Journey through the dark, winding tributaries of love in this unforgettable live stage show, written and performed by Joe Arden. A unique perspective on the roots of love explored through original reflections and lyrical passages from literature, this sold-out Baltimore event captivates with raw energy and emotional depth. Experience the haunting beauty of Frankenstein and Edgar Allan Poe alongside contemporary romance, culminating in a never-before-published short story by Joe himself.

When my father passed away, I assumed my grieving would be as simple as closing a book and starting another. Only he had other plans. Leaving me his beloved tattoo shop, I’m stuck to figure out what exactly to do with it, all while being constantly reminded of him.

Agent Bradly "Wolfe" Tucker has one case he cannot solve: six murdered women and a cold trail leading nowhere. When bodies with an eerily similar MO show up in Philadelphia, he volunteers to assist with the case. He figures he will spend a few days in Philly, hand the case off, and head back to his life in Seattle. But everything changes when he stops at a local bar, looks across the room, and sees her. Agent Leda Bailey has had a bad week. She has three dead women and no trail to follow. The clues don't add up, and nothing makes sense.

Shea-Lynne O’Rourke is no innocent princess. But she is off-limits. Older. Strong-Willed. Mouthy AF. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to possess this feisty Irish Rose and make the only woman I can’t have mine. She's my last bodyguard gig before I take my place in Quinlan Empire. I'm riddled with scars and past sins, too filthy for an angel. Who surprises me with a savage taste for the forbidden.

I’m a survivor. A fighter down to my blood. I need the release that comes when I step in that octagon, I crave it. I spent too long being beat down and broken in every sense of the word, and I almost didn’t make it. Fighting saved me though, and then I saved myself. When I am offered a full ride scholarship to a college in the middle of nowhere Alabama over 2000 miles away, I grab the chance with both hands and run like hell.

My name is Madelaine Moneta and I am a survivor. I fought my way up from the streets of Chicago to claim a spot at one of the top-tier criminal defense practices in the city, but when the looming shadow of the local mob threatens to engulf the firm, I make a life-altering decision. Carrying my mother’s ashes, I escape to Ireland, intent on starting anew in my mother’s homeland.

Unhinged. Charming. Dangerous. The brother of the man I’m prosecuting and now my stalker. I didn’t know Eoghan O’Rourke was a lawyer for the Irish Mob when I tried to put his brother in jail. And I shouldn’t have gotten drunk and yelled at him. I certainly shouldn’t have gone home with him. But I needed to get rid of my V-Card and a gorgeous mafia man who would never fall for a curvy womanlike me is the perfect one and done. Boy, was I wrong. Eoghan turns obsessed, jealous, and unhinged. I’m a prosecutor. He’s a criminal. We have nothing in common.

Stone was my best friend. My protector. My everything. Until he wasn’t. Kids like us didn’t have the best life, riddled with trauma, bounced around in a system that didn’t want us and couldn’t handle us. In our darkest hours, we had each other. Until we didn’t. We tried to hold on to what little we had. Maneuvering the rough waters of our circumstance. Until I couldn’t.

Her tireless holiday spirit is like a snowstorm in summer-overpowering, all-encompassing, and a wonder to behold.

Herein lies a raw exploration of duality, darkness, and desire. A collection of sonnets, haikus, and free verse that brings to the surface our fractured pieces and celebrates how the light and the dark blend to make us whole. An invitation to embrace the shadow and give it its rightful place as a part of the self.

Welcome to Georgian England, circa 1800. Alastair Thorne is a cad and a rake. Even his mother told him so. Pity for her that he cannot bring himself to care, for he relishes his life of debauchery and licentiousness, and is content thinking of no-one but himself. Except Alastair may have just messed with the wrong fair maiden, and his life is about to be cut violently short. That is until he comes face to face with the enigmatic stranger who's been watching him from afar.

Protecting him is my duty, but falling for him could be my undoing. I’ve spent five years burying my past, leaving behind the violence and bloodshed of my former life as a Bratva enforcer. Now, I’m just Luca—the quiet guy who keeps his head down, working security for a professional hockey team. I don’t get close to anyone, and I definitely don’t let anyone get close to me. But then I’m assigned to protect Max Ryan, the team’s star defenseman, and everything changes. He's my obsession. My crush.

Let me tell the story of how I fell in love with a woman who had no idea that we were even dating. The ridiculousness started when she stole my beer, and trust me, my grumpy self doesn’t normally share. But somehow, Avery Wilson is the exception to every one of my many rules. Unfortunately, I’m not hers. Not only is she the daughter of the Rev’s coach who hates me, she’s also sworn off dating for the year.

Ember Solis is a sweet girl from a not-so-innocent world. When it comes time for her to venture out to the real world—to the college of her dreams—Ember is released from the shelter of her home, straight into bad boy and sworn enemy, Ash Ortiz’s addictive spell. Ash teaches Ember everything he knows but soon, the student becomes the master. Ember emerges from the depths of her inexperience to discover she is stronger than she seems. But there is a bigger price to pay for loving Ash, and the way that Ember views her past, her present and her future will never be the same.

As a single mom with my hands and heart full, finding love is the last thing on my mind. Then Everett Windward comes along. My new neighbor is charming, handsome, and sexy—and before I know it, I have a new friend…with benefits. Fun and filthy benefits. There’s just one problem—He’s also my son’s teacher. That alone should have me pumping the brakes… except it doesn’t. I’m drawn to him and to the way he makes me feel. Everett has a filthy side that has reignited something inside of me that I haven’t felt in years.

After losing her husband in a tragic accident, Julia Gentry is barely surviving. Raising her young daughter alone takes everything she has—and that’s not enough. She’s barely making ends meet. And then tragedy strikes again. Julia’s only hope lies in the last place she wants to look—in Crew Gentry. Her husband’s brother is broody. Irresponsible. He’s broken her heart more than once and let her down every time she’s needed him.

Herein lies a raw exploration of duality, darkness, and desire. A collection of sonnets, haikus, and free verse that brings to the surface our fractured pieces and celebrates how the light and the dark blend to make us whole. An invitation to embrace the shadow and give it its rightful place as a part of the self.

To stop a brutal mafia war, I'm forced to marry a man I left tied up in a hotel room seven years ago. Griffin Quinlan, the new head of the Irish Mafia in Lower Manhattan, is as dangerous as he is gorgeous. Brutal and calculating, he’s the last person I ever expected to see again. Seven years ago, one night of passion brought us together, but I walked away without looking back. Or untying him. Now, he’s my husband and wants revenge. Our forced marriage is meant to seal the peace between the Irish and Greek mafia families—my brothers’ idea of a truce.

Her tireless holiday spirit is like a snowstorm in summer-overpowering, all-encompassing, and a wonder to behold.

Agent Bradly "Wolfe" Tucker has one case he cannot solve: six murdered women and a cold trail leading nowhere. When bodies with an eerily similar MO show up in Philadelphia, he volunteers to assist with the case. He figures he will spend a few days in Philly, hand the case off, and head back to his life in Seattle. But everything changes when he stops at a local bar, looks across the room, and sees her. Agent Leda Bailey has had a bad week. She has three dead women and no trail to follow. The clues don't add up, and nothing makes sense.

Dalton, I loved you once. A love I thought irrevocable. A love I mistakenly believed could transcend both time and circumstance. Under the influence of my dimwitted, naïve, traitorous heart, I became intoxicated with what I now know was simply a figment of my self-indulgent imagination. So drunk on the feeling, I couldn't see what was right in front of my face. So foolishly enamored, I blindly followed my heart into the depths of an emotion that would ravage me.

It's hard to forget your past when you're staring at it. That's the conclusion Emma Watkins arrives at when she returns to Hayden, Maine—population 2,253; now 2,254—for the first time in nine years. When she sees him for the first time in nine years. When that word leaves his mouth. Buttercup. A pretty nickname in an ugly tone. A term of endearment time twisted into an insult. A taunt that nothing has been forgiven—or forgotten. She's back to sever ties. Break promises. Keep secrets. All easier said than done. The memories she left behind aren't all bad . . . more like mostly good.

Rhys Garrett—recent high school graduate, ex-captain of the basketball team, and my brother's rival both on and off the court. Oh, and he's also the guy I just hit with my truck. Awesome. To be fair, he had it coming. Why else was he dressed in all black, in the middle of the night, if not to hide out amongst the darkness?

When my father passed away, I assumed my grieving would be as simple as closing a book and starting another. Only he had other plans. Leaving me his beloved tattoo shop, I’m stuck to figure out what exactly to do with it, all while being constantly reminded of him.

When Bo Bennett, rookie third baseman for the New Orleans Revelers, walks into a charity event, all he wants to do is escape. He's not interested in showboating, rubbing elbows with the elite, or anything else that doesn't pertain to baseball. With Spring Training coming to an end soon, the last thing he wants is a distraction. But then he sees her.

When Natalie Tyler arrives in Chicago to attend her cousin's wedding, she is just hoping to survive the week with her estranged family...and her ex-fiancé. One week. One uneventful week at the beautiful Hotel Jefferson is all she has to endure before she can return to her quiet life in Miami. However, fate has other plans.

I wasn't looking for love, especially not in the small mountain town where my brothers and I relocated our security firm. One look at my River of Dreams was all it took to know I'd found the other half of my soul. She wasn't ready for me or my crazy family, so I offered friendship. When tragedy shook her very foundation, there wasn't a force on Earth that would stop me from finally making her mine.

These men don't build bridges.... They bury bodies. I wasn't looking for his kind of trouble.... It found me anyway. Tall. Dark. Addictive. He unravels me with his ferocity. Melts me with his touch.

The start of Lee Burrows and I was a college girl’s biggest fantasy. Campus’ most popular guy, the starting quarterback, the same guy I’ve crushed on forever, notices me—the quiet introvert. Although, he never would’ve noticed me if he didn’t need my help passing our biology class. I didn’t think I had a chance with him until he started flirting with me and asking me questions like, “Who was the guy you were talking to?” and “Do you have a boyfriend?”

My best friend. My fierce protector. A safe space to breathe. He always remained my one constant, never wavering. For years, I've masked my love for him but it still had me in a chokehold. Anytime I pictured my future, it was with him. That was until August.