James

Six years ago, an unforeseen incident turned Rory Gallagher’s life upside down. Now, he lives in darkness, fearing the sun, fearing light altogether. Rory has developed Heliophobia. As a creature of the night, Rory has learned to adapt to his unusual lifestyle. He draws comfort from shadows and safety from the nighttime hour. Unfortunately, his mind is the darkest place of all, and the one place he can’t seem to escape. Finding help isn’t easy, but when Rory registers with a local, 24-hour counseling center, the man he meets surprises him in more ways than one

Hotel-room-trashing tantrums? Check. Daddy issues galore? Check. Glitz, glamour and general debauchery? I wrote the f**king book. I’m a textbook bad boy rockstar cliche, and I’ve never claimed to be anything else. Hell, I own it. At least, I did, until he came along: Mr. Self-Righteous who acts more like a priest than a drummer. Now he’s my bodyguard and the guy in charge of making sure I don’t OD before the tour ends. Oh, right. I also have a crazy stalker who’s been obsessed with me since I was a kid. So that’s fun.

This is Alabaster Penitentiary... Where they send you when the world thinks you're dead. And trust me, you'll wish you were. We're the stain on society. The freaks, the creeps, your favorite Netflix documentaries come to life. They lock us up and throw away the key, because we deserve it. But not me. I'm just a lowly bank robber. I don't belong here, surrounded by psychopaths and killers with no remorse... At least, I don't think I do.

Welcome to Sandover Prep, where the delinquents roam…and you can’t trust a soul. Finding out your mom is marrying some rich guy you’ve never met is enough to make any 18-year-old’s head spin. And for RJ Shaw, it gets worse: He’s being sent to Sandover Prep for senior year. If there’s one place a misfit hacker like RJ doesn’t belong, it’s an ivy-covered all-boys boarding school for rich delinquents.

Salome knows only one way to live - under Prophet David’s rule. In the commune she calls home, Salome knows nothing of life beyond her strict faith, nor of life beyond the Fence - the fence that cages her, keeps her trapped in an endless cycle of misery. A life she believes she is destined to always lead, until a horrific event sets her free. Fleeing the absolute safety of all she has ever known, Salome is thrust into the world outside, a frightening world full of uncertainty and sin; into the protective arms of a person she believed she would never see again.

I saw him in a cloud of smoke, like sin made flesh. Even bruised and battered, I’d never seen anything more beautiful.... Unless I hate myself, I should stay far away from Nero. He’s a heartbreaker. A mess-maker. A walking disaster. Here’s the problem: I’m in deep trouble with a dirty cop. The only person who can save me is Nero. We’re not friends. If he saw me drowning, he’d throw me. But he’s the only chance I’ve got.

I thought I was a normal kid once. Do normal kids have to beg door to door for food? Not sure. It wasn't always that bad, I guess - and then it was. Really f--king bad. I tried to protect my younger brother from the fallout. Lied to him about how bad things were. But it wasn't enough. And when the accident happened, he blamed me, like everyone else. I'm guilty of many things. He's right about that, at least. So damn guilty I'm sure everyone knows and will call me out on it. Except they don't. Nobody does, except my brother. Not even Kayla, sexy and sweet and coolest girl ever.

Ninth circle. Treachery. Also known as Tanner Caine. He is a temptation with cold, dark eyes. A man with a seductive smirk and a body built for pure sin. The linchpin of a group of wealthy bad boys known as the Inferno. A dark presence that repels as much as he attracts, Tanner is the poisoned apple I want to bite even when I know it will destroy me. Our story started in college, but I ran from him so far I believed I was safe.

They call me Zen-man, the cool-headed one, the protector. I keep an eye out for everyone, take them in, find them homes. They think I’m the calm and collected one, the self-assured one, the one who knows the way. They think they see me. They think they know me. But they’re all wrong, because inside I’m broken. I have a jagged hole in my soul I can’t fix, a festering blackness. I’ve been to the pits of hell, and nobody comes back unscathed. Life in foster care fucked me up, and now a thread is all that’s holding me together.

The bowtie is back! Dre was just a beautiful stranger when Preppy saved her the first time around. Now, he has to save her again, but she's no longer some stranger, she's family, and he has no idea who or what he's up against. What he does know is that putting his family back together is the only acceptable outcome.