"Are you... lost?" Someone asked, her tone impatient. I stopped scanning the room to find the woman behind the voice. I blinked. She had the most luminous blue eyes I had ever seen. Even in the dim glow of the bar they glowed brightly, like her pupils were some type of smooth stone at the bottom of a clear blue ocean. Within her blue there flickered tiny speckles of silver, which gave her an icy, somewhat stony appeal. But it was her slight, lopsided smile that erased any signs of wanting to be alone. No wonder this bar was so popular. "Uh, no," I said, holding up the Help Wanted sign I had snagged from the front window. The woman's cool eyes flickered between the sign and me. She didn't say anything, only looked slightly thoughtful as slender fingers raked through her long blonde hair. "What can you do?" She finally asked, definitely not expecting me to be able to do much of anything at all. She'd be right. "Anything and everything," I answered-lied-instantly, hoping I didn't look too desperate, didn't sound too eager. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't worked a day in my life. My hands were used to weekly manicures not hard labor. But desperate times call for desperate measures. The blonde appeared thoughtful again. Those magnificent eyes gave me a once over, slow and steady. You could see the cogs turning in her head as she considered it. I decided to try and sound more convincing. "I have many skills," I added. Okay, so I stole that from Xena, but I was hoping it worked as well for me as it did for her. The blonde lifted a sculpted brow and the smile was, once again, back on her lips. She seemed amused. Maybe she was a Xena fan? "Alright... I'll start you off cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping the floors, doing the dishes..." Crap.

A stranger to her own existence, Kayla moves to a small town with the hope of finding comfort in a fresh start. But as she steps inside the unfamiliar classroom on the first day, standing in front of the class is a mysteriously familiar face, one that rouses memories of a time she believed had gone by. With past baggage catching up in the most intrusive ways, she stumbles upon unexpected comfort of friendship, unconditional love of found family, and a beautiful yet complicated bond between two hesitant souls. "This book was like a warm hug, and I might believe in love again." "I would give everything, especially my soul, to have the opportunity to read this book for the first time again." ────── CW: Substance abuse, harsh language, sexual content, mention of self-harm and suicide. ────── Started in January 2018. Re-published in November 2022. First draft finished in April 2023. ────── Copyright 2018 © Renee Steinberg All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced, copied, translated, or republished in any form without the author's permission, except for brief quotations or reviews with proper credit.

~The SEQUEL to 'Alex's Girl' is finally here~ It has been seven years since the events of 'Alex's Girl', where Alexis Sterling loved then lost Valerie Greco, a troubled but selfless young woman who managed to sneak her way into Alex's heart when she wasn't looking. Though Alex still misses Val every day, she has tried to move on with her life. She has become an emergency room doctor, she's moved into a beautiful new home, and she's even made some new friends. She also spends a lot of her time witnessing firsthand the ripple effect her actions seven years ago have caused her beloved city, with mob violence growing increasingly out of control and the hospitals quickly filling to capacity with more and more victims. Tensions are high as the Costa crime family are more powerful than they have ever been before, bringing the city to its very knees. And to make matters worse, Alex has unwittingly befriended the daughter of her most hated enemy, Ciro Costa, the man responsible for Val's death. The Grecos, on the other hand, have been laying low the last seven years, their illegal operations mostly cloaked in shadows... that is... until now. The Grecos are back, and they're back with a vengeance that demands blood. Their sudden comeback as a powerhouse crime family has Alex asking, how? Or perhaps the question she should be asking is, who?

The rules are simple: play the part, make it believable, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. A quiet, sharp-tongued French girl named Juliette, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 Madeline, and the feeling is mutual. But when Madeline makes an 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 Juliette can't ignore, hatred turns into a game neither of them can control. The stares last too long. Fights cut too deep. The tension is 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. They were never supposed to want this. Too bad they're already 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 every rule. [18+]

❝𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭.❞ Two fashion students, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈 and 𝐊𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐎𝐍. They recklessly hate each other. Their whole body fills up with rage with every eye contact, every reminiscence of the other, every touch. What will happen when they are assigned a project, and that project turns out to be a photoshoot? Maybe, they'll come to terms with the burning feeling that envelops their bodies wasn't 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝, overall. Copyright © 2022 deidarren™ No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, pictures belong to the rightful owners.