Lunch went by pretty quickly, and we were back to classes soon enough. I'd forgotten to get a book from my locker, so I quickly went to get it. I was leaning on the locker next to mine as I quickly scanned my schedule on my locker door, when warm air fanned the side of my face. "Move." Being the excellent human being I am, I jumped out of fright, flinging the heavy calculus textbook in my hand backwards. I heard a grunt and turned to find the person behind me now hunched over as they held onto a part of their face. "Oh God! I'm so sorry!" I panicked. And then he looked up. The first thing I noticed was his short, dark hair. It looked so smooth, and I almost reached out to play with it. My eyes trailed down to his strong jaw line, down to his broad shoulders. I didn't even realize that I was biting my lip as I further inspected the Adonis before me. His arm flexed, bringing my attention to the amber eye he was now covering. It was him. Six. The most popular and dangerous guy in school. And I'd managed to injure him with my calculus textbook. I'm dead. *********** #11 Teen Fiction - 31 December 2015 #15 Teen Fiction - 16 December 2015 #16 Teen Fiction - 16 December 2015

(TH#3)“'If you can look me in the eye and tell me anybody has ever held you like this, kissed you like this, loved you like this, then I will let you go. I will leave and I will never come back.' And as much as I wanted to say that, yes, someone else had, I would be lying. Because nobody, not one person, had ever cherished me like he did." A father convicted of a murder, and Elsie was there to witness the entire thing. It should have left her scarred and afraid, but because of the help from Sam, a mysterious and kind stranger, she powered through it. He was her best friend, always there when she needed him most . . . Until he left her. Nearly eight years later and as Elsie finds herself stuck in a troubling situation under less-than-optimal circumstances, he suddenly comes out of nowhere again. But something has changed, with both of them. The secrets are heavier, the pain is greater . . . and what was once a friendship has turned into the roots for something more. Something that frightens both tortured souls equally. It's big enough, strong enough, to hold through, if they just acknowledge how much they need it to. Everybody has bruises . . . Some just take longer to heal than others.

On what was supposed to be a normal trip to the bank, Hayley Stephens finds herself in the middle of a bank robbery with some peculiar robbers . . . who decide to kidnap her. Taken hostage by the handsome and irritating Jason Lambargo, Hayley finds herself tempted to discover secrets that could help her understand her past and where her absent brother is. But as she delves deeper and deeper, Hayley is thrust head-first into the criminal world her brother lived and the enemies and promises he made. And to top it all off, she's fighting a futile battle and keeping her heart from falling for her captor. She knows how dangerous he is, and yet . . . She just can't help herself from falling in love with a criminal.

(TH#2)After a traumatic bullying experience and an almost fatal mistake, Emmalyn Hall moves with her family to Heart, North Carolina in hopes the same magic that healed her parents can possibly mend her as well. She moved to forget the memories of that horrible night, but she finds it's not as easy as she thought. Rhys Richardson is a lost soul stuck in an imperfect household. With an estranged mother, a workaholic father, and dozens of women amateurishly filling the maternal role in turn, his life is a chaotic mess. On the surface, they're exact opposites. Deep down, no two people could be more alike. And with that comes undeniable chemistry. But when nightmares from Emma's past come back to haunt her, one question remains: is it ever too late to love and forgive?