AM

Trust doesn’t come easily when you’ve been running for as long as I have, which is why moving in with a man I barely know is such a bad idea. Shepard Colson is all golden-boy charm and devastating good looks. But I know what it’s like to be taken in by easy smiles and the promise of forever—I have the scars to prove it.

One letter changed my life. One night with him might change my forever. Inheriting a beach house in a small town you've never heard of is less than ideal. Falling for the broody bar owner who hates me because he wants the house? Even worse. I came to Carrington Cove for one reason: to renovate the home I knew nothing about, sell it, and get back to my life in D.C. and my multi-million dollar business. There was nothing on the agenda about falling for Dallas, the sexy former Marine who chastises me about my manners and withholds how to fend off the murderous geese on my property.

The scowl should’ve been my first clue to stay far away from Anson Hunt. The sexy smirk and the fact that he’s my brother’s best friend? Reasons two and three. Not to mention, he’s the new contractor working on my house. He’s everything I’m not: grumpy, rude, and more than a little attached to his solitude. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to kill him with kindness; the man simply won’t crack. Until he sees me shatter. Because when my world comes crashing down around me, Anson is the one catching me as I fall.

It was time to celebrate. After all my hard work, I was graduating at the top of my class. Our family vacation was the perfect chance to relax. Until I saw him get on the plane and my plans went out the window. Tristan's everything I've always wanted but can never have. One night was all we had together. Now, I’m staring at the two pink lines wondering if I should even tell him.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in LA in the late '60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne.

I wasn’t looking for love. Putting down roots in this small, Southern town was the last thing on my mind. Ben changed all that with his kind nature and gentle ways. Somehow, he painted over the cracks on the canvas of my heart. Never did I feel more alive than with my arms around his waist on the back of his motorcycle and my hair blowing in the wind. But I was a nobody. To his family of wealth and privilege, I wasn’t worthy of him. And they were willing to do whatever it took to drive us apart.

When I was 18, I fell in love, but he didn’t love me back. The day he found out about my pregnancy, I found out about his fiancée. He warned if I ever told anyone, he would destroy me. So I kept the pregnancy a secret and disappeared.

Some days, he's my worst enemy. Other days he's my best friend. Every day, of course, Adam Maxwell is my cocky prick of a boss, and for the past five years, we've been the official power duo at Engelman Sports, closing multi-million dollar contracts like LA's most well-oiled machine. Honestly, we thrive on the daily love-hate. I call out his womanizing. He rags on my "needy" fiance. And we carry right on. Because through thick and thin, our work dynamic has always stayed rock-solid. Fine-tuned to the kind of perfection you couldn't break if you tried.

Show of hands, ladies - who has time for the one who got away? Not me. I’m a busy woman. It’s wedding season in Bliss River and my catering business is slammed. The last thing I need is a blast from the past, sweeping into my perfectly ordered life, talking sweet and acting even sweeter, making me think about kissing so often I start to wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Spoiler alert: There is.

I’m the type of girl who’s given up on fairy tales. So when Beck – the hot new busboy at work - starts flirting with me, I know better than to get my hopes up. Happily ever afters aren’t for the average. I learned that the hard way. But how can I be expected to resist a man who can quote Austen, loves making me laugh, and seems to be everything hot and good in this world? Only there’s so much more to him than that. Billionaire playboy? Check. Troubled soul? Check.