Margaret Acoff

Agapi’s meditations feel like practical wisdom passed down for generations. In this short piece, she helps you focus on your breath and anchor yourself with a sense of gratitude. The ultimate goal of this meditation is to create a sense of space between you and your stress, the perfect way to wind down after a long day and welcome a night of deep, restorative sleep.

I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day. Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak. We met on the verge of ending our lives. Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond. We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended. Same time. One roof. Two restless souls. We kept our promise for three years.

Bruised and bloodied on Boston's mean streets, Chris O'Brien is reeling from the loss of his childhood best friend. But after barely escaping a hit placed on his head, Chris is desperate to live. A chance encounter leads him to the perfect safe haven - the home of a girl from his childhood, Molly Lachlan. Before he has fully considered what it would mean to involve her in his mess, he lets her take him home.

Cutler Ryder was everything I wasn’t. He was the hockey star. I was an outcast. He was best friends with my stepbrother, that same stepbrother who hated me. His two parents loved him. My mom was a junkie. My dad barely knew me. Years passed. I got my life together. Cut went onto NHL stardom. Then there was a text.

Rafe Buchanan - 6'3". Hard muscle. Marine MP. My brother's best friend. And the guy who took my innocence five years ago! Also the guy who gave me the most precious gift ever - my daughter (well, our daughter I should be saying). Did I tell you he kinda left me, asking me to move on? So, that's what I did. I moved on to study further, to raise my child and to work with the Marines. Everything is going great until...Rafe shows up at my clinic. He's seeking a cure for PTSD, and I'm his counselor. It's totally f*ck*d up, right?

He is powerful, older, and my boss, a lethal combination. Job satisfaction has taken on a whole new meaning. When I lied on my resume, I didn’t expect it to matter. I mean any child would love me; I was born to be a nanny. I applied for a position working for a woman, or so I thought. But Julian Masters is definitely all man...the kind you dream of licking chocolate from. The first day was bad. The kids were the spawn of the devil and I spied through a window and caught him doing something obscene...and equally fascinating.

The moment Francesca and Ian met, the attraction was mutual, an exquisitely physical charge that ignited between them. To Ian, she was the kind of woman he couldn't resist. She was a true innocent. To Francesca, he was the kind of man she feared and desired - dark, extreme, commanding, and forbidden. What happened between them couldn't be ignored - only indulged, evolving into an inescapable bond.

She gave me her innocence, and I gave her a baby. As a billionaire, I’m used to getting what I want. And that night, I wanted her. It was only supposed to be a one-night stand. No names, no numbers, only searing passion and lust. I took her innocence, but I gave her something in return. My heart and my child. Now I have no way to find her. Will I get my family, or is one night my forever?

Coke Solomon has lived a full life. He’s a retired army drill sergeant, so he is more than used to getting his way. And if he can’t have it his way? Well, let’s just say that’s never happened before... At least not until Cora Maldonado walks into his life, demanding he fall in line, or she’ll find a way to make his life hell. It doesn’t matter that she’s younger than him, and has a father that would rather see him dead than have his baby girl anywhere near him. Nor does it matter that his ex-wife is highly offended that she’s been replaced with a much younger woman.

Tegan Raccini's heart has been hardened her parent's divorce, and by the recent loss of her bad-boy biker lover to a lifelong prison sentence. She isn't bitter; in fact, she's rather upbeat. But, she simply doesn't trust men. When she causes an accident with a motorcycle on the freeway, she's immediately attracted to the handsome biker, but knows she can't stand another heartbreak. Even though she's unemployed, she agrees to pay for the damages, hoping to never see him again.