FAMILY OF THE YEAR Even after a home-cooked meal no hungry rancher could resist, housekeeper Maria Soldata was told to pack her bags, her kids and go home. But after long talks led to forbidden kisses with her handsome boss, the single mom knew this was home…and that she was needed in more ways than one…. Single dad Ben Calder could barely handle his own child, let alone Maria's brood! And having sworn off marriage, he definitely couldn't handle how enticingly close the beautiful woman's bedroom was to his. She simply had to go. Thing was, for a man so sure he'd never win any father-of-the-year contests, Ben had somehow formed the family of the year….

VIRGIN BRIDES Celebrate the joys of first love with unforgettable stories by your most beloved authors. CINDERELLA…IN NAME ONLY? It was a fairy tale come true…almost. Charming, courageous Zach Keller had asked poor little Jillian Waltham to be his bride. But his proposal was just a formality. For the sexy bodyguard had promised to protect Jillian with his very life, and the only way to keep her 100% safe was to watch over her day…and night. He vowed never to succumb to his bride's blossoming beauty, to remember their marriage was only make-believe. Yet the tempting virgin in his arms was putting Zach's hands-off policy to the test. Dare he take the ultimate risk and make his glass slipper bride a true-love wife?

RUNAWAY BRIDE A teary-eyed bride in a long, white getup and veil was on Luke O'Dell's property–with no husband in sight. Uh-oh! Runaway bride on her honeymoon alone at his Lazy O Dude Ranch! Luke knew too well what happened when he comforted a sobbing woman, and no way was sweet Josie Randall getting anywhere near his strong shoulders…. Josie's two-timing groom-not-to be had done her a huge favor. She'd never even imagined she could love a man so much, until she'd looked into Luke's dark brown eyes and saw forever. But how was a woman to convince six feet, two inches of nonmarrying man that she was the woman he didn't even know he was waiting for?

SWEET TEMPTATIONS With his arrogant, devil-may-care attitude, Kael Carmody was for women what honey was to a bee–a sweet necessity. But he was after only one woman, the one he hurt years ago. Kael wanted to win Daisy back, but he had to melt her defenses, like honeycombs in the sun…. With Kael Carmody back in town, Daisy Hightower was having a hard time continuing her life as usual, tending her bee farm and raising her seven-year-old son. The rugged rodeo cowboy who once broke her heart was a man she couldn't ignore. And her son saw Kael as an instant daddy–one he never knew he had!

Wife for a year! A recent accident has left Alexa Gifford homeless, jobless and manless, with a rather scruffy dog to support! Her situation looks pretty desperate until her longtime friend Stefan Blake offers her a new position…as his wife! In order to adopt his six-year-old niece, Jessica, Stefan needs to convince the authorities that he can provide a stable home. He hasn't got time to find the woman of his dreams; Alexa will just have to do. After all, he only needs a temporary wife. Unfortunately, Stefan reckons without two things: little orphan Jessica falling in love with her instant mother, and his new bride falling in love with him!

FABULOUS FATHERS He just discovered his soon-to-be ex-wife "forgot" to tell him he's a daddy! They'd had the perfect marriage. Then Adam started spending every waking hour at the office and Evie stopped waiting up. And before long there was a continent–and one diaper-clad lie–between them. Until Daddy returned. Adam might have missed her birth, but he vowed to be there for his baby girl forevermore. Now if only he could convince Evie that he wanted the same for their marriage…. It's this Fabulous Father's last chance at a family.

MAGGIE WELLS WAS A "GREAT GAL." So how come she couldn't get a date? She was getting really tired of spending her weekends in front of the television. So she decided to volunteer at the community center. That's when she met little Brandy. BRANDY CONNER WAS A GREAT KID. She loved her new grown-up friend, Maggie. And Brandy thought Maggie would make an even neater friend for her dad, Ryan. RYAN CONNER WAS A GREAT…HUNK. Life as a single dad was no bed of roses, but he wasn't interested in finding a new wife–no way, no how. Not even one as beguiling as Maggie Wells…. Could they convince him to make room for Maggie?

Bachelor Gulch Y'ALL COME TO THE WEDDING! In Jasper Gulch, where the main course at the local diner is gossip, everyone's talking about the diamond-and-emerald engagement ring that Josie Callahan is sporting. Word has it this shy bride has been bartered for by handsome, wealthy Jake McKenna. The reticent rancher needs a wife to inherit his family's land–or else it will go to his fiercest rival. Every busybody in town is wondering why Josie agreed to the convenient union. Does she believe she can turn her grumpy, silent groom into prime husband material? Or could she already know this sham of a marriage will lead to real passion…in their wedding bed? In this little town no bachelor is safe from marriage!

twins on the doorstep RICH MAN… Wealthy, handsome, successful oilman, dynamic rancher…and her boss. Adam Murdock Sanders was simply too good to be true. After all, geologist Maureen York didn't believe in Mr. Right. RANCHING MAN… Then she moved to a nearby ranch–and the trouble began!Adam's protective attitude and commanding orders drove independent Maureen wild–and his kisses made her crazy…. WEDDED MAN? Soon the millionaire moved from her doorstep into her heart. But would this new arrangement lead to a merger…or a marriage? The next generation of Murdocks continues the adventure of love!

HOW TO FIND A MAKE-BELIEVE HUSBAND by Katie Logan Don't: Ask the private detective who is trying to prove you are not married. Do: Whack him over the head with a frying pan when you catch him spying on you! Don't: Notice how sexy he is as you're soothing the bump on his head. Do: Tell him he's your husband once you realize he has amnesia. But whatever you do, Don't: Check into a motel room while he's convinced you're married–especially if the detective is Travis Ryder, a real hunk whose kisses make you forget this marriage is only make-believe!

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS RECIPE FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1 Bachelor pilot 1 Young widow 1 Oversize house 6 Assorted relatives Passion, hope and love as desired In oversize house, toss together pilot and widow. Fold in memory of passionate midnight kiss and heat thoroughly. Add generous dollop of assorted relatives. Season with passion, hope and love. Yield: A Home for the Holidays…and forever! HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Celebrate the joy and love of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's with three very special couples.

HUSBAND IN A MILLION Single mom Joanna Greer knew all the "mommy" tricks: kiss boo-boos, fix three squares a day…fuss, fuss, fuss. But when it came to acting as a father figure to her young son, she was desperately at a loss…. Then little Tyler staked his claim on the handsome bachelor next door. Kris Slavik didn't know the first thing about fatherhood. His upbringing had been short on hugs, but long on expectations. Well, he'd earned his millions…several times over. Problem was, he had no one to share it with. Until a rambunctious kid and his beautiful mom had him tossing around footballs–and sizing very big diamond rings….

"Are you going to marry me–yes or no?" Matthew Standish–or Mal to his friends–arrived back into Copper's life with a marriage proposal that sounded just about as romantic as sheepshearing! But then, the situation required practical solutions: Mal needed a mother for his young daughter and a housekeeper for Birraminda. So what was Cooper's answer to be? Copper hadn't ever been able to forget Mal, but she wasn't the same girl he'd known seven years ago. In fact, she had a very practical business proposition of her own….

THE HUNGRIEST COWBOY IN TEXAS Clayton Sinclair ran the toughest ranch in Texas, and all he wanted at the end of a long day was a steak dinner and a tidy house. But his pretty new housekeeper couldn't boil an egg to save her life. Maybe the lady was just desperate for a job. Or, maybe Hannah Lindsay was up to something…. A plain Jane with two left feet, Hannah knew nothing about cooking, hospital corners–or attracting a man, for that matter. So when Clayton made her feel like a beauty queen, all she wanted was to win the handsome cowboy's heart. But would he thank her with a marriage proposal when he learned the bittersweet truth about who she really was?

THE DETERMINED VIRGIN Mimi Pickford wanted her life to be more than serving up daily specials at the local diner. But the one man who could help her achieve her secret dream had suddenly dropped out of sight. Elusive hero Gibson St. James was known for rescuing babies from burning buildings–and for wearing his bachelorhood like a badge. But he'd also earned the reputation of being hard-headed, hard-bodied–and just plain hard to crack. Well, tough! Because Mimi needed his help–and she'd never shied away from a challenge yet. At least, never one sooo appealing….

Fabulous Fathers FIRST COMES BABY… Shayla Morrison's mission was to unite a rambunctious baby boy with the rugged cowboy who was his closest kin. But one look at long, tall Turner MacLeod and Shayla decided to stick around. After all, what did a rough and tough rancher know about babies? Then again, what did a sensible woman like Shayla know about sharing close quarters with a mysterious Montana man? THEN COMES MARRIAGE? Shayla should have hightailed it back to her ho-hum life. Then the sound of a child's laughter–and the sparkle in the cowboy's eyes–had her whistling the wedding march. But could she turn the brooding bachelor into a forever husband? Fabulous Fathers This cowboy found a baby on his doorstep–and a wife in waiting!

Paula Byrne is the author the bestselling biographies ‘Perdita’, ‘Mad World’, ‘The Real Jane Austen’, ‘Belle’ and ‘Kick’. She is founder and chief executive of ReLit, the Bibliotherapy Foundation, a charity devoted to the mental health benefits of reading. She is married to Sir Jonathan Bate and lives in Oxford.

When Milly (aka actress Nicola Millbank of Mount Pleasant, Mr. Selfridge and Silent Witness) moved to London aged 18 to become an actress she had to learn to fend for herself and that included improving her cooking skills. With a love for home-cooked dishes, she wanted to make them her own but a bit fresher, lighter and more exciting. So followed a 10-year full-blown love affair with home cooking that became her food blog MILLY COOKBOOK.

Dan Hancox is a native Londoner who writes about music, politics, gentrification, social exclusion, protest and the margins of urban life, chiefly for the Guardian, but also the New York Times, Vice, The Fader, Dazed & Confused and XXL. He is the author of The Village Against the World (Verso).

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year. Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril. In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

“You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.” One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera―Broadway’s longest running show―and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him. The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening,’ to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini’s Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion―a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments. A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued. Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first mega-hit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera. Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities―Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more―Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.