"When a holiday baking competition goes incredibly wrong. Or right…
Michael
I'm starting to think I've been doing this for too long. The screaming fans. The constant media attention. The fat paychecks. None of it brings me the happiness I yearn for.
Yet here I am. Another year. Another holiday special. Another Christmas spent alone in a hotel room.
But then the lights go up. And I see her.
Alice
It's an honor to be a contestant; I know that. But right now, it feels a little like punishment. Because any second, Chef Michael Kesso, the man I've been in love with for years, the man who doesn't even know I exist, is going to walk onto the set, and it will be a miracle if I don't pass out at the sight of him.
But the time for doubts is over because Second Bite is about to start 'in three… two… one…'"
"My trip to Mexico for my cousin's wedding was only supposed to be a few days of obligation and oceanside.
I wasn't expecting Luke. Wasn't expecting the hot hockey player, with the smirks and the tattoos, who kept bumping into me. And I certainly wasn't expecting to spend a night on the beach, under the stars, underneath him.
It was magical, but I thought it would end there. Instead, we exchanged numbers and stayed in touch.
So when Luke invited me to watch him play in Vegas, I went. And it was great. Until we woke up the next morning and found the wedding certificate in my pocket.
Turns out that the dance party we snuck into was actually a group wedding ceremony. And now we're married.
Which is bad. Because I think our wedding was actually our first date. And if my dad finds out, he'll cut me out of the family business.
So when footage leaks of Luke and me hot and heavy in an elevator, I have to make up a new plan to save my reputation and career.
Now, all I need is for Luke Anders to act like he's madly in love with me.
Should be easy. Right?"
"Cassie
How to make the handsome, brooding man across the street notice me?
Step one: Deliver baked goods to his front porch, even though he never answers his door and always returns the containers when I'm not home.
Step two: Slowly lose my mind as a whole year passes without ever running into him, no matter how hard I try.
Step three: Have my boudoir photos accidentally delivered to his mailbox instead of mine. Have him open the package. Then have him storm into my home for the most panty-melting scolding of my life.
Step four: Still figuring out step four.
Hans
I'm a dangerous man.
A man who has spent the last two decades removing so many souls from this earth that it's a miracle my hands aren't permanently stained red.
I'm a man who belongs in the shadows. I certainly don't belong in my pretty little neighbor's bedroom when she's not home, touching her things and inhaling her scent.
I shouldn't follow her. Shouldn't watch her. No number of cookies on my doorstep will change the fact that love isn't an option for me.
The only option left for me is violence."
"Val
When I was nine, I went to my first funeral. Along with accepting my father's death, I had to accept new and awful truths I wasn't prepared for.
When I was nineteen, I went to my mother's funeral. We weren't close, but with her gone, I became more alone than ever before.
Sure, I have a half-brother who runs The Alliance. And yeah, he's given me his protection—in the form of a bodyguard and chauffeur. But I don't have anyone that really knows me. No one to really love me.
Until I meet him. The man in the airport.
When one chance meeting turns into something hotter, something more serious, I let myself believe that maybe he's the one. Maybe this man is the one who will finally save me from my loneliness. The one to give me the family I've always craved.
Dom
The Mafia is in my blood. It's what I do. So when that blood is spilled, and one funeral turns into three, drastic measures need to be taken.
When this battle turns into a war, I'm going to need more men. More power. I'm going to need The Alliance.
And I'll become a member. By any means necessary."
"Okay, so my bad for assuming the guy I was going on a date with wasn't married.
And my bad for taking him to a friend's house for dinner, only to find out my friend is also friends with his wife. Because, in fact, he is married. And she happens to be at my friend's house because her husband was 'busy working.'
Confused? So am I.
Unsurprisingly, my date's wife is super angry about finding out that her husband is a cheating asshole. Girl, I get it.
Then to make matters more convoluted, there is the man sitting next to my date's wife. A man named King, who is apparently her brother, and who lives up to his name.
Since my date is a two-timing prick, I'm not going to feel bad about drooling over King, especially since I'll never see him again. Or at least I don't plan to.
I plan to take an Uber to the cheater's apartment to get my car keys. I plan for it to be quick.
If I had to list a thousand possible outcomes… witnessing my date's murder, being kidnapped by his killer, then being forced to marry the super attractive but clearly deranged crime lord would not have been on my bingo card.
But alas, here I am."
"Payton
Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds.
When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified.
I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.
Nero
The first time I took a man's life, I knew there'd be no going back, no normal existence in the cards for me. Instead of walking away, I climbed a mountain of bodies and created my own destiny by forming The Alliance. And I was fine with that, content enough to carry on.
Until I stepped through those open doors, and into her life.
I should've walked away. Should've gone right back out the door I came through. But I didn't. And now her life is in danger. That's the thing about being a bad man. I'll happily paint the streets red to protect what's mine.
And Payton is mine. Whether she knows it or not."
"I'm so sick of watching the world spin by, of letting people think I'm plain and boring, too afraid to just be myself.
Then I see him—John.
He's strength, and fury, and unapologetic. He's everything I want. And everything I wish I was.
He won't want me, but that doesn't matter. The sight of him is all the inspiration I need to finally shatter this glass house I've built around myself.
Only he does want me. And when our worlds collide, details we can't see become tangled, twisting together, ensnaring us in an invisible trap.
When it all goes wrong, I don't know if I'll be able to break free of the chains binding us or if I'll suffocate in the process."
"Beth
It started with tragedy. And secrets.
Hidden truths that refused to stay buried have come out to chase me. Now I'm on the run, living under a blanket of constant fear, pretending to be someone I'm not. And if I'm not really me, how am I supposed to know what's real?
Angelo
Watch the girl.
It was supposed to be a simple assignment. But, like everything else in this family, there's nothing simple about it. Not my task. Not her fake name. And not my feelings for her.
Beth is mine now. So when the monsters from her past come out to play, they'll have to get through me first."
"I have a nice life—living in my hometown and owning the coffee shop I've worked at since I was 16.
It's comfortable on paper, but I'm tired of doing everything by myself. Tired of being in charge of every decision in my life. I want someone to lean on, someone to spend time with, sit with, hug. And I really don't want to go to my best friend's wedding alone.
So, I signed up for a dating app and agreed to meet with the first guy that messaged me. Now here I am, at the bar. Only it's not my date that just sat down in the chair across from me. It's his dad.
Holy hell, he's the definition of Silver Fox. If a Silver Fox can be thick as a house, have piercing blue eyes, and tattoos from his neck down to his fingertips.
He's giving me Big Bad Wolf vibes. Only instead of running, I'm blushing. He looks like he might just want to eat me whole."
"I should have run the other way.
Paid my tab and gone back to my room. But he was there. And he was…everything. I figured, what's the harm in letting passion rule my decisions for one night? So what if he looks like the Devil in a suit? I'd be leaving in the morning, flying home to my pleasant but predictable life. I'd never see him again.
Except I do. In the last place I expected. And now everything I've worked so hard for is in jeopardy.
We can't stop what we've started, but this is bigger than the two of us.
And when his past comes back to haunt him, love might not be enough to save me."
"Elouise
I fell in love with Beckett when I was 7. He broke my heart when I was 15. When I was 18, I promised myself I'd forget about him. And I did. For a dozen years.
But now he's back home. Here. In Darling Lake. And I don't know if I should give in to the temptation swirling between us or run the other way.
Beckett
She had a crush on me when she was a kid. But she was my brother's best friend's little sister. I didn't see her like that. And even if I had, she was too young. Our age difference was too great.
But now I'm back home. And she's here. And she's all the way grown up.
It wouldn't have worked back then. But I'll be damned if I won't get a taste of her now."
"Mother-freaking hockey players.
My friends found their happily-ever-afters with a couple of sweet, doting, over-the-top, in-love athletes. They got nicknames like Kitten and Sugar. But me? I got stuck with a dickhead who riles me up on purpose and calls me Banshee.
Yeah, he might have a voice made explicitly for wet dreams. And he might have a body and face carved by the gods. And he might have a level of Alpha-hole that gets me all hot and bothered.
But when he presses my buttons, he presses ALL my buttons. And I'm not the type of girl who takes things sitting down (I mean, I only got caught on my knees that one time. In the museum).
But when my decisions get one of my friends hurt, I can't stop blaming myself. And him. Except he can't take a hint. And I can't keep my panties on."
Join our community for the latest bookish news, reading recommendations, exclusive opening extracts, author events and competitions. It\'s all free. And enter a monthly draw to win a £50 Gift Card. See past winners here
