The last thing he needs is to babysit a damsel in distress, especially one with a mouth like hers.
Zali Mitchell Gabbi’s little sister likes to stir drama. Stunningly beautiful and snarky by nature, she’s ready to emerge from her sister’s shadow and strike out on her own—if only she could get rid of her self-appointed guardian.
Jep Haynes He’s an asshole and not afraid to show it. Breaking the rules is his way of flipping the universe a middle finger for the shitty hand he was dealt. Except, the trail of women and betrayed friends he leaves in his wake are cold comfort when there’s no family left to care.
When Hooligan demands that he keep Zali from getting herself into trouble in the city, Jep knows he’s in for a hell of a fight. She’s hell-bent on self-destruction and happy to take him down with her. It doesn’t take long before he realises her bitch act is nothing but a cry for help, and that the man who cares about no one might be the only person capable of saving her.
NOTE: While this story follows on from Conflict and contains characters from the entire Black Hearts MMA series, it is a standalone that can be read without reading the series in order.
Kylie Hillman is an International Bestselling Author who lives in South Australia. After spending the past fifteen years regularly moving around the east coast of Australia, she has recently returned to her home state and plans to finally put down roots until her children finish school.
Wife to a Harley-riding, boating and fishing, four-wheel driving, quintessential Aussie bloke and mum to two crazy, adorable, and eccentric kids, Kylie is also a Crohn’s Disease sufferer and awareness campaigner.
When she’s not writing, she can be found sipping tea while she scoffs copious amounts of jelly beans (except the black ones – they’re the devil’s food), sharing her appreciation for heavy metal and hard rock music with her neighbours, or stalking Tom Hardy and M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold online. As a devotee to the use of profanity, sarcasm, and inappropriate innuendo, it is for the best that she chooses to venture outside her 45-acre farm only on special occasions.
“At the 90th floor, the stairwell door was propped open. There was a window facing the North Tower, and all you could see was this massive hole. Just blackness. Dad’s grip on my hand tightened. The building was eviscerated.”
Emma Jenkins can’t remember the day her father died.
When tragedy gripped the nation, it hit home for Emma. Forced to flee Manhattan, leaving behind her dreams and childhood, Emma found a way to steady her life, to build around the gaping hole.
Now, after three years, she returns to New York to begin a new future—and face her past. But when the memories come back, she is confronted with lies she was forced to believe. Caught between her present and her past, will Emma accept her memories as truth…or find a way to erase them for good?
Michelle Morgan (formerly Michelle Josette) lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and two sons. She is a 2018 RITA Finalist Editor for the romance novella, “In His Arms” by Jules Dixon, and has edited more than 100 novels since 2013.
Nothing ignites Michelle’s passion for editing like working on her own fiction. She published After Henry, her first novel, in 2014. Alongside Jeremy Morgan–fellow writer, IT genius, and Michelle’s real-life hero–she spent the next four years growing their two small businesses and starting a family. The muse took a back seat but never left. As of June 2018, Michelle has been writing again–a lot! She’s excited to release her romantic fiction, “Work in Progress” and “No Turning Back,” in the summer and fall of 2019.
Michelle is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Editorial Freelancers Association.
Everyone has secrets. Although, I was a master at concealing mine. But part of hiding was deception, and I’d become a veritable Pinocchio.
He was like two different people—Eli and Dr. Paxton. While I knew the latter would turn out to be an incredible teacher, the idea of Eli being more threw me for a loop. I couldn’t separate the two, and it seemed vastly inappropriate and strangely alluring.
The practical side of me needed to win the war inside my mind. I had to please the teacher, not the man. But once I’d cross that line, there was no turning back.
Bestselling author, Stephie Walls is a lover of words–the more poetic the better. She lives on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina in her own veritable zoo with two dogs, three cats, and Magoo (in no preferential order). She would thrive on coffee, books, and Charlie Hunnam if it were possible, but since it’s not, add in some Chinese food or sushi and she’s one happy girl.
At seventeen, Natalie Hewitt has her future mapped out. Graduate top of her class, get into an Ivy League School and along the way be a top athlete, the perfect daughter, and nice to everyone. It’s not easy living up to the pressure she puts on herself. Sometimes she feels overwhelmed with anxiety. So she has her quirks, like counting the flowers on her wall, to help her focus, help her get calm.
Lately, it’s taking so much effort—and more counting—to meet those expectations. Nothing is the way it used to be. Her best friend is drifting away. Her brother is in trouble again. And her boyfriend Phillip is convinced there’s something going on between her and Owen Radlowski.
That’s so not true. Owen is just a guy she tutors. A friend. Nothing more. And yet…she can’t stop thinking about him. He gets her—even the counting—and doesn’t ask for too much from her. Still, Owen is not Philip, which makes him the wrong guy for her. He has no place in her future plans.
As her carefully arranged life unravels, her quirks don’t work the way they should, and Natalie has to face what is real. And learn to accept it might not be what she thinks it should be.
When not writing, Romance Writers of America RITA® Award-winner Beth Andrews can often be found cheering on the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, scrolling through Instagram or reading a good book with a happy ending.
What happens when Mr. Right turns out to be Mr. Wrong?
Thanks to an extremely embarrassing one-night stand, I, Staci Benson, make a pact with myself. Focus on grad school. Stay away from sex.
It should easy, right?
Enter, Kyle Slade. Infuriating to the core. One sexy nerd. My new boss.
Forced to spend time with a guy I can’t stand? Check! Arguing every point because he’s the complete opposite? Check! Developing feelings for said guy…Check?
How am I supposed to find Mr. Right when Mr. Wrong keeps getting in the way?
My darkest hour is yet to come. When truths are revealed, I’ll be left wishing I stuck to my pact.
Kimberly Readnour lives in the Midwest with her husband, two children, and a very fluffy cat.
Visions, book one of the Mystical Encounters Series, is a #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller and a 2015 Readers’ Favorite book award finalist. Her series, the Mystical Encounters, has spent many weeks on the Amazon’s teen and young adult’s mysteries and thrillers bestseller’s lists.
Kimberly worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years before hanging-up her stethoscope. When she isn’t running her own business, you can find her tucked away writing.
Words I never thought I would hear my sister say: “Mason, meet my sister, Willow. Willow, this is my fiancé, Mason Cartwright.”
I size him up. Thick, brown hair tousled from his hand. Bright brown eyes sparkle in my direction. Scruffy salt and pepper jawline that begs to be kissed.
Oh, Holy Hell’s balls.
It’s a damn good thing I don’t believe in love at first sight. ‘Cause if I did, I’d be booty over bean in love with Mason Cartwright.
Morning comes early. P-Tink drags me out of bed as the sun is coming up so we can go on our morning walk/run. I run, she walks. But only because my running pace is still too slow for her. There are trails near the house that we go to, which she loves. I’d let her run free, but I don’t yet trust her with squirrels or other such wildlife that we may encounter along the way.
We reach the path and she immediately begins howling.
“P-Tink, quiet!” I tug on her leash to get her attention. The last thing I need is her waking all the neighbors at o’dark thirty. She stops howling and pauses to sniff at a tree. I use the time to adjust my earbuds and change the music I’m listening to. The leash goes lax. P-Tink takes off running, howling as she goes.
Dammit Janet!
I take off after her, going as fast as I can without killing myself.
I round a corner in the trail and run smack-dab into a wall of sweaty flesh.
“Ooof!” I bounce back. Strong arms prevent me from falling on my butt. P-Tink bounces around me yelping. My hands rest on the chest in front of me. The bare chest of minimal hair and maximum muscle. I look up the chest, to the neck, and finally the face.
“Mason?”
“You okay?” he asks, his hands still on my arms. My bare arms. My hands are on his bare chest, his hands are on my bare arms. All I can think about is how good it would feel if everything were bare. All of him with all of me, bare skin against bare skin, my body warms from the middle and up.
“Willow?” he asks again, using one hand to push the loosened hair from my face, his eyes search mine.
I nod, not looking away.
“What are you doing here?” I ask finally.
“I was running until P-Tink came in for a blind tackle,” he laughs.
That shakes me out of my brief fantasy.
“Oh no, are you okay?” I ask, looking him up and then down.
Big mistake.
His torso is long, and his shorts are not. He has something close to a six-pack with a light trail of hair leading down into his shorts. Those v-things that only guys in movies have mirror one another on either side of his hips. I can see the outline of his penis in his shorts. And his legs are beautiful. Lean with perfectly shaped calves, big muscular thighs, light smatterings of hair.
My god, is nothing on this man flawed?
Why does AshLynn get the good ones?
Ha – not nearly enough body hair to interest Zach. I smirk to myself.
“Fell on my ass, I’m fine,” he says.
“Oh, let me see?” I spin him around and am brushing dirt and leaves from his bare back and covered bottom before I realize what I’m doing. I gasp, step back, cover my mouth with my hand and close my eyes.
I hear him turn, but I keep my eyes closed. Which he mistakes for something else.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asks.
“Uh huh, yep, just groped my sister’s fiancé, but hey, no biggie right.”
“Half-sister,” he says.
I open my eyes, he’s smiling. So I do too. “Half-sister,” I repeat.
“It will be our little secret,” he says.
I nod.
“You want some company on your walk?” Mason asks.
“Oh, uh, I should probably get back,” I say.
“Weren’t you just starting your walk?”
“Yeah, but we’ve got brunch, and I don’t want to be late . . .”
He looks at his watch. “Not for another three and half hours. Come on, I’ll walk with you, but you have to let me hold the leash.” He winks.
I blush.
We walk in silence for a while. It’s a comfortable silence. Just enjoying the sound of the breeze in the leaves and the birds in the trees. P-Tink is back and forth across the path sniffing and pawing different things, her tail wagging constantly. Every so often, his arm brushes against mine. I like the way it feels.
You are playing with fire, Willow.
I can hear both Zach and my inner critic chastising me. So, I silence them both and continue on with my walk. We reach the end of the trail, and take a seat for a minute on the benches.
“You already reached this part once today, huh?” I ask him.
“Yeah, but it’s okay, I need the extra exercise.”
“I don’t see why,” I scoff, gesturing to his body.
“My muscles were all cramped this morning and needed loosening. This is perfect for that.”
“Wear yourself out last night, huh?” I pretend to joke and elbow him. Regretting immediately that I’ve said anything.
“No, I slept in a chair.”
I look at him, brow furrowed. “Why did you sleep in a chair.”
He looks guilty. “Uh,” he starts but doesn’t finish his thought.
“Did you guys get in a fight?” I ask hoping that’s not the case.
Actually, that’s a lie, I totally hope that’s the case.
“Yeah,” he says. “We got into a fight.”
“Sorry,” I say not meaning a word of it. “Is everything better now that it’s morning?”
“She wasn’t awake when I left, so I’m not sure.”
I stand and prepare to head back. “Shall we?”
He nods and stands as well. Then, much to my disappointment, puts his shirt back on. We take our time walking back to the trail beginning, talking about little things like books and movies, ice cream and favorite foods. By the time we part ways, I feel in some ways like I know Mason Cartwright almost as well as I know myself.
Zach is at my house when I get back. He’s made a pot of coffee and is sitting on the back deck sipping a cup. P-Tink runs to say hello to him.
“How’s my beautiful baby?” he coos to her. She yelps in return and rolls on her back so he can rub her belly.
“Did you guys go for a walk,” he asks before looking at me. “Yep.” I take a seat next to me with my own cup of coffee.
He looks over at me. “Ohmigod. What did you do?”
“What do you mean? We went for a walk.”
“No, something else happened.”
I avoid his gaze. “Nothing else happened.”
How is he psychic like this?
He looks at me. I look at him.
“Fine, we ran into Mason.”
“Mason?”
“That’s AshLynn’s fiancé.”
“Oh, the one whose bone you covet.”
I roll my eyes. “He didn’t have his shirt on when it happened.”
“Oooh, and . . .”
“Not your type. But beautiful. And when I say we ran into him, well I mean literally.”
“Did he get his sweat on you?” Zach wiggles his eyebrows.
I blush. “Yes.”
“And then what?”
“And then we walked back through the trail and I came home.”
“Liar!”
“We talked.”
“About?”
“I don’t know. Books, movies, ice cream, food.”
“He’s trying to get to know everything you like.”
“You say that like there’s a reason.”
“Trust me, there is.”
“He’s engaged to AshLynn.”
Zach waves his hand in the air, dismissing my statement. “They’ve been engaged for a hot minute. It will never last.”
I can’t live without nail polish, the darker the better.
I drink a glass of wine every day, but if I could get away with it, I’d drink a bottle. My favorite things to eat are chips with salsa. But red vines and popcorn are a close runner-up.
I currently reside with six dogs, one cat, and a husband. Five of my dogs are Siberian Huskies, so my clothes always have fur on them. Always.
Given the opportunity, I would read books all day long. So far my record for a single day is five full-length books.
Hoodies are my favorite item of clothing, bras are my least.
When I’m writing well, I’m barely reading. And vice-versa..
I started an underground literary magazine in graduate school, which I credit for really launching my narcissistic tendencies via writing.
If I couldn’t be a writer, I would be a rockstar. Someone from Journey, preferably the Steve Perry years, when they were awesome.
Rebels. Misfits. Bad boys who rule the streets. Everyone’s welcome at the worst kept secret in town, just as long as you don’t mind getting your reputation—and your heart—a little dirty. Welcome to Patchwork House… Patchwork House is a boy’s club—a mean boy’s club. They made an exception for Tweetie once, and they’re going to make another, because she’s coming home. After two years away and one too many broken hearts, Tweetie swore off skaters—but she never expected Flip. Flip was the most famous skater in the world until he traded his place at Patchwork with the little girl whose life he ruined. Now Tweetie’s all grown up, and one chance encounter brings them together. He knows the right thing to do is disappear before things get ugly, but he never was very good at being good. She’s back, and so is he—all bets are off. Nothing will stop this bad boy from finally getting his lost girl. They’re written in the stars, and it’s time she knows it. The first lesson Flip taught Tweetie was how to fall. It was also the last thing she remembered when they met again, because she didn’t just fall for him. She slammed.
His body was sin, his cock was sin, and I was a sinner. To keep myself safe I hide in the world and let life move around me. My new partner, Nathan, isn’t safe. Far from it. The darkness coils around him, hidden by a shield created by a blinding smile. But those who live in darkness see past the façade we create. Even in darkness, there is light. A spark that ignites, then explodes. Every filthy word from his mouth, every possessive touch—I crave them, need them. Violent and passionate and everything I need to fill the void inside me, but one thing is missing. He can never love me. More than my heart is on the line, and I don’t know if I’ll survive our breach.
Waking up in the hospital after a terrible car crash, Lila has a long road of recovery ahead of her. More than just her body, she must recover her heart after an altering declaration by Nathan. With all that happened between them she must chose to forgive him and take him back, or sever all ties. Nathan has a hard road ahead of him to earn back her trust, and doing so will open her up to the possibility of being hurt again. A possibility Lila doesn’t think she can survive. The secrets Nathan keeps buried, hidden from the world, of the life he used to lead are revealed. They tell the horror of what caused the scars on his body, mind, and heart. Can Lila and Nathan push through all of the obstacles in front of them? Will the journey be their healing, or their destruction?
Things are finally looking up for Nathan and Lila. Though separated at work, their life together is just beginning.
They’re working hard to lock up Lila’s past, when Nathan’s comes knocking at the door with a gift—a warning that happiness can, and will, be taken away.
Is running away the only option to stay alive? Can they ever find the peace they deserve?
My life was ash. Burned to the ground. Razed with no chance of rebuilding.
Empty.
Alone.
Just as I had to be.
No one else was going to get hurt because of me. No more deaths.
For years I’ve secluded myself, stayed in the darkness, and tried to melt into the background. Hiding in plain sight.
Taking a new job, working in close confines with a new partner, is risky, and I thought I was up to the task. So I hide behind a mask of my own making, a façade for the world.
The problem is, I can’t stop thinking about my new partner. I hate her, but I crave her like she’s the most intoxicating thing I’ve ever encountered.
It’s maddening, but I need to stay away. I have to stay away.
K.I. Lynn is the USA Today Bestselling Author from The Bend Anthology and the Amazon Bestselling Series, Breach. She spent her life in the arts, everything from music to painting and ceramics, then to writing. Characters have always run around in her head, acting out their stories, but it wasn’t until later in life she would put them to pen. It would turn out to be the one thing she was really passionate about.
Since she began posting stories online, she’s garnered acclaim for her diverse stories and hard hitting writing style. Two stories and characters are never the same, her brain moving through different ideas faster than she can write them down as it also plots its quest for world domination…or cheese. Whichever is easier to obtain… Usually it’s cheese.
He’s damaged. She’s scared. If they can make it past their conflict, they might have just found the one.
Amy Parker-Nguyen. As a twenty-eight-year-old widow with one son, she’s determined to stay emotionally unavailable. Love is great until it ends; leaving you forever bereaved, and your outlook on life bleak and barren. After patching up her heart, she’s happy to be known as the hard-assed, single mum and occasional good time, party girl.
Nate Harvie. Being a twenty-two-year-old, MMA fighter has its perks. His days are filled with never-ending rotation of free booze, good drugs, and easy girls. Life is good. Well, it was until the night he broke his cardinal rule and let Amy get too close. Now, he wants things he shouldn’t—things he can’t have unless he tells the truth.
What should be a brief encounter that scratches a mutual itch grows into so much more before either of them realises. Amy becomes worried about Nate’s worsening behaviour and, before she knows it, she’s facing a choice—stick around and help him or return to the safety of the lonely life she was previously sinking under?
Kylie Hillman is an International Bestselling Author who lives in South Australia. After spending the past fifteen years regularly moving around the east coast of Australia, she has recently returned to her home state and plans to finally put down roots until her children finish school.
Wife to a Harley-riding, boating and fishing, four-wheel driving, quintessential Aussie bloke and mum to two crazy, adorable, and eccentric kids, Kylie is also a Crohn’s Disease sufferer and awareness campaigner.
When she’s not writing, she can be found sipping tea while she scoffs copious amounts of jelly beans (except the black ones – they’re the devil’s food), sharing her appreciation for heavy metal and hard rock music with her neighbours, or stalking Tom Hardy and M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold online. As a devotee to the use of profanity, sarcasm, and inappropriate innuendo, it is for the best that she chooses to venture outside her 45-acre farm only on special occasions.
Kylie is represented by Sarah Hershman of Hershman Rights Management
Who you Callin a book whore 