An arranged marriage leads to unexpected desire, in the first book of Alyssa Coles

Runaway Royals series

When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But its nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.

A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes he werent. He agrees to take a wife as is required of him, though he doesnt expect to actually fall in love. Even more vexing? His beguiling new queen seems to have the answers to his countrys problemsexcept no one will listen to her.

By day, they lead separate lives. By night, she wears the crown, and he bows to her demands in matters of politics and passion. When turmoil erupts in their kingdom and their marriage, Shanti goes on the run, and Sanyu must learn whether he has what it takes both to lead his people and to catch his queen.

A vivid memoir of food and family, survival and triumph, Love, Loss, and What We Ate traces the arc of Padma Lakshmis unlikely path from an immigrant childhood to a complicated life in front of the cameraa tantalizing blend of Ruth Reichls Tender at the Bone and Nora Ephrons Heartburn

Long before Padma Lakshmi ever stepped onto a television set, she learned that how we eat is an extension of how we love, how we comfort, how we forge a sense of homeand how we taste the world as we navigate our way through it. Shuttling between continents as a child, she lived a life of dislocation that would become habit as an adult, never quite at home in the world. And yet, through all her travels, her favorite food remained the simple rice she first ate sitting on the cool floor of her grandmothers kitchen in South India.

Poignant and surprising, Love, Loss, and What We Ate is Lakshmis extraordinary account of her journey from that humble kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges table of Top Chef and beyond. It chronicles the fierce devotion of the remarkable people who shaped her along the way, from her headstrong mother who flouted conservative Indian convention to make a life in New York, to her Brahmin grandfathera brilliant engineer with an irrepressible sweet toothto the man seemingly wrong for her in every way who proved to be her truest ally. A memoir rich with sensual prose and punctuated with evocative recipes, it is alive with the scents, tastes, and textures of a life that spans complex geographies both internal and external.

Love, Loss, and What We Ate is an intimate and unexpected story of food and familyboth the ones we are born to and the ones we createand their enduring legacies.

From acclaimed author Alyssa Cole comes the tale of a city Cinderella and her Prince Charming in disguise . . .

Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesnt have time for fairy talesor patience for the constant e-mails claiming shes betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, shes learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly e-mail wont convince her otherwise.

Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. When Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso cant resist the chance to experience lifeand lovewithout the burden of his crown.

The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and flirty friendship quickly evolves into passionate nights. But when the truth is revealed, can a princess in theory become a princess ever after?

Selected as one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2018!

An NPR Best Book of the Year - A Bookish Favorite Book of the Year - A Bookpage Best Romance of the Year

Award-winning author Alyssa Coles Reluctant Royals series continues with a woman on a quest to be the heroine of her own story and the duke in shining armor she rescues along the way

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, andmost importantlyherself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what shes capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox bosswhen shes not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.

Tavish McKenzie doesnt need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armoryeven if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprenticeand his attraction to herbut when Portia accidentally discovers that hes the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.  

Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?

Named one of Amazon's Best Romances of May!

The Reluctant Royals series returns with a good girl searching for the life thats not too big, and not too small, and the bad boy prince who might be just right for her

Nya Jerami fled Thesolo for the glitz and glamour of NYC but discovered that her Prince Charming only exists in her virtual dating games. When Nya returns home for a royal wedding, she accidentally finds herself up close and personalin bedwith the real-life celebrity prince who she loves to hate.

For Johan von Braustein, the red-headed step-prince of Liechtienbourg, acting as paparazzi bait is a ruse that protects his brotherthe heir to the throneand his own heart. When a royal referendum threatens his brothers future, a fake engagement is the perfect way to keep the cameras on him.

Nya and Johan both have good reasons to avoid love, but as desires are laid bare behind palace doors, they must decide if their fake romance will lead to a happily-ever-after.

An international bestseller and the novel of the year, Freedom is an epic of contemporary love and marriage.

This is the story of the Berglunds, their son Joey, their daughter Jessica and their friend Richard Katz. It is about how we use and abuse our freedom; about the beginning and ending of love; teenage lust; the unexpectedness of adult life; why we compete with our friends; how we betray those closest to us; and why things almost never work out as they should. It is a story about the human heart, and what it leads us to do to ourselves and each other.

Once upon a time there were three young ladies who, despite their fortunes, had been on the marriage mart a bit too long. They were known as ""the Spinster Heiresses"" . . .

Miss Cassandra Holwell is too tall, too bookish, and too smart-but she does have money and a father who wants a grand title for her. Cassandra hasn't felt a desire to marry until she meets the sinfully handsome Duke of Camberly, who captures her imagination . . . until Soren York, Earl of Dewsberry and her family's sworn enemy, steps in the way.

The Holwells ruined Soren's family, and he's lived on the knife's edge trying to resurrect their fortunes . . . until he considers marrying the Holwell Heiress. Not only would her dowry give him the funds he needs, he has secretly had an eye on the independent-minded bluestocking since they both first realized the differences between men and women.

She likes to read; he has no patience for books. She knows little of sex; he is a man of the world and willing to school her. Her family destroyed his; his offer of marriage may be her only salvation.

Now Cassandra and Soren must learn to love each other for who they are, not what they are-and the lessons are becoming an exercise in absolute pleasure.