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.

Jace Dawson is less than a year away from accomplishing everything he's spent the past decade striving for. Not only has playing professional football been the dream since he was a kid, the financial incentive isn't one he could walk away from even if he wanted to. That is, until a chance collision has the unexpected outcome of making Jace realize he might want something more than the goal he's spent most of his life pursuing. Might want someone more.

His name starts with a H. So does happiness. Heartbreak. Home. Hoops. All things I associate with him. Ever since my family moved in across the street when we were both kids, Holden Adams has been that guy. My first crush. My former confidante. My best friend's brother. He's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I love him. I hate him. One of those is a lie. I'm just . . . not sure which.

The first time Ryder James broke my heart, I was fifteen and fearless. The second time he broke my heart, I was eighteen and jaded. Both times, I fell for him effortlessly. Falling is easy. Our landings are hard. Painful. We were a sad song with a slow melody. Flowers with paper petals. Hidden letters with visible tears. A beautiful tragedy. Except tragedies have endings. Our story just . . . stopped. Seven years later, I still have more questions than answers. Questions I'm too proud to ask after almost a decade of silence.

There's rich. Then there's the Ellsworth family. The Kensingtons. American royalty. Money buys power, and power always has a price. The fear of those who already possess both? Losing it. The best way to ensure keeping it? Alliances. And elites don't marry down—they marry equal. For Scarlett Ellsworth and Crew Kensington, that leaves one option: each other. Accepting that inevitability is very different from embracing it. That's the only thing they agree upon. It was meant to be a union for better and for business.

Saylor's goals have always involved the literal kind constructed from posts and netting. Her single-minded focus has cost her a lot, but it's also earned her recognition as the top female college player in the US. She doesn't get attached. Meeting Adler Beck, the notorious player celebrated worldwide and coveted by women everywhere, challenges her indifference. But Saylor perfected the art of appearing unbothered a long time ago, and her scoring percentage is even higher off the pitch. Might as well add a gorgeous German to the tally.

The first time I saw Grayson Phillips, I fell. Tripped, to be specific. His seven-year-old self saved me from scraped knees and sentenced me to a fate of pining after my brother’s best friend for years. People change. Childish crushes fade. I’m an adult now, a doctor with more important things to worry about. I gave up on the boy next door ever loving me a long time ago. Or so I thought…until he returns to our hometown on leave from the Air Force. For the first time, not everything between us feels one-sided. That doesn’t make it matter. He’ll take off soon—literally.

When people choose to leave, you should let them. That’s a lesson Lyla Peterson has learned over and over again. Abandoned more than once, her focus is on ensuring her son never experiences that familiar sting, not on lingering questions from the pain-filled past. Until the opportunity arises to seek elusive answers, and Lyla seizes it, opening old wounds and revealing dangerous secrets. He chose to leave. She should have let him.

Piper Egan landed her dream job straight out of college—working at Empire Records. But instead of discovering new talent and changing lives, like she’d hoped, her time is spent taking meeting notes and catering to spoiled celebrities. When the chance to change that finally appears, she should be thrilled. Unfortunately, Piper’s promotion involves the charming cowboy she’s spent years attempting to avoid. And flying to middle of nowhere, Texas, in a desperate attempt to talk the king of country music into returning to the stage.

Georgette Adams is trouble incarnate. Spoiled, sassy, smart . . . and the President's only daughter. Getting summoned to a meeting at the White House felt like an honor-until I caught the catch. I'm the newest member of her security detail. Not only for this summer in DC, but once she leaves for Stanford in the fall as well. Her safety is my responsibility.

When Austin Keller's family moves across the country for his chance to play with the prestigious Frost Lake soccer team, he's ready to seize the opportunity. But on his first night out with the team, a dare to kiss the team captain's ex-girlfriend sets in motion a rivalry that threatens his future.

A full week without showers, a real bed, or Internet was bad enough. Spending it with my family’s sworn enemy—the unbearably smug, indecently handsome Miller West—is a bridge too far. I’m determined to remain enemies, even if sparring with him is my favorite thing in the world. Even if he’s hell-bent on protecting me, whether I need it or not, and surprisingly kind, no matter how awful I am to him.

A reality television dating show was never part of my post-college plan. Nearly broke, unemployed, recently dumped me let my best friend Haley decide it should be. We all have rough patches, right? When nothing sounds better than snuggling on the couch in your favorite sweats, inhaling chocolate? Well, I've signed up for the glamorous version. Designer dresses. Poolside lounge chair. Open bar. Unfortunately, my free vacation takes a turn from mildly humiliating to full-on mortification when the identity of the man I'm meant to woo is revealed.

My whole life, I've come out on top. One of the finest players ever to grace the NHL? Check. Most prolific playboy with an enviable reputation between the sheets? Check. Award for the cockiest athlete in America? Also, check, and well deserved I'd say. So why does my life feel anything but the perfect image I project? And why won't the one woman who came crashing into my life and knocked me on my six-foot-four ass take me seriously?

I’ve always been a wild card–the first to start a fight on the ice, and the life of the party off it–but appearances can be deceiving. Being traded to the Boston Rebels could not have come at a better time. With serious family obligations to fulfill and a contract renewal with a new hockey team on the line, I have no time for anything else. I return to Boston knowing I need to buckle down and focus on what really matters.

The first time Ryder James broke my heart, I was fifteen and fearless. The second time he broke my heart, I was eighteen and jaded. Both times, I fell for him effortlessly. Falling is easy. Our landings are hard. Painful. We were a sad song with a slow melody. Flowers with paper petals. Hidden letters with visible tears. A beautiful tragedy. Except tragedies have endings. Our story just . . . stopped. Seven years later, I still have more questions than answers. Questions I'm too proud to ask after almost a decade of silence.

I've heard a lot of things about Weston Cole. Popular. Conceited. Supercilious. He's spent the last three years steadily dismantling my family's legacy. I should hate him. And I did. Until I encountered him freshman year and discovered he's also troubled. Captivating. Audacious. And when I come across him again senior year, it turns out that knowledge is even more dangerous than his suggestive smirk....

Jace Dawson is less than a year away from accomplishing everything he's spent the past decade striving for. Not only has playing professional football been the dream since he was a kid, the financial incentive isn't one he could walk away from even if he wanted to. That is, until a chance collision has the unexpected outcome of making Jace realize he might want something more than the goal he's spent most of his life pursuing. Might want someone more.

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.

Some couples have chemistry, others have a connection. We have both. We took turns walking away. Somehow, we’ve still ended up here. On stage, together, in front of tens of thousands of people. Him holding a guitar, me a microphone. Singing the song I wrote that launched my career and dubbed me the princess of pop music. The song about him. Maybe we were inevitable from the start. To love. To dream. To end. Our song had one ending. Our story might have another.

His name starts with a H. So does happiness. Heartbreak. Home. Hoops. All things I associate with him. Ever since my family moved in across the street when we were both kids, Holden Adams has been that guy. My first crush. My former confidante. My best friend's brother. He's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I love him. I hate him. One of those is a lie. I'm just . . . not sure which.

The first time I saw Grayson Phillips, I fell. Tripped, to be specific. His seven-year-old self saved me from scraped knees and sentenced me to a fate of pining after my brother’s best friend for years. People change. Childish crushes fade. I’m an adult now, a doctor with more important things to worry about. I gave up on the boy next door ever loving me a long time ago. Or so I thought…until he returns to our hometown on leave from the Air Force. For the first time, not everything between us feels one-sided. That doesn’t make it matter. He’ll take off soon—literally.

Ever since her younger sister's engagement was announced, Harper Williams has been dreading the wedding. What should be a joyous, sun-drenched affair is sure to be filled with plenty of awkward moments, thanks to Harper's strained relationship with her only sibling. Awkwardness enhanced by the wedding's location—a lake in Maine, swimming with painful memories of their late father. Running into Drew Halifax—her childhood crush, who grew up to be the golden boy of hockey—is a surprise. Not nearly as shocking as his offer to be her plus-one is, though.

When people choose to leave, you should let them. That’s a lesson Lyla Peterson has learned over and over again. Abandoned more than once, her focus is on ensuring her son never experiences that familiar sting, not on lingering questions from the pain-filled past. Until the opportunity arises to seek elusive answers, and Lyla seizes it, opening old wounds and revealing dangerous secrets. He chose to leave. She should have let him.

Harlow Hayes has spent three years avoiding Conor Hart. The cocky captain of Holt University's hockey team makes it easy—he ignores her right back. Plenty of girls fall for the charming lines and that arrogant smirk. Harlow knows better. Knows more. Like the fuel for the fury that makes Conor such a dominant force on the ice. The history they share but didn't write. The reason they don't speak. Until, one day, they do. He was supposed to be the one guy she could never—would never—like, much less love. Famous last words.

After losing both of her parents, Merritt Adams was forced to grow up. Now a bitter and jaded adult, she's convinced that the only person she can count on is herself. When she's injured in a fiery crash, Merritt has to learn how to accept help from her friends. But she isn't prepared for support from the popular musician she used to go to school with. Chase Brooks spent the last two years in California aspiring to become a rock star, but his dream is cut short when he receives word about his sick father.

Piper Egan landed her dream job straight out of college—working at Empire Records. But instead of discovering new talent and changing lives, like she’d hoped, her time is spent taking meeting notes and catering to spoiled celebrities. When the chance to change that finally appears, she should be thrilled. Unfortunately, Piper’s promotion involves the charming cowboy she’s spent years attempting to avoid. And flying to middle of nowhere, Texas, in a desperate attempt to talk the king of country music into returning to the stage.

A guy told me he loved me tonight. Peyton Sanders hopes it’s not too late to say it back. Done with dead-end relationships and swiping right, she knows who her heart belongs to. But as she races to tell him how she feels, she’s hit by a car and wakes up with amnesia. It gets worse. Peyton has no clue who the three men who show up at her hospital bed are except they each claim to be her boyfriend.

Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn't be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge. Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash everyone's hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.

When my husband died, he left my broken heart behind. He left another heart behind, too - his.
I know it's wrong. I shouldn't be contacting the recipient of my husband's heart. I don't even expect him to reply.... But there's a desperate, twisted part of me that hopes he will. No names. No personal details. Just a conversation. The only thing I have left of my husband is inside him.