, men are good for only one thing. Soon, though, she realizes there's more to this handsome vampire than just sexual prowess. But she's keeping a secret from Zoltan, something so big that it will rock the vampire world. Can their newfound love survive . . . even if their passion means the destruction of her world?

When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school, it doesn't take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She's smart, she's cute, and she's a swimming prodigy who has a first-class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don't know is that Katie is swimming away from the secrets of her past, and from the schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won't let her go. As Katie's star rises, Will descends deeper into insanity. And when he does the unthinkable, it's all Katie can do to keep her head above water. Largely based on the author's own experiences, Breathless is a stunning debut that explores illness and health, love and lust, friends and enemies, and the moneyed world of prep school with a deft, expert hand.

Overnight, Zack is the nation’s most popular contestant, a country singer with the looks and voice of a young Elvis. As his star rises, Zack is asked to compromise and quiet his beliefs, and also something more. Just as America is falling in love with Zack, just as he’s on the verge of winning it all, his choices lead him to the brink of personal disaster. At the same time, Reese Weatherly, a therapeutic horse instructor, is no longer sure about her relationship with Zack, or the wedding they had dreamed about. While Zack advances from one round of the competition to the next, an offer comes to Reese--one that will take her to a home halfway around the world. Then Chandra Olson--reigning diva pop star and one of the Fifteen Minutes judges--intervenes. Chandra has suffered so much public pain and private agony since her days as a Fifteen Minutes contestant. Now she wants just one thing: meaning. Can Chandra's private losses help Zack find his way, or will his fifteen minutes of fame cause him to lose the life he once loved? Fifteen Minutes is a story of character, compromise, and the cost of having it all. A story that raises the question: Who are the real winners?

A moving love story set in the Canadian wilderness, Mrs. Mike is a classic tale that has enchanted millions of readers worldwide. It brings the fierce, stunning landscape of the Great North to life—and tenderly evokes the love that blossoms between Sergeant Mike Flannigan and beautiful young Katherine Mary O'Fallon.

Sara Barnes has her life totally under control. All she has to worry about is college exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school—and what to do about the cute freshman who has a crush on her. And everything is going according to plan, until the night she starts dreaming other people’s dreams.Sara Barnes has her life totally under control. All she has to worry about is college exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school—and what to do about the cute freshman who has a crush on her. And everything is going according to plan, until the night she starts dreaming other people’s dreams. It’s bad enough that every night is a theater of her friends’ and classmates’ secret fantasies. Worse yet are the other dreams, the dark ones featuring a strange, terrifying man committing unspeakable crimes. As the nightmares increase, Sara’s life becomes a blur of waking and sleeping, of terror and urgency. Because if she was given this dream-sharing gift for a reason, it must be to stop the killer madman she’s come to know all too well. But how can she stop him when she’s just a student, and they’re only dreams?