Appealing

Kelly Maxwell has finally landed her dream job as publicist for the San Francisco Blaze. But the team's newest member, handsome bad boy catcher Matt Scanlon, is refusing every interview. She's got to get him to open up before the season ends, or she may not be back next year. And after everything she overcame to achieve her dream, Kelly's not about to let that happen. Matt Scanlon just wants to be left alone to rebuild his life and his career. After a year of masking the pain of a recent loss with hard partying and fast women, he finally hit rock bottom and was traded to a team he's loathed his entire life—a team with little to no chance at the post-season. Butting heads is getting Kelly and Matt nowhere but annoyed, and with the team's schedule on the road, they can't avoid close quarters—or their surprising attraction to one another. As the season winds down, Matt finds his growing feelings for Kelly have brought his numbed emotions back to life. But when betrayal shatters their fragile trust, winning it all seems more impossible than ever. 95,000 words

Sidney Halston returns to steamy Tarpon Springs, Florida, where a hell-raising bad boy prepares to get down and dirty for the woman he loves. How could she have been so stupid? When Jessica Cross decides to give her violently jealous boyfriend—the otherwise influential and charming Dennis Stavros—a second chance, she very nearly becomes a statistic. After weeks of healing from a broken rib and collapsed lung, and with Dennis behind bars, Jessica finally feels ready to come out of hiding. But will she ever be able to take a chance on love again with someone new? Mixed martial arts fighter Slade Martin knows he has a bad reputation. Hell, he's probably earned it. So it won’t be easy to convince beautiful, vulnerable Jessica that she can trust him—that from the moment she walked into his life, she’s been the only one he’s wanted. Powerful and confident, Slade knows he can honor his vow to protect Jessica body and soul. Winning her heart will be another matter . . . but a woman like Jessica is worth the fight.

In Calia Read’s electrifying sequel to her steamy, psychological suspense novel Unravel, a visit from a handsome stranger shatters a beautiful young woman’s vision of her picture-perfect past. Victoria can’t recall much of her life before she came to Fairfax Hospital, but she prefers it that way. She holds her beautiful baby daughter, Evelyn, every day and that’s enough…isn’t it? But when Evelyn is taken from her, Victoria’s world begins to fray at the seams. It becomes apparent to her that the hospital walls aren’t the only obstacles standing between her and the outside world—Victoria has constructed a hall of mirrors deep inside, every false image a distraction from the trauma of her past life. A white picket fence, a family on the way…yet something feels amiss in her memories of a happy marriage. When a handsome stranger begins visiting Victoria, pressing her to remember her past, she struggles to separate real memories from refracted images she has created, knowing at last that only the truth can set her free.

What would you do if your life was a lie—and everyone knew but you? Jane has come a long way from the dark days of the horrific car accident that robbed her of many memories. Living the life of a shopgirl with a charming boyfriend—a handsome, green-eyed doctor named Derek—is so satisfying that she doesn’t want to revisit her past. But the past insists on revisiting Jane. People keep thinking she’s Samantha, a dead girl who looks exactly like her. Now, Jane is determined to discover her connection to the girl, leading her to question everything from her relationship with Derek to her own sanity. Should she believe Rory, the man who insists she actually is Samantha? Or should she depend on Derek, who offers her love and shelter…but who may have other reasons for keeping her under wraps? Who is telling her the truth—and what are the others hiding? Revised This edition of Blood and Bone includes editorial revisions.