Stephanie Bond

Soldier Mike Nichols has come to Sweetness, Georgia, for one reason: to get help for his troubled black Lab, a decorated rescue dog, at the town's new military dog training facility. He doesn't expect to be referred to dog groomer Lacey Lovejoy instead!

Straitlaced Mike and free-spirited Lacey couldn't be more different. Yet the longer he works with Lacey, the more his attraction to her grows. They clash often, but their heated encounters

...

Wrong-side-of-the-tracks Roxann and her silver-spoon cousin Angora have never had anything in common--until now. Now adults and estranged for years, both women are on the run, one a reluctant witness to a crime, one just jilted at the altar. With each harboring her own secrets, the cousins decide to hit the road to tackle items on the Life Lists they created in college. Along the way, they let their hair down and are forced to face their pasts, unleashing...

Belinda Hennessey has a new job, a new group of carpool pals, and renewed hopes for the future. Even better, her boss, who is a tyrant to everyone else in the company, seems to like her. Promotion shimmers on Belinda's horizon. But when the boss dies in a suspicious accident, Belinda is alarmed. Now with the help of a handsome policeman and a sexy traffic reporter, Belinda hopes she can stay alive long enough to enjoy success.

Jolie Goodman's questions about the disappearance of her boyfriend--with her car--draws her into some of Atlanta's most exclusive circles, where she encounters two retail fashionistas with a penchant for crashing society bashes and one of the city's most eligible bachelors, but the fun turns deadly when a posh soiree is interrupted by murder and a vicious stalker sets his sights on Jolie.

"At 18, Carlotta Wren had her future planned--she would attend college, then marry handsome Peter Ashford, whose family was equally as wealthy as hers, and they would live their lives as members of Atlanta society in relative luxury. But she hadn't expected her parents to skip town on a white-collar crime charge and leave her no resources to raise her younger brother Wesley. For the past ten years, they've scraped by without their fugitive parents,...

Linda is a stay-at-home mom, and her sister Octavia is a socialite. They've never had much in common. But now, husbandless and broke, they reluctantly agree to combine their talents and take on a faltering P.I. agency in a strip mall. They come to realize all their clients have secrets-- and who better to help them than two women who have secrets of their own?

"Divorce attorney Annabelle Coakley is distraught when her widowed mother calls and announces she's marrying a washed-up movie star with a résumé of discarded wives. Annabelle packs a bag and heads to her mother's with one goal: to stop the wedding! Financier Clay Castleberry is beyond irritated to learn that his father is engaged-again. So he drops everything and heads to his father's with cash in hand to buy off this latest gold-digger. When Clay...

The two works included in this collection--"Bluebird Winter" by Howard and "Naughty or Nice?" by Bond--bring together the joy of Christmas and the wonder of love.

A little comfort, caring and compassion go a long way toward making the world a better place. Just ask the dedicated women handpicked from countless worthy nominees across North America to become this year's recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award. To celebrate their accomplishments, five New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors have honored the winners by writing short stories inspired by these real-life heroines.
We hope you're...