It's been the day from hell for Maddie Gardner. Instead of offering her a promotion, her boss made a pass at her. After she quit, she got dumped by her lukewarm boyfriend. And then when she's in the middle of a foul-mouthed meltdown in her kitchen, she notices her gorgeous green-eyed neighbor standing there.

The Marine Corps was everything Landon Donnigan ever wanted in life, until a bullet sent him home with a medical discharge. Teaching a self-defense class at the gym is old-hat for a Marine, but when he meets sexy Ava Rosenthal, his combat skills are useless for protecting his heart. Ava can take care of herself and likes quiet, bookish men - not muscular warriors who think women need to be coddled. But Landon is more than he seems, and when they come together, the results are explosive.

Johnny Devlin is a devil-may-care charmer with a sullied past. Stealing cars landed him in jail, but he learned his lesson. The last seven years working in Webster's Garage have taught him how to work hard and play even harder, but that's not enough for Lara Valley. Lara grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and is hell-bent on escaping. To get her nursing degree, she works at a dive bar while taking classes at a community college. She has no time for dating - and especially not for Johnny, a playboy who's too handsome for his own good.

Their first meeting could have been better. He ran into her and her hot coffee and raced off with a burn and a snarl. Their second meeting should have been better. He lay naked, face down on her massage table while she stared at him in horror. Being attracted to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Rude hadn't been on her agenda. Shelby just wants him out of her massage clinic before he recognizes her or she says something obnoxious before jumping that sexy body, which wouldn’t be professional, at all. But when Shelby Vanzant and Shane Collins meet again, third time's the charm.

Always the caretaker, former Marine Reid Griffith wants to help his brother adjust to civilian life...and help other former servicemen too. What better way to utilize their brawn, discipline, and charm than by employing them at a moving company that hires veterans? Although Reid prides himself on being strategic, he certainly doesn't plan to fall into the spotlight of one brilliant - and beautiful - public-relations whiz...

Rena Jackson is ready. She's worked her tail off to open up her own hair salon, and she's almost ready to quit her job at the dive bar. Rena's also a diehard romantic, and she's had her eye on bar regular Axel Heller for a while. He's got that tall-brooding-and-handsome thing going big time. Problem is, he's got that buttoned-up Germanic-ice-man thing going as well. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Rena's about ready to give up on Axel and find her own Mr. Right.

Hailey Jennison is smart, funny, and, unfortunately, stacked like a blonde brick house. She's well aware of the impact her looks have on the male gender, and she hates it. Socially awkward, she keeps to a safe, boring routine, meeting friends once a week for dinner, some laughs, and entertainment. Entertainment comes in the form of a little harmless voyeurism, watching the living, breathing sex god across the quad parade around his apartment half-naked. Hailey watches and yearns, indulging in this weekly fantasy that almost - but not quite - satisfies her every desire.

Ann Weaver knows getting ditched by Jack Bloom back in high school was for the best. He may have been her first, but she's 29 now and way over him. When a night out with friends - and a couple of glasses of wine - starts them all talking about regrets, Ann decides it's time to confront the past. Luckily, hers has recently moved back to town, and he looks just as good as ever. There's something different about Jack, though. He's funny, kind, and amazing in bed - but he's also sweeter than she remembers. Soon Ann starts to forget she's in it for revenge.

Noel Ice Cavanaugh's method is foolproof: get in, do the job, get out, melt away without a trace. Neat. Tidy. No mistakes. This time, though, something isn't right. Two somethings. First, a random attack that feels not-so-random. Then he discovers a baby on his doorstep with a note claiming it's his. Unfortunately, the sexy neighbor who found the boy first has too many questions in her eyes to ignore.

An ancient book, a power untouched, and a heart unloved lead Keelin O'Brien from her graduate studies in Boston, to a small village on the coast of Southern Ireland. Determined to unearth the secrets lying hidden in the enchanted waters of the cove, Keelin has little time for a surly Irishman who infuriates her during the day and who haunts her fantasies at night. Inexplicably drawn to the woman who has stepped out from his dreams and into his world, Flynn fights a stubborn battle against his increasing attraction for Keelin. But forces unknown have better plans for the two.

Rock Chick Reawakening shares the tale of the devastating event that nearly broke Daisy, an event that set Marcus Sloan - one of Denver's most respected businessmen and one of the Denver underground's most feared crime bosses - into finally making his move to win the heart of the woman who stole his.

Carter Pierce is a man who believes in signs. He just doesn't know what to do with this one. In the small town of Blue Moon Bend, where everybody is a matchmaker and a tie-dye wearing hippie, Carter wants to be left alone to tend the family farm. After returning from Afghanistan with scars, his only goal is recovery. He doesn't need distractions. Definitely not one with silver-blonde hair who just keep getting in his way.

What happens when the only person you ever trusted betrays you? Hope Daniels was my friend. My confidant. Right up until the day she stabbed me in the back and cost me everything. My family. My fortune. My legacy. Now my father’s been murdered and his will might be the death of me. It wasn’t enough to banish me 15 years ago. Even dead, he cant resist twisting the knife. He’ll give me back everything I lost, everything he stole...if I marry Hope. To make matters worse, the fate of the town rests in my hands.

There wasn’t a lot that surprised me. My years in the Navy taught me a lot, my years hunting human traffickers taught me the rest. Meeting a beautiful woman in a bar and spending the night with her should’ve been a blip on my radar. Instead, I spent years trying to forget her. In the middle of a rescue operation, fate dropped her back into my life, but there was a twist—she wasn’t alone.

A novella companion to New York Times best-selling author Maya Banks' Shades of Gray. Softly at Sunrise takes place in a gap of time that occurs in Shades of Gray. Rachel Kelly has traveled a long, hard road in her journey back to her husband, Ethan, and the Kelly family. Now, as she and Ethan are poised to move into their new home, safe behind the walls of the Kelly compound, Rachel wonders if she’ll finally be free of the ghosts that have haunted her for so long and if she’ll step into the sun after a past steeped in darkness.