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".

For Everly Dalton, it’s a bit like trying to walk in stilettos - while drunk, blindfolded, and wearing the wrong size shoes. She hasn’t exactly been lucky in love. In fact, she just might be cursed. A guy who only dates lookalikes of his ex? Pass. An alpha-male businessman who bolts in a moment of crisis? No, thanks. A date that turns into the creepiest interview in the history of ever? Where does she find these guys? Join Everly as she dishes to her friends about the surprising, unpredictable, and sometimes crazy adventure that is modern dating.

Five years after her first stay as a foreign exchange student, American librarian Liyah returns to the Middle East. The move goes against her practical nature, but even a plain Jane like herself sometimes thirsts for adventure. When a favor for a friend thrusts her into the path of beguiling billionaire Asad Sharif, Liyah’s sensible life may become something far more...sensual. Liyah is ensnared by Asad’s seductive charm, but she’s way out of her depth. However, with a push from Asad’s meddling sister, Liyah is soon leading the lavish lifestyle of a sheikha.

Rose O'Brian wants to spice up her love life, and Jack Winston seems like the answer. Sexy, funny, and with a killer smile, Jack is every woman's fantasy. All she wants is one night of passion, nothing more. But Jack has a secret that stops him from taking her up on her offer, stops him from having the one thing he wants more than his next breath - beautiful Rose O'Brian. Rose has her own secrets.

Paige has secrets she hides and a past she’d give anything to forget. Broken and wounded after the devastating loss of her parents, she’s tried to navigate her way alone. Earning a lucrative contract in the modeling industry, she puts her past behind her. Until everything comes crashing down. Now she lives a quiet life out of the spotlight. When her best friend Hazel pulls her back, she tries to fight the attraction she feels for Gabe, a charming bachelor who wants more than friendship. Gabe has been relegated to the friend zone when he so clearly wants more.

Sarah's been reduced to being the girl with the crazy mom, a reputation that's not likely to increase her chances of landing her dream promotion at the resort across the bay. Especially with the new competition. Ben is an attractive, sophisticated, and savvy businessman, clearly there to destroy her chances of getting the job. Her luck couldn't be worse. Benjamin Rothschild has come to the popular upscale resort strictly for business. There to evaluate Sarah for a new position, he can't help being drawn in by her.

Allison Hale had always played second fiddle. She didn’t win the science fair, have a million friends, or become the world’s best mom. That was her sister, Betsy. However, Ally’s managed to do something her sister couldn’t - connect her family’s failing business to the wealthy Carmichaels through her engagement to their son, Brent. All she has to do is plan the wedding of the century with the hottest wedding planner in town, Megan Kinkaid. How could she have ever guessed that Megan and her zest for life would threaten everything she’d carefully planned?

Stretched thin from running a business and organizing a wedding, the last thing Jace needs is the world's most eligible bachelorettes trying to sneak their way into his bed. When he meets Ella grooming the inn's horses, though, she leaves him breathless. Jace knows that he can't let her get away.

What happens when Mr. Slow and Steady finds himself on a collision course with Ms. Full-Speed-Ahead? The forecast is smooth sailing for Oliver Chancellor, one of Galveston’s premier financier. Destined to take his place in his family’s bank, Chance is content with the future that’s been mapped out for him, right down to his upcoming engagement to a prim debutante. But when beautiful Aurora St. Claire crosses his path, Chance recklessly plunges into uncharted territory with nothing but his heart to guide him-and a beautiful woman to tempt him. Propelled by a lifelong dream to buy the island home reportedly haunted by her colorful ancestors, Aurora desperately needs Chance’s help in securing a business loan and she won’t take no for an answer. In the midst of convincing the hesitant blue blood to take a chance on her dream, Aurora awakes his hidden streak of red-hot passion. Before they know it, the mismatched pair are all tangled up in a reckless desire and headed for trouble-trouble in the name of love.

Within these walls, he became my solace, my sanctuary, and my strength. I am not strong. I am just a survivor of circumstance. Isn't that what we all do? Survive? Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through. Mine are just more.... complicated.

Handsome, wealthy resort owner Treat Braden is used to getting what he wants. When Max Armstrong walked into his life six months earlier, he saw right through the efficient and capable facade she wore like a shield, to the sweet, sensual woman who lay beneath. She sparked an unfamiliar desire in him for more than a one-night stand, leaving his heart reeling and his blood boiling.

It should be a dream assignment—leave my boring day-to-day routine and travel to a seaside mansion to interview superstar author Jack R. R. Bestia. Who wouldn’t want that? Me, that’s who. He has a reputation for being reclusive and temperamental, but that’s not why I’m leery of the assignment. It’s because the first (and last) time I met Jack…well, let’s just say I didn’t make a good impression. When I get to the mansion, things don’t go much better. The only way I manage to squeak in is by signing a massive nondisclosure agreement. And I soon figure out why.

Reid Jackson - I’m a simple guy. There are only two things I love: my family and playing professional football. I may not understand why people get married, but I’d go anywhere for my brother, even his friend Camille’s wedding. Once I’m there, I realize our Bronx upbringing has left me unprepared for the world of old Southern money. Over 24 hours, I see scandal, threats, and lies. It’s a life I don’t relate to, a place I never want to belong. Even so, when the minister asks if anyone objects, I shock not only myself but also the beautiful bride when I stand up.

Beth Anders is just fine with her single life. Why mess with the heart when it isn't broken? Being alone means never dealing with hurtful ex-girlfriends or parents who have shunned her for being gay. Being alone has its perks - she's just fine on her own. Or so she thinks until the young, vivacious, and sexy Toni Vincent enters her life. In one moment, Toni quickly unlocks Beth's heart, and the two women plan a future together. But when Beth learns that Toni may not want the same type of happy ending she had in mind, fate steps in yet again to steal her happily ever after.

With the arrival of Courtney Carrington, Margaret's youth sparked into color. But first loves can scar. Margaret hasn't seen Courtney in years and that's for the best. But when Courtney loses her father and returns to Tanner Peak to take control of the family store, Margaret comes face-to-face with her past and the woman she's tried desperately to forget. The fact that Courtney has grown up more beautiful than ever certainly doesn't help matters.