J. Casalegno

The people we love are thieves. They steal our hearts. They steal our breath. They steal our sanity. And we let them. Over and over and over again. They say you never forget your first love. Mine was a homeless musician who wandered straight into my soul. He was my first everything. And fourteen years later, I still can't get him out of my head. He broke all my rules. He also broke my heart. I watched him climb to stardom, cheering him on from afar. But I was never a fan; just a girl in love.

Saving lives is the end goal. It's a responsibility I live with every day, the reason I wear the badge. Built on a brotherhood that runs deeper than blood, this way of life has become my very existence.... Until Liberty. I thought I was saving her. I never expected her to be the one saving me.

I'm down to my last dollar. I live day-to-day in a world that doesn't care. Despite my bad luck, I'm a fighter. I never give up. I never stop trying. Ryan Parker's wealth and generosity set him apart from anyone I know. Yet, I don't trust him. It's nothing personal. I trust no one. But when my bad luck takes a turn for the worse, one person shows up. Ryan Parker. I do not understand why he bothered because the guy has enough of his own issues to deal with. But I don't have a choice. I need him. It's a matter of survival. His friendship changed everything. It changed me.

He’s always been off limits because I know a relationship with him could never work. Like, ever. He’s too perfect, too sweet, too good-looking. Taking what we have a step further has the potential to ruin everything, and his friendship is too important to me. So I keep it friendly, always with my feelings locked up tight. We talk. We date other people. Until the beginning of senior year, one night at a party. When lines are blurred and eventually crossed. It was the best night of my life. A night I will never forget. Or regret. It’s all I can think about. He’s all I can think about.

The last thing star tight-end Gray Grayson wants to do is drive his agent's daughter's bubblegum pink car. But he needs the wheels, and she's studying abroad. Something he explains when she sends him an irate text to let him know exactly how much pain she'll put him in if he crashes her beloved ride. Before he knows it, Ivy Mackenzie has become his best texting bud. But then Ivy comes home, and everything goes haywire. Because the only thing Gray can think of is being with Ivy.

Anna Jones just wants to finish college and figure out her life. Falling for star quarterback Drew Baylor is certainly not on her to do list. Confident and charming, he lives in the limelight and is way too gorgeous for his own good. If only she could ignore his heated stares and stop thinking about doing hot and dirty things with him. Easy, right? Too bad he's committed to making her break every rule.

He's a troubled young actor, Hollywood's newest heartthrob, struggling with fame as the star of the latest superhero franchise. Through scandal after scandal, addiction on top of addiction, a flurry of paparazzi hunt him as he fights to conquer his demons. She's a single mother, assistant manager at a grocery store, existing in monotony with her five-year-old daughter. Every day when she goes to work, lurid tabloids surround her, the face of a notorious bad boy haunting her from their covers.

JARED - If I had a dollar for every time Banner Morales made my heart skip a beat...The heart everyone assumes is frozen over. Her anger is...arousing. Every glare from those fire-spitting eyes, every time she grits her teeth, gets me...well, you know. If I had a dollar for every time she's put me in my place, I'd be an even richer man. I'm a successful sports agent because I assume "no" means you'll think about it. I'm sure what you meant to say is, "Coming right up." They say even rich men don't always get what they want, but those men don't know how to play the game.

"Cody Davis is gonna make a sinner out of me." Yes, I know exactly who he is. The wounded soldier at the end of Willow Street. Intimidating. Devastatingly handsome. Muscular body chiseled from stone. Deep dark eyes that dare you to come near. Attitude for days. And I just became his caregiver. Everyone warned me to stay away from him - including my father, the respected minister of our small town of Spruce. But clearly, I'm too stubborn to heed good advice, especially when Cody Davis is as frustratingly attractive - and persistent - as they come.

She's always been his safe place to land. Jensen has shared a special bond with Tuck for as long as she can remember, their friendship a language that never needed words. But as life threw her one curveball after another, that secret language turned to stony silence. He's always been her protector. Tuck has looked out for Jensen since the day she was born. As his best friend's little sister, he's tried to keep her firmly in the family category. But she's always been more.