Claimed By Love

The Ryders are a series of stand-alone romances that may also be enjoyed as part of the larger Love in Bloom series. CLAIMED BY LOVE is a USA TODAY BESTSELLER "You can always rely on Melissa Foster to deliver a story that's fresh, emotional and entertaining. Make sure you have all night, because once you start you won't want to stop reading. Every book's a winner!" New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak "Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" New York Times Bestseller Lauren Blakely In CLAIMED BY LOVE... Family law attorney Gabriella Liakos has one true love, Elpitha Island, where she grew up and hopes someday to return. But Elpitha is in financial ruins, and Gabriella will do anything to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Duke Ryder is a savvy real estate investor set on making Elpitha into an exclusive resort. Unlike other investors, he's not scared of purchasing a property where one family has roots so deep they practically reach the ocean floor...until he meets his beautiful, stubborn, and enticing tour host―the daughter of the owner of most of the island. Gabriella sets out to dissuade Duke from purchasing Elpitha, but Duke has other ideas. He wants Gabriella and the island. Duke's powerful seduction draws Gabriella in, but can a savvy investor who's used to glamour and glitz, and a woman interested in preserving the culture she adores find a happily ever after together? *** READY FOR MORE RYDERS? Seized by Love (Blue) Claimed by Love (Duke) Chased by Love (Trish) Swept Into Love (Gage) Rescued by Love (Jake) *** The RYDERS are the newest addition to the Love in Bloom series. Characters from each series appear in future books. Each book may be read as a stand-alone novel, or as part of the series. Visit Melissa's website for a series guides and checklists. READ THE FULL LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES: SNOW SISTERS: Sisters in Love, Sisters in Bloom, Sisters in White THE BRADENS (Weston, CO): Lovers at Heart, Destined for Love, Friendship on Fire, Sea of Love, Bursting with Love, Hearts at Play, Promise My Love (novella), Daring Her Love (novella) THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO): Taken by Love, Fated for Love, Romancing My Love, Flirting with Love, Dreaming of Love, Crashing into Love THE BRADENS (Peaceful Harbor, MD): Healed by Love (Nate), Surrender My Love River of Love, Crushing on Love, Whisper of Love, Thrill of Love THE REMINGTONS: Game of Love, Stroke of Love, Flames of Love, Slope of Love, Read, Write, Love, Touched by Love SEASIDE SUMMERS: Seaside Dreams, Seaside Hearts, Seaside Sunsets, Seaside Secrets, Seaside Nights, Seaside Embrace, Seaside Lovers, Seaside Whispers WILD BOYS AFTER DARK: Logan, Heath, Jackson, Cooper BAD BOYS AFTER DARK: Mick, Dylan, Brett, Carson HARBORSIDE NIGHTS: Catching Cassidy, Discovering Delilah, Tempting Tristan

Discover the magic of New York Times bestseller Melissa Foster's writing, and see why millions of readers have fallen in love with the Love in Bloom series. The Ryders are a series of stand-alone romances that may also be enjoyed as part of the larger series. CLAIMED BY LOVE is a USA Today Bestseller! "You can always rely on Melissa Foster to deliver a story that's fresh, emotional and entertaining. Make sure you have all night, because once you start you won't want to stop reading. Every book's a winner!" _New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak "Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" New York Times Bestseller Lauren Blakely IN CLAIMED BY LOVE... Family law attorney Gabriella Liakos has one true love, Elpitha Island, where she grew up and hopes someday to return. But Elpitha is in financial ruins, and Gabriella will do anything to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Duke Ryder is a savvy real estate investor set on making Elpitha into an exclusive resort. Unlike other investors, he's not scared of purchasing a property where one family has roots so deep they practically reach the ocean floor...until he meets his beautiful, stubborn, and enticing tour host_the daughter of the owner of most of the island. Gabriella sets out to dissuade Duke from purchasing Elpitha, but Duke has other ideas. He wants Gabriella and the island. Duke's powerful seduction draws Gabriella in, but can a savvy investor who's used to glamour and glitz, and a woman interested in preserving the culture she adores find a happily ever after together? *** MORE RYDERS! Seized by Love (Blue) Chased by Love (Trish) Swept Into Love (Gage) Rescued by Love (Jake) The RYDERS are the newest addition to the Love in Bloom series. Characters from each series appear in future books. Each book may be read as a standalone novel, or as part of the series. Visit Melissa's website for a series guides and checklists. Read the complete LOVE IN BLOOM series: SNOW SISTERS Sisters in Love Sisters in Bloom Sisters in White THE BRADENS (Weston, CO) Lovers at Heart, Reimagined (Treat & Max) Destined for Love (Rex & Jade) Friendship on Fire (Josh & Riley) Sea of Love (Dane & Lacy) Bursting with Love (Savannah & Jack) Hearts at Play (Hugh & Bree) THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO) Taken by Love (Luke) Fated for Love (Wes) Romancing My Love (Pierce) Flirting with Love (Ross) Dreaming of Love (Emily) Crashing into Love (Jake) THE BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS Promise My Love (Rex & Jade's Wedding Novella) THE REMINGTONS Game of Love (Dex) Stroke of Love (Sage) Flames of Love (Siena) Slope of Love (Rush) Read, Write, Love (Kurt) SEASIDE SUMMERS Seaside Dreams (Bella) Seaside Hearts (Jenna) Seaside Sunsets (Jamie) Seaside Secrets (Amy) Seaside Nights (Sky) Seaside Embrace (Hunter) Seaside Lovers (Grayson) Seaside Whispers (Matt) THE BRADENS (at Peaceful Harbor) Healed by Love (Nate) Surrender My Love (Cole) River of Love (Sam) Crushing on Love (Shannon) Whisper of Love (Tempest) Thrill of Love (Ty) REVIEWS "With her wonderful characters and resonating emotions, Melissa Foster is a must-read author!" New York Times Bestseller Julie Kenner "Melissa Foster is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Fated For Love was amazing. It kind of reminds me of Jill Shalvis' books and they are my benchmark for contemporary romance awesomeness." --Books Like Breathing (on Fated for Love) NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Melissa loves to chat with book clubs and readers, invite her to your next event. Foster's love stories are perfect steamy romance beach reads for fans of big-family, small-town romance. The characters are romantic and loyal, some are billionaires, others are not, and you're always guaranteed a happily ever after. This book will resonate with people looking to read: small-town romance, feel-good romance, contemporary romance, romantic comedy, series, romantic comedy series, racy, sexy, heartwarming, heart-warming romance, family, love, love books, kissing books, emotional journey, contemporary, contemporary romance, romance series, long series, long romance series, sassy, captivating romance, hot, hot romance, forbidden love, sparks, loyalty, swoon, beach romance, books for summer, books for the beach, beach series, sweetbriar, seaside, love in bloom, bradens, remingtons, ryders, whiskeys, wicked, dirty, fierce, alpha heroes, funny romance, laugh romance, modern romance, cape cod, cape cod romance, USA today, USA today bestseller, smart romance, something funny to read, billionaire, billionaire romance, love story, millionaire, wealthy heroes, happily ever after, happy ending, lighthearted romance, light romance, romance for adults, contemporary romance 2023, funny romance new, swoonworthy, romance series, romance books, beach reads, new adult, small-town, funny, female, stories, sensual, sensual romance, alpha male, dominant male, hot guy, fun summer reads, love and friendship, new romance series, hot romance series, new small-town series, beach reads 2023, new beach read, free beach house book, free beach romance, free summer romance, free vacation romance, free summer book, steamy romance, romance series, family romance, big family, friend romance, friends to lovers, contemporary crush, love story, romance love, new adult romance, contemporary romance and sex, romance billionaire series, friendship.

This book is a history of love and the challenge love offers to the laws and customs of its times and places, as told through poetry from the Song of Songs to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. It is also an account of the critical reception afforded to such literature, and the ways in which criticism has attempted to stifle this challenge. Bryson and Movsesian argue that the poetry they explore celebrates and reinvents the love the troubadour poets of the eleventh and twelfth centuries called fin’amor: love as an end in itself, mutual and freely chosen even in the face of social, religious, or political retribution. Neither eros nor agape, neither exclusively of the body, nor solely of the spirit, this love is a middle path. Alongside this tradition has grown a critical movement that employs a 'hermeneutics of suspicion', in Paul Ricoeur’s phrase, to claim that passionate love poetry is not what it seems, and should be properly understood as worship of God, subordination to Empire, or an entanglement with the structures of language itself – in short, the very things it resists. The book engages with some of the seminal literature of the Western canon, including the Bible, the poetry of Ovid, and works by English authors such as William Shakespeare and John Donne, and with criticism that stretches from the earliest readings of the Song of Songs to contemporary academic literature. Lively and enjoyable in its style, it attempts to restore a sense of pleasure to the reading of poetry, and to puncture critical insistence that literature must be outwitted. It will be of value to professional, graduate, and advanced undergraduate scholars of literature, and to the educated general reader interested in treatments of love in poetry throughout history.

A New York Times bestseller and enduring classic, All About Love is the acclaimed first volume in feminist icon bell hooks' "Love Song to the Nation" trilogy. All About Love reveals what causes a polarized society, and how to heal the divisions that cause suffering. Here is the truth about love, and inspiration to help us instill caring, compassion, and strength in our homes, schools, and workplaces. “The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet we would all love better if we used it as a verb,” writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, renowned scholar, cultural critic and feminist bell hooks offers a proactive new ethic for a society bereft with lovelessness--not the lack of romance, but the lack of care, compassion, and unity. People are divided, she declares, by society’s failure to provide a model for learning to love. As bell hooks uses her incisive mind to explore the question “What is love?” her answers strike at both the mind and heart. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the “100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life.” All About Love is a powerful, timely affirmation of just how profoundly her revelations can change hearts and minds for the better.

Discover the magic of New York Times bestseller Melissa Foster's writing and see why millions of readers have fallen in love with the Bradens. A Braden Christmas celebration! Family and babies abound during this fun-filled evening of love, laughter, and happily ever afters! Spend the evening catching up with our loving and loyal Bradens in this holiday celebration and fall in love all over again with each of the Bradens at Weston, and their children. A VERY BRADEN CHRISTMAS is a novelette and part of the Love in Bloom big-family romance collection. All Love in Bloom stories are filled with family, fun, and the truest, deepest love of all. Characters from each sub-series appear in future books so you never have to leave your favorite characters behind. Readers are kept up to date with engagements, weddings, and births. Visit Melissa's website for LOVE IN BLOOM family trees, series checklists, and more. Love in Bloom Big-Family Romance Collection: Snow Sisters The Bradens (at Weston) The Bradens (at Trusty) The Bradens (at Peaceful Harbor) The Bradens & Montgomerys (Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls) The Remingtons The Ryders Seaside Summers Bayside Summers Wild Billionaires After Dark Bad Billionaires After Dark Tru Blue and The Whiskeys Harborside Nights ~ "When it comes to contemporary romances with realistic characters, an emotional love story and smokin' hot sex, author Melissa Foster always delivers!" The Romance Reviews "You can always rely on Melissa Foster to deliver a story that's fresh, emotional and entertaining. Make sure you have all night, because once you start you won't want to stop reading. " New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak "With her wonderful characters and resonating emotions, Melissa Foster is a must-read author!" New York Times Bestseller J. Kenner "Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" New York TimesBestseller Lauren Blakely "I highly recommend this book to fans of Nora Roberts (one of my personal faves) and fans of a sweet story filled with heat and heart." - Tia Bach, author (on Sisters in Love) "Melissa Foster is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Fated For Love was amazing. It kind of reminds me of Jill Shalvis' books and they are my benchmark for contemporary romance awesomeness." --Books Like Breathing "I highly recommend the Snow Sisters all the Braden and Remington books....They remind me of the McCarthy of Gansett series and The Green Mountain series. I am a huge fan of Marie Force. And now Melissa Foster has joined her ranks...." - I Love NY, Reviewer ~ NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Melissa loves to chat with book clubs and readers, invite her to your next event. Foster's love stories are perfect steamy romance beach reads for fans of big-family, small-town romance. The characters are romantic and loyal, some are billionaires, others are not, and you're always guaranteed a happily ever after. This book will resonate with people looking to read: small-town romance, feel-good romance, contemporary romance, romantic comedy, series, romantic comedy series, racy, sexy, heartwarming, heart-warming romance, family, love, love books, kissing books, emotional journey, contemporary, contemporary romance, romance series, long series, long romance series, sassy, captivating romance, hot, hot romance, forbidden love, sparks, loyalty, swoon, beach romance, books for summer, books for the beach, beach series, sweetbriar, seaside, love in bloom, bradens, remingtons, ryders, whiskeys, wicked, dirty, fierce, alpha heroes, funny romance, laugh romance, modern romance, cape cod, cape cod romance, USA today, USA today bestseller, smart romance, something funny to read, billionaire, billionaire romance, love story, millionaire, wealthy heroes, happily ever after, happy ending, lighthearted romance, light romance, romance for adults, contemporary romance 2023, funny romance new, swoonworthy, romance series, romance books, beach reads, new adult, small-town, funny, female, stories, sensual, sensual romance, alpha male, dominant male, hot guy, fun summer reads, love and friendship, new romance series, hot romance series, new small-town series, beach reads 2023, new beach read, free beach house book, free beach romance, free summer romance, free vacation romance, free summer book, steamy romance, romance series, family romance, big family, friend romance, friends to lovers, contemporary crush, love story, romance love, new adult romance, contemporary romance and sex, romance billionaire series, friendship.

The Ryders are a series of sexy stand-alone romances. These hot contemporary romance novels feature alpha male heroes and sexy, empowered women. They're flawed, funny, passionate, and relatable to readers who enjoy new adult romance, contemporary romance, and women's fiction. "You can always rely on Melissa Foster to deliver a story that's fresh, emotional and entertaining. Make sure you have all night, because once you start you won't want to stop reading. Every book's a winner!" New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak "Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" New York Times Bestseller Lauren Blakely In SWEPT INTO LOVE...It's been years since Sally Tuft's husband died and she was left to raise her teenage son alone. And almost as long since she told the only other man she'd ever wanted that they should be just friends. Now her son has left for college and Sally has no distractions to keep her from thinking about her best friend and coworker, Gage Ryder, and what could have been. Gage always believed that one day Sally would move past the death of her husband and they would finally explore the passion that's simmered between them since the day they met. Tasked with opening a new youth center in Oak Falls, Virginia, Gage hopes the trip away is just what they need to finally come together. Before Gage and Sally ever reach Oak Falls, one night at a conference changes everything, putting their friendship and their love on the line, and the two must decide if getting swept up in love is the beginning of forever, or the end of their friendship as they know it. GET MORE RYDERS! Seized by Love (Blue) Claimed by Love (Duke) Chased by Love (Trish) Rescued by Love (Jake) Swept Into Love (Gage) The RYDERS are part of the LOVE IN BLOOM big family romance collection. Each book may be read as a stand-alone novel, or as part of the series. Read the complete LOVE IN BLOOM series: SNOW SISTERS Sisters in Love Sisters in Bloom Sisters in White THE BRADENS (at Weston, CO) Lovers at Heart, Reimagined (Treat & Max) Destined for Love (Rex & Jade) Friendship on Fire (Josh & Riley) Sea of Love (Dane & Lacy) Bursting with Love (Savannah & Jack) Hearts at Play (Hugh & Bree) THE BRADENS (at Trusty, CO) Taken by Love (Luke) Fated for Love (Wes) Romancing My Love (Pierce) Flirting with Love (Ross) Dreaming of Love (Emily) Crashing into Love (Jake) THE BRADENS (at Peaceful Harbor) Healed by Love (Nate) Surrender My Love (Cole) Crushing on Love (Shannon) River of Love (Sam) Whisper of Love (Tempest) Thrill of Love (Ty) BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS Promise My Love (Rex & Jade's Wedding Novella) Daring Her Love (1001 Dark Nights) THE REMINGTONS Game of Love (Dex) Stroke of Love (Sage) Flames of Love (Siena) Slope of Love (Rush) Read, Write, Love (Kurt) Touched by Love (Boyd) SEASIDE SUMMERS Seaside Dreams (Bella) Seaside Hearts (Jenna) Seaside Sunsets (Jamie) Seaside Secrets (Amy) Seaside Nights (Sky) Seaside Embrace (Hunter) Seaside Lovers (Grayson) Seaside Whispers (Matt) NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Melissa loves to chat with book clubs and readers, invite her to your next event. Foster's love stories are perfect steamy romance beach reads for fans of Susan Mallery, Linda Lael Miller, Brenda Novak, Debbie Macomber, Jill Shalvis, Maisy Yates, and other big-family, small-town romance fans. The characters are romantic and loyal, some are billionaires, others are blue collar, and you're always guaranteed a happily ever after.

Ask any girl on the street what womanhood is about, and you’ll get a blank stare in return. No one knows. Young women are devoid of vision beyond popularity, material wealth, a cute boyfriend or a dream career. Even in Christian circles, significant questions are often left unanswered: What’s the point of purity? Modesty? Femininity? What’s biblical womanhood? Most of all, girls wonder at the longing in their souls for something greater. Uncompromising: A Heart Claimed By a Radical Love cuts straight to the heart of young womanhood. Rather than setting up rules, it pulls at the desire in every woman’s heart to live a life of purpose, fully surrendered to His radical love. Written in an edgy teen voice, Uncompromising is a collection of “field notes” from the author’s own search for answers…and the story of how she stumbled upon the one Cause worth dying for. Contains study questions for group or individual use.