Ellie: I married Jake Talley when I was 16 because I was an orphan left with a cattle ranch to run, and getting hitched was the only way to keep me out of a foster home. It was supposed to be easy; a marriage of convenience. Only I'm not a kid anymore and my husband is the hottest guy in Riverbend, Montana. The plan was to get divorced when I turned 18, but life got in the way. Life, my feelings...the kiss. Did I mention the kiss? Only now he won't let himself touch me. The right thing to do would be to divorce Jake. But I can't help wonder, what would it be like to be Jake's wife?

Women haven't been hired to work in my bar for a reason: they're too tempting and too distracting - too much of a liability. That's why I shocked myself by hiring Avery Cole. She's young, carefree, and happy - a beautiful distraction. When she's around, the devastation of my past gets buried under layers of lust and desire...hints of a life I once lived but have completely given up on. I've already had my love and now that's gone; there's no need to try again. Even if love is staring me right in the face with a pair of deep brown eyes and no expectations.

Setting up a dating website with the guy I've been in love with since I was five wasn't my smartest idea. Especially since he's my best friend's brother - thankfully, she's okay with the fact I'm pulling a Sandy, and I'm hopelessly devoted to him. Which is why it's time to get over him. So I do something crazy and ask Dominic Austin to find me a date. He does - if I find him one, too. Since we own Stupid Cupid, it should be easy, right? And it is. My date is perfect. His date is perfect. Everything is perfect. Until he kisses me.

Between an epic downpour and a King Tide, the historic streets of Charleston are flooded - and dangerous. A late night tragic accident along the Lower Battery leads Liz Talbot straight to her next case. Who's the client? Well, now, therein lies the first puzzle. When the police arrive at the scene of the accident, Poppy Oliver claims she's only trying to help. But the dent on the front of her Subaru and the victim's injuries provoke a certain Charleston police detective's suspicious nature.

Matt Osborn had no idea coaching his five-year-old nephew's soccer team would get him so much attention from the mothers - attention he doesn't want now that he's given up on love and having a family of his own. Yep, Matt's the last of his bachelor buddies and plans on staying that way. That is until he finds himself face to face with the woman who broke his heart.

Private Investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews have worked their share of domestic cases. So when Tammy Sue Lyerly hires them to find out what her husband is hiding, they expect to find something looney but harmless. After all, this is the guy who claims to have been a DEA agent, a champion bull rider, and a NASCAR driver. But when he turns up dead the morning after Liz and Nate deliver incriminating photos, Tammy Sue becomes the prime suspect.

Workaholic Lanie Rogers lives a completely nomadic lifestyle. Her job keeps her on the move, and relationships are a complication she doesn't need. That is until she meets Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hotness at a prewedding party. Complicated? Maybe. But lately, Lanie's life has been missing a little something - and sexy playboy Tyler Norris offers something she definitely can't refuse.

Can she piece together a dream on a shoestring? As new owner of the falling-apart family homestead in West Texas, Dee Bennett is wrangling ways to earn a living, mend fences with farm and family, and manifest her dreams as a writer - all while nurturing the budding relationship with her beau, outdoorsy photographer Max Miller. But when a drop-dead-gorgeous, high-powered handler for a candidate in a key statewide election blows into Claxton, rivalries bigger than politics and football develop.

Wild. Reckless. Stubborn. That's Luke Malloy in a nutshell. The solitary life of a rancher and the untamed Montana wilderness make him feel alive - and nothing will ever change that. Not even being thrown from his horse and forced to accept a stranger's help. The fact that this stranger is a beautiful blonde with a passion for ranching that rivals his own doesn't hurt. But there's a secret she's hiding, and Luke won't rest until he uncovers it.

Every writer knows you can't go home again, but that's just what is required of West Texas expatriate Dee Bennett-Kaufmann when her mother is badly injured in a mysterious car accident. Single-again "Dr. Dee" has never been on the A-team in her trendy East Coast MFA program. When a prestigious summer fellowship gives her the chance to finally finish her book, salvage her career, and spend some quality time with her college-age daughter, Dee's certain her luck is about to change.

The citizens of Claxton, Texas, are justifiably possessed with a healthy thirst - on the dusty plains of West Texas, they're in the midst of a seven-year drought when the town finally votes to go wet. The opposition faction, and its leader, Miss Jessica Cater, manage to shut down the promotion beer-store owner Buck Turlock has cooked up just in time for the Fourth of July celebration. But will Buck's schemes lead Miss Jessie to rethink her position?

Somebody pushed Shelby Poinsett out her second-floor library window, and it wasn't her husband. At least that's what Charleston's most prestigious law firm wants Liz Talbot to prove. Liz must run the spectrum of Southern society, from the local homeless shelter where Shelby volunteered to the 100-year-old book club where Charleston's genteel ladies are dying to join, to bring a killer to justice.

He stepped off a jewel of a sternwheeler onto one of the most beautiful plantations in all of Louisiana. And into her life. Celine's breath caught in her throat. Heat smoldered in her belly. What a sensual man. The scion of the Andrews family carried an aura of personal magnetism so powerful, a sensation close to fright swept through her. She stood still and aloof, masking her emotions. His intense gaze seemed almost a physical touch. She held her head at a proud, haughty angle, not flinching from his bold scrutiny.

Romance isn't an option for Holly Greenwood. With her wedding planner career on the line, she needs to stay focused, and that means pleasing her demanding boss, not getting distracted by her mind-alteringly hot neighbor.... Ex-marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world's craziest women. At least that last one he can fix.

Raised beneath the big Montana sky, Matt Malloy was never meant to be a jet-setting businessman. But he'll do anything to protect the family ranch he shares with his brothers. Coming home after a two-week trip to Italy, Matt wants nothing more than to shed his suit and tie for a well-worn pair of jeans and ride his horse up to the cabin for some alone time. The last thing he needs is a big-city lawyer invading his privacy - even if she is the most beautiful woman he's ever seen....

The Charleston streets are dressed for the holidays in sophisticated Southern style: topiaries adorned with red ribbons, garland entwined with white lights, and poinsettias potted in gold planters. The high-class bordello in a stately historic home is certainly no exception. When Private Investigator Liz Talbot's dear friend, Olivia, swears she saw a dead body in the parlor of this bordello, one Olivia accidentally co-owns, Liz promptly comes to her aid.

Sergeant First Class Avi Grant's return to Tallgrass, Oklahoma, is a long-deferred wish come true. With her final tour in Afghanistan over, Avi can focus on her future - a job here at home and a family of her own. There's just one thing she has to do first: visit her beloved commanding officer's widow and share her grief. The last thing she expected was to feel an instant attraction to the woman's son. Too bad the sexy surgeon is impossible to ignore...and even harder to resist.

The 23-year-old heiress from one of Charleston's oldest families vanished a month ago. When her father hires private investigator Liz Talbot, Liz suspects the most difficult part of her job will be convincing the patriarch his daughter tired of his overbearing nature and left town. That's what the Charleston Police Department believes. But behind the garden walls South of Broad, family secrets pop up like weeds in the azaleas.

Three novellas and an unforgettable short story, now available together in one festive package!

Rachel Murphy longs for home and family. Since childhood, she's dreamed of owning her own pastry shop, but after being burned by a celebrity chef and losing her lease in Arizona, Rachel's spending the holidays with her brother in Montana. To keep her dream alive, she's creating custom gingerbread houses and selling them around town. All she needs is a bigger kitchen - and to stay away from her brother's handsome boss.