Anne Jolin – författare

I use people. Not in a malicious way, but in the way an addict abuses their substance of choice. People are my vice—men specifically. I crave the emotional high they give me with a unique and reckless disregard for my own well-being—eagerly floating into an unsustainable euphoria, knowing full well that after every high comes an equal, if not more powerful, plummet into a devastating abyss. But like every junkie, I crawl willingly back into the arms of my demons.

Oh, the price we pay to feel loved. We’d all sell our souls to the devil himself for that. Perhaps I have already.

They say that acknowledging that you have a problem is one of the first steps to recovery. Well, in that case, my name is Charleston Smith, and I have a f***ing problem.

Peyton Callaghan is a fighter, a survivor, and a warrior. When it was kill or be killed, she didn’t hesitate. Now she’s the only one left standing, haunted by the ghost of a dead man and plagued with the guilt of having taken another person’s life. The upheaval of her life to start over in Rock Falls has been shaky at best, her worst nightmares and wildest desires colliding with each other. Terror tortures her nightly, breeding fear inside her dreams. And in every waking moment, she fights against the lust that threatens to drown her.

Jayden King harbors secrets beneath his outward playboy demeanor. The women who warm his bed lay claim to nothing—you can’t lay claim to someone who doesn’t have a heart. His wit and charm are exquisite means of deflection and distraction from the turmoil roaring inside him. He’s hidden in plain sight, a mask of humor keeping the sadness at bay. The only real reflections of his soul are in the artwork he creates, pieces of him muraled on the skin of others. If tattoo artists could have a calling card, the etch of pain and suffering in each design would be his. Because when the lights go out and the women he’s satisfied have gone home, he’s alone with every fear he refuses to face.

After suffering from a brutal attack at the hands of her roommate’s stalker, Peyton is forced to live with the object of her affection. Without intention, she breathes love into his starved heart, and although the mere thought of that terrifies him, Jayden would burn the city down to keep her safe, causalities be damned.

Some people you have. Some people you hold.

She can have him. She can hold him. But can she keep King? Or is it impossible for Callaghan to keep something that was never really hers to begin with?

Beth Rhodes has always had a game plan: go to college, get the perfect job, get the perfect guy, and get the happily-ever-after she’s always wanted. It’s just her luck that everything falls into its precise place in her life. At least it seems that way until her blueprints go up in smoke. She loses the job she loves, and her Prince Charming is turning out to be the villain of her fairy tale instead. With failures and mistakes piling up on her doorstep, she knows something has to give—or she could very well end up paying for those mistakes with her life.

Braxton Bennett is lethal, both in the courtroom and in the ring. Two sides of him constantly wage war against each other, and to keep the internal bloodshed at bay, he allows himself to indulge in his violent vice. Suit by day and brawler by night aren’t easy dual lives to manage for a man of his status. The only way to do so is by following a strict set of rules—rules he won’t break for anyone. But what if he already has?

On a summer night in the depths of the city, a chance encounter will turn Beth and Braxton’s perfectly constructed worlds upside down.

Will they battle together against all odds to break Braxton’s rules? Or will Beth tap out to save herself before the fight is over?

Hannah Rhodes has just gotten out of a long-term relationship, and she isn’t looking for a new man in her life. But after a night out with the girls and one too many tequila shots, her plans to stay man-free are blown all to hell. She finds herself in bed with the smoldering stranger from a party six months back and immediately knows she’s in trouble, big trouble. And the last thing Hannah needs is more trouble.

Her last relationship took her out like an emotional freight train, and she’s trying to piece back the stability her life once had.

Greyson Holt’s biggest fear in life is to end up like his father, like the man who left him as a child and broke his mother’s heart. He vowed to never be responsible for that kind of carnage. Men could be cruel, and that kind of brutality was in his blood. He never allows himself to get too close to anyone, until he meets Hannah.

Something about her makes him want to try, but a man can’t change overnight.

Will Holt be able to catch Rhodes every time he lets her go? Or will their chase end in heartbreak?

Lennon Montgomery is scared sh*tless of love.

When the floor fell out from underneath her perfect childhood, it shattered her ability to trust. The one man in her life who was genetically programmed to love her left her. Since then, she’s allowed men into her bed and even into her life, but never into her heart.

Until him.

Jamison Henley is content living his life and loving only three things: making guitars, cooking great food, and Martha, his pit bull. He never chases women, and he’s never had to.

Until her.

One night together changes everything. There’s no going back to the way it was before. She doesn’t want to want him, but she does. He knows he wants her, but he can’t have her.

Will Montgomery take the leap of faith in choosing Henley? Or will her fear cripple their chance at a happily ever after?