Cora Brent books in order

After a humiliating betrayal, Claudia Giordano heads home only long enough to watch her irresponsible father, Jack, marry her old high school nemesis.

Claudia doesn’t believe in love stories anymore.

But she never planned on connecting with a wild young baseball player named Easton Malone. She tells herself Easton is cocky, careless and a bad choice on every level. The only option is to forget the hot, reckless week they shared, no matter what her heart says.

***

Jack Giordano thinks that after all the mistakes he’s made since becoming a teenage father he’s finally found his happily ever after with sweet Anya.

Jack believes love can conquer anything.

But he didn’t understand how the joy of building the perfect family would dissolve into agony as he watches the woman of his dreams fade away.

***

In the midst of one couple’s tragic ending, another will find a new beginning.

And it turns out the most unruly collision of two hearts might have been fated all along…

Once the Savages were national darlings, Hollywood royalty.

But that was a long time ago.

Now we are scattered and ruined, nothing but a cautionary tale and tabloid fodder.

We've been offered a chance to redeem ourselves.

All we have to do is open the door and let the cameras in.

I know our sh*t will be laid bare. Yet I can't say no to family.

There's another complication as well.

Oscar Savage.

Sexy, volatile, and forbidden, he's not my blood.

But once he was everything to me.

No one knows why he disappeared years ago.

But I do...

I just don't know why he's back.

Hooking up with your insanely hot ex-husband is NEVER a good idea.

Especially if you hate his guts.

Yet I can't seem to help myself.

Here's the story:

A long time ago, in a small town I’ve tried to forget…

I married the charismatic all-American king of high school.

He was sexy and charming.

I was shy and infatuated.

We were both eighteen.

Of course we did not live happily ever after.

We did the opposite.

You thought that was the end?

So did I.

Seven years later and without warning, Branson Hickey is back in my life.

Many things have changed and a few things haven’t.

I still want him. I still can’t stand him. I still think about him all the time, even after everything we did to each other.

I’ve long wondered if I’d ever fall in love again.

Now I wonder if I ever really stopped loving him.

KATHLEEN

He's a loner. He's also volatile, wickedly hot and unforgiving.

Probably not the kind of man anyone should trust with an infant.

Definitely not the kind of man any woman should trust with her heart.

When Nash Ryan returned to town for the sake of his baby brother I thought I already understood who he was.

I also thought I was done giving my heart away until he proved otherwise.

But we don't stand a chance.

Everything is ready to unravel.

And the secrets I've kept will be our undoing.

NASH

This isn't the first time I've known tragedy.

Maybe that's why I've chosen a solitary life.

But my self-imposed exile ends when a terrible twist of fate makes me

the guardian of my four-month-old brother.

Suddenly I've got a kid to raise and a family business to save and there's no time for anything else.

That's why Kathleen Doyle and I made this arrangement.

Once a skinny little girl who used to follow me around everywhere, she's now a single mom with flaming hair, a killer body and too many responsibilities.

We told each other it was just physical.

We told each other there were no strings attached, no expectations.

We lied.

And the consequences will cost us.

But I'm not surrendering this new family without a battle.

Because in this life we might only get one chance to have it all...

The worst thing I ever did was sleep with Syler McKnight.

Back in high school, Syler was my archenemy.

My nemesis.

The boy most likely to flip my homicidal switch.

You see, my best friend Gemma has two brothers.

One is a solemn science genius with the body of a Roman god.

And the other one is Syler.

One of them was the object of an unrequited schoolgirl crush back when my romantic options were limited to a small town in upstate New York.

And the other one is best remembered for his talent for setting my last nerve on fire.

We shared one night that was as hot as it was foolish. Then we went right back to despising each other.

Anyway, that was a long time ago.

Syler isn’t even on my mind when I rush home to help Gemma after her scoundrel of a husband deserts her and their four children right before Christmas.

Yet there he is.

Proving that he’s every bit as unserious, brash and arrogant as he was back then.

Proving that he still has a gift for making me crazy.

Proving that he’s easily the sexiest man in the tri-state area.

And proving that there’s a lot more to him than I ever guessed.

In fact, I think Syler McKnight might be everything I've always secretly wanted.

We should have been enemies from the beginning.

But we were children when we met and children tend to ignore such rules.

Even if the rules exist for a reason.

Because Jonathan came from a family of savage killers.

While I was born into the broken aftermath of their victims.

For one short season we were inseparable.

All it took was one terrible day to turn us into strangers.

For years I refused to even think about him.

Until he shows up here, far away from where we started.

The gentle boy I remember has grown into a volatile man with a steely glare and a different name.

He won’t admit to who he is.

Or where he comes form.

Or who we are to each other.

And I knew I shouldn’t have provoked him.

I knew I shouldn’t have touched him.

Most of all I knew I shouldn’t have given him my heart.

Yes, Jonathan and I were born to be enemies.

And maybe that’s how our story will end after all…

"A troubled ex con, the child he was never supposed to meet, and a feisty grad student who refuses to give up on love..."

Before age sixteen I was kicked to the streets.

Since then I’ve been living up to a violent legacy.

Which is why a man like me isn’t cut out to be a dad.

And if this kid had another option I wouldn’t try to be one now.

But for once I’m going to step up.

I’ll try to be better than I am for the sake of my son.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be free of my sins.

I do know it might not be wise to get close enough to find out.

Into this chaos walks Isabella Gentry.

She was warned to keep her distance.

I was the one who warned her.

She’s beautiful and hopeful and headstrong and spoiled.

And, thanks to a weird chain of events, she’s also my freaking roommate.

A part of me wants to turn her world upside down in the cruelest way imaginable.

The rest of me wants to worship the ground she walks on.

This can go one of two ways.

Either I’ll decide to be the worst version of myself.

Or I’ll surrender the past in order to build a family and a future.

And maybe along the way I’ll prove something.

That the villain everyone loves to hate might be redeemable yet...

"No one would say that our story is pretty..."

But we were in love before we hated each other.

And we were friends long before that.

Growing up, I saw Jace Zielinski every day.

He lived next door. I cheered him on at football games. I gave him advice on girls. He was my brother’s best friend and the three of us were inseparable.

I didn’t realize I’d already fallen for Jace until the hot summer night when we kissed for the first time.

Our magical season felt like destiny.

And then came the disaster that tore us all to shreds.

I lost Jace. I lost my brother. In many ways I lost myself.

Ten years later, Jace is untouchable in a world of pro athlete fame and glory.

I never wanted to see him again and I’d definitely never pick him to be my hero.

Not even when I’m broke and terrified and running for my life.

But it seems I have no choice.

Somehow we’re both back in the same place where we started.

I have nowhere else to go and Jace refuses to leave.

We’re not the same as we were. We're not those teenagers who fell in love years ago.

That doesn’t mean we’ll keep our hands to ourselves now.

If anything, I want Jace more than ever.

And we are foolish enough to repeat our own turbulent history.

Both the parts that felt crazy good.

And the parts that hurt the most...

I met Colt Malene when I was fourteen years old.

And it seems I’ve never recovered.

He became the headstrong star quarterback in a town that idolized high school football titles.

Meanwhile, I was the coach’s dutiful perfectionist daughter, never daring to step out of line.

We should have stayed far away from each other but we didn’t.

And the volatile fallout was unbearable.

More than a decade has passed and now my father is dying.

He wants to make amends.

He wants to be forgiven for the role he played in Colt’s ruinous downfall and my painful heartbreak.

To give a dying man some peace, Colt and I agree to a plan.

While Colt is here in town, we pretend to date.

We pretend to like each other.

We pretend that the past is buried and forgotten.

But with one reckless, passionate act we carve a new future.

Leading to a fate we never suspected.

In the middle of a storm we never saw coming.

And an ending no one could have predicted...

I thought I was lucky to have a fresh start.

Those don’t come around often for a girl from the streets of this city.

But a fortunate chain of events has delivered me to the center of wealth and power.

And in the midst of three very different, very formidable cousins with the world at their feet.

Gage, Micah and Conner were determined to be my enemies.

So I braced for a war.

But they underestimated me.

I earned respect from one of them.

Friendship from another.

And I found love with the third.

Or so I thought.

Everyone who insisted Gage Silvestro was heartless had to be wrong.

He was just misunderstood, my unexpected soul mate.

As it turned out, I was the one who was fooled.

And I suffered for it.

A night of terror and tragedy became a crash course in how easily love can turn to hate.

Eight years have passed since Gage crushed my heart, betrayed my trust and then disappeared.

Now he’s back in the form of a ruthless crime boss.

I thought I’d have to be crazy to give him a second look.

Until he risked his life to prove that our real enemy has always been pulling the strings.

Gage and I need each other if we intend to save everyone we care about.

We’ll keep our friends close.

We’ll keep our enemies closer.

And we’ll destroy anyone who tries to separate us again.

Micah Lyonne is the worst man I know.

As children, we were constantly thrown together by our powerful parents.

And we always despised each other.

He was supposed to be the heir to a billion dollar empire.

Instead, he lives in the shadows and chooses a life filled with violence.

Meanwhile, I’m the mayor’s ambitious daughter with a long list of responsibilities.

Micah sneers at everything I stand for.

And I know better than to dance with danger.

But when the inked, volatile Micah comes to my rescue one night, I’m forced to trust him.

It’s a night when I let my guard down.

It’s a night when I reach for him in a way that will change me forever.

It’s a night when I understand what it means to crave a man who is the opposite of the safe future I assumed I wanted.

The two of us make no sense together.

We won’t let that stop us.

He’s all I want and he’s decided that I’m his.

Together, we turn all the rules upside down and set the world afire.

Until someone decides to make us pay…

BEN

They all know me as Ben Beltran, a poor kid from a working class town who lucked into a baseball scholarship at elite Black Mountain Academy.

That's mostly a lie.

There's a lot at stake and I have no patience for some uptight snot who sticks her nose in where it doesn't belong.

Camden Galway is another scholarship case from my crappy neighborhood and she's just begging to be taught a lesson.

She'll find out the hard way that she has no idea what she's dealing with.

CAMDEN

I need to succeed for my family's sake as much as my own.

And I refuse to be interrupted by some brooding jock with a wicked reputation.

Sure, Ben Beltran can turn heads by rocking that bad boy heartbreaker vibe.

But some things about him don't add up.

He assumes the taste of his lips and the feel of his muscles can distract me from digging for the truth.

I'm going to prove him wrong.

No matter how much he hates me for it...

They called me a legend. The golden boy of American boxing. And I was.

I had everything. But then I was forced to bury my entire family.

And suddenly all the fame and money in the world meant nothing.

So I retreated all the way out here, to a barren corner of the desert where no one could touch me.

Now they call me a hermit, a recluse, a loner with a bad attitude.

And they’re right. I just want to be left alone.

I’m not searching for love. I’m not searching for anyone.

Neither is she.

Deirdre - smart, spirited and clueless about how to survive out here - has her own secrets.

But she can keep her secrets to herself. Just like I keep mine.

She doesn’t like me much. I don’t blame her.

There’s only one thing we have in common.

There’s only one thing we both want.

I know it’s a bad idea if we give in and take it.

I also know that’s not going to stop either one of us…

NB: A version of OUTSIDER was previously published as Cards of Love: The Hermit.

As the daughter of the Coast Devils MC President, Kira Tolleson was raised around dangerous men. But her father, Crest Tolleson, always took pains to keep Kira out of the violent chaos surrounding the club.

When a rival gang massacres the Coast Devils, including Kira’s father, she knows their brutality will not spare her if she is found.

In desperation Kira flees to the Arizona desert to find the one man who might help her.

His name is Orion. As leader of the Defiant MC, he is tough, explosive, unbearably sexy.

And once, he was her father’s best friend.

Confronted by the innocent young woman he'd known long ago, Orion agrees to take her in.

That is, if Kira is willing to meet his terms...

Promise Talbot needs to escape.

Forced into a polygamous marriage to a sadistic man, she grabs a desperate opportunity to flee his clutches.

And falls into the world of the Defiant Motorcycle Club.

Grayson Mercado seethes with the injustice of a long imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Finally free, he is trying to make a life among his new brothers. Everything changes when a battered young woman approaches him, begging for help.

Promise and Grayson couldn’t be more different.

But the collision of passion and danger will spark a love written in their fates.

“One Hundred Years. Two Love Triangles. A Timeless Passion.”

Maddox McLeod has always enjoyed the ladies. But a long history of casual lovers masks a cutting betrayal which still wounds him. When Maddox is called back to his hometown of Contention City to tend to his dying father, he must briefly leave his true brothers, the Defiant MC, and confront the agonies of the past. Maddox has spent a decade trying to forget that once there was a girl who held his heart in her hand. And once he had a brother who committed the ultimate treachery.

Contention City itself endures among the ghosts and ruins of the old west. In 1888, young schoolteacher Annika Larson traveled to the Arizona Territory and found herself caught between the passions of two fiery brothers. One a gunslinger, the other a lawman, their differences were irreconcilable.

The scars of the shattering chain of events which followed reverberate into the present as Maddox finds himself faced with impossible choices, and a timeless love…

SAYLOR…

I don’t even know if love is real. After running from the bastard who brutalized me, I limped back to Arizona, choosing a vibrant college town in the hopes of starting over. I never expected to find him there.

Cord Gentry.

He and his brothers were tough, lusty forces of nature I’d known since childhood. Years ago, Cord seduced me as a sick game. I’ve hated him ever since. Now here he is again, a man who beats other men bloody for money.

Cord has always been heartless, dangerous, not to be trusted.

And I want him so much I can’t think.

CORD…

They called us ‘those white trash Gentry boys’ until we believed that’s what we were. Our people squatted at the edge of a hellhole prison town for generations. The childhood we endured was the stuff of nightmares. I’d learned early on that my brothers, Chase and Creed, were the only people on earth worth my time.

They all told us we were bad, that we’d always be bad.

The horrors of the past have scarred my soul.

But now I need to be better.

For her.

TRULY…

My life hasn’t been uneventful and a few things should have sunk in by now. I’m a tired age twenty one with a laundry list of heartbreaks. Most of all, I know what carnage comes from carelessly risking the heart. So what drives me to jump into bed with a brooding player who can barely carry a conversation?

It was supposed to be just one night.

One night of weakness, of passion, of every impulse I’d struggled to contain.

Yet I can’t stop myself from going back for more.

CREED…

Violence had always found us Gentrys but this time I’d put the price on my own head. It was my cross to bear. No flinching allowed.

There was only room for me, my brothers, and the resolve to survive. That’s all there ever had been.

There was certainly no reason for more than than a quick and dirty time with any girl, no matter how much she turned my head around.

I shouldn’t hold on to her for more than a few hours. I shouldn’t even think about it. This thing could finish us both.

It doesn’t matter. She’s all I want.

STEPHANIE…

As a bookie, I know more about money lines, pay sheets and point spreads than any six men. I always thought I was in control until a terrible betrayal taught me otherwise. The price was my dignity and I can’t bear to make any more mistakes.

Chase Gentry figured it would be easy to get to me. He thought I was like every other girl, just dying to spread wide for him. I knew it was a rotten gamble to get mixed up with a guy too smart and too hot for his own good. Chase is destined to be as much trouble to those around him as he is to himself. But it’s too late. He’s already won my heart.

Everyone around us insists that we’re wrong for each other; too intense, too explosive. Everyone might be right.

CHASE…

Gentry men aren’t supposed to be very bright. We’re big. We’re brutal. Women can’t wait to invite us inside. I know I can have any one of them I want any time I want.

It seems unlikely that some bad-tempered chick and her snotty attitude would keep my interest but here it is. Stephanie has no idea what she does to me. I want that girl in more ways than I can even talk about.

It should have been enough to have her and be done with it. But no matter how volatile we are together, it’s never enough. To hell with anyone who objects. I’m not letting her go.

JENNY…

I was a lost girl, a child bride.

Now, to most people I appear to be just an average college student. They would never guess my strange history. But secretly I’m still held down by my past. I cannot bring myself to trust men.

So why do I find myself drawn to the most dangerous one of all?

Oversexed, foul-mouthed and ten years my senior, he should have been my nightmare.

Instead, he’s my fantasy….

DECK…

How many women have I ruined?

Hell if there’s any point in counting. Only once did I ever do something unforgivable and the consequence crushed my soul. Maybe that’s why I remain here, in the barren desert wasteland occupied by the worst of my degenerate family.

This is a prison I’ve inflicted on myself.

Into my purgatory walks Jenny; feisty, beautiful, but little more than a girl.

No one decent should want a thing to do with me.

I told her that.

She didn’t listen.

They all said we were trash and would end up dead or in prison.

They were wrong.

The three of us brothers endured hell together and somehow climbed out battle-scarred but whole. We are no longer the ferocious boys who punched our way through terrible days and went to bed hungry every night.

Now we’ve got love, we’ve got hope, and we’ve got each other.

But in order to hold on to everything that matters, we’ll need to confront the vicious demons of the past…one last time.

Two brothers…

And the girl next door.

A betrayal that severed the bonds of blood and loyalty.

A tragedy that ended one life and shattered the rest.

Everyone thought that because they knew how it ended they also knew how it started.

They didn’t.

And neither do you.

1513 …The number of single lines you carefully scratched on a piece of notebook paper at each sunrise.

1513…The number of days you passed in a locked cage, surrounded by fierce men who did things even worse than what you did.

1513…The number of nights spent staring at the ceiling, praying for just five minutes of freedom to talk to your brother. The brother you love more than anyone on earth. The brother who hates you even more than he hates himself.

1…The number of moments it took for a tragedy to unfold and change lives, end lives, destroy lives.

1…The number that represents isolation, a loneliness worse than any prison sentence.

1…The number of girls who show up in your life and try to crack through the iron shield you’ve built around your heart these past four years.

One girl and her name is Evie. Beautiful. Stubborn. Passionate.

You know that if you had any honor you wouldn’t take her.

But honor is something you lost a long time ago.

ROSLYN

It was him. Conway Gentry.

The boy I’d known years ago – the one who’d loved my best friend and was left shattered by her death – was now a macho adrenaline junkie, an arrogant, womanizing hustler.

There was not a single good reason on this earth to fall for him.

But no one told my heart that.

CONWAY

She didn’t seem like my type.

Snobby, boringly mainstream and above all, tied to a part of my past I’d kill to forget, I should have just had my fun with her and moved on.

Instead I kept coming back. I couldn’t help it.

I’ve known for a long time that if you live fast you crash hard.

But I also know that’s nothing compared to what love can do to you.

With December 25th fast approaching, brothers Stone and Conway Gentry have a lot more than holiday festivities to keep them busy.

There’s newlywed life to adjust to, a business to run, a baby arriving any minute and to top it off, an unusual forecast of snow threatens to cover the desert for the first time in decades.

Plus when ghosts of the past threaten everything they’ve built, the brothers find their close bond and their dreams of the future tested yet again.

Luckily the rest of the loyal Gentry Boys always have their backs.

Stay tuned, because this season there may be more than one Christmas miracle on the way….

A summer job.

That’s all it was supposed to be.

It never crossed my mind that I was about to collide with a man who would obliterate every plan I ever made.

My mother has always warned me that love is like a lightning bolt and it strikes without warning. But I had no intention of getting struck by either lightning or love anytime soon. I’d be too busy finishing my journalism degree and landing a job in a city far more sophisticated than Phoenix.

There was certainly nothing in the cards about getting involved with an ex-ballplayer turned nightclub boss.

He was too old for me, too complicated, too distracting.

On the surface we had almost nothing in common except the draw of an overpowering physical connection.

The seasonal job at a local resort was going to be temporary.

He was going to be temporary.

But insufferably sexy, arrogant Dalton Tremaine has other ideas.

And the harder I fall for him the more I can’t find a good reason to resist giving him everything he wants…

CASSIE

I’m determined to leave my mistakes in the past.

These days I’m back in school, I’m surrounded by my wonderful, crazy family and I’m working for my dad.

Then Curtis Mulligan happens.

A supposedly reformed gang member from the rundown prison town where my folks grew up, Curtis looks like he was built for mayhem.

We have nothing in common.

If he hadn’t taken a job working for my father, our paths wouldn’t even cross.

But I can’t admit that menacing mix of ink and muscle has flipped a switch inside of me.

It’s an impulse I’m determined to ignore.

However, when Curtis turns out to be much more than he seems and steps between me and a bad situation, I wind up owing him a hell of a favor.

And I can’t think of anything but paying him back…

CURTIS

I should have been dead a dozen times over but somehow I’m still here.

I’m grateful for the chance to keep my head down and act like a regular citizen. Screwing up isn’t an option and getting naked with the boss’s daughter is no way to thank the man for a job.

Besides, sweet, clueless Cassie Gentry isn’t the kind of girl I’m used to entertaining myself with. I had planned to keep my hands off even if she begged for it.

But that was before I realized Cassie is much more than a pretty face.

She just might be the girl who can turn me around for good...

The Gentry boys were never supposed to be a success story.

In their bleak prison hometown their very name was a curse and everyone expected the boys would follow the same path as the vicious generations that came before them.

But everyone was proven wrong.

And on this wedding day of dreams they will all gather to watch one of their beloved daughters marry her prince.

It was all going to be perfect.

The day was not supposed to end in tragedy.

There should have been a honeymoon instead of a funeral.

And now the family that has been through everything will need to stand together and confront a terrible challenge that no one ever saw coming…

PAIGE

People say Derek Gentry is a wild player who is good for only one thing.

Even from a distance he's like a neon sign that reads: 'I AM THE WORST IDEA YOU EVER HAD.'

And I'm not tempted, no matter how hot he is.

I've heard the rumors. I know his story.

But I've got my own scars. I don't need his, no matter how troubled his background might be.

Despite his muscled, blue-eyed good looks, he's definitely just heartbreak wrapped in a seductive package.

However, I didn't plan on falling into his arms on the worst night of my life.

I didn't plan on initiating a chain reaction of events that neither of us saw coming.

And I didn't plan on needing him so much I can hardly stand it.

I thought I knew who Derek was.

But it turned out I didn't know anything at all.

DEREK

Everyone has a history.

Mine's a little worse than most.

I've hurt my family. I've hurt people I never even knew. I've hurt myself.

And I've been hiding at the bottom of a bottle for so long I'm not sure how to do things differently.

At first Paige didn't seem like the type who would ever be able to handle a guy like me.

Little did I know what kind of mysteries she's been keeping inside.

Now I can't get her out of my head.

We could help each other.

Or we could destroy each other.

Right now it's anyone's guess.

TAYLOR

I’m that poor little rich girl whose silver spoon was snatched right out of her pretty mouth.

I lost everything.

Now my everyday reality includes sleeping in my car and dining on whatever clearance food I can purchase with spare change.

But my issues don’t end there.

My nightmare family is hot on my heels and demanding something I don’t have.

They won’t give up until I crack.

And I’m just on the brink.

When I finally hit rock bottom I fall into the arms of an unlikely savior.

Kellan Gentry.

Brash and arrogant. Prince of the party scene. Notorious flirt.

The kind of guy who would break your heart with a shrug.

Falling for him makes no sense…

Right?

KELLAN

I used to be careless.

I used to be all about chasing trouble and good times.

But watching my own family go through hell changed everything.

Now I just want to stay on a steady path and make them proud.

Then along comes Taylor Briggs.

Two years ago we hooked up at a wild party and she's hated me ever since.

She’s gorgeous and sarcastic. She’s wrapped in more secrets than I can guess.

And somehow the ground shifts underneath me.

In the clash between love and logic, there’s no mystery as to which one will win.

I’ve been warned about the complications. I’ve been warned we’ll get ripped to shreds.

I dare anyone to try.

There’s nothing I won’t do to protect this girl.

No matter what it costs me.

THOMAS

Not too long ago my future was all mapped out.

Then two brutal swings of a steel bat wielded by a maniac wrecked my world.

The adrenaline high I used to get from pitching a perfect game is gone.

The major league dreams I counted on have vanished.

And the peace of mind I took for granted is shattered.

The thrills I seek out now are self-destructive.

I know this and I can’t stop.

What I didn’t expect is for my downward spiral to be interrupted by a shy beauty with a messy past.

I can prove to Gracie that we’re supposed to be together.

All she has to do is take that risk.

And all I have to do is remember how to be the guy she thinks I am.

GRACIE

I’ve learned the hard way that one reckless mistake can topple your house of cards.

And I thought I was finished taking chances.

But Thomas Gentry made it clear he was on a mission to break my armor and guys like Thomas didn’t come along every day.

He was as charming as he was headstrong, as hot as he was protective.

He put all the book heroes I’ve ever drooled over to shame.

Falling for Thomas was inevitable.

And I was his before I understood something important.

We're both broken for different reasons.

We both need to find a way to heal.

Otherwise we don't stand a chance...

Tristan Mulligan knows how to get under my skin.

He says this is his town and that I don’t belong.

He says I’ll get eaten alive here.

He’s arrogant and condescending and insanely sexy.

He’s also a criminal.

I knew better than to start something with him.

I did it anyway.

Tristan might shatter my heart. He might destroy my future. And there's something dangerously explosive about the way we are together.

You can warn me about him all you want.

Everyone else has.

Just don’t be surprised when I won’t listen.

Whether I'm ready to admit it or not, I'm already his.

LEAH

When I was too young to know any better Ryan Jedson fascinated me.

After he went on the run I thought I’d never see him again.

I was wrong.

Now that he’s back in town I realize it’s a bad idea to catch his eye.

And yet I can’t help it.

Sometimes you want the one you shouldn’t want.

But there’s a complication.

He has no idea that I’m the reason his life fell apart.

And I don’t know what he’ll do if he ever finds out.

RYAN

Back in the day when we were neighbors she was too young, not even worth a second look.

However, six years have gone by and now Leah Brandeis is fair game.

I see how she looks at me.

I understand she thinks her secret is safe.

And I’m playing along.

For now.

But soon the truth will come out and there will be hell to pay.

Because I know what she did.

I’ve always known.

AUTUMN:

It’s not that I’m hiding out in this hard luck little town.

But I’m twenty-six years old, I’ve had one boyfriend and he ditched me for my sister.

So I might be a little cynical.

Then again, perhaps a high school math teacher shouldn’t expect romance.

I’d be better off sticking to the good things in life, such as my job at Emblem High, my amazing circle of friends, and my vintage record collection.

I shouldn’t waste time beating myself up over past choices or crying over the people who betrayed me.

And I definitely shouldn’t obsess over the washboard abs belonging to the guy who just moved in down the hall.

There’s no denying Landon Gentry is hot.

He is also crude, sarcastic, messy and downright exasperating.

And just to add one more complication, Landon also used to be my student.

All in all, my new roommate is the last guy I should be thinking about.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be able to resist him...

LANDON:

The football scholarship was my ticket out of town and I never planned to come back.

However, blowing out my knee in the last game of the season spelled the end of my college days.

Still, I wouldn’t have returned if not for my little brother.

He’s lost his way since I left.

And I’m the only one who cares enough to help him find it again.

Between working two jobs and trying to steer my brother back in line I’ve got enough to focus on.

I don’t need to get distracted by a quirky schoolteacher with a great body.

But Autumn’s not just some sexy girl who rents a house with me.

She’s gorgeous and feisty and clueless about the fact that she’s been my fantasy for years.

Seeing her right in front of me every day is just too tempting to pass up.

Even if giving in might mean disaster for us both...

Still reeling from a nasty divorce, Melanie Cruz’s pride takes another beating when she loses her enviable job at an upscale resort. After a flurry of unsuccessful interviews, she finally―desperately―accepts a job managing a small chain of family-owned pizzerias in a quaint downtown Phoenix neighborhood.

The job also comes with Dominic Esposito, her overbearing but ridiculously handsome boss. Falling for him might be the last thing she expects, but maybe it’s the one thing she needs.

As hard as they try to resist, Melanie and Dominic embark on a romance as hot as a brick oven, and Melanie has every reason to believe that maybe, this time, she’s finally found “the one.”

But Dominic has a secret―one even his family doesn’t know. And the scandal could threaten everything he and Melanie have worked for…in business and in love.

The good news: Audrey Gordon has just received a dream assignment managing one of the city’s largest construction projects.

The bad news: She’ll be teamed up with cocky office rival and former lover Jason Roma.

Audrey’s got a lot to prove to herself and to her overachieving family. She’s certainly not going to let arrogant Jason Roma get in the way of her success, despite the fact that he never passes up an opportunity to get under her skin. Audrey swears she’ll keep Jason at arm’s length, no matter how fast her pulse races whenever he walks into the room.

However, Jason seems to have his own ideas about what Audrey needs. He’s determined to win another chance with her and prove that he’s not the callous jerk she thinks he is.

But when a personal tragedy shakes Audrey to her core, will she push Jason away forever? Or will she learn a few lessons about love and finally let him into her heart?