Showing results by author "Hildred Billings" in All Categories

Tallulah is currently one of Hollywood’s biggest ingenues, and there’s nothing she loves more than partying in Hellfire, the only place she’s allowed to be the big, domineering queen of seduction instead of the sweet girl-next-door America wants her to be. There’s nobody in the circle of regulars who doesn’t know her, let alone hasn’t seen her biggest assets to come straight from the plastic surgeon’s. Too bad her bodyguard would rather be anywhere else.

Ten years ago, Jess Mills had her life changed when she crossed paths with Shannon Parker, the most beautiful girl at their small liberal arts college. But what Jess assumed to be nothing more than a crush on a straight girl turned into the night of her dreams senior year. Then? Nothing. Shannon was gone before graduation. But Jess's love for astrology and divination is about to come in handy now that Shannon is determined to face her feelings and understand the whim of the universe.

One year after being hospitalized for a life-changing illness, Vivian is finally ready to get back into dating. Things are definitely looking up when a beautiful woman named Shari asks her out for drinks - and possibly more. Too bad the night turns whisky-sour when Shari not only rejects Vivian, but confirms her most self-conscious fears! Enter Kat the bartender, who has seen this train wreck of a date with her own observant eyes. It's not the first time Shari has destroyed a woman's self-confidence in one night, but it is the first time Kat has decided to personally cheer up a victim.

Life as a small-town housewife in Paradise Valley is usually what Sally Greenhill needs. With four kids and a busy wife to keep her preoccupied, she’s got more than enough to do from sunrise to sunset - at all times of year. But as Deputy Candace Greenhill becomes bogged down in an arsonist investigation, Sally begins to suspect that the ring of flaming rebels might be closer than any of them had foreseen. With Halloween right around the corner, both Sally and Candace are too busy to keep an eye on the precocious son with an eye for adventure...and trouble.

Welcome to Hellfire, where there are only three rules. Consent is a must. Safety is paramount. No judgment of anyone or whatever the desire. Other than that? Prepare to give your soul to the Devil, because you’re in her playground now. Married couple Jeanette and Roxy are in Hellfire to party, but paradise shakes wherever they step. For the past several months, the “happy” couple have been arguing more and more about the path of their relationship.

On the first day of senior year in a new school, Alabaman transplant Carrie Sage meets the girl of her lesbian dreams. Too bad the mayor’s daughter is a bit too straight to go for a troublemaking Southerner like Carrie. Enter Leigh-Ann Hardy, the only girl in Clark High School who knows a thing or two about the girl Carrie crushes after like it’s Valentine’s Day.

City girl Mikaiya "Mik" Marcott returns to her hometown to help her ailing grandmother. But who does she see first when she's barely reached the city limits? Ariana Mura, the girl whose heart she broke 10 years ago. Only Ari isn't a "girl" anymore. She's a grown woman who doesn't take crud from anyone. The lanky Ariana with a flower crown in her long hair is now the big and tough Ari, Paradise Valley's strongest EMT and all-around "native gal" the other townsfolk are prepared to defend.

Born into an elite family, Jun has spent her life cultivating the professional qualities needed to claim her inheritance, the Nippon Royal Hotel empire. Just when she thinks her dream is about to come true, however, Jun's uncle ships her from her homeland of Hokkaido to the city of Nagoya to become the new local general manager.

Hollywood B-list actress Fleur Rosé desperately needs a break from her hectic schedule. When she sees her chance to make a break for it, she drives as far as Paradise Valley, with the media (and her manager) hot on her heels. Cue Jalen Stonehill, stage right. One of the county’s busiest plumbers happens to be in the right place at the right time when she crosses Fleur’s path.

Doctor Brandelyn “Brandy” Meyer has dreamed of the picture-perfect wedding since she was a little girl. Now that fiancee Sunny Croker is ready to tie the knot, all hell breaks loose as Dr. Bridezilla is unleashed! Sunny is the embodiment of her name, with her blond hair and genial disposition. Yet, even the owner of Paradise Valley’s biggest B&B can’t keep her cool when Brandy’s vision overwrites who Sunny really is. Their previously unbreakable bond goes up against the ultimate test!

Seven months after meeting on a dating site, Abbie Greywood and Joyce Stewart are about to experience Christmas in their respective corners of Oregon. Yet when Abbie makes the hard decision to cancel Christmas with her family, she turns to Joyce, a woman with no family left. Is it time to take their relationship to the next level? Dare they meet in person when everyone is supposed to stay six feet away?

Joan Sheffield and Lorri Abrams have been partners for years, but their mission to have a baby has placed a damper on their love. After the most recent miscarriage, the couple has begun questioning the direction of their relationship. Yet Joan isn't ready to give up. Her dreams of having the family she always wanted won't end because of some heartbreak and bad luck. Yet as she regroups and prepares to try again, she comes up against an obstacle she least expected.

High in the mountains of central Japan, there's a town that makes it official business to invite in a host of spirits every summer. Helen's twin sister has drowned. After 60 years of relying on each other, Helen must now learn to not only work through her grief, but to embrace a life without the only person who ever mattered.

Heaven’s Cafe is the social epicenter of Paradise Valley, but Heaven Mossberg doesn’t have much of a social life to show for it. Between the demanding small business life and dealing with her ex-husband’s pleas to get back together, there isn’t a lot of time for one 30-year-old to kick back and chill.

Ten years ago, Saya escaped a forced marriage in the house of Hara, granting herself the freedom to follow her will. And for ten years, she has been content to live a life of near poverty and menial labor in exchange for being the master of her own destiny. That was until she met Jun, the hotel heiress who stole her heart and taught her what love and protection could feel like.

If anybody deserves a break, it’s Hesper Chess, the only registered CPA within 15 miles of Paradise Valley. Once tax season is over, she dreams of nothing but mai tais and sandy beaches. Too bad she knows a lot about personal finance, and can’t bring herself to spend the money! But before she can rest on her laurels, she hears a cry from one of the town’s many business owners. Florist Meadow Hobfield is being audited. She needs help. A lot of it. These two townspeople who have never shared many conversations are now about to spend a lot of time together.

For the first time in months, Mercy enjoys a day all to herself. After spoiling herself silly without a care in the world, she takes a wrong turn around the wrong alley and encounters Envy, a goddess who wants Mercy to hold a grudge. A plethora of bad memories awaits Mercy before she can continue on her healing journey, and nothing holds a candle to the very real issues in her place of work.

Months after she first went to the bridge, Mercy has been declared healed. However, life still isn’t all sunshine and roses, as evident when she’s stood up on a date. Yet there is someone waiting for her. Acedia, the leader of the Seven Sinners, wishes to personally congratulate Mercy on completing her healing journey. Then the darkness returns, ready to claim Mercy’s soul.

Mercy has never considered herself special, which is why she can see right through her coworker’s “flirtations” for what they really are: harassment. After finally putting everyone in their place, Mercy heads home to find the last of the Seven Sinners in her room. Vanity, the Goddess of Self-Absorption, is ready to teach Mercy how to love herself. But Vanity isn’t very aggressive. If Mercy wants her life back, she’s going to have to take it. Again. And again.

The fifth story in the Sins of Mercy series. Worn down by harassment at work, Mercy makes a new friend who informs her she needs to get “angry” again - to feel the rage of a woman scorned who won’t take bull from anyone and knows how to get what she wants. But how is Mercy to ever feel the sweet release of rage again? As fate would have it, a goddess is waiting for her. Wrath, the deity of righteous anger, wants to whip Mercy back into hating shape.