He arrives all dressed in black. Diamond cufflinks. A watch on his tanned wrist that cost more than we would ever see in a lifetime of work. He carries a single red rose. It turns out he is my new guardian. I should have known from the very start that he had more in common with the thorns than the rose. Now I know the truth: I’m a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naïve. Now it's too late to save myself from his clutches.

What's worse than having Rider Kingston, the star quarterback, give you the big brushoff because he doesn't want to get serious? You'd probably think living across the street from him where you get a firsthand view of his hookups, right? That's what I thought. Until someone drops off a baby with a note pinned to her blanket that says one of those jocks - either Rider or one of his roommates - is the father. The problem? Baby mama doesn't mention which of these numbskulls is the sperm donor. I wouldn't care about their paternity problems - except my brother lives there too.

It was the biggest day of my life. I know most people say that about something joyous--a graduation, a wedding ceremony, the birth of their first child. My situation was a little different. Sure, it was my 18th birthday, but it was also the day that I was sold. Sold to a man with hair like a crown of gold and eyes blacker than the darkest pits of Hell.

Years ago, I fell in love with an angel. Only problem: her brother was in a rival MC. My prez gave me an ultimatum: her or my club. Fool that I was, I chose the club. Years later, I run into her when she moves back to town. She still hurts from the way I treated her back then. But this time, I'm not giving her up. Her brother's club and mine are still bitter enemies. And claiming Kat threatens to throw us into full-on war. But none of that matters. I'm going to win her back. This time, Kat is mine. No matter the cost.

I'm not a worldly woman. I'm not cultured, well-traveled, or well educated. I'm just a housewife. A mother. I'm the woman with the handsome husband, beautiful daughter, the large house. If you saw it from the outside, you'd probably think I have the perfect life. You would most definitely be wrong. But I don't blame you. We all see what we want to see, turning a blind eye to what others want to stay hidden. Especially when it comes to love. They say love is blind. But I'm more apt to say it's wretched. Love is what made me stay. But love is also what saved me.

In the morning, she was gone and had taken my solace with her. I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania. When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget. And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen. Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right.

I was loved by two men—one was my husband and the other was his best friend. I was only in love with one. Then he forgot I existed. Hudson Mackay was the only man I ever wanted. The man I married. The man who promised to love me "'til death do us part." I never thought I'd get the chance to see him again, to ask how he could betray me. Until one day, I discover he's alive. Except, he has no idea who I am. I never truly knew my husband. And now, he doesn't know me.

I was a dead king's sacrificial bride, until his murderer claimed me as his. Zabriel invaded my country of Maledin on the back of a monstrous, fire-breathing dragon and took me prisoner. The lethal Zabriel towers over me in steel plate armor, and he could easily crush the life out of me-but the Flame King isn't interested in harming me. Instead, he destroys everyone who has hurt me in a storm of fire and vengeance.

It was a hot summer day when I met him on the construction site next to my parents' house. Under the sweat and dirt, Manning Sutter was as handsome as the sun was bright. He was older, darker, experienced. I wore a smiley-face t-shirt and had never even been kissed. I was too young, he said. I would wait. But I'd learn that no matter what you achieve in life, it means nothing if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, that didn't matter. My older sister saw him next.

I finally had my baby girl back home, but she came with a little baggage in the shape of her best friend. I could deal with that for some more time with my daughter. The only problem is Bay's not exactly what I'd expected. I'd been through hell and back with my ex, but even that didn't compare to the turmoil that girl causes me. My stomach aches every time she's in the room with me, and we're drawn like magnets, but she can never be anything to me. Bay is young, vibrant, beautiful, and totally off-limits.

Jilted by my fiancé. A disappointment to my family. Haunted by my childhood traumas. I felt so much all my life that I resolved to feeling nothing at all. Until I met my match. As the most infamous mafioso of the 21st century, Dante Salvatore was madly passionate, unequivocally bad, and entirely too dangerous to know. He was everything I abhorred, yet I found myself representing him in the biggest criminal trial of the decade. I was so focused on winning and achieving the success I deserved that I didn't notice the gorgeous, black-eyed man's effect on me until it was too late.

I entered an arranged marriage so my sister, Ciara, could marry for love. Three years later, I'm a widow, and my father arranges for Ciara to marry Dominik Varga. The assassin slash arms dealer is as dangerous as he's quiet, which is very unnerving. Needless to say, I'm not happy at all. A deal was a deal, and I kept my end of it, so there's no way on God's green earth I'll just sit back and smile like a good little girl. I'll fight for Ciara's freedom so she won't have to face the hell I was forced to endure. But Dominik doesn't make things easy for me.

I think I always knew I was going to die young. Like I had this… silent, invisible clock ticking down to my final moments plastered above my head. Maybe that’s why I was so reckless, crazy. Why I sought after adventure. Why nothing scared me… Except, there was always this… feeling I couldn’t shake that something was in the darkest parts of every corner, under every bed, closet, or room, like a ghost watching me. Waiting to take me. My own, personal reaper. But it was always only during a lightning storm that I could see the outline of my reaper. No scythe.

It’s complicated. Two years ago, he broke my heart when he left me to do his father’s bidding. After months of crying, I finally accepted he was gone and wasn’t going to look back. That maybe he’d never loved me at all. I never wanted to see Luca again. Now, a cruel twist of fate has signed me over to him in a heartless deal. I’m his. He thinks he did me a favor, but I feel like I’ve been given a death sentence. He doesn't want to get married because he still loves me. No, he did it for money. More power.

After our rival gives up the throne as my dying wish, my men trust him to protect me from any danger that may come my way. He keeps me safe, somehow understanding the darkness that lurks inside of me. He knows it cannot be caged, and he allows me the ability to set it free when we’re alone.