Auntie M

According to the FBI, I was considered a serial murderer after three kills. What do they call me after fifty-two? They call me the Silencer. One final bullet would have been all it took to stop me from taking another soul, and I would have been doing Meridian City a service by pulling that trigger. An angel crying for help stopped me, and that night, I took three lives for her. Then three turned into eight. Then eight turned into twenty. Twenty turned into twenty-one. Twenty-one turned into twenty-three.

I might be a famous rock star, but inside Fork Lick, NY, my biggest fan is a Merino sheep named Baabara. I’ve got a hundred reasons why I’ve avoided my family since graduating high school and never looked back – but when my big sis Colleen makes me an uncle times two, I need to meet her little bacon bits. It’s supposed to be an easy breezy visit – rock the babies, quality time with the sheep, and a nice family argument or three.

It was always only a matter of time before my past would catch up with me. I knew it the second I lied on my job application, I was taking a huge risk. But anything was better than the crime family I was born into. I knew I needed help, and I set my cap on the king only to be turned down. It was inevitable that someone from my old life was going to find me at the Vipers' Den. I was ready for it, but I didn't expect him to step in. Luc Batiste, the Vipers' Council, was my savior. He wasn't loud and showy like the others. But it was always the quiet ones you had to watch out for.

It’s the holidays in Heart Falls, and local Fire Chief Brad Ford and his father have unexpected, but welcome, house guests. Hanna Lane’s daughter insists they’ve moved in with Santa. All Hanna knows is the man protecting them is hotter than the fires he fights, but she’s not sure if she can risk being burned again.