An inherited curse has kept depressed innkeeper Simone Bristol bound to a rundown beach motel for the past six years. Just when she has a chance to break free of it, some visiting guests check in and reset the curse's clock. They may have foiled her getaway, but it turns out one of those guests could be her respite.

Christmas is right around the corner, but after creating a society scandal, New York heiress Melody Hascall-Ebons has nowhere to turn. Cut off by her family for running away with an actor, Mel is penniless, homeless, and disgraced. There’s only one place to go, and that’s back to the fiancé she ditched. But instead of her ex, she finds his friend Daveed Rafik. The handsome military translator disarms Mel with his easy smile and surprising sympathy. But as she struggles to get her life on track, the last thing Mel needs is to fall into the strong arms of her ex-fiancé’s best friend.

In this modern-retelling of "Beauty and the Beast", Savannah Carmichael, betrayed by an unreliable source, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia, with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn't been seen since.

Maximilian Oceanus arrives in Spellbound Falls just in time to save Olivia Baldwin from an overly aggressive suitor, only to find himself attracted to the beautiful, if rather aloof, widow. And although Mac has come to Inglenook to get a handle on fatherhood, his newly discovered six-year-old son has set his sights on finding his father a wife. Olivia, however, is busy getting Inglenook ready for its new season, so she doesn't have time to deal with her growing attraction to the dangerously seductive Mac.

Cat-shifter Curt Warrick doesn't want to take a road trip with five other guys, but when his best friend leaves him no choice, he finds himself in a van headed to Louisiana. There is a bright side: The trip will give him a chance to expand his enterprise. Missi (Mississippi) Peugeot hates rich men who think they can throw money around to get what they want. When a flashy, yet fetching, stranger shows up in a van announcing he's looking to buy property and begin developing the town, she speaks out of anger and accidentally puts a curse on Curt.

When a letter from his supposedly deceased mother finds its way into his hands, life changes in an instant for international pop star Bodhi Beckett. Reeling from the deception of those closest to him, Bodhi spirals out of control and is sent to a secluded mansion in the coastal mountains of Southern California for some rest and relaxation. But the retreat proves to be anything but relaxing when a raging wildfire sets the landscape around him ablaze. While escaping the flames, Bodhi rescues Breeze, a quirky, pet-loving woman, and together the two fight their way to safety.

No one ever told me what to do if I ended up 40-something, divorced, and jobless. When my ex knocks at my door with his new girlfriend, I somehow manage to turn them into toads. But that's not possible, right? Still, my ex-husband's car is in the driveway, and he's nowhere to be found. Which doesn't look great for me. So I do the only rational thing I can think of...I run for it, straight back to the small town I grew up in. Mystic Hollow is exactly the way I remember it, except now it seems that everything I thought was normal and boring is supernatural.

When his best friend and fellow Navy SEAL, Evan Prescott, died in his arms on the battlefield, Logan Kincaid gave his word to watch over Evan's widow. But for two years he kept his distance... torn between honoring his solemn vow and succumbing to his secret love for his fallen comrade's wife. But when Dani Prescott desperately reaches out to Logan for the help only he can give, he rushes to her side - determined to fight for her safety as fiercely as he fights against his own buried desire.

Dani Botelli has vowed to step out of her demanding movie star mother's shadow, and is determined to start a new chapter in her life. But two men are making for double the trouble. There's Jake, her police detective almost-ex who wasn't so hot as a husband but sizzles between the sheets. He needs Dani's intuition and visions to help him solve crimes. Then there's her high school crush, Michael, a former NFL pro who's now her mom's hunky lawyer.

Nothing about Alice Wood's life is normal right now. Her fiancé Patrick called off their wedding and relationship only days before their nonrefundable wedding trip. And though a luxurious European river cruise for one is just what she needs, it's not what she gets... Due to a horrible misunderstanding, Alice is now cramped in her "romantic" suite with one of Patrick's friends.

Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn't have time for fairy tales . . . or the patience for constant emails claiming she's betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she's learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly email won't convince her otherwise. Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed.

Madison Nichols, aspiring actress, is floundering. Her rent is due and she needs a job. Desperately. After getting a tip about an open position, she rushes to Jameson Technologies and meets CEO Jared Jameson. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, she is put in the awkward position of pretending to be his girlfriend. Not the job she was applying for. And when she finds out Jared lied to her to get what he wanted, she decides to get back at him. In front of his family.

When Dani convinces her five sisters to sink everything they have into purchasing a dilapidated old plantation, it seems like a great idea at the time. They need a site to expand their business, and none of them are strangers to the occasional escapade. Little do they know buying Willowberry Plantation House will be the biggest adventure of their lives. As New Orleans natives, the sisters aren't at all surprised to find a ghost haunting their new house. What they don't see coming is their discovery that the land was cursed by a wrathful witch centuries earlier.

Texas socialite Delaney Cartwright knows she can't go through with her wedding. But she can't simply call the whole thing off. The nuptials to her nice, predictable childhood friend are the social event of the season (not to mention that her mother would freak). To fan the flames of this dying ember, Delaney abducts her fiancé for a night of passion - and grabs the wrong guy! A guy with smoldering eyes and an irresistible country-boy swagger...

Alex Gentry doesn't scare easily. Working as an undercover FBI agent in the biker bar he and his brothers co-own, he hangs with deadly criminals in order to gather information. Danger is just part of the family business. But one thing has him terrified: his attraction to Madison Parker. Madison is the cousin of Ramon Alonzo, son and second in command to a notorious drug lord Alex is trying to bust. Alex has befriended Ramon as part of his cover, and Madison has unknowingly become his informant. Falling for her could risk this case - and both their lives.

Seven wyverns, six dragon mates, and a mouthy demon named Jim. When word comes that a demon lord plans to curse all of dragonkin, Aisling, Drake, and the rest of the weyr take immediate action. But before they can find out just who is behind the threat, and why the curse is being cast, the red dragons disappear, leaving behind oddly familiar - but deadly - new foes.

Outcast due to their ability to manipulate time, shunned by the mortal and immortal worlds alike, a traveler's life is anything but easy. Peter Faa is a member of the Watch tracking down a murderer, and unfortunately, all clues seem to point toward his own estranged family of travelers. Any of his cousins could be guilty, but which one? They're all experts in the art of stealing time... After surviving a lightning strike, Kiya Mortenson is determined to get just one thing in her life right. And if that means taking a job as nanny to five pugs on a campsite in the Oregon wilderness, then so be it.

Maximilian Oceanus arrives in Spellbound Falls just in time to save Olivia Baldwin from an overly aggressive suitor, only to find himself attracted to the beautiful, if rather aloof, widow. And although Mac has come to Inglenook to get a handle on fatherhood, his newly discovered six-year-old son has set his sights on finding his father a wife. Olivia, however, is busy getting Inglenook ready for its new season, so she doesn't have time to deal with her growing attraction to the dangerously seductive Mac.

So what if he's a bit older and usually regards a human female as dinner, not a dinner date? Yes, Roman Draganesti is a vampire, but a vampire who lost one of his fangs sinking his teeth into something he shouldn't have. Now he has one night to find a dentist before his natural healing abilities close the wound, leaving him a lopsided eater for all eternity. Things aren't going well for Shanna Whelan either... After witnessing a gruesome murder by the Russian mafia, she's next on their hit list. And her career as a dentist appears to be on a downward spiral because she's afraid of blood.

After personal assistant Kiersten Abbott wins sixty-nine million dollars in the lotto, she suddenly has more than enough money to quit her impossibly demanding job. But where's the fun in that? She decides to stay and exact a little revenge on her insufferable ass of a boss.

Claire Hansen was a Keeper, a member of that select group that kept the universe in one piece. And now she'd been Summoned to the Elysian Fields Guesthouse, a rundown bed-and-breakfast that seemed to attract the most unusual clientele. And Claire was not happy about this latest assignment, not happy at all. Not when she'd been tricked into taking over here by a horrible little gnome of a man who'd abandoned his post before she'd even figured out who he really was. Not when room six held a resident who'd been sleeping there for so many years that she really needed a good dusting - except that it was far too dangerous for anyone to get that close to her.

Kate Connor is your average, everyday mom with two kids, a husband, and one very big secret...she used to be a Demon Hunter for a secret arm of the Vatican. Now retired, she's more interested in the domestic than the demonic. So when she catches sight of a demon in Walmart, she tells herself it's some other Hunter's problem. But when that demon attacks her in her kitchen, retirement is no longer an option.

Madison Nichols, aspiring actress, is floundering. Her rent is due and she needs a job. Desperately. After getting a tip about an open position, she rushes to Jameson Technologies and meets CEO Jared Jameson. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, she is put in the awkward position of pretending to be his girlfriend. Not the job she was applying for. And when she finds out Jared lied to her to get what he wanted, she decides to get back at him. In front of his family.

Alex Gentry doesn't scare easily. Working as an undercover FBI agent in the biker bar he and his brothers co-own, he hangs with deadly criminals in order to gather information. Danger is just part of the family business. But one thing has him terrified: his attraction to Madison Parker. Madison is the cousin of Ramon Alonzo, son and second in command to a notorious drug lord Alex is trying to bust. Alex has befriended Ramon as part of his cover, and Madison has unknowingly become his informant. Falling for her could risk this case - and both their lives.

One sexy fire captain. One Cajun chef. One combustible kitchen. When chef Colby Robicheaux returned home to New Orleans to save her family restaurant, the last person she expected to reconnect with was her brother's best friend and her childhood crush. As tempting as a sugar-coated beignet, Jason is one dish she can't afford to taste. Colby can't wait to leave the place where her distrust of love and commitment originated and go back to Vegas.

Twelve years and too many pairs of stilettos later, Shaelyn Lawrence is back where she started: New Orleans. She's returned only to take care of her grandmother, and after that? She's out, hopefully long before she sees irresistible Brady Taylor, the boy who stomped all over her heart. But when a family member approaches her for help, there's only one person she can to turn to...and he's just as infuriatingly sexy as she remembers. Oh boy. New Orleans Detective Brady Taylor has his sights on the finish line: getting promoted to sergeant.

From Romance Writers of America comes a never-before-published collection of tales that showcases the breadth and complexity of the world's most popular genre of fiction!

Ryder Copeland is an accomplished architect...not to mention tall and sexy. He's everything a hero should be, and Lord knows Maisy Kelly has read enough of her great-aunt Eloise's romance novels to recognize one when she sees one. But like all fairy tales, Maisy can't help but wonder if this Prince Charming is too good to be true.

Kenzie Bennett just wants to attend her sister's wedding without looking like the loser her mother thinks she is. When she mistakes Camden for her date-for-hire, she doesn't realize her good fortune. But her ex left her scarred, and even though Camden is everything she'd want in a man, she's not looking for love. Camden James needs a distraction from his crazy stalker ex-girlfriend, and Kenzie fits the bill perfectly. Spunky and full of life, she makes him laugh. The more time he spends with her, the more he falls in love. Too bad she's made it clear there isn't anything between them.

The problem with being born with expectations is the failure to live up to any. Christopher might be the antichrist, but taking over the world and leading the minions of darkness sounds like a lot of work. And while slacking is a sin his supposed dad Lucifer approves of, his lack of goals is a problem. Personally, Christopher would rather just work hard enough to make ends meet - and maybe buy a six-pack. But fate is conspiring against him.