I am twenty-five years old, and despite being born with an unattractive face, I have never doubted who I am: smart, driven, and beautiful on the inside. Until I met Maxwell Cole.He’s handsome, excessively wealthy, and the owner of Cole Cosmetics. It’s been my dream to work for this man for as long as I can remember. The good news is he wants to hire me. The bad news is he wants me for all the wrong reasons. Ugly reasons. In exchange, he’s offered me my dreams on a silver platter. The job. The title. A beautiful future. But this man is as messed up and ugly as they come on the inside. I’m not sure anyone can help him, and he just might take my heart down with him.(STAND ALONE NOVEL)

    sharp. Check. Count forty-seven steps to cubicle. Check. Arrange pens in their red-blue-black-green-purple order of importance. Check. Apply hand sanitizer before opening email. Double check.And that’s just the first few minutes of her work day.Thirty-one-year-old proofreader Bailey Mitchell is a slave to her tics. She inherited Obsessive Compulsive Disorder from her father, and it’s done nothing but inhibit her love life. She’s run the gamut of boyfriends—none of them willing or able to cope with her condition.Enter 32-year-old Reece Powell, her new coworker at Beach Elite Marketing Firm. He’s more than willing to cope. He finds her habits cute and quirky... for now. Reece wins her over, and life coasts along for them until Bailey experiences a devastating blow. Tragedy exacerbates her OCD, and Reece realizes her tics aren’t so cute and quirky anymore. Just like all the others, he has the choice to leave.But Reece isn’t like all the others.

    A woman, a house, and the town that never truly left her. After I receive word of an inheritance, I end up back in Kansas, red bottom heels and all to take ownership of a house and property I haven’t set foot on in over a decade. My aunt Josephine chose me, the last of her living relatives, and now I’m left to discover what she wants done with her legacy. It’s a feat I’m willing to take on. But the man I find in her bathroom is another story. Grayden claims to be a handyman, previous help to my aunt in his well-worn jeans and smart attitude and as it turns out, he has a daughter who wants even less to do with me than I do with her father. She says absolutely nothing to me—zero words, which only slightly surpasses her elusive dad. The man known as Gray is guarded beyond anything else. He’s cold and I’m left wondering the reasons why. How did a man like that come to be such an important element to my late aunt’s life? And why did my aunt Jo leave him, this house, and this town for me? His Sweetest Song is a standalone contemporary romance by Victoria H. Smith. If you like emotionally-charged romances set in small towns, this 78,000 word novel featuring a single dad looking for a second chance at love and the city-girl he attempts to wrangle is for you!

    Each story was specifically written for this anthology.The goal of the Cocktales Anthology is to raise funds to fight against obstruction of creative expression. Specifically, what we believe are obstruction attempts through the trademarking of common (single) words for titicular use in books / or as a book series (eBooks, print, and audio).*ALL* net profits will be donated to:1) Authors already impacted by creative-obstruction (10%), and2) Romance Writers of America (RWA) (90%) as a general donation intended for their Advocacy Fund.Disclaimer: This anthology is not being conducted on behalf of RWA, nor does RWA endorse this anthology or effort. They have, however, graciously agreed to accept the funds.Authors with material included (as they appear in the anthology):Nana Malone, USA Today Bestselling author – ForewordDylan Allen – 'Cocked and Loaded'Jana Aston, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Double Cocked'Whitney Barbetti – 'Cocksure Grin'Author Sawyer Bennett, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'A Wicked, Cocky Plan'K.f. Breene, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Magical Cock and Bull'Ruth Clampett, Amazon top 20 Bestselling Author – 'Don’t Get Cocky'L.H. Cosway, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Illusionist Seeks Neanderthal'Mariah Dietz – 'Landmines'Amy Daws, Amazon Top 25 Bestselling author – 'Cock and Balls'BB Easton, Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – 'Cocky BB: Two Boys, One Prom.'Jaymin Eve, USA Today Bestselling author – 'The Cockier the Dragon, the Harder They Fall'Emma Hart, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author – 'Tricky Bond'Staci Hart, Amazon Top 10 Bestselling author – 'Cockamamie'Jessica Hawkins, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cocky Couture'Julie Johnson Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – 'Culinary Cock-Up'Karpov Kinrade, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Crimson Cocktail'Adriana Locke, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Swag'Lex Martin, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Love & Hate at the Stallion Station'Aly Martinez, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Going Down'Katyi McGee - USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cocksure Co-Star'Corinne Michaels, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cockblocked'Liv Morris, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Getting It Up'Red Phoenix, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Her Cocky Russian'Daisy Prescott, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Confessions of a Cockblocked Wingman'Jessica Prince – ‘A Cocky Corruption Engagement’Meghan Quinn, Amazon Top 20 Bestselling Author – 'Fight or Flight'CD Reiss, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cocky Capo'Penny Reid, WSJ and USA Today Bestselling author – 'Beard and Hen'Julie Richman, USA Today Bestselling author – 'The Color of Love'Aleatha Romig, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Aligned'Kennedy Ryan, Top 40 Amazon Bestselling author – 'All'Kylie Scott, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Short Story with Mal and Anne from The Stage Dive Series'Sierra Simone, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Until the Cock Crows'Tara Sivec, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Chocolate and Cockup'Kate Stewart, Amazon Top 30 Bestselling author – 'The Golden Sombrero'Leia Stone, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cocky Alpha'Karla Sorensen – 'Tristan & Anna: A Bachelors of the Ridge short story'Rachel Van Dyken, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – 'Cocky Mafia'April White, Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – 'Code of Conduct'

    He has no manners and doesn’t think twice about the weight of his words. Why him? He must have slipped something in my chai tea. Nigel When I woke up this morning, I didn’t plan to meet the woman I wasn’t strong enough to walk away from. But she’s here. In this coffee shop. And she answers my questions with more questions. It should be irritating as hell, not sexy. Or maybe somebody slipped something in my coffee.

    Will the same rules apply when the heat is turned up between two people who are just alike? Sky Kirby is independent, arrogant, emotionally closed off, and owns it. She doesn’t need anyone to fix or save her and makes no apologies—even when her choices may explain why love has been so elusive. Remington Kneeland is Sky's mirror image—only he is done with love. Cynical and bitter, he focuses on the one person that means the world to him—his daughter. When a terrible accident brings him and Sky together, fate steps in with a different idea. Find out what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force—the results are soul-stirring, heart-pounding, and orgasmic.

    She's finally built up the courage to escape from a world of abuse by the hands of the man who promised her the world. One night she makes a break for it, but her plans backfire. She begins to believe that she was never meant to be happy. When all hope of freedom fades, she stumbles across a wolf that brings her to safety. She learns to trust the wolf, but has yet to trust the man. Devin, potential future leader of the Caedmon Pack, returns to the foothills of his Virginia home after five long years as a lone wolf. Rivals within the circle challenge him and threaten to strip him of his true birthright. Being bound to lead the pack was not something Devin had planned for his life, but letting his people fall prey to turmoil under the rule of his cousin Darius is out of the question. The night of Devin’s rise to Alpha leader is approaching. Despite opposition, he’s gained an impressive following. That is until he brings a human among the pack.Tamara can’t deny the attraction she feels toward Devin. The Alpha leader-to-be simply cannot resist Tamara’s lure. When they are together, their tribulations take the backburner. Their desire for one another grows as they consummate their passion in wolf’s haven. Will Devin forfeit the most coveted position within the Caedmon Pack to bond with his chosen mate? Can Tamara trust Devin with her mind, heart, body, and soul or will the memories of her abuse dissuade her from being bound to the wolf?

    He's the best amateur fighter at TKO, has a buffet line of women desperate to be taken by him, and three friends that are his family. However, when Maxx crosses over from Logan's blind spot on the side lines to the dead center of his vision, he realizes that he can't stay blind to the fact this girl, is the girl.

    He thinks he's above everyone and everything, Tielle decides, but when she saves his life using her nursing training, her life is changed forever. Common sense tells her not to get involved with the man, but the touch of his hands, the lilt in his Irish accent, and the way he makes her feel are too much to resist. She should have listened to her best friend Jamie who advised her that Stone was out of their league. All of a sudden, Tielle is being pursued by a man who wants something from Stone, and he'll use Tielle to get it. With Tielle's life in danger, Stone has no choice but to whisk her away to his family's castle in Ireland where he can better protect her. While he's trying to discover who is after him and why, he will do whatever it takes to keep safe the one woman who has been able to get beneath his skin. She may throw a fit and spout to him about his interfering with her life plan, but Stone knows how to calm her in his bed at night. Now, if he can just keep his dragon shape-shifting gene a secret while he discovers the identity of his enemy, all will work out fine.

    What sparks between them is just as unavoidable as it is life-changing.Halle Temple is a good person; she doesn’t know anything as surely as she knows that. A successful black woman who uses her expensive law degree to work full-time at a women’s legal aid center, she has no doubt that her entire existence is being spent in the service of others. That perfectly normal life takes a deadly turn, however, when she crosses paths with a man who is willing to go to extreme measures to take possession of her.After he sets his threats on her family, Halle begins to question every moral she has ever held dear as she realizes that there is only one way to get him out of her life for good. To do that, though, she needs a bit of help.Callum Byrne is an Irish-American hitman who has made a life out of robbing others of their own. Darkness has always lurked inside of him and he has no qualms about setting it free - especially for profit. Halle enters his life suddenly, bringing with her an intensity that he has never felt before. It isn’t long before Callum’s narrow view of himself is twisted and challenged.As the job she’s given him becomes more complicated by the minute...so do Callum’s feelings for her.Content Warning: this book contains themes of violence and murder as well as mentions of domestic violence.

    Trouble-maker. Baby-maker? Star professional quarterback Jack Carson has the worst reputation in the league. He’s arrogant and gorgeous, and if he’s not in bed with a new woman, he’s sleeping off the party in a jail cell. But now he’s gotten in trouble too many times and needs my help to protect his career. As his publicist, I’ve hidden his dirty exploits and silenced the sexy rumors…but I missed the hottest scandal of the year. Apparently, Jack and I are dating. When the trouble-maker lies to the league and claims we’re in a committed relationship, he jeopardizes both our jobs. I can’t trust the tattooed bad boy, but now I’m stuck defending him. I have to make him seem respectable—no matter what. But his shameful reputation isn’t fixed with a few photos of us on a date. With the league determined to expel him for bad-behavior, Jack has only one option to convince them he’s wholesome, dependable, and responsible. Jack Carson wants to start a family. And he’s chosen me to give him the baby. This super steamy, bad boy romance is a standalone with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. For a limited time only, HARD is also included with this novel. HARD is a bonus full-length, bad-boy Navy Seal romance. Enjoy!

    I’m the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and survived. The one who devoted herself to her family’s business empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I. Until he got a promotion and left me in the dust. Maybe it’s for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me. He too has an overwhelming thirst for success, just like Zachary—perhaps even more so. He’s also ruthless. And mysterious. I know nothing about Ryder McKay beyond that he makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. One stolen moment, a kiss, a touch . . . and I’m hooked. Ryder’s like a powerful drug, and I’m an addict who doesn’t want to be cured. He tells me his intentions aren’t pure, and I believe him. For once, I don’t care. I’m willing to risk everything just to be with him. Including my heart. My soul. My everything.

    You ask yourself so many questions. Can we get along? Can we actually coexist? When can I see the one that I love? Yet, you forget to ask yourself one VERY important question…What if the love of your life is the person you’ve loathed all of your life?What then?Simple, you…Free-Fall

    Twenty-three-year-old Coraline Wilson is fresh out of college and just wants to experience life to the fullest for the first time. On her journey towards self-discovery, she ends up meeting twenty-seven-year-old Declan Callahan. They fall for each other hard and fast…but their families may prove to be problematic… A Ruthless People Prequel Novella (about 46,000 words)

    Original.