My path to success never included an enemy as a teammate, especially one as infuriating as Quinton de Haas. Clawing under my skin is his favorite pastime, only feeding the animosity between us as the years pass. We’re as completely opposite as two people can be; the golden boy and the black sheep. Constantly at odds or at each other’s throats. The only thing we can agree on is hockey is our true love, and we’ll do whatever it takes to come out on top. I never imagined that drive would lead me to do the unthinkable: falling into bed with my not-so-straight rival.

I’m such a cliché. Rich, successful… and bored out of my mind. A classic case of a midlife crisis probably, but instead of buying an expensive sports car, I go on a long business trip to Australia. Alone. I haven’t trusted myself to be with anyone since my best friend betrayed me, leaving me bleeding and heartbroken. Until a gorgeous surfer dude named Ocean falls into my lap. Literally. He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Bossy, carefree, and somehow, he reads me like an open book. I agree to him staying with me in Melbourne so we can have a fling. With me in charge, obviously.

Sometimes I want to punch that smirk off Atlas McCallister's pretty face. He's cocky. A troublemaker. A pain. And, unfortunately, my stepbrother. We've been fire and kerosene since our parents got together, and to keep from exploding into fistfights, we've used challenges, dares, and bets to battle out our differences. Our past bets have been a little inappropriate—scandalous, even—but Atlas's latest bet has gone too far. Do I really believe if he loses, my straight stepbrother is gonna mess around with a guy? And not just any guy: me, his rival and nemesis?

Art evaluator Miles Tate is finally about to start living his dream . . . that is if he can get the funding in place to open his own art gallery in New York. But when an unexpected turn of events finds every one of Miles's perfectly-planned dreams turned upside-down, it's time to escape Manhattan and reluctantly take up a well-paid job in the tiny seaside town of Hope's Bluff, Georgia. For Miles, it's his only chance to make some money, claw back what little dignity he has left, and figure out what the hell to do with his life.

When I left Birchbark angry and heartbroken, I vowed never to return. Fate had other plans. The father I hate had a stroke, so now I'm back in the Upper Peninsula to take care of him. The locals treat Dad like royalty, while Dad vacillates between open anger and flat-out ignoring me. Throw in my messy relationship with my brothers, and being in Birchbark becomes unbearable.

I always thought of Silas Rush as my biggest rival on the track and a stuck-up loner off of it. He and his fancy pro career left our crappy hometown in the dust before high school even finished, and then I didn't think of him much at all. I was too busy trying to keep my little sisters from turning into addicts like our mom, and myself from turning into a rage-junkie like our dad. All while keeping food on the table. Now he's back, reminding me of all the things I don't have, just like he always did.

When Devon Sawyer desperately searches for his brother in the middle of the night, beaten and broken, he finds Maddox Kane instead. With his dad on his trail, he has no choice but to stand on his enemy's doorstep and let Maddox help. Maddox has never seen Devon this vulnerable. Living in Garron's trailer park means families dole out discipline on the regular and violence is a part of life, but something about how far Jim Sawyer takes it this time has Maddox unnerved.

I'm the starting quarterback for the Portland Pirates, and I have a thing for my son's teacher. Except I didn't know the cute blond on the beach with the giant dog was my kid's teacher until two months later at Open House. Christian took my breath away during my vacation and introduced me to things I never knew could feel so good and be so right. I think he just might be the one who inspires me to tell the world that this NFL quarterback is bisexual and in love with a man.

Frankie Bishop had only been married for a few months when he became a widower, leaving him with a mountain of debts, a business on the edge of ruin, and a parrot called Hank Marvin. Three years later, the business is finally thriving, and Frankie finds himself ready to look for love again. It comes as a complete surprise to discover that he’s developed feelings for Con — his late husband’s best friend and now Frankie’s business partner.

I’m never one to turn down a bet. Especially not when it comes to retaliating against the dean for pulling a dick move before summer break. So when the dean’s golden child arrives at Astor for his freshman year, my fellow troublemakers throw down a wager I can’t resist. The target: the dean’s son, John Thomas Hawthorne, or “JT”. The bet: corruption in any way I choose. It should’ve been easy. With his mess of brown curls, pouty lips, and good-boy reputation, JT is the perfect revenge. And even better? He’s straight.

As a kid, you don't think about the sacrifices you'll have to make for your dreams. I surrendered a carefree childhood to hours upon hours of grueling practices. Abandoned life with my family in favor of a boarding school that would hone my skills to perfection. But my biggest sacrifice, the one I couldn't predict I'd have to make as a little boy, is denying who I am. I thought I could do it. I thought hockey would be enough. After all, as the top rookie in this year's NHL draft and the most promising defender the league has seen in years, my dreams were coming true. Enter Xander Nydek.

Being a lifelong Chicago Thunder fan, I know that Blaine Olsen is trouble. Because all hockey players are. He's a notorious playboy, and I refuse to be another notch on his bedpost. But when he shows me the part of himself he keeps hidden, it gets harder to resist him.

What's a superhero to do when his own family sees his powers as unimpressive and he's fifth in line for the throne? Set my sights on getting space married to a hot alien, of course! For science. Ziggy Andromeda is a skinsuit-stealing mercenary who's so far out of my league, he might as well be in another galaxy, but there's nothing I love more than a challenge. And his spaceship has only one bed! Unfortunately, a home planet conspiracy is threatening our besties-with-benefits situationship, along with my dream of putting a Saturn-sized ring on it and locking Ziggy down for good. Rude.

It's official: my step bro is the biggest himbo ever to himbo. He's a massive blond beefcake with a soft heart and an over-eager smile. The mere sight of him incites a shaking hot rage in me. He's everywhere. He's around me all the time. So sweet and gentle that it makes me feel wild. I see him and smell him everywhere. When I can't see him or smell him, I hear him. The wall between our bedrooms is paper thin. I can't help it—I hear what he does in his room when he thinks he's alone. I hear everything.

The emo kid, the loner, the cynical wallflower with an attitude. It's no secret that I've never quite fit in. But it's glaringly obvious now that I've moved to this Podunk small town that seems to run entirely on sugar, friendliness, and cheer. (And cows, an ungodly number of cows.) I hate it—this place where everyone knows everyone, and I'm still the outsider. Who wants to fit in anyway? I've never really tried, never even thought I wanted to…until I met him. Jimbob is living his best life out here, farming the fields of Kansas, well and truly happy. And I just don't get it.