Abby Crisp

Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

Kieran Murphy is an Irish mob boss and one of the most powerful men in Boston. When he walks me home, people step aside out of respect for him. He could have any woman he wants. So why does he have eyes only for me? Is it how he has to lift my chin with his fingers to keep my eyes level with his when he scolds me and how I cover my bottom instinctively when he tells me that I've earned a spanking? Or is it how I quiver at the thought of everything I'm too ashamed to beg him to do to me? Maybe it's all of those, but I'm pretty sure there's something else too.

Growing up, I was the problem child teachers didn't know what to do with. The troubled teen whose parents wished was never born. The system's made of cracks, and I fell through each and every one, all in a futile effort to protect the family legacy. They tried to fix me. Doctors… therapists… teachers… pastors... And they failed. Epically. Now, eighteen, and fresh out of Hell, I'm thrown into the last place I ever expected. Rehab. Enter Nolan Dresden. Newly divorced. A recovering alcoholic. Almost double my age.

My purpose in life has always been to protect my little brother. And the only way to do that is to do what my dirtbag of a father says—easier said than done. My plan is to save enough money to grab our backpacks and leave these miserable days behind us. There's no harm in having a little fun in the meantime though, is there? And the growling beast who flattens his opponents with a single punch looks like a perfectly hot diversion to me.

Deranged and violent. Gorgeous but frightening. I’m a businessman, so when one of my debtors offers me his fiancé in exchange for a debt settled, I figure why not? The woman will be a quick sell. Repayment comes in the form of a beautiful but haunted young woman. The light in her tempts the darkness inside of me. Teases it, tortures it. I want to hurt her. I want to break her. I want to keep her. Luckily for Celia, she fails to see that there is no goodness in me.

I was raised in a world where money and power are at your fingertips. My father is a lord, a very respected member of a secret society that knows no bounds. When tragedy struck my family, we discovered we weren’t untouchable. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any worse, I was shown what hell is really like. Then he came and saved me. The devil disguised as my personal hero. But of course, nothing is for free. Not when a soul is up for grabs.

Kyran Harbor is everything I'm not. Rich. Popular. A superstar football player who's awfully broody for someone who has it all. Basically, he's a preppy jock who hates me. Oh, and he's also my stepbrother. That's right. We're stuck together, sharing a school, a house, a bathroom. Honestly I wouldn't care if he wasn't such an uptight control freak who messes with me just because we're different. I had every intention of avoiding him when we got to college. Until abrupt misfortune forces us both into a compromising position.

I’ve never been great at letting people in. Life is easier if I bury my feelings. People tend to let you down, which is only proven when my best friend, Rex, accidentally kills a man and lets me take the fall. When I get out of prison, the last thing I want is to go back to Clayton, Oregon, but it’s where my grandma lives, the only person who’s always had my back. My plan is to stay out of trouble, steer clear of my old crew, save up, and the second we can, leave town for good.

When I—along with my best friend and his big purple monster boyfriend—come across a fortress-like raider camp while journeying across the monster-infested Wastes, we stop to deliver a message. Somehow, that simple pit stop turns into a seemingly impossible quest to get this camp's missing leader out of the prison where he's being held and forced to fight monsters and other humans. I know exactly where it is because I've been there. Problem is, I'm making this journey with the prickliest and most arrogant guy I've ever met, who seems to hate me on sight. Oh, and he's also half-monster.

Captain Jamie Callahan got a new lease on life when he survived a chemical attack that turned him into a metahuman. Now he leads Alpha Team, the Metahuman Defense Force’s top strike group, a position that puts him at odds with his elite political family. Determined to do his duty, Jamie’s commitment to his team creates a loneliness that is increasingly difficult to ignore. Staff Sergeant Kyle Brannigan is a sniper with secrets. Seconded to Alpha Team, he finds himself torn between his desire for Jamie and his desperate need to fly under the radar. But Jamie is everything Kyle wants.