One lesson I learned very early in life was to be cheerful, to be agreeable, to do as I was told and ask for nothing, and to never ever complain. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and maybe they'll love you. I grew into an adult who took care of others and never expected that those I loved would take care of me in return. I gave and never asked, never expected, never demanded. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and you'll find someone that will love you. And then one day, a Dragon walked into my workplace and turned my world upside down with a single wink. Having grown up watching his father treat his men like they were disposable, just meat bags to be fed into the grinder, Dragon was determined to be different when he became president of the Dragon's Inferno MC. He cares about his people. He takes care of them. He was upfront with me, taking care of his MC and those he considered to be his would always be his priority. And I agreed to that, I joined him in that mission, throwing myself into becoming the perfect old lady of the prez. Smile Maddie. Act happy Maddie. Take care of them and maybe they'll love you. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't complain and maybe he'll love you. I told myself I was independent. I was strong. And I didn't need my Dragon to take care of me. And I almost believed it. Almost. But now I'm watching him with her. I'm watching him comfort her. I'm watching him listen to her, support her, reassure her. I'm watching him take time from his day to check in with her. I'm watching him worry about her. I'm watching them become closer right in front of my eyes. I'm seeing every thoughtful gesture he does for her. And me? I'm not happy. I'm not smiling. I'm done being agreeable. Fuck not causing trouble. I'm about to set my Dragon's world on fire. And then I'm walking away. She can have him. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing myself.

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.

Theodore Bancroft is intelligent, despite what some may think, but he has never had the respectability that an investor needs. He needs a wife to bolster his rakish image. A perfect wife. Adelaide Kingsley is perfect. Her one imperfection - getting caught in the Haversham gardens with Theodore Bancroft - is entirely by design. Not only does it get her out of her impending engagement to the odious Lord Greeling, but it also wins her the only thing she has never known: freedom. Her marriage to Theodore is more than convenient. It is a space for her to find herself for the first time in her life. Somewhere along the way, she starts to wonder if convenience has turned into love. Then, she finds her husband in a passionate embrace with another woman. NOTE: HEA between OG couple. Trigger Warnings: Dark themes surrounding sexuality, cheating, revenge cheating, questions of sexuality during an oppressive era, some domestic violence, and scenes of BDSM/control in a sexual context, depictions of disordered eating.

I knew my best friend since childhood loved me. I knew it. And when I got back from my business trip, I was going to tell him how I felt, especially when he told me he had something exciting to tell me. But it wasn't that he loved me. He'd gotten married while I was on an overseas business trip to my worst enemy.

I was raised to obey. Polished. Perfect. Promised. When my father ordered me to marry the heir to one of the Dominion's ruling families, I understood exactly what it meant. Power traded for peace, my freedom bartered for his empire. My new husband wasn't the monster I expected. He was patient, careful, and treated me with nothing but respect. It didn't take long for me to fall in love. I thought it was mutual. Then the truth unraveled, and I learned another woman still whispered his name in the dark. But I was never meant to be a quiet tragedy. When the truth broke me, I didn't stay broken. I made sure I was the one they whispered about next.

My husband was in a terrible accident that required six months of physical therapy. While I stood by him, cheering him on, he was making plans to leave me. For his physical therapist.

Fern thought marriage meant partnership, love, and the quiet safety of family. For four years she's tried to believe that-tried to ignore the sharp edges of a mother-in-law who never wanted her, an ex who had moved too close for comfort and a husband who is always looking the other way. But when her husband's negligence leaves their little girl in a hospital bed with burns on her hand, Fern can no longer swallow the excuses. She is done being the afterthought in her own marriage. Her husband Conner insists he loves her, but love doesn't keep a child safe. Love doesn't silence a mother-in-law's whispers or stop an ex from poisoning the air of every family gathering. Love isn't enough-not when Fern's entire world has been built on the shaky ground of compromise. And as the fractures in their marriage widen into fault lines, Fern has to face the question she's been afraid to ask- What if walking away is the only way to save herself and her daughter?

Katya Clairmont has survived the worst and rebuilt her life around three things: her son, her best friend Jax, and her independence. Taking a job at Kingston Lux Holdings is supposed to be practical-a paycheck with the added bonus of working with the company's celebrated women's foundation. Instead, it drops her straight into the path of Sinclair Kingston, the impossibly intimidating CEO who mistakes her strength for scheming and her mishaps for flirting. Sinclair built an empire by controlling every variable, every risk-especially his heart. Katya is the one woman he can't file neatly away: infuriating, vulnerable, and impossible to ignore. When sabotage from his past threatens her career and her reputation, Sinclair must decide if loyalty to image is worth losing the only woman who's ever made him want more. A story of sharp banter, stolen glances, found family, and second chances-Sinners & Saints is where power, passion, and redemption collide.

Rachel's heart broke ten years ago. The man she wanted never saw her. She was never on his radar. So she moved on--or tried to. He was her best friend's brother, after all; escaping him was impossible. Instead, she built a life. Married another man who promised her the kind of love she'd stopped waiting for. But promises shatter easily. When Rachel discovers her husband's infidelity, the illusion of her happy ending crumbles. Mark was never the man who saw her. And the miserable truth is--the only man who ever did, abandoned her while her world fell apart. Now she's a new mother to her cheating, abusive husband's daughter, surrounded by friends who refuse to let her break... including him. Roy. Leroy. The man she weaved fantasies around since she was thirteen. So when he finally looks at her--really looks at her--and promises the kind of love she once dreamed about, Rachel lets herself fall. Completely. Only to learn she was never going to be his first choice. He had twenty years to hear her. Five months to claim her. And one night was all it took--for him to destroy her instead.

Running from hell is hard - especially when the devil you married refuses to let you go. To the world, my husband is perfection. CEO. Philanthropist. Gentleman. To me, he's the monster who taught me that love can burn worse than fire. He always put everything else first - his company, his ambition, even her. I was never enough. So I left. But he's not the kind of man who accepts endings. Now he wants to make things right, to atone for the years he destroyed me. Only this time, his enemies have followed him home - and the man I once loved has become a stranger wearing his face. Because maybe he was never mine to begin with. Maybe I was only ever his penance.