Six years ago, Blanchard Collins packed her bags, boarded a bus to Houston, and never looked back. She left behind her abusive father, the town that never forgave her for speaking her mind, and Rueben Bailey, the boy who broke her heart the night before they were supposed to run away together. Now twenty-four, Blanchard returns home with her five-year-old daughter, Willow, and a dying mother who's asked for one final thing-her presence. But coming home means facing the ghosts she thought she'd buried, including the man she's never truly stopped loving. Rueben "Benny" Bailey did what his family expected. Stayed, took over the farm, and proposed to the girl everyone said was right for him. But when Blanchard walks back into church with a little girl who looks just like him, everything he's built starts to fall apart.

A professional hockey player nearing retirement falls hard for his best friend's much younger and seemingly uninterested sister, but things change when she needs a place to stay and he offers up his home and his bed. *** After one too many drinks and a little too much chemistry, Bryce Roehm wakes up next to Maria Evans-and nothing has ever felt more wrong... or more right. Bryce, a seasoned defenseman for the New York Empires, is in his final season before retirement. Known for his bad-boy reputation and commitment to bachelorhood, he's the last person who should be hooking up with his best friend's little sister. Especially when Maria is eight years younger, working hard to finish college, and nannying for one of his teammates. They agree to keep their one-night stand a secret. No harm, no foul. But secrets never stay buried for long. Maria's finally building a life she's proud of-free from her controlling father and determined to stand on her own two feet. She's not looking for complications. And Bryce? He's as complicated as they come. So when circumstances force them to live under the same roof, one thing becomes clear: How are they supposed to keep their hands-and hearts-to themselves?

-Some summers change you- Lakefield Kids Camp was supposed to be simple; a quiet summer by the lake where Baymount University students volunteer as camp counselors for school credit. For Sienna Caldwell, it's the perfect chance to prove herself: follow the rules, keep things neat, and stay far away from trouble. Trouble, unfortunately, has a name: Asher Hidalgo. A football player with a short temper and a reputation that makes people whisper. Forced to share a cabin, they clash over everything: the schedule, the kids and even who gets the last cup of coffee. But as the summer heat builds, so does the tension between them. Between campfire nights and the laughter of twelve wild kids, Sienna starts to see the truth hiding behind Asher's defenses and maybe behind her own. Tropes : enemiestolovers - slowburn - forcedproximity - summercamp - foundfamily - grumpyxsunshine

She's a single mom trying to find her way after a fire cost her everything. He's an NFL player who had given up on the idea of love until she came into his life. After Theo opens up his home to Teagan and her kids the two find something they both thought would never be possible.

Completed | My brother's best friend, a forbidden fling, a tropical disaster - I never imagined a perfect getaway would take such a Wilde turn. I'd planned this holiday down to the last detail: sunshine, laughter, and absolutely no encounters with the one man I can't seem to forget. Jason Wilde. My older brother's best friend, the guy I couldn't resist as a teenager-and the mistake I made again at my brother's wedding. Jason might be hockey's most notorious playboy, but I swear I won't make the same mistake a third time. Arden doesn't settle - which might explain why she's still single but she's not willing to lower her standards and those standard do not include a flirty hockey player. But when a wild boat party turns into a disaster, stranding them alone on a deserted island, her carefully drawn line in the sand begin to blur. With no way out and nowhere to run, Arden begins to wonder if finding solace in Jason's arms might not be so bad after all. But giving in means risking everything she's fought to protect-including her heart. • • • She's always been off-limits. My best friend's little sister. The one person I promised myself I'd never touch. But damn, Arden has always had a way of getting under my skin, of making me forget every rule I've ever made. It started as a one-night stand-something I never intended to repeat - not the one-night part anyway. And now, here we are, stuck in a tropical paradise together. The tension between us is undeniable, and yet she's still denying the obvious. She's worth the risk. The problem? I can't let her know just how much it hurts when she shuts me down. I'm ready to give her everything - if only she'd let me. Because when it comes to Arden, I can't stay away and I'll take anything she's willing to give me, even if it's not forever. Some lines shouldn't be crossed - and some lines are just too blurred to find the boundary.

After a one night stand on New Year's Eve, Lia and Derrick don't expect to see one another again. After all, she's a Harvard PhD student and he's a professional hockey player for the Boston Knights - there's no way their paths should cross again. Except when they do, it's immediately obvious the chemistry between them hasn't dimmed one bit. Too busy for the real thing, neither of them sees the harm in continuing to see each other in a casual sense. Though when Derrick gets traded to a team in California and things begin to go sideways with Lia's research team, the pair can't seem to shake the fact they've grown to rely on one another, even now that they're thousands of miles apart.

Completed • First Draft - not edited. || "You gonna sit there all night?" Luka glances at me, smirking. I glare back. "I was enjoying the last few seconds of peace before having to spend an evening pretending to like you." "That's funny," he says, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Why?" I snap. "Because I was thinking the same thing." || The rules? Easy enough. 1. Pretend to be the perfect couple. 2. Keep it professional. 3. And whatever you do, don't. catch. feelings. Simple, right? Sofia Calloway never planned on going viral for throwing a drink in Luka Mikhaylov's face. But one video, one pissed-off hockey star, and one furious university later... she's suddenly stuck in a fake relationship with the guy she can't stand. He needs to clean up his image before the NHL draft. She needs the free tuition that comes with the deal. All they have to do is smile for the cameras, hold hands at the games, and act like they don't want to strangle each other. Then come the late-night arguments that last too long. The stolen glances that feel too dangerous. The moment where "pretend" starts looking way too real. Because when you break the rules, someone's bound to lose. And this time, it might be both of them.

***All Credits To Elizabeth Gaskell*** When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.