Showing results by author "Heather Long" in All Categories

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.

Five years ago, I disappeared from the life I had and built this one. I spend my days and most of my nights on the line, helping my clients achieve their goals. They call me when they are in a jam or are getting ready to move on a target. I'm their information specialist. The woman in the chair. I'm their switchboard. Intelligence, electronic eyes, computer hacking—I do it all. My singular goal is to bring my clients home safely. Some clients are more special than others. We all play favorites. I know them, they've never seen me.

My only connections were forged through the veil of a computer screen. I was their voice in the dark, their operator. I was their lifeline—until the day my past tore into my present, and they had to become mine. Captured, subjected to torture and relentless interrogation, I survived long enough for them to find me. I harbor no delusions; fleeing and disappearing again is not an option. The only way to win is to fight. But to fight, you also have to be willing to risk everything. I was okay with that when the only one at risk was me.

Our feelings for her were like wild animals finally freed from their cage. But my sparrow, she was the most brutal fighter of us all. She’d had to be. The battles she’s survived, she’s done in silence and alone. Not anymore. Never again.

It’s not true. It can’t be. Four DNA tests. Only one positive. The man claiming to be my father is quite literally the worst option imaginable. This isn’t happening to me. For the first time in my life, I know who I am and where I want to be and, in the blink of an eye, everything is spinning so utterly out of control. I thought the fight with Maddy was the worst thing I faced. It’s not. I’ve grown up in a house of lies, and it’s all crashing down on the five of us, and I have no idea how to protect the ones I love best from the fallout.

Last Word is a full-length dark adult romance and psychological thriller with suspenseful themes. Any trigger warnings will be included in the foreword. Some situations may be uncomfortable for listeners. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This is the fourth and final book in the series.

Do you ever lie to yourself? I do. Making friends has been the cruelest choice I ever inflicted upon myself. I like to say I don’t regret it, and for the most part that’s true. I resent it. I despise him because he left me behind, following another battle in this war we’ve been waging. I thought we were partners, best friends, allies, and that he would always have my back as I’ve fought to have his. I hate her because she’s perfection and everything he’s ever wanted, untouchable, brilliant, and capable. Yet, I want her too. Need her. Still, she gave herself to someone else.

When did we become the adults? When did we become the ones who had to make the hard calls? One by one, we’ve all left our teenage years behind. College brought new challenges even as Bound Hearts brought us more. Whether we’re making music, love, war, games, or trouble, we’ve found a good balance. We’ve learned that even being apart doesn’t mean we aren’t together. Life has a habit of throwing curveballs. School, careers, new hobbies, friends in need, and family demands are hitting us from every angle. We’re going to need each other more than ever.

Family legacy dictates everything from type of education to suitability of friends to eligible marriage opportunities to the type of business I’m expected to go pursue. It’s more than just DNA, it’s also about birth order, gender, and unfortunately—the family name. I was born a Reed and the weight that carries isn’t limited to the doors that it opens, but also the ones it bars shut. When I was tapped for the Royals, I saw my first way out—but it only proved to be a deeper trap.

Madness runs in my blood or so my family history would suggest. For more than thirteen years, I've been driven by one quest. One desire. One goal. It's about more than just DNA and legacy, it's about a promise. One I swore I would never give up. I never could have planned for her. For Lainey B. For how the girl who kept my secret became a woman who is truly my partner. I've been running alone for so long, I didn't think I could be with someone.

Life doesn’t come with a script, but some moments don’t need one. Senior year pushed us all. It dared us to embrace wonder and chase love. It challenged us to find out who we were as people, as partners, as a family. We’re so much better together. Graduation isn’t the end of our story by any stretch. It’s the next chapter.

My name is Frankie Curtis, the four men I love more than anything else in this world want me to marry them. They want forever.

The last thing I was looking for when I left the facility was a new woman, a new relationship, and a new cause. I found all three in a dark alley. Saving her life was the best choice I’ve ever made.

Emersyn Sharpe is more than just the girl we watched over. She’s very much the woman who fits us. The last thing we should have done was take her and the worst thing we did was keep her, but she needs us. I think more than one of us - myself included - needs her. The secret wasn’t ours to share, and the lie? I bought into the lie that keeping her was saving her. The lie that persuading her to trust us was needed. The lie that falling in love with her was as natural as breathing. It didn’t matter if I wasn’t alone in falling into this trap.

Emersyn Sharpe was nothing like I expected and everything I could have ever dreamed of. She stayed and she changed everything. She put the guys in their place. She had fire and spunk, a ferociousness I wished I possessed. Her darkness called to mine in a way that felt like home. But hiding secrets is hard work, and even the people who think they already know the worst can’t be fully trusted. No matter how desperately you want it.

Survival isn’t everything. I’ve fought to protect my family. I’ve bled for them, killed for them, and gone to jail for them. There is no fight I will not take on for them… I’ve been waging this war since I was seven years old. The only thing that’s changed is the battlefield itself. For Mayhem, I’ll trade in the grime of the streets for the illusions of her shimmering world. Only all that glitter is hiding a well of sin and corruption that leaves blood in its wake. This isn’t my world, but I won’t be defeated by it.

Autumn in New York promises a turn in the seasons as we kick off the next stage of our lives. Colorful leaves falling, dropping temperatures, and the first days of classes loom even as the lingering summer heat and humidity make the city stifling. Summer was a time to get away, to just be us, and what a magical time it was, but we can only run away from our lives for so long. We have family, careers, friends - new and old - as well as commitments waiting for us.

When it comes down to acclaim in the yearbook, my class rank would probably earn me my only entry, but probably very little else. I don’t wear cosmetics, do my hair, or really give a damn about my appearance in general. I don’t need to be cool, and I’ve managed my high school career navigating all the different groups from the nerds to the jocks to the theatre kids and the band geeks.

I’d been called so many names over the years. None of them mattered. My mirror cared more than I did. But he never treated me as less. None of them did. My brothers were the Vandals. They didn’t always understand, but they never judged and they always had my back.

My name is Mickey James. Little Bit is everything. I fought to stay away, and I’ll fight to keep. Our enemies are going to learn that my skill at healing broken bodies makes me damn talented at damaging them too. They drew blood, we’ll bury them.