The Essential Collection

Rugged as an oak, moody as a thundercloud, rancher Callaghan Hart awed women and intimidated men. So how could one scrappy little redhead nearly bring Callaghan to his knees? Easy! Tess Brady, the ranch's new housekeeper, was soft as a kitten. Dewy as springtime. And secretly sweet on big, bad Callaghan. Which drove the hardened loner mad. For Tess's youthful innocence drew him like forbidden fruit. He wanted to touch her. Taste her. Make her his... But no way would Callaghan bed a stary-eyed virgin whose dreams he could never fulfill. No way would he get trapped into marriage. No matter how tempting the bait....

When the man she loves breaks off their engagement to marry another, Kate maintains her decorum and even attends their wedding. But after one-too-many glasses of champagne, she surprises everyone when she proposes to her longtime friend, a man who refuses to let her renege on the deal.

Grandfather rang the wedding bells! Janine Hartman loved her grandfather dearly--but she balked at his plan to choose her a husband. Zach Thomas, the intended groom, didn't like it any better. Zach had recently merged his business with the Hartman family firm, and that was the only Hartman-Thomas merger he wanted. But Grandfather had other ideas, ideas belonging to a different place, a different time, when marriages were arranged by families. "It would be a perfect match, " he insisted. "You two suit each other. " Zach and Janine didn't agree. In fact, they agreed on only one thing--that Gramps was a stubborn, meddling old man. But what if he was right?

She'd met Eric Van Meer entirely by chance during an unforgettable vacation in Mexico, and with reckless abandon, she'd agreed to marry the mysterious blond stranger. Dani St. Clair, prim southern bookseller, had experienced a passion that exceeded even those in her cherished romantic novels-until a hijacked plane and a daring rescue by Eric revealed his true nature and dangerous work. He said he needed freedom, yet he'd married her. He said he hated women, yet he tenderly conquered her heart. Was it possible to meet a soldier of fortune on the battleground of passion and win the war of love?

Jason Manning is content with his life as a bachelor, a slob and a sports fan. Then a precocious girl named Carrie Weston decides to play matchmaker, introducing him to her mother, Charlotte. To his relief, Charlotte is as averse to marriage as he is. But Jason's feelings start to change once he gets to know his Bride on the Loose.

GROOM: Divorce attorney Dash Davenport had seen enough bad endings to know that marriage was a mistake. When he had asked Savannah Charles to marry him, it was out of mutual necessity--not love. BRIDE: Weddings were Savannah's business and she was an expert on marital bliss. Yet she'd given little thought to her own day of joy. Until Dash Davenport offered a proposal that would benefit them both. HAPPILY EVER AFTER? Dash claimed he'd never be convinced "I do" could last forever. Yet he'd never expected to marry Savannah-the most passionate woman he'd ever tried not to love...