Anna Agostino has lived in fear of the men in her life for as long as she can remember. In a world ruled by men, she survives like the roses behind the chapel near her family's estate-hidden, thorned, and quietly clinging to life. Her father-untouchable, calculating, and cruel-promised her at nine years old to Silvio Romano, the ruthless son of his consigliere. She's heard the whispers: ruthless. Untouchable. loyal to the Famiglia to his last breath. On her nineteenth birthday, when they wed, she knows she'll be handed from one monster to another. Silvio has been forged into a blade-sharp, disciplined, and unwavering in his duty. But his loyalty is not blind. For years, he and his closest friends have been gathering evidence-uncovering the corruption and blood-soaked secrets of the Chairman and their own fathers. Now the wedding is approaching, and the girl he once viewed as an obligation is no longer a child-she's a haunted young woman with secrets of her own. Can Silvio protect the woman he was never meant to love? And when the truth demands blood, will he have the strength to do what must be done-even if it means betraying the loyalty etched into his very being? *Trigger warning: Contains depictions of spousal abuse, parental child abuse, and references to human trafficking.*

MONTANA He was the love of my life-until he left me standing in the wreckage of our marriage. Five years later, Jared Manelis is a world champion boxer, and the father of my daughters. The man he is today is galaxies away from the boy with blood on his knuckles who once promised me forever. Now a stranger, with the world at his fingertips and a talent for irritating me to no end. But when he's left fighting for his life after a championship match, everything changes. Suddenly, the man who broke me is back inside the walls I built to keep him out. Now he's asking questions we've both avoided for years; while our present battles to keep us apart, our past fights to be brought to the light and bind us together again. JARED Five years ago, fame, pride, and one stupid choice cost me my marriage-and the family I'd always dreamed of. Now I'm with a woman I don't love, have an ex who smiles at everyone but me, and a daughter too nervous to meet my eyes. Then I'm shot after the biggest night of my career-and all I can see is her. When death caresses your cheek, you know it's time to fight for what you want. So I force my way back into her world, where she can't ignore me anymore, and begin my fight for the truth, a chance to be us again. I'll remind her why she chose me all those years ago and show her why I'm worth choosing again.

I'm engaged to the woman of my dreams. Emilia is brilliant, beautiful, and an incredibly successful doctor. I'm a grease-stained mechanic who makes a quarter of what she does. She believes in me. She loves me. But I don't deserve her. So I go out looking to destroy us... and Emilia catches me. I've shattered the only woman who ever made me feel worthy. She doesn't trust me. The ring is off. Our future is hanging by a thread. If I want her back, I'll have to unlearn everything my father taught me about love, money, and what it means to be a man. But this isn't a fairytale... and sometimes you don't get second chances. WARNING: This story contains themes of infidelity, childhood abuse, relationship abuse, and misogyny.

When she was twelve, Winifred fell in love with a boy. When she was eighteen, he broke her heart. Now, widowed at three and thirty, she has decided that her days of love are gone. She wants only peace with her children, with nothing to disturb it. Fifteen years ago, Percy made the biggest mistake of his life. But a job is taking him to the tiny town of Impling, wherein the victim of that mistake now lives. A second chance is close at hand, he knows...if only Winifred will grant it to him. Tropes: Childhood love Hurt/comfort Second chance Quiet heroine Scientist hero Set at midsummer, with some traditional celebrations. Trigger Warnings: Explicit, on-page domestic violence Child abuse (not explicit) Description of a house fire Racism against an Indian character

Diego Camacho wears his heart where everyone can see it-loud, messy, and unashamed. Raised in a family that loves with open arms and open mouths, he's never been the type to hide how he feels. But when a chance encounter sparks a no-strings affair with Dr. Valeria Ross, the rules of love change. Val is everything Diego isn't-clinical, reserved, a woman who locks her heart away behind logic and control. Their chemistry is explosive, but so are their differences. What begins as a stolen night stretches into months of secret texts, late-night calls, and an intimacy Diego refuses to believe is casual. Until Val overhears how Diego truly sees her and walks away without looking back, leaving him gutted by her own short-sightedness. He realizes that to win her back, he'll have to show her that love comes in many forms, and that sometimes, the quiet, "cold" kind of love is the one strong enough to melt steel.

In a world where Gracie has never felt like she belongs, finding a home with Braxton and his family has been like finding an oasis. Until the past walks back through the door, reminding her that people can change their minds and history is impossible to compete with. When Gracie walks away, Braxton's got a choice. Fight for the new love he's found or take a chance on the old one that never had a chance to bloom.

ZOSIA I fell in love with Konstantin Krasnov. On the night I thought he was going to propose, I found another woman in his bed. I ran. I rebuilt. Life went on. Until one day, I'm attacked, and my savior is none other than the man who shattered me. Now there's a target on my back, and the man who cheated on me is the only one who can keep me alive. And I find out I never knew that man at all. Because Konstantin Krasnov is a monster, a butcher, a killer. KONSTANTIN Zosia Russell is the love of my life. My soul. My everything. But I made a choice, a mistake, that I'll regret for the rest of my life. Now she's in danger because of me, and I'll burn this entire world to ash before I let anyone harm her. She hates me, but I'll spend every day for the rest of my life earning back her love and trust. I'll wait forever for my Zosia.

Isabelle was a club girl. Not a name, not a voice--just a body people passed over without a second glance. But not Ryder. Something in him pulled her in, made her forget why she joined the Wardens of Sin MC in the first place. Made her forget she came here with a plan: get paid, get out, finish nursing school. Until Ryder reminded her exactly what she was in his world. She bent. But she didn't break. Now, she has no distractions. No man to crave. No heartbreak to nurse. Just herself--and the future she's resuming. Ryder never meant to fall for the girl everyone could touch. But he did. Hard. And when he was reminded that she'd only ever be a club girl--that hope was a luxury he couldn't afford--he destroyed what they had. Humiliated her. Left her behind like the wreck he saw in himself. But the truth never stays buried. And by the time it comes out, it might be too late.

After an unexpected ceiling collapse sends her apartment into chaos, Madelaine Grayson ends up living with her brother - and dangerously close to his tattooed, way-too-charming roommate. He's off-limits... but resisting him might be impossible. *** When Madelaine Grayson's bathroom ceiling caves in, it's not just drywall that crumbles. It's her entire world. Forced to move in with her brother, she finds herself swept up in the chaos of his new protective attitude - especially when it comes to his tattooed roommate, Noah Laurier. Noah is the epitome of perfection: sweet, hot, and embedded into every thought Madelaine has. But he's forbidden, and the closer she gets, the harder he is to resist. Well... what her brother doesn't know can't hurt him, right? *** "Matt's sister, I presume?" He walks towards the couch and my eyes widen. He's tall. I thought I was tall but this man could tower me, and when he reaches a hand towards me, there's an intricate clock tattooed on the back of his hand and his fingers have bones tattooed over them. This man is not human. He's tall and angular and dripping with sex appeal. This man is hot. Capital H, capital O, capital T. I don't think I've ever seen a human being so attractive. All I can think about as I force myself to keep my eyes on the screen is the feel of his jaw beneath my hand, and it takes everything in me not to look back at him.

April I fight fires for a living-but I've never felt more burned than I did that night. As a forest ranger, I live on the edge of danger and calm. My body is strong, my will even stronger, but that doesn't mean I'm unbreakable. I thought love-real love-would see through the scars I keep hidden beneath my uniform. I thought Ellis saw me. Understood me. But all it took was one careless sentence. One drunken confession echoing through a baby monitor, turning a celebration into a battlefield. He humiliated me in front of everyone-my friends, my chosen sisters, myself. And now I'm standing in the ashes of something I thought would last forever, wondering if I've been lying to myself about what love really looks like. Ellis I was drunk. Stupid. Thoughtless. It was just a conversation. Boys being boys, joking around in a room where I thought no one could hear. But they did. She did. And I said things I can't take back. I don't even recognize the man who said them-because that man humiliated the strongest, most loyal, most incredible woman he's ever known. April is the kind of woman who runs toward danger. Who holds broken branches like they're bones and brings people back from the edge. And I crushed her with words. Now I'd do anything-everything-to take it back. But the damage is done. And I'm not sure I deserve to be the one who tries to fix it.