title: Passionate Hearts
author: Craven, Ashlinn
description: A value-priced collection featuring couples who disagree about political and social issuesbut still manage to find their happily-ever-after endings.  Rise up! Resist! Romance? These five couples try to deny the sparks that fly with those on the opposite side of their picket lines. But love has a way of finding the perfect compromise.    Core Attraction : When Dr. Declan MacCarthy protests outside the power plant where Fiona Halpin handles public relations, she's almost too busy doing damage control to notice how gorgeous he is. As Fiona slowly warms to Declan and his passion for his cause, can she drop her defenses enough to let him reach her inner core?    Hard Knocks:  Neurologist Helen Chang Frobisher is writing op-eds against Portland's new hockey rink to try to prevent the kinds of concussive brain injury that plagues her father. Oregon Wolves player Adam Magnus is fighting to build a successful career on the ice. But while the two spar in public over the future of a sports franchise on the brink, in private, they battle an impossible attraction.    California Sunrise : Dr. Ral Mendez finds himself drawn to plucky single mother Alicia Fuentes after he diagnoses her young son on the autism spectrum. Can their blossoming relationship withstand the political and very personal battles surrounding immigration?    The Very Thought of You : San Francisco builder Nick Mancini has offered the tenants in his new apartment house a good deal: twenty-five grand to vacate the premises so he can demolish it for his next project. Molly Hewitt is rallying everyone to hold out for far more cash. Surely he can flirt his way out of this roadblockor are the stakes too high this time?    Edie and the CEO:  Edie Rowan is passionate about workers' rights, but when her protests backfire, championing the little guy gets her in trouble with sexy CEO Everett Kirk. He sends her to attend management campand even drives her there himself. But when they let down their professional guard, the sparks start to fly.    Sensuality Level: Sensual