I see her differently now: my friend, Michelle Douglas. It's the summer of 1994, where the love of the '80s still holds on for dear life. She's wearing a black ACDC shirt that hangs over the shoulder, and she is hanging out with a group of friends. I don't know what it is about her right now, but in this moment, everything has changed for me. Everything about her calls out to me. I think it always has. It always will. Her love isn't easy to get, but I'm determined to get it. There's one problem. She's promised to another.

The hotter the flame, the bigger the fire. I’m a smokejumper. I go where the flames take me. And right now, it’s sending me from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Louisiana has called for a state of emergency because of a category five hurricane. First responders from all over the country are coming to help. It’s where I run into Ryan. A paramedic from Las Vegas. He’s brave, smart, and gay. I don’t have an issue with that. And while I’m getting to know him, I start to battle a different kind of fire.

Nothing can end before it begins. My beginning started with the death of my best friend. And the kid he left behind...I had no idea what to do. But I made a promise. Jenkins was my responsibility. But he wasn't the only one I had. Raising a kid while being the president of the Ruthless Kings MC? The club had as much influence over him as I did.

Listen to Book 1 in A Ruthless Underworld Novel series today.

We’ve been traveling all over the country, recruiting new members for our club. Before we call it quits, we make a pitstop in Las Vegas. I’m owed a debt, and I’ve come to collect. It’s been awhile since I spoke to the president of the Ruthless Kings. And I’m calling in my marker. I figured I’d ask for cash, maybe a few new recruits, arms-dealer networks, but he said no. That’s fine. But then I set my sights on her. A blonde bombshell. Yeah, she’s mine.

Even without a memory, the world is a dark and damned place. There are things around us that regular people don’t know about.... I know those things. I’ve done those things. It’s the way of this world when you’re on the throne. This temple is rightfully mine. I am the crown. This isn’t just my life. It’s my soul. My empire. My fortress. And her. She’s too sweet, so innocent, so naïve to the world around her and I want to immerse myself in it. But there is an ill twist hanging in the air.

I deal with highs and lows, but somehow, I end up making the best of it. My family disowned me, but family is the reason why I’m in Vegas. Even with my inability to think straight, I end up being in charge of a bunch of runaway mental patients. Hence, The Asylum. A sanctuary for lost causes. Where crazy can roam free, and compulsions can be let loose. My nephew says as long as it stays at The Asylum, we won’t have problems. What fun would it be if problems didn’t exist? And my problem is in the shape of a dancer, twirling on the front lawn in the middle of the night.

Sometimes you need to crash a funeral to experience happiness. At least Kissimmee Singh, aerial artist for Singh Circus, the most sought-after traveling circus of all time, keeps telling herself that’s why she crashes funerals. In reality, she’s lost and confused. Sometimes it’s nice to experience other people’s grief and be reminded that life isn’t as bad as it could be.

Trip, son of the former president of the Blood Fury MC, is determined to resurrect his dead father's destroyed club. It’ll be a long, difficult road as the new president attempts to rebuild the club from the cold ashes left behind. Bad blood and bitter memories are only some of the obstacles Trip has to overcome. The local police department, Manning Grove PD, is another, since they don’t want to see their small town once again overrun by outlaw bikers.

After spending the last 10 years in prison, Zak, former DAMC president, has a few priorities: to reconnect with his “brothers”, to get drunk, and to get laid. Not necessarily in that order. When he spots a stunning woman in the clubhouse and mistakes her for one of the club’s strippers, those priorities get a bit skewed.

He’s dark. Dirty. Dangerous. A brother in my dad’s MC. Everything Mom told me to avoid. Everything I shouldn’t want. But his dark, his dirty, and his dangerous are like catnip to me. He stirs fear into the hearts of men, but I hear his rage. I feel it like it’s my own. He’s a killer. Shameless. Some might even call him a psycho. I just call him soul mate. We were born to raise hell together.

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.

I’m Ogun “Voodoo” Dupré - SAA for the Ankeny RBMC. There’s no pretty way to put it: I do the dirty work for my club. Without question, I follow the direct orders of my president. Except, when my services were required for a particularly delicate situation, I found myself hesitating for the first time in my adult life.

The Men of Inked Heatwave series is filled with protective men, sassy women, and lots of heat. Get lost in the wildly popular family saga featuring tattooed bad boys, rowdy and lovable bikers, family dinners, and so much more.

After a horrible marriage, Haggard has zero plans of ever finding a woman again. One-night stands not counting, he adores his life as a single man. There are no expectations. No "where are yous" and "are you coming homes". The life he chooses to live is a simple one. Until he makes a huge mistake, and he steps over that line between "daughter’s best friend" and "a woman he desperately wants". Before long, he can’t stop thinking about her. Can’t stop wanting her. Can’t stop feeling things for her that a man 20 years her senior should never feel for a girl he watched grow up.

Nothing can end before it begins. My beginning started with the death of my best friend. And the kid he left behind...I had no idea what to do. But I made a promise. Jenkins was my responsibility. But he wasn't the only one I had. Raising a kid while being the president of the Ruthless Kings MC? The club had as much influence over him as I did.

I didn't think answering someone else's cell phone would change my life. But the stranger with the low, deep voice on the other end of the line tempted me, awakened my body, set me on fire. He was looking for someone else. Instead he found me. And I found a hot, secret world where I felt alive for the first time.

Desperate to find a new mechanic, the last thing Reddington expects is a woman to show up, let alone one with a sinful body, sharp tongue, and the inability to just do her job and not give him lip. He can't deny he's hoping to catch a view of her bent over a hood, but there's not a chance in hell that's going to happen. As much as Red wants to take her for a test drive, he knows he needs to keep his priorities straight.

They call me Girth for a reason. I’m a damn giant. The muscle in the MC. It’s why I get sent out on loan when some of our brothers down South need some help. And by help, I mean crush some guys' skulls. That’s what the Marked Skulls are good at. Name fits, right? But when I get there, I’m tasked with protecting the President’s daughter, Lila. She’s petite and gorgeous, and all I can do is look. The Pres made it clear; I can’t touch. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right? Until he finds out.

You’ll never hear anyone wax poetic over an organ quite like they do the heart. When you’re lost in the world? Follow your heart. When your love for someone is unwavering, unparalleled and unprecedented? You give them your heart. As a lead pediatric cardiac surgeon, I knew better than anyone that the heart is equally as powerful as it is delicate. The heart giveth just as easily as it taketh away. And until the day Kelly Potter darkened my doorway that was all just part of the job.

I always remember Scarlett as the one-night-stand who got away from me. I fell in love; she took off. It feels like a lifetime ago now, though. I traded in my guitar for a needle, working at St. Skin, bringing other people's stories to life through tattoos. Though I still think about her, I know I'll never see her again. But I never knew that after she left our one night, she left pregnant.

When I was 13, he stole my heart. When I was 18, he took my innocence. When I was 23, he said he would love me forever. When I was 28, he broke my heart. Now I'm 33... and there's a knock at the door. He's back, again. And this time he's not alone.

After getting tangled up in Carnage business, it isn’t long before I'm tangled up in their sheets. They see is my blonde hair and sweet smile, and they want to dirty me up a little. I'm a splash of pink within the leather-clad army, standing out like a tampon in a condom factory. But it’s not my fault they underestimated me. I might like girly things, but I’m much more likely to spray you with bullets then sprinkle you with glitter. I could just tell them they have me labeled all wrong...but where’s the fun in that?

Dominic Valetti is only interested in two things: getting paid and getting laid. He's a bookie for the Valetti crime family, and he knows his shit. Dom's busy doing business, no time to dabble in social niceties. The women that chase after him wanting more than a dirty, hard f--k are only gonna get their hearts broken. That is, until Becca stumbles into his office to pay off her ex's debt. A hot brunette who's just as guarded as he is and has a body made for sin...and for him.

Like currency, I’ve become part of a transaction. Blade took me to pay off a debt. I try to tell myself, Eve, you should hate him. He’s a bad guy. But then again, I’m not a good girl. Blade’s the president of the Disciples, the notorious motorcycle club. I should be frightened, yet somehow, he doesn’t scare me. If anything, I think I scare him.

I can feel it. I wake up in the middle of the night freaked out of my mind, paranoid a stranger is there. My skin prickles every time I leave my house, because I know someone is following me. I’m afraid. Alone. And there’s only one person left to turn to. The stepbrother I never met. He’s the president of a notorious motorcycle club and exactly the kind of person I need to protect me - cutthroat, cocky, dangerous. Little did I know, hot as all holy hell Ky Parish, downright loathes me. You know what they say - there's a fine line between love and hate. And I'm walking it.

It's been 12 years since Tru Bennett last saw Jake Wethers, her former best friend and boy she once loved. Jake Wethers, sexy, tattooed, and deliciously bad lead singer, and brains behind The Mighty Storm, one of biggest bands in the world, left Tru with a broken heart when he moved from England to America with his family when they were both 14. Sent to interview Jake for her music column by the magazine she works for, they are both unprepared for the sparks that fly the instant they reconnect.

Taylor Shaw had the perfect life - until she was 16. That was when everything changed. From that moment on, life went from bad to worse...to the worst. After recovering from a brain tumor, months later, she suffers the tragic loss of her whole family. Since that fateful day, she's been coasting through life. Now the brain tumor has returned, and Taylor decides she's had enough. She's going to take her fate into her own hands. No more hospitals. No more surgeries. No more anything.

One look, and panties drop. One night, and they're ready to marry me. Too bad I'm not interested in anything more than a taste. Until I'm tempted by Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. She's a good girl, the kind I want to possess, dominate, ruin. No one's ever told me no, and I'm not about to let it stop me now.

Lucas Donahue is not ashamed of his criminal past, but after a brief stint in prison, he's ready to go legit and live a normal life. The problem is, no one leaves the gang without permission - even if he is one of the boss' top men. Plus, someone's placed a hit on him. And then there's that feisty little bartender who's going to cause him even more trouble. Heidi Greene knows to keep her distance from a ladies' man like Lucas - even if she can't keep her eyes off him.