“Yeah, so was I but you seem to have forgotten that part of your life.” The bet was simple. You draw a name from the hat. That’s the girl you have to seduce. The girl you have to make fall head over heels in love with you. It wasn’t hard for me to do, in fact, it was something I did all the time. I was known for breaking hearts. Sex was just that, sex. And it didn’t take me very long to get a woman on her back. And then I drew her name: Jules Peterson. My former best friend. My first kiss. My first love. She shattered my heart into a million pieces three years ago. She left me right when I needed her most. And as fate who have it, she had entered my life once again, at almost the perfect time. She was a transfer, fresh meat, and she had just put a target on her back. It was my turn to make her pay. It was my turn to break her heart. Holding onto that hate, that anger, that f*cking heartbreak. It does something to you. It breaks you, and it broke me, it tainted me, just like I would do to Jules. She used to be my everything, but now she was nothing but The Bet. **The Bet is book one in the North Woods University series. It is a full length, standalone, novel. It contains adult themes, and content not suitable for all readers. It is NOT a young adult novel.**Dear Reader, We're so happy that you are thinking about reading our newest book The Bet. We hope you enjoy it to your fullest and we cannot wait to read your reviews on it. However, we wanted to leave a little note to warn readers with sensitivity to dubious content, sexual themes, and verbal abuse. For those readers, this book may not be a good read for them. We also would like to say that while the book is entirely fiction we know that abuse, sexual, physical, and verbal is a very real thing in our world and that we do NOT condone any behavior of that nature nor do we think that it's okay to treat someone that way. Just like the makers of gory horror movies dont actually want people to be brutally murdered, we do not want anyone to be bullied or abused in any way.Again, this is fiction and while we don't always agree with the things our fictional characters do, sometimes it works for a story line. As writers, it is our job to draw out real emotions. Sometimes we will make you fall in love with a character and other times we might have you yelling at the book. With love, J.L. Beck & C. Hallman

    His hands grip my waist, and I remember the pain when he rejected me, when my entire world crashed down at his command. His jaw clenches, and my senses come alive with one stinging reminder.I’m not his to kiss, and he’s not mine.I tried to stay away from Tyler Wagner, putting an entire country between us. But when his sister’s wedding brings us back to the same town, to the same house, I can’t avoid him, no matter how hard I try.He’s always there, his dark eyes bewitching, luring me into their depths. The memory of us pulls me under like a rip current, and when he flashes that smile, I lose my breath, along with my will, unable to escape his grip and find the surface.Now, hours before our plus ones arrive for the wedding, I’m in his arms, begging him to make me hate him, knowing he never could.If he kisses me right now, I’ll drown.And I’ll take him down with me.

    After he suddenly returns, determined to prove to her he's a changed man, she's not about to forgive him, trust him, or succumb to his scorching kisses.A future duke trapped by obligationWill has devoted his life to enraging his loathsome father by creating one scandal after the next. Duty forces him back to the wife he resents, but he isn't prepared for the raw desire she makes him feel. Seducing her will hardly be a tedious task. Guarding his heart, however, is another matter entirely.A marriage of convenience no moreWhat begins in deception and necessity turns into an attraction neither can deny. Can their newfound passion keep them together forever, or will the truth tear them apart? Wicked Husbands Book OneIf you enjoy steamy Regency and Victorian romance and second chance love stories,don't miss the Wicked Husbands series. Fiercely independent, dazzlingly beautiful, and married to handsome scoundrels, these American heiresses are ready to turn the tables on the insufferable English lords they've wed. What happens when their wicked husbands start falling for the wives they never thought they wanted?Corsets come off, bed chambers ignite, the passion sizzles,and more than one stubborn English rake gets reformed by love.

    But life had other plans. Moving back wasn't what I wanted to do, but I'd do anything for my daughter Emmy. Including put myself in the path of Sadie Jones. My daughter's new dance teacher. The reason my heart was never fully opened to another was because it's always belonged to her. When I watched Reed Sanders drive away from Lakeside, I knew my heart would never recover. He was meant for more than what this town could offer him. Than what I could offer him. I tried to warn him to stay away from me, but he refused to listen. If only he would have, maybe I wouldn't feel so broken. The heart is mysterious. It can be closed off and broken at the same time. It can hold room for more than one person. And unfortunately, sometimes it takes danger lurking around the corner to make it choose a side. All I can say is that I hope one day I finally hear the words... I'm Yours.

    The dumbest thing I've ever done. I loved her. I lost her. Hell, I let her go. And then spent five miserable years without her. To cope with the loss, I put pen to paper and wrote her a love story, knowing when she was ready she’d hear the words I couldn’t say all those years ago. Turned out, not only would she hear them, but when Hollywood came calling, I made sure she got the lead role. After all, no one else could portray the character whom she’d inspired. Now she's within arms' reach and finally, she'll know the truth in my heart. Because that other cliché, “Actions speak louder than words?” I’m going to prove it. My words may have brought Ava Banks back into my life; I have to be enough to make her stay.

    HE TOOK HER INNOCENCE.She gave it willingly...Right along with her heart.All the night before he vanished.******Brooklyn wanted two things.Her own bakery.And Nate Riley.Opening her own business was the easy part.Trying to forget about Nate when he disappeared was the hard part.Now, years later, she's running her bakery while engaged to the ideal man.Then the unimaginable happens.She is left shattered once more and vows to never love again.An unexpected meeting with Nate has him back in her life, wanting a second chance.He'll do anything to win her back.But Nate must confront his demons before he sends Brooklyn's life into another tailspin.Can they reconnect and overcome their obstacles to be together?If there is such a thing as destiny, does it win at all costs?

    Five years ago I left Cabot Beach with a broken heart, but I didn't leave without telling the guy who broke it how much it hurt.All of my emotion and angst was written in a letter that ended with Hatefully Yours.Five years later, the guy I never thought I would see again is my new boss.He doesn't want to put things in the past or move on.He wants to destroy me.Guess what? I feel the same way.The battle lines are drawn and neither of us intends to play fair.But there are things I never knew about what happened in Cabot Beach the night my life took an unexpected turn, and finding out the truth may be more painful than losing him to begin with.This is a full length Enemies to Lovers Standalone Romance.

    Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible. Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul. Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.

    Or so I thought…Until I walked into the conference room and collided with the man I was supposed to pitch.My coffee spilled, my files tumbled to the ground, and I almost lost my balance.And that was the good part of my day.Because the gorgeous man crouched down and looking at me like he wanted to eat me alive, was none other than my ex, Gray Westbrook.A man who I’d only just begun to move on from.A man who my heart despised—yet my body obviously still had other ideas about.A man who was as charismatic and confident as he was sexy.Somehow, I managed to make it through my presentation ignoring his intense stare. Although it was impossible to ignore all the dirty things he whispered into my ear right after I was done.But there was no way I was giving him another chance, especially now that he was a client…was there?

    On the surface, her rich and beautiful husband is the embodiment of every girl’s dream, but Isabelle will learn just how deceiving looks can be. By the time she discovers there is real danger hidden behind those captivating green eyes and thick layers of sophisticated appearance, it is too late to escape Sebastian’s cruelty. Without a thread of compassion, he shows her the true meaning of hell, making it abundantly clear her fragile feelings mean nothing to him. But life has strange ways of playing with one’s fate. In an intriguing turn of events, the same man who had once shattered her to pieces, suddenly starts treating her with extreme care and swears there will be no more pain. Isabelle has been tricked too many times to believe him, but the devil she bargained with refuses to give up on his mission to earn her forgiveness as well as her heart. While Sebastian unfolds from a monster into Prince Charming right before her eyes, Isabelle finds herself falling under his spell and getting closer to making a choice that might be fatal for both of them.

    Abandoned as a small child, Luc is a foul-mouthed rebel who takes it upon himself to be her defender, whether she likes it or not. As they grow up, they fumble through their different roles in each other's lives—family, confidants and then, ultimately, lovers.Just as the couple is settling into their newfound relationship, they encounter a beautiful lawyer, Payten, who is immediately taken by Luc's rough edges. But he denies her, making him absolutely irresistible in her eyes. Payten is a woman who has grown accustomed in her privileged life in obtaining whatever she wants, no matter the cost or sacrifice. And she is fairly confident Luc will eventually see things her way…one way or another.Trigger Warning: Cheating hero

    For Calliope James it didn't only leave a mark, it tore out her heart and left it bleeding on the ground. He was her best friend.Her first kiss.Her everything. Until one day, he wasn't. Zachary Messiah will never forget the girl with eyes the color of whiskey. But he's not that boy anymore. Cold.Cruel.He's devoid of emotion. Their paths were never supposed to cross again. But love doesn't always play by the rules. Now he's the King of Steinbeck University and she's the new girl on campus ... and the pasts they have fought so hard to bury are about to collide. Only this time, they might not survive the fallout.

    They lived happily ever after. But our story was never that simple. I loved Josh with all I had, right until the day he left. Now, all these years later, he was back—and wanting me the way I’d always longed for him. Except now, I belonged to someone else. Someone who never left me the way Josh had. I figured that was the end of our story. I couldn’t alter the past. I didn’t want to rewrite my future.Brianna was always more than my best friend. She was the shining light in my black hole of an existence, and I loved her with every cell and bone in my body. I wasn’t good enough for her, though—more the villain than the hero in our fairy tale. When I had to leave, I vowed to come back a better man—for her. But when I finally did return, she wasn’t waiting for me anymore. She had someone new, her very own Prince Charming. Did that mean our story was over? I couldn't change our past.It was time to rewrite our ending.

    She has her dream job, her freedom, and miles separating her from a past she needed to outrun. Only one thing could make her return to River Bend, and that’s her best friend on the verge of a breakdown. From the moment Cole Brooks realized he married the wrong woman, he’d done his best to not let fantasies of the one who got away haunt him. Now that his marriage is over, and Jaden’s back in town, is the universe giving him a second chance?Jaden isn’t about to let her guard down around the man who broke her heart, but Cole won’t give up until she admits how perfect they would be together.

    This hot. This difficult.Aaric Christos was a guy who protected me. Wanted me. Maybe even loved me.That man is gone.In his place is the most powerful real estate tycoon in the city.He’s a cold, ruthless, aggressive businessman.The only one who can save me and my startup from ruin.It takes every ounce of courage to put my pride aside and ask for his help.I didn’t expect him to offer it easily.And he doesn’t.Instead, he vets me harder than he’s vetted anyone.Don’t invest in what you don’t know, he says.He's assessing every piece of me, to the point I've never felt so bare.I yearn for the boy I once knew, whose touch once craved me.Putting it all on the line will be worth it, I tell myself.Until I realize—too late—that some risks are not worth taking.