Showing results by author "Kate Stewart" in All Categories

Once upon a time... There lived an ambitious boy determined to become a man before his time. And a woman and battered soldier who recognized the scars that marred his soul—scars that mirrored her own. Determined to help shape the warrior within him, it was their inexplicable bond that would forever alter his heart. And the loss of that love that would redefine his destiny. After all, nothing has ever been fair in love and war.

Through the years, I lived more as an enigma than a man. For so long, I denied I had a beating heart of my own. Until her. Until she unearthed the starving vessel inside, forced me to acknowledge it, forced me to understand that I’m capable of bleeding the same as any other. For that, we paid. We're still paying. Yet she demands it still; the useless heart of the ruthless thief and shameless villain she fell for. My fear is that I’m no longer that man.

It’s a ghost town, this place that haunts me, the one that made me. It’s clear to me that I’ll never outgrow Triple Falls or outlive the time I spent here. I can still feel them all, my boys of summer. Even when I'd sensed the danger, I gave in. I didn’t heed a single warning. I let my sickness and my love both rule and ruin me. I played my part, eyes wide open, tempting fate until it delivered. There was never going to be an escape. All of us are to blame for what happened. All of us are serving our own sentences.

Once upon a time… there lived a man with a vengeance-filled heart that held too many secrets and a woman, pure of soul, intent on uncovering them. What they failed to realize is that through the storm their love would create, a legacy would be born.

Thirty years ago, my father became the other half of a broken love story. A relationship he’s kept hidden for decades. Upon unearthing his secret through a series of emails in our paper’s archives, I began my search for the truth. Haunted by my father’s love story, and in my quest for answers, I never imagined I would discover a love of my own. Or that my love for Easton Crowne would be key in discovering the reason behind what split our parents up.

Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣ Secrets that cost us everything to keep.⁣ That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.⁣ Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence, due to my illness, and all were punished.

The average song is three and a half minutes long; those three and a half minutes could lead to a slow blink, a glimpse of the past, or catapult the soul into heart-shattering nostalgia. At the height of my career, I had the life I wanted, the life I’d always envisioned. I’d found my tempo, my rhythm. Then I received a phone call that left me off key. You see, my favorite songs had a way of playing simultaneously. I was in love with one man’s beats and another’s lyrics. But when it came to the soundtrack of a life, how could anyone choose a favorite song?

Briggs: Remember when we parted ways in Germany? It was the day I broke your heart. What you didn't know was that I was breaking mine too. I thought they'd be enough - my husband and my son. That I'd get home and everything would go back to the way it was...before the war. Before the ambush. Before you. But, no matter how hard I try, I can't erase the trauma we shared. I can't seem to forget the way my heart beat in time with yours. I thought the nightmare was over when they pulled us from that hole in the ground, but nothing could have prepared me for the war I'd face at home.

For Natalie, being the wife to the most sought-after rock star on the planet has its privileges, but in the last year, she's been put through the wringer as far as the pitfalls. When Easton summons her to Mexico for a second-anniversary honeymoon vacation in the very place that brought them back together, Natalie becomes filled with hope to close the space between them…along with a special request—a request that leads them into a day-long exploration of sorting through their past while trying to imagine the rest of their future together.

Clark Griswold was onto something...at least with his annual holiday meltdown. And since the last three weeks of my life have been riddled with humbug—another breakup, a broken toe, an office promotion I deserved and didn’t get—I’m not at all in the mood to celebrate nor have the happ, happ, happiest Christmas EVER.

When an A-list celebrity dives deep into a role by utilizing method acting, his wife will have to figure out how to get her husband back in this posh Hollywood romance.

My kids are a**holes. Yeah, I said it. I said the thing no father is supposed to say about their children, and I'll say it again because I miss my wife. Serena's checked out and now resides in "yes, dear" robot mode, complete with a new eye twitch. Reason being the impish elves we spawned are currently sucking the life out of her—daily. Thanks to Gracie and Peyton, my patience is hanging by the last orange bulb on a very thin green wire. Thank God we're headed to Triple Falls. A week of Ruby's eggnog and a little change of scenery could be just what the woman I love needs.

To me, that's all Lucian Aston is—a highly sophisticated, posh Englishman who stars in my daydreams. Mostly because of the way he views me as a loud, boisterous, no-nonsense surgical nurse he's stuck touring London and Paris with up to the day of his groundbreaking surgery. Until then, we've got a lot of downtime to kill. So, it's only natural that I put my best foot forward to get to know him a little better. Problem is Lucian has no intention of taking a single step in his fancy wingtips to meet me halfway. That is until we strike our deal.

My priorities were instilled in me early on—family and football. Those ideals led me to TGU and a coach whose ironclad principles mirrored my own. With one last college season to play, my goal was singular—get drafted. By realizing my NFL dream, I could save my family, our ranch, and the only home I’d ever known. Two birds, one ball. Playing hard was my only option, but there’s always a wild card. For all of my planning and hard work, I never anticipated falling for the coach's daughter.

Strike One: My mother named me Theodore after her favorite chipmunk. Not cool, Mom. I‘ve spent most of my life answering to Teddy because I couldn’t make Theo work. Except for here. College. The place where all bets are off, and I’ve managed to redeem myself. There’s only one problem, my new roommate, Troy, is football royalty and looks like he stepped off the set of an Abercrombie shoot. Doesn’t matter, I cook a mean breakfast for his panty parade, and we get along well. And anyway, this year I got the girl. And she’s perfect. Everything's perfect...until Troy sees her.

It started with a lie. A night of blurred lines between a teacher and a student. I wasn’t her student, yet it was the single most defining night of my life. I’ve never been the man she thinks I am. Most people have no idea about the life I’ve lived or the words that ring true when it comes to me—still waters run deep. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a coed on the TGU campus who knows otherwise…because I’ve never corrected them. The clock is ticking down, it’s Fourth and Inches with the ball inside the one-yard line and the focus is on me, The Guy on the Left.

What I thought was my pre-destined path was very much an illusion. Living seven years with regret, I realized too late that I was broken and that I only had myself to blame. I thought love could wait.... but it didn't. We'd had it all those years ago, and then I foolishly left it behind. She was all that mattered. She was all there ever was. There was no life without Dallas, no reason... except her.

The first time I met Ian Kemp in the sparkling blue waters of St. Thomas, I was six years old, and we shared a summer beneath the stars. The second time I met Ian Kemp, he was a shell of the boy I once knew. Turbulent and infuriating, he refused my friendship at every turn. Like me, he was a casualty of life’s cruelty, but we were planets apart. We’d both sought refuge on the island, hoping to find our anchor. Instead, we found each other and managed to reclaim our stars...until we both got swept away.

We fell in love in a lightning strike. He knew right away, yet I was hesitant. I could have never prepared myself for a love like ours. No one could. As a child, I had conjured an amazing story in my mind. It was a story I could retell about a man who would move me like no other, a story about the way we met and how he had swept me off my feet. But the ending to that fairytale was so far from the reality. No one will want to hear that story now, but for Grant, I will always tell it.

For the last ten years, I've roamed the globe, captivated by the world around me. I've seen the seven wonders and admired sunsets from every continent. I've lived and loved, and that was enough for me. It would have to be. I was content, satisfied with my collection of experiences... until a phone call led me down a road less traveled. If I'd known my fascination would pique and be forever quenched only a few hundred miles from where my curiosity had been born, I may have never set sail.