Wild child lingerie store owner Lucy Hamilton is a happily confirmed bachelorette. As far as she's concerned, men are something best enjoyed in small doses, never to be allowed too close. Then Lucy's mother tells her Aunt Bev that Lucy has eloped and is married—a tiny lie only meant to appease the dying woman...until Aunt Bev miraculously recovers. Now Lucy needs to find a "husband" for an upcoming family wedding, and fast. Fortunately, Lucy's ridiculously hot, ridiculously straitlaced new accountant Dex Levian is willing to be her stand-in spouse for the weekend. And that's when the trouble really begins. For starters, Dex's "involvement" with a client?no matter how irresistible?might ruin a merger he hopes will make his career. Worse still, the chemistry between Dex and Lucy is more than convincing?it's sizzling. But for Lucy, falling for her fake new husband is the most dangerous thing she can do... Each book in the Hamilton Sisters series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order. Series Order: Book #1 The Surrogate Husband Book #2 The Best Man’s Proposal

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Sister and The Gift, this is an unputdownable psychological thriller which asks how far we will go to create our perfect family. Kat and her husband Nick have tried everything to become parents, and are on the point of giving up. Then a chance encounter with Kat's childhood friend Lisa gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream. But Kat and Lisa's history hides dark secrets. And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye. As dangerous cracks start to appear in Kat's perfect picture of happily-ever-after, she realizes that she must face her fear of the past to save her family...

“The Surrogate is a thrilling, high-stakes debut centering on a vulnerable newborn and two women who will do almost anything to claim her as their daughter. With a collection of vividly rendered characters, this twisty tale will leave you thinking about the true meaning of motherhood long after you turn the last page. I loved it!”—Patry Francis, bestselling author of All the Children Are Home Ruth is a no-nonsense fortysomething journalist from the Midwest, desperate for a child with her new husband, Hal. Their hope rests with Cally, a nineteen-year- old who wants to go to college—but doesn’t have the cash. The arrangement seems perfect for everyone. But within a day of the baby’s birth, Cally has a change of heart—and engineers a harrowing escape from the hospital with the newborn. When Ruth and Hal discover that Cally and their daughter are gone, a whole series of doubts and secrets is revealed, and the difference between right and wrong is no longer clear. Set in the vast, sparsely populated upper reaches of northern Minnesota in the middle of winter, The Surrogate follows Ruth, Hal, Cally, through a maze of thought-provoking questions about the nature of family, love, and relationships: What would you do for your partner, when the going gets tough? How much is a pregnancy “worth”? And who, if anyone, “deserves” to be a mother? With its realistic portrayal of surrogacy and motherhood, 'The Surrogate' is a thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. Toni Halleen's writing is both literary and suspenseful, making this a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and domestic dramas.

A riveting memoir from the woman behind the major motion picture The Sessions — and an intimate portrayal of sexuality in the 20th century. For the past 40 years, Cheryl Cohen Greene has worked as a surrogate partner, helping clients to form fulfilling sexual relationships. The men and women she works with have sexual phobias, disabilities, and problems with self-esteem. Often, her most important role as a surrogate is simply to show understanding. In this candid memoir, Cohen Greene shares some of her most memorable cases, including that of Berkeley-based poet and journalist Mark O'Brien, confined to an iron lung after contracting polio at age six. She also tells of her own sexual coming-of-age — from a rigid Catholic upbringing in the 1950s, where she was taught to think sex was unnatural and wrong, and then through the sexual revolution of 1960s and 1970s, an open marriage, an encounter with cancer, and a rich and rewarding career as a surrogate partner. An Intimate Life is more than the story of one woman's career as a sexual healer — it's a love story, a meditation on compassion and grief, and a tale of sexual and emotional awakening. Arresting and compelling, it gives an insight into this most unusual of professions, and those who take part in it.

When a parent singles out a child for special privileges and attention, that child is often unaware that the relationship is unhealthy—even incestuous. As adults, these children struggle to feel validated, because while they have not been directly abused, they feel a sense of violation and crossed boundaries—usually done in the name of 'love' and 'caring.' The parent's love feels more confining than freeing, more demanding than giving, more intrusive than nurturing. Yet these children suffer from what psychologist Kenneth Adams calls The Silent Seduction—because there is nothing loving or caring about a close parent-child relationship that services the needs of the parent rather than the child. In this revised and updated 20th anniversary edition of his groundbreaking book Silently Seduced, Dr. Adams explains how 'feeling close,' especially with the opposite-sex parent, is not the source of comfort the image suggests, especially when that child is cheated out of a childhood by being a parent's surrogate partner. He offers a framework to understand this covert incest and its effect on sexuality, intimacy, and relationships, and how victims can begin the process of recovery.

When a Woman Is in an Emotional Tug-of-War for Her Man's Heart Why can't he commit? Many women find themselves asking this question when in love with a man who won't get married, won't stop womanizing, or refuses to give up his sex addictions. Often this kind of man is bound by an unhealthy attachment to his mother. This phenomenon is called "mother-son enmeshment." In When He's Married to Mom, clinical psychologist and renowned intimacy expert Dr. Kenneth M. Adams goes beyond the stereotypes of momma's boys and meddling mothers to explain how mother-son enmeshment affects everyone: the mother, the son, and the woman who loves him. In his twenty-five years of practice, Dr. Adams has successfully treated hundreds of enmeshed men and shares their stories in this informative guide. He provides proven methods to make things better, including: -- Guidelines to help women create fulfilling relationships with mother-enmeshed men -- Tools to help mother-enmeshed men have healthy and successful dating experiences leading to serious relationships and marriage -- Strategies to help parents avoid enmeshing their children When He's Married to Mom provides practical and compassionate advice to the women who are involved with mother-enmeshed men, to the mothers who wish to set them free, and to the men themselves.