James Beard Award Cookbooks

In two steps he was on her, yanking her up straight and turning her around to face the wall. She gasped at the change in dynamic: her teasing and taunting were shoved roughly to one side and now he was in full and total control. Jo trembled as he dropped a slow, sexy kiss on her right shoulder, then lightly nipped her soft skin before moving his mouth to her ear. “Don’t you move, angel,” he murmured. “Keep facing forward.” **** Jolene Angeles is fresh out of a nightmare marriage and parked at a roadside biker bar hunting for one thing: Mr. Right Now. In a few days, she’ll have a new job, a new city, a new life, and a single, forgettable one-night stand feels like the perfect way to burn the past down. Then she meets Zeke. Silver-eyed, dangerous. Exactly the kind of mistake she wants. One night, no names, no aftermath. Zeke “Silver” Bennett doesn’t lose control. Ever. He learned that lesson once, and it nearly destroyed him. So when he spots the dark-eyed woman across the bar, he knows the rules: one night, clean break, no complications. Until fate throws them together again... and secrets start detonating. They didn’t tell each other the truth. Now they’re forced to decide: can trust be built on lies? And if the truth finally comes out – raw, painful, unforgiving – will either of them be brave enough to risk real love?

“You’ve never had two naked men make you the center of all of their attention?” Drake said. “Never had two men worship you with every single inch of their bodies?” “Never been sandwiched between two huge, hard guys?” Dux said. “Never been kissed and touched by two sets of hands and lips?” “No,” she whispered. “Never.” “Is that something you’d like?” Dux’s voice was getting even deeper, even darker. “Something you’d want to experience?” **** Dux and Drake Keeler are ex–Road Devils MC enforcers, twins who live fast, fight dirty, and love without limits. Fresh off a brutal raid on a cult compound, they’re tearing across the country with one goal: protect what’s theirs. And lately, that’s Briley. The brothers are equal parts savage and irreverent, bound by blood and an unbreakable rule: they share everything. Including desire. They want Briley in their world, their arms, their bed, and they’re unapologetic about it. Briley Cross is still reeling from surviving a cult and killing its leader. The twins offer her a new start, and something far more dangerous: devotion from two men who make her the center of everything. It’s tempting. Terrifying. Irresistible. But when enemies of the Road Devils go to war, Briley becomes the target. As Dux and Drake unleash hell to save her, she’s carrying a secret that could change all their lives...if they survive long enough to claim it.

Blurb. " You kept my son from me for five years?" Alexander's voice cracked with disbelief , anger radiating off him as he towered over Daniela.She squared her shoulders, though her hands trembled. " I didnt think it mattered back then. I was nothing to you Alexander . Just a distraction- a side chick you could forget the moment I walked out of your life". " That's not fair !" He snapped , his jaw tightening . " You knew what my life was like. I didnt...." " You didnt think about me did you?" She interrupted her voice rising. " After that one night, you moved on as if nothing happened. But i was left with something i couldn't ignore- our son". Alexander froze his piercing gaze searching hers . " You could have come back. You could have told me" . " I tried!" Daniela shot back her voice breaking. " But when i saw you again, you were with her - the perfect fiancee , the love of your life. I realised I'd just be a complication in your already perfect world ". " You don't get to make that choice for me,"he said, his voice low and trembling with restrained fury. " I deserve to know . Noah deseves to know who is father was". Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. " Maybe I was wrong , but i didn't want my child growing up feeling unwanted ... like i was nothing more than a mistake to you ".

Blurb A secret baby. A billionaire ex. A Love she swore she would never touch again. Annie's life was already in ruins—shattered by betrayal, rebuilt by pain, held together by sheer will. But just when she finally starts breathing again, the past she buried began to rise. Because someone dangerously close… someone she should have walked away from… is about to step right back into her path. And this time, the storm he brings might be the one she can't survive.

After being publicly rejected by her mate, the Alpha's son, orphans Kit, and her little sister Cami, run away from their pack. Seven years later, who should walk into the diner that Kit works at and Cami studies in, but the new Beta of the pack they abandoned, who just so happens to be Cami’s very smitten mate. Kit is horrified when Cami begs her to come back to the pack where she still feels the humiliation from her rejection, but she can’t abandon her only family, so she reluctantly tags along. What she doesn’t expect, is that the once arrogant but popular son of the pack’s healer, Colin, has turned out to be not just a nice guy, but smoking hot too. And much to her surprise, he is interested in her. Which is great, because the mate who rejected her is now her Alpha and seems to take amusement in embarrassing her. Embarrassing her, and at the same time, wanting to use her for his pleasure, which even though she can’t stand him, she struggles to be able to physically resist him. And to make matters worse, he refuses to let her reject him back, threatening to kick her out and prevent her from seeing her loved ones anymore. Will she ever be able to finally reject him back and be happy with Colin, who wants her for more than just her body, or will she forever be trapped in an infatuation with someone who is emotionally uninterested?

Uprooted from her childhood home and thrown into a new life, introvert Irene has to navigate the ups and downs of a new neighbourhood, new school, and potential friends and enemies. Her world changes when her eyes fall on a pair of tantalising green ones and her heart falls for the very first time. Until one terrible night shatters all those hopes and innocence of first love, and Irene learns the hard way that she shouldn't have let her life revolve around a boy. But what happens when years later, when she has moved on and recovered from her scars, her past comes knocking once more? What happens when an old flame reignites her brokenheart?

BLURB: Rosy woke up with a jolt-her pants were gone, and a stranger lay beside her. Panic clawed at her chest as she yanked the sheets around her. "Who are you?"She whispered, her voice barely steady. The man stirred, eyes opening slowly." You don't remember last night ?". Her stomach dropped." I..I don't even know you". He sat up ,calm almost two calm. "But i know you , Rosy

In the heart of New York City, amidst the chaos of honking horns and towering skyscrapers, Michael Stone—Alpha of one of the most powerful werewolf packs in the world—sits impatiently in the back of his black luxury car. He’s in the city for a high-stakes business meeting with humans, one that could alter the future of his pack. Time is slipping away, and traffic is at a standstill. Then he sees her. A young woman, effortlessly beautiful, walks down the busy sidewalk, unaware of the world watching her. She moves with quiet grace and a softness that cuts through the noise. Human, he assumes—until the primal force within him growls a single word: Mate. Without a second thought, Michael abandons the car—and his meeting—and follows her into a hotel building. Her name is Anastasia (“Anna”). She’s cautious, guarded, yet her kindness radiates like sunlight. Their chance encounter turns into a pull neither of them can deny. As days become weeks, Michael can’t stay away. Belle, a gentle soul and devoted single mother to a little boy, begins to open up to the mysterious, commanding man who keeps appearing in her life. What she doesn’t know is that Michael is no ordinary man—he’s a werewolf Alpha, and he’s already claimed her as his. Despite his world being one of power, secrets, and supernatural law, Michael makes Anna a promise: if she trusts him, he’ll give her a life she’s never dreamed possible. But trust is hard won—and danger looms. Because Anna isn’t who she thinks she is. And the truth, once revealed, will change everything. Love, loyalty, and fate collide in The Unexpected Fated Mate—a gripping paranormal romance that proves sometimes the biggest secrets hide behind the most human hearts.

Ice had seen courage under fire, in many cases literally, back in his SEAL days. But he’d never seen anything like Vixen that day. When he first caught sight of her, she was standing with her feet wide apart, solidly braced on those mile-high, mid-thigh black boots, the ones that he loved fucking her in. Her minute green skirt had ridden high and tight up her perfect legs, and her dark eyes were dilated to black as she grimly stared down the approaching vehicle, shooting and shooting, both hands holding the gun. She’d looked every inch the hot female assassin in some blockbuster Hollywood movie, right down to her hair flowing behind her in the autumn wind. **** Ice Johansson is the Road Devils MC’s Chief Enforcer: cold, ruthless, and built for violence. He doesn’t feel guilt, except where Vix is concerned. Weeks ago, he crossed a line with the one woman who mattered to him. Now an enemy attack leaves her badly injured, and Ice wants one thing: to protect her, if she’ll let him close again. Victoria “Vixen” Shaw owns her reputation as the club’s favorite ride. No shame. No apologies. For eighteen months, though, she’s been Ice’s alone. What he did shattered her trust, but when Ice becomes her caretaker – no sex, no demands, just presence – she begins to see the man beneath the ice. As the Road Devils are pushed to the brink, Ice and Vix find intimacy where they never expected it: clothed, raw, and vulnerable. But if Ice reveals the darkest parts of himself – the violence he embraces to protect his family – can Vix accept him? And even if she does, can loving a man like Ice ever truly be safe?

Jax couldn’t believe how it felt to finally touch her the way that he wanted to. She was warm and sweet, and her response was incredible. Total surrender; aching want; hot need. He’d never have guessed that Sarah would give over so completely, and he kissed her over and over again, loving how she tasted. He finally pulled back, fighting with himself to do so. He opened his eyes and saw that hers were still closed. Her mouth was swollen and she trembled against him a bit. He ran his fingers through her curls, brushed her hair back from her gorgeous face. “Open your eyes, baby,” he said, his voice deep and husky. “Look at me.” **** Jax Hamill rebuilt his life on grit, dumb luck, and a refusal to look back. The past is buried. The bar is profitable. The house, truck, and bike are his. So is the no-strings sex in a back room he never plans to clean up. Jax lives for now. Everything is temporary.... until she isn’t. Sarah Matthews is drowning in responsibility. Overworked, overstretched, and painfully single, her life is a color-coded calendar of obligation. She doesn’t need romance. She needs escape....just once. Just long enough to remember who she was before life tightened the leash. Their deal is simple: no future, no promises, no feelings. Just heat. Just fun. Just temporary. Then a ghost from Sarah’s past crashes the fantasy – and turns desire into a battlefield. As Sarah fights to reclaim her life, Jax is forced to face the man he used to be, the man he pretends to be, and the man he might become… if he dares to want something real.