Angelina Hunter was seriously minded, and it was a good thing. Her father’s ranch needed a woman who could endure the strenuous work of ranch life. Since her mother’s death, Angelina had been that woman. She had no time for frivolity; no time for a less severe side of life. Not when there was so much to be done—hired hands to feed, a widower father to care for and an often ridiculously lighted-hearted younger sister to worry about. No. Angelina Hunter had no time for the things most young women her age enjoyed. And yet, Angelina had not always been so hardened. There had been a time ...

THE CHILD WAS STRAWBERRY-SWEET AND LOVING…BUT THE MAN WAS FORBIDDEN FRUIT. Annette Jordan had accepted the unavoidable reality that she must toil as a governess to provide for herself. Thankfully, her charge was a joy—a vision of youthful beauty, owning a spirit of delight. But it was Annette’s employer, Lord Gareth Barrett, who proved to be the trial—for she soon found herself living in the all-too-cliché governess’s dream of having fallen desperately in love with the man who provided her wages. The child loved her, but could she endure watching hopelessly as the beautiful woman...

Excerpt: It was cold—so miserably cold. Athena knew by the numbness in her own fingers and toes that Annabel’s, Marta’s, and Bronwen’s must be frozen stiff. Yet she hoped that their merriment—in singing Christmas carols on the doorsteps or in the parlors of those who opened their doors or invited them inside for a moment—would offset their discomfort. After all, a happy heart warmed many a frigid soul, as well as ice-cold appendages. As a child, Athena had adored caroling. It was with warm fondness that she thought back on all those Christmas seasons of the past when her entire ...

There was the muffled sound of audience members standing up, and Baylee and Candice turned to look behind them. “Holy smokes!” Baylee breathed. “It’s like a Navy SEAL convention or something,” Candice added. And it was! Baylee couldn’t believe that over twenty-five of the people in the orientation audience were tall, dark, handsome, buff guys dressed all in black. Each man stood with his feet apart and hands held at his back—similar if not exactly like a military “at ease” stance. “They’re all packing heat too,” Baylee whispered to Candice as she noted all the ...

For Katie Matthews life held no promise of true happiness. Life on the prairie was filled with hard labor, a brutal father, and the knowledge she would need to marry a man incapable of truly loving a woman. Men didn’t have time to dote on women—so Katie’s father told her. To Katie, it seemed life would forever remain mundane and disappointing—until the day Stover Steele bought her father’s south acreage. Handsome, rugged and fiercely protective of four orphaned sisters, Stover Steele seemed to have stepped from the pages of some romantic novel. Yet, his heroic character and ...