The high-powered high life loses all its allure in the face of family tragedy. A return to the Gulf Coast life and a chance to reconnect and reclaim what really matters leads to unexpected passion and a final chance at true love in this tumultuous summer romance from best-selling author Gerri Hill!

College professor Johanna Marshall swore she would never fall in love again. She especially did not want to become involved with someone who has a reputation as an extreme womanizer...someone like Kelly Sambino. But on a hot summer night, Jo finds herself unable to resist Kelly. What follows is something Jo would like very much to quickly forget. Embarrassed after their night of passion, Jo hopes she will never have to see Kelly again. Then, when Fall classes begin, Jo finds herself face to face with the college's new Literature Professor - Kelly Sambino.

When Laura Fry returns to her childhood home to care for her invalid mother, she hopes the writer’s block that has swallowed her writing career will disappear. She doesn’t plan on turning into a “yard girl” but her mother’s long neglected lawn beckons her to return it to the lush and colorful display it had been before her mother’s accident. She also doesn’t plan on making friends with the “nympho lesbian” next door but she finds it impossible not to watch the parade of playmates the neighbor brings to her pool.

Park ranger Kyler Clemons had loved the vibe and the beach of Mustang Island. Getting caught with her boss’ wife, however, got her transferred to the wild and remote Davis Mountains State Park - in the middle of nowhere. Now after four years, she’s forgotten about the beach and has embraced the mountain life, feeling like a local. She hangs out at the Cottonwood Creek Bar and Grill. She watches football with Mark Walton. She’s taken up birdwatching and stargazing. She is perfectly content. No stress. No drama. And no desire to date. Then Lexie Walton waltzes into her life.

Abby Carpenter is in a tailspin knowing she is about to spend 10 days in the company of her ex-girlfriend - who is now engaged to her brother - for a family holiday gathering in Red River, New Mexico. The same ex-girlfriend who last year at Christmas had lured her into bed. Abby’s solution? A pretend girlfriend for the holidays would surely keep her ex away and in her own room at night, right?

Homicide detective Tori Hunter was used to doing things her way. But even after six different partners in seven years, she was not prepared for the hot-tempered Samantha Kennedy. Samantha, on the other hand, was trying to juggle a new job and a demanding boyfriend and now finds herself with an even greater challenge - being partnered with the most difficult detective in the entire squad.

Photojournalist Reagan Bryant has just returned from six-month stint in Afghanistan. Haunted by the tragedy that ended her last assignment, she's searching for some peace - something to end the guilt and chase the trauma away. Two weeks at the resort hotel owned by her future sister-in-law's father seems like the perfect escape.

Grieving over the loss of her family and feeling like her life is unraveling, Lindsey McDermott quits her job, gets a puppy, and retreats to her grandparents' home in the Texas Hill Country. She spends her solitary days walking childhood trails and reminiscing, trying to reconcile the conflict within her as she struggles with survivor's guilt. After the death of her husband, Hannah Larson needs a change. At the suggestion of her mother-in-law - and against her better judgment - she and her son Jack move to tiny Utopia and into her husband's grandmother's house.

Was it an earthquake? A meteor? Or something else entirely? Running from a marriage proposal in Seattle, Dana Ingram returns to her parents' farm in Western Colorado for a two-week vacation in Paradox Valley. Only a couple of days into it, however, a small earthquake leaves them without power. Cars won't start, batteries don't work, and cell phones are useless.

Ashleigh Pence had been the all-American high school girl: cheerleader, prom queen...and in love with another girl. Gina Granbury hasn't thought about Calloway High in 20 years, but the arrival of the invitation to the class reunion brings back memories of Ashleigh and the betrayal that drove them apart. With no real choice, Ashleigh has to go the event, hoping that it's not the one reunion that Gina decides to attend after all these years. Gina's curiosity is suddenly strong. Her long-broken heart has never mended, but that's no reason to go back in time...is it?

Dr. Carly Cambridge, wildlife biologist, returns to the Texas Gulf Coast to manage the latest Habitats for Nature project, restoring the woods and wetlands to their natural state. She's devoted to the environmental cause with a passion usually reserved for a lover - something she hasn't had since a disastrous love affair 10 years earlier. Having sworn off women and relationships, She's content to live her life alone, focusing on her latest project. Wildlife photographer Pat Ryan, duped into volunteering her talents to Habitats for Nature, wants no part of the overzealous Dr. Cambridge.

Lauren Voss has a nice, quiet, orderly life running her grandmother’s Heron Bay Resort on the Texas coast. Three years removed from a break-up that left her ex - and her life - behind in San Diego, she’s adjusted to the slow pace in Rockport, seeking out neither new friends nor lovers. Vandalism at the resort’s clubhouse - and a cryptic message written in blood - brings Detective Harley Shepherd, with her obnoxious Hawaiian shirts, into her life.

As interior designer Jay Burns watches her long-term relationship slowly unravel, she runs into - literally - landscape designer Drew Montgomery. As their paths cross, both professionally and personally, a friendship develops, one they each try to maintain despite the obvious attraction between them. But still, Jay is not willing to throw away an eight-year relationship, even when it becomes painfully obvious the end is near.

Megan Phenix - bar and grill owner in gay-friendly Eureka Springs - is labeled as "playing hard to get" and finds herself the object of much unwanted attention. If only she were seeing someone...maybe the women would leave her in peace. Leah Rollins thinks 50 is too young to retire, so instead she opens a store in the touristy shopping district of Eureka Springs, next to the popular Phenix Grill. She soon learns that Megan Phenix is a bit on the grumpy side as they spar over parking spaces....

Jennifer Kincaid, on her way to a writer's workshop in the Colorado mountain town of Lake City, gets lost and is stranded by an avalanche. Catherine Ryan-Barrett, running from the fame and fortune of her family name, wants nothing more to spend the winter alone and sequestered in her high mountain cabin. She is not prepared for a party crasher. After spending two months together, they form an unlikely friendship that deepens even further.

Photojournalist Reagan Bryant has just returned from six-month stint in Afghanistan. Haunted by the tragedy that ended her last assignment, she's searching for some peace - something to end the guilt and chase the trauma away. Two weeks at the resort hotel owned by her future sister-in-law's father seems like the perfect escape.

Megan Phenix - bar and grill owner in gay-friendly Eureka Springs - is labeled as "playing hard to get" and finds herself the object of much unwanted attention. If only she were seeing someone...maybe the women would leave her in peace. Leah Rollins thinks 50 is too young to retire, so instead she opens a store in the touristy shopping district of Eureka Springs, next to the popular Phenix Grill. She soon learns that Megan Phenix is a bit on the grumpy side as they spar over parking spaces....

He was my older brother's best friend. He was never supposed to be mine. I thought we would get it out of our systems and move on. One of us did. One of us left. Now he's back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I'd turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me. He broke my heart last time. This time he'll obliterate it.

Twenty-eight-year-old Brooklyn Campbell is having a bad day. A speeding ticket, a towed car, and a broken heel are all working against her laid-back vibe. To top it all off, her birth mother, whom she's never met, has requested contact. The only bright spot is an impromptu date with a beautiful and mysterious brunette. Jessica Lennox is what you would call a high-powered executive. She's the head of a multimillion-dollar advertising firm in New York City, and it didn't happen by accident.

Up-and-coming wedding photographer Leah McHale's career is on the rise - thanks in no small part to the Wedding Belles, the elite New York wedding planning agency that always throws top-tier business Leah's way. So when one of the Belles asks Leah to fill in at the former First Daughter's wedding, Leah is overjoyed to say yes - until she finds out who she'll be working with.

Claire Walters has worked for Jason Danvers as his assistant for three years, but he’s never appreciated her as a woman - until the day she jumps out of a cake at his friend’s bachelor party.... To support her ailing mother, Claire is forced to work a second job at a party-planning company. But when her handsome boss ends up with a front-row seat to the action, she’s mortified - and he’s intrigued. With Danvers International in the middle of an important merger, Jason asks Claire to accompany him on weekend business trips - and suddenly all her fantasies are coming true.

Zoe Hart owns the coffee shop in one of the hottest upscale resorts in Florida, which is run by her childhood best friend, Dylan Jackson. Even though Dylan is a workaholic, he still finds time to enjoy the beautiful women who pass through his hotel - all of them except Zoe. She has been in love with Dylan for years without him noticing. But with her 30th birthday fast approaching, she realizes she can't keep pining away for a man who doesn't show the merest sign of romantic interest in her.

I just wanted an easy summer job.... That didn’t happen. Now, I’m in a living nightmare as I work alongside this monster of a man with mesmerizing emerald eyes that look at me inappropriately every time I see him. To add insult to injury, he has a tan I just want to lick, and a butt worth drooling over every time he purposefully walks by me. But, he's an asshat, and looks are everything. I mean, aren't. LOOKS. ARE. NOT. EVERYTHING. Why do I have to keep reminding myself of this? This is a story of little restraint, too much desire, questionable actions, and the best sex I've ever had.

Bryna feels his eyes on her. Hot, seductive, enticing. He's at least 10 years older than her 17 years, and he knows exactly what he's doing to her with that look. Walking away would be the smart thing to do...but she can't. Not that first night when he takes her home and claims her body. Not when he shows up in her life again with expensive gifts to win her trust. Not even when she's falling for him, and everything else is falling apart....

Donya Stewart's chest filled with the soft beating wings of butterflies when she first met Emmet Grayne's green eyes at the ripe age of five. Unable to identify the tugging pressure within her when in his presence, Donya moved through the first several years of her life addled by her feelings for the boy who was her best friend's brother and very much like her own sibling. But one cool autumn night in her mystifying teenage years, Emmet erases any ideas Donya has of him being anything like a sibling.

With his tight muscles and vibrant ink, certified bachelor Reece Walker is the kind of man who’s used to having any woman he craves in his bed - except Jenna Montgomery. She’s been his best friend for years, and that’s a line he just can’t cross. Until a wild, stolen kiss changes everything. Now anything goes, and Reece is determined to use every wicked skill in his sensual repertoire to claim Jenna as his friend, his lover, his everything.

A summer job. That's all it was supposed to be. It never crossed my mind that I was about to collide with a man who would obliterate every plan I ever made. My mother has always warned me that love is like a lightning bolt and it strikes without warning. But I had no intention of getting struck by either lightning or love anytime soon. I'd be too busy finishing my journalism degree and landing a job in a city far more sophisticated than Phoenix. There was certainly nothing in the cards about getting involved with an ex-ballplayer turned nightclub boss.

The rules of Society X are simple...break them and you're out. The Dark Room is the only place you can live out your fantasies and no one will ever know it's you. For Parker, what started out as a business transaction has turned into an addiction. For Mia, it's been a chance to discover who she truly is. What happens in the dark will have you begging for more...

Lissianna has been spending her centuries pining for Mr. Right, not just a quick snack, and this sexy guy she finds in her bed looks like he might be a candidate. But there's another, more pressing issue: her tendency to faint at the sight of blood . . . an especially annoying quirk for a vampire. Of course it doesn't hurt that this man has a delicious-looking neck. What kind of cold-blooded vampire woman could resist a bite of that?

When Liz Dougherty’s first reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper finds her covering a state senator’s impromptu press conference, she has no idea how drastically her life is about to change. Senator Brady Maxwell may look the part with his devastating good looks and impeccable style, but his politics rub Liz the wrong way, and she’s not going to let him off easy. Liz’s hardball question catches Brady off guard and shows her editor, Hayden Lane, that she’s headed places as journalist. But to Liz’s surprise, she’s also headed for a secret, high-stakes romance with Brady Maxwell.

Finley Knight, ex-cop turned private investigator, lives a lonely, solitary life. She uses her downtime to reflect on the past and wonders what could have been. Detective Dee Woodard transferred to Corpus Christi nine years ago to put distance between herself and her ex...an ex she was still in love with. A murder investigation leads her to Moonlight Avenue and Finley Knight.

Grieving over the loss of her family and feeling like her life is unraveling, Lindsey McDermott quits her job, gets a puppy, and retreats to her grandparents' home in the Texas Hill Country. She spends her solitary days walking childhood trails and reminiscing, trying to reconcile the conflict within her as she struggles with survivor's guilt. After the death of her husband, Hannah Larson needs a change. At the suggestion of her mother-in-law - and against her better judgment - she and her son Jack move to tiny Utopia and into her husband's grandmother's house.

Lauren Voss has a nice, quiet, orderly life running her grandmother’s Heron Bay Resort on the Texas coast. Three years removed from a break-up that left her ex - and her life - behind in San Diego, she’s adjusted to the slow pace in Rockport, seeking out neither new friends nor lovers. Vandalism at the resort’s clubhouse - and a cryptic message written in blood - brings Detective Harley Shepherd, with her obnoxious Hawaiian shirts, into her life.

Park ranger Kyler Clemons had loved the vibe and the beach of Mustang Island. Getting caught with her boss’ wife, however, got her transferred to the wild and remote Davis Mountains State Park - in the middle of nowhere. Now after four years, she’s forgotten about the beach and has embraced the mountain life, feeling like a local. She hangs out at the Cottonwood Creek Bar and Grill. She watches football with Mark Walton. She’s taken up birdwatching and stargazing. She is perfectly content. No stress. No drama. And no desire to date. Then Lexie Walton waltzes into her life.

Abby Carpenter is in a tailspin knowing she is about to spend 10 days in the company of her ex-girlfriend - who is now engaged to her brother - for a family holiday gathering in Red River, New Mexico. The same ex-girlfriend who last year at Christmas had lured her into bed. Abby’s solution? A pretend girlfriend for the holidays would surely keep her ex away and in her own room at night, right?

Was it an earthquake? A meteor? Or something else entirely? Running from a marriage proposal in Seattle, Dana Ingram returns to her parents' farm in Western Colorado for a two-week vacation in Paradox Valley. Only a couple of days into it, however, a small earthquake leaves them without power. Cars won't start, batteries don't work, and cell phones are useless.

When Laura Fry returns to her childhood home to care for her invalid mother, she hopes the writer’s block that has swallowed her writing career will disappear. She doesn’t plan on turning into a “yard girl” but her mother’s long neglected lawn beckons her to return it to the lush and colorful display it had been before her mother’s accident. She also doesn’t plan on making friends with the “nympho lesbian” next door but she finds it impossible not to watch the parade of playmates the neighbor brings to her pool.

The isolated, sleepy little village of Timber Falls—built on the bend of a swift mountain river—swells during the summer months as tourists flock to town to run the river, lured there by the Class IV and Class V rapids. A gruesome murder of a college student—a river rat—brings the FBI to town. Lynn Carter, a disgraced LAPD detective, was offered an out—a position on a team of unorthodox FBI agents. When her commander sent her to Timber Falls—a town by only the stretch of the imagination—she had no idea she would find her peace there. No idea she might find love.

Megan Phenix - bar and grill owner in gay-friendly Eureka Springs - is labeled as "playing hard to get" and finds herself the object of much unwanted attention. If only she were seeing someone...maybe the women would leave her in peace. Leah Rollins thinks 50 is too young to retire, so instead she opens a store in the touristy shopping district of Eureka Springs, next to the popular Phenix Grill. She soon learns that Megan Phenix is a bit on the grumpy side as they spar over parking spaces....

Madison Lansford and Shannon Fletcher met when they were 10 years old. Madison - daughter of wealthy parents and Shannon, daughter of their live-in maid and cook - became fast friends, yet both knew their place in life. There was never a doubt that they would become lovers... there was also never a doubt that Madison would marry and maintain her social standing in the community. Little by little, they grew apart, their love affair ending with Madison's marriage and pregnancy.

Danielle Stevens is Hollywood's "next big thing" in a long line of next big things. When she goes to Dallas to prepare for a role - shadowing Detective Harper Jeremiah - she's not only running from her fame...she's also running from a stalker. Harper Jeremiah wouldn't recognize a Hollywood actress even if she bumped into one on the street. But the perceived babysitting gig quickly turns into a protection detail as the threats against Dani escalate.