Lucy Phillips doesn’t want to spend her Christmas vacation dodging her ex-boyfriend, so when he turns up at the airport to give her a ride home, Lucy panics and asks a complete stranger to kiss her. Although the kiss is incredible, Lucy never expects to see the guy again. Is it bad luck or destiny when Lucy comes down with a sore throat and the new doctor in Snow Valley is none other than Cole Taggart, the guy she kissed at the airport?

The first time I met Hudson Rothschild was at a wedding. I’d received an unexpected invitation to one of the swankiest venues in the city. Hudson was a groomsman and quite possibly the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. He asked me to dance, and our chemistry was off the charts. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with him, considering the wedding I was at. But our connection was intense, and I was having a great time. Though the fun came to a screeching halt when Hudson figured out I wasn’t who I’d said I was.

Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds. I was starting to lose hope. Until a knock at my door came, and God answered my prayers. Except...uh...wrong prayer, God. I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate. Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway. While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined. Then, cupcakes showed up at my door.

I’m a full-time single dad to three daughters and CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. I don’t have time to fall in love - I’m too busy trying to run a business, keep the red socks out of the white laundry, and get the damn pillowcases on without owing a dollar to the swear jar. Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s 27, the boss’ daughter, and my new part-time nanny - which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her. What kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her?

Londyn McCormack didn’t have a typical childhood. She ran away at 16 and spent her youth searching for a place to call home. She’s built a good life for herself through hard work and a little luck, but after a devastating divorce, she’s running away again. Her life collides with Brooks Cohen, a small-town mechanic who gives her a reason to stop driving on that runaway road.

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".

My planned trip for two unexpectedly turned into a trip for one. Rather than let my breakup get me down, I packed my bags and decided a week at a luxury resort was just what I needed. But one calamity after the next, and suddenly I was stuck without a hotel room, along with a few hundred other people. It looked like my fancy vacation was about to turn into me sleeping on the hotel lobby floor. Until I overheard a gorgeous man pretending to be someone he wasn’t in order to steal a reservation from a guest who hadn’t shown up yet.

Cassie Miller is broke. Her parents cut off all funding when she dropped out of medical school, and graduate school is expensive. A full-time nanny job at the Wellington estate is the answer to her problems, except working for beautiful, successful Brook Wellington wasn’t in the job description. Brook has always had a head for business. Born into a global shipping empire, she sits at the helm running it with skill and savvy. But success comes at a cost. Her priority is her six-year-old son, but she can’t be in two places at once.

Some believe that special someone is out there just waiting to be found. Jorie Andolini is one of those people and has spent a lot of time envisioning that moment. She bumps into a woman at a grocery store, the woman drops a can of peas, Jorie picks it up, their eyes meet, and two souls connect. But it's actually a wasted trip to New York, a snowstorm, and a canceled flight home that puts her in the path of Lena Vaughn.

Taylor Finn aspires to be a stunt driver, but driving a limo is what pays the bills. When she finds herself chauffeuring a drunk guy harassing his date, she leaves him stranded and is sure she’s going to get fired. Maybe it's finally time to pursue her dream. Iris Fleming’s flight to Atlanta was a scene from a disaster movie, the scariest landing ever. She’d desperately wanted a part on a new sci-fi series, until the director made a pass at her. Now Iris doesn’t want the role and has no intention of getting back on a plane.

Hannah Townsend has the perfect job at a New York magazine, a small but elegant apartment in the Upper West Side, and a successful beau named Miles Monahan. This year, she’s leaving the icy city sludge for sunshine! She’s got tickets for two to Barbados, and she’s meeting Miles at the airport for a week of cocktails, sandy beaches, and the music of steel drums.

Nico Marshall’s living her best life. Her packaging company’s turning a profit and she’s just been labeled Chicago’s most promising up-and-coming artist. The only thing missing is love. When she meets a beautiful woman on the train with an indescribable sweet and sugary scent, Nico’s ready to make her move.

Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. When the pair starts their adult lives in New York City, they add stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to the group, solidifying a found family and sense of belonging they’ve always craved.

Vanessa Larkin just agreed to an out-of-town job assignment over the holidays. With the promise of a hefty bonus if she can get things done by the new year she heads for tiny Fraser Hills. Determined to succeed, she’s not worried about whipping the shutdown process into overdrive to meet the challenge. Only when she gets there she realizes her bosses haven’t been upfront with the town. Mike Marshall, a widower raising a teenaged daughter, is angry to find out that his grandfather has sold the family business to some big corporation.

Rob, a charismatic ex-fighter pilot severely disabled with MS, has been steadfastly cared for by his wife, Jan, for many years. Quite by accident one day, Terry, a young writer/postal carrier, enters their lives and turns it upside down. Injecting joy and turbulence into their quiet existence, Terry draws Rob and Jan into her lively circle of family and friends until the growing attachment between the two women begins to strain the bonds of love and loyalty, to Rob and each other. Contains mature themes.

I can't say they didn't warn me. Right now, I realize: I probably should have listened. Because if there's anyone who has no business playing a sport that requires a helmet, pads, and a liability waiver, it's this girl. The same girl who once knocked herself out during a game of backyard baseball. I stepped up to the plate, pulled the bat back a little too far to swing, and clocked myself in the back of the skull. Boom. Lights Out Lucy. That's how I got my roller derby name. So yeah. Maybe I should have known better.

Sharon has lived calmly in Chinook Springs, Washington, her entire life. All that changes when her best friend of twenty years, Penny, takes an impulsive trip to seek out her only living relatives in Finland, and brings Sharon with her.

Twenty-three-year-old Clark Stevens, a popular wide receiver with a potential NFL contract, has a few problems. He's got a jealous girlfriend, a narrow-minded and controlling father, an attention problem, and an unexpected and powerful attraction to the trauma doctor - the male trauma doctor - who treats him for a broken bone.

When Emmanuelle Peroni’s father - and mayor of her town - asks her to help rehab Cooper Endicott’s image, she’s horrified. Cooper drives her crazy in every way possible. But he’s also her father’s protégé, and she can’t say no to him without him finding out the reason why: Cooper and her have a messy past. So Emmanuelle reluctantly launches her father’s grand plan to get this Casanova someone to settle down with and help him lose his Lothario reputation.

Mav disappeared before I could ever tell him about the child I carried. I’ve had years to get over him, and I’ve tried. But the second I see him again my heart lurches and it’s like all that time evaporates. I still burn for him, even though I know it’s a bad idea. I try to remind myself about the bad things: his possessiveness, his quick temper...but he’s different now. More mature. Protective. Settled. And hiding something. Something bigger than the child we share.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she's cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide.

Audrey’s boss gave her one objective - head to the small town of Winter Valley, and acquire that bed-and-breakfast the company has had their eye on forever. A big sale like this could change her career...and she’s the only one who could convince the owner to make the deal. On her way, she crashes into the truck of sexy, unavailable, single dad Colin Bradford. There’s something magical about being in a small town at Christmas. Life is slower than her hectic job in the city. She finds herself falling for Winter Valley...and for Colin.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.

Five Years Earlier: Henry Dunne knows three things: that agreeing to host this raucous house party was a terrible idea, that he absolutely cannot show up to his nursing shift tomorrow with a hangover, and that the beautiful redhead in the corner will be sleeping in his bed tonight.

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.

Hockey coach Ashley Jaswal doesn't take nonsense from anyone … except her overbearing and superstitious family. They believe she's a good luck charm for her brother Jas, the newest Vancouver Canucks draft pick, forcing Ash to attend all his games as he rises up the NHL ranks, sacrificing her personal life (not that she has one—who decided hockey season needed to be 10 months long anyway?). Ash also clashes with Jas’s teammate, Canucks captain Devin Snyder.

Asher Donovan is a living legend—the darling of the Premier League, the (arguably) greatest footballer in the world. But his reckless antics and recent team transfer have caused much controversy, and when his feud with his rival-turned-teammate costs them a championship, they’re forced to “bond” during off-season cross-training. Surviving the summer shouldn’t be hard…until Asher meets their new trainer. She’s beautiful, talented, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t take his mind off her.

Oakland-bred LaVeesha “Vee” Gilliam (Coco Jones) is a determined single mother of an autistic son and a gifted aspiring coder. When Vee loses her job as a food-services worker at the onsite restaurant at Grapengine, a large Silicon Valley tech company, she’s unable to pay for her son’s much-needed specialized education. By a twist of fate, mistaken identity, and her tech skills, Vee meets Troy Wilson (Keith Powers), the company’s wealthy founder and CEO and a wunderkind in the tech industry, who believes that Vee is a college-educated techie who works at his company.

We're not free to give into this. She's 19, and I'm 38. And I'm her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.

After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.