Love is a Lie. As a photographer for the New York Post, Kari Martin was used to seeing heartache and scandal up close. But one night at the club... her whole world changed. Heartbroken and willing to call off her wedding, she decides a change is in order and moves from NYC to a small town in Maine, where the average age of the residents there is sixty (or thereabouts). She works to fit in perfectly, and tries like hell not to let anyone find out just how very jaded she's recently become over the lie called love. Jake Isaac left Texas quite a few years ago; his heart torn from his chest, and his mind set on being a bachelor forever. Maine would welcome him, give him land to explore and a community to belong to. Getting a job as the coach of the local junior high and serving on the fire department kept him busy - and labeled him a hometown hero - but the truth of his damaged heart was forever hidden. No one would ever know just how jaded he was about love. That is... until he meets Kari.
Kari
"Are you excited at all? You look rough, like you might throw up any minute." Lisa reached over in the front seat of the car and poked Kari, whose hands were shaking slightly on the wheel.
Kari laughed sarcastically and glanced toward the fiery redhead beside her, a smile on her mouth as nervousness churned from her stomach to her chest. The big day was tomorrow and she was beyond blessed to be marrying someone like Frank, but that didn't ease her worry, her thoughts. To be tied down to someone for the rest of eternity and hope that they would remain loving, faithful, fun?
Impossible. Her own parents were a great match and yet they'd fallen apart her senior year, leaving her to celebrate most of her high school events with her brother, Marc and her mom's youngest sister, Katie. If two of the most compatible people in the universe hadn't made it, what chance did she and Frank have?
"Hey, that was a question."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was thinking about my folks again." Kari shrugged, glancing in the rearview mirror and pulling up to a long string of apartments. "Run in and get Sicily. I think I might hurl if I get out right now."
"Yeah, no prob." Lisa reached for the door handle before looking back across the open confines of the car. "You know you don't have to marry him, right?"
Kari shrugged and turned to face her friend. "I love Frank, Lisa. It's all good. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of forever."
"Yes, well, I don't love Frank at all. He's too mysterious and something's jacked up about his hair."
Kari pushed at her best friend. "Go get Sicily and stop trying to break up my happy ending before it even happens."
Lisa huffed, her voice soft and low as she grumbled various things about Frank and his hair. As soon as she shut the door to the car, Kari let out a long breath, her head dropping back and her eyes closing. Was this the right decision? Why was she having second thoughts now? She and Frank had been dating since her freshman year of college and now they had both graduated. It was time for the next step.
The wedding had been planned over a six-month period, Lisa and Sicily helping her along every step of the decision-making process. It'd been a long six months, one filled with nothing more than minor petting and carefully guarded make-out sessions with her husband-to-be. It was something she wanted, not him. He was more than happy to hump the side of a pole if it had an opening, but he had been faithful to her for the last four years. At least she assumed as much.
She wanted their wedding night to be special, like opening a new package. The idea of re-virginizing oneself seemed trivial and silly to her friends, but it was something that mattered to her. So, she suffered through Frank's occasional rants about being a man and simply reminded him that she rarely asked for much and this was important to her.
The ironic thing was that he wasn't exactly her type. He was fit and strong, sleek and mysterious, the last of which Lisa hated. Her friends berated her for not digging a little more into his past, which she knew very little about. Life was more about the future to come than the past that slipped into nothingness behind them. Right?
His mother had been from Mexico and a father was never mentioned, leaving Frank rather withdrawn whenever she brought it up, so she rarely did. They would have the rest of their lives to figure each other out. No need to know everything before becoming one. He was a good man and had a great job and doted on her most of the time. She'd yet to see a temper or angry streak in the past four years, and she loved him – plain and simple.
The front and back car doors opened and her friends slipped in, Sicily getting in the front where Lisa was previously. Her long chestnut hair hung around her slender shoulders and covered the top of a silky white shirt that dipped low into her breasts. Her friend was magnificently beautiful and yet she didn't seem to have the slightest clue, or she didn't care. They'd only been friends for two years, but Sicily and Lisa had grown up together on the west side of New York.
"You weren't lying." Sicily buckled up and looked over toward Lisa in the backseat, Lisa giving a sound of appreciation.
"Lying about what?" Kari asked before pulling back out into the street. They were headed out for the bachelorette party, the three of them joining a larger group of girls at a club in the heart of downtown Manhattan.
"Lying about how sickly you look." Lisa leaned up and tugged at a strand of Kari's hair, smiling up at her in the rearview mirror.
"You okay?" Sicily reached over and rubbed her forearm, a soft smile on the other girl's face.
Kari laughed again and shook her head. "I'm fine. Wait until you witches are getting married and then you'll understand. Forever is a long time. Like really, really long."
"Yeah, I'm not hunkering down with the same man for forever. No way." Lisa stomped her feet on the floor, the sound of her false tantrum filling the car. "Not gonna happen. I refuse."
"I want to settle down. I think it would be great to trust someone enough to really share all of yourself. You know, both your heart and your body." Sicily reached up and pulled down the small visor in front of her, popping it open and checking her teeth.
"You already share your body readily. What is the big deal with sharing your heart? You have us for that," Lisa responded from the backseat.
"Kari, help me out here. Our hooker friend doesn't understand love because she's a spoiled brat only child who gets whatever she wants."
Kari straightened up a little, pulling onto the freeway and trying to decide whose side to take. On the one hand, she totally understood Sicily. She wanted to love deeply and be loved, but to Lisa's point, sometimes love sucked royally and lust was simple and straightforward.
"I'm not a hooker. I just think that love and lust are messy, but lust allows you a quick shower and you're back on your feet. Love usually provides weeks of crying, ice cream causing rear expansion, and a necessary purge to remove his crap from your house. That's a lot to ask of a girl."
"She's right about the rear expansion." Kari shrugged and tried to get into the conversation, her own thoughts filled with question. "Why am I so worried about this?"
This guy could offer me the moon, and I’d hand it right back. Never in a million years did I expect to run into the biggest crush of my childhood. But, of course, I have. And I’m reporting to him at the new company I landed a big-time job at. Arrogant. Hot as hell. Total jackass. Why he’s still single is no mystery to me. He’s not willing to settle down. He’s always been that way, and as far as I’m concerned, he always will be. But, boy, is he beautiful to look at. Every part of me screams "run" as my insides turn to mush. No. Not me too… Not again. I should be immune by now. I know him far too well to fall into this hopeless pit of adoration again. But maybe there’s a way around it. It’s his power that drives me over the edge of insanity. If I were the boss instead of him, I’d hold all the cards. Good thing I’m always up for a challenge. Funnily enough, this guy thinks he’s going to score. He might have to redefine what getting lucky looks like after me. At least, that’s the plan.
Ethan Lewis has been in the bright lights for as long as he can remember. He’s just turned the cusp of celebrating his twenty-fourth birthday, and yet he feels more like eighty. Living the life of a celebrity isn’t all it is chalked up to be, and dealing with the unruly number of women who are more interested in his billions than who he is as a person is getting old. He has resigned himself to giving up on love and focusing on the only thing that truly gives back – his career. Riley Phillips has always dreamed of being on a big stage with the warmth of the spotlight baring down on her, but she just couldn’t seem to catch the right agent’s attention. After giving a quick commencement speech as Valedictorian of her graduating class at Billmore High, she’s offered something she can’t refuse... The chance to work in Hollywood. It’s not all it’s chalked up to be, but she works hard and finally gets her big break four years down the line. There is a new movie that her agent wants her to audition for, and her co-star? The dreamy Ethan Lewis. She scores the part, but soon regrets it due to his callous, overbearing persona. He’s nothing like the public touts, and she for one isn’t impressed. Funny enough, he is - immensely. This is book 1 in a continued series. All books are available
He said I couldn’t do it, but he was wrong. An old professor at UCLA promised me that I would make nothing of myself, so I made sure I did. To the tune of billions. I’m only a little cocky about it. Yachts, parties, and one-night events pretty much spell out my life. And all of it works well until I run into a beauty I can’t get out of my head. But we’re keeping it friendly and casual until we aren’t. There’s just one problem. Her old man hates me. And for good reason. He was my UCLA professor. He’s dead set against me becoming anything important to his little girl, but the old man’s got it all backward. I’m not looking to make an example out of our passion or prove a point. This isn’t about hit it and quit it. His daughter is mine, and he might kick me out, but she’s letting me all the way in.
My Needs. My Demands. Your Pleasure. You're Welcome. She had one year left of college when our parents got married. And thanks to being raised in poverty, she needed help with her expenses. My dad, being the benevolent billionaire, stepped up without question. But there was a catch. She had to intern at the firm for a year. With me. As her boss. Poor sweet little thing. She has no clue what she’s up against, but she’ll figure it out soon. I don’t play typical games, but the ones I do play, I always win. And regardless of how taboo our relationship might become, I’m all in. The reward is worth the risk. I just hope she can keep up with my many demands.
He’s going to make me break my number one rule. And possibly lose my job. How dare he? It’s pretty simple, though. Don’t date students. Which is normally easy to stick to. Who wants to date an eighteen-year-old boy? Not me. I much prefer an older man with rough hands that knows what he’s doing. Enter Mr. Evans. A single father billionaire with more time on his plate than he knows what to do with. And the man is brilliant and wickedly delicious. Much to my surprise, he’s quickly becoming my star pupil, which means he gets more of my time than necessary. But I can’t help myself. He’s exactly what I need in my life, in my bed, kissing me at the stroke of midnight… And the best is even though he’s older than me, he’s more than willing to let me teach him a few new tricks. Let's just hope we don't get caught.
I need a wife. Now. It doesn’t have to do with love and living the good life. This is all about getting the money my billionaire father left to me. And I’m running out of time. But who proposes to a stranger after the first date? Me. That’s who. As if I have another choice. Luck is on my side though, and a beautiful model shows up in my office. Single? Gorgeous? Funny? All of the above. Our first date goes so well that I feel unsure about my decision to do this thing with her—you know, fake it. I put it off and decide to do it later, to ask for her help after we get to know each other better. But I like her more and more each time we meet, and eventually, offering her a ring isn’t for my dad’s money—it’s because I want her more than anything else in the world. Besides, who’s going to know if it’s fake or real? And does it really matter? Yeah. It does.
Becky endured three years of marriage to the cold-hearted Rory. In all that time, she naively reasoned that one day, he'd gradually come to like her. But the second he forced her to kneel down and humiliate herself, she knew she had been wrong about him. This man had no feelings for her at all. So why should she still love him? When Rory gave her the choice between kneeling down and divorcing, she didn't miss a beat and chose the latter. After all, why should she waste her youth on this scumbag? Wouldn't it be nicer for her to just have fun every day with her billion-dollar family fortune?
Kara Martin was known as Miss Perfect. She was a beauty with good personality and successful career. Unfortunately, her life changed at one night. She was accused of adultery, losing her job, and abandoned by her fiance. The arrogant man who slept with her did not want to take responsibility. He even threatened to kill her if they met again. What's worse, Kara was pregnant with twins and she chose to give birth to them. Four and a half years later, Kara returned to work at a large company. As the secretary, she would frequently face their notorious CEO. Kara thought it wouldn't be a problem, but as it turned out ... the CEO was the father of the twins!
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
Blinded in a crash, Cary was rejected by every socialite—except Evelina, who married him without hesitation. Three years later, he regained his sight and ended their marriage. "We’ve already lost so many years. I won’t let her waste another one on me." Evelina signed the divorce papers without a word. Everyone mocked her fall—until they discovered that the miracle doctor, jewelry mogul, stock genius, top hacker, and the President's true daughter… were all her. When Cary came crawling back, a ruthless tycoon had him kicked out. "She's my wife now. Get lost."
On her wedding day, Khloe’s sister connived with her groom, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. She was sentenced to three years in prison, where she endured much suffering. When Khloe was finally released, her evil sister used their mother to coerce Khloe into an indecent liaison with an elderly man. As fate would have it, Khloe crossed paths with Henrik, the dashing yet ruthless mobster who sought to alter the course of her life. Despite Henrik’s cold exterior, he cherished Khloe like no other. He helped her take retribution from her tormentors and kept her from being bullied again.
He told her to call him Daddy. Not because he earned it, but because he fucking owned her. The moment she signed that contract, she stopped being a woman with dignity and became his filthy little plaything. His holes to use. His mess to ruin. He didn't just fuck her, he rewired her. Stripped her clean of boundaries and filled her with sin. Every punishment made her scream. Every game dragged her deeper into his twisted world. And the way he praised her... Good girl. She should've run the first time he said it. But Daddy doesn't let his toys leave. He breaks them until they beg to stay. ** Mia's life changed the night she let a stranger ruin her. One night. She never expected to see him again. Until she walked into her new job... and her boss turned around. Ace.Her one-night sin in a thousand-dollar suit. Only this time, he wasn't asking her to be his assistant. She was to be his wife.