Dr Alexandria Byrne had once believed that tenderness was a kind of safety. A shelter. A promise. Then someone she loved broke that promise, and the aftershocks hollowed her out in ways she still couldn't speak of. Now, years later, she carried herself with the calm precision of someone who could not afford softness again. Her voice clipped, her posture immaculate, her emotions tucked away as neatly as the papers on her desk. Her colleagues called her distant. Students called her cold. But she called it survival. She never imagined the girl who would unravel all of it had already stepped onto campus-heart bruised, hands trembling, carrying a grief heavier than her rucksack. They would meet in a storm, though neither knew it yet.

Lilith Hawthorne is a 20 year old psychology student with a complicated heart and more issues than she likes to admit. She feels too much, thinks too hard, and often drowns in the weight of her own empathy. She's curious, emotionally intense, and carries unresolved wounds especially the kind only a mother can leave behind. Valentina Salvatore is a 30 year old CEO. She works hard to build her career and keep things running smoothly. At the same time, she loves deeply but carefully, making sure her feelings go to the right person. She has learned to protect her heart and waits for someone who matches the way she feels. Where Lilith is full of feelings and unpredictability, Valentina has her life sorted out. They come from different worlds and have different ways of living, but what if that's exactly why they fit?

It's Collette's first day of senior year and she already can't wait for it to be over. She's a good student with an even bigger reputation to her teachers, all but one. Valentina Fairbourne is new to teaching in this high school. Bigger pay, smaller classes. What could go wrong? Virtually nothing. But what about one student? Can things remain professional between the two? Strictly teacher and student? [THERE ARE ERRORS in this book! So many errors & they will get fixed soon enough. I just write for fun & none of it is professional. Please beware of these before you read further!]

As Diana Coopers prepares for the pressure of her senior year, she seeks comfort in a book she's been trying to find for months. And just as she finally spots it, someone else snatches it right out of her hands. Diana's annoyed to say the least, until she realises this stranger might end up changing her life in ways she's never even imagined.

Sequel to Nothing Lasts Forever. Two years later, Diana's life is steady(finally). College. A future she's working towards. And Natalie, the woman who makes the distance feel worth it. But even the calm can feel uncertain. Especially when a professor's attention starts to echo parts of Diana she swore she'd never repeat. It's nothing. She tells herself that. And when she's back home for Christmas, everything feels safe again. Until the drive back that changes everything. One crash. And Diana walks away with her life, but not everyone does. After, she returns to a world that kept moving without her, drowning in guilt, grief and anger. She's so consumed by what she's lost, she almost misses what Natalie's losing too.

Amara Alonso is 22 years old and is in her final year studying English literature at NYU. She's smart, kind and gentle, she always has been. But she carries a quiet sadness that most don't see. After losing her mother and sister in a tragic car accident 8 months ago, she was left with an alcoholic father who she blames for their death. She promises herself to push through her last year of college but soon falls into a cycle- skipping classes, tear-stained eyes, and an empty stomach. Emilia Zayed is a 29 year old creative writing professor. Emilia is poised, intelligent and emotionally guarded. She keeps everyone at arm's length- students, colleges, friends, and especially family. She doesn't trust people and shows no intention to. She shows no interest in anybody around her, until a soft brown eyed girl enters her lecture with a look of hurt deep in her eyes that she can't seem to stop thinking about. Emilia notices Amara's writing first. There's something about her work-so raw, so aching, so lonely. It touches something in Emilia she thought she'd buried. Never has a student's piece of writing made her feel this way. They shouldn't get close. They can't get close. But they do. And it's slow, quiet, and deeply emotional. It's Amara showing up during Emilia's office hours not just to talk about writing but about life. It's Emilia realising Amara needs more than feedback-she needs someone who sees her. And it's Amara finally finding someone who doesn't leave. The two form an unspoken bond they can't explain. It's forbidden in the eyes of everybody else. But they can't help but feel softer around each other. Will they ever act on it? Will Amara's hurt or Emilia's closed offness prevent them from ever truly opening up and giving in?

Hartley, a 20 years old univeristy student is struggling to keep herself focused on studying. With her illness making matters worse, the young woman ends up failing Mathematic, her main and most important class. The only way to get through this year is spending all gloomy, cold, autumn afternoons with Vivienne Laurent, the most strict professor known to mankind, who agreed to guide the lost but eager student through the most complicated topics. But what will happen when those two find out they have more in common then they would ever suspect? Will Hartley manage to get back on track?

Fresh out of college, Nora Hawthorne has one simple goal: savor a carefree Italian holiday before "real life" begins. Dragged into a glittering boutique by her friend, she collides-literally-with a woman who seems carved from steel and secrets: Victoria Rossi, the millionaire and the CEO of her own company, and whose name is whispered with awe and fear. Victoria is cold, commanding, and impossible to read-and yet, something in Victoria's gaze softens when it settles on Nora. Nora tells herself it was nothing. A strange, fleeting moment she'll never have to think about again. Until fate intervenes. She discovers that she's been hired at Victoria's company, forcing them to meet again. Can the warmth of one heart melt the ice around another? Or will the feeling Victoria felt towards Nora be able to tear down her walls before they even have a chance to crack?

It was never supposed to mean anything. Just a fleeting moment. A beautiful mistake, soaked in midnight and quiet desperation. One night to forget the rules. To taste freedom in the arms of a stranger. To let go without thinking of the morning after. No goodbyes. No consequences. Only touches that lingered too long, and memories etched into skin like whispers. But fate doesn't play fair. Because when Mia stepped into her classroom that Monday morning, time didn't just stop. It held its breath. And there she was. The stranger from that night. But not draped in shadows this time. No, now she stood in the light. Composed. Commanding. Off-limits. Her new English teacher. Their eyes met. A flash of recognition. A pause too long to be innocent. Mia's heart stumbled in her chest. The room faded, voices dulled, the world narrowed to just her. The woman she wasn't supposed to see again. The woman who now held her future in the palm of her hand. And maybe, just maybe, still remembered everything.