Meghan OBrien Livres

Returning Iraq war veteran Ray McKenna struggles with battle scars that can only be healed by love. Ray McKenna returns from the war in Iraq to find that she had attained unwanted celebrity status back home. As the only surviving American soldier of a well-publicized hostage crisis, she is the center of attention at a time when all she wants is solitude. Struggling to overcome the fear and anxiety that plague her, she relies on her psychiatric therapy dog Jagger to help her through the vicious symptoms of PTSD. Veterinarian Dr. Carly Warner hasn't yet figured out how to open her heart to the possibility of falling in love again after the death of her longtime partner. When Ray McKenna walks into the North Coast Veterinary Clinic with Jagger, she and Carly begin a friendship that takes them both by surprise. Brought together by their shared love of dogs, Ray and Carly discover that they are both capable of moving forward, if only they are brave enough to try

Emily Parker has a busy life over which she maintains iron-clad control. Raised by drug-addicted parents, she's used to taking care of the people around her, to the exclusion of her own needs. But not tonight. After years of celibacy, she's ready to pay for exactly what she wants: to surrender control, by having it taken away. Having worked as a high-priced escort for years, Nat Swayne not only enjoys her job--she's damn good at it. Dangerously sexy, she knows precisely how to fulfill the fantasies of women who enjoy her special brand of make-believe--all without ever becoming emotionally involved. When their night of intense play turns into something more, Emily and Nat can't help but pursue a connection in the real world. Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and love isn't always enough. Or is it?

Can you fall in love in thirteen hours?It's her birthday but lonely workaholic Dana Watts is at the office late, drafting a proposal. The very last interruption she expects comes in the form of the most beautiful breasts she has ever seen. These belong to an incredibly hot woman, who is standing in front of her, stripping to music.Laurel Stanley performs strip-o-grams to pay her way through school. She has never encountered a more ungrateful recipient than Dana. The uptight project manager makes it clear that she is furious to be distracted from her work by the gift a colleague sent and equally appalled by Laurel's occupation.After Dana is rude and insulting, and insists on escorting Laurel from the building, the two women take an elevator ride that changes everything. Stuck with each other for thirteen long hours after the elevator breaks down, they discover how wrong first impressions can be and how right two strangers can feel together.Can everything change in less than a day? Dana and Laurel set out to discover if their passionate elevator encounter can mean more in this fast-paced, erotic story of lust, loneliness, fantasy, and desire.

Regan O'Riley is a shy software developer who believes she'll never find a woman who can appreciate her self-admitted geekiness. Mel Raines is a lonely cop haunted by a painful past. She has spent years avoiding intimacy with anyone in her life, and she has no intention of changing. Mel and Regan have a chance meeting in, of all places, a straight bar, and both are surprised at the instant chemistry that springs up between them. But their new connection is put to the test when tragedy strikes Mel's life, forcing her to reconsider her career and her path for the future. When Regan suggests an impromptu road trip to the American Southwest, Mel is eager to grab hold of a temporary escape from reality. But in close company, these two will be tested in ways they never expected. What will happen as they re-examine their choices and their definitions of family? Can Regan and Mel manage to get past obstacles that seem insurmountable?

Paul and Gina Bradley were the perfect couple, whose one regret was their inability to have children. Adopting one-year-old twin girls seemed like an answer to desperate prayers. But when one girl is caught trying to kill her sister with a knife on Christmas Eve four years later, the Bradleys have no choice but to return the disturbed child to the care of an orphanage. Sixteen years pass before their actions come back to haunt them, and by then Paul and Gina's marriage is in trouble; the only light in their lives is Rachel, the child they raised. Then Rachel is kidnapped, and the sacrifice Paul and Gina must make to ensure her safe return results in their own utter humiliation. Will they have the strength to get her back?

The global demand for timber is increasing, with prognoses for the EU showing particularly high growth to meet renewable energy targets. However, there are limited options to meet rising timber demands within the EU, and global land competition to meet world food, energy and material needs, as well as to conserve high value nature areas, is increasing. This dissertation addresses the knowledge gap between the pressures of increased land use abroad and the underlying drivers of land use change. It argues that there is a high risk of problem shifting if EU policies to increase timber consumption are not accompanied by a monitoring system that accounts for consumption levels and provides a benchmark for sustainability.