When I was eight years old, Caven Hunt saved me from the worst kind of evil to walk the Earth. It didn’t matter that I was a kid. I fell in love with him all the same. But that was where my fairy tale ended. Years later, a one-night stand during the darkest time imaginable gave us a little girl. It was nothing compared to the pitch black that consumed me when I was forced to leave her with Caven for good. At the end of every fairy tale, the happily ever after is the one thing that remains consistent. It wasn’t going to be mine.

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me. Whoever coined that phrase is a bald-faced liar. Words are often the sharpest weapon of all, triggering some of the most powerful emotions a human can experience. "You're pregnant." "It's a boy." "Your son needs a heart transplant." Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me. Lies. Syllables and letters may not be tangible, but they can still destroy your entire life faster than a bullet from a gun.

Growing up, Ramsey Stewart branded my soul in ways time could never heal. At 12, he asked me to be his girlfriend. At 13, he gave me my first kiss. By 16, we’d fallen in love, planned a future together, and had our eyes set on the horizon. Love never fails, right? But for Ramsey, it did. I failed him. The entire world failed him. At 17, Ramsey was convicted of killing the boy who assaulted me. "Move on", he wrote in his first and only letter from prison. There was no such thing as giving up on Ramsey. Love may have been our curse, but he was mine - then, now, and forever.

From over a thousand miles away, I watched on the screen of my phone as two men murdered my wife. And I was helpless to save her. Consumed by hate and rage, I spent four years running from my memories - until a shattered woman gave me a reason to stop. Cora lived in a nightmare, but through sheer force of will, she’d turned it into something beautiful. She had a smile that could pierce the darkest soul. And with one glance, she shredded mine.

From USA Today best-selling author Aly Martinez comes a hot-new series of alpha bodyguards. She was my nightmare. Every time I closed my eyes, I watched her fall into that inferno. Over and over, I failed to save her. I hadn't been able to reach her, and the guilt only burned hotter over time. Four years later, I was the unreachable one.

Hudson Bradley is the cockiest, most stubborn, hard-headed man I’ve ever known. And for 15 years, he’s been my brother's best friend. But lately, what I’m feeling for him isn’t friendship at all. Why is my heart racing every time his blue eyes lock on mine? Why does every word he rumbles in my ear make my body come alive? And worst of all, why did I bet him that I could find a woman he and his son would both love? If I hadn’t given up on love altogether, Hudson would have been perfect for me. After all, he was there the day my world fell apart.

“Sometimes love happens when you least expect it.” That was what my husband’s mistress told me the day I found out about their affair. I didn’t believe it until five minutes later when mouthwatering celebrity chef Tanner Reese walked up, tossed his arm around my shoulders, and told my cheating husband to take a hike. Tanner and I couldn’t have been more different. Our relationship shouldn’t have worked, but it did. That is until Tanner proved to me that even though love happens when you least expect it so does heartbreak.

In the aftermath of tragedy, it’s strange the things you remember. The deafening boom as the house exploded. The paralyzing fear as I searched for my wife. The blinding smoke burning my eyes as I carried her out. But carved into my soul for the rest of my days would be the earth-shattering realization that the woman in my arms wasn’t my wife.

The world owes you nothing. It took losing the woman I loved, and facing the paralyzing task of moving on without her, for me to truly understand that. I’d resigned myself to a life of loneliness, until a survivor from the same plane crash that took my fiancée stormed into my life. Remi Grey was chaos and sunshine, fire and freedom. I began to believe that fate had other plans for me. But it seemed the only thing fated about our relationship was that I had been destined to lose her from the start. The world owes you nothing. But for Remi, I would risk it all. No matter the cost.

Did you ever hear the joke about the guy whose wife cheated on him with his best friend? So he quit his job, moved into his parents’ basement, and gained 50 pounds? No? Because that wasn’t a joke. It was my life. Four years later, I'm back with a dream job, a killer apartment, and a set of abs that are better than ever. So, when Maggie Light, a stunning, snarky blonde moves in next door, and we spend the hottest weekend of our lives together, I think this could be the greatest comeback story ever. That is until I realize Maggie has moved to town to do one thing - steal my job.

My name was Dr. Erica Hill. I was a victim, then a witness, and then I ceased to exist altogether. I may still be breathing, but stripped of my identity, I have long since stopped living. I am invisible, and my life depends on my ability to stay in the shadows. But he sees me. Slate Andrews is the embodiment of everything I have been taught to avoid. He’s rich and famous, and one image of him with a woman would earn millions for any paparazzi lucky enough to snap it.

I met Sarah Kate Erickson when I was 21 years old. I was lucky enough to keep her for seven years before a tragic accident stole her from me. She didn't die, but sometimes I think it would have been easier if she had. I lived in a haze for those four years after the accident. Catering to her every need, even though she hated the very sight of my face. I tried to hold on to her and the future that we were supposed to build together. But you can't hold on to someone that doesn't exist anymore.

I wanted to jump. He made me fall. As a celebrity, I lived in the public eye, but somewhere along the way, I'd lost myself in the spotlight. Until he found me. Sam Rivers was a gorgeous, tattooed stranger who saved my life with nothing more than a simple conversation. But we were both standing on that bridge for a reason the night we met. The secrets of our pasts brought us together - and then tore us apart. Could we find a reason to hold on as life constantly pulled us down?

I was a small-town girl with big city dreams and more ambition than money to my name. He had everything—money, privilege, and the world at his feet. Opposites in every way, but that didn’t matter. We were lightning in a bottle, and everything felt possible when we were together. Life was perfect.

Eden Murphy came into my club looking to make some extra cash. A girl like her didn't belong in a place like this. She'd get ripped to shreds. Most likely by me. There's nothing but sweetness dripping from her sexy little body, and I'm the monster who's salivating to get a taste.