In this compilation of short chronicles, the hottest list of talented, best-selling authors from every genre will take you on an erotic tour through five floors of fantasy. The Cage Chronicles is a monthly publication featuring authors from every genre.

    Someone to Love"God, I'm happy she's gone," one of Jill's friends said. "Yeah, looking at her face makes me sick to my stomach." Words like those have followed Raina every since she was a child and half of her face was destroyed by a tragic fire. Once upon a time, she was one of the ‘beautiful ones’ with her hazel eyes, light brown skin and long flowing hair. But now, Raina only watches the world around her. Too ashamed of her looks to actually interact, she finds joy in following Bill with her eyes. With her head down and her hair obscuring her scars she manages to get by.Bill doesn’t like anyone and has little patience for Jill’s flirtations. He has been described as looking like Brad Pitt on crack—and it’s not very far from the truth. The only thing that matters is getting through the work day so that he can get high. But one day he literally crashes into Raina and for the first time in either of their lives they allow themselves to actually be ‘seen’.The Way HomeJamie thinks too hard, reads too much and doesn’t much care for her looks. At fourteen, she knows that she’s never had a real childhood. When her mother died she was the one that had to step up to the plate and run the household—and for the most part she doesn’t mind at all. And then one day she sees a white boy coming from the woods who was dirty, hungry and obviously uncared for but with eyes so lost that despite her normal shyness she offers to help him. As they come to terms with the fact that their lives transcends the ‘norm’, Kenny and Jamie’s relationship reaches heights that they could have never imagined, and lows that their love may not survive.Baby Girl and the Mean BossNicole wasn’t sure why she had gotten the nick name Baby Girl when she was not-by far-the youngest employee of The Down Home Calabash. Her much younger co-worker complained, gossiped or talked about how attractive their boss was. But Nicole didn’t have the luxury of a fantasy existence. She was on a mission to make money and to get her degree and her plans most definitely did not include Marty. Besides he was mean and he yelled at her!But once she experiences a tragic accident, Nicole sees a different side of her sexy, boss. But each has their own secrets and if they can’t express their heartfelt emotions their relationship might be doomed even before it begins.

    Because she's black, she assumes she can't be prejudiced. She ignores her heart's reminder that she left Jonathan because he was white. She also ignores the warning bells that tell her she's with her finance, Doctor Steven Anderson, because her parents approve of the colour of his skin. With him, she can have the babies her parents will love, the babies she couldn't have with Jonathan. Jonathan Steele finally has what he wanted, a promising career with a good law firm. Love is the last thing on his mind. He thought he had it once, but spent seven months of his life in jail, betrayed by the woman who claimed she loved him. Kari's purchase of a timeshare brings Jonathan and his firm back into Kari's. Can they dismiss their past or will final judgement sentence them to try again?

     When Kayla Lawrence wakes up in her best friend’s arms after a night of hot sex, she wants to pretend that it never happened. He’s not just her best friend. He’s also her partner. But as much as she loves Joshua Tanner, he’s not the type to commit. She’s not sure where their relationship is going after their night together. Joshua has wanted Kayla since the moment they met. He’s loved her almost as long. Waking up in her bed was his dream come true. Now he just has to convince Kayla that he’s relationship material.

    I got the job as a professional muralist for New York’s wealthiest citizens, and I had the perfect relationship with a man I wanted to start a family with. Five years later, I’m single, barely employed, and thousands of dollars in debt to New York’s best infertility treatment centre. It turns out the only thing I couldn’t control was my body -- it betrayed me and left me with a diagnosis of untreatable, inexplicable, devastating -- infertility.When a cowboy billionaire appears out of the blue, offering an exorbitant amount of money for a job I can complete in a month, there’s no question that I’m hopping on a plane to New Mexico. It’s the perfect opportunity -- to forget the family I’ll never have.But when the limo rolls up to Rowan Corbett’s estate in the middle of nowhere, I know that there’s one more thing I won’t be able to control. With thick black hair, sapphire eyes, and a jawline that could cut steel, Rowan looks like he just stepped out of a wild west book from fifty years ago. As the weeks go by … I start to wonder, can love be the cure I’m looking for? Rowan is a standalone romance with an HEA.

    In Cormina, Louisiana a small town that was close to the swampland with a fragile ecosystem she was known for her visions. In her little house close to the river she was quite content to be in her garden, and she didn't much care what the small town people said about her. One night in the middle of a fierce storm her visions were brutal, and her second sight showed her a new path that her life was going to take with people she hardly knew. Instinct always told her that Alex Wakefield and Dominic Cross were more than just men, and she tried to stay a healthy distance away. That was going to be difficult now since she saw herself as their mate and her destiny was intertwined with theirs. Her mind's eyes had shown her that they were meant to be a party of three, and her visions were never wrong.

    When you spent the majority of your time staring at a woman and wondering if you could get away with bending her over your desk without being slapped ugly, there wasn't much else you could use to characterize your feelings. But when Nyssa slips up on the night of her birthday, giving Sansone a taste of the sweetest mouth he’s ever know after one too many, he finds himself questioning if his silent adoration is truly as unreciprocated as he thought. A man recognized for his voracious predatory instincts in their profession, he can’t very well let this slide through his fingers can he? After all, he is called the barracuda…

    She doesn't have a lot of spare time, but what better way to try and occupy her free time  than with a no-strings-attached affair with hunky Italian restaurant owner, Luciano Valenti. The  man has had her fires burning for the past six months. The only problem: she can't be around him  without turning into a stammering klutz. How is she supposed to seduce a man she can't even hold a  conversation with? Since the first Friday Kaylee Daniels walked into his restaurant she's had  Luciano on edge. The foxy woman spilled more drinks than anyone he'd ever seen, but something about  her got to him, bad. Luciano doesn't have time in his life for anything serious. He doesn't want anything serious, and Kaylee is definitely a relationship kind of girl. Or so he thought. . . What happens when two career minded people decide to spend a little more time on themselves and each other? They just might find themselves getting lucky along the way.

    But after one unexpected, totally hot Friday evening encounter on her office desk of all places, she's convinced that maybe he returns the feeling she's harboured for him in the fifteen months they have worked together.Her euphoria doesn't last for long, though. The very next Monday she watches in shock as he kisses the young woman who drops him off to work at the office and then saunters in looking as though she had kept him up all night.Is there an innocent explanation for the kiss and Stephano's bleary-eyed appearance? Did his father suffer chest pains and have to be rushed to the hospital where the doctors kept him in all night for close monitoring? Or is it just an excuse Stephano's using to cover his night of pleasure with another woman?This novella is 30,141 words in length.

    Her long time, live-in boyfriend is lazy, trifling and a cheat. She keeps telling herself that one day she is going to leave, that one day her future will start. But as the years fly by that one day never comes. There is never enough money, never an opportunity. Trudging along her depressing existence, she runs headfirst into her one day in the form of one seriously fine former Marine and hometown hero.Emory couldn’t explain it. There was something about Kennedy that touched down to his core. It wasn’t just her beauty, but the woman haunting his every thought. It killed him to see her working her fingers to the bone for a man that didn’t deserve her. All he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and make it all better. But how could he if she refused to lean on him, even just a little?

    Too bad he and Leila James are on opposite sides of an important issue - he has plans for the neighbourhood around her new cafe. In fact, she ought to consider him her enemy. But Leila's blown away just watching him walk toward her.

    On a stormy night he save Bailey Henderson after her car runs off the road. The first thing Austin notice about Bailey when he saved her that A) She is very pregnant and B) Bailey has a eerie resemblance to his dead wife. Bailey is so confused and lonely her life hasn't exactly panned out the way she wanted. Pregnant and all alone, she doesn't have the resources to keep her baby. Her parents practically disown her and the baby father wants nothing to do with her or the baby. Giving her baby up seem like the only option until Lucas present an solution to all of Bailey's problems.

    In fact, she’s not really fond of anything that doesn’t include making her public relations firm even better than it currently is. She’s been called many things before, “cold” being the one most frequently used. Not that she cares. As long as her business is prospering, and she’s raking in profits, Melanie is as “happy” as can be. An encounter with a new potential client begins to change that. Sebastian Cameron Mackintosh doesn’t need a publicist. He’s a businessman, not a celebrity, though the paparazzi seem intent on ignoring that fact. Still, when the person who thinks he’s in dire need of one is his relentless little sister, he has no choice but to show up to the appointment. Expecting a short and boring meeting, Cameron is instead intrigued by the cool, stoic Melanie Samuels, owner of the MS Agency. Within days, intrigue turns to more, and before long, Cameron is completely smitten with her. All he has to do is convince Melanie Samuels to take a chance and trust him. With all the baggage that Melanie carries around daily, it will be a Christmas Miracle if she does...

    Hunted by the gunmen, an attempt is made on her life and she is forced into police protection. Detective Harrison Blake, one of the city's finest, is appointed lead detective on the downtown murder case. Prepared as always for just about anthing when it comes to murder, the seasoned detective is completely caught off guard by his instant attraction to the witness. To make matters worse, she's the ex-wife of his nemesis, the district attorney. However, neither the differences in their races nor their painful pasts can keep the attraction between the two from blossoming. When another attempt is made on Jillian's life, Harrison will risk it all, even his most guarded secret, for the woman he loves in I'll Be Your Shelter.

    Christine is the lucky owner of Sin, the only male revue club in Miami. With managing exotic dancers and maintaining her business, sexy flings have replaced her dating life. It’s no big deal. The path to success isn't layered with gold.And then walks in Rafael, dripping charisma and stirring up her organized life. He craves more than a one-night stand. She believes he may have back problems from carrying his big ego. A hunt ensues. Can Christine block Rafael’s advances or will it be a sin to not invite him to bed?