Where they took that first sentence was completely up to them.Every story is different.No story is related.The only thing these stories have in common is their starting point.All of the authors showcased in this anthology were featured in The Bookworm Box charity during 2019.Each author has graciously donated their story so that 100% of profits from this anthology will be going to the various charities The Bookworm Box is able to support because of you, the readers.

    Funny, sweet and holy-hell hot. He’s the kind of guy who always texts back and chases his neighbor's dog when it gets loose. He enjoys volunteer work and is involved with his community. He's loyal to a fault and loves his mom. Like I said, he's a good girl's dream come true. So what’s the problem? I’m no one’s idea of a good girl. Good girl or not, I’ve wanted Patrick as long as I’ve known him, but the night we met, he made it perfectly clear that the feeling isn’t mutual. So we’re friends. Just friends. True to form, when my life is suddenly turned upside down, Patrick comes to my rescue and offers me a place to live. How do I repay him? I make a bet with our mutual friend, Tess, to use my new roommate status to get him into my bed, by any means necessary. She says all Patrick needs is a little push. The last thing I expected was for him to push back. **Warning** This full-length contemporary romance is intended for mature (18+) audiences only!** **Patrick and Cari's story concludes in volume 2, Claiming Cari**

    But when you're the best at what you do and have the hottest restaurant on the west coast, with enough Michelin stars to make Gordon Ramsay's head spin, you've earned the right to your confidence.When I give an instruction in the kitchen, it's not a suggestion--it's an order. So when a new chef thinks she can do things her way, and dares to say so to my face, even her sharp wit and gorgeous pouty lips don't make it okay. But I have to admit, she's got talent. She's creative in the kitchen and not even that double-breasted chef jacket can hide her perfect body. As I get to know her, I can't help wanting to know everything she thinks. I've never met a more talented chef. And I've never met a sassier and sexier woman in my life. There's only one way this push and pull can end.With her in my bed, begging for more.

    I should’ve known better. I should be studying harbor seals’ breeding habits, not conducting my own research into mating rituals of the Navy variety.He’s a jackass. An arrogant, womanizing, patronizing, Harley-riding jerk. A one-night stand. One night of the most incredible sex I’ve ever had. Shane is trained to kill with his bare hands in 300 different ways—and he knows 300 ways to f**k me, too. Now my father is engaged to his mother. And we’re heading to Mexico for the wedding. The prick is blackmailing me. He’s threatening to ruin their big day if I don’t surrender to his demands. Quit is not in his vocabulary. I hate him, but I know he’ll never give up until he gets everything he wants. Screw that! I won’t give up—I’ll never submit to America’s cockiest badass.

    Keeping my growing feelings tucked away should be a piece of cake. Except, seeing him every day definitely throws a wrench in that plan.Before I know it, we’re trading favors for dates, and as much I don’t want to admit it, the feelings for him I thought were dead and buried are taking root and growing into something that looks a lot like love. Daigle Family Funeral Services… don’t be caught dead any place else.

    That is, until she met Reed, Jesse's sexy as hell older brother, and ends up getting much more than what she'd bargained for.Reed Eddington assumed his future was settled until he met Sinclair, his brother's so-called "girlfriend," but the raw, sexual tension between them is hard to ignore. As he watches their ruse from the sidelines, he finds himself wanting to uncover more than just their amusing little facade.Due to sexual content and heavy subject matter, this book is recommended for ages 18+.

    As the most famous home renovator on television, I take broken piles of bricks and beams and turn them into forever homes. That's why it sucks so hard to see my dream and know that I can't make it mine. But now London Anderson, the girl I fell in love with and who has haunted me since high school, has just inherited her grandmother's falling-down house. And no one's better with broken dreams than me. I swear it's fate finally throwing us back together and I'm not going to waste this chance. I'm putting it all out there. I'll get down and dirty, use all the tools I have, whatever it takes to convince her that our first love can be our forever love.**Come For Me, Darling is the first book in a new steamy small town series about family, falling in love, and finding home.

    Thanks to a mud-slinging exposé, Dawn’s late great-grandfather is assumed guilty of stealing silver from a century-old shipwreck. Hoping to clear his name, Dawn returns to Starlight Cove, her idyllic hometown on Lake Michigan, where the doomed vessel sleeps beneath the beam of a ramshackle lighthouse.Her plan: remodel and sell the lighthouse while untangling the perplexing family mystery. Neither task is easy, especially once her well-meaning parents and the quirky locals—including nautical researcher and Starlight Cove’s most eligible bachelor, Kip Whittaker—get involved. Despite their attraction, Dawn is reluctant to trust Kip, or any of the close-knit townsfolk. But as she pieces together the truth, Dawn’s once-shuttered heart opens up. And if she’s willing, the lighthouse might guide her to a place she never expected to find, where the past entwines with a bright new beginning.

    There's nothing I crave more than being under the control of another man. Handing over power would fulfill a need I feel down to the marrow of my bones.What I don't know is how to get it. This kind of relationship requires complete trust--something I don't give to anyone except my only friend.Then along comes Dr. Aidan Kingsley. For the third time in my life, he helps me, without even knowing it, and someone like that, I can't help but believe in. This is the man I'm meant to be on my knees for. Aidan is meant to be my Sir.AIDANI've never had a full-time submissive.I've certainly never had a houseboy, but when I meet Finley, I can't seem to turn him away.Instead, I decide to keep things simple, showing Finley that he can take pride on his knees but also stand on his own. He takes care of my home, and he gives me control, in a strictly platonic way, even though he wants more. He's so beautiful, so naturally submissive, that I'm having a hard time sticking to my rules.The more he flourishes and the more he craves from me, the tougher I find it to deny him. Before I know it, he's under my skin. In my bed and in my heart. It wasn't supposed to go this far. I was only supposed to give him the tools he needed to find his own strength, yet somehow, in the finding of Finley, I found myself too.But my precious boy is only twenty; nineteen years my junior. And as I've told him, forever is a long time, and nothing in life is guaranteed.*** Finding Finley contains various k*nks, domestic discipline and a nineteen-year age gap. Please take that into consideration before deciding if this book is for you.

    I didn’t want to leave you... Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there’s something he’s not prepared for—a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie’s handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.The letter inside, written on the first day of Natalie’s cancer treatment a year ago, turns out to be the first of many. Luke is convinced they’re genuine, but who is delivering them? As his obsession with the letters grows, Luke uncovers long-buried secrets that make him question everything he knew about his wife and their family. But the revelations also point the way toward a future where love goes on—in written words, in memories, and in the promises it’s never too late to keep.

    Lila Emerson is finally free of the shadow of her politically connected family, with her new job in a small town Emergency Room. But her new peace is shattered when she encounters the dangerous, but compelling Striker. He's everything she should stay away from, but all she craves. And since he keeps turning up in her ER, he's hard to avoid. As Vice President of No Prisoners outlaw motorcycle club, Striker is no stranger to violence. But when it touches the pretty doctor he wants in his bed, he'll do anything to keep her safe. When Striker and Lila are thrust together, sparks fly and passions ignite. Before long they find themselves entangled in a relationship neither saw coming. The MC can and will eliminate any threat against Lila, but what if they—and the man she's falling for—are the reason she’s in danger?

    It was from his daughter.  A sweet little girl named Birdie Maxwell who’d written to the magazine that I worked for.You see, once a year, my employer fulfilled a few wishes for readers. Only that column didn’t start up again for months.So I fulfilled some of her wishes myself. It was harmless…so I thought. Until one day I took things too far.While anonymously granting yet another of Birdie’s wishes, I got a look at her father. Her devastatingly handsome, single dad father. I should have stopped playing fairy godmother then. I should have left well enough alone. But I just couldn’t help myself.  I had a connection to this girl. One that had me acting irrationally.Like showing up on their doorstep.

    He’s arrogant. He’s smart as a whip and sexy AF. He has too much money. He’s bossy, and he’s usually right. All I saw were his clear blue eyes, tight butt, and ripped torso. I gladly handed him my V-card that night, ten years ago. I was so stupid. I swore I’d never be that stupid again… Emmy Barton works for a dry cleaner? Yes, that Emmy Barton—long, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, pretty smile… Sexy little body. Smart mouth. She was the only girl who interested me, but I was leaving to be an officer in the Navy. Now I’m home, running my business. My life is perfectly ordered until I bump into her, divorced and struggling to make ends meet. I hate seeing her like this. I hate that she married Burt “The Dick” Dickerson. What an a--hole. She says she hates me, but when we fight, it’s all heat and lust. I won’t leave her this way. She will let me help her and her son. She will stay… It’s a thin line between love and hate, and this line is on fire. (STAY is a STAND-ALONE enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, marriage of convenience romance. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)

    The body of her estranged twin sister, Angela—the possible victim of a serial killer—has been pulled from the Seine. Putting what’s left of her life on hold, Shayna heads to Paris. But while cleaning out Angela’s apartment, Shayna makes a startling discovery: a coded message meant for her alone… Alive. Trust no one. Taking the warning to heart, Shayna maintains the lie. She makes a positive ID on the remains and works to find out where—and why—her missing sister is hiding. Shayna retraces her sister’s footsteps, and they lead her down into Paris’s underbelly.As she gets closer to the truth—and to the killer—Shayna’s own life may now be in the balance…

    With a career-ending scandal on his back, Evan hides out in his best friend’s empty San Francisco home, the full city shutdown locking him in a lonely twenty-story apartment in the sky.Romance writer Sadie Walsh is having the worst case of writer’s block ever…until the incredible, muscular stranger staying next door gets her muse going strong. The pair of loners, never expecting to find a friend in all the madness, meet each day out on their balconies like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.Each new day brings unique challenges for the pair as they navigate the unknown and find solace together. They quickly figure out that as long as they have one another, they can handle anything.Even falling in love under quarantine.