"Taking her was a means to an end.
The task was to weed out the man who had stolen millions from us. He may have succeeded, but he'd pay with his life. Hiding from us was a grave error he'd regret soon enough because once he found out that we had taken the one thing he cared for as repayment, he'd show up. When a man had a weakness, it was foolish to make a mistake like this. He would come for her, and when he did, he wouldn't walk away unscathed, nor would the sister he adored.
This was my fault. I hadn't seen his scheme. It was my mistake, so I had to fix it. However, it seemed the joke was on me. What I had thought would be an easy job proved more difficult than I'd imagined. I had underestimated the power of her big brown eyes, full lips, and sweet, sultry voice. Keeping my focus on torturing information from her- when what I really wanted to do was touch her, have her, own her- would not only be a painful obstacle but possibly my biggest failure.
Except she hated the sight of me.
But I couldn't blame her.
I'd walked out of her nightmares as her own personal monster.
Narrated in duet style."
"Saylor
Was it a sin to hate the dead?
It was something I had pondered many times over the past ten months. Although it wasn't why I required medication to sleep at night. I wasn't truly concerned about the level of darkness that resided in my soul. It was the images of the night I had watched a bullet take down the boy I had loved most of my life. Seeing the life leave his body, the way his eyes had gone void. It haunted me. Even now that I knew he'd betrayed me. That what I thought had been real had all been a lie. Crosby Cash had been in love, alright, just not with me.
Those closest to me, the ones who were supposed to love me, all accused me of being dramatic. Because that made sense. I just loved the panic attacks that robbed me of my ability to breathe. And the passing out from lack of oxygen was the best. Looking in the mirror and not recognizing the girl looking back at me was my favorite.
Perhaps that was the reason I sought solace in the last place anyone would think I'd go. We weren't religious people. I'd been born into a family of organized crime. The day I walked into the catholic church seeking… forgiveness, closure, something…anything to find the girl I had once been, I hadn't expected him. The man ordained by God to lead his people to salvation. Well, that man in the sky so many believed in made a grave mistake allowing a man who looked like Jude, or rather Father Jude, to wear that white collar.
I could lie and say I found what I was looking for, standing in front of the altar, staring up at the crucifix, but even those with tarnished souls have their limits. I found something alright, but it wasn't forgiveness. My answer wasn't going to come from the one they called their Savior but the one they referred to as Father.
Jude
Temptation comes for all of us. I had thought I could overcome whatever Satan placed before me. This life had held little meaning for me after the day I lost the girl I loved. My first and only love. Too young, sweet, and beautiful for this world. But men are often fools. And I would soon learn just how weak I was - when a pair of bright blue eyes stood in my sanctuary staring back at me.
She was lost. Hurting. Seeking comfort.
She was the one temptation I never expected and would never regret.
For mature listeners. Narrated in duet style."
"Calculating, cold, often without emotion, was how I was described by those closest to me.
I had thought perhaps there was truth to their depiction until this endless searing pain took the place in my chest where my heart used to be. Vengeance now ate away at my soul. The wrath I planned to unleash would make the demons in Hell appear mild.
At least, that was until…
The twisted crux came in the form of eyes bluer than the sky on a warm summer day, a slightly upturned nose with a scattering of freckles, a pink cupid bow mouth, and a smile that made a man's knees weak.
The events that brought us here meant I should loathe her existence for eternity, yet my need for her grows with each passing day. She's too young, she's vulnerable and broken, but somehow, she's not damaged. She was the cause of what had left me with this raging agony, and yet, the balm that eased my soul. Still, I can never forgive the destruction she caused me and those I love.
I had become a mockery of my revenge because holding her at night while she slept was the only thing keeping me sane. She'll pay the price through my cruelty, never knowing that while she dreams, I find my solace.
My story begins with my worst nightmare.
And she's the reason behind all of it.
Narrated in duet style."
"Loving a man known for his wealth, arrogance, and power had been a mistake. My head had known he was dangerous, but my heart hadn’t cared. When the lies began to unravel and the truth slapped me in the face, running was the only thing I knew to do. I didn’t belong in this world. His world. But you don’t run from The Family. Not when they claim you as their own. Trusting anyone is a mistake. Friendship is only as deep as the Boss allows it to be. You are never hidden. They will always find you. Every move I made, he controlled. The people helping me were all under his command. The only weapon I had was his obsession with me. Learning to use it against him could destroy me, but I had no other choice."
"Rock legend Dean Finlay's ready for an easier life. He's tired of the fame and done with younger women. The older he gets the younger they get. It's a fucking loop he's sick of being stuck in. Brielle McGinnis got kicked out of her foster home the day she turned eighteen. The pregnancy she'd been trying to hide had taken what little youth she had managed to hold onto away. Life made her tough, and she learned to survive. Now, at twenty-eight years old, she has a good job with insurance working in admissions at a local junior college. When Dean comes walking into the college office, she wants an autograph for her son, but his arrogance changes her mind. Just like every other man, Dean is a disappointment...until he isn't."
"Hughes Farm was the largest racing-horse establishment in the South. The family that owned it was known to be wealthy, powerful, arrogant, and terrifying. My first encounter with them didn’t prepare me for all that was to come. I don’t think anything truly could have. Growing up with only my father and brother hadn’t been easy, but we’d had each other. Losing them was the hardest thing I’d ever faced. It had made the times we went without food, electricity, or even shelter seem insignificant in comparison. It's when a woman, claiming to have been my mother’s best friend, arrives to take me home with her that questions begin to surface. My father had rarely spoken of my mother. She’d died when I was a toddler. Having no other option, I trust this stranger and am thrown into a world of mansions, racing horses, extravagance, and him. It’s true that there's a thin line between love and hate. But there's an even thinner line between truth and lies."
"Rio
Bryn Wallace had been the one bright spot in my life before my grandparents brought me to live with them. After finding my mother's dead body, my grandparents had picked me up and I started a new life in The Shores, Alabama. It had always bothered me that I never got a chance to tell Bryn goodbye.
Now, seven years later, my memories of the beautiful girl who I considered my first love were destroyed by the disappointment she had become.
Bryn
When life took another nosedive from bad to worse, which happened too often, I would tell myself that one day I'd find Rio March. When my sister had, once again, gotten us forced out of town, I took the money I had saved from working over-time and I made the decision on where we would move. However, fate was never on my side. Within two weeks of arriving in The Shores, Rio hated me and made sure everyone else in town did too. I couldn't even take my nephew into the candy store.
It didn't seem to matter where we moved, this would always be our outcome. Hated, looked down upon, and judged for sins I hadn't committed. But I was done moving. The trashy Wallace girls were in town to stay.
Contains mature themes."
"The seventh and final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a Southern soap opera filled with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.
Five years after the Lawton High football team last took the field, everyone is gathering for a special event back home in Alabama. But coming back together brings up memories from the past. Special ones. Painful ones. Unforgettable ones. And for some, the reunion introduces an opportunity to confront unresolved issues.
Can Asa and Ezmita continue to run away from what their hearts truly want? What about Nash and Tallulah—will their natural attraction to each other last when trust concerns rise to the surface? For West and Maggie, five years later means taking the next step—if they have the courage to face it. And a joyous celebration waits for Brady and Riley and their beautiful family. But family may be the point of contention when it comes to Gunner and Willa and their upcoming plans. Finally, there are Ryker and Aurora, who must continue to fight their way through insecurity and temptation.
All these couples find themselves face-to-face with not only the past but a possible future worth celebrating. So as we catch up with the members of the Lawton High football team, the future still remains unknown. Will everyone get their happy endings? Or will they leave it all on the field as they step forward toward the days ahead?"
"A small town where pickup trucks rule, the farmer's market is bigger than the grocery store, and just about everyone goes to church on Sunday is the last place Henley Warren expects to find herself three months after her grandmother's death. But Gran left a list of things she needed Henley to do after she died, and fulfilling those wishes means spending a summer in the same place her mom fled from when she was only seventeen years old. With each task that is ticked off the list, events are set in motion that uncover secrets surrounding Henley's life.
Although Henley may have arrived on the shores of Alabama's Gulf Coast feeling alone and lost in a world without her Gran, things soon change. The small town holds more than she realized—including a broody, gorgeous, potentially dangerous guy who is always showing up when she needs him the most. Henley fears her heart isn't ready to trust someone so unpredictable but he makes her feel things deeper than she thought possible. So, when Henley discovers the twisted, dark world he is living in, will it be too late to save her heart? Or has her heart been beyond saving from the moment he stepped out of his truck on that very first day?
Contains mature themes."
"The sixth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a Southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.
Ezmita Ramos has always had big plans for her future, ones that would take her far outside the Lawton city limits. But with overprotective parents who control every part of her life, she's worried that these dreams will never become reality.
There's nothing Asa Griffith wants more than to leave Lawton. It's his senior year and he's all set to attend Ole Miss in the fall, but a part of him also worries about what will happen if he leaves his mom living alone with his abusive father. After a huge fight with his father that escalates to violence, Asa is forced out of the house in the middle of the night with nowhere to go.
When Asa and Ezmita cross paths that night, neither of them is in the mood to socialize. But they also feel this undeniable chemistry, one that gives them each hope that better days lie ahead. Then Asa is sent away to live with his grandmother for four months, only to return to Lawton and find out Ezmita has moved on. Still, the sparks between Asa and Ezmita linger. Neither of them has forgotten the way they felt seen by the other at their lowest points.
Can Asa and Ezmita find their way back to each other?"
"A pretty face, a fabulous gown, a flutter of lashes at just the right moment—Miriam had been taught she must use all these things to land a wealthy husband. Much preferring the company of books to people, the only thing that stopped Miriam from fleeing to the countryside was her younger sister—who was counting on Miriam to make a match that would ensure she could care for her mother and sister properly.
He knew his duty to his title and he would do as was necessary.
Although Hugh Compton, Earl of Ashington, hadn't wanted his father's title at the age of nine and twenty, he gained it two years ago when his father died unexpectedly. The only good that had come of that was Hugh had been able to move his father's wife to the dowager house. Now it was time to marry.
Many disliked the Earl of Ashington but none so much as his brother.
After his mother was sent off as if she were trash to be disposed of, Nicholas swore he'd even the score. With the intent of charming the boring Lydia Ramsbury right out of his brother's arms, Nicholas discovered it was a new face that had captured his brother's attention—Miss Miriam Bathurst.
Vengeance had never looked so sweet.
Contains mature themes."
"The first lie I told myself was that he was just an old friend. I wish it had been the only lie because the other lies would destroy us all.
I close my eyes as I hear him speak. I take one very long and deep breath hoping to calm the immediate butterflies that take flight in my stomach and hope to slow down the racing of my heart. The voice was slightly deeper but the timbre was one that was achingly familiar.
My actions did little to help, but then who was I kidding? A deep breath wasn't going to fix the effect he had on me and my body's inevitable reaction. Even the memories that would forever haunt me couldn't keep my emotions from triggering at the nearness of him once again.
I used to pray that I'd find the strength to move on from him, from the pain that the end carried, from the emptiness in my chest, but ultimately move on from—the loss of Creed Sullivan and the death of his sister, Cora.
The Sullivans had been the best part of my summers in New England.
Deep down, I always knew my ache for all that I had lost was the reason I returned . . . but I hadn't expected to see him again—especially not like this.
Contains mature themes."
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