One week. No future. No past. No more. Alexandria Collins has one week to live carefree - no ghosts of her past or pressures of her future haunting her. Reinventing herself as "Charli", she is knocked off her feet by a sexy, mysterious man who brings her pleasure like she never imagined. With her heart at stake, she forgets that decisions made in the dark of night reappear in the bright light of day.

Within the underbelly of one of America’s largest cities lives a world where a man’s word is either his most valuable tool or his most respected weapon. When my father ruled that world and that city, he promised me someone who would one day make my reign complete. Since that day long ago, Araneae McCrie has been mine. She just didn’t know. My father is now gone. The city and the underbelly are now mine. The time has come for me to collect who was promised to me, to shred her life of secrets and make her who she’s always been - mine.

Julia and Van found one another in a shaken snow globe. Stranded in a blizzard, they embraced being two individuals with no last names. The plan was to walk away from each other with no regrets - until that plan changed. Julia’s life was delivered a staggering blow the day she discovered her fiancé’s infidelity. The night she met a handsome stranger, one who showed her the possibility of a life filled with more than the fulfillment of expectations, she took a chance.

On the surface, the world glitters with all things only money can buy. My thoughts should be on the danger lurking beneath the surface. The money and power come from places and dealings the world pretends don't exist. I'm here at this debutante ball as a representative of the new Sparrow underworld. The clock is ticking as alliances are formed and enemies eliminated. There isn't time to be distracted, and yet I catch a glimpse of the stunning woman across the room.

Duncan Willis is sexy and confident, the kind of man every woman notices. You know, the one with the to-die-for body. And then there's the way his designer suits drape over his broad shoulders and big...well, we've all heard the rumors, the ones that say he's up for any challenge. Men like him don't notice women like me, and they don't date them. Until that one time that I catch him in a compromising position when I'm also in need of a last-minute date for a wedding...and then it's not a real one, simply a plus-one. It's blackmail.

Sara Adams awakes blind, unable to remember the most basic details of her life, but her darkness seems a blessing when she discovers the terrors of The Light. Stella Montgomery investigates the news from the mean streets of Detroit, where she's noticed a disturbing trend: Young women are vanishing. When her best friend disappears, Stella digs for answers - despite warnings from her police detective boyfriend - following a twisted trail that leads her through the city's most dangerous and forsaken precincts.

With danger lurking around every corner and my life turned upside down, I struggle with who to believe and who to trust. Can my heart convince my mind that what was bound long ago is where I’ll find love, safety, and security? Or are the memories simply an illusion?

Everything changed the night our eyes met across the room. His green gaze upon me prickled my skin with uncustomary warmth while my peek beneath his cuff - of a riot of color on his wrist - sparked my insatiable curiosity. Tall and mysterious, Kader was a man whose secrets I longed to know. Little did I realize that the night we met was only the beginning - the beginning to the end of the existence I knew. What will happen as his assignment becomes our obsession?

The night my sister died, a piece of me died with her. So I made a vow to enroll at Spine Ridge University just like her, find the person responsible… and make them pay. Until I meet three sick boys of the Skull & Serpent Society: Felix, Dylan, Alistair. Rude, heartless, vicious guys who are obsessed with making me regret I ever stepped foot on campus. They make me a deal: My body in exchange for a glimpse at their violence.

To the world, I no longer exist. The life I live occurs outside the third dimension - a memory, a ghost, the boogeyman, or perhaps simply a figment of the imagination. When I’m passed on the street, there is no connection. No eye contact. I’m the one whose presence leaves a cold chill of uncertainty, quickly erased by minds who don’t want to acknowledge that men like me exist. On the dark web, I’m known as Kader, and for the right price, I will do what others can’t or won’t.

I never wanted a wife. No one is safe with me. No one is good enough for my daughter. But if I want to rule over the wealthiest crime family in New York City, I only have two weeks to find one. When Elsie broke into my home, I saw an opportunity, so I forced her into a marriage she didn't want. No one crosses me, not even someone as beautiful as Elsie. She may fight me with that smart mouth, but she will obey me–or return to the hell she came from.

Once upon a time, I was an 18-year-old psychology student. Now, I'm a man's property. Stolen and sold, I've been decorated in bruises since the day my world changed two years ago. I suffer in silence, I crave freedom, but I never break. I can't. Until he arrives. Elder Prest, the only man to look at me and see me. The only man more ruthless than my owner. He wants me for reasons I don't understand. He claims me for one night then leaves and never looks back. Until he returns. And life becomes much more complicated.

He could have been my hero. He saved my life that night, a beautiful dark angel slicing through my fear and the water, dragging me from its deadly clutches. He should have been my hero. I thought maybe he was.

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors. More than 20 years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.

One magical summer, Megan Hallberg met - and loved - Prince Stefano Barrali. But his royal duties took him home, and when she discovered she carried his child, she also discovered he was engaged...to a beautiful, worldly aristocrat.

When Debra Prentice discovers she's pregnant, she knows two things are true: that she can't wait to become a mother...and that she can never reveal the father's identity to anyone. Because not only is Trey Winston her boss' son, he's also got his eye on the North Carolina senator's seat - and he doesn't need a scandal. But when Debra must work with Trey in organizing his fund-raising dinner, the sparks from their one night of passion still sizzle.

Maggie O'Shea knows that because of her dark past, there's no place for love in her life. She owns a successful store in Philadelphia, where she uses her special gifts to help the people she meets. Though this doesn't fulfill her, she is content. Most of the time.

High profile lawyer Jordan Wainwright guards his secrets closely, especially his adoption by the powerful Wainwright family. Attorney Aziza Fleming has been burned before, first by a bad marriage and then by a harassment case that nearly destroyed her career. Sophisticated and irresistibly sexy, Jordan could be everything she wants. But he'll have to choose between keeping a decades-old secret and embracing their newly-found passion...

Emmie Wilcox was only six when her sister, Roxy, was thrown out of their New York City apartment. Their stern father's military style left no room for rebellion, and Roxy was continually defiant and rebellious. Emmie is obedient, respectful. Two sisters, total opposites - yet Emmie is secretly obsessed with the mystery and imposed silence surrounding Roxy. She wants excitement, and being a good girl all the time is harder than it seems. Finally, Emmie goes behind her father's back to track down and spy on the sister she can't help but be fascinated with.

Twenty years ago Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life's disappointments made them drift apart. It's been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she's in desperate need of their support.

In this first ever short story collection, New York Times bestselling author Francis Ray takes us on five steamy, sexy adventures. From a timid, dowdy duckling who turns into a confident, sexy swan which sends her into the arms of a handsome artist; to a bridesmaid’s explosive encounter with the best man; to an unproven actress who is being wooed to the stage by a handsome Broadway director.

Still reeling from her husband’s untimely death, Deborah Robinson needs a fresh start. So she decides to pack up her family and return to her grandmother’s ancestral home on Cavanaugh Island. The charming town of Sanctuary Cove holds happy memories for Deborah, and, after she spies a gorgeous stranger in the local bakery, it promises the possibility for a bright future. Dr. Asa Monroe is at a crossroads. Ever since the loss of his family, he has been traveling from one town to another. When he meets Deborah, the beautiful bookstore owner with the sunny smile, Asa believes he has finally found a reason to stay in one place.

Chloe Parker has the world at her feet. Her career in magazine publishing is flourishing and she's about to marry the man of her dreams, billionaire philanthropist Miles Durant. But one month before her wedding, she receives a countdown card. No sender. No return address. No message. Only a piece of lace stained with blood. As the wedding gets closer, the cards keep coming. Every day, without fail. It seems, while she's counting down to the happiest day of her life, someone is doing a countdown of their own.

Seventeen-year-old Lorelei Patio is the adopted daughter of 200-year-old vampire Sergio Patio. She never realized why her family has had to move so often or why she is not permitted to get too friendly with other young people. In fact, except for one shocking moment that seemed more like a dream, Lorelei never fully realized who and what her father was nor what her sisters were brought up to do for him. But one day, that all changed.

When Kate Watts opens a food pantry in Minneapolis, she never dreamed it would be this difficult. Facing the prospect of turning hungry people away, she is grateful for the anonymous donations that begin appearing. Determined to identify and thank her secret benefactor, she launches a plan and catches Ian in the act.

Though Diane Randall’s jewelry business is a great success, her marriage is not, and she finds herself growing lonely as her children near adulthood. Meanwhile, her eighteen-year-old daughter Julia is falling dangerously in love, and Diane’s mother, Jean, is relishing her newfound freedom as a single woman in Europe. Distracted by their individual concerns, the three women are ill-prepared for the crisis that suddenly appears on Diane’s doorstep in the form of a handsome FBI agent asking about an explosive secret that’s laid buried for decades.

Catherine Eliot was born to a world of privilege and prestige, with a family whose last name and vast fortune provide her with access to almost anything she could wish for. But what Catherine craves most is independence. So while her friends settle into comfortable lives financed by doting parents and indulgent husbands, she moves to New York City, determined to make it on her own. Taking a demanding job in a bustling flower shop, she works hard and learns the trade until, with courage and determination, she’s able to open Blooms, an exclusive floral boutique on the Upper East Side.

Three years ago Mary Jo Summerhill fell completely and utterly in love with Evan Dryden. But she was a kindergarten teacher, and he was a Boston blue blood with political ambitions. His family said she wasn't the "right kind of wife" for Evan. Mary Jo agreed - she didn't belong in his world. So she lied and broke his heart.

“Live in the moment with me.” That’s what he asked Dahlia to do, and she did, because after a near-death experience, her motto was to live life to the fullest. Then it all came to an abrupt end. She didn’t anticipate he wouldn’t trust her. She didn’t anticipate she couldn’t trust him. He wants his son. Three years later, Prince Kofi returns and he’s not the same man. He’s bitter and angry and knows he has a son. He’ll do whatever it takes to bring his heir back to Zamibia, even if it means marrying the woman he believes betrayed him.

One week. No future. No past. No more. Alexandria Collins has one week to live carefree - no ghosts of her past or pressures of her future haunting her. Reinventing herself as "Charli", she is knocked off her feet by a sexy, mysterious man who brings her pleasure like she never imagined. With her heart at stake, she forgets that decisions made in the dark of night reappear in the bright light of day.

Years ago, a fight for supremacy took place between the two most powerful families in New Orleans. The battle was set in the metaphoric octagon, with the spotlight blazing. The city sat in paralyzed fear, awaiting word of a victor. Abraham Rames versus Isaiah Boudreau. One man would emerge victorious and rule the city of sin. Neither understood that the devil was in the details. Neither lived to see the rising sun. I’m Everett Rames, son of Abraham, and I am the devil. I took my rightful place as king of New Orleans.

Within the underbelly of one of America’s largest cities lives a world where a man’s word is either his most valuable tool or his most respected weapon. When my father ruled that world and that city, he promised me someone who would one day make my reign complete. Since that day long ago, Araneae McCrie has been mine. She just didn’t know. My father is now gone. The city and the underbelly are now mine. The time has come for me to collect who was promised to me, to shred her life of secrets and make her who she’s always been - mine.

Capo to the Luciano Famiglia was my birthright. The cruelty needed to succeed in this life has been beaten into me since I was a young boy. My father, Vincent Luciano, taught by example and with the slap of his hand. My independent streak took me down paths my father would never have gone. With our enemies gaining strength, it is my idea to attempt an alliance with an unlikely bedfellow. The Roríguez Cartel and the Luciano Famiglia are improbable partners, yet even Vincent Luciano can’t deny the possible benefits. The only way to solidify the deal is for me to marry Catalina Ruiz.

Damien Sinclair is a force of nature, the beauty of a sunset over the ocean while capable of devastating hurricane-strength winds. At one time, he’d held my heart in his hands. That was until the day I walked away. I didn’t leave him because I didn’t love him. It was that loving him was too much, an all-encompassing affair. In his presence, I failed to exist.

I’ve made my mark and proven my loyalty to a man, a city, and a way of life. That loyalty has provided me with all the spoils of success. For the longest time, that hasn’t included a woman at my side. There is only one beauty that can bring my untapped desire to life. I shouldn’t have opened the door. Cracking open the stone and striking the flint is my doing. What follows is hers. With something so intense, will this spark lead to a blazing inferno? Will we make it out of the ashes before everything I hold dear is ravaged?

Nila Weaver's family is indebted. Being the first born daughter, her life is forfeit to the first born son of the Hawks to pay for sins of ancestors' past. The dark ages might have come and gone, but debts never leave. She has no choice in the matter. She is no longer free. Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his 29th birthday. Her life is his until she's paid off a debt that's centuries old. He can do what he likes with her - nothing is out of bounds - she has to obey.

I'm starting to want them both, not just my protector... the villain as well. After an eviction notice and one too many apple martinis, I wake, stripped bare and alone in a cell. No, wait, not alone. My evil garbage fire ex, Andrew, who suggested he'd let me stay with him "for a price" is here, too. He's the whole reason I lost my job. My head is throbbing, my vision fuzzy.

Julia and Van found one another in a shaken snow globe. Stranded in a blizzard, they embraced being two individuals with no last names. The plan was to walk away from each other with no regrets - until that plan changed. Julia’s life was delivered a staggering blow the day she discovered her fiancé’s infidelity. The night she met a handsome stranger, one who showed her the possibility of a life filled with more than the fulfillment of expectations, she took a chance.

Livia wants to get married. She's tired of men stringing her along into being their forever girlfriend, so she decides to build a rotating harem and ruthlessly eliminate any man, who fails to give her what she needs. But when the three men in her current dating rotation all know each other, and decide they're all taking her, will she be played once again?