Art teacher Stone Larrabee dreads parent/teacher conferences. One following Christmas break becomes especially awkward, when a man with whom he shared a hot anonymous hookup and a nasty argument afterward walks in. Edison Watts.The moment they're reunited, sexual sparks reignite. Too many conflicts force Stone to decree there can never be anything between them but the one night, though, even as fate keeps throwing them together throughout the school year, and developing feelings become hard to ignore.Some problems are easily solved while others, including the reason for Edison's initial attraction to Stone and the chip on Edison's shoulder bigger than the high school's football field, prove more difficult. Stone can teach, but he decides must also be willing to learn and grow. When Edison promises to do the same, can they find a way to make one and one equal two?

FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LGBTQIA ROMANCE SAMANTHA CAYTOBook four in the Treaty Brides seriesBeing a bride is a state of mind, not of body.Lord Carwyn has come to the royal palace of Moorcondia to support his beloved cousin, Nora. The princess has been promised in marriage in order to bind a treaty between her country and the archipelago nation called The Southern Chain. His efforts to help her turn into a daring plan when he catches his first sight of Nora' s intended. The foreigner captivates him in a way no other man ever has.Kai Aleki feels the fate of his people on his shoulders. As his nation' s military leader, he understands how duty always comes first and a strong alliance is crucial to fight the vicious marauders known only as the Swarm. He has no interest in marrying a woman but the delectable and attentive Carwyn captures his attention.Carwyn has a solution that will satisfy everyone. He secretly takes Nora's...

She's Serving Up Red-Hot Revenge... And Bound To Get Burned!London McCaffrey made a deal to get revenge at any cost. Her target? One of Charleston's most influential men. But his brother, gorgeous race-car driver Harrison Crosby, stands in her way as a sexy distraction. He's unleashed a torrent of desire that could catch London in her own web of deception. Will her best-laid plans backfire, breaking both their hearts?

Three orphaned children were definitely not on his shopping list!Luke Duncan never would have believed that going grocery shopping would lead to becoming foster father to three orphans. But no matter how he met them, it was clear that Brian, Hannah and Troy needed him. Now all he has to do is convince the social worker assigned to their case that a single man can be the perfect caregiver.Too bad the social worker is Kealey Fitzpatrick. After their disastrous blind date, he would have sworn she'd never darken his door again.

Dave's most despised teacher, a gleeful frog dissector named Ms. Veronica Krockle, is absent. Her students are psyched But Sticky is suspicious. Especially when the substitute teacher turns out to be strangelyinterested in geckos. Or rather, boys with "pet "geckos. That's no substitute That's Damien Black, dastardly treasure hunter and master ofdisguise If Damien Black is in school, does that mean "he's "behind Ms. Krockle's absence? Could she have been kidnapped? And does that mean Dave has to rescue her?Ay chihuahua The capped crusader is (reluctantly) on the case. "From the Hardcover edition."

Stand-In Wife
Russ Halloway’s mail-order bride never boarded the bride train! In her place is recently widowed Anna Darby Linford, sister of the last woman to jilt Russ. He’s surprised to see Anna again—and stunned when he discovers she’s pregnant. Marrying Anna seems the right thing to do...especially since love continues to evade him.
Anna hopes Russ will help her find employment—becoming a wife again never even crossed her mind. Yet as she struggles to start over in the small town, Anna forges a genuine connection with Russ. When secrets from her past threaten Russ’s future in politics, can they protect their family in the making?

A stand-in Santa. A determined elf. And a mall Christmas Village on the brink of disaster.The holidays are full of surprises, and polar bear shifter Wade just got hit with a doozy: he needs to take over as the mall's Santa.Wade is used to the peace and quiet of his woodworking shop, not the non-stop chaos of the Christmas Village. (How many times can one guy listen to the same Christmas carol?) At least it's only for a few days … but the second he meets harried elf Mira, his fated mate, he knows he wants this part to last a lifetime.Mira needs her holiday bonus to help her aging parents, so she'll put up with anything—even spending weeks in a costume that makes her stick out like a sore thumb. Even the personal enmity of the Christmas Village's finicky, overbearing manager. Even—shudder—all-day carol-oke.The one bright spot in her day is Wade, who is sweet, funny, and devastatingly handsome. Mira can't help being swept off her feet.But between all her worries and all her boss's ill-conceived publicity stunts, can she and Wade actually make it to a merry Christmas?

She’s serving up red-hot revenge…
and bound to get burned!
London McCaffrey made a deal to get revenge at any cost. Her target? One of Charleston’s most influential men. But his brother, gorgeous race-car driver Harrison Crosby, stands in her way as a sexy distraction. He’s unleashed a torrent of desire that could catch London in her own web of deception. Will her best-laid plans backfire, breaking both their hearts?

USA TODAY bestselling authorShe's the best wife......he never wanted! Ross MacMillan lifts his bride's veil...and discovers it's not the woman he'd agreed to marry but her beautiful younger sister, Ilysa MacDonnell! The new MacMillan chieftain must accept Ilysa as his wife, for retaining his clan's lands depends on her father's support. But why is she there? Are her aims to help him or her father? Drawing out Ilysa's secrets will kindle an alliance more powerful—and passionate!—than Ross ever imagined...From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.Highland Alliances Convenient marriages to save their clan!Book 1: The Highlander''''s Substitute Wife by Terri BrisbinBook 2: The Highlander''''s Tactical Marriage by Jenni Fletcher

The Case of the Substitute Face (1938) – During a dark and stormy night aboard ship, a man goes missing. A portrait photograph is mysteriously changed out of a frame. Mason must solve the mystery to save a life.DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAYWhen Perry Mason meets Mrs. Carl Newberry on a vacation cruise, she is a woman desperately interested in saving face. For she and her husband are newcomers to the ranks of the rich--and they're sparing no expense at helping their daughter, Belle, make a successful splash in the right social circles. But Mrs. Newberry suspects that her husband embezzled their new-gotten gain--and she turns to Mason for legal advice.When Mr. Newberry dies suddenly and his wife is left holding his hefty money belt, Perry wonders if his grieving client is really a black widow. . . .

He married the wrong twin! Six years after Cole Berringer goes west to build a new life, he writes to his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Main, and proposes marriage. But instead of the woman he left behind, her twin sister, Elizabeth, arrives in Colorado to take her place. Elizabeth Main has loved Cole for years, but has always known she isn't the woman he loves, so when her twin refuses his marriage proposal, she grabs at the chance to make her dreams come true. As the weeks go by, Cole and Elizabeth grow closer, and Elizabeth is convinced it's only a matter of time until Cole returns her love. But then, Sarah arrives ...

In 2014, after a brief orientation course and a few fingerprinting sessions, Nicholson Baker became an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. He awoke to the dispatcher's five-forty a.m. phone call and headed to one of several nearby schools; when he got there, he did his best to follow lesson plans and help his students get something done. What emerges from Baker's experience is a complex, often touching deconstruction of public schooling in America: children swamped with overdue assignments, overwhelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology, and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum. In Baker's hands, the inner life of the classroom is examined anew—mundane worksheets, recess time-outs, surprise nosebleeds, rebellions, griefs, jealousies, minor triumphs, daily lessons on everything from geology to metal tech to the Holocaust to...

Alan Monteith sets out to help a friend and finds his life taking a drastic turn. A deadly blizzard. . .a lovely young woman. Will his journey end in love or disaster?

W. W. Jacobs was an English writer, famous for his humorous short stories, particularly those relating the preposterous adventures and misadventures of sailors on leave. The collection Short Cruises contains some of W. W. Jacobs\' most popular characters, including the night watchman at the docks in Wapping who relates the stories of his friends Ginger Dick, Sam Small and Peter Russet. \'The Substitute\' is a humorous story narrated by the night watchman who has made two dangerous enemies - the office boy and the philandering skipper of a coal barge. The office boy is determined to catch the watchman doing something he shouldn\'t in order to get him in trouble. The skipper is keen to dally with his mistress without being observed. And the watchman would just like to nip off for a beer during his watch without anyone noticing. After a series of awkward encounters between the three protagonists, the situation is further complicated when the skipper\'s wife decides to pay him a surprise visit.

The Substitute Wife, A Romance Book by CiCi Cordelia

She couldn't win—and she couldn't refuseLucia was furious. She'd been hurt, rejected and now she was being compromised. Rob Ballard's sister had stolen her fiancé and Lucia was being asked to protect her feelings! Her instinct was to leave immediately, but Lucia needed a job to earn her ticket out of there.Rob Ballard offered her one—as long as she agreed to pose as someone else's fiancée. Whose? Well, Rob's actually....

A Convenient Marriage Blake Latherop needs a wife in order to keep his business, and his betrothed has apparently eloped with another man. So when his fiancée's sister, Audrey Prescott, steps off the train in Whisper Creek offering to be his bride, he's in no position to refuse. But it's hardly the marriage he had in mind. Audrey knows she shouldn't have answered Blake's letters in her sister's name...but she couldn't bring herself to tell him of his fiancée's betrayal. Now the only way to fix things is through a temporary marriage. But as she comes to love her new life in the West, Audrey dreads the day Blake finds another solution to their situation. Because what started as a marriage of convenience has become so much more for her...

Disclaimer: Substitute Bride used to be under my pen name Kate Page. Kevin Edwards stands to inherit one million dollars. The catch? He must get married by Valentine’s Day. And he chooses Tammy who is all wrong for him. Can his best friend, Alexandra (Alex) Dixon, convince him that things will be much better if they become more than friends or will he say “I do” to the wrong woman?

Captain Awesome faces off against an evil substitute teacher in the sixteenth adventure of the Sunnyview Superhero Squad!It's an ordinary day at Sunnyview Elementary for Eugene, Charlie, and Sally. At least until the classroom door opens and a teacher who isn't Ms. Beasley walks in. And he's not just any teacher—he's a sinister substitute teacher! But where is Ms. Beasley? Eugene can only think of one explanation: the evil substitute must have captured and hidden her someplace no one will find her...well, no one except the Sunnyview Superhero Squad, of course! With time running out and their favorite teacher on the line, it's up to Captain Awesome and his crew to rescue Ms. Beasley! With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Captain Awesome chapter books are perfect for beginning readers!

GHOSTLY WHISPERSRocking chairs moving to and fro in the night...and an inherited house straight out of the eeriest of ghost stories. These were the things Sasha Michaelson found when she arrived on Sunset Island to collect the body of her identical twin...and take charge of her newly discovered niece. But even more frightening to Sasha than her sister's shadowy presence in the old house, and the killer still running loose on the small island, was the fact that Sheriff Reed Blakeslee stopped her breath and made her heart pound fast. But was the brooding lawman's determined search for answers caused by a love that hadn't stopped with death...or by a desire -- for Sasha -- that he couldn't deny?

Pick off where Book One ends as sisters: Charisse, Chyna and Cheyenne all want one man, Parker! One sister will die, another will lose everything and one will get everything that she wants.

She has nothing to lose if he is lying--aside from her virtue...Jack Worth lives a life of roguish adventure, money-making schemes and ever-changing women. He'll be damned if he settles down and finds a wife...until he inherits a noble title and estate--but without the riches.Distant cousin Laurel is the unwitting heiress to all the money. Brought up in a Spanish convent, and longing for a family of her own, she's prepared to enter into a marriage of convenience. Finding a home in Jack's arms is more than she could have dreamed about, but deception and mistaken identities test her newfound love to the limit.

In the two years since the tragic car crash that killed his fiancée, Nathanial (Nate) Mayer has successfully avoided another relationship. His family and especially his twin sister Nathalie are worried. Jennifer (Jenni) Blake is Nate's personal assistant. Hired after the accident, she has her own problems to deal with, including the deaths of her adoptive parents and the debts incurred by their nursing care. But those difficulties pale into insignificance when Jenni finally traces her birth mother...

You might have read this novella in the HOT SUMMER NIGHTS Anthology...but this version's longer. Yes, size matters! This version contains bonus materials that enhance and expand the story!! Elizabeth Slade, a college English instructor, has experienced success as a romance writer, but she has a dirty little secret: She can’t write sex scenes without a little help from Ridley, a gorgeous guy who plays her pretend boyfriend and makes a booty call whenever her imagination is flailing. She’d like for Ridley to commit to be her permanent and real boyfriend, and she thinks that’s where they’re headed until she finds him getting way too cozy with another woman in a bar. At that point, she enlists the help of her friend, fellow college instructor Roman Decker, who offers to temporarily take Ridley’s place while she sorts through her emotions. She grows confused when she realizes she’s also attracted to Roman. When Ridley comes back to her on bended knee, does she take the bad boy who broke her heart or try to convince her friend to make a real go of it?

"Substitute" may be the best Kallmaker I've read in a long time, and given her extraordinary talent, that's saying something. -- Bay Area Reporter Kallmaker skillfully weaves a tale of longing, need, and desire, complete with mystery, good guys, bad guys and raw sexuality. -- Lambda Book Report Karin Kallmaker's best and most engrossing books yet! -- Womyn's Words She's the lesbian hybrid of Joyce Carol Oates ...and Danielle Steele.... -- Richard LaBonte, Book MarksProduct DescriptionA deep kiss and a single rule. Like most women in dead-end relationships, Holly Markham was used to finding substitutes for love. Like chocolate. Fun times with good friends. Throwing herself into her work. But throwing herself into the arms of a leather-clad stranger was never on her list. When Holly's best friend Tori takes her to a dance for lesbians only, she realizes that Tori is gently trying to push her out of the closet. While it was true that Holly had been trying to come to terms with her growing attraction toward women, no one expected Holly to take one look at the mysterious Reyna and fall hopelessly in lust. Unable to resist the purely physical appeal of Reyna's sensuous demands, Holly quickly succumbs to Reyna's delicious seduction. After a night of delirious passion, Reyna gives Holly a long kiss and single rule: Call whenever you want me to make love to you. There can be nothing else. Although sexually fulfilled for the first time in her life, Holly soon realizes that pleasure without emotion is no substitute for love - a love she knows she and Reyna could share. Knowing too well the high cost of living in shadows and denial, Holly risks everything and sets out to pierce the deep shroud of mystery surrounding the woman she has come to love.

For more than two years, Rose has been the nanny for James Harwood's daughters. She adores the girls, but she tries to maintain a professional distance with James—no matter how attractive she finds him. However, when his engagement falls apart and he starts to look at her differently, Rose no longer sees him only as her boss. James isn't the kind of man to fall for his nanny, so he doesn't know why he can't stop thinking about her in very wrong ways. He's determined to resist, to keep his life simple and to find an appropriate substitute for his wife who died. But with a manipulative ex-fiancée, two precocious daughters, Rose's interfering Southern grandmother, a short-lived fake engagement, and feelings that won't be denied, nothing remains simple for long.**

Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley, late of MI5 and now working as consultants for SOCA, are called in to investigate when a policeman's horribly mutilated body is found with the initials' R.K.A carved on his torso. At the same time, DCI James Carrick asks them to make enquiries on a private matter: he has discovered that his father, Robert Kennedy, whom he thought long dead, is not only alive but a criminal. Can there be a connection between the two cases? . . .

The first book in a humorous contemporary romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Denise Grover Swank. Megan Vandemeer meant to tell her parents about her broken engagement, but a month and a half later she finds herself boarding a plane home to her wedding. Having stretched avoidance to its limits, it's time to come clean--a terrifying prospect since her mother is sure to blame her rather than her cheating, emotionally frigid ex. A couple of drinks and two Dramamine later, Megan finds herself spilling her sob story to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger in the seat next to her. With only one week left to save his business, Josh McMillan boards a plane to Kansas City in a last-ditch effort, leaving the details to chance. An unexpected answer is delivered in the form of the beautiful brunette beside him. Though she’s completely loopy, her honesty, openness, and humor charm him. So when she passes out before landing, he helps her off the plane--a good deed that leads to a colossal misunderstanding. Her parents assume he’s her fiancé. In a twist of fate, the mix-up might help Josh save his business, so he plays along, figuring he can help Megan too. All he has to do is stage a public break up convincing enough to appease her mother. Josh is only supposed to be a substitute groom, but the more time he and Megan spend together, the more their pretend engagement starts to feel real…and the less they want to break it off. Can a relationship that began as a farce turn into happily ever after?

First loves never last . . . except when they do. When Amy Welsh returns to Goose Bay as a substitute teacher, she has no intention of seeing Quentin Macmillan, the man who once left her waiting in the rain clutching her suitcase and dreaming of becoming his wife. Seventeen years later, his teenage daughter shows up in Amy's class with plans to reunite her widowed father with the woman he has always loved. When the assignment is forgiveness and healing, will this young teacher pass the test?

The Substitute Wife, A Romance Book by CiCi Cordelia

Rancher Matthew Ryder knew how to make money work for him. From the time he was twenty, he turned his father’s failing business into a multi billion-dollar enterprise. Computers, software, finances, and corporate takeovers, he could handle them all. But nothing said home to him like leaving the city behind and heading to his ranch in Nevada. His father’s love of horses was his, and he had the best horseflesh and cattle in the state. But when tragedy strikes, and his best friend was killed in an accident on the ranch just before Christmas, Matthew was left wondering what life was about. In town he found a pregnant fiancée that Lance never spoke about, and he wondered what other secrets was kept from him. Matthew found himself wanting to protect the beauty and her unborn child. He’d made a fortune and still something was missing. Maybe she and her baby were the people to fill that void. Grace Reid was an ebony beauty who carried herself with poise. She was heading back to Georgia the day Lance was killed. He was a cheating, lying bastard, and she was better off raising the baby alone. She had fully intended to be at her mama’s for Christmas, but her doctor had already given her the bad news that she was too far along to travel, and now she was stuck in Roman, Nevada. With her money dwindling and no prospects, Matthew Ryder came knocking on her door. It seemed that Lance had kept secrets from them both. She went from living in Lance's dingy apartment to waiting to have her baby in a mansion on a ranch. With the attraction between her and Matthew, she wondered if she was making another stupid mistake. Did he see her as another thing he could buy with his money, or did he really care? She had her baby to think about. Being tossed aside when he got bored wasn’t an option. Would love or money win when the day was done?

When a giant nor'easter dumps a blanket of snow on the village of Dunwich, Massachussetts, Robert Arthur and his friends find themselves marooned inside Lovecraft Middle School. The kids have no choice but to spend the night--while snacking on cafeteria food, sleeping on classroom floors, and facing off against a mysterious substitute teacher who may have a sinister secret. The latest adventure in the Lovecraft Middle School series features more adventures, more outrageous monsters, and another terrifying lenticular cover!

One sister will die, another will lose everything and one will get everything that she wants.

The Girl on the Train meets We Need to Talk About Kevin in this finely crafted page-turner about a middle-school science teacher who innocently befriends one of his students. As the small community slowly turns against him, an anonymous narrator, a person of extreme intelligence and emotional detachment, offers insight into events past and present.