Where I Need to Be

When my boss asked me to write an article about online dating and, more specifically, the dos and don’ts of first dates, I expected it to be a mess. I hadn’t expected it to be a complete and utter disaster, though. How was I to know that I’d be paired up with arrogant, cocky, and “too handsome for his own good" Nolan Montgomery? Queen of First Dates is a hilarious stand-alone romantic comedy.

On a day like any other, Allyn Sommers went off to work, not knowing that her life was about to be irrevocably and horrifically altered. Three years later, Allyn is still a prisoner in her own home held captive by harrowing fear. Broken and damaged, Allyn seeks help from someone that fate brought her. Dr. Dominic Shriver is a psychiatrist who’s drawn to difficult cases. He must push past his own personal battles to help Allyn fight her monsters and nightmares. Is Dr. Shriver the answer to her healing? Can Allyn overcome the broken? 

A sexy agent hounds Wall Street's hottest new wolf in an exhilarating novel from New York Times best-selling author Lauren Layne. Ian Bradley is the definition of a Wall Street hotshot: seven-figure salary, designer suits, and a corner office. His drive off the floor is just as potent. Every woman who knows him has felt the rush. But now he's met his match in Lara McKenzie - a woman with the power to bring Ian to his knees. An ambitious, whip-smart daughter of FBI agents, Lara is a rising star in fighting white-collar crime.

When Hayley makes a resolution to put an end to her loose lifestyle, it's all good in theory - that is, until she meets Daniel Stark, a well-respected businessman in his mid-thirties who is known for his short temper, lack of steady relationships, and strict preserve of his private life. Opinionated, sharp-tongued Hayley accidentally steps into his office, leaving Daniel resolved to put Hayley in her place and have her in his bed. Neither Hayley nor Daniel can ignore the immediate attraction between them.

Seventeen-year-old Sarah's life is turned upside down when her single mom is sent to jail. She's forced to move, leaving behind everything she's ever known, including her best friend, Sydney. Lost and bitter in a new school, her one goal is to save money and move back home. Then she meets Angel Moreno. Enigmatic and gorgeous, Angel is almost too good to be true. Except for one thing - his archaic belief that guys and girls can never be "just friends". The problem? Sarah's best friend, Sydney, is not a girl.

Hosting her brother's wedding for an MVP guest list is the challenge of Jess Canning's life. Already the family screw-up, she can't afford to fail. And nobody (nobody!) can learn of the colossal mistake she made with the best man during a weak moment last spring. It was wrong, and there will not be a repeat. Absolutely not. Even if he is the sexiest thing on two legs.

The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady's and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush - the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I've dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost... perfect.

The name on the screen was "Absinthe". But I knew her as the sultry voice blowing up my phone for late-night chats about Proust and Hemingway interspersed between the filthiest little...mutually satisfying exchanges...I'd ever experienced in my life. We'd never met. Until the day she walked into my office, her cherry lips wrapped around a candy apple sucker and an all too familiar voice that said, "You wanted to see me, Principal Hawthorne?"

All that up-and-coming musician Jesse Jamison has ever wanted is to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. When a gossip website nearly catches him kissing someone who isn’t his famous girlfriend - and also isn’t a girl - he considers the near miss a wake-up call. There’s a lot riding on his image as the super-straight rocker, and if he wants to realize his dreams, he’ll need to toe the line. Luckily, he’s into women too. Problem solved. After a decade pretending to be his ex’s roommate, pediatrician Hunter Wyatt is done hiding.

After aliens invade and conquer Earth, Eva is transported to a distant slave-trading planet. Freedom and escape are her only priorities, but none of her martial arts training could have prepared her for enslavement to the warrior King Taio. Eva finds herself drawn to this sexy alien male who ignites her heart and body. Taio is disgusted with the idea of owning a slave - until now. From the moment he sees her, he knows Eva is his for the taking. Torn between lust and duty, Taio discovers nothing will stop him from protecting his little warrior.

Clinching is the technique used to bend a driven horseshoe nail to hold the shoe to a hoof. Rainy Dale is The Clincher, a 20-something high school-dropout turned farrier (horseshoer) who is haunted by a secret she carries. Estranged from her California D-list actress momma and her ranch hand Texas daddy, she tracked down her childhood horse in small-town Oregon - a land full of cowboys and their horses - then stayed to build a life with her tools, steel, and forge. She’s sleeping in a garage and trying not to fall for her landlord, the hapless and hopeful chef, Guy.

Twenty-year-old Brooklyn "Bee" Turner is no stranger to grief. After witnessing her mother's brutal murder at age six, Brooklyn is guarded, damaged, and - by all accounts - a bitch. And that's just the way she likes it, if it means keeping everyone at arm's length. When she stumbles, quite literally, into Finn Chambers - campus ladies' man and the lead singer of a local band - she's unprepared for his persistence in befriending her and for the dangerous attraction she begins to feel for him.

Twenty-three-year-old aspiring artist Sophie Walker can think of no better place than the exotic paradise of the Maldives Islands to escape the wrath of her controlling parents, the monotony of her boring legal work, and her passionless boyfriend. With her two best friends along for the ride and to help her find herself again, Sophie is not prepared for the enigmatic Clayton Sinclair. Clayton comes from a world of privilege that seems like a fantasy to Sophie.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dressed up and went to a big party at the palace. When she was there, she met a prince. They danced and fell in love. Damn good line. Too bad I don’t believe a word of it anymore. My name is Claire Montgomery, and I’m not a princess. I’m a fighter. I worked hard to earn my place on the emergency image repair team for one of the biggest public relations companies in the country. We’ve been called to the renowned Chicago headquarters of Stone Global Corporation, where it’s our job to clean up a heap of the Stone family’s filthiest laundry.

I was kidnapped on my honeymoon by three masked men. Blindfolded. Bound. Destination unknown. I was told to stay silent and abide by their rules. But they didn’t realize I wasn’t a victim...not anymore. The open sea was my backdrop for nine torturous days. During that time, glimmers of my fate were revealed by a man with the mysterious chartreuse-colored eyes. He should have scared me, but he didn’t. He intrigued me. And I intrigued him. He punished me when I didn’t listen, which was every single day. But beneath his cruelty, I sensed he was guarding a grave secret.