Connie Mason

As the head of a highly regarded child welfare agency, Veronica Overton is one of the most respected women in Baltimore. But when a child placed in foster care is harmed, Veronica is criticized in the media by fiery children's advocate Schyler Henderson. With her reputation in ruins and her confidence shattered, Veronica sets out to rebuild her life. Yet her search leads to family secrets she never knew-and ignites a smoldering attraction to Schyler that she is determined to resist.Ever since his own traumatic childhood, Schyler has been driven to help children caught in an uncaring system. When he learns that Veronica is actually a kind, capable woman, he's determined to help her uncover the truth about her family and reclaim her good name. Not even the conflict between them can cool their fire and dampen their passion as they battle distrust and pain to save a love they never dared dream of....

17 year old Lily Montague is everything Captain Matthew Hawke, 28, desires--lovely, vivacious and wealthy enough to finance the fleet of ships the Boston patriot is planning to sail against the British. Then and there, the charming pirate vows to claim the defiant miss as his bride. But he had never dreamed that he could be undone by Lily's innocent beauty or her sweet rapturous promise of forever in her embrace

"After he's blamed for a botched assignment during war, former cavalry officer Rhys Warrick turns his back on "honor". He spends his nights in brothels doing his best to live down to the expectations of his disapproving family. But one last mission could restore the reputation he's so thoroughly sullied. All he has to do is seduce and ruin Miss Olivia Symon and his military record will be cleared. For a man with Rhys's reputation, ravishing the delectably innocent miss should be easy. But Olivia's honesty and bold curiosity stir more than Rhys's desire. Suddenly the heart he thought he left on the battlefield is about to surrender."-- P. of cover.

"Few authors portray the Scottish highlands as lovingly or colorfully as Hannah Howell."—Publishers WeeklyNew York Times Bestselling Author Hannah Howell Fleeing an obsessed suitor, Fiona MacEnroy rides recklessly into Scotland's wildest hills and is captured by a horde of well-armed men. Instead of battling for her life, she finds herself swept away by a powerful stranger and carried off to a remote, forbidding keep. Oddly, here at Scarglas, a place shrouded in mystery and the black reputation of the rogue clan MacFingal, Fiona feels a strange, comforting sense of safety...and a consuming passion for its rugged laird. Spellbound by Fiona's beauty yet determined to fight the longing she ignites, Ewan MacFingal plots to ransom Fiona back to her kin. Sworn to protect his eccentric clan against the dangers invading Scarglas, he refuses to be weakened by the power of a woman whose every glance and touch tell him that she is everything his heart desires. Now, as pride and passion war within, dark peril and forbidding secrets will force them to trust what has yet to be spoken - the unshakable power of a timeless love.

He rode into Chirk Castle on his pure black destrier. Clad in black from his gleaming helm to the tips of his toes, he was all battle-honed muscles and rippling tendons. In his stark black armor he looked lethal and sinister, every bit as dangerous as his name implied. He was a man renowned for his courage and strength, for his prowess with women, for his ruthless skill in combat. But when he saw Raven of Chirk, with her long, chestnut tresses and womanly curves, he could barely contain his embroiled emotions. For it was her betrayal twelve years before that had turned him from chivalrous youth to hardened knight. It was she who made him vow to trust no woman--to take women only for his pleasure. It was she who had made him ruthless and bitter and incapable of love. But only she could unleash the passion in his body, the goodness in his soul, and the love in his heart.

ICE -- Cool as a cucumber and totally dedicated to her career as a newspaper woman, Maggie Afton was just the kind of challenge Chase McGarrett enjoyed -- especially when he discovered that she had skimpy silk underthings and a simmering sensuality beneath her businesslike exterior. RAPTURE -- Virile and all too sure of himself, Chase was just the kind of man Maggie detested -- especially when she learned that he had no intention of taking her across the Yukon to report on the Klondike Gold Rush. Cold and hot, reserved and brash -- Maggie and Chase were a study in opposites. But when they joined forces in the frozen wilderness, the fiery sparks of their searing desire burned brighter than the northern lights...

"Desiree Nichols is no stranger to heartbreak, but when her hot, young boyfriend abandons her after two years of being together, Dez's foundations begin to crumble. To make matters worse, a family crisis is calling her home to face the people she left behind, the ones who never accepted her as anything but trouble. Fine. If that's how they see her, she'll rise to the occasion. Miami's hot, sultry nightlife offers plenty of opportunities for a girl to drown her disappointments, and Dez wastes no time hooking up with her old friends. Together, she and her girlfriends prowl the town, attending private parties where every fantasy can be fulfilled, every desire satisfied with no strings attached. The last thing on Dez's mind is finding bliss in the arms of a seductive new partner who couldn't be more different from her ex-- and who awakens in her a hunger she's tried to deny. But that's exactly what happens. Now, in clandestine couplings at four-star restaurants, sizzling explorations in downtown sex clubs, and private romantic dinners where sensual boundaries are pushed and hearts are laid bare, two lovers will awaken in each other an intense, soul-deep passion that could change their lives forever"--Page 4 of cover.

Australian Trilogy #1 New South Wales, 1807 It was a vast land of wild beauty and wilder passions; a frontier as yet untamed by man; a place where women had few rights and fewer pleasures. For a female convict like flame-haired Casey O'Cain, it was a living nightmare. Exquisitely beautiful, utterly helpless, she was expected to cater to her master's every whim. And from the first, arogant, handsome Dare Penrod made it clear what he wanted of her. Casey knew she should fight him with every breath in her body, but her heart told her he could make a paradise of this wilderness for her. His callused hands took rights she should never have granted, his warm lips whispered of pleasures she had never known, and his hard body promised a love she would never relinquish Australian Trilogy: Bold Land, Bold Love-#1 Wild Land, Wild Love-#2 Brave Land, Brave Love-#3

BARTERED BRIDE Desperate to escape her leering Uncle Hugo, lovely young Juliet Darcy fled a forced marriage --- only to find herself aboard a ship full of mail-order brides bound for California and promised to a man she had never met. Darkly handsome Rodrigo Delgado had no intention of claiming a husband's rights --- until he looked into Juliet's flashing azure eyes. Here was a woman who set his passions ablaze, a woman he must take for his own, no matter what the cost. Bound to one another by hastily spoken vows, torn asunder by the fierce pride of an aristocratic California family, they battled all odds to consummate their burning love.

Viking warrior Brage Nordwald is feared by all--except one woman who could be his greatest prize--or greatest destruction. . . Undefeated in battle, Brage Nordwald expects another victory when he invades the Saxon coast. Instead, he suffers a crushing defeat that leaves him seriously injured. Taken hostage, he almost dies--until a sworn enemy heals him. . .and stirs an attraction that leaves him defenseless. . . She may not be chained like the Viking captive, but Lady Dynna still feels like a prisoner. Forced to wed the cruel, calculating Prince Edmund, Dynna plans a daring, desperate escape with Brage at her side. Setting across the Saxon countryside, the two soon must face a need for each other that could bring them more than they dare dream--or destroy their lives forever. . .

The pirate Diablo is a master of seduction, an experienced lover who knows every imaginable way to please Devon, his captive, and some that she has never imagined. Devon knows she will find ecstasy in his arms, but does she dare tempt the devil?

When beautiful Celia Randall travels to eastern California for a short-term photography assignment, she unexpectedly locks horns-and falls in love-with the editor of the award-winning High Sierra magazine, Marcus Stratton. Yet, broken by recent losses in her own life, Celia hides from intimacy with anyone-including the One who loves her most of all-until tragic circumstances bring her face to face with a God whose love is even greater than that of the man who risks his life for her...high in the Sierra.

Lovely young Gabrielle LaFarge had resigned herself to the life of a nun in a French convent. But the future that awaits her is far different, for she is informed that she is to marry Philippe St. Cyr, a wealthy plantation owner from the island of Martinique. Gabby resents and fears this handsome, moody man, whose icy surface conceals depths of passion and violence. Though he awakens her to the sensual delights of lovemaking, Gabby’s heart remains untouched – or so she believes. As for Philippe, she is certain that he is incapable of love. Constantly at cross purposes, separated by war and the conniving of Philippe’s jealous mistress, each tries to forget the other, But a bond has been forged between them that will serve at last to unite them in love’s sweet, strange … Tender Fury.

A Promise of Thunder (Horizon Set #2) Land Rush Storm Kennedy couldn't believe her bad luck! With six million fertile acres open to settlers in the Oklahoma Territory, she lost her claim to the Sioux she held responsible for her young husband's death. And the only way Storm could ever win it back was by marrying virile Grady Stryker and raising his motherless son.No spineless Sooner, Storm agreed to Stryker's terms, then denied him access to her last asset--the lush body Grady thought was his for the taking. But the more Storm fought him, the harder Grady worked to sow the seeds of a desire that promised a bountiful love.

Sandro Cavalli, Lord of the Night, is legendary for bringing criminals to justice. But in the city's shadowy alleyways, a new, deadly plot is afoot—a sinister threat that even Sandro needs help to uncover. He enlists the aid of an alluring, sensuous beauty, Laura Bandello. But Laura's innocent loveliness may hide a dark secret, and Sandro vows to keep his distance. Yet the deeper he delves into the underworld, the harder he falls for Laura. Pursued by unspeakable danger, Sandro risks his honor, his reputation, and even his heart—all for the love of a mysterious beauty he can't quite trust.

When a beautiful Danish maiden is captured by Norse warriors and sold into slavery, she never guesses that she will soon become the willing thrall of a golden-haired Viking who holds captive her heart.