Lauren Brooke

Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.

I’ve always been a wild card–the first to start a fight on the ice, and the life of the party off it–but appearances can be deceiving. Being traded to the Boston Rebels could not have come at a better time. With serious family obligations to fulfill and a contract renewal with a new hockey team on the line, I have no time for anything else. I return to Boston knowing I need to buckle down and focus on what really matters.

The Duke of Brandon is London’s most infamous rake. But his world crashes to a decided halt when the sins of his past come back to haunt him in the form of one small she-devil of a child who has green eyes just like his. To make matters worse, his disapproving grandmother has decided that he must marry or forfeit his inheritance. Now, he has no choice but to raise a daughter, find a wife, and keep his harridan grandmother from discovering his sordid secrets as the founder of the Wicked Dukes Society.

Lulu Sonnet is the bane of my existence. She’s caused me more physical pain than any man should ever endure. From an accidental throat punch to a near death by shovel—Don’t even get me started on that vicious pool ball accident where she almost robbed me of my family jewels. She’s a hot little heathen, and what’s worse? She’s staying in my brother’s rental house while I’m temporarily living in the guest house. And now she needs a favor. A fake boyfriend.

I should have known I’d break the oath I made when I offered to let my best friend’s little sister move in with me… She’s the sweetest woman on the face of the planet. And to my great misfortune, the sexiest one, too. She’s been living under her brother’s roof her entire life, and she’s ready to spread her wings. And I’m the masochist who offers she stay at my place until she can find an apartment. When I hear her having a nightmare, the only thing I can do is go to her. Hold her so she knows she’s safe from her demons.

When an injury overturns her ballet career, Isabella decides to move to a new city so she can start fresh and discover who she is without dance. The last person she expects to meet is the angry MMA fighter living next door. Kane has spent his entire life putting up walls to keep people out, and he's never had any problem doing it—until Isabella. Because the second the sweet ballerina appears in his life, it becomes apparent that his short fuse and brazen rudeness are not going to be enough to keep her away. And suddenly, that doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

Iris Greene used to be a woman with a plan. But all of that changed after she met the love of her life at twenty-five, got pregnant and married…and then became a widow and a single mother all in a little over two years. Now, after years of hustling, Iris is the director of partnerships at a beauty company and raising sweet six-year-old Calla by herself. Despite her busy life, she still can’t help but feel lonely. She just needs to catch her breath—and one night, at her sister’s wedding, when she steps outside to do just that, she sees a certain singer who takes her breath away.

When Talon left to play pro ball six years ago, the hole in my chest confused me. I focused my heartache into making my own NFL dreams come true, and by the time I was drafted, the longing I had for my best friend was buried deep. Now, he wants everything to be like it was in college, but we can't have threesomes and be reckless like we once were. The media storm would be enough to break both our careers. That's not my biggest concern, though. The torch I had for him burns brighter after so long apart, and there's nothing I can do about it. Marcus Talon is straight.

Henley Holloway is my boss’s daughter, and I’ve been assigned to mentor her. The problem is, I’m not looking to babysit anyone. But I’m determined to make partner at the firm, and this is the final obstacle in my way. So, I agree to take the little princess under my wing. I’ll work her so hard, she’ll beg me to leave her alone. But from the first day she walks into the office and spills scalding hot coffee on my chest—I’m intrigued.

Okay, so my bad for assuming the guy I was going on a date with wasn't married. And my bad for taking him to a friend's house for dinner, only to find out my friend is also friends with his wife. Because, in fact, he is married. And she happens to be at my friend's house because her husband was "busy working." Confused? So am I. Unsurprisingly, my date's wife is super angry about finding out that her husband is a cheating asshole. Girl, I get it. Then to make matters more convoluted, there is the man sitting next to my date's wife. A man named King, who is apparently her brother.