Once upon a time, a boy and a girl met and fell in love…. That’s the way my love story began, but unlike the fairy tale, it ended with me standing in the cemetery, watching my prince get lowered into the ground, along with all our dreams.

I grew up having no clue about the true meaning of love. Money. Cars. Houses. Status. Fame. That’s what love means to the people around me. It wasn’t until the woman I picked up in a bar came back into my life and showed me love can be so much more.

I met Keegan on the beach in Florida. He literally crashed into my world. I wasn't looking for romance, but his two-dimpled charm made my heart go haywire. We both had one thing in common: We were here to escape our realities. One week. Just the two of us. I didn't know it at the time, but that week would forever change my life. Four years later, Keegan and I are brought together again. It's as if the universe is telling us this is our second chance. The more I get to know him, the harder I fall. Only the joke's on me, because the guy I'm falling for isn't the man I thought he was.

The moment I saw her walk through the door of Forbidden Ink, I knew she was the one. With her wide hips, thick thighs, and perfect breasts, she's every man's wet dream. Add to that her dark, soulful eyes, pouty lips, and a body covered in gorgeous art, and I knew I needed to make her mine. She's a walking contradiction of sass and strength and determination, hidden by insecurity and self-doubt. She's everything I could ever want or need, but she doesn't see what I see.

After experiencing firsthand the devastation love can cause, I knew having a family wasn’t for me. Neither was being a single dad—but here we are, trying to make it work. The last thing I need is a distraction, but then Savannah waltzes into my world, stealing my treadmill at the gym—as well as my son’s heart. We agreed to no strings. No complications or commitments. But I’m going back on my word because now that I know what it’s like to be with Savannah, there’s no way I’m ever letting her go.

I’ve been in love with my best friend since high school. My biggest regret? Walking away without telling her. I planned to. But then catastrophe struck, making us part ways without a word. She left for Boston with her fiancé, while I left for L.A. with my band—Raging Chaos. For the next five years, I lived and breathed music, trying to forget the beautiful girl who shattered my heart without even knowing it. Until I see her again…. I walked away once, and I've learned my lesson. Layla is my forever, not another item in my pile of regrets. And she's about to find that out.

Since I lost my wife, my life has consisted of being a single dad to two crazy kids and playing professional football, leaving me with no room for anything or anyone else. Until the moment I met Sawyer. Something about her feels right, and I know it’s more than just chemistry. She’s a game changer. My second chance at love.

Liz: I’m an 18-year-old high school graduate who has just experienced my first...well, everything. I would give anything to hold on to Cooper, but we made a decision. After 30 hours of falling in lust, we’re parting ways. I’m starting college and can’t be distracted. Besides, he has his own life to get back to.

From the first time I saw Sienna Bardot dancing on my stage, I was mesmerized. But after booking a private room and buying her time, I want more than just one night. She thinks by telling me that she’s waiting for love and marriage it’ll scare me away, but what she doesn’t understand is that I plan to make her mine in every way. When her life is threatened, I would do anything to keep her safe—even if that means forcing her to take my last name.

When I was 18, I fell in love, but he didn’t love me back. The day he found out about my pregnancy, I found out about his fiancée. He warned if I ever told anyone, he would destroy me. So I kept the pregnancy a secret and disappeared.

Hermosa Beach seems to be the place for throwing together unlikely opposites. My rooster Rowdy and his new crush, Pixy the goat. Me and the obnoxiously cocky cowboy from Texas.... But unlike Rowdy and Pixy, there’s no way I’m going to fall for David Strickland. Nope. Not gonna happen. I could never be with a man so completely opposed to everything I believe...no matter how hot he is.

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.

My life was easy, simple, fun. Light. Until I got wrapped up with the wrong people. Nothing but a piece of property, to pay for the sins of my father. I’m to be married off to a handsome monster. I see his truths every day, and it’s hard not to fall for the enemy. He won’t let me escape, but I’m not sure I want to. I wanted to marry for love, but it looks like love is a lie.

I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”

It was supposed to be the best day of my life. But the second I got up, things started to fall apart. The kitchen just caught on fire. Flowers were from a funeral. My bride-to-be just had an allergic reaction, leaving by ambulance. Oh, and my ex-girlfriend just walked into the church. They say you have to see the signs when they are right in front of you. Maybe she was just mine to have.

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.

"Marry me." "What?" I stared back at him, unblinking. He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. "I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me." What's an 18-year-old girl who was madly in love with her 19-year-old boyfriend say? Of course, I said yes. Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel. Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why.

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.

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.

No matter how hard she tries, Elleanor Fisher never thinks she's good enough, from her job to her weight to her love life. After enduring years of abuse at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, Elli has been drifting through life in a daze. Until, that is, she meets Shea Adler on a promotional shoot for the NHL's Nashville Assassins. Before Elli knows what's happening, the gorgeous Shea breaks the ice and shatters her world. A brilliant athlete inside the rink, Shea Adler is tired of the life he's living outside of it: the women, the money, the drinking. But everything changes when he meets Elli.

Three novellas from Alexa Riley: Stay Close: A former Russian mafia soldier is hired to protect a friend’s daughter, but he knows he’ll do more than keep her safe - he’ll make her his. Forever. Hold Tight: A hotshot consultant hired to streamline Osbourne Corp. meets his match in Pandora Justice. Don’t Go: CEO Henry Osbourne has only ever desired one woman - the one who got away. She ran from a boy, but a man of power and persuasion now stands in his place.

Diner waitress Allison Abraham has no idea her mundane life is about to change dramatically the day she serves a devastatingly handsome customer. Allison is immediately captivated by the mysterious man who stares through her soul with his electric-blue eyes. After he abruptly leaves the restaurant, she can't get him out of her head. She has no idea that he actually came on a mission to find her. Cedric Callahan wasn't expecting to fall in love at first sight with the pretty waitress he'd set out to find.

Moving back home to my parents' cattle ranch in Texas was the last thing I thought I'd be doing. But, here I stand...in front of my high school girlfriend. A beautiful, confident woman has replaced the young girl I once knew and loved. Hell. I'm still in love with her. Yep. Paxton Monroe was my first love and the one girl in town who now hated my guts. So much so, Paxton swore her revenge on me if it took her until the day she died.

MacKenzie Cahill has dealt with overbearing and overprotective brothers her entire life, making it near impossible to enjoy her teenage years. Having a boyfriend was practically impossible until she met a guy that wasn't afraid to stand up to them - Dominic. He was sweet, thoughtful, and everything MacKenzie ever wanted in a man. But when they go away to college at Old Dominion University, MacKenzie sees a whole new side of Dominic and begins to wonder if he really is different from every other guy.

One look, one smile, and I didn't stand a chance. The instant my eyes landed on Presley Chambers, I was a goner. She was a force of nature that turned my world upside down. Sweet, sassy, and sexy as hell, she brought me to my knees. But she isn't just any woman, she's a gift, she's a goddess, she's my disease...and I'll fight like hell to erase her fears. Sometimes fate has other plans. Now our future is in her hands.

He was my best friend since we were little. Even though he was off-limits, as we grew up, he became my forever, my everything. But I couldn’t let my selfish dreams hold him back. They say that if you love someone, you should let them go. I did. He became the world’s greatest soccer player. Money. Fame. Beautiful women. He had it all. One thing I never expected was for him to walk back into my life again.

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.

Anthony was my best friend and the first boy I ever kissed. The first boy I ever loved. I always thought we would be together. Then, he left town, and I never heard from him again. Now, there’s a new doctor at the hospital in the department where I work, and I can’t believe who it is. It’s Anthony.

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.

Beau Emerson is no gentleman. Those hazel eyes. That filthy mouth. That greedy, hard body. It all equates to one thing. Irresistible. One look and I know he'll bruise my lips and scar my knees. He'll give me the best nine days of my life while ruining me in the most beautiful way imaginable. And I'll let him, because he has the power to talk me into anything. Except one thing. Staying. I have no choice. The things I desire from him will destroy me in the end.