Showing results by narrator "Loretta Rawlins" in All Categories

Traveling west aboard a wagon train with her late husband's family, young widow Marybeth MacKender wishes only to leave behind the memories of her loveless marriage, and to protect her infant son. But the dangers of the train are endless, as are the advances of her brutish brother-in-law who is resolute in claiming Marybeth as his own. It isn't until Marybeth meets Joshua Rivers, a frontiersman both tough and tender, that her hope for the future ignites as brightly as the desire in her heart.

My employee's daughter. That's all she was when I let her do odd jobs around the warehouse for a few extra bucks. And then she went away for college. This now beautiful, sexy, desirable woman is no longer the tomboy I once called Kiddo. I want to see how she responds to my kiss. I want to feel her body tremble as she anticipates my touch. I want to learn all the places that bring her pleasure. And I do...in secret. She's my intern and under me for the summer. Literally. This was supposed to be a fling. A little fun between the sheets without commitment - that’s what we called it.

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.

"Be careful, man. Don't be seduced by the bright lights of the city. Even the strongest of men find their weakness." When Jackson spouted his advice, I laughed. A man in my position doesn't have weaknesses. Or so I think. The night I meet Poppy Malone, everything changes. The breathtaking bohemian is an irresistible temptation I never saw coming. One night is all it takes for her to seal our fate. She's convinced the odds aren't in our favor. I've never backed down from a challenge. When someone from her past reappears, delivering the ultimate betrayal, the stakes grow higher.

A beautiful stranger. That's all she was when I moved into the house beside her. And then I discovered something. My neighbor isn't your typical girl next door. She's a preacher's daughter. She's a business professional. She's a fiery vixen who desires a strong alpha in the bedroom. And a firm grip around her throat. That's what I give her. But more than that, I want to leave my mark on the most intimate, untouched part of her body. Her heart.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but private investigator Liz Talbot is struggling to feel festive. She hasn't seen her best friend, Colleen, in weeks and fears she may never see her again in this life. Meanwhile Nate, Liz's husband and partner, is spending money like he prints it in the attic on a mysterious family Christmas celebration. Liz's nerves are shot, and she hasn't even decked a single hall. But there's simply no time to fret.

Sarina Mahler thinks she has her life all nailed down: a growing architecture practice in Austin, Texas, and an any-day-now proposal from her loving boyfriend, Noah. She's well on her way to having the family she's hoped for since her mother's death 10 years ago. But with Noah on a temporary assignment abroad and retired Olympic swimmer - and former flame - Eamon Roy back in town asking her to renovate his new fixer-upper, Sarina's life takes an unexpected turn

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.

For Gabi Lawson, Mystic Springs has been the perfect hiding place for her and her daughter. For the past year she's kept her head down and made a decent living cutting and styling hair. Even though she's becoming comfortable in her new home, she's always behind locked doors when the sun goes down. The last thing she wants or needs is a man in her well-structured life.

Luke Benedict is Mystic Springs' very own Santa. He's also owner of the hardware store and the local handyman. Not everything can be fixed with magic. His gift is a handy one; he knows what those around him need before they do. What he can't see is what he needs. Jordan Carter's family has been making it snow on Christmas Eve for years, but this year there's a problem. She can't call up a single flake. Something within her is broken, and going to Luke for help is a desperate response. Maybe he'll see what she needs. Is it possible that what she needs is him?

From her earliest memories, Ashley Pearce has been drawn to Ruby Hill Lunatic Asylum, and she's not the only one. Decades after the abandoned hospital ended its institutional reign of torture and neglect, something lurks in the shadows. Since she's a paranormal investigator, it's Ashley's job to find out what.

Callie Sawyer has a secret - one that could cost her life: a soulmark. Kept hidden all her life from family and friends, Callie’s secret is exposed at the worst possible time, while the Wardens are being robbed. Now, burdened with the knowledge of her soulmark, she finds herself at an unforgivable crossroad. Do right by her people, or unravel the truth about the mysterious and stoic wolf who bears her soulmark.

Stealing isn't personal, at least not to Quinn Montgomery. Her next target: the Adolphus family. But this latest heist might be more than she bargained for. Thrust into a supernatural world filled with lycans, witches and vampires she must learn to steel her nerves and...her heart. Discovering Quinn shares his soulmark, Ryatt Adolphus leaves nothing to the imagination about his sinful intent for the sultry thief. Working together, they must face down enemies, new and old, to recover an ancient artifact for their allies in the Trinity Coven.

Stay out of the forest, Gran had said: it’s no place to be at night. Especially, when it’s a full moon. Zoelle Baudelaire should have listened. Now she must navigate a world she’d only ever read about in fairytales, full of formidable witches and domineering werewolves out for blood. Yet no story could have prepared Zoelle for Aleksandr ‘Xander’ Adolphus - the volatile Alpha of the Adolphus Pack - or the seductive soulmark that bound their souls together.

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.

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.

It's been two years since Jessy Lawrence lost her husband in Afghanistan, and she's never fully recovered. Drowning her sorrows didn't help, and neither did the job she'd hoped would give her a sense of purpose. Now trying to rebuild her life, she finds solace in her best friends, fellow military wives who understand what it's like to love - and lose - a man in uniform...and the memory of one stolen night that makes her dream of a second chance at love.

Thirty-year-old Lillie Turner grew up with maple syrup stuck to her skin and bacon grease splattered on her clothes, courtesy of working in the family diner. Thank goodness she escaped all that when she moved to Chicago five years ago. Now a successful strategy consultant and newly engaged to a man who complements her like biscuits and gravy, she has everything she wants. When an urgent phone call about her father's health pulls Lillie back to Dallas, she soon learns it was a ruse to bring her home.

Faculty wife Emily Stockwell Turner is beautiful, rich, and principled. However, five years in a marriage devoid of passion is enough to propel Emmy, despite her principles, into an affair with silver-tongued Will Thomas, a self-confessed libertine. The shocking, unforeseen consequences of their affair shatter Emmy's most cherished delusions about friendship, romance, and the ties that bind.

Erin Davis will do whatever it takes to be the photographer for high-end brides. Nothing will get between her and the security she craves, not even the gorgeous farmer refusing to let her shoot in his sunflowers.... Luke Anderson has cows to milk and no time to deal with Erin or bridezillas in his fields. Yet there's something about the sexy city girl he can't say no to. So he says yes: just this once. The sparks flying between Ern and Luke quickly ignite, but just as Erin starts to picture her own happy ending, Luke takes a gamble that could risk it all...