Showing results by author "Ruth Cardello" in All Categories

Rachelle Westerly needs a break. After years of acting as the family peacekeeper, she’s finally ready to take a step back. Her movie-star brother has offered her the perfect escape. But on the very first day of her vacation, she steps onto a red carpet and straight into the arms of a real-life prince - and the promise of just the kind of flash and fortune that tore her own family apart.

Lucy Albright never wanted her family's Texas ranch, but now it's in foreclosure. She's already lost so much she can't bear the thought of losing one more thing. Lucy learned the hard way not to accept help from a man when there are strings attached, so she'll do whatever it takes to save the ranch on her own terms - even if that means launching an online business marketing high-tech sex toys.

The Boston Westerlys are reuniting for a wedding - a longtime wish for its matriarch. If only Nicolette, the youngest of the clan’s siblings, could find love. With her true parentage suddenly in question, she feels like more of an outsider than ever. It figures that the one guest of any comfort is her grandmother’s greatest enemy. Now, Nicolette’s only impulse is to run. Disappearing to a small Iowa town, she can build a future on her terms without the Westerly name or money - or the secrets that have divided the family for years.

Playboy Mason Thorne is nothing short of complicated. Though he was a movie star at a young age, his life took a downward spiral when he turned to drugs after losing his mother. He cleaned up his act and became a senator but still keeps his distance from most everyone - including his own father. There are plenty of women around, but most are gone by morning.

Sage Revere follows her instincts, which have led to an oddball career as a plant psychologist. As a side project, she also helps strangers find happiness. Sage has a gift for knowing who needs her help, and the brooding hunk of a loner she meets in a coffee shop certainly fits the bill. She can feel it. On-screen, Eric Westerly is the hottest superhero there is. Offscreen, he’s out of rehab; incognito in London; and reevaluating his life, his career, and his broken family ties. All he wants is to be alone. Then along comes some daft plant whisperer who gets under his skin.

Melanie Hanna has finally worked up the courage to travel to New York and tell an old flame that he's the father of her young son. She's done hiding and apologizing for her one impulsive night. When her best friend asks her brother to watch over Melanie, her emotional trip takes an unexpected and sizzling detour.

Alethea is at a crossroad. For as long as she could remember, it was her and her best friend, Lil, against the world. Now that Lil has met Prince "I have my own helicopter" Charming and reconnected with her family, Alethea is on the outside looking in, justifying who she's always been to people who have never understood her. When she uncovers a looming threat to Lil's family, she's determined to save them, even after they tell her not to get involved and assign their best man to stop her.

Rachid bin Amir al Hantan is fighting for the sovereignty of his small country. He needs to find some powerful allies - and fast. Attending the wedding of Dominic Corisi is as much about reconnecting with old friends as it is about celebrating nuptials. The last thing he needs right now is the distraction of a woman. Zhang Yajun is a self-made billionaire who can't believe she accepted her friend's dare to kiss Sheikh Rachid before the end of the wedding.

Cooper Landon knows what it’s like to be left behind, lied to, and betrayed. At 16, angry and broke, he tried to rob a small-town hardware store. Instead of money, what he got was a good beating and a second chance. Pete Glenford took him in, taught him he wasn’t worthless, welcomed him into his family, and gave him a purpose. A decade later, Cooper lives in a small town, works in a hardware store, and uses what little money he has to locate and help runaways. He can't change who he was before, but he'd feel good about his new life if it wasn't for one minor issue.

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 he says there is trouble brewing at his clinic and asks her to keep an eye out for anything unusual.

Stephan Andrade has been planning his revenge ever since Dominic Corisi unscrupulously took over his father's company. With Corisi Enterprises gambling its reputation on the success of a new software network for China, Stephan finally has his chance to take back his legacy. Dominic's younger sister, Nicole, asks Stephan for his help and provides him with an opportunity to exact his revenge on a personal level. It all goes smoothly until he falls in love.

Gio Andrade: Rich, powerful, sexy. A man who thinks he has everything . . . until he meets Julia. Julia Bennett: Sweet, spontaneous, and desperate to sell her jewelry line in New York City. She takes a job as a night security guard to pay the rent. Sparks fly when she mistakes her boss for an intruder. He can't get her out of his head. She can't find the strength to deny him. Will lies bring them together or tear them apart forever?

Lil Dartley's life is upside down. Her previously steadfast and predictable sister is marrying an influential billionaire and needs help planning the wedding of the century in less than a month. Years of middle class rebellion have not prepared Lil for handling billionaires or paparazzi.

Dalton: Women are a perk of my lifestyle. I work hard. I deserve to play harder. But I didn’t get on the Forbes List of Rising Entrepreneurs by getting lost in the baggage and disruption that comes with dating. I’ve seen dozens of men fail when they fall in love. Pathetic. That's why I chose the Bachelor Tower. The best part: The tower attracts women, beautiful women who hang out in the lobby bar and vie for an invite upstairs. Easy, like fishing in a barrel. Until Penny Fuller moves into the apartment next to me.

Luke Andrade: wealthy, talented, fiercely loyal. He's the glue that holds his family together, but every man has a breaking point. When he heads to Ohio to attend a funeral, he does so with the intention of taking time off to clear his head. The very last thing he expects to do is meet a woman. Cassie Daiver: scarred but not broken. She's re-creating herself in a small town far away from her painful childhood. He's angry with the world and himself. She finally has something she's afraid to lose.

Dreaming of Alethea gave Jeremy Kater the strength to survive a difficult childhood. Now that he has influential friends who owe him some big favors, he's determined to become the kind of man Alethea would be interested in: rich and dangerous. Jeisa Borreto was hired to help Jeremy morph into that man. It's a job she would enjoy, if it weren't tearing her heart to pieces. How can she help him change once she's realized she's fallen in love with the man he's always been? Hint: Sleeping with him doesn't help.

Clay Landon has never taken himself or his life of privilege seriously. He has spent his life going where he wanted, when he wanted, and keeping his relationships as casual and open as his lifestyle. It's a pretty damn good life until he meets Lexi Chambers, an equally free spirit who is completely unimpressed by him or his wealth.

Young. Beautiful. Idealistic. Proud. Gigi 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...especially when she throws herself at her brother's best friend, Kane.

For the first 30 years of his life, Kade Thompson knew exactly who he was and where his life in Australia was going. He made tough choices he thought his family needed — even if it meant leaving behind the one woman who had his heart. A phone call changes everything. His American biological parents and family have tracked him down — so, who are the people who raised him? Who is he?

Dylan Sutton never wanted to be famous, but when his sister married a Barrington, his whole life changed. He's in demand as an action hero but yearning for a simpler life. Being rich isn't nearly as fun as people make it out to be. Aly is a gynecologist who is determined to modernize her field. She is single, serious, and not happy that the one man who revs her engines can't keep a straight face when referring to any part of the female reproductive system.