Secrets. Everybody has them. Big, small, innocent...forbidden. Mindy was a line I should never have crossed. But I did. She was beautiful...sassy and tempting. And rules were made to be broken. We broke them all. Now I’m home, released from service with hidden scars. Now my secrets are the demons that grow stronger every day. I try to send her away, but I can’t let her go. She’s my reason to fight, and I’ll walk through hell to be the man she deserves. To give her a reason to stay here with me. 

I blame the alcohol. I lost my restaurant business, was forced to sell my dad’s cherished 1967 Chevy Impala, and I got a little drunk. Now I’m waking up with the hottest, angriest guy I’ve ever seen, speeding down the highway like a bat out of hell. Ice-blue eyes hit mine with stomach-clenching force. And he swerves onto the shoulder, ready to kick me out. Needless to say, our romance doesn’t start out sweet.

Hockey star Max Yearwood was everything I needed at the time - fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months, since he’d signed with a new team 3,000 miles away. Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right? Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. 

Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds. I was starting to lose hope. Until a knock at my door came, and God answered my prayers. Except...uh...wrong prayer, God. I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate. Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway. While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined. Then, cupcakes showed up at my door.

Angelica Treviño was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I wanted to make her smile, but I had no idea when she did, she’d steal my heart. Sunset eyes, waves of golden-brown hair, cute little butt....I’m ready to meet the family and put a ring on it. Instead, I’m on the wrong end of a gun, her older brother threatening to kill me. It all started with a kiss....

Taron Rhodes was my brother’s best friend. He was sexy as sin. But he was more than that.... He was ponytail-pulling, ice-down-your-shirt teasing, throw-you-in-the-lake screaming.... Strong, tanned arms and blue-green eyes over a heart-stopping, naughty grin.... Did I mention his tight end? I gave him my first real kiss, my heart, my everything. I said I’d wait for him.... I’m still waiting, because Taron Rhodes is still the man of my dreams. And I have a secret that has his blue-green eyes.

At 18, I walked away from Willow Creek Valley for good. I was young, scared, and stupid, and it cost me the love of my life - Grayson Parkerson. Fourteen years later, a crash sends me back home to recover. Back to where we met, fell in love, and planned a future. Working at The Park Inn together gives us a chance to reconnect, and seeing him with his little girl makes me long for the days when he was mine. I’m not the girl I was - intimidated by his wealthy family and desperate to escape our small town. How can I convince him to give first love a second chance? 

Reasons why I should not be drawn to Troy Serrano. Number one: He’s obnoxious. Number two: We were enemies more than a decade ago. Number three: He’s my friend’s ex-boyfriend. I could go on and on, really. When my boss gives me an unwanted assignment, and tells me it involves spending time with the grandson of one of our residents, the grandson turns out to be Troy. Lucky me. Four hours a week of having to deal with his insufferable personality and unsolicited advice - the only consolation is getting to stare at his annoyingly gorgeous face, in between our many arguments.

Legend has it, the man you kiss at a wedding is the man you’ll marry. In my case, it’s nothing but trouble. Spencer Carrollton is a dark-haired, hazel-eyed beast. When I collided with him at my cousin’s wedding, I wasn’t looking for love. But his naughty eyes flashed, his full lips curled into a knowing smile, and I should have run. I didn’t. I kissed him instead. Then he gave me a job when I needed it the most.

I left the Navy, scored a billion in tech, got married, and had a baby. I did everything by the book. Happily ever after, right? Fast-forward four years, and I’m alone, raising my daughter, caring for my mother-in-law, and trying to keep my stuff together. How did this happen? I was clearly drunk the night I offered a gorgeous girl in a bar $500 a day to be my live-in nanny. Or maybe it was my dick talking. So what if I’ve been alone since forever? I’m focused on launching my new business, not bedding the sexy siren who sleeps down the hall.

Matteo Amante. Dangerous. Deadly. And most of all, devastating. He’s the king of the city. Running the Mafia and ruling the East Coast. He’s at war with his cousin, and I am the casualty. There is nothing Matteo won’t do to win. He’ll burn everything down to the ground, my hopes and dreams included. He’s no hero. He’s the handsome devil who will probably kill me in the end. Falling in love with the enemy can destroy me, especially when he is my husband.

Donovan and I met at a coffee shop to do the suitcase exchange. Turned out, it wasn’t just his voice that was sexy. The man holding my luggage was absolutely gorgeous, and we had an immediate spark. He got me to admit that I’d snooped in his bag and then convinced me to make it up to him by letting him buy me coffee. Coffee led to dinner, dinner led to dessert, and dessert led to spending an entire weekend together. So what did I do to repay him for his kindness? I waited until he was in the shower, then ghosted him.

I'm not the kind of girl who has one-night stands. Except...I did. What can I say? After a few drinks with a gorgeous man who made me feel alive for the first time since losing my mom, I was powerless to say no. And I didn't regret it. Not one minute of our hot, mind-melting night together. But he wasn't a forever kind of guy. So I walked away. I wasn't supposed to ever see him again. Then I did. Turns out my sexy one-night stand is Dr. Jacob Mitchell - and he's the cardiothoracic surgeon who just saved my dad's life. 

It’s natural to want the one you can’t have. And for as long as I could remember, I’d secretly wanted my brother’s best friend, Jace. He was six years older and always treated me like the sister he never had. Fast forward a decade. We were all in our 20s now. Jace had moved in with my brother, Nathan, and me to help us make ends meet after our parents died. It was just the three of us - an odd family dynamic. Living under our roof, Jace was as bossy and protective as ever. But he certainly didn’t look at me like a sister anymore. That was what made things so complicated.

I didn't know I was that person. You know - the one who gets the kids. But that's what the will said. June Lawler: legal guardian. All my sister's kids have ever known is San Francisco, but I have to take them back to our family's small-town farm. The last thing I'm expecting is the dark car rolling down my dirt driveway. The man who steps out of it is as rich as he is rude, and I want nothing to do with him. Even if my traitor body didn't get the message.