In her unforgettable new novel "When Morning Comes," Francis Ray delivers an emotionally powerful tale about the families we build, the choices we make, and how we find love and family along the way.

Dr. Cade Mathis learned early that he was not the son of the man who raised him. His adoptive father, a cruel, bitter man, had always been quick to tell him that he was a bastard and an embarrassment to the rich society family whose daughter got pregnant with him. So when Cade received a full scholarship to college, he was only too happy to leave the only home he had ever known behind and never looked back. Now a successful doctor and one of the best neurosurgeons in the state, the only thing he still wants are answers about where he came from. What he doesn't expect to find is Sabrina Thomas, the new patient advocate at his hospital, or how this woman will lead him to the family he has been searching for and a love he never expected to find.

In this first ever short story collection, "New York Times "bestselling author Francis Ray takes us on five steamy, sexy adventures. From a timid, dowdy duckling who turns into a confident, sexy swan which sends her into the arms of a handsome artist to a bridesmaid's explosive encounter with the best man to an unproven actress who is being wooed to the stage by a handsome Broadway director. From a journalist's "very "steamy night with an old flame to a woman who pretends that she is dating a wealthy businessman but never imagines he would show up to collect on that claim. Experience just how much Francis Ray can turn up the heat

Nathalyia Fontaine has been the sole proprietor of the restaurant Fontaine since her husband died four years ago. She hasn't dated anyone in all those years, choosing not to open her heart again, or risk revealing her dark past. That is, until she meets Rafael Dunlap.
Rafael is a hostage negotiator with his own set of problems. Though he loves women, he vows he'll never marry because his job is just too unpredictable. He can't imagine leaving a widow and children behind. But his thinking and game plan of loving and leaving changes when he meets Nathalyia. Though she tries to resist him, Rafael sweeps her into a whirlwind romance. When the unexpected happens, and Nathalyia is forced to keep it a secret, she ends things with Rafael before he can break her heart. But when Rafael is in harms way, will Nathalyia resolve to tell him the truth before it's too late? Or will past demons keep them apart forever?

Widow Traci Evans happily sits in on meetings with the lovely ladies of the "Invincible Sisterhood" solely because they reached out to her first. A loner, Traci feels for the first time she belongs. All of the official members are sweet older women who have lost the love of their lives, their husbands. Unknown to them, Traci is more angry than she is grief-stricken because her husband died in the midst of cheating on her with another woman.

Her husband's deception has hardened Traci's heart so much that even close friend and next door neighbor Maureen can't convince her to open it again. But when a playful kiss with Maureen's gorgeous son Ryan turns passionate, Traci starts to rethink everything she knows about love.

Broke and licing in a rundown motel, Jana Franklin is now divorced from Gray Livingston and struggling to survive as an outcast, without friends or skills, until she meets Tyler, the first man she has ever encountered whom she cannot fool, maneuver, or manipulate, in the sequel to Like the First Time. Original.

PRESENTING FOUR TALES OF SEDUCTION IN THIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO WELCOME TO LEO'S In Rochelle Alers' "Love Lessons", Tyrell Hardcastle is knocked off his feet when he meets a local high school teacher. Now all he has to do is overcome her objections to him being the "younger man." Donna Hill's "Lady in Waiting" finds Noah Hardcastle engaged to beautiful Tara Mitchell. However, Their relationship is threatened when Noah's first love returns to Washington DC ready to prove that he is all she ever really wanted. In Brenda Jackson's "Irresistible Attraction", Sydney Corbain never forgot her explosive encounter with Tyrone Hardcastle at her brother's wedding. So when she runs into him in New York City, they both see it as an opportunity to explore their undeniable attraction. Francis Ray's "Blind Date" starts with an innocent white lie when Ayanna Hardcastle says she is dating wealthy businessman Tanner Rafferty to get her matchmaking friend off her back. But she never imagines that Rafferty would show up to collect on that claim! Sassy, smart and sexy...readers won't be able to say no to this hot new collection.

Desperate to escape her abusive marriage, Lilly Crawford files for divorce, then slips away from her small east Texas hometown with little more than the clothes on her back. She points her twelve-year-old car east, hoping to find a new beginning. When her car breaks down in Louisiana, Lilly finds unexpected employment as the caregiver for a wealthy neurosurgeon named Adam Wakefield, who lost his sight in a recent carjacking. At first, this handsome, brooding man reminds her too much of the angry husband she left behind and she reminds him of how far he has fallen from the self-assured man he once was. But as the two spend long days together, an unexpected bond develops---one that will be deeply tested. For Lilly must confront her violent husband before she can ever hope to move on and truly discover a second chance at life and love.
This stunning story is gripping and unforgettable tale told with Francis Ray's trademark emotion and passion.

Kristen Wakefield grew up the privileged, beloved daughter and sister of a wealthy family
. . . yet she felt eclipsed by the achievements of her older brother, Adam, a renowned neurosurgeon. In New Orleans, Kristen believes she now has the opportunity to prove herself and forget a rather disastrous past relationship. But life is much harder than she expected in the Big Easy. Then she meets a man from her past, Rafe Crawford . . . a man battling his own demons and keeping his own secrets.

The beautiful, but down-to-earth Angelique Fleming has always had to fight to get what she wanted in a world dominated by men and she has the chip on her shoulder to prove it. Which is why she takes great pleasure working at a local strip club, hoping to expose a few naughty little secrets of the community’s upstanding men. But before she gets all the dirt, she’s going to find out a few things about life, men, and forgiveness she thought she already knew.

Claudette Thibodeaux Laurent comes from old New Orleans money and had always adhered to the family code: honor above all else. But she shocks polite society when she marries a man much younger than herself, a man everyone suspects is only after her money. Claudette has done her duty to her family and now she wants a little happiness for herself. And yet doubts eventually begin to creep in and she isn’t sure which Maurice loves more: her or her money, as his desire for the finer things in life become more and more lavish. Just exactly how much is her happiness is going to cost her?

Told with Francis Ray’s trademark emotion and passion, Somebody’s Knocking at My Door is a powerful story of betrayal and forgiveness, love and healing.

In her mind's eyes, she could see Wes, tall and elegant in his tailored tuxedo with a patterned vest, black tie, and snow white pocket square. Her red Valentino slip gown highlighted her honeyed complexion and chocolate brown eyes. The gown also picked up the red in Wes's vest and the red in the rose in his lapel.

They were the perfect couple and it was show time. And she wanted to scream.

Madison Reed, popular talk show host and America's darling and her husband, well-known TV correspondent Wes Reed is everyone's idea of the perfect couple. Bute knows that after the loss of their child, they became no more than polite strangers, maintaining the façade, revealing only picture perfect happiness. But Madison's world is turned upside down when Wes is critically injured in a car accident and a woman is killed. Before he dies, Wes confesses that the woman who was killed was his mistress---and that he is the father of her nine-month-old daughter, Manda. He begs Madison to raise the child. Unsure if she can, Madison struggles to take charge of her fate and put her life back together. Overwhelmed, she accepts the help of Zachary Holman, her husband's best friend, only to discover that his life is also shrouded by lies. Can she forgive and forget---not just once, but twice?