Lori has been in love with her best friend Aiden since college. Now Aiden (handsome, fair, All-American dream doctor) is getting married, and Lori desperately needs a date to the wedding. So she asks the best man, Jace (tall, dark, and brooding), to pretend their platonic friendship is something more not to have to face the worst day of her life alone. Fake dating one best friend to forget the other should be easy… Plot twist—it’s not. When Jace starts acting like the sweetest, most attentive boyfriend, Lori begins to wonder if she’s been seeing him wrong all this time?

When Robin finds out she's going on a work trip to Italy she can't wait for a week away in the sunshine, away from the daily grind. So what if there's a client pitch to do while they're there? The thing Robin is most excited about is the chance to show her work crush, James, what she's really like outside of work, and divert his attention from Liz, her work rival. To make things even better, Robin realises that the town they're going to in Italy is the same place that her childhood penpal, Andrea is from.

Rosie had the perfect evening lined up: she'd come home early, slip into a sexy dress and surprise her boyfriend with date night. What she was not expecting was to find his bags packed and herself unceremoniously dumped. But she can't even dwell on her heartbreak when she faces the more pressing matter of making rent this month. And in desperate times, she somehow agrees to let out her spare room to the upstairs neighbour. Aled needs a place to stay while his place is being renovated, and she gets to keep her home. It's a win-win situation for both - if only it was that easy.

Carrie Briggs is on the cusp of a career breakthrough. About to be made partner at her accountancy firm, she’s been given one more hoop to jump through before it can be made official. And she could think of worse clients to work with – because world-renowned billionaire Joe Hettich is flying her out to his private island in the Caribbean. But her hopes of career highs (and relaxing in the gorgeous sun in her spare time, of course!) are dashed when she meets the CFO of Joe’s company: Luke Chalmers, the man who broke her heart seven years ago when he chose his ex over her.

It’s not stalking if he’s your hot neighbor…right? At least, that’s what I tell myself when Adrian Carter moves in next door. His scowl should make me want to run in the other direction, but when I catch him smothering a smile around me, it makes me want to get to know him more. And when Adrian starts to open up, I find myself falling in love with the cinnamon roll center hidden beneath his gruff exterior. But between my emotional baggage and his aversion to relationships, it’s looking like we’ll never be more than neighborly.

New York Times best-selling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward bring you three sexy short stories to heat up your holidays: "Get Sleighed", "Lights Out Love", and "Hot Item".

I've never been enough for the people around me, not for my parents before they died and not for the tough grandfather who raised me. When he unexpectedly passes, leaving me the famous (and failing) Sugar Maple Farms, all I want is to sell so I can leave the weight of being a Carville behind. Until Jane shows up. The woman is smart, salty, and sexy as can be. I can't admit it, but her vision for Sugar Maple Farms is captivating. Everything about her is captivating. While we spend every day arguing, I spend every night thinking about her.

Drew Harrington knows exactly who he is—a legal shark with a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude that works just fine in his cutthroat world. He’s on the cusp of being named a partner in his firm, but only if he can prove to his colleagues that he has a more human side. Becky Fletcher is running from her past, so the last thing she’s looking for is love. What she does want is a friendly face in a cold city. Her sunny outlook is the perfect opposite to Drew’s hard exterior, but can she afford to let down her guard?

I’ve sworn off men to focus on my dream job that starts on Monday. But my best friend talks me into a final night of fun—a blind date. I only agree because the guy is going to work as a doctor in Africa. It’s the best date of my life. Dr. Africa makes me laugh and swoon, and I want to give him a thorough physical examination. He turns into Dr. One Night Stand, and I’m not sad about it. Monday morning, I’m enthusiastic and excited, until I bump into...you guessed it.

Trying not to fall in love can be…challenging. One might think that, as an ER nurse, I live a full and exciting life. If you think this, you are sadly mistaken. I’m pretty sure there's hardly a soul more boring than me. Ask my best friend, she’ll agree. Which is why she's come up with a 30-day plan to transform me from boring Lucy to, well…the real Lucy. The Lucy before the accident. Each day, I have to complete some ridiculous challenge, usually involving something embarrassing or new. That includes getting my coworker, Dr. Graham Shackwell, involved.

Riley Kennedy’s emails keep getting crossed with her male colleague, Kennedy Riley. The infuriating man forwards them along with his annoying commentary and unsolicited advice. At least she never has to see him in person, since they work in different locations…until they come face to face at the office holiday party.

I kept smiling when I caught my fiancé coming down my sister’s chimney on Christmas Eve. I gave polite congratulations when they got engaged. And I even offered to help decorate for their Christmas wedding despite the fact that was supposed to be my dream wedding. But when my sister cuts up my great-grandmother’s one-hundred-year-old wedding dress and turns it into a skank show, even though that was the dress I was going to wear on my wedding day? Well, this elf is torching down the North Pole.

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting it, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us. Nothing but good old-fashioned no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying; I’m just peeling an onion.)

Apparently, conservative Midwestern voters want more than my brains, connections, and good looks to vote me in as a congressman. That's right, to appear as the all-American family man they want . . . I need a wife. ASAP. The lovely Odette Hastings seems to fit the bill. She's a wholesome small-town girl, and conveniently in need of cash. I'll give her the money to take care of her elderly parents, and she'll be the political arm candy I need. We both win, right? The only problem is Odette is a little too beautiful, a little too intelligent, and way too distracting.

When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to discover that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family. Little did she know this would mean packing up Sam's apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it'll only take four weekends . . . But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides to put her people-pleasing abilities to the test.