Hughes Farm was the largest racing-horse establishment in the South. The family that owned it was known to be wealthy, powerful, arrogant, and terrifying. My first encounter with them didn’t prepare me for all that was to come. I don’t think anything truly could have. Growing up with only my father and brother hadn’t been easy, but we’d had each other. Losing them was the hardest thing I’d ever faced. It had made the times we went without food, electricity, or even shelter seem insignificant in comparison.

When I walked in on my girlfriend screwing another guy, I never would have thought I’d be sitting at their wedding less than six months later. But who am I to turn down a night of free food, booze and pretty bridesmaids? But at the back of the room, at the rejects table, I’m captivated by the woman sitting next to me. She’s gorgeous and smart, and I can’t work out how she’s single. Until I realise she’s the groom’s ex.

The first day that she walked onto the surgical floor that Chevy Clayborne spent most of his time on, he knew that he’d do anything to make her his. For two years, he played the long game. He slowly insinuated himself into her life, and the moment that she needed him, he swooped in like the knight in shining armor that he only pretended to be but most assuredly wasn’t. He’s no real knight. In fact, he’s the villain in everyone’s story but his own.

It’s complicated. Two years ago, he broke my heart when he left me to do his father’s bidding. After months of crying, I finally accepted he was gone and wasn’t going to look back. That maybe he’d never loved me at all. I never wanted to see Luca again. Now, a cruel twist of fate has signed me over to him in a heartless deal. I’m his. He thinks he did me a favor, but I feel like I’ve been given a death sentence. He doesn't want to get married because he still loves me. No, he did it for money. More power.

Bliss York didn't live a normal teenage life. It had all been taken from her the fall that she was 15 years old and she was given the diagnosis no one ever wants to hear. She had leukemia. Seven years after spending a summer with a girl who he knew would always be his first love and the one who got away, Nate Finlay returns to Sea Breeze to help his fiancé open her new boutique clothing store. When the new employee walks in, Nate is taken back seven years to the girl he thought he'd love forever. The one who never answered his calls or returned his texts.

Tate Gallo had a type – emotionally unavailable bikers who were more feral than serious relationship material. The day she turned thirty, she decided to make a change: No more biker boys. She deserved more. She wanted to be someone’s world. But then he stumbled in bloodied, bruised, and in need of help. One look into his dark eyes, and Tate realized her life would never be the same again. She wouldn’t fall for him. She couldn’t, not for her heart’s sake. But one kiss never hurt anyone…right?

Rock legend Dean Finlay's ready for an easier life. He's tired of the fame and done with younger women. The older he gets the younger they get. Brielle McGinnis got kicked out of her foster home the day she turned eighteen. The pregnancy she'd been trying to hide had taken what little youth she had managed to hold onto away. Life made her tough. Now, at twenty-eight years old, she has a good job with insurance working in admissions at a local junior college. When Dean comes walking into the college office, she wants an autograph for her son, but his arrogance changes her mind.

The day her mother passed away, Beulah was only given a name. That was it. No other explanation. Portia Van Allan was not someone Beulah could believe her mother ever knew. Wealthy, self-absorbed, and other than the fact Portia was supplying special care for Beulah's sister, Portia was cruel. The day Portia's son returns home for the summer, Beulah discovers that Portia isn't in charge. This isn't her home at all. Her late husband left her with nothing. It all belongs to their son, who doesn't seem to like his mother at all.

Bryn Wallace had been the one bright spot in my life before my grandparents brought me to live with them. After finding my mother's dead body, my grandparents had picked me up and I started a new life in The Shores, Alabama. It had always bothered me that I never got a chance to tell Bryn goodbye. Now, seven years later, my memories of the beautiful girl who I considered my first love were destroyed by the disappointment she had become.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love Rhett Walker, which is complicated since he’s ten years older and my brother’s best friend. After a falling out, we didn’t speak for years—until today, when he found me sleeping in my car, threw me over his shoulder, and dragged me “to safety.”

Capo to the Luciano Famiglia was my birthright. The cruelty needed to succeed in this life has been beaten into me since I was a young boy. My father, Vincent Luciano, taught by example and with the slap of his hand. My independent streak took me down paths my father would never have gone. With our enemies gaining strength, it is my idea to attempt an alliance with an unlikely bedfellow. The Roríguez Cartel and the Luciano Famiglia are improbable partners, yet even Vincent Luciano can’t deny the possible benefits. The only way to solidify the deal is for me to marry Catalina Ruiz.

As the heir to the Halliday name and fortune, Win's entire life has been carefully orchestrated from the moment he came into the world. He's never been allowed to aspire for anything outside that plan, including love. After the tragedy that followed his younger brother chasing his foolish heart, the Halliday Matriarch insists on picking a bride that's up to her outrageously high standards. Unfortunately, the only woman Win would ever consider marrying isn't found anywhere on his mother's list.

To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be big man on campus on the outside, on the inside he's battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.

Sadie White’s summer job is at the beach, but she won’t be working as a lifeguard. Since her mom is pregnant and refuses to work, Sadie will be taking over as a domestic servant for a wealthy family on a nearby island. When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie were normal - if she hadn’t spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house - maybe she’d be excited about working for a rock star. But she’s not.

She is only 19. She is his new stepfather’s daughter. She is still nave and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother. But for 24-year-old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Hughes Farm was the largest racing-horse establishment in the South. The family that owned it was known to be wealthy, powerful, arrogant, and terrifying. My first encounter with them didn’t prepare me for all that was to come. I don’t think anything truly could have. Growing up with only my father and brother hadn’t been easy, but we’d had each other. Losing them was the hardest thing I’d ever faced. It had made the times we went without food, electricity, or even shelter seem insignificant in comparison.

Finnick O'Reilly became my dark prince the day he rescued me from my bullies. I hoped and prayed that my savior would return after the day he saved me, but he never did. I was heartbroken, but it was for the best. He saved me just to torment everyone else in Grove Hill.

Amazon Top 25 and International Bestselling Author Kathy Lockheart delivers an unputdownable romance series where desire and danger collide. Two standalones, interconnected by a deliciously dark thread of romance, action, mystery, and shocking twists… Included in the collection: Deadly Illusion (Book One) and Fatal Cure (Book Two)

Aspen Davies had three reasons to move to the small town of Amber Ridge: to get away from her overbearing mother; to escape the clutches of her psychotic ex; and Jesse Hayes. Okay, maybe Jesse isn’t a reason to relocate her entire life. After all, he’s just a friend. A housemate. And someone she absolutely is not going to date. At least…that’s what she keeps telling herself.

I’m a no-nonsense man. As the head of a business empire, I have to be. I’m logical, cut-throat, and don’t believe in cheesy things like marriage and happy ever afters. But when my best friend asks me to be Best Man, I can't say no. En route to the wedding, I get stuck at the airport when my flight is delayed, and this obnoxious woman sits next to me. Not only does she keep drinking champagne even though she obviously can’t hold her liquor, but she seems determined to push every single one of my buttons.

They say you can never go back… ‘Course, I never wanted to return. It took me years to age out. Once I made it, I took off and never turned around. Trust me, there were only three reasons I managed to survive there as long as I did and they abandoned me as soon as they were able. I’d like to say I didn’t blame them, but that would be a lie. I had zero desire to return. Yet here I was, on the road to Northland chasing a story cause my editor told me kids were disappearing… again.

After my ex crushed my dreams in the music industry, I’m done with getting my heart broken. Working as an assistant for an NHL player was supposed to be a breeze, but nothing about Jamie Streicher is easy. He’s an intimidatingly hot, grouchy jerk who can't stand me. The guy has a massive ego. Keeping things professional will be no problem, even when he demands I move in with him.

She's back. We were kids the last time I saw her, but my innocent crush from childhood is full-grown now. And it's not so innocent anymore. She's a breath of fresh air from the series of one-night stands since being drafted into the NHL. I've only got one shot with her, and I'm not taking it for granted. I may give her the passion she's been craving, but she's the intimacy I've waited for my whole life.

It was supposed to be a regular day out. Three couples celebrating the last days of summer. When tragedy struck. I thought I was going to marry her. Instead, I was burying her. I blamed the world for my pain. I buried it all. I became a man I didn’t even recognize.

"Jakob Larson is going to be the death of me." That’s what I think every time he strides into my bar. The Kings of Kearny run this small Texas town, and Jakob is their chief enforcer. The Viking, they call him. He’s a criminal. As dangerous as he is sexy. The kind of man who makes my inner cavewoman sit up and take notice. Him big. Make strong babies. Bring home mammoth for dinner. I’m ready to indulge her desires, but just for one night. Unfortunately, Jakob has other plans. Someone in town is breaking one of the cardinal rules set by the leader of The Kings.