Cassandra Hallman – författare

She needed protection from my family … I needed protection from her heart …

She was my ex-best friend’s little sister. Shy, gorgeous as hell, and did I mention completely off-limits?

Well, that is until she lands on my doorstep begging me for protection from my brother. She has no idea the kind of world she’s walked into, or that I’m no better of a man then the one searching for her.

But when she offers me her v-card—the last thing she has in exchange for protection—I can’t deny such a tempting offer. She’s everything I want, and everything I can never have.

When my brother finds out she’s under my protection and that I’ve been hiding her right under his nose, he gives me an ultimatum: marry her, or kill her. And since there’s no way in hell I’m going to let her die, I decided to make her mine … forever.

She was a shy little virgin, looking to rebel. I was a bad accident waiting to happen.

I’m the bad boy your parents warn you about. I’ve been to prison, killed for someone I love, and now I’m suffering through college.

Then I see her … sweet, so naïve it hurts, and of course beautiful. She’s scared of me the moment we lock eyes, but beneath that fear is curiosity.

From that moment on I’m consumed with a need to make her mine, to claim her … but when my past collides with my future, will I risk the chance of going back to prison to protect yet another person I love?

She was my enemy … I was her new captor …

She was a tiny little temptress of a woman that made my blood sing for vengeance. I should be punishing her, breaking her from the inside out after finding her in my father’s clutches. But when I discover the truth that she is just as much of a victim of my father’s wrongdoings as I am, I can’t follow through.

I know then that I can’t break my little mouse. Not after she’s lured me in with her big blue doe eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and those pink painted lips that beg to be kissed again and again. I don’t think things can get any better, but then she makes me an offer I can’t refuse: her body, her virginity, and her complete submission. And she wants only one thing in return: help finding her sister.

What she fails to realize is that even after helping her find her sister, I can’t just let her go. She knows too much. She’s become a liability. But I have a plan to make certain she’ll never leave or escape me. A plan that involves filling her womb with my filthy seed until I make certain a piece of myself sticks, a plan that will make her the queen of the Rossi Empire.

She was a tiny little lamb that claimed my heart with one fearful look. I was her captor, the man responsible for breaking her, for preparing her for auction. She was taken, plucked right off the street, and brought to me to be sold at the next auction. Rescuing her from my men was never part of the deal, and neither was bringing her up to my room.

Yet, night after night I did this, refusing to give up the way she made me feel. When I’m with her I feel less like a monster. I can remember the man I used to be before the mob got to me, before all the bad tainted my soul. But wanting her is forbidden, and keeping her unthinkable. If they find out what I’m doing they’ll kill both of us. And still …

I want to save her. I want to love her. I want to cherish her. When the time comes, will I be able to let her go? Or will I risk both our lives for a love that I may not deserve?

She was a broken angel that had the light beat right out of her.

He was the man responsible for her life, her protector …

He never expected to fall for the fragile woman, with soft eyes, and lips that begged to be kissed.

He knew what she saw when she looked at him, a ruthless fighter, a man with a broken past, too far gone to be reached, sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Still, somehow her light reached him, the innocence inside her called to him and the moment her soul touched his, he was tamed, ensnared in her love.

But love comes at a cost, and in this world, you pay with your life. With all the surrounding danger, he doesn’t know if he can protect her. Not only from himself, but also from a past that refuses to let go.

They’re coming for her, but first, they’ll have to go through him.

Grace was his first love, his forever, and then he lost her. He’d spent years watching from afar, knowing he could never have her again. The violence, the hate, and pain owned him. It took all the good away. It took her away. The mafia was the only thing that could curb his violent tendencies. Choosing to let her go was the hardest thing in his life, but he wanted her to be happy, safe, protected.

Then everything changed. The moment someone tried to hurt her he knew he had to step in. Grace might not have been his, but she would always be under his protection.

With his enemies coming for him, he knows they’ll do anything, kill anyone to get their revenge, and with Grace being the most important thing to him, he will have to do whatever he can to protect her even if that means bringing her back into his dark and dangerous world.

The mafia owns his soul, but she’ll always own his heart.

He was more than a bully, he was what living nightmares were made of. It started as a childish game played between two friends, which ended in heartbreak. She knew him once. A long time ago they may have even called each other friends. That was before she moved away, before her mother married his father, and before an entire life fell apart. She lost friends, popularity, and a future. This was supposed to be a fresh start, but it was real life hell. Vance Preston used to be a poor boy with a soft smile and kind eyes. He used to be her friend. Now he’s God’s gift to women (his words not hers), disgustingly handsome, and filthy rich. He can do whatever he wants, say whatever he wants, and hurt whomever he wants. No one can stop him, and no one dares to. He might as well be god. He dares her to defy him and fight back. He promises he won’t stop until he hurts her. But she’s not afraid, because you can’t break something that’s already broken.

He’s the popular jock everyone loves. Funny, gorgeous, and a flock of girls to choose from. But she’s the bullied and antisocial girl no one notices. She has no friends and she likes it that way—until he walks into her life. They shouldn’t be friends, they definitely shouldn’t be roommates, but that doesn’t stop him though. When friendship blooms into something more, she’s not sure if she should hold on or let go. She’s hiding things, secrets so dark, and deep. If he ever discovers them she is certain he won’t want her anymore. But as she falls harder and harder for him, she starts to wonder if maybe she judged him too soon. The popular jock and the girl that no one notices can’t possibly have a happily ever after it, can they?

For the last ten years, he never stayed with a woman longer than it took to screw them. But then she walked in. Back then she was nothing but a little girl, but now she’s all grown up, with curves, and a smile that reminds him of everything he’s spent the last ten years trying to forget. His attraction to her is instant, and wrong, on so many levels. He’ll do anything he can to stop it, even make her hate him if he has to. She’s here to study, and he’s the newly appointed dean. He shouldn’t be tempted by a student, especially one who’s ten years younger. And he definitely shouldn’t be developing feelings for her, but he is. Because as badly as he doesn’t want to admit it, Lily just might be the one person to make him fall in love again.

Oliver

Rivals since before birth, there has never been a time when my family hasn’t hated the Lockwoods and their daughter Harlow. But she made it personal, no longer just a rivalry between our parents.

Now she’s here, at Bayshore University, without her family’s protection. There’s nothing to stop us from getting our revenge on her, no one to tell us enough is enough.

And so my brothers and I have devised a plan. We’ll break her, have her falling at her knees for us in no time, and then we’ll send her back to her family with a warning: cross the Bishops again and you’ll pay.

Harlow

I’ve despised the smug, stupidly gorgeous Bishop brothers since I was a small child. Our families’ rivalry was one that started years before us, and one that I wanted to end. All I wanted was to enjoy college and move on with my life. But your past can never stay hidden, right?

When the Bishop brothers turn up at my school I have no place to run. I know they’ll make certain I pay for every single bad-mouthed remark I or my parents ever made about them. At Bayshore, I’m at their mercy, and they won’t stop until my heart is a bleeding mess.

Warning: contains explicit content including sexual assault

Harlow

Darkness surrounds me. Who am I? I don’t remember anything. Every memory of my life is gone. I wake in a hospital not knowing my own name. I don’t know these people who claim to be my parents, but they take care of me, they show me pictures … and introduce me to my fiancé?

I guess I was living a perfect life before my accident. I had it all, so I try to remember. I try to keep living my life, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is off. I’m noticing things that are not adding up. I’m catching people around me lying, and I know something is terribly wrong. It seems like my memory is not the only thing missing …

Sullivan

This is all my fault. I hurt her, I let this happen, and now she is in her parents’ clutches again. Even worse, she doesn’t remember anything. She doesn’t remember us.

I hate my parents for playing their part in this, and my brothers hate me for playing mine. I need to fix this. I need to make my brothers forgive me so we can save her. We need to make her remember what kind of people her parents really are before it’s too late.

Now the only question is, if she remembers … will she ever forgive me?

Harlow

I thought I knew the truth, but I didn’t. Secrets surround me. Every aspect of my life was a lie. The Bishop brothers are the only beacon of light in my dark world. They’re the only ones that can protect me, the only ones that truly care.

Finally, I have the leverage I need to escape my father’s clutches, to fight back. But when the truth comes out and the puzzle pieces of our pasts come together, I’m left wondering if there will ever be a future for the Bishop’s and me?

Banks

We couldn’t watch her marry a man she doesn’t love. We had to do something, even if it was drastic and completely reckless. Loving a Lockwood is forbidden, taboo, wrong in so many ways. But we don’t care about what our father or anyone else thinks. All we care about is Harlow.

She belongs with us, and we’ll do everything in our power to keep her safe, everything to free her from the hold her family has on her. To us she’s not just a Lockwood, and we’re not Bishops stuck in the same vicious cycle of hate and love. We’ll get our happily ever after no matter the price.

Three brothers set out for revenge, to avenge one man’s wrongdoings. He killed everyone they ever loved, stole their world, and nearly killed them in the process. So as the three brothers waited and watched, they took his most treasured possession—his one and only daughter. They knew she was innocent in the war, that she didn’t deserve rage or violence, but they didn’t care. Nothing would stop the brothers from getting justice for their family. Until something changed … and her cries of fear turned into cries of pleasure. Slowly, she brought them to their knees, making them fall for the enemy. But feelings aside, someone had to pay for the damage that had been done. Blood had been drawn, people had been killed, and Jessa, no matter how they felt about her, would be the one to suffer.

Warning: this audiobook contains explicit content, including non-consensual sexual themes that may not be suitable for all listeners.

The bet was simple. You draw a name from the hat. That’s the girl you have to seduce. The girl you have to make fall head over heels in love with you. It wasn’t hard for him to do, in fact, it was something he did all the time. He was known for breaking hearts. Sex was just that, sex. And it didn’t take him very long to get a woman on her back. And then he drew her name: Jules Peterson. His former best friend, first kiss, and first love. She shattered his heart into a million pieces three years ago. She left him right when he needed her most. She had entered his life once again, at almost the perfect time. She was a transfer, fresh meat, and she had just put a target on her back. It was his turn to make her pay and break her heart. Holding onto that hate, that anger, that f*cking heartbreak—it does something to you. It breaks you, and it broke and tainted him, just like he would do to Jules. She used to be his everything, but now she was nothing but a bet.

Warning: contains explicit content including sexual assault