This month, we honor women and celebrate their contributions to the world in the past and at present. In this issue, we feature books about two remarkable women who conquered adversities and achieved happy-ever-after with their respective love interests.

For nurse Gwen Spencer, fighting battles is nothing new. An orphan sent to live with a vengeful aunt, Gwen picked coal and scrubbed floors to earn a living. But when she decides to become a nurse, she steps outside the boundaries of her aunt’s demands and into a world of her own making.

Leaving her hometown for France, she helps doctors mend thousands of brutally injured Doughboys under primitive conditions. Amid the chaos, she volunteers to go forward to the front lines. Braving bombings and the madness of men crazed by the hell of war, she is stunned to discover one man she can love, a man she can share her life with. But in the insanity and bloodshed she learns the measures of her own desires. Dare she attempt to become a woman of accomplishment? Or has looking into the face of war and death given her the courage to live her life to the fullest?

Heroic Measures is the first book in a trilogy about a group of friends who decide to do the extraordinary, leaving the safety of their garden gates to travel thousands of miles to the chaos of war, doing the work they know will save lives.

Jo-Ann Power, award-winning author of more than forty novels, serves as the curator of the United States World War One Centennial Commission for the Army Nurse Corps. Researching the lives of those 22,000 valiant women who volunteered to save wounded Doughboys, Jo-Ann has spent weeks in dusty archives and years traveling throughout the United States and Europe to discover the facts of these nurses’ daily lives. A resident of San Antonio, Jo-Ann likes to tell others about these courageous women and speaks often about them to civilian and veterans’ groups.

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Miz Poppy, the vibrant reviewer whose commentary brightens New Orleans nightlife, is mega-popular. Hollyn Tate, the real face behind the media star, not so much. Also not well known is the social anxiety that keeps her isolated. When her boss tells her she needs to add video to her blog or lose her job, she's forced to rely on an unexpected source to help her face her fears. With the help of improv actor/barista/aspiring theater owner Jasper Deares, Hollyn comes out of her shell and, through their growing connection, finally finds her voice.

Yes & I Love You is the first book in a new series called Say Anything. Now available from your favorite retailers, it features mental health representation with Hollyn having Tourette syndrome and Jasper having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Roni Loren wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. She holds a master’s degree in social work and spent years as a mental-health counselor, but now she writes full time from her cozy office in Dallas, Texas, where she puts her characters on the therapy couch instead. She is a two-time RITA Award winner and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.