Author K. A. Linde presents One Cruel Night, a prequel to the Cruel series.

Lila James is my best friend’s little sister, and I’ve always looked out for her. She's five years younger than me, and when she left for college, she was just a kid. But now she’s home for the summer—and she’s definitely not a kid anymore.

Devon didn’t have a game plan when she decided to leave St. Louis on a Chicago-bound train for the summer. Just a reason. One she couldn’t share with anyone. Not Hadley, her best friend from college, who lets her stay in the guest bedroom; no questions asked. Or Brennan, the bartender at the local restaurant they frequent, who she actively tries to avoid. Or Garrett, Hadley’s boyfriend, who befriends her when she has no one else to turn to.

When Liz Dougherty’s first reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper finds her covering a state senator’s impromptu press conference, she has no idea how drastically her life is about to change. Senator Brady Maxwell may look the part with his devastating good looks and impeccable style, but his politics rub Liz the wrong way, and she’s not going to let him off easy. Liz’s hardball question catches Brady off guard and shows her editor, Hayden Lane, that she’s headed places as journalist. But to Liz’s surprise, she’s also headed for a secret, high-stakes romance with Brady Maxwell.

Once I saw Marnie Long, a sassy, sultry, charismatic older woman in a bar, I couldn’t peel my eyes off her. I wanted her. At least, for one night. I’m way too busy with my career these days for anything more. As it turned out, after recently getting burned, Marnie was on the same page as me—all she wanted was one night of fun. I was happy to be of service. What I didn’t expect during our night together, however, was how deeply we connected. And how much I was dying to see her again the next morning.

He was my boyfriend’s best friend—and the bane of my existence. I wanted to hate Luke Taylor. I did hate him. I just never hated him enough. Now, a decade later, tragedy has brought us back to the place where it all happened—my best times and my worst. Our lives have changed, but that pull between us is just as strong as ever. Only this time, it’s more dangerous too.

Macon Davis. My best friend’s brother. My tormentor. My least favorite person. Pothead. Delinquent. A careless, directionless loser. That’s what I used to believe, but I didn’t really know him. And when I finally saw him, it was the best and worst thing to ever happen to me. We burned hot and fast. Passion. Anger. Love. Pain. We were reckless. Naive. We were doomed from the start. When I finally saw Macon Davis for who he was, we both went down in the flames.

Gavin King is not boyfriend material. And neither am I. That’s how our friendship works. We flirt and tease and joke, but at the end of the day, playing wingman is preferable to risking my heart.

I'm in love with two men. But I can only marry one. And today is my wedding day. The bridesmaids button my wedding dress. They titter excitedly as the music begins. My groom is waiting for me. I walk down the aisle prepared to say I do. All according to plan.

When my grandmother found out she didn’t have long to live, she embarked on a crazy trip—jumping out of airplanes and scuba diving with sharks. After I repeatedly voiced my concern, Gram blocked me—her own grandson—on text and social media, leaving me only her travel companion Eleanor’s number.

Everyone expected me to play hockey. I was good at it, but I was better at being a doctor. So I hung up the skates and joined Doctors Without Borders. But there is no place like home, so now I’m back. And instead of being on the ice, I’m behind the bench as the team physician. After years of playing cat and mouse, it’s time to admit it. She’s mine.

I shouldn’t have hooked up with my one-night stand...again. To be fair, I was having the worst day of my life. I was sure that nothing else could go wrong. Then in walks Jordan Wright. We have a heated history, and I’ve been avoiding him. Not least of all because he’s a hundred percent my type with those big brown eyes, a ripped body, and his blisteringly broody charm. I said I’d never go near him again. But he’s there for me when I need him. And well, old habits die hard.

They say there are three things you should do at least once in your life: Dance like nobody’s watching. Travel the world. And fall hopelessly in love. I aimed to do all three. I went to Italy to find myself. But he found me.

The average song is three and a half minutes long; those three and a half minutes could lead to a slow blink, a glimpse of the past, or catapult the soul into heart-shattering nostalgia. At the height of my career, I had the life I wanted, the life I’d always envisioned. I’d found my tempo, my rhythm. Then I received a phone call that left me off key. You see, my favorite songs had a way of playing simultaneously. I was in love with one man’s beats and another’s lyrics. But when it came to the soundtrack of a life, how could anyone choose a favorite song?

For almost two years now, Kiera’s boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she’s ever wanted: loving, tender, and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together - Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university - everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart. Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source - a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he’s purely a friend she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes....

Bryna feels his eyes on her. Hot, seductive, enticing. He's at least 10 years older than her 17 years, and he knows exactly what he's doing to her with that look. Walking away would be the smart thing to do...but she can't. Not that first night when he takes her home and claims her body. Not when he shows up in her life again with expensive gifts to win her trust. Not even when she's falling for him, and everything else is falling apart....

Enemies turn to lovers in this bad boy billionaire romance with a twist. I had a plan. Finish law school. Start a job. Stay away from men like Brandon Sterling. Cocky, overbearing, and richer than the Earth, he thinks the world belongs to him, and that includes me. Yeah, no. Think again. It doesn't matter that his blue eyes look straight into my soul, or that his touch melts my icy reserve. It doesn't even matter that past all that swagger, there's a beautiful, damaged man who has so much to offer beyond private planes and jewelry boxes. But I had a plan: no falling in love.

With Olympic tryouts on the horizon, the last thing 19-year-old Kinsley Bryant needs to add to her plate is Liam Wilder. He's a professional soccer player, America's favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper. A face that makes girls weep - check. Abs that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) - check. Enough confidence to shift the earth's gravitational pull - double check. Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits. Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear.

Donya Stewart's chest filled with the soft beating wings of butterflies when she first met Emmet Grayne's green eyes at the ripe age of five. Unable to identify the tugging pressure within her when in his presence, Donya moved through the first several years of her life addled by her feelings for the boy who was her best friend's brother and very much like her own sibling. But one cool autumn night in her mystifying teenage years, Emmet erases any ideas Donya has of him being anything like a sibling.

With a nickname like "Sin", it's no wonder they call me the bad boy of hockey. Opponents curse me. Fans scream my name - in the arena and in other, much more private places. Penalties or not, I'm not afraid to dish out a little pain. But pleasure? That's my weakness. And no one knows it better than my best friend, Cassie Desrosiers. I'd have to be blind not to notice her rocking body and teasing grin. So when she invites me along on a trip to Vegas, my curiosity isn't the only thing that's aroused.

Phoebe St. Claire has devoted herself to saving her family's hotel empire, but her best efforts have not been good enough. With her whole world in turmoil, the tenacious go-getter turns to the once love of her life. Far from innocent, Jeremy McQueen was the guy from the wrong side of the tracks who her parents would never have approved of. Their years apart have only made the sexy bad boy more irresistible than ever-and their reunion is explosive.

He was my older brother's best friend. He was never supposed to be mine. I thought we would get it out of our systems and move on. One of us did. One of us left. Now he's back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I'd turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me. He broke my heart last time. This time he'll obliterate it.

I don't remember a time I didn't love Crenshaw Bennett. I tried to deny it, but my feelings grew deeper. I thought he could never love me the way I love him. I was wrong - outrageously, deliriously, and beautifully wrong. One innocent kiss changes my life forever. Suddenly, Shaw is mine. Loyal, devoted, and the most loving man on this Earth. Together, we create an explosion of fiery passion, devotion, and chemistry I never knew was possible. All of my dreams are within reach, but I should have known it was too good to be true.

Filthy, sexy and full of surprises, Juliet is so hot she has me on fire. I’ve met my match and I can’t help going back for more. Then there’s Madison…she’s sweet, funny and awakens in me a fierce need to protect her. But I don’t do relationships. I don’t usually do the same woman twice. Juliet and Madison: Two very different women have got me completely hooked. Who will I choose? I know who I should choose, but I never said I was the hero of this story, or even the good guy. And besides, who wants to be good, when it feels so good being bad?

When college freshman Rowan Michaels meets gorgeous, up-and-coming rock star Adam Everest, she knows a player like him is the last thing she needs after her ex-boyfriend shattered her heart. But she can't stop thinking about the kiss they shared on his tour bus. On the first day of school, Rowan is stunned when Adam saunters into her French class. He's soon failing miserably, and, on a whim, she offers to tutor him. But Adam doesn't recognize her as a makeup-free, glasses-clad college student.

Claire Walters has worked for Jason Danvers as his assistant for three years, but he’s never appreciated her as a woman - until the day she jumps out of a cake at his friend’s bachelor party.... To support her ailing mother, Claire is forced to work a second job at a party-planning company. But when her handsome boss ends up with a front-row seat to the action, she’s mortified - and he’s intrigued. With Danvers International in the middle of an important merger, Jason asks Claire to accompany him on weekend business trips - and suddenly all her fantasies are coming true.

I think for sure it must've been a dream because there's no way a guy could look like that, touch me like that, and be so in tune with me on every known level and disappear, leaving me with nothing but a good story to tell my friends. When he walks into my bar three months later, everything I thought I knew and what we'd had disappears in the blink of an eye and the blinding light of the three-carat diamond on his fiancee's hand.

I fell in love with my brother's best friend the first time I laid eyes on him. He walked through the door, flashing me a crooked smile with his blue eyes shining bright. I knew in that instant he was the man of my dreams. As the years went on, my feelings grew stronger, waiting for the day he'd see me as more.

A one-night stand with a handsome stranger wasn't a problem - until he tries to steal her company. Ambitious, high-powered CEO Lauren Bradley is one press release away from catapulting her company to new heights. Rival CEO Antonio Forte is arrogant, controlling, and sexy. She should know, since Antonio's a one-night stand she thought she'd never see again. Antonio wants to take over more than her company, he wants her as part of the acquisition. Let the games begin....

Zoe Hart owns the coffee shop in one of the hottest upscale resorts in Florida, which is run by her childhood best friend, Dylan Jackson. Even though Dylan is a workaholic, he still finds time to enjoy the beautiful women who pass through his hotel - all of them except Zoe. She has been in love with Dylan for years without him noticing. But with her 30th birthday fast approaching, she realizes she can't keep pining away for a man who doesn't show the merest sign of romantic interest in her.

Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend Caleb Drake has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back.

Author K. A. Linde presents One Cruel Night, a prequel to the Cruel series.

Devon didn’t have a game plan when she decided to leave St. Louis on a Chicago-bound train for the summer. Just a reason. One she couldn’t share with anyone. Not Hadley, her best friend from college, who lets her stay in the guest bedroom; no questions asked. Or Brennan, the bartender at the local restaurant they frequent, who she actively tries to avoid. Or Garrett, Hadley’s boyfriend, who befriends her when she has no one else to turn to.

As one of the big names at his family's gym, Legends, MMA star Rory Kavanagh is used to being in the spotlight - until a gruesome leg injury knocks him out of the cage. Rory is left feeling sidelined in more ways than one, battling the inner demons that come with losing the one shot at his dreams. Then Clare walks into his life and gives him a new dream: winning her heart. There aren't many new faces in Woodlawn these days, but this tough, beautiful stranger makes Rory want to get his life back into fighting shape.

I'm in love with two men. But I can only marry one. And today is my wedding day. The bridesmaids button my wedding dress. They titter excitedly as the music begins. My groom is waiting for me. I walk down the aisle prepared to say I do. All according to plan.

Ashton is getting tired of being good, of impressing her parents and playing ideal girlfriend to Sawyer Vincent. Sawyer is perfect, a regular Prince Charming, but when he leaves town for the summer, it’s his cousin Beau who catches Ashton’s eye. Beau is the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, and even though he’s dangerous, Ashton is drawn to him. Beau loves his cousin like a brother, so the last thing he wants to do is make a move on Sawyer’s girl. Ashton is off-limits, absolutely. That’s why he does his best to keep his distance, even though he’s been in love with her forever.

Growing up in an idealistic home, Sparrow Fisher is sheltered and innocent. When she meets Ian Sterling, a musician who is rising in popularity, she instantly falls for his charm. The attraction is instant, but their relationship isn't so simple. At different places in their lives, Sparrow is off to college in New York, and Ian is traveling the country with the band. Over a five year span, Sparrow and Ian run into each other in unusual places. Each time, Sparrow has to decide if she can trust him, and if he feels the same for her.

Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine a life where fans would chase him, paparazzi would stalk him, and Hollywood studios would want to own him. While filming in Seaport, Rhode Island, Ryan ducks into a neighborhood bar for a quick escape from legions of screaming fans... and finds much more than he expected. Nursing a recent heartbreak, Taryn Mitchell believes men are best kept at a safe distance. But when Ryan Christensen unexpectedly bursts through the front door of her pub, she can’t help but be drawn in

When Liz Dougherty’s first reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper finds her covering a state senator’s impromptu press conference, she has no idea how drastically her life is about to change. Senator Brady Maxwell may look the part with his devastating good looks and impeccable style, but his politics rub Liz the wrong way, and she’s not going to let him off easy. Liz’s hardball question catches Brady off guard and shows her editor, Hayden Lane, that she’s headed places as journalist. But to Liz’s surprise, she’s also headed for a secret, high-stakes romance with Brady Maxwell.

Poppy Maysen carries a journal in her purse. Its pages were filled long ago by a man who craved adventure, lived life to the fullest, and never failed to make her laugh. The journal is his birthday list - one she vows to complete. She'll do the things he wanted to do most. Because maybe, just maybe, if she can finish his list, she can start to live again.