I hated him at first sight, in my teens, when my mother met his worthless father. I hated when Bill moved in with us, dragging Hunter like bad baggage. I hated when Mom and Bill made it official, turning the delinquent a-hole in the next room into my brand-new stepbrother. I hated when I fell for Hunter, and Hunter fell for me. It killed me when he left us behind, shed like dead skin on his way to the top. And now that Hunter is a hotshot music producer on every magazine cover, I hate him even more. I hate his money. I hate his fancy toys. I hate that he thinks he owns me … or worse, that he OWES me. I hate that he’s back. That he’s soiled our ghetto with his pristine suit, his fancy black limousine. My heart hurts, I hate him so much. And it scares me that my heart might keep loving him in the end, beneath it all.

     I know the feeling well. I'm the top draft prospect for the NFL, voted All-American last year, and a God at the University of Oregon. I didn't get here by fucking around or chasing fantasies—and I'll never forget where I came from. A guy like me only gets one chance to get out, to make something of himself. Passion. I thought football was my passion. But Teagan Fletcher, she's my obsession. My childhood friend is now a woman with curves for days and hair like fire. But she also hates me—and I don't blame her. I want her. But I can't have her. I need her. But I don't know how to let go. One way or another, I'll have it all: football … and Fletcher. ***KICKED is a standalone new adult sports romance with a happy ending and no cliffhanger. To celebrate the release of this bad boy, there are two free bonus books in the back: STEPBROTHER INKED and RAW AND DIRTY, both from C.M.'s pen name, Violet Blaze. All three are full-length novels, full of bad boys and tattoos, and loaded with hot, hot, hotness. Enjoy! EXCERPT FROM "KICKED": “What are we doing?” Teagan asked as I forced her to jog after me towards the tunnel. “Where are we going?” Her voice was breathy and patchy, and she panted as she ran after me, but she kept going, following me into the pitch blackness and down, down, down. At the halfway mark, I stopped, turned, shoved her back into the wall. “Tyce,” Teagan said, her voice high and reedy, like she was about to come in her panties just from looking at me. I reached up and tore my helmet from my head, tossing it aside and letting it bounce along the pavement beneath our feet. I was panting so goddamn hard in that moment, sucking in breath after anxious breath as my eyes flicked over her face, down her throat, across the full swell of her chest. I stepped forward and cupped the back of her head with a golden glove, leaned down and captured her mouth with mine. I kissed her hard and fast, frantic with time and need and desire. Less than five minutes. I bruised Teagan's mouth with my own, slid our tongues together, made her dizzy when I pulled back and looked her straight in the face. “We have five minutes,” I said and then we were working together to shove her pants down one leg, over her sneakers. Mine were next, pushed down halfway off my a**, my c*** springing free from my cup. I lifted Teagan up against that stone wall, slammed her back into the cool cement and let her curl her fingers in my sweaty hair. It was stuck to my forehead, probably a hot mess, but she looked at me like I was a god. I felt like a god there in that tunnel in the dark with thousands of fans screaming and pounding the pavement above our heads. In an instant, my coach or a security guard or one of the boys, they could come down here and find us screwing. I didn't care. Seriously. I didn't give a s***.

    That’s all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. But then the unplanned happened.We met. And all I wanted from her was a dirty weekend . . . until that wasn’t enough and I longed for so much more.Lawrence Thorn suddenly means the world to me. And that’s a problem. She’s my business partner’s sister. Forbidden fruit. Pursuing her can mean trouble for me at Lovibond Brewery. But I don’t care.I yearn for her skin against mine.I crave her smell on my body.I want to make her laugh and then hear her moan my name.And she does for a brief moment in time.But Lawrence wants more than I’m able to give. And it’s a damn shame because there’s no one on earth I want more than her.An epic love.A miserable ending.Unless it’s not.

    Her free spirit and noncommittal attitude left him wanting more. A lot more—he wanted forever. Unfortunately, forever becomes complicated when fate has other plans.But that was years ago...Still shattered by his guilt and self-destructive behavior, Jack lives his life in agony over the past - never embracing the present. But when Jovie Blake shows up, demanding a piece of his heart, the past that he thought he'd buried, comes crashing down around him. Forcing him to confront what he lost so long ago. Regret is inevitable, and no one’s heart is safe. Can fate be so twisted and cruel?

    All I’ve ever wanted was to experience a love like my parents had. They told me all those stories about love when I was a little girl, and how it’s the key to living happily ever after. 
 Well, I started to think those were all lies. Love is a trick, and it doesn’t exist. Who needs romance when it only ends with you crying your eyes out? So I went on strike two years straight: no love, no men… and it was going well! 
 But then this guy Steven smiled at me and then his best friend Michael kissed me and, well, this story is so complicated there has to be a good ending to it. Right? Or maybe my Fairy Godmother’s a major bi-tch.”

    So, when her latest lemon of a boss dumped her in the middle of nowhere after she refused his advances, and she found herself stranded with the reserved and handsome Xander Cross, Cadence decided to make lemonade. Maybe if she played her cards right, she’d be making more than that too. Xander Cross fled LA after a failed music career, determined to build a life on his terms, without anyone else. He still enjoyed his weekend dalliances, but he’d vowed never to let a woman in again, until he didn’t have a choice. When he found her, Cadence was a crumpled heap on the side of the road, but when she fixed her eyes on him for the first time, his resolve melted. Cadence wasn’t the kind of girl who was built for fun, she was built for keeps. Scared to hold on, but too stubborn to let go.

    The words I would soon say again, in a moment that didn’t involve bridges, but something much more fragile: my heart.He held onto me for three weeks, in a time when I needed to be held. Needed to connect to someone who understood how loss tunneled unrepentantly through the fabric of your soul.Although he said he'd stay, we both knew he wouldn't. I had already survived one loss—I didn't know if I'd survive another.-Ames-She spun into my life like a tornado of smiles and chatter and everything else I'd long avoided, with a persistence that I admired, albeit begrudgingly. She broke down each neat wall I’d constructed without even trying. Her presence alone caused me to remember what it felt like to smile, to look forward to what the day would bring.But it was only supposed to last three weeks.“Don’t let go,” she’d pleaded.I’d promised her I wouldn’t—but I would. I didn't have a choice.

    Content with studying and keeping to herself, Alex has no interest in the campus playboy, Drew Collins, trying to get close to her. But even dousing him with beer doesn't deter the easy-going charmer, and against her better judgment, the pair falls into a reluctant friendship. Drew is bored with college life, and Alex's romantic rejection intrigues him... Their friendship is good for both of them, but Drew is used to getting what he wants, and he's tired of shallow sorority girls. He's much more interested in the feisty redhead, but despite his growing feelings, Alex keeps him firmly in the friend zone. Old heartaches and new tragedies deepen a complicated relationship... Whatever life throws their way, Alex and Drew remain best friends with their own traditions. Drew is Alex's family, her rock, and Alex keeps Drew grounded, always challenging him to better himself. When years of buried feelings rush to the surface, they threaten to change everything... Drew promised his mother he'd tell Alex how he feels, when the time is right-but how will he know when that is? Alex is terrified to reveal those 'three little words, ' certain Drew doesn't feel the same, and she'll lose the only family she has. Getting what you want might be as easy as being brave enough to ask for it. Should Alex and Drew open their hearts, and risk being crushed? Should they be satisfied with a deep, lifelong friendship? Or does the only chance for happiness lie... Somewhere In Between?

    After a painful loss, he became all but invisible to his grieving family. So he dove headfirst into a dangerous life, sinking deeper until he felt he could disappear-and almost did. Though Tristan survived, staying on track is a 24/7 battle he’s not sure he wants to fight.Then Tristan meets Avery, the girl with purple streaks in her hair and tattoos like secrets, waiting to be uncovered. Her smile is warm and inviting, but her sad, hazel eyes tell a different story. And the strangest part is-she can really see him. A girl like that might just keep Tristan out of the darkness . . . or pull him right back in.

    After a prick cheats on her, she shows up at my doorstep broken and alone .... and my desire takes over.She picked me up after my devastating accident. Now it’s my turn to help the woman I owe everything too.She needs a friend, a shoulder to cry on.The last thing she needs is another man to break her heart.Lucky for us, I’m not just a man.I’m her man.She just doesn’t know it yet. Now’s the time to risk it all.Falling For Ryan: Part TwoGiving your heart to your best friend comes with a big risk.I’ve fallen in love with my best friend, and she feels the same. It should be easy now, right?As our new relationship begins to blossom it’s not long before people start to threaten the bond between us. Could their meddling and Molly’s insecurities end us before we really have a chance? Is what we have worth fighting for or was it doomed from the start? Falling For JaxCan lust at first sight turn into happily ever after?I’m a bad boy, or so everyone thinks. Women assume I’ll show them a good time and then walk away. But I want more. I want to find my queen. One look at her and I know she’s the one. Just when I think everything’s perfect, her fear takes her away from me. But when tragedy strikes there’s no way I’m passing up a second chance to make her mine. Is it possible to fall even harder for her once I know the truth? Falling For RubenCan you begin falling in love from just a photograph?I’ve experienced the pain love can cause and I have no interest in it. Easy relationships and easier women are all I need. Until a shy brunette stops me in my tracks and makes me feel everything I told myself I never would. But will old habits ruin my chances from the very beginning or can I convince her I’m worthy of her? I’m falling for an innocent virgin and I’m powerless to stop. Falling For FinFalling for your best friend's little sister is never going to be easy.She’s my best friend’s little sister. The one woman I’ve vowed never to touch. There’s just one problem.I’m in love with her. I always have been.Now she’s pregnant with my child and I’ve never been more terrified.My life isn’t as easy as everyone thinks and if I allow her in she’s going to learn all my well-kept secrets.She’s everything I want and need, but can I drag her into my life? Will she want to be?I’ve fallen for my best friend’s little sister and I’m going to do everything I can to make her mine. The Falling series is Tracy Lorraine's emotional and steamy contemporary romance series that includes friends to lovers, second chances, innocent virgins and brother's best friends. One click and start binge reading now.>

    I spent five years in a medium security sh*thole.I swore I'd stay out of trouble, but when I met Abby Rawlings, all bets were off. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I had to have her.But Daddy dearest is standing in my way. He thinks I'm no good for her, and he's declared her Off Limits.Well, I don't give a damn — In the end, I'll make her mine...

    When they were paired through an online sugar daddy service in Skye’s most desperate hour, Cole rescued her from financial ruin and a stress-induced breakdown. In return, she has kept the press off his back by posing as his girlfriend for the last four years.But Skye wants more. Not money or fame, but more of him. Cole: sweet, funny, and ceaselessly charming. At times, even he seems to crave a shift in their relationship to something a little messier—before swiftly pulling right back into the friend zone.Things take a turn for the scandalous, however, when the latest gift from her sugar daddy arrives: a new dress. He’s taking Skye to a swanky soiree that evening, and the accompanying note has a titillating aside:PS: Wear something underneath that makes you feel sexy.Thrilled, Skye obliges with her most daring lingerie. But when Cole’s ulterior motives for the night surface, she’s forced to swallow her disappointment and seek out her own fun—which arrives in the form of the sinfully handsome heir to a chocolate empire, Finn Rai. The All In Trilogy is a feel-good erotic romance between three individuals, and is not a love triangle. It contains graphic content and is only appropriate for mature readers. There are no trigger warnings associated with the trilogy, and readers will find a happy ending waiting for them at the end of a long, twisting road. The All In trilogy is told over three novellas, which should be read in order.FINN (#1)COLE (#2)SKYE (#3)

    But when I returned home, Jensen Wright crashed into my life with the confidence of a billionaire CEO and the sex appeal of a god. Even I couldn’t resist our charged chemistry, or the way he fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece.Too bad he’d forgotten the one thing that could destroy us.Because Jensen Wright doesn’t share. Not with anyone. And if his brother finds out, this could all go down in flames.When it all was said and done, was he the Wright brother?

    Womanizing. Jerk.Xavier Stone has been called many things, and he's proud of most of them.Driving a Ferrari 488, living in Tribeca, and running businesses that spit out $$$, he's living the dream.He can, and often does, have any woman he wants.Except for Isabel Laronde.That chick is something else.And right now, she's not interested.Failing to attract her attention, Xavier seeks to prove himself by placing a bet: $10K to win Isabel over and to get her into his bed.Piece of cake.Except that Isabel is mistrusting of the rich and privileged, and Xavier represents everything she hates in a man. Finding him to be arrogant and self-obsessed, Izzy sees right through Xavier's flirtatious attempts--and there's no way in hell she's falling for any of them.Until, despite her best intentions, she does.When her defenses crumble, her resistance falls to the wayside faster than her panties.But Xavier Stone should have come with a warning.She should have listened to her gut.She should have stayed away.First impressions are rarely wrong and this man was trouble right from the start.** The Bet is a 110K sexy standalone contemporary romance with a HEA, no cheating, or cliffhangers.It is also Book 1 in the Indecent Intentions series (a spin-off from The Billionaire's Love Story) **

    A STARSTUCK KISS was previously available as a limited time prequel novella. It is now ONLY available in the book STARS IN THEIR EYES. You will not find A STARSTRUCK KISS on any retailers. You will find it in the book STARS IN THEIR EYES.Celebrity photographer Jess Leighton is pitted against her rival William Harrigan in a high-stakes Hollywood chase. She can't trust him, but she can't resist him either. Can they work together and will their intense attraction get in the way? Book 1 in the new adult series Wrapped Up in Love...