"To be honest, none of us really belong anywhere, but we're all outsiders and outsiders tend to band together like their own island of misfit toys." -Violet Zykin, Flowers. Marie thought her heart was okay. Derek thought that he was alone. Violet thought that being subordinate to her sister didn't bother her. Shamshad thought that he could survive his parents expectations. Rose was sick of being 'perfect'. What happens when all their lives are changed? ||RATED PG13 FOR STRONG LANGUAGE, TOUGH TOPICS||

***Getting Published - Removing Everything but an Excerpt!*** Alec Whitehall is old-fashioned—literally. Approaching his 123rd birthday, the steely vampire has nothing better to do with his time except to investigate and hunt murderous vampires as a means of regaining some sense of his withering humanity. While trailing his current case in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the last thing that Alec expects to find is his bonded mate—an unwelcome distraction, he's sure of it. But that's exactly what happens, and he's shocked to realize that his mate is a young attractive man named Aidan Copperfield. How do two straight men deny an attraction that they have absolutely no power over? As their stony resolve begins to crumble and they start to succumb to the fiery magnetism between them, a sadistic killer continues to roam the city streets at night, narrowing his sights on the newly bonded couple.