His Mistress By Christmas

For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been perfectly happy as a widow—and thoroughly independent. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him. Sebastian will come into his inheritance in a matter of weeks—if his family deems him responsible enough. There's no better way to prove his maturity than with a wife. But though Veronica will share his bed, she refuses to marry. However, Sebastian has a plan: An intimate sojourn at his new country house will surely change Veronica's mind. For Sebastian never takes no for an answer. And he intends to persuade his Christmas mistress that they belong together—in this, and every season to come. . . "This Victorian yuletide romance provides erotic sizzle and delectably clever dialogue on every page." –USA Today

After discovering her husband Lamar's dirty secrets, Casey decided that it was time for a vacation. Her friend Toni, and younger sister, Zari invited her for a ride along to a friend's house in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Casey was tired of spending the weekends and holidays alone. Deep inside, she knew she needed some type of peace of mind. Casey found herself becoming lost in her work and smothered by defeat in her failed relationship. Since the incident with Lamar had become overwhelming and the projects that were due at work were piling up, she knew this break was much needed. While reaching Oklahoma City, Casey tried to keep an open mind to whatever was in store for her there. As she began to explore the city, she soon found herself in the arms of another woman's man. Not just any other woman, but someone that she was in close contact with every day while in town. Watch as Casey's harmless vacation could possibly turn into an unexpected but eventful sexcapade.

All signs point north for Not-So-Saint Nick Wild West Boys, Book 1 After too many mugs of mulled wine, introverted accountant Holly North lets her best friend guilt her into filling in as Mistress Christmas at Sugar Plums, a Christmas-themed strip club. The combination of a velvet mask and a Mrs. Claus-meets-dominatrix costume gives Holly the courage to approach the hot-bodied man across the room who is as lickable as a candy cane. Detective Nick West is working undercover to find the sexy vixen who supposedly robbed his buddy at Sugar Plums. His interest in the pole dancers vanishes faster than a flying sleigh upon his introduction to Mistress Christmas-a leggy brunette with smoky eyes and a lush mouth that begs for hours beneath the mistletoe. One lap dance and their attraction flares hotter than a fireplace on a cold winter evening. And Nick is only too happy to oblige when Holly blurts out her secret Christmas wish...a night filled with sweet and dirty carnal pleasures that will land them both on the naughty list.

Mistress Christmas: Wild West Boys 1

CHRISTMAS MIRACLES brings together three previously published and long out-of-print novellas, each of which demonstrates how the wonder of the season can bring together two would-be lovers or two estranged lovers and create a bond between them that will last a lifetime and beyond. In "The Wassail Bowl" an aristocrat has summoned his young son to a family house party but is disconcerted when his estranged wife and her illegitimate daughter arrive with him. When he expresses his displeasure, she picks up a large bowl of wassail from the hall table and dumps its sticky contents over his head. The only way for the story to proceed after that is up! In "The Bond Street Carolers" a gentleman who hates Christmas is appalled when his ears are assailed on fashionable Bond Street by a group of inferior carolers--until, that is, he is rooted to the spot by the pure soprano voice of a young boy soloist. As a connoisseur of music and the arts, he must have the boy to sing at one of his concerts--but the child's widowed mother will have nothing to do with what she sees as exploitation. In "Guarded by Angels" an estranged couple are separately marooned at the same cottage by a snow storm and must spend Christmas together without coming to blows. But they have a great deal of assistance from their very different guardian angels.

Kate Pullinger's Governor General's Literary Award-winning novel about a lady, her maid and the man that comes between them. Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London society but when she contracts tuberculosis, she and her devoted lady's maid, Sally, set sail for Egypt and an entirely new life. Sally and Lady Duff Gordon thrive in their new and exotic surroundings, learning Arabic, adopting native dress and visiting the tombs of ancient pharaohs. Soon, Sally adapts to this new world and to the heady freedom she's never known before. But freedom and romance are luxuries a lady's maid can ill afford. When Sally yearns for more than her status entitles her to, she receives a brutal reminder that she is the mistress of nothing.

Ah, Christmas, what a glorious season! Decorations, friends, good will to all, a time of magic and miracles. But not for Miss Julia Shaw. She is new to the area, her farm desperately needs upkeep, and the pittance she earns from her artwork doesn’t pay the bills. And then her pet goose runs away. Making matters worse, when she first meets the devastatingly attractive Lord Tyndall, the abominable man insults her as he returns her goose. No peace and good will for her this Christmas. Exhausted from a year of business travel, Robert, Baron Tyndall, returns to London only to fall prey to his mother’s matchmaking attempts. Escaping to his country estate, he finds solace with the birds in his aviary. Except that a plague of a goose that belongs to his new neighbor, Miss Shaw, has somehow entered his aviary and wreaked havoc. That disagreeable lady had better keep her misbegotten bird to herself. Too bad she is so lovely. What a horrendous Christmas this season has become. But even in the blackest depths, a spark of light can glimmer. For at this wondrous time of Christmas, miracles and magic can and do happen. A sweet, traditional Regency romantic comedy with fantasy elements. 61,000 words, about 220 pages. wealthy hero, aristocrat hero, poor heroine, artist heroine, love triangle, goose, ducks, countryside romance, hero-heroine misunderstanding, interfering animals, talking animals, comedy, sweet romance, British historical fiction, fantasy romance, Christmas romance

The "fierce and eloquent" (New York Times) memoir by the award-winning author of May We Be Forgiven and This Book Will Save Your Life The acclaimed writer A. M. Homes was given up for adoption before she was born. Her biological mother was a twenty-two-year-old single woman who was having an affair with a much older married man with a family of his own. The Mistress's Daughter is the ruthlessly honest account of what happened when, thirty years later, her birth parents came looking for her. Homes relates how they initially made contact and what happened afterwards, and digs through the family history of both sets of her parents in a twenty-first-century electronic search for self. Daring, heartbreaking, and startlingly funny, Homes's memoir is a brave and profoundly moving consideration of identity and family. "A compelling, devastating, and furiously good book written with an honesty few of us would risk." —Zadie Smith "I fell in love with it from the first page and read compulsively to the end." —Amy Tan