‘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, ...

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.

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 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...

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...

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 "...

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...

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...

A lighthearted Holiday Barrington Billionaire Novella Anthology by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello A Billionaire for LexiPlus two more novellas set in the same world.Just in Thyme by Jeannette Winters and Midnight on the Slopes by Danielle StewartWhat is a synchronized novella?Love seeing your favorite characters show up in other stories?One world. Three authors. Character cross-over. Binge reading at its best.Each novell...

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 Young, beautiful, and idealistic, Gigi Bassano was raised outside the Andrade clan, but it has left her with an ache she cannot deny.When she’s invited to her brothers’ weddings, she refuses at first, then changes her mind and attends without telling anyone. She won’t let herself love them, but she can’t stay away. It’s a recipe for disappointment and heartbreak....

“Romantic suspense is her true forte.”—Minneapolis Star-TribuneNew York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell creates suspense and emotional intensity with her classic Midnight in Ruby Bayou, a riveting romantic thriller in her popular four-book series featuring the remarkable Donovan family. A recipient of the Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, Lowell delivers a treasure of a story that seamlessly blends passion and peril a...