Ours was baptized in fire.I was the new girl trying to find her place.Landon was the brooding neighbor I tutored over the summer.I didn’t know he was a legend at Black Mountain Academy.I didn’t know they worshipped him like a religion.But I fell for him before I knew those things.To me, he was just the tortured soul who drew me in like a magnet.And then he did something so unspeakable, so unforgivable, it shattered me.I ran away then because I was weak, but I’ve shed my tears.He stole my heart and my dignity, and I’m here to take it back.The only problem is… he’s not giving it up without a fight.

    It was a chance meetingThat changed everythingBefore only one man loved meNow two doOne is my husbandThe other a loverI didn’t cheatWe had a threesomeBut the problem was what followedMy lover wanted more than one nightMy husband got angryMy lover got dirtyAnd I got overwhelmed

    “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

    Don't read another word of this. I'm not that type of girl. My name is Emerald Anderson and I'm not going to bullshit you: I flunked out of college after my sophomore year, I've been fired from every job I've ever taken, and I've never had a fully functioning relationship in my life. I wish I could say that I had a cheerleader in my corner, someone who says, "No, Emerald--You're great and you are good at something!" but I don't. My grandparents are completely oblivious to my life, and my mother's dying words to me were "You're going to end up just like me one day. A beautiful nothing." She was right.As I decide to start my life over and take two jobs that will forever change me--one from the inside, and one from the outside, I keep my mother's words close to my heart so I can keep the sexy and mysterious Carter Black away. He's the first man who's ever pursued me, the first man who seems bent on finding out why I am the way I am, but he's wasting his time. I'm not broken. I don't need to be fixed. I'm perfectly fine being a beautiful failure...

     Port Royal, South Carolina, was my home. I was born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never thought I’d go back. Now, after so many years, I have to return to bury the man who made my life a living hell. Some nights, I used to cry myself to sleep, praying my father would die. Other nights were different. Other nights, there was him. Callan Cross. My first confidante. My first kiss. My first love. My first everything: Callan was the glue that held me together when everything else was falling apart. He was my savior. He was there for me whenever I needed him… Until he wasn’t. Every night, I’ve seen the love of my life in my sleep. I just never thought I’d have to face him again. Callan Twelve years ago, I f*#@ed up big time. Living life through a camera lens is sometimes easier than dealing with it head on. Scratch that. It’s always easier. For over a decade, I’ve been a master of my art, taking photographs all over the world. Yet despite all of the countries I’ve visited, the amazing things I’ve seen, the beautiful women I’ve screwed, my heart has remained in pieces. Coralie’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, will ever love. And I’m determined to show her that we’re meant to be together. Even if it means unearthing the bones of the past in the process. A lifetime and a thousand miles have stood between us. Now, there’s no length of time I won’t wait, no distance I won’t travel, in order to make her mine.

    The college-age church group plans to go to Manila and help victims of the sex-trafficking industry. Stone's lingering nightmare memories about the sex-trafficking industry have him warning church leaders that the trip is a bad idea. He knows all too well that it could end in violence, and those involved aren't to be trifled with.When beautiful Wren Morgan goes missing, he has a sick feeling that he knows exactly who took her, and for what purpose. The problem is, Wren isn't just any other student. She's someone he's close to, someone he cares about. Now she's in the hands of cruel, evil men, and Stone is the only one who can rescue her before the unthinkable happens.

    Augustine’s very own fallen angel had me in his hold and he wasn’t giving up until I was ruined.I was a snitch. A liar. A pawn.He was cruel. Merciless. The King.Together, we were fated for destruction.And where there are secrets and untruths… there are demons lurking beyond the shadows.

    Their future was assured until tragedy struck and deceptions were made. There are consequences to every action, and the Consequences of Deception are always the most punishing. Sloane Evans lost nearly everyone that she’s ever loved, but losing Killian Brandt left a scar that never healed. Four and a half years after turning his back on her, Killian steps back into Sloane’s life in the most shocking of ways, giving her no choice but to abandon her life and go with him. Why would a man buy a woman that he hates? Not everything is as it appears. Love is beautiful, revenge is ugly, and lies destroy lives. Prepare to discover the Consequences of Deception. Warning: This is NOT a sweet and happy romance. It's dark, twisted, and not for the faint of heart. If you prefer champagne, roses & easy romance, this is NOT the book for you. 18 & up ONLY due to erotic content.

    Don’t get close to the clients. The dark and glamorous lifestyle of the rich and shameless open my eyes to a lavish world of sin and wealth, and a man I can’t have. A man I desperately want—James Riviera. We're treading a fine line as we live the ultimate double life until we make a startling discovery that tests both our loyalties. I only had to follow the rules, but rules are meant to be broken.

    Reckless bad boy. Infamous playboy. My nemesis. And now my best friend.I know he’ll never leave me hanging. He knows I'll never refuse a dare. Everywhere we go we turn heads, but it’s not like that.Until it is.For one of us, anyway.I've always known he would be my downfall. But I trusted him to catch me.He proved me wrong.Maddox has gone too far, and I don’t know if I want to rein him in or push us further into dangerous territory.He tells me those three little words that I crave. Three little words I want from no one else.𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖Except this time, it's no simple dare. This could burn us to the ground."𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒎."

    They bust out of an emergency exit and have axis-shaking sex. He pours whiskey in her belly button and after they run out of condoms, they have to get creative. That kind of sex. The next day, she learns that he is none other than Dr. Benjamin Beck, a brand new member of the Yale faculty and the hottest thing to happen to academia since… well, ever. She has to take his damned junior seminar to graduate, but it gets worse. He’s also her College Master: her boss, her advisor, her everything. And he’s just moved in, right downstairs. They can’t stay away from each other. They're either fusion or fission or both. They’re making out in libraries, hiding notes between stones, and sneaking off to nautically themed AirBnbs. Hear that sound? It’s the academic code of ethics going up in flames. If they're found out, he’ll lose his job and his reputation. She'll lose her scholarship and be forced to return to the life of lobster fishing that she thought she’d escaped. And they will be found out, yes they will.So what the hell are they going to do? *** To the reader: Things get damned dirty in this book. The characters curse, the sex gets explicit. It’s an erotic love story with fury. Be advised. Other tasters’ notes: HEA. Sweet. Funny. Dirty. Muddy. Wet. Inspired by a real professor.

    Caulter Sterling is a prick.A filthy-mouthed, womanizing, crude, spoiled, arrogant prick.The tattooed, pierced, panty-melting-hot son of a celebrity.I hate him.He's slept his way through practically every girl at Brighton Academy. Except for me.I'm the good girl. The responsible girl. The 4.0, class president, studied-so-much-she-never-lost-the-big-V girl.And in celebration of graduation and adulthood, I just made the worst decision in the history of ever. I lost my V-card to the devil himself.It was just one night. So what if it was mind-blowing? Hit it and quit it.Except I just found out that my father - the Senator, the Presidential hopeful - is marrying Caulter's mother. Oh, and this summer? We're hitting the campaign trail.One big happy family.I'm totally f**ked.

    If it makes my heart pound and my blood rush, I’m all in. That’s how I ended up at the sex club. It was supposed to be one night of fun. No names. No professions. No small talk. Perfect anonymity. One hundred percent no strings attached. I thought I could handle the rules, but that was before I saw her. I should’ve walked away and forgot the whole thing. Coulda, shoulda, woulda… didn’t. She told me not to get attached, but I did it anyway. If I thought our first sexual encounter changed my life, the second one rearranged my future.

    When I turned eighteen, I made it clear I still felt the same. The problem? He's fifteen years older than me, and he's my father's best friend.Toren Grace. My pseudo-uncle. He's always been my rock--the one I should never, ever want. But I do want him, and I love him. I always have.Tor's one of the good guys. He's loving and devoted with a strong moral compass. One unexpected kiss between us rocked him clear off his axis. Now, we can't forget how that kiss felt, and what it changed. Nothing will ever be the same between us.But I'm not a little girl anymore, and he's everything I want.I'm everything he wants, too.I know he's struggling, but I'm determined. With a last name of Valentine, I've got cupid in my veins. The heart wants what the heart wants, and it doesn't care about age or how we met. My father cares, though. And he's the one person neither one of us can stand to betray or hurt.We're all being torn apart, and I don't know how to make everyone see that the wrongs are actually right.* Torn can be read as a single book.

    The Saint is a dark suspense.*My life was simple; God, business and myself, in that order. Then I met an angel, and everything changed.Only an angel can save the damned.