My first memory was of a slap, hard across the face: the sting on my cheek and the jarring of my bones as I slammed back into my bed. It was my dad who had hit me.
I had been four.
Most of my memories were much of the same and no one ever saw, no one ever fought to help, no one ever cared.
Then we moved.
My new neighbor cared, rescued the twelve-year-old I had been from a beating. Always thought I'd suffer the nightmare alone, I was wrong.
Mace Donati saved me that day in all the ways a person could be saved.
And his daughter, Mia, she became the friend I had always wanted, my conscience when my own faltered, the light that led me home when I had lost my way.
The girl who grew into the only woman I would ever love.
But when you realize you're more like your father than the good people who took you in and gave you a home, the only way to return their kindness is to let them go.
I let them go, got so far lost in the shadows I couldn't remember who I was anymore. Mia never gave up on me. She fought for me, kept the light on so I'd find my way back.
And when I did, life threw us a curveball. I had to hurt Mia in order to save her.
But when my past comes back to haunt me and I almost lose her, I'm ready to fight for her...fight to find a way back into her heart while keeping the demons from my past from finishing what they started.
Cole Campbell Views: 680
Contains ROUGH, HARD, and FIERCE - all three books in Colin and Allie's complete story! This boxed set in the Chicago Underground series is over 400 pages.
Meet the woman shaped by betrayal and the man determined to save her at any cost...
ROUGH (Book One)
I'm a cautionary tale. A statistic. A victim. A single teenage mother from the poor part of town. Most of the time I'm too busy working and struggling to care what people think. Survival doesn't come easy.
I have a dark secret, a pressure valve, a rare moment just for myself. On these nights I visit a club. There I find men who give me what I need.
Men like Colin.
But he wants more than a few stolen hours. He demands more than my body. He wants my heart and soul--my happily ever after. I never thought I'd be Cinderella. I never thought a man that rough could be my prince.
HARD (Book Two)
What Colin doesn't know can't hurt him.
At least that's what I tell myself about the secrets I keep. I don't have a choice, not if I want to keep my daughter safe. And keep him Colin safe too. There are enemies in the shadows waiting to strike from all sides. I'm holding them out with my bare hands, but it's hard not to get crushed in the process.
And the truth has a way of coming out.
If I'm not careful, the past I've been working so hard to hide, the pain I've been fighting so long to outrun, will wipe out the man I love.
FIERCE (Book Three)
I'm torn between what I want and what I need. Between the men in my past and the man by my side. Colin has tried to control me, to use me. But he also guards me so fiercely my heart aches.
Raincheck. Business. Don't wait up. --C
That's the note he leaves for me, as if I could sit around while he fights my dragons. As if I could let himself get killed in some vain attempt to protect me.
There's no protection left for me. No redemption either.
This is my battle, and I've already lost.
Boxed sets in the Chicago Underground series:
Rough Hard Fierce - Colin and Allie's story
Wild Dirty Secret - Luke and Shelly's story Views: 680
Meet the Penryns... The Penryn family have always been eccentric—living in a dilapidated castle in the wilds of Cumbria with an orchid-mad father and a classicist mother who likes to re-enact Greek myths, who wouldn't be? Penniless and proud, Walter Penryn refuses to give up his birthright—until taxes, bills, and the need for a new roof force him to reconsider. Now the family is restoring the castle, and Olivia Penryn is in charge of reviving the once-profitable garden. Nursing a broken heart and a guilty conscience, Olivia longs to lose herself in roses and lavender, but she's filled with doubt. She's never handled a project this massive. When Olivia hires the gorgeous Will Turner to help with landscaping, her bruised heart begins to heal—and hope. A widower and father of two, Will has plenty of his own problems. Is he strong enough to take on Olivia's? As his children become attached to this loving, ethereal beauty, he... Views: 680
Praise for Alex Brown 'Very lovely' Jill Mansell 'A really lovely read' Sarah Morgan 'Gorgeous...' Milly Johnson 'Enchanting and wonderfully romantic' Cathy Bramley Grace Quinn loves her job at Cohen's Convenient Storage Company, finding occasional treasure in the forgotten units that customers have abandoned. Her inquisitive nature is piqued when a valuable art collection and a bundle of letters and diaries are found that date back to the 1930's. Delving deeper, Grace uncovers the story of a young English woman, Connie Levine, who follows her heart to Italy at the end of the Second World war. The contents also offer up the hope of a new beginning for Grace, battling a broken heart and caring for her controlling mother. Embarking on her own voyage of discovery, Grace's search takes her to a powder pink villa on the cliff tops overlooking the Italian Riviera, but will she unravel the family secrets and betrayals that Connie tried so hard to overcome, and find love for herself? Views: 679
Caitlin: To say my stepmom and I don't get along is an understatement. Fiona kicked me out of the house, and I had no place to go in our little town. Fortunately, a handsome man picks me up from the side of the road and makes me an offer that's utterly scandalous ... but also utterly irresistible. Travis: Caitlin's perfect for what I need. She's all alone in the world, innocent and naïve, with an angelic face and a breathtakingly curvy body. Did I offer her a dirty deal? Yes. Did she take it of her own free will? Yes. The only part we didn't anticipate? Her stepmother's evil machinations. But with a baby on the way, it doesn't matter because now, I'm claiming the curvy girl no matter what. Hey Readers – We're back for a tale of hot steam and saucy fun with My Stepmom's Boyfriend. Caitlin is a bit of a Cinderella after her dad passes and leaves her at the mercy of her evil stepmother. However, Cait is resourceful and feisty, and she... Views: 679
Book four in the Talson Temptations series.
Romec Talson is the last of his brothers to find a mate, and he's in no hurry. So it's a relief to check on the strange progress of one of the family's shipping terminals on Earth, away from the manipulations of his happily mated siblings. The last thing he expects to encounter at Port Chase is the sexy woman of his dreams. A supposed human glaring at him with dark eyes-Otra, alien eyes. And then there are her accusations that Talson Shipping is running an illegal drug trade.
Tara Drake has no idea why the stranger at her door makes her hot and bothered, but if he works for the Talsons, she wants no part of him. Unfortunately, her body has a will of its own. Learning she's not human is just the beginning of the surprises coming her way. Because love has no rhyme or reason in the face of fate, Tara must make a choice to accept her destiny or deny herself true happiness. Views: 679
Just how far will she go to keep her secret crush from leaving? I'm Kayla. I'm twenty one. I'm afraid because ever since a sudden, terrible tragedy, I'm alone in the world—except for my brother's best friend. But now Oliver intends to move back to London. I'm in love with him. And I have to persuade him to stay...somehow. Maybe if I tell him I'm a virgin and show him just how far I'm willing to go to keep him, he'll give in. Of course, I never expected that he'd be keeping a shocking secret of his own... Enjoy this Forbidden Confession. HEA guaranteed! (Originally published as His Undeniable Secret in the Alphas Heat The Sheets anthology) Views: 679
When Jess steals a glance at a gorgeous guy in a Manchester nightclub, little does she realise how he is going to change her life…or should that be death?Can Jess be sure that Luke is all he appears to be? Will she succumb to the attraction she desperately tries not to feel for Daniel? And why does she still crave a packet of crisps more than a tasty teenage boy’s blood?When Jess steals a glance at a gorgeous guy in a Manchester nightclub, little does she realise how he is going to change her life…or should that be death? Yet, the vampire clan could never have predicted what they were taking on. With Luke pronounced ‘off-limits’ and the blood of a vampire simmering in Jess’s body, can she forget the love of her life and move on? If not, she will risk exposing the entire Northern clan to untold dangers, in order to live her life the way she wants.Can Jess be sure that Luke is all he appears to be? Will she succumb to the attraction she desperately tries not to feel for Daniel? And why does she still crave a packet of crisps more than a tasty teenage boy’s blood? Views: 679
How could I have been so stupid? Anastascia had told me that Brock was bad news but I'd never dreamed what he was capable of. First Reed, then Brock. Was my taste in men really that awful?
When Piper Black finds out the truth about her first encounter with her boyfriend Brock Michaels, she's devastated, but things only get worse when a familiar face shows up at the wrong moment.
With her life in shambles, Piper is given the opportunity for a new start... back in Philadelphia.
Will her luck change if she moves back? And what will it mean being in the same city as the one man who's never left her mind?
In this penultimate installment of M.S. Parker's sizzling Sinful series, the intrigue is hot, but the passion is even hotter. Views: 679
