I was really an idiot. How I didn't see the signs is beyond me . . . but yet, here I sit, holding the diamond ring I tried to place on my girlfriend's finger. Hopefully the whiskey will do its trick and help me forget the last three years ever happened. I'm such an idiot. Really, I am. I thought my boyfriend was going to propose tonight. Instead, I'm sitting here chugging vodka cranberries like they're water. I just want to forget the last couple years ever happened.

Someone is stalking Audrey Young. And she has no idea why. Complicating matters is her landlord and new neighbor, Josiah Haven. She doesn’t usually go for the big, surly lumberjack type. But there’s something about that broody man. He intimidates her a little, but she kind of likes it. She could totally handle the mess that is her life, except the strange feeling of being watched is just the beginning. Next thing Audrey knows, she’s a target, and she doesn’t know who’s behind it or why. For Josiah Haven, none of that makes her his problem.

Niko West is the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on: six feet, four inches of broody, chiseled Greek god in a firefighter suit. He’s also been my best friend since kindergarten. He always says the only solid thing in his life is our friendship. He’s Honey Mountain's favorite player and I’m what you’d call "a relationship girl". But when I find myself single for the first time since turning sixteen, I make Niko an offer he can’t refuse. Who better to show me what I’ve been missing?

Lila James is my best friend’s little sister, and I’ve always looked out for her. She's five years younger than me, and when she left for college, she was just a kid. But now she’s home for the summer—and she’s definitely not a kid anymore.

Eden Murphy came into my club looking to make some extra cash. A girl like her didn't belong in a place like this. She'd get ripped to shreds. Most likely by me. There's nothing but sweetness dripping from her sexy little body, and I'm the monster who's salivating to get a taste.

Aiden Stone is a six-foot-two former Marine with a permanent scowl, dark hair, and dreamy blue eyes. He’s the oldest of the Stone brothers, and his “by the book 1�7 family has battled mine for control of our small town for generations. The last thing I should do is sleep with him. Or nearly run him down with my truck. Especially since he's sort-of my new boss.

When my grandmother found out she didn’t have long to live, she embarked on a crazy trip—jumping out of airplanes and scuba diving with sharks. After I repeatedly voiced my concern, Gram blocked me 1�7i>her own grandson—on text and social media, leaving me only her travel companion Eleanor’s number.

I’ve got a list of people I absolutely don’t ever want to be stuck with on a boat, or a plane, or a train, and it starts and ends with the broody, grumpy, too-sexy-for-my-own good Axel Huxley. Also known as this romance novelist’s number one nemesis. The man is legendary for his mighty pen and his even mightier scowl. I tried to work together with the cocky thriller writer once upon a time, but the two of us are like vodka and good decisions. We don’t play well together.

Travis King is the worst kind of a**hole. He taunts me for being a good girl and mocks my high standards. He's cruel, crass, and has enough confidence to last two lifetimes. And I hate him. He's always loved getting under my skin, and one night against my better judgment, I let him in my bed. I've succumbed to his manw**re ways, but that doesn't change a thing. Because the King is about to get played at his own game - and lose.

When romance novelist Kate Smith suddenly gets writer's block as she's beginning the final installment of her international best-selling erotic Bed 'n Breakfast series, she'll do pretty much anything to get her groove back. Like sneak into a Tire Depot waiting room because her words flow there just like complimentary coffee - smooth, sweet, and scorchingly hot. She manages to fly under the radar until the rugged and charming mechanic, Miles Hudson, notices the quirky redhead slinking in and out of the employees-only entrance. But she's way too intriguing to blow the whistle on.

I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision. 1�7/p>

I fell in love with him when I was seven. I scraped my knee, and he helped carry me inside. Our love story was the talk of the town until a woman told everyone she was pregnant with his baby. The only rational solution was to high-tail it out of town and never come back. My best friend needed a place to hide, and you can’t get much more covert than my family farm, so I came back. For her. It was supposed to be temporary, and I wasn’t supposed to see him, but that’s what happens when you live in a small town where everyone knows each other.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever done this. Written a racy message and sent it to—oops—the wrong person. Yeah, me too. Except, I sent my latest Tales of a Naughty Virgin column detailing my fantasies about my hot, charming, thoroughly bangable next-door-neighbor to 1�7i>my entire company. Did I mention I’m a children’s book editor? Well, I was. *Facepalm.* At least the column goes viral, but I’m still the gal who gets fired for her not-safe-for-work thoughts about the so-called “Mister Sexy Pants 1�7.

It all started with an unexpected phone call. Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult special-needs brother with no one to care for him. The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home. The last thing I ever expected? I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone.

Everyone expected me to play hockey. I was good at it, but I was better at being a doctor. So I hung up the skates and joined Doctors Without Borders. But there is no place like home, so now I’m back. And instead of being on the ice, I’m behind the bench as the team physician. After years of playing cat and mouse, it’s time to admit it. She’s mine.

Seduction is quickly becoming the hottest new restaurant in Portland, and Addison Wade is proud to claim one-fifth of the credit. She's determined to make it a success and can't think of a better way to bring in new customers than live music. But when former rock star Jake Keller swaggers through the doors to apply for the weekend gig, she knows she's in trouble.

What do ice cream and Sadie Montgomery have in common? They're both ice cold, but one taste is never enough. I wanted to be friends - I would have even settled for her seeing me as anything but a nerd - but there was no getting through. So just like any hard-headed, red-blooded man out there, I made up my mind. I'd make my coworker fall for me.

Anthony was my best friend and the first boy I ever kissed. The first boy I ever loved. I always thought we would be together. Then, he left town, and I never heard from him again. Now, there’s a new doctor at the hospital in the department where I work, and I can’t believe who it is. It’s Anthony.

Moving back home to my parents' cattle ranch in Texas was the last thing I thought I'd be doing. But, here I stand...in front of my high school girlfriend. A beautiful, confident woman has replaced the young girl I once knew and loved. Hell. I'm still in love with her. Yep. Paxton Monroe was my first love and the one girl in town who now hated my guts. So much so, Paxton swore her revenge on me if it took her until the day she died.

Desperate to find a new mechanic, the last thing Reddington expects is a woman to show up, let alone one with a sinful body, sharp tongue, and the inability to just do her job and not give him lip. He can't deny he's hoping to catch a view of her bent over a hood, but there's not a chance in hell that's going to happen. As much as Red wants to take her for a test drive, he knows he needs to keep his priorities straight.

Regret, she's a snarky little bitch. I've tried several times to regret the events that took place on June 5, 2008, but for the life of me, I can't. I'd never regret the pain, the suffering, or the heartache because they ultimately led me to the place I am in now. And I can't regret the place I am in now. What I still can't figure out is this: How is it possible that the single worst day of my life inadvertently became the very best day? Five years ago my life was irrevocably changed. Seventeen minutes was all it took to lose my best friend, to lose the love of my life.

Donya Stewart's chest filled with the soft beating wings of butterflies when she first met Emmet Grayne's green eyes at the ripe age of five. Unable to identify the tugging pressure within her when in his presence, Donya moved through the first several years of her life addled by her feelings for the boy who was her best friend's brother and very much like her own sibling. But one cool autumn night in her mystifying teenage years, Emmet erases any ideas Donya has of him being anything like a sibling.

The summer I graduated from high school, I raced out of my small Virginian town to seek my culinary dreams in the big city. I couldn't afford New York City, though, so I settled in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love wasn't The Big Apple, but it had its charms and pockets of culinary splendor. I hadn't minded because it was only temporary. After culinary school, I planned to do as I'd been dying to do since I was a little girl and roam the earth and splurge on its fruits. More than five years later, I was still in Philly.

He was my older brother's best friend. He was never supposed to be mine. I thought we would get it out of our systems and move on. One of us did. One of us left. Now he's back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I'd turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me. He broke my heart last time. This time he'll obliterate it.

One look, one smile, and I didn't stand a chance. The instant my eyes landed on Presley Chambers, I was a goner. She was a force of nature that turned my world upside down. Sweet, sassy, and sexy as hell, she brought me to my knees. But she isn't just any woman, she's a gift, she's a goddess, she's my disease...and I'll fight like hell to erase her fears. Sometimes fate has other plans. Now our future is in her hands.

I fell in love with Holden York when I was six years old. Most of my youth came with spiral notebooks filled with doodles, wedding plans, and "Janelle York" looped in bubbly handwriting. However, one night in Vegas changed everything. I woke up to more than just a fantasy of my brother's best friend. Five years later, I'm standing on his doorstep confronting him about the secret he kept from me. If you think this is the story of how we rode off into the sunset together...You're so wrong.

Three novellas from Alexa Riley: Stay Close: A former Russian mafia soldier is hired to protect a friend’s daughter, but he knows he’ll do more than keep her safe - he’ll make her his. Forever. Hold Tight: A hotshot consultant hired to streamline Osbourne Corp. meets his match in Pandora Justice. Don’t Go: CEO Henry Osbourne has only ever desired one woman - the one who got away. She ran from a boy, but a man of power and persuasion now stands in his place.

I think for sure it must've been a dream because there's no way a guy could look like that, touch me like that, and be so in tune with me on every known level and disappear, leaving me with nothing but a good story to tell my friends. When he walks into my bar three months later, everything I thought I knew and what we'd had disappears in the blink of an eye and the blinding light of the three-carat diamond on his fiancee's hand.

Valentine French may be the sassiest dating columnist in New York City, but the abundance of metrosexuals in her adopted metropolis is seriously cramping her style. Where are the beefy all-American boys? Hoping to find some inspiration, Val heads to Alaska, where the men outnumber the women 15 to one and wrestle grizzly bears for sport. Or so she can only imagine.

Football star and Internet sensation Gavin "Anaconda" Adams is the biggest celebrity our little town has ever seen. But I had no idea who he was when I accidentally walked in on him naked. I was shocked, seeing all of him, a cocky grin on his face. I didn't know what to do. So I ran. No matter what I do, I can't get that image out of my head. To make matters worse, Gavin wants a date with me.

Without her, I was better off. I knew it the second she walked away and realized how much happier I was. Knew it the day I interrupted her wedding reception to show her what she was missing and locked eyes with someone I hadn't seen in years. Those eyes. Her smile. Everything about her turned something around inside me that had been quiet for years.

Our relationship was such a cliche. Friends to lovers. High school sweethearts. Then...driven by insecurities, I broke Grady Ryan's heart. I was weak, afraid to love, and even more afraid to be loved. There are secrets I've kept buried, but I can't forget what we once shared. I've been given a second chance, and this time I'm prepared to fight for him.

I was really an idiot. How I didn't see the signs is beyond me . . . but yet, here I sit, holding the diamond ring I tried to place on my girlfriend's finger. Hopefully the whiskey will do its trick and help me forget the last three years ever happened. I'm such an idiot. Really, I am. I thought my boyfriend was going to propose tonight. Instead, I'm sitting here chugging vodka cranberries like they're water. I just want to forget the last couple years ever happened.

I left Lakeside, Montana, heartbroken and lost with no desire to ever return. But life had other plans. Moving back wasn't what I wanted to do, but I'd do anything for my daughter, Emmy, including putting myself in the path of Sadie Jones, my daughter's new dance teacher. The reason my heart was never fully opened to another was because it's always belonged to her.

I spilled a cup of coffee on the president of acquisitions. He deserved it. Not the brightest idea, but I'd had a bad day, and now he's getting back at me. For nine weeks I'm to be his assistant, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's punishment. Every moment we're near each other it's a constant battle of wills, but I refuse to go down. If only he wasn't so good looking. If only my fantasies didn't invade our arguments. Everything is off the cuff, including him pinning me to the wall.

Business is king, and I have an empire to topple. Ivy is my new assistant and a threat to me. She's my undoing. If ever I was to believe in a cosmic connection, it was the moment I met her. For years I've had one goal - revenge. As CEO, I have crafted a strategic plan for business, but never a life beyond. With one touch from her, the veil is lifted. Things are different, and every moment I'm near her, my world begins to change.

He's That Guy. You know, the hero in almost every romance novel. The super-rich, powerful CEO who is beyond sexy. Lives in a penthouse. Is wicked in bed. Has massive.... feet. Is kind of a jerk, but really he's not because he harbors some major secret that, once revealed, explains why he is the way he is - therefore completely redeeming himself and making all the listeners who hated to love him swoon....

Never make a bet with a man who plays to win. Especially not a man like handsome, arrogant Connor Pratt. A.k.a. the huge PITA who's currently crashing in my spare room. A.k.a. my brother's best friend since they were about six. A.k.a. the one guy who still makes me feel like an awkward tongue-tied loser. But when Connor moved in, I got a glimpse of another side of him. Because, like me, Connor's going through a nasty break-up. And, like me, he's just doing whatever he can to get through it.

Who needs a man? They're nothing but a distraction. A disappointment. They sweep you off your feet, promise you forever. Then, as soon as another beautiful woman shows them interest, they leave you crying alone on the sidewalk with your dreams of a life together crushed. And the sexy playboy who keeps showing up everywhere I go is the definition of distraction and inevitable disappointment. I can live without that heartbreak. I have everything I need to make me happy - a job, school, friends, and family that I love. Yep. Mind made up. It's just a shame my heart didn't get the memo.

It started as a normal birthday celebration. Was there wine? Of course. Did I let loose with my best friends? Absolutely. Did I have one glass too many and follow a tattooed bad boy into a bar? Cue mortification. I don't do reckless, or wild nights of hot sex. Correction: I didn't used to. I also didn't plan to drunk-email my boss and quit my soul-sucking job, leaving me in a financial mess. But I'm churning those lemons into lemonade! I'm chasing my dream job at San Francisco's hottest restaurant. Guess who shows up as my competition? None other than my tattooed bad decision.