I was a basic bitch. My job was fast-paced, stressful, and a time suck, but I loved it. What I didn’t love was there was little time for the best kind of stress relief. I was looking for a little D in my life. Okay, I was looking for a big D, but only for a limited time. Because I needed three things. I needed someone who didn’t know me professionally. I needed nothing but casual, and, most importantly, I needed to come.

After my husband and I split, he ignored our divorce decree and hasn’t paid me a single dime owed to me. But when my former brother-in-law tells me he needs a fake wife to get his inheritance and save the family business from my ex’s hands, I can’t volunteer fast enough.

Nothing prepares you for finding your sister’s lifeless body covered in blood. But when the police arrest her ex, a man I know is innocent, I can’t sit by and do nothing. Not when I’ve been secretly in love with him for years. Heath may not want my help, but I won’t take no for an answer. To catch a killer, I’m forced to take a job at Saint View Prison. Maximum security. The place they send the worst of the worst. But it’s not just Heath who doesn’t want me there. With every lie we uncover, every secret we expose, the danger mounts.

I kept smiling when I caught my fiancé coming down my sister’s chimney on Christmas Eve. I gave polite congratulations when they got engaged. And I even offered to help decorate for their Christmas wedding despite the fact that was supposed to be my dream wedding. But when my sister cuts up my great-grandmother’s one-hundred-year-old wedding dress and turns it into a skank show, even though that was the dress I was going to wear on my wedding day? Well, this elf is torching down the North Pole.

I used to believe love was easy to find. My whirlwind romance would begin once I was ready to take the plunge. Spoiler alert—every failed first date on record suggests otherwise. Just when I’m beginning to fault my lofty standards, Garrett Foster saunters onto the scene. The football star turned bar owner is quick to volunteer his services. He vows to deliver the best version of Mr. Right—just to prove first impressions deserve a second glance.

Declan Hardy, All-American heartthrob and retired NFL billionaire, is my complete opposite. He's commanding where I'm cooperative. Spontaneous while I am deliberate. Loud when I stay quiet. The only thing we have in common is that both our names are on my father's will.

I’m a full time single dad. A former NFL player turned coach, tasked with turning around a college team full of kids who either don’t take it seriously or are determined to get injured. I will absolutely not be falling for my new neighbor.

Working as Ruslan Oryolov’s personal assistant is the job from hell. After a long day spent tending to the billionaire’s every whim, I need some stress relief. So when I get home that night, that’s exactly what I do. Problem is, my thoughts are still stuck on the bosshole, who’s ruining my life. That’s fine—because of all Ruslan’s many sins, being gorgeous might be the most dangerous.

"You may now kiss your bride". They were the last words my mother heard before she collapsed on the church steps, poison ending her pitifully short life. When her new husband dies minutes later, all eyes turn to me. There are whispers. Accusations. The verdict is split. I murdered them both. Or I'm the next to die.

The first time I see my high school crush since graduation, I’m a 30-year-old woman laying on the table for a pap smear. He’s the hot, newly single doctor who just moved back to his hometown, hoping to find some stability for his daughter. Meanwhile, I’m a hot mess, just fired from my job and ousted from company housing. I’m living in my old bedroom and trying to get my appointments in before my insurance runs out along with what little is left of my money.

I was trying to be a good friend. My bestie was dumped unceremoniously, and when I spotted his car, I felt the need to write him a quick note on the hood. You know, just a word or two about what I thought of his actions. No big deal. Only, it wasn't her ex's car. And it was a big deal. A really big deal. Because the car I'd inadvertently vandalized was none other than Tanner Wright's. Tanner Wright, the media mogul. Tanner Wright, the internet voted "hottest man on earth." Tanner Wright, the biggest talk radio host the country has ever known. Tanner Wright . . . my new boss.

I’ve spent the better part of the last few years successfully avoiding my brother’s best friend, Weston Aldrich. As CEO of Andes Inc, the infuriatingly handsome and incessantly grumpy Weston also happens to be my new boss. It shouldn’t have been hard to continue avoiding him. After all, he’s on the executive floor, and I’m one of many copywriters. Weston has his own ideas about how things should go between us. He’s in my emails, leaving notes on my desk, and as if that’s not enough, he arranges for me to accompany him on a business trip.

"Do you want some Goldfish crackers, Bliss?" Those were the last words my brother said to me before he was shot execution style. A childhood code only he and I knew, and one that had a single, clear meaning behind it.

When I discover my boyfriend is cheating on me, I move out right away taking what I love most – my dog. As I fly out the door, I make sure to swipe the thing my ex loves best–the VIP tickets he won to a hockey game, complete with the chance to spend an evening with the city’s two biggest NHL stars. I can’t wait to snap selfies with my ex’s idols and rub it in his face.

The headline says it all, and my bosses are over the moon when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in my lap. Of course, they aren’t aware that I’ve already met Vince Cool at an all-star gala—and that we were at each other’s throats the entire time.

I was a basic bitch. My job was fast-paced, stressful, and a time suck, but I loved it. What I didn’t love was there was little time for the best kind of stress relief. I was looking for a little D in my life. Okay, I was looking for a big D, but only for a limited time. Because I needed three things. I needed someone who didn’t know me professionally. I needed nothing but casual, and, most importantly, I needed to come.

Aurelia Whitlock is an ex-stepsister I forgot long ago. Until she shows up as a design intern at my fashion company. And that's the easy part. The part where she heats my blood, drawing me away from my grumpy, miserable side is another. She has no business being here. The more I learn about how she got this job, the more perilous things become for me and my company. I can't trust her. I can't fire her. And I can't claim her full lips with mine.

"Do you want some Goldfish crackers, Bliss?" Those were the last words my brother said to me before he was shot execution style. A childhood code only he and I knew, and one that had a single, clear meaning behind it.

I’m the ruling queen of Saint View Strip. After growing up poor, taking my clothes off and dancing for men is all I know. My thriving club and the people I employ are everything. They’re my ride or die, and I’m theirs.

After my husband and I split, he ignored our divorce decree and hasn’t paid me a single dime owed to me. But when my former brother-in-law tells me he needs a fake wife to get his inheritance and save the family business from my ex’s hands, I can’t volunteer fast enough.

I'd spent my entire life loving my best friend's older brother. Every single one of my birthday wishes was spent hoping Cade would finally notice me. And then, one day, he did. But not all love stories have happy endings. It's been years since I left the small town of Sutten Mountain devastated and heartbroken. I'd used the pain to fuel a bestselling novel that solidified I'd never have to return. Until tragedy struck, forcing me to face the man who shattered my heart.

Ciara is the best damn wedding planner this side of anywhere, but she's no thief. That's exactly what the sexy-ass dragon shifter has accused her of - stealing his treasure. She's going to steal something of his all right, his sanity, if he doesn't let her go so she can get back to giving couples their happy-ever-afters. It's the best way to ignore the fact she's sure she'll never get her own. Not with any man, or even a dragon.

Chloe Jones is trying to put the scandal of leaving her Super Bowl legend fiancé at the altar behind her. There is no better way to escape than to turn her island honeymoon into a much-needed vacation with her girls. What she isn't expecting is to meet a hot stranger. Don't they say to get over someone you need to get under someone else? Chloe's ready for a fresh start. Shame her vengeful ex is making it difficult for her. That is until she lands the job of her dreams. She isn't expecting to come face to face with the hot stranger from her island escape—her new boss.

Amazon Top 25 and International Bestselling Author Kathy Lockheart delivers an unputdownable romance series where desire and danger collide. Two standalones, interconnected by a deliciously dark thread of romance, action, mystery, and shocking twists… Included in the collection: Deadly Illusion (Book One) and Fatal Cure (Book Two)

Look, I've had it bad for the girl with all the curves next door forever. She turned me down in high school and since I'm not a total douchecanoe, I lusted after her all by myself in my shower, and we stayed just friends for years. Now she's the adorkable librarian next door, and I'm the star quarterback of the best pro football team in the league. So when she asks me to be her fake date to her all-girls school reunion, I am totally down to show her off to the mean girls who bullied her back then so they can see just how incredible she is.

For years, the monsters who killed my family have held me in a cage. Brutalized and half-starved. Only kept alive so they can steal my blood. Until one evening, when three eerily gorgeous men rescue me. They offer a safe haven under their protection with everything I need to heal. I'm not used to this kindness—or the desires their smoldering eyes and strong hands stir in my body and my heart. But these fearsome men aren't really men. Like my former captors, they're fae who can shift into wolves. A curse gripping the faerie realm turns them wild under the full moon.

It's the dog's fault, really. If this untrained Great Dane I'm walking had any manners at all, I never would've ended up here: With my leash wrapped around the most gorgeous man I've ever seen. Lucky for me, the guy is a good sport about it. (Although his joke that “Dogs take after their owners” hits a little too close to home when Rufus starts humping his leg.) He leaves me with his business card and a smile that makes my knees weak.

I hate Dante Moretti. He is cold, calculating, and vicious. It’s no secret that he wiped out his former fiancée and her entire family on the eve of their wedding. He’s the kind of evil that makes even devils cry. But that’s not why I hate him.

Some men are just off-limits. Like, say, all the other football players in the league…. I have to stop replaying the one night I spent with my rival. Trouble is, that white-hot encounter with the other quarterback answered a lot of questions I’ve had about myself, but it also led me into this mess where he hates me…

Until an oracle predicted my regal future, I'd never imagined myself rising above the curve of my round ears. After all, I was the magicless halfling loved by beasts but loathed by every pure-blooded faerie at court. Well...by all but one.