My name is Sue O’Malley, and I’ve been keeping it awkward since 1996. Another thing about me? I might be in love with my bodyguard. Leo Mason is all I’ve been able to think about since he broke my heart and left me standing alone on my front porch six months ago.

I'm the face of the NHL. The golden boy with quick hands and a million-dollar smile the fans adore. My contract is up at the end of the season, and with playoffs starting, I have to be on my best behavior. Keep my head down and respect the press when they shove their microphones beneath my nose. This isn't my first rodeo, so it should be easy. Right?

A few hours after losing my job, I get a call from a stranger who claims I've inherited property from my father. I assume it's a scam, because my dad is alive. Turns out my mother is the liar. I board a flight to my bio-dad's hometown, but the turbulence is so bad I worry we won't make it. Declan, the hot, tattooed hunk next to me, is terrified too. When the plane freefalls for half a second, he kisses me with the passion of a man who thinks he's about to die. He seems to regret it immediately—and we both regret it when we discover he's my new neighbor.

My past was filled with mistakes, and knocking on a strange man’s door for a taste of his spicy food to satiate my craving was bound to be another one. The sparks were instant, and the bond I never expected to have grew, leaving me afloat as my due date loomed overhead. I thought my pregnancy would be the issue that kept us apart, and I’d raise my child alone. I hoped I was wrong, but everything in my world was uncertain. Adding Jeremy, Devon, and Nate to the mix might not be helpful.

Exposed Ink is my sanctuary, where I can hide behind the needles and ink, shielding my shattered heart from further pain and loss. Until Shane, a firefighter and single dad, threatens to unravel the carefully constructed walls I’ve built to survive. First, he saves my life—literally—and then he turns it upside down by making me long for things I can’t have. He says he wants to get some ink done, but I know he wants something more… something I can’t give him—me.

When his former hockey coach passes away, Declan Cadell is shocked to learn the man left him a cattle ranch. Well, not exactly. He's got one little hurdle to jump first. He has to win a trivia contest against the man's estranged daughter. Oh, and there's a caveat: he's only in the running if he lives and works with the spoiled princess who blew off one of the greatest men he's ever known. As if it wasn't hurtful enough that Seraphina Crutchley's biological father replaced her with a bunch of sweaty hockey boys, now he's forcing her to vie for her inheritance with one of them.

Lucas Carson was her brother's best friend. The man Simone sent letters to while he served in the Marines. The man she fell in love with. But while he was deployed, Simone's world caved in on her. She stopped sending him letters and stayed away from their hometown, too broken to return. Too broken to risk seeing him again . . . until a hit-and-run has her rushing back to their small town. And now, Lucas needs her help. He needs Simone to be his wife. He's gotten himself into trouble, and someone wants to take him down.

From high school golden girl to wife of a high-powered New York attorney, Faith Harrington lived the dream. Until divorce and her father’s imprisonment for fraud left her with almost nothing. Now she’s back in her hometown to redesign her life, and not every face is friendly. Least of all the town rebel, whose memory lingered long after they shared one searing teenage kiss.

I might be going to the college of my dreams with only my violin and a few hundred dollars to my name, but I'll work harder than any student they've ever had, and nothing will stop me. Cedar Lakes University is how I turn my life around. As my future begins to unravel, I'm slowly realizing that my plan has flaws. A math class I can't pass and the boy I wish I could forget. One summer he walked away from me and now he's my tutor. The school's quarterback, Sebastian Dawson. He's a pro at getting under my skin, making me feel things I don't have time to feel.

Our ravens still haven't met, but in my heart, I already know she's meant to be mine. Stubbornly, she refuses to let that happen. She claims it won't matter anyway because our families would never allow it. We come from separate classes, but this is the twenty-first century, and I don't care. The road won't be easy, but if she is truly my one true mate, nothing will stop me from claiming her.