‘Skimming the Surface’ is a metaphor for the twelve stories, which rapidly develop pace and end abruptly with a thought-provoking punchline, before getting out of their depth. The author is the main protagonist in each story who meets a principal character and develops a relationship with them as either friend or foe. A few other characters play supporting roles, where necessary.These stories describe the author becoming entangled in interesting, bizarre, ...

From #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, Barbara Freethy, comes a romantic new contemporary series about the Callaways, a big, blended Irish family born to serve and protect.The second oldest of the Callaway clan, Aiden Callaway veered from the family tradition of urban firefighting and became a smokejumper, never questioning his choice until the job took the life of his friend, Kyle, and left Aiden with injuries and fractured memories. Everyone blames Aiden for what happened,...

Deadly secrets are buried on Amber Beach ...Donovan International is a power to be reckoned with in the dazzling and cutthroat worldwide gem trade -- and is therefore a target for the murderous greed of unscrupulous competitors. Though a shrewd businesswoman, Honor Donovan has been effectively shut out of the dangerous family enterprise by the Donovan males -- until her favorite brother, Kyle, mysteriously vanishes along with a fortune in stolen amber.Now, linking up with "...

Eugenia Burnett wants grandchildren. This cunning widow is determined to find wives for her brood of handsome sons.Rose Severin, speaks to the dead or at least she pretends to until she can earn enough money to make her way to New York and become a famous actress like her mother. Travis Burnett is resolved to rid the frontier town of imposters like Rose. But Eugenia thinks the fiery Rose is just the woman for her obstinate son. She schemes to keep Rose at the famil...

A lighthearted billionaire romance by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello Dax Marshall isn’t the type of man a woman takes home to meet her parents. He’s a business shark who has never let anything as insignificant as caring stop him from taking over a company. Some call him heartless, but he doesn’t see the value of caring about anyone or anything until he meets Kenzi.Her happiness becomes his obsession.Kenzi Barrington has tried t...

Short stories are the poetry of prose. Mistakes, in a novel, can be buried. In a short story, they stand out like roaches on a sugar cookie. Short stories are precise, cut to the bone, every word a necessity. A novel may go far afield, but a great short story requires unbelievable restraint. Not many authors develop that control. Libby Fischer Hellmann has the hand of a master. Take it from a guy who knows her well: Libby is a nice girl. But she writes noir with a savvy edge honed on the h...

A lighthearted billionaire romance by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello Billionaire Andrew Barrington walked away from the lavish lifestyle he was raised in to serve as a Marine. Until recently, he would have said he’d made the right choice. A tragic set of events, however, has him not reenlisting and emotionally hitting rock bottom.Helene Franklin is visiting her uncle as part of an extended vacation in Aruba. She trades her bikini for an office job when...

In 1968 two young Vietnamese sisters flee to Saigon after their village on the Mekong River is attacked by American forces and burned to the ground. The sole survivors of the brutal massacre that killed their family, the sisters struggle to survive but become estranged, separated by sharply different choices and ideologies. Mai ekes out a living as a GI bar girl, but Tam’s anger festers, and she heads into jungle terrain to fight with the Viet Cong.For nearly ten years, neither sis...

Wild and restless, Kyle Donovan has freed himself from the constraints of his family's high-powered gem-trading empire to rove the world as a treasure hunter. Now the president of Donovan International has given Kyle an assignment with explosive ramifications. A casehe must take.When one of China's legendary cultural treasures isstolen, Lianne Blakely, a mysterious and beautiful jade expert, is accused of the theft. Its Kyle's job to get to the bottom of what could be a potential d...

A lighthearted billionaire romance by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello Lance Barrington’s priority is business, not pleasure.Only one woman has ever been able to turn him inside out: Willa Chambers, his sister’s best friend.Forbidden. Scandalous. Unforgettable. They’ve spent the last ten years trying to forget one night.When Willa and Lance are thrown together again, things heat up fast.Loving him almost destroyed her the first ti...

· A lighthearted billionaire romance by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello When it comes to getting what he wants, Asher Barrington is a hammer who is known for crushing his opponents.From the moment Emily walks into his office and challenges him, winning takes on a whole new meaning.The only thing standing between Emily Harris and her goal to open a museum for the blind is an arrogant, sexy-as-hell billionaire, who thinks sleeping with her will no...

For as long as she can remember, Lydia Westland has dreamed of glittering London society. Finding herself at last in England, she is determined to make the most of this opportunity. Clutching her copy of ′Blunders in Behaviour Corrected′ she sets forth to find a suitably titled husband. But what she finds instead is Rhys Rhodes, a second son with a past that is anything but glittering. To Rhys, Lydia is everything he has lost - innocence, laughter, joy - and everything he cannot have.