CAROLE MORTIMER

I know I’m just a replacement, but I can’t stop wishing for a real romance… After seeing both of her sisters happily married, Andie cannot help but feel lonely, even with a baby on the way. Two months ago, she finally spent a night with Adam Munroe, a world renowned movie producer, and a close friend to her family. While knowing that he had feelings for her late mother, Andie could not resist her desire to be with the man she loved for practically her entire life. This encounter results in Andie expecting a baby, that she cannot tell Adam about… “He wouldn’t want to have a baby with a girl he doesn’t love.” Though she tries to avoid Adam, she reunites with him during her secret maternity leave, and Adam surprises her with a marriage proposal, which Andie accepts… determined to be her late mother’s replacement…

After her brother and his wife passed away, Brynne worked so hard to take care of her orphaned little nephew, Michael. When a Spanish millionaire, Alejandro, suddenly shows up, arrogantly claiming custody as Michael’s real father, Michael is taken away from Brynne. Even though Brynne can’t forgive Alejandro, she chooses to stay in his mansion as Michael’s companion. Even though Alejandro is the scoundrel who dumped her sister-in-law, Brynne can’t help but feel his magnetism. Will she be able to do what’s best for Michael and still protect her heart and her innocence? Can Alejandro be the man Michael and Brynne need him to be?

Interior designer Eva received a job offer from Markos to renovate his penthouse in New York. Markos is a rich and successful playboy who is known for toying with women and then dumping them. Eva hears the rumor about his reputation from her cousin, one of his recent victims. And then Markos sets his eyes upon Eva, who has canceled her appointment with him twice. Not able to forget her painful past, Eva attempts avoid Markos’s advances, yet somehow she finds herself kissing him anyway…

Wealthy Daniel arrives at the hotel that Ellie manages. At first, Ellie is intrigued by this flashy man, but soon Daniel is pestering her at every turn during his stay. Ellie resists his advances, yet slowly she finds herself ready to give in to his charm. But is she prepared to be just another one of his whims?

All I want is for him to look at me as a mature woman… After her mother, a former top model, commits suicide, Chelsea is hounded by the media. Her father sends her to London to live with his lawyer’s son, Lucas, in order to shield her from the press. She’s known Lucas since she was a little girl, and he was even her first love, so she’s disappointed when Lucas still treats her like a child, even though she’s all grown up now! But despite his treatment of her and the fact that he has a girlfriend, Chelsea’s love for him only grows stronger…

Rosie can’t risk telling him who she really is. Hawk, a famous movie star, was surprised and angered to see a redheaded beauty suddenly show up at his house. His manager, Donald, was sick in bed with the flu, so this beautiful woman, Rosie, is taking over Donald’s duties. For her part, Rosie was in a difficult position—if any one learns her real identity, she’ll be taken away. No matter how much Rosie is attracted to Hawk, she just can’t let him know who she really is.

She’s determined to protect her family, and he’s determined to make a movie. Who will win their battle of wills? Nik Prince is a filmmaker and a Hollywood darling. He’s dying to make a film adaptation of a bestselling novel, but the author keeps their identity shrouded in mystery. Nik encounters a beautiful woman named Jinx, who’s somehow connected to the author. Determined to do whatever it takes to obtain the rights to the novel, Nik decides to charm Jinx, but she shuts him down right away. Nik refuses to let the issue go, but Jinx has already made up her mind. She hides a sad truth, and she must protect the secretive author!

A marriage that only hurt both of us. Would it have been better if we were lovers? Leonie, an eternally unlucky girl, was suddenly trapped in an elevator at a client's office she visited. I've been used to such accidents since I was a child. I won't be easily swayed. However, right then her estranged husband, Adam, showed up to help her, and he was the president of this company!　When she saw him again after eight months, the arrogance of the past was gone and he was full of kindness. As an apology, he invited her to dinner, and Leonie was tempted into spending the night with him. And then Adam made an unexpected proposal...!

【A story by USA Today bestselling author becomes a comic!】Cynthia is a country girl from England visiting a childhood friend in New York. Even though she attends parties along with famous celebrities, she hasn’t been influenced by their behavior or their way of thinking. At one of these parties she takes a break on the balcony, where she runs into a silver-eyed, handsome man. Initially awkward, they eventually become comfortable talking to each other. He finds Cynthia’s personality refreshing. Little does she know that this stranger is the world-famous Lucian Steele! Although they live in completely different worlds, fate has brought them together. Are wedding bells in their future?

Gabriella fell in love with her stepbrother, Rufus, on the day her mother remarried. However, her love for him was shot down by Rufus's words: "Don't try to seduce me for my money." Since then, hatred has flared between the two. Five years later, Gabriella's stepfather has passed away, leaving behind a strange will. Gabriella and Rufus are to live together for six months as husband and wife in order to inherit the fortune! Gabriella will live with a man who accuses women of being money-grubbing mares?

I’ll happily be his lover, even if it’s just for a job… Darcy works as a secretary for charming businessman Reed. He has always dated beautiful, sophisticated women, the exact opposite of Darcy, a country girl who’s come to London to work. So Darcy is surprised when Reed suddenly asks her to come with him to visit his parents in Florida, pretending to be his lover! She knows it’s for work, but is there a chance that Reed will look at her as a woman and not just as his unsophisticated secretary?

【A story by USA Today bestselling author becomes a comic!】Lexie hid her identity to get close to Lucan St. Claire, a duke from the family that hated her grandmother. She wanted to see if he really was a heartless man, so she became his private secretary. But she was trapped by a dilemma from the very first day when Lucan insisted she accompany him on a business trip to the St Claire estate. Her grandmother had terrible experiences at both that mansion and in the village. If Lexie stays there, her identity could be revealed!

Secretary Angie has secretly been in love with her boss, Riccardo, for years. But Riccardo is rich and incredibly handsome. There is no way a man who dates beautiful woman after beautiful woman would ever notice plain old Angie. Just as Angie resolves to move on from her painful one-sided love, Riccardo suddenly gives her a red dress to wear to the office Christmas party. Though hesitant, Angie appears at the party all dolled up, only for Riccardo to give her a fiery look and shoot icy, accusing words: "What are you trying to do?"

Am I really going to pretend to be this man’s lover when he accuses me of having an affair with his best friend? Charly is shocked when a man breaks into the flat she is renting. The man turns out to be Aaron, the best friend of the flat’s owner, Matt. Aaron accuses Charly of having an affair with Matt, saying she needs to play pretend because Matt’s wife is there. What does he even mean? Then Aaron kisses her, leaving her bewildered in front of Matt’s wife! Charly goes along with pretending to be Aaron’s lover, but what will she do when she finds out that he’s really the Hotel King—her competitor?

An accident had put an end to Andy's ballet career, but she was still celebrating her twenty-third birthday with her sister and brother-in-law. And that's when famous billionaire Darius Sterne, a man followed by dark rumors, approached them and asked her out. Andy has devoted her life to ballet and has never been in a relationship. After her accident left scars on her body, she can't imagine being intimate with anyone. Knowing that Darius lives in a totally different world from her own, she decides to let him take her out just once. But when Darius kisses her, she wishes it could never end

Andi lost both her father and her fiance in the same car accident, and now she's been saddled with all the debt her father left behind. The only solution is to sell her family's mansion. In the depths of despair, she meets Linus, an up-and-coming real-estate tycoon who's interested in purchasing the property. He's a calculating man and makes her an offer of his own-she can stay and live in the mansion with her mother...if she'll be his secretary. Andi feels anxious whenever she's around him, but with no other options, she decides to accept his offer so that she can stay in her home with her mother. But what if Linus's real goal isn't just the mansion, but Andi herself?

Joey, who is a lawyer, has always admired her brother-in-law, Gideon. She looks up to him as a fellow lawyer, but is attracted to him as a man. Gideon is intelligent yet sexy?my ideal man. I’m so drawn to him, but he won’t accept me as a romantic companion. Perhaps I just don’t have any female charms. Joey tries her best to act like a woman who is highly experienced with relationships when Gideon says the unexpected: “I think we can be great friends with benefits.”

Is the playboy’s kindness the real deal? Or is it all just an act? When a multimillionaire is injured in a car accident, Sam ends up taking care of him. Xander is an international entrepreneur, one of the Sterne brothers and an infamous playboy with shining blond hair. Sam is a single mother who’s survived a tremendous ordeal. She promises herself that she’ll never do something so stupid as falling in love with a multimillionaire playboy. But will Sam be able to keep her cool when faced with his gorgeous body? Her resolve crumbles when his kindness and overwhelming charm shine through…

Part 1 After her parents pass away, Jane’s distant relative, Lord Barnaby Sulby, takes her under his wing. But as soon as she arrives at his mansion, his wife, Lady Sulby, puts her to work as if she were a servant. Years later, there’s a party at the Sulby mansion and Jane catches the eye of the Duke of Stourbridge, the guest of honor. Before he realizes it, he’s offered to be her escort for the evening, placing himself in a difficult situation. Convinced Jane was seducing the duke, Lady Sulby accuses her of being just like her adulteress mother! Shocked, Jane flees, hiding herself amid the luggage in the duke’s carriage just as it leaves for London! Part 2 Jane has run away from her cruel relatives, who took her in after her parents passed away, and made her way to the mansion of Hawk St. Claire, the Duke of Stourbridge, an aristocrat among aristocrats and the head of the notorious St. Claire family. Before she realizes it, she’s in love with him. But since Jane and the duke live in different worlds, she resolves to give up on him…until he draws her in for a sudden kiss, plunging her into turmoil. But as soon as he’s kissed her, Hawk apologizes for his transgression. As her guardian, he swears never to make the same mistake again…but when Count Whitney, a notorious libertine, approaches Jane, the envy on Hawk’s face is plain to see. What is Jane to do?

Part 1 After both her parents pass away, Grace goes to live with her aunt and uncle. But on the eve of her arrival in London high society, she encounters Lord Lucian St. Claire, the second-eldest son of a noble family, who is known far and wide as a notorious rake. Grace and Lucian stay at the same inn, and in the middle of the night, he mistakes her room for his and collapses on her bed. What’s worse, Grace’s aunt is there to see it happen! Now she must marry a man she’s only just met or risk her honor... Part 2 For appearances’ sake, Grace became engaged to Lucian St. Claire, the second son of the St. Claire family. Soon after their betrothal, rumors begin to circulate among the aristocracy in London: they say Grace tricked Lucian into engagement so she could marry her way into money! Lucian and Grace make a public show of affection

Were all the sweet whispers and kisses just a clever trick? January works with her two sisters to protect her late parents’ farm. One day, while earning extra money working part-time as a singer, she meets a mysterious man. His name is Max, and his confident blue eyes captivate January. She swore she would never open her heart to a man again, but she’s touched by Max’s tenderness and ends up sharing a sweet kiss with him. But what will happen when she discovers that he’s a lawyer for a company that is planning to buy her ranch?

Nicholas arrives at party with anything but fun on his mind, having been served divorce papers earlier in the day. When Danielle finds him more entertaining than the rest of the crowd, the two escape for a night of passion. But when he dismisses Danielle with a stack of money instead of breakfast in bed, she leaves in shame and anger and goes about her life full of resentment, unable to forget that night. Seven years later, Nicholas comes to her once again, paying for a different set of services. Will Danielle's pride be bought yet again?

The wounds of love can be healed by a greater romance… Ellie recently broke up with her boyfriend, who’s also her colleague, and the upcoming company party has become a thorn in her side. It will be embarrassing whether she attends or not. She’d love to find the perfect man to escort her—someone who has power and fame and is also tall and handsome… And that wish is easily realized. Her brother, Toby, has brought his boss, Patrick, her Prince Charming, to escort her to the party. Although he’s the man of many women’s dreams, Ellie simply can’t go along with it because there’s a secret between Ellie and Patrick—one she can’t even tell her own brother!

Part 1 To mark her return to society more than a year and a half after the death of her husband, Juliet is invited to a ball at her friend’s house. But all she is met with are cold stares, and she ends up regretting that she came. A rumor has been going around that she killed her husband, and people are calling her the Black Widow behind her back! Then a young man calls out to her at the ball, taking her under his wing. He’s Sebastian St. Claire, the youngest son of a powerful noble family…so what would he want with her? Does he think that because she’s a widow, he can have whatever he wants from her? ---------------------- Part 2 Twelve years ago Juliet and Sebastian danced at Juliet’s first ball after she married her husband, the late Earl of Crestwood. It was only one waltz, yet the scene was etched in their memories. But now Juliet is accused not only of murdering her husband, but of being a spy for France! Determined to prove her innocence, Sebastian whisks her away to his family’s manor to hide her. Will he succeed? Find out in the thrilling conclusion of this two-part historical romance!

“Don’t fall in love with Marcus. He’ll never love you.” Taking the warning from her predecessor to heart, Kit has remained professional and efficient as Marcus’s personal assistant, staying focused on work and wearing no-nonsense suits. She has no plans to become another of his one-night lovers, and besides, she has a secret she can never reveal to him. But then Marcus has her accompany him on a business trip over the weekend. Now, she is bewildered. Will she be able to hide her feelings toward Marcus when he’s getting personal with her?

Life could not be more difficult for actress Cairo Vaughn. Both of her parents have recently passed away, and she has just gone through a very public divorce from her famous director ex-husband, Lionel Bond. Now her close friend Margo is ill and carrying a child. In order to clear her head, Margo offers Cairo a trip to her friend’s villa. It turns out this friend is none other than Rafe Montero, a famous actor turned director and Cairo’s old lover. The flames of their love are rekindling, but can they dodge the paparazzi long enough to make it happen?

She was reborn a new woman, and yet she ended up falling in love with him all over again… After suffering gruesome injuries from an accident, Jacqui wants a new identity so she can start her life over again. Plastic surgery gives her a new face, and she gives herself a new name—Brooke. As Jacqui, she fell in love with her husband, Rafe, and he promised to love her forever. But she found herself in a miserable marriage to a high-class tyrant, and it wasn’t long before Jacqui was cast out of his estate, surrounded by nothing but bad rumors about her marriage. Now, as Brooke, Jacqui sneaks into her ex-husband’s life just to see her dearest son once more.

How could a marriage proposal from her first love become a source of suffering? It’s been a while since Arabella saw her first love, Darius, the Duke of Carlyne. He has blond hair and beautiful eyes and is a friend of Arabella’s brother. Arabella and Darius used to be close, but on the night of the ball, he was cold and distant. She was wondering why Darius had such a sad look in his eyes when he suddenly kissed her! This nineteenth-century tale is the fourth and last volume about four siblings from the distinguished St. Claire family! Enjoy this high-society love story illustrated by Chieko Hara.

Bella finds herself at F1 racing king Gabriel Danti's house after accepting a friend's party invitation. The beautiful scenery on the outskirts of London can't compete with the noise of the party, though. And she can't find Gabriel, the beloved international celebrity, either! But while looking for a bathroom, lo and behold she finds the gorgeous man tucked away in the house. He woos her and, her head in the clouds, Bella goes to bed with him. Never thinking it might be the last time they ever speak......

A grieving young woman tempted by love… Callie lost both her mother and beloved stepfather, Jeff, in the span of six months. While still mourning her losses, a lawyer informs her that Jeff has left her a fortune and his family wants to meet her. Callie visits them but finds them cold and unwelcoming, and they plan to take her inheritance by orchestrating a marriage between her and their son! Meanwhile, she meets a gentleman named Logan and becomes attracted to him. But will there only be romantic tragedy in store for Callie?

They’ve started off on the wrong foot, but fate might bring them together yet… His father, whom Rogan hasn’t seen in more than a decade, has passed away, so he returns to his family home in Cornwall for the first time in a long while. Completely unaware that a beautiful woman would be there when he arrived, Rogan assumes she’s his father’s lover. But college professor Elizabeth is only there to catalog Rogan's father’s library. In fact, she’s just begun. Not only has her employer passed away, but now his son has shown up and made outrageous assumptions about her! She’d have liked to continue her work but decides it’s best to call it quits. Elizabeth doesn’t think for a moment that she could fall for Rogan, no matter how wildly sexy he might be!

Angel Beth is dispatched to the earth to complete her mission to lead a lost human in the right direction. Her new assignment is to save Nick, who believes that his wife has betrayed him. Beth is doing her best to warm his ice-cold heart and heal the rift between him and his loved ones…but this is one tough mission!

Annie takes a new job as a nanny for the Diamond family. While she adores the little girl in her charge, she is confused by the attentions of Anthony Diamond, the girl’s uncle. When Rufus Diamond, the girl’s father, comes home, he takes an interest in Annie, as well. But why did the previous nanny quit so suddenly? Is there truly a curse on the brides of the Diamond family?

In the five years since Lady Mariah Beecham, the widowed Countess of Carlisle, lost her husband, rumors have proliferated throughout society about how she’s used her great beauty to take on a string of lovers. Believing those rumors, Darian Hunter, the Duke of Wolfingham, approached Mariah to ask her to leave his younger brother alone. The rumors are, however, baseless—Lady Mariah has never truly been loved by any man. Unable to endure his rebuke, she attempts to push him aside, but just then, the duke faints in her arms!

Robin lost her older brother Simon in a car accident, and a woman driving in the opposite lane was also killed. That woman’s brother, Cesare, assumes that Simon was completely at fault for the accident and plans a clever, ruthless revenge: he uses his overwhelming economic power to force Robin into marrying him! Robin tries to fight the forced matrimony, but when that epitome of manliness Cesare pulls her into a rough kiss, all her strength leaves her body…

Their kiss was the beginning of a contract imbued with seduction… One day Griffin, the Duke of Rotherham, was in his carriage when he hit a woman who ran out into the street wearing only a negligee. She lost consciousness, so he had no choice but to take her home and nurse her back to health. When she woke up, she was without her memory. Who was this strong, handsome man? More important, who was she? She was unable to come up with even her name, so Griffin began to call her Bella.

he man wants Christmas delivered to his home in just five days. What does this lonely tycoon truly desire? Max is the CEO of a big company. His sister and niece are coming over for Christmas this year. He urgently needs someone to deliver Christmas to his home, but his secretary has plans of her own. Her cousin, Sophie, agrees to help out, as she was afraid to spend Christmas all by herself for the first time. At first, Sophie is annoyed by Max's negative attitude toward Christmas, but she begins to realize that it's his way of hiding his painful past. She becomes attracted to him, but how can she make him see that?

When Angelica Harper earns that her biological father, Stephen, has fallen ill, she moves in to take care of him during the weekends and to connect with her long lost father. One day, she meets Count Carlo “Wolf” Gambrelli, a business partner of her father's, but he gets the wrong impression of her and assumes Angelica is a gold digger. In order to ascertain Angel's motives, Carlo begins spending time with her, and soon they become attracted to each other. But misunderstandings and an old Gabrelli family curse may still get in the way of their love…

As her guardian, he is supposed to protect her, but he finds himself falling for her... At the beginning of the 19th century, Gray, an English aristocrat, had been neglecting the estate he inherited from his late brother, never visiting it and leaving everything to the housekeeper. But when he heard a rumor that the servants had left and the mansion was falling into disrepair, he hurried to drive the carriage. As he stepped into the dark mansion, he hears the words, "Stop! A gun is aimed straight at your heart!" from a young woman, seemingly alone. She seems to have mistaken me for a bandit. The shot hit him in the arm, and he looked at her in the moonlight... there she was, breathtakingly beautiful.

Abby Freeman will stop at nothing to make sure her debut as a TV talk-show host starts off with a bang, and that means getting only the best guests on her show. But when the famous Max Harding, who was a part of a big scandal two years ago, refuses to be on her show, Abby finds out just how far she’ll go for her show when she starts to fall for him. Max lets Abby into his private social life, but there’s still something he’s not telling her. Will Abby ever get the scoop on this complicated man?

If only he weren't an enemy of us sisters, I could be honest with him... March, who works for a real estate company, is surprised by a man who walks in. Early in the morning, that man interrupted her in front of her car and took her parking space! Handsome with blue eyes, he introduces himself as Will and tells her he is looking for a room to rent for a short period of time. Then she has just the room for him. March, who wants to get back at Will for what happened in the morning, makes a face of disrespect and introduces him to a room in a remote part of the farm, her home. But March doesn't know that Will is actually an employee of a large corporation that wants to buy her family's farm!

Dora Baxter is dutiful and loyal, running her late father’s bookstore in the wake of the passing of her fiancé. Izzy Baxter is fun-loving and carefree, falling for the handsome global explorer Griffin Sinclair. The first problem is that Griffin is the brother of the deceased fiancé, and the second? Izzy and Dora are just two sides of Isadora Baxter, a woman who can’t decide if she should hold on to the past or embrace an unsure future. She won’t find the answer to her problems in a dusty old book, but she might find them in Griffin!

Fergus is gloomily tipping back drinks in a nightclub when an exceptionally beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes appears. Her name is Chloe. Somehow, she knows he's a popular writer and she begins tossing questions at him. Is she a fan? Or a reporter? Fergus is suspicious at first, but after the alcohol sets in... The next morning, he wakes up in bed next to Chloe. He slept with a total knockout but doesn't remember a thing!

Logan McKenzie is an attractive single man who heads a major company and has the blood of British nobility. The girls can't leave him alone! One day, a waitress serving lunch at his company starts crying and he can't help but pull her to him and comfort her. It isn't like him to be so kind! Her name is Darcy, and he suspects she's in trouble because of an affair with a married man. He wants to help her, so he goes to the restaurant where she works... Is he in love with her? No, it can't be!!

What miracle does the festive season have in store for them? Several days before Christmas, Olivia’s playboy neighbor Ethan suddenly hands her a baby! Olivia immediately thinks the child must be from one of his random girlfriends. But as she spends more time with him, she learns there’s more to Ethan than his philanderer image, and she ends up falling for the man she discovers underneath. Does a Christmas miracle await this serendipitous pair?

Molly is depressed. Her brother and his wife have invited her to spend the Christmas holiday with them, but when she arrives at their home, she learns she will also be spending it with the last man she ever wanted to see, Gideon. They had met three years ago, a chance encounter at the house of Gideon's brother. Seeing Molly in a disgraceful mess, Gideon assumed she was his brother's mistress, and he's hated her ever since. Completely unaware of their history, Molly's brother and sister-in-law try to play cupid to the two of them. All Molly can do is sigh.