If dirty talk, bedroom toys, and threesomes offend you... this is not your book. There are also no billionaires, strippers, or virgins. This is just the story of typical college kids trying to connect to each other. "No one tells you about pain. They tell you that it hurts, that sometimes it's consuming. What they don't tell you is that it's not the pain that can kill you. It's the uncomfortable numbness that follows, the weakness in your body when you realize your lungs may stop taking in air and you just can't exert enough energy to care. It's the way taste and color and smell fade from the world and all you're left with is a sepia print of misery. That's when the shift starts - the movement from passive to active. I fall asleep, hoping that the morning will bring back the pain. At least the pain is a thing."Plagued by a dark past, Jack sees college as a way out. Desperate to escape the area where he grew up, the people who know his secrets, and his own family, he deals with his problems through alcohol and meaningless sex. When he first sees Lily, she's the epitome of everything he hates. Yet something about her makes Jack rethink everything he knows and assumes about other people. Now, with the help of his best friend and lover, Jack has to decide if he wants to pursue something that he knows will only end badly.Can Lily be one of the few people who can see Jack for who he really is - or will his darkness be too much for her to handle?

    Not even close. The things she got up to in college would cause her parents to fall off their pedestals in shock. Home for the summer vacation, Kate settles in for a long, boring break in the tiny backwater of Winter with folks who still treat her like she's twelve.Then Ben Parker arrives and suddenly Winter gets interesting. He's hot, mysterious and good with his hands. Kate falls for him instantly, but her cop father warns her to stay away. But how can she stay away from someone as compelling as Ben? Someone who thinks she's perfect just the way she is?When Ben's secrets catch up to him, not only is Kate's heart in danger of being broken, but Ben's entire future could be ruined. RUIN is a new adult contemporary romance intended for mature readers. It contains strong language and sexual situations.To read a long excerpt of RUIN and discover what Ben has tattooed on his shoulder, check out C.J.'s website: http://www.cjscottbooks.com/2013/08/r...

    He’s a loner. Sebastian “Bash” Lowell is used to not fitting in or going with the flow. They call him a punk in the press, so he does his best to live up to the title. He’s practically a professional outcast at this point, having changed schools so many times he’s lost count. Bash learned long ago it’s far better to stand out than it is to fit in, so he’s made sure everything about him screams “back-off." Finding friends is more hassle than it’s worth when he knows he’s going to be gone again at his parents’ next whim. Bash fought to get into the elite, exclusive, private school to avoid his publicity-hungry parents who use him to fuel gossip and fend off far-reaching rumors. Having learned a few tricks from his vicious, media-savvy mother, Bash broke a few laws, ruffled the right feathers, and was exiled to Castle Pines. Now he gets to finish his high school career in peace and quiet, and in the same damn place. All Bash wants is to graduate and get on with his life outside the limelight. No attachments, school only, so he can focus on getting into his dream college. Nothing prepared him for Rutledge Darby. He’s a legacy. Rutledge “Edge” Alexander Darby IV has had everything in his life handed to him on a silver platter. They call him the preppy-billionaire-heir in the press, although he resists his title at every possible opportunity. Edge is American royalty, his last name synonymous with wealth and privilege. His family crest adorns the walls of the elite private school he’s attended since before he could walk. Castle Pines is all he’s ever known—a kingdom he’s ruled since birth. Everyone in his world wants something from him, and Edge isn't the type to give anything away for free. His life is simple. No attachments, no entanglements, and the only person he trusts to watch his back is his best friend. For their senior year, they fully plan to do as they please and raise as much hell as possible. Edge longs for something to surprise him. He's desperate for the unexpected. He’s ready for something real. Nothing prepared him for Bash Lowell.

    She left behind her friends and family hoping they would be better off without her in the way. Now, after being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (Multiple personality disorder) and determined to set her life straight, she is going back. She doesn't expect her best friend growing up, and the only man she has ever loved, to be waiting for her.Charlie Mackenzie never knew the real reasons why Tessa left, but because of the promises he swore to keep, he feels responsible. He has spent the last 5 years fighting underground MMA, staying distracted, and trying not to chase after her and drag her back to him. Now that she is finally back, he won't allow her to push him away without knowing how he has felt about her all along. The only problem? He's not just dealing with Tessa anymore. Tessa won't let herself be a burden to anyone and being with Charlie will only complicate his life, and hers, but she can't seem to shake him, and Benny, her friend from 'The Facility', isn't helping matters. Learning to live with not only the people around her, but the people in her head, isn't as simple as she thought it would be and Charlie is forcing her to abandon all of the control she thought she had.The two of them must decide if their love is worth fighting for and Tess has to learn to just let go, because Charlie won't let her go. He won't let any one of her go.

    When his older brother vanished at the same time Sid Carlson's first wife disappeared, young Mac swore that someday he'd discover his brother's fate. After he became a cop, Mac's probe triggered a nasty frame-up that sent his career down in flames. Now a struggling private eye, Mac can't believe his luck when the second Mrs. Carlson, whose rags-to-riches marriage is headed for disaster, seeks his services to get the goods on her cheating husband. Mac's not about to reveal he's anything but a stranger to his quarry and miss this prime chance to pump Sid's neglected trophy wife, Julie, for inside information about her slimy spouse. With no one to trust but each other, and danger closing in on every side, the gorgeous ex-beauty queen and the sexy ex-cop are soon sharing much more than just information. Karen Robards has packed this story with adventure, intrigue, and steamy sensuality.

    Faced with an ultimatum, he's hell-bound on changing his reckless ways.A chance meeting has these two instantly attracted to one another, but when their paths cross again—this time as professor and student—the roles reverse on Professor Edwards as Caleb teaches her how to feel again.

    It’s deep, it’s consuming, and has the potential to be the real thing. But true love comes at a price.Fuelled by Liam's past, Sarah's issues, and a messy web of family ties, business partnerships, and exes, the combined forces threaten to snuff out their new found relationship. Will that spark be smothered by outside forces? Or will they be carried like smoke from the ashes and sent spiralling skywards?Written in Lesley Jones’ usual heartfelt, witty, and emotional voice, this dual point of view story is just the beginning of her Spiralling series.

    But love in the limelight is never easy. The past is trying to catch up with the present, and the pressure may be too hard to handle.Seduction, torment, laughter, and heartbreak—one reckless weekend will test each member of the band and the women who’ve claimed their love.

    When Tony’s mother Marie and Marc’s father Dennis decide to tie the knot at last, it should be an occasion of great joy for everyone. Except all Marc can think about is having to spend the next two weeks with the young man he’s been in love with since he was sixteen. Tony feels so torn about Marc coming home from college. He keeps telling himself that it’s wrong to feel this way about him. After all, in two weeks’ time they’ll be related. So when the two young men are thrown together to prepare for the wedding, tensions rise and discoveries are made.It’s going to be a very long two weeks, and a wedding that no one will ever forget.

    Unable to cope with her loss, she's forced to move thousands of miles away. The last thing she expects to find when arriving in her new home is her neighbor, naked and in a very compromising situation. Keegan Montgomery never had to answer to anyone for anything. His life consisted of partying and frequenting as many beds as he could throw himself into. But under his bad boy facade, he is facing his own internal demons. Daisy will never love another. Keegan knows he'll never love anyone - ever. But their attraction is undeniable. Can the tragic ending of a first love end up being the beginning of another?

    Things have always come easy for me; sports, academics…girls. And I’ve used all of that to my advantage the past three years of college.I’ve got it all, or at least I thought I did until Laken walks into my life.I’ve never had a desire to let another person into my life like my parents’ relationship, but there is some mysterious pull I feel toward this brunette I’ve noticed around campus.And with each interaction we have, I long to know her more. Yet the closer we get, the harder she resists and the higher the walls go up.I sense there’s something more – a secret she’s hiding – one she doesn’t trust to share with me yet.But she will, if I have my way, and I’ll do anything if she’ll take a chance on me. On us. I grew up hearing the story of how my parents met, their separation, how my dad fought for them, and they're happily ever after. I just never expected or wanted to find that for myself.Now that I have I don’t want to ever let them go. But when I’m given the opportunity of a lifetime after graduation, will the offer of my heart be enough for her to accept? Or will I lose her forever?

    Seven minutes of heaven in a boat shed. But it quickly turns into something neither of them saw coming.He’s everything she should resist.She’s everything he shouldn’t want.But neither of them are willing to walk away because together, their demons seem that little bit easier to silence.There’s just one problem ... Lily is the coach’s daughter.And one hundred percent off-limits.

    But their hopes for a ‘happily-ever-after’ are dashed by tragedy.A horrific car accident wipes out most of Jason's memories. Unable to recall anything from the last fifteen years of his life, Jason is suddenly adrift, his once charmed life now in ruins.Megan finds herself in the untenable position of having to deal with the fact that the man she’s helping to rebuild his life may look, and even act, like her beloved fiancé, but in reality, isn’t any longer.Trying to protect herself, as well as Jason, Megan fights the attraction between them. . .to no avail. As their potent connection inevitably draws them closer, Megan wonders,With the memories of their relationship gone, can love endure?

    The first he married for duty, the second was for lust. The third will be all the above plus a love so consuming it takes him by storm. Alana Harte is a force to be reckoned with, she was raised in the faith, but not in the town. No long skirts and head wraps for her, she's all about designer jeans and high heels. Sharon tries to hold him with her beauty, Arlene thinks she's number one. But Alana will own him before all's said and done. Because she knows something her sheltered sisters don't. A good pussy can topple nations. Just ask Cleopatra.

    Now at eighteen, with her final months of high school before her, she only has one goal: To remain unseen…Jace Wallace is about to start living a rock star's life. As lead guitarist for the newest internet sensation, Fighting Fate, he's rocking the stage - and a different girl - every weekend, and that's the way he prefers it. With the band's popularity about to explode to new heights, he doesn't have time for complications. Or commitments. He only has one goal: To succeed...The only thing standing in the way of achieving their goals? Each other.When unusual circumstances bring the two of them together, and one thing quickly leads to another, Mia finds herself proposing an arrangement she never thought she'd ever consider. A no-strings-attached relationship. But when feelings start creeping in, and their one goal blurs to include another, they're both forced to make a decision.Sit back and take what Fate hands you, or fight for what you want.