This book was a special Valentine's Day Anthology for the lovers of romance.  It has 9 pretty terrific stories inside.  These stories sure give you choices for what you may be in the mood to read.

I read Naughty Wishes, by Sarah Castille.  This author is a "go to" in my purchasing romance titles.  She hits the bar, raises it, and gives me more.  This story was about a couple who have been married a while.  They have need to spice up things, since in the bedroom loving has been somewhat cooler.  Kylie decides to surprise Dan with a night of delight.  He has a surprise for her too.

I found that no matter what I read from this book, it made me have the feels.  I really felt like this was a great collection and I hope these authors make another one next year.  I give this anthology a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was given as a gift for the Valentine holiday.

In Paranormal, Fantasy, and Science Fiction Romance the world and action of the plot tend to get more attention that a character's backstory. 

These set of Romances in these genres have heroes who have been widowed and these losses give thier characters marvelous complexity.

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy! 

1. What A Dragon Should Know by G.A. Aiken

Only for those I love would I traipse into the merciless Northlands to risk life, limb, and my exquisite beauty. But do they appreciate it? Do they say, "Gwenvael the Handsome, you are the best among us--the most loved of all dragons?" No! For centuries my family has refused to acknowledge my magnificence as well as my innate humility. Yet for them, and because I am so chivalrous, I will brave the worst this land has to offer.

So here I stand, waiting to broker an alliance with the one the Northlanders call The Beast. A being so fearful, the greatest warriors will only whisper its name. Yet I, Gwenvael, will courageously face down this terrifying. . .woman? It turns out the Beast, a.k.a. Dagmar Reinholdt, is a woman--one with steel-gray eyes and a shocking disregard for my good looks. Beneath her plain robes and prim spectacles lies a sensual creature waiting to be unleashed. Who better than a dragon to thaw out that icy demeanor? 

And who better than a beast to finally tame a mighty dragon's heart?

2. Heart Duel by Robin D. Owens

Healer Lark Collinson hates the street dueling that is a way of life among the noble families on Celta--it was just such a skirmish that killed her Healer husband and left her a grieving widow. The last thing she wants is to love a man to whom fighting is a way of life--a man like the brashly confident Holm Holly.

All it takes is one brief touch for Holm to know that Lark is his HeartMate, though wooing her will be his greatest challenge. For not only does she despise everything he represents, but the long-standing feud between their families has exploded into even greater violence. Their destiny has been revealed...but at what cost to their own hearts?

3. Moonglow by Kristen Callihan

Once the seeds of desire are sown . . . 
Finally free of her suffocating marriage, widow Daisy Ellis Craigmore is ready to embrace the pleasures of life that have long been denied her. Yet her new-found freedom is short lived. A string of unexplained murders has brought danger to Daisy's door, forcing her to turn to the most unlikely of saviors . . . 

Their growing passion knows no bounds . . . 
Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, has spent lifetimes hiding his primal nature from London society. But now a vicious killer threatens to expose his secrets. Ian must step out of the shadows and protect the beautiful, fearless Daisy, who awakens in him desires he thought long dead. As their quest to unmask the villain draws them closer together, Daisy has no choice but to reveal her own startling secret, and Ian must face the undeniable truth: Losing his heart to Daisy may be the only way to save his soul. 

4. The Outlaw Viking by Sandra Hill

As tall and striking as the Valkyries of legend, Dr. Rain Jordan is proud of her Norse ancestors despite their warlike ways. But she can't believe her eyes when a blow to her head transports her to a nightmarish battlefield of yore—and there standing before her is the barbarian of her dreams.

A wild-eyed berserker, Selik can slay a dozen Saxons with a single swing of his deadly sword—yet he can't control a saucy wench from the future. In his eyes, Rain is a prisoner and he'd dearly love to avail himself of her medical skills—not to mention her considerable knowledge of the male anatomy. But the infuriating woman has ideas of her own. If Selik isn't careful, the stunning siren might very well capture his savage heart and make a warrior of love out of . . . The Outlaw Viking

5. Escape Velocity by Jess Anastasi

Ilari, Brannon System, 2436

At first, Dr. Sacha Dalton is simply curious about the prisoner of war admitted to her med-lab...until she sees who it is. For Commander Kai Yang--the commander of the battleship Valiant Knox--has long been thought dead. Killed in action. But after almost a year and half, he's returned home. Returned to her.

Kai is recovering from his ordeal and under the watchful care of Sacha, his childhood friend and the widow of his best friend. Only now, their friendship has grown and deepened into something far deeper, and far more complicated. Yet as Kai's body recovers, his psyche remains broken. How could he ever be the man he was, and the man Sacha deserves? But an intergalactic war has a way of forcing a man to be the hero he was always meant to be...

6. Dark Vow by Shona Husk

Jaines Cord plans to kill the man who murdered her husband, even though killing a Bounty Hunter is said to be impossible. One bullet took away her livelihood, her home and her love. One bullet made by her. Fired from the gun she completed for the Arcane Bounty Hunter. 

Obsidian wears the scars of disobeying the powerful Arcane Union. He barely escaped with his life and now lives quietly, in a town the lawmen forgot. When Jaines arrives asking too many questions, he's faced with a decision. Help her or run…again. Obsidian knows that if he flees he'll always be looking over his shoulder. His name is one of the first on the Bounty Hunter's death list. 

Yet when Obsidian is offered an opportunity to stop the stone taking over his body in exchange for retrieving the gun, he asks Jaines for her help. Now Jaines must choose: a dead man's vengeance or a living man's hope?

7. Spellbound Falls by Janet Chapman

Maximilian Oceanus arrives in Spellbound Falls just in time to save Olivia Baldwin from an overly aggressive suitor, only to find himself attracted to the beautiful, if rather aloof, widow. And although Mac has come to Inglenook to get a handle on fatherhood, his newly discovered six-year-old son has set his sights on finding his father a wife.

Olivia, however, is busy getting Inglenook ready for its new season, so she doesn’t have time to deal with her growing attraction to the dangerously seductive Mac. Besides, weird stuff seems to happen all around him. Take the fact that her seatbelt keeps getting stuck in his presence, or locks magically open for him without keys, and that he seems to have a talent for sensing things. Never mind the three lost albatrosses walking down the road in the middle of the night. Since when are there albatrosses in Maine?

But despite Olivia’s resistance to falling under the sexy man’s spell, Olivia is having trouble fighting her longing. Because she knows Mac is just the man to unlock the powerful passion deep within her….

8. Wanton by Crystal Jordan

Two years after her lover died, Lynx Jenise finally feels ready to indulge the consuming urge to mate at the shifter gathering known as the Wild. Though her very human heart was broken, her animal instincts can no longer be suppressed.

But even as she finds the rough pleasure she craves with other Lynxes, another instinct haunts Jenise—the feeling that another mate is near….

9. The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when the immortal warrior is chained and isolated to protect those he loves, death is his only hope of release—until he meets Haidee, a fellow prisoner whose beauty and hidden vulnerability draw him into a reckless test of his loyalty….

Haidee is a demon-assassin, raised to despise Amun's kind. Yet how can she hate the man whose touch sets her aflame? But to save him, she must give herself body and soul…and face the wrath of a powerful adversary sworn to destroy her.

10. Rocky by Bianca D'Arc

On the run from her husband's killers, there is only one man who can help her now... her Rock. 

Maggie is on the run from those who killed her husband nine months ago. She knows the only one who can help her is Rocco, a grizzly shifter she knew in her youth. She arrives on his doorstep in labor with twins. Magical, shapeshifting, bear cub twins destined to lead the next generation of werecreatures in North America. 

Rocky is devastated by the news of his Clan brother's death, but he cannot deny the attraction that has never waned for the small human woman who stole his heart a long time ago. Rocky absented himself from her life when she chose to marry his childhood friend, but the years haven't changed the way he feels for her. 

And now there are two young lives to protect. Rocky will do everything in his power to end the threat to the small family and claim them for himself. He knows he is the perfect Alpha to teach the cubs as they grow into their power... if their mother will let him love her as he has always longed to do. 

Have any recommendations? Let me know! Vote for the best of best on my Goodreads list: Veil: Widows in Paranormal Romance Novels 

Powerful things come in small packages. I think the small cat shifters are very very cool. I want more! More! I Say! 

Here are some great love stories with the smaller of the wild cat shifters that have made this so!

My list are never in any particular order.

1. Timeless Moon C. T. Adams Bobcat. This series is amazin. 

Josette Monier is a legend among the Sazi. 

One of the most powerful, beautiful, and oldest Sazi in existence, she lives in self-imposed exile.  Her gift of sight is so strong that to be around other living creatures is to be in pain. 

What Josette has experienced lies beyond the scope of the Sazi, for her mate is in love with someone else.  But when her gift of sight reveals trouble for her community, she knows that she has no choice.  She must set aside her personal pain and save her people.  And perhaps save herself and find love again. 

2. Predator's Refuge by Rosanna Leo,  Lynx

A tiger shifter searching for a safe place to hide. A lynx shifter trying to prove herself. Neither expecting the desire that flares between them … nor the danger stalking them. Suspense and passion fill the pages of Predator’s Refuge, Book 3 of Rosanna Leo’s thrilling romance series, Gemini Island Shifters.

Lynx shifter Marci Lennox has worked at the shifter-friendly Ursa Fishing Lodge and Resort all her adult life. It’s more a home to her than a job. When her boss goes on vacation, putting her in charge, Marci is thrilled. Finally a chance to prove she has the mettle to run a resort.

Her confidence is shaken when new employee Anton Gaspar appears. One look at the mysterious tiger shifter spells trouble for Marci and for her sex-crazed lynx. Anton is judgmental, condescending, and a little misogynistic. Unfortunately, Marci’s lynx thinks his tiger is more delicious than an oversized bag of Maltesers.

It becomes difficult for Marci to remain neutral near Anton, especially when she learns of his troubling past and unusual family circumstances. However, when dangerous incidents occur on the resort, the lynx woman and tiger man join forces to combat the threat to the lodge and its guests.

Harder still is the quest to combat their explosive feelings for one another. As they explore their mutual passion, they realize the danger at the resort is more insidious than they ever envisioned. Their dreams, their love, and their very lives are at stake.

3. Awakening the Beast by Lisa Renee Jones, Lynx

Enter the darkly seductive world that exists within Nocturne Bites' with tales woven by some of the most spellbinding authors: Lisa Renee Jones, Olivia Gates, Linda O. Johnston, Barbara J. Hancock, Caridad Piñeiro and Lydia Parks. Let them take you on a thrilling ride where you'll catch a glimpse of sensuous, sexy men who share their wildest desires in ways you thought only existed in dreams….

Werewolves, vampires and shape shifters…oh my! Don't be afraid to wake them. They've been waiting for you….

4. Purr For The Alpha by Georgette St. Clair

Cats and dogs don’t traditionally get along, but there’s one pussycat that Alpha shifter Ty Battle wants to set a-purrin’: sexy lynx shifter Karen Padfoot. Unfortunately, he’s got a terrible reputation as a player, and she’s scorned all of his advances after one interrupted encounter a year earlier.

When she comes to the Battle compound to plead for the release of her troublemaking father, who stole from the Battle’s warehouse, he’s finally got his chance; she’ll have to work for him as a waitress at his nightclub to pay off her father’s debt. Karen may be hissing and spitting mad, but if Ty has his way, he’ll collar this sexy kitty for good. Unfortunately, someone else wants to cage the feisty feline, and Ty’s the only one who can keep her safe. Will Karen let her barriers down and trust the sexy bachelor with the bad boy reputation before it’s too late?

5. A Kitty in the Lion's Den by Jenika Snow, Pallas Cat 

Maverick Storm is a lion shifter, but he is also a monster. For the better part of nineteen years he was a hitman for some of the most ruthless shifters in the world. He is a cold-blooded killer without remorse. But that isn't him anymore. He is trying to live a normal life, but it seems fate has other plans, especially when his mate is the daughter of his enemy.

Kettah Milokov is a Palla's Cat shifter, and the daughter of the biggest Russian mafia boss in America. Her life is not her own, so she leaves, but can't escape when she runs into her mate, Maverick. He is a heartless killer, and the male nightmares are made of—or so she first believes. Maverick must protect her when she is found, and that means he will have to unleash his lion to keep her safe, and kill his enemy.

6. Bobcat by Bianca D'Arc, Bobcat 

Can Bob Redstone help a shifter woman face the demons that shadowed her youth, or will they both fall while trying to prevent disaster?

On a mission far from home, he finds a sweet vulnerable lady…

Bob is a cougar shifter, one of the elite Redstone Alphas. On a mission for his Clan, he meets a fragile young woman and finds himself drawn to her as he’s never been drawn to a woman before.

A woman with a brutal past…

Serena is a bobcat shifter. Orphaned as a child, she was raised among humans until she was discovered by a Clan of unscrupulous bobcat shifters. Adopted by a shifter couple, she was beaten on a regular basis because she refused to be a mule for their drug trade across the US-Canadian border. She doesn’t have a lot of experience with men, but when she meets Bob Redstone, she finds him nearly irresistible.

A savage attack…

When their haven comes under siege, they take to the road. Bob has been tasked with keeping her safe, but they’re also on a mission to find a mysterious warrior-shaman who’s gone off the grid. Finding him means returning to Serena’s former territory and possibly confronting those who abused her trust, but they have no other choice.

Can she overcome her past to embrace a future with Bob, or will the evil in her former Clan overpower their fragile, fledgling relationship?

7. Sentinels: Lynx Destiny by Doranna Durgin, Lynx

A lone shifter and a stranger must embrace their deepest fears to defeat a deadly enemy in Doranna Durgin's newest Sentinels romance 

Forced to return to her family cabin deep in the Sacramento Mountains, Regan Adler is determined to keep her visit brief. Voices that drove her mother crazy are now threatening to do the same to her and she can't ignore them. Then she meets Kai…. 

Kai Faulkes is a lone shape-shifter who takes the form of a lynx. He's aware of the danger approaching and must protect his home at all costs. When Regan's soft and sultry voice reaches him, he is thrown into a whole new world of passion and desire. Suddenly the stakes are higher, and Kai and Regan must fight for everything they hold dear.

8. Tagging Her Lynx by Abby Wood, Lynx 

Living in the bush of Alaska, Chloe Barrant wanted to take care of the animals at her wildlife refuge and ignore the times she shifted into a lynx. Even she knew that wasn’t normal. Little did she know that the day she’d turn away the poachers she’d find a male lynx coming to her rescue. What surprised her even more was when the lynx turned into a man claiming her as his life mate.

Granger, alpha of the Lynx clan, would do anything to protect the Lynx. They’d lost too many members to the hunters who preyed on them. Finding his alpha life mate gave him back dreams for the future that he’d given up on long ago.

Chloe didn’t understand how the other Lynx expected her to fill the alpha role within the clan, when around Granger she only wanted to slip into beta role and submit to him. Could she figure it all out in time to save the Lynx?

9. Bearly Breathing by Lynn Red, Lynx

Clea Kellen is the owner of Jamesburg's most popular daycare. And on top of that, she’s a lithe, witty, pointy-eared lynx shifter whose biological clock is tick-tick-ticking away.

She's part-time mama to a gaggle of bouncing shifter babies... but a mate? For Clea? Who has the time! A family? Just a dream. That is, until she catches a glimpse of a golden bear with pale brown eyes, watching her in the distance, and all at once, her stomach gets tied up in the best kind of knot.

Bear-shifting, rogue biker Orion Samuelsson is on the run and nursing more than a little bottled up rage. For years, he’s been haunted by the cruel, brutal leader of his old club, the Dirty Devils. Love? Happiness? All distant fantasies. That is, until he lays eyes on a gold and black lynx-shifter dashing through a river.

On a daycare camping trip, Clea’s whole world – in the form of a giant fir tree – comes crashing down. She dives to cover one of her cubs, sure she’s done for. When she finally opens her eyes, she can’t believe the massive, golden bear standing in only feet away with fire in his eyes and a tree on his back.

As he stares into Clea’s soul, straining under the fallen fir, Orion’s buried desire for a mate, and a family to call his own, burns deep in his heart. Right then, he knows he’s found her. He knows he won’t rest until she’s his, until he possesses her, takes her for his mate... forever.

But, with Orion on the run from his former gang, and Clea’s brain telling her to put on the brakes while her heart is screaming for her to hit the gas, will these two fated mates give in to love... and to each other? 

10. Lynx Loving by S. K. Yule, Lynx

Landon is blown away when he realizes his soon to be sister-in-law, Krista, is the woman of his dreams.

Krista is smitten with Landon from the moment they meet, but is confused by his cold/hot signals and brooding nature.

When the chemistry between them burns out of control during an out-of-town trip, Krista finally realizes the guilt from Landon's past may be an obstacle they cannot breach.

Is Krista the woman who can finally help Landon let go of past haunts? Or will his guilt be the demise of their relationship?

I would love some more! Vote for the best of the best on my Goodreads list: Bobcat and Lynx Shifters in Romance.

Thanksgiving is coming! Need some wine? 

Here you go! 

Wonderful Romances Featuring Wineries (and wine). Drink up! 

1. Syrah (All Corked Up, #1) by Nessa L. Warin 

All Shawn Neale is looking for when he stumbles into All Corked Up on Christmas Eve is some wine recommendations. What he finds is an instant attraction to Royce Wilkinson, the shop’s owner. After a few weeks of flirting during shopping and some semi-dates at Royce’s wine tastings, they decide on a real date. It goes well, but life isn’t that simple.

Shawn wants to buy Delicto, the local pub he manages. He’s been planning his life around this for years, but when the owner, who believes being gay is an illness, discovers Shawn went out with Royce, he gives Shawn an ultimatum: stop dating guys or he won’t get to buy Delicto. It’s a heartbreaking quandary: Can Royce and Shawn be happy with a secret relationship until Shawn buys Delicto or is Shawn going to have to choose between his dream job and his dream guy?

2. Baby, It's You by Jane Graves

With only the wedding dress on her back and her honeymoon luggage in the car, Kari Worthington is running away. Determined to put her controlling father, her rigidly structured life, and the uptight groom she left at the altar in her rearview mirror, she escapes to the Texas Hill country . . . and lands on a tall, dark, and gorgeous winery owner's doorstep. All she needs is a job and a place to live until she can get back on her feet. So why is she fantasizing about losing herself in his powerful arms?

For Marc Cordero, freedom is so close he can taste it. He's devoted his life to managing the family business and being a single dad. Now with his daughter away at college and his brother taking over the winery, Marc is ready to hop on his Harley for parts unknown-until a runaway bride bursts onto the scene. Free-spirited and tantalizingly sexy, Kari excites him like no other woman has before. But when irresistible passion turns into something more, will Marc give up his future to take a chance on love?

3. Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Marina Adair 

Regan Martin stopped believing in Christmas miracles six years ago when she lost everything—her house, her job, and her impeccable reputation in the wine industry—after she fell in love with a man she had no idea was married. Then Regan gets a chance for a fresh start in the Napa Valley. With her dream job, dream home, and her daughter enrolled in a wonderful new school, she starts wondering if holiday wishes really do come true.

But she soon tumbles back down to earth when she learns that her new boss is none other than Gabe DeLuca, the scorned wife’s brother. Gabe wants nothing more than home-wrecking Regan Martin out of his life, his sister’s world, and his family’s business. Mostly, he wants the lush beauty out of his head. Yet his attempts to run her out of town have him thinking twice, especially when he sees that Regan may hold the key to tracking down his sister’s stolen start-up capital. Even worse for Gabe, Regan might just be his Christmas wish and hold the key to his heart.

4. One and Only by Bianca D'Arc

ampire enforcer Atticus Maxwell stands at the edge of his own oblivion…until the faint heartbeat of a desperately wounded mortal woman calls him back. The terrible crash that almost took both their lives has brought him a charming, intriguing woman who just might give him a reason to live again.

Lissa was headed for a conference at a resort in a last-ditch attempt to find a job. Instead, on a rain-slick mountain road that almost killed her, she finds the love of her life. A love with the most eligible, reclusive vineyard owner in Napa Valley—one that isn’t quite human.

No barrier—not even breaking the news to Lissa’s friends—seems too great to hold back their blossoming love. Until they learn the accident that brought them together wasn’t an accident at all, but a murder attempt by an unknown enemy.

Atticus saved Lissa once. Can he keep her that way in the face of a renewed threat?

5. It was Only a Kiss by Joss Wood

For driven businessman Luke Savage success is the only option. So when gorgeous marketing intern Jess Sherwood waltzes into his office and casually informs him that his newly inherited vineyard has an image problem he's outraged! She's naive, overly ambitious, a know-it-all… And all Luke can do to stop her talking is kiss her senseless.

Eight years later the vineyard needs a boost—and Luke needs a hip new marketing strategy to save it. Jess may drive him crazy but she's the right woman for the job. Their only problem is how to keep their minds on work and off that kiss!

6. The Good Woman  by Jane Porter

The firstborn of a large Irish-American family, Meg Brennan Roberts is a successful publicist, faithful wife, and doting mother who prides herself on always making the right decisions. But years of being “the good woman” have taken a toll and though her winery career thrives, Meg feels burned out and empty, and more disconnected than ever from her increasingly distant husband. Lonely and disheartened, she attends the London Wine Fair with her boss, ruggedly handsome vintner, Chad Hallahan. It’s here, alone together in an exotic city, far from “real” life, that Chad confesses his long-standing desire for Meg.

Overwhelmed, flattered, and desperately confused, Meg returns home, only to suddenly question every choice she’s ever made, especially that of her marriage. For Meg, something’s got to give, and for once in her life she flees her responsibilities—but with consequences as reckless and irreversible as they are liberating. Now she must decide whether being the person everyone needs is worth losing the woman she was meant to be.

7. Wine, Tarts, & Sex by Susan Johnson

World-renowned chef Jake Chambers could have had any ing?nue he wanted in California since the kitchen isn't the only room in the house where the hard-bodied hunk has special talents. Still, when he realized there might be more to life than glitz and silicone, he left for Minneapolis to buy a local joint and try to clear his head.

But even though he's no longer serving the glitterati, that doesn't mean he's about to compromise quality and serve a Minnesota wine. However, local vintner Liv Bell-with curves even more delicious than his tapas-has other plans once she lays eyes on this Adonis. Determined to promote her vineyard's juicy bounty, this sun-kissed goddess might just bring Jake around to at least tasting what she has to offer.

8. A Kiss of Cabernet by Pamela Gibson

9. In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins

Everyone loves Jack Holland, but Emmaline Neal needs him. Her ex-fiancé is getting married in Malibu and, obviously, she can't go to the wedding alone. In Manningsport, New York, tall, blond and gorgeous Jack Holland is practically a cottage industry when it comes to rescuing desperate women. He knows the drill, Em figures, so he won't get the wrong idea. 

What Jack needs is an excuse to leave town. Ever since rescuing four teenagers from a car wreck, he's been hailed as a hero and the attention is making him itchy, especially since his too-pretty ex-wife is back, angling for a reunion. He's always liked Emmaline. She needs a weekend date? No problem. 

So when they wind up in bed together, Em chalks it up to red wine and chocolate cake, just one impulsive night not to be repeated. But Jack's pushing for more, and if she lets down her guard, either she'll get her heart crushed again, or discover that Jack's worth more than just dreaming about.

10. Once Tasted by Laura Moore

Everything has come easily to Reid Knowles, the middle son of a California ranching family. But his charmed life is suddenly complicated when his good friend and neighbor asks him to help run the winery next door. His neighbor’s niece, Mia Bodell, is in charge—and she has made it clear that she’d rather be roped to a steer than to Reid Knowles. Never one to back down from a challenge, Reid vows to win her trust.
 
Her life marked by loss, Mia knows that nothing comes easily—love included. In high school, her heart was crushed by Reid, and even though years have passed, the hurt lingers. Mia is achingly aware that the teen heartthrob has matured into a devastatingly handsome playboy, and the budding winemaker refuses to let down her guard. But one taste of unbridled passion changes things. From Reid’s first intoxicating kiss to his unexpectedly tender seduction, Mia is swept into a passionate affair that could tear her heart to pieces . . . or give her everything she has ever wanted.

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know! 

To vote for the best, go to the Goodreads list: Wine and Roses: Romances featuring Wineries