Eleven years later, all his dreams have come true. All except for one: marrying the love of his life.Madison (Maddie) Hightower had always been a loner until Xander came along. Devastated after he left her behind to chase his dreams, she focused all her energy on becoming president of a digital software company – the same business Xander has just acquired. Even after all these years, her attraction for Xander is still sizzling and palpable. He still makes her heart sing, but she isn’t sure if he feels the same way. Xander is interested in the merger for two reasons. The first is the potential for growth in the digital market, and the second is a chance to reconnect with Maddie. He’s never forgotten her. She was supposed to be by his side as he climbed the corporate ladder, and now he has the opportunity to have Maddie working under him. Literally.But Maddie has a secret. One she never told Xander when he left her in California and headed to the East Coast— a secret she never thought he’d ever uncover.The merger of their companies will bring Xander face to face with Maddie’s life-altering betrayal. How he handles this discovery will decide the fates of these two star-crossed lovers.

    on Wednesdays.Oh, and I might have stalked him in the dining hall, too. Turned out he ate a lot of grilled cheese.And thanks to my big mouth, the paper I work for now expects me to do a story on him because he's not granting interviews. Not even to Anderson Cooper.But surely he'll meet me since we went to college together? Right?Logical assumption. Except that he doesn't know me from a hole in the wall.But I wasn't about to blow my chance with the paper. Writing obituaries for three years at one of the country's top newspapers was not my idea of a fulfilling career, especially since the money I'd borrowed for my Ivy League education could buy a small country. I wanted more--I wanted to report on real news. I wanted to prove myself, and even work in the face of danger. A girl's got to have dreams.All I needed was a break. No question, I was getting an interview with Talbot Richardson if it was the last thing I did. If I had to beg, borrow, steal, or... even take my panties off.

    I knew who I was and what direction my life was headed. I owned the most prestigious night clubs down the east coast yet I kept my identity a secret. I don’t like being in the lime light and my hometown was none of anyone’s business. However, making people happy was. I did that with my clubs. Until the day tragedy struck my family. I had a choice to make and it wasn’t an easy one.At the end of the day, family always comes first. I went home to take care of my mom and the ranch. I didn’t plan on that little smart mouth Hope showing up with a laptop in hand. Just out of a cheating relationship the girl was hell bent on hating all men. Me included. Hating me wasn’t the only thing she came back home for. She needed a quiet place to write her next article. Her interest? The man that suddenly closed down all the upscale clubs on the east coast.I wanted to be anonymous for a reason. I didn’t want the cameras and all the tabloids in mine or my family’s business. So, I don’t give her anything. Well, nothing she wants anyhow.I give her the cowboy, the man that I’ve once again become with the dirty mouth. Until she learns the truth and wants to run with it. I should have known that a second chance at love wouldn’t happen for me. All fairy tales have to end, right?

    She can escape the cold English weather, her ex-husband and a stalker. A year to get her life back together and not have any romantic involvements.‘Love them and leave them wanting’ is Brett’s motto. That is until he sees Doctor Autumn Blake. This lady just might get through that tough layer he has built around himself.Can the sexual chemistry they feel be just that, or could it be more?Is one year long enough for these two people to forget their pasts and grab onto a chance of love or will they lose it forever.

    And I'd never wanted her more. Gorgeous, loyal, poised, and all grown up. Riya Guliani had been a thorn in my side since we were kids, it seemed not much had changed.Except for the fact, she was known in influential circles as "the fixer," and she was back in NYC to clean up a mess. Mine. Who cared that I was a little reckless? I hadn't turned my father's million-dollar company into a billion-dollar empire by doing what was expected of me. But sometimes the unexpected was exactly what we needed. And I needed her in a way I never saw coming...

    What kind of guy stands up his prom date and leaves her hanging, waiting for him to show up? A total jerk, that’s who.Never mind. I left my tiny nowhere town and moved to New York to follow my dream of becoming an actress.Ten years later, my dream hasn’t happened, and I’m working as the office supply girl at Morgan Financial Holdings, doing my best to keep my paycheck and not get fired by the world’s most terrifying boss. Life couldn’t get much worse, until I get stuck in an elevator and guess who comes to rescue me? In a city of eight million people, it’s Holden.Turns out he’s moved to New York, too, to be an EMT. I don’t want to see my teenage nemesis as one of the good guys, but he’s out saving lives every day, and he’s still gorgeous and cocky. I could fall for him all over again, and that’s a problem. Because it’s only a matter of time before Holden crushes me again.My hometown heartbreaker isn’t the guy I left behind anymore. If I could stop hating him, I might belong with him. The question is, which one of us will get hurt first?

    Unexpectedly jobless and fostering an exotic pet with an insatiable appetite, this pastry chef needs a new gig faster than she can whip up a batch of scones. But when she’s tapped to serve as the personal chef to a haughty tabloid regular, she only considers the job out of sheer desperation. After all, Giorgio Acardi may be filthy rich and intoxicatingly handsome, but he’s also a first-class scoundrel.Giorgio Acardi has it all: money, fame, an endless string of beautiful companions, and the respect of his colleagues and rivals. From the outside looking in, his life is perfect. So perfect, in fact, that he’s even got his eye on a new personal chef. She’s talented and gorgeous, and it shouldn’t make a difference whether she hates him or not as long as she does the job. But there’s something about Carlina that Giorgio just can’t resist, and he hasn’t enjoyed success by backing down from a challenge.

    Filthy. Player. Tatum Trevino waltzed into my life like he owned it. The renowned soccer star showed up as my new coach and changed everything. Until rumors started flying about the bad boy prodigy kicked off his team. I thought he was nothing but another cocky playboy, but there was another side to him under the facade. Late training sessions, secret getaways, and a delicious sleeve of tattoos led to temptation. We kept our relationship private, but I wasn’t the only secret he was keeping. And it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out.

    Graham Morgan was my first boss, but soon after I was working with some of the most famous entrepreneurs, business moguls, and movie stars in the city. They trusted me because I always followed the cardinal rules:Never betray secrets. And never, under any circumstance, get personally involved.I’d never dreamed of violating my professional mantra.Not until she walked past me.The look we exchanged that night set my body on fire, and I knew right then and there that no matter the consequences, she was going to be mine. But she was one of them—off limits and out of my league, but she was the kind of woman who I was willing to risk everything for.I keep other people’s secrets for a living, but the biggest secret of all might be my own.

    How could it when I vowed never to fall in love.Reef Burton, the sexy blue-eyed Australian football player, and his mates are definitely not ‘Losers’, yet writing it on a menu gave me a reason to smile. Only it didn’t make it to the trash. He returns to the restaurant where I work wearing his killer smile. I wasn’t to know those squiggly lines and arrows meant something—an offensive play his football team learned at an earlier training session. He’ll see what I wrote. Apart from it being awkward the next time I serve him, he could also report me to my boss.I can’t lose my job when in hindsight, I need to pay all the bills rolling in and care for my father.I’m thankful he kept it as our secret.Until he left me a note.Responding will only lead to more trouble.So, when Mr Blue Eyes-Blond Surfy-Hair gives me one of his spine-tingling looks, how can I resist?* COCKY NOTES is set in Australia and takes place before Cocky Bastard.

    once. But she was looking for a white picket fence and I was headed for war.Now, my years of service to my country are catching up with me and I’m ready for a change.I just never expected that change to be Shannon, or that she would be in trouble.The man in me can’t forget that damn kiss. The Marine in me is ready to protect her at all costs.She might not want my help, but I’m not walking away this time.Even if it won't have the ending either of us were looking for...

    Heartbreaker. They say I put the hot in hot-shot cardiologist.Not that it matters. I never stick my tongue depressor in my co-workers.What can I say? I play by a set of personal rules.Even if those rules eliminate 99.9% of the woman I come in contact with from my dating-pool.Even if those rules land me on a blind date with Emily, my childhood sweetheart, a woman I hadn’t seen since I broke her heart freshmen year of college.Let’s just say the evening was a disaster. She took one look at me, and it was…Date over. Do not pass go. Do not collect your two-hundred dollars.The thing is, I can’t stop thinking about her. She was my first kiss, and every other first that two people can share.She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.How can I make her understand what really happened between us when she wants nothing to do with me?How can I let her walk away again, when it could mean another ten years wondering…what if?The answer’s simple. I can’t.Unfortunately, the solution to my dilemma is a five-year-old Colombian girl with a deadly heart condition. The same little girl Emily’s non-profit organization brought to the United States to receive life-saving surgery.When the chief of staff informs me, I need to improve my public image because my bedside manner sucks--not THAT bedside manner. I’m just fine between the sheets, thank you very much—I agree to perform the girl’s operation… Because spending more time with Emily is worth the risk.Even if it means I have to break every rule in my playbook.Even if it means destroying myself in the process.I may be a sap, but I’ll do anything for a second chance with the woman who’s owned my heart since the fourth-grade.

    At Seemore Temps they pride themselves on the three B’s. Beauty, Brains, and Bounty. They supply the mostly male-driven businesses of Manhattan with able women that can do the job, and look good too. Needless to say, we’re a popular Agency.Working for Mason Chase should have been easy. He was married, kind and a bit of a flirt, but pretty harmless. Not like James Murtaugh or the Shameless Bastard as I’ve come to call him. He’s the ruthless, arrogant CEO of Renowned Investment Financial, and he’s set his eyes on... me.He can have any woman he wants and will go to great lengths to have them. I need this job, but I want, Christ, what do I want? Do I give in? Let him conquer me like some Emperor? Or do I stay in my place and collect the paycheck? We shall see, either way, it’s gonna be interesting.All good things must come to an end, right?Except our ending was one I didn't see coming.

    Sexy and confident—or maybe arrogant—he had me yearning for more with just a smoldering look and a smirk of his lips.But when a night of drinking leads to getting in bed with him and having the wildest, most intense night of my life, I didn’t know if I should ask to see him again or do the good old walk of shame.And it’s when I walk into my interview the next day and come face-to-face with my prospective employer that the reality of my situation sinks in.Because there, sitting across from me with that devilish smile on his face, that knowing expression of what we’d done the night before, is the one and only Jason, my supposedly one-night stand.Looked like my humiliation wasn’t over just yet.

    BelindaAs a political blogger living in Manhattan, I have no time to date. My few free hours are spent with best friend Soraya, and her husband Graham. Love has no place in this equation. Then Prince Zan walks into the coffee shop. He’s confident and different from other men, making it clear from our first conversation royal lineage won’t stand in his way.I know better than to be carried away by green eyes and soft lips.But if that’s the case, how did I end up in his bed?ZanMy dark past is a nightmare I can’t escape from. It was anything but easy to become a royal. Then I met Belinda. She might be a commoner, but there’s nothing at all common about this woman. One look is all it takes. Maybe if I bring her to my homeland she’ll be under its spell too.But the differences between our two worlds seem impossible to overcome. I refuse to ignore my duty and passion for my people, and Belinda won’t abandon her career. The right woman or destiny? Whatever it takes, I'm determined to have both.**Royal Pain is another steamy edition to the Cocky Hero Club series by author Leslie Pike. Opposites attract in this royal romance of choosing between love and duty. Follow your heart by devouring this passionate love story today!