When I was 15, a single bullet changed my life. I spent the next decade trying to outrun the devastation of my past, building an empire that would shield me from whatever life could throw at me. But all the money in the world couldn’t help me when I found a screaming newborn abandoned on my doorstep. I’d never wanted to be a father. Passing the sludge that ran through my veins down to an innocent child seemed like a tragedy. But there she was - pink cheeks, red hair, and mine.

I fell in love with Sydney Hastings when I was 10 years old. At 16, we whispered promises of forever. When I was 22, I broke them all. I left her and promised never to return. After my father's death, I’m forced to go home to Sugarloaf for six months. She'll be everywhere, no longer just in my memories and regrets. When we’re together, it’s as though time never stopped. She’s still the one I want, but I don’t deserve her. Instead of apologizing, I take that beautiful, broken woman in my arms. But after that, it’s her turn to leave me. Now I have to fight. For her. For us.

We come from two different worlds. I’m from the streets. She might as well live in an ivory tower. I made my living with my fists. I doubt she could even throw a punch. Our paths never should have crossed. We never should have met. That doesn’t change the facts. I would sell my soul to taste those red lips. Fight the devil himself to hear her laugh. Burn in hell to have a single night. Scarlett Priest shouldn’t even know men like me exist, but sometimes temptation is stronger than will. If this is how I go down, it’ll be worth every second of the fall.

Secrets have now been revealed...lies uncovered...and stubborn walls broken down. Reed always says everyone’s got a price...it’s been his mantra for as long as he’s had money in the bank. And now, he’s desperately trying to figure out Georgina’s before it’s too late. Will the truth finally set Reed and Georgina free to find the happiness they both so desperately desire...or have they lost their chance at love forever?

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. 

Sometimes I need an escape from the demands, the puck bunnies, and the notoriety that come with being an NHL team captain. I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am.

I’ve finally got feisty Georgina right where I want her. In my bed. In my swimming pool. Strapped into the kinky swing hanging in my home gym. And through it all, Georgina’s clearly becoming more and more physically addicted to me. A junkie in constant need of her next fix. Exactly according to plan. But, to my shock, I’m beginning to think she’s not the only addict here. Any more than she’s the only liar. In fact, as crazy as it sounds, this fiery, relentless woman has been breaking down my walls. 

Reed freaking Rivers. I wouldn’t trust a word out of the arrogant music mogul’s mouth if his gold-plated tongue were notarized. The man with the Midas touch would say anything to get me into his bed, and I know it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to succeed. Indeed, the moment I laid eyes on Reed while he was speaking at an on-campus event I’d crashed, my body physically ached to feel his golden fingers - and tongue - all over me.

Gabriel Legend is unlike any other man I’ve ever met. He came into my life like a hurricane, shattering all my assumptions and preconceived notions. I wasn’t prepared for him. I wasn’t prepared for any of it. But life doesn’t wait until you’re ready. Whatever happens next, I know one thing for certain. I will never be the same Scarlett I was before I met him.

Evan Bryant wasn't your typical hero. But he was mine. Broken by the worlds' standards, he was still the strongest boy I would ever know. My best friend. The boy I'd given everything to. My heart, my body, and the promise of forever. The day I'd needed him most, he walked away. He left me shattered and questioning the love I'd thought we'd shared.

You can only keep what you can protect. That’s all I’ve ever known. It’s the way I’ve lived my life. Now, everything I never knew I needed is at risk, and I’m not letting anyone take it from me. I won’t let anyone take her from me. They say love is a battlefield, so I’m ready for war. This time, it’s the fight for forever.

The feud between Weston Lockwood and me started at the altar. Only neither of us attended the wedding, and the nuptials happened decades before either of us was born. Our grandfathers had been best friends and business partners, at least up until my grandfather’s wedding day - when his bride-to-be blurted out she couldn’t marry him because she was also in love with Weston‘s grandfather.  

Devney Maxwell has been my best friend since we were 6 years old, but she has no idea I’m in love with her. Even when I’m on the road playing professional baseball, she’s my home - the only one I’ve ever known. But when I return to Sugarloaf to care for the family farm, I discover she’s trying to talk herself into a life with the wrong man...and I become desperate. It only takes a single, perfect kiss to change everything.

I have three goals: graduate from an Ivy League university, get into medical school, and follow in my father's well-established footsteps. Everything was going exactly as planned until the local bad boy was delivered to my doorstep. Literally. From the moment we meet, my old life becomes unrecognizable, but I have no regrets. I'm utterly captivated by him. His smirk. His heart. His sharp wit. He pushes me to live, to be wild, to pursue the dream I've always hidden inside.

If I closed my eyes, I could still see them - all blonde sunshine, ocean-blue eyes, and long limbs. The glint of Lake's gold bracelet. Pink cotton candy on Tiffany's tongue. My scenery may have changed from heaven to hell, but some things never would: my struggle to do right by both sisters. To let Lake soar. To lift Tiffany up. The sacrifices I made for them, I made willingly. A better man would've walked away by now, but I never claimed to be any good. I only promised myself I'd keep enough distance. If I'd learned one thing from my past, it was that love came in different forms.