A deadly game of hide and seek.

With blood still on her hands, Samantha Matthews is on the run, running from dark secrets and a man she prays to God will never find her. Running and hiding, just to stay alive. She had no choice but to run, to leave, to hide and forget about her life before. When Samantha believes she’s gained enough distance from her past and her demons, she stops running, hoping to find her future in the heavily wooded area of the Adirondack Mountains, a place she never expected to encounter a man with secrets as dark and as sordid as hers.

Kade Grayson is hiding, not from the demons after him, but from himself and from the entire outside world, wishing every day he could have just died. Arrogant and domineering, he’s tormented and terrorized by his past, seeing nothing good for his future. With the ghosts of his past still haunting him, he has exiled himself to a life of solitude, only living for his words and through his stories.

Until her.

An undeniable attraction, turns into hate and then ultimately obsession, an obsession that grows into a powerful story of love and redemption.

Will the bond they have begun to build between them grow stronger than the tragedies that have scarred both of their lives? Or will they allow their demons to consume them?

This book is a full length Adult Contemporary Romance and is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.

Angel Moreno and Sarah Fiero fell in love in Forever Mine, but for a couple of high school sweethearts, forever is a really long time…

Catch up with them and the whole gang in college as past insecurities resurface. As if dealing with her best friend Sydney wasn’t enough, Angel now has two more men to deal with in Sarah’s life. There’s no shortage of edge-of-your-seat, angsty drama, tears, and laughter as Angel and Sarah’s love is put to the ultimate test in this addition to the Moreno Brother series.

Twenty-five-year-old Sgt. Gray Phillips is at a crossroads in his life: stay in the Marine Corps or get out and learn to be a civilian? He’s got forty-five days of leave to make up his mind but the people in his life aren’t making the decision any easier. His dad wants him to get out; his grandfather wants him to stay in. And his growing feelings for Sam Anderson are wreaking havoc with his heart…and his mind. He believes relationships get ruined when a Marine goes on deployment. So now he’s got an even harder decision to make: take a chance on Sam or leave love behind and give his all to the Marines.

Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regrets—that she didn’t move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn’t taken many chances in life. Now, she’s met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?

His mouth works its way to my other breast, just as his hands slip inside my panties at my hips.
“I think I have to rip these off you, because I sure don’t want you to move off my lap,” he says.

I smile. “Fine with me. I have more where these came from.”

I can feel him grin against my skin as his hands pull at the elastic band of my underwear. He yanks on one side, but fails to tear them. He tries ripping the other side to pull them off me, but nothing gives.
“You’re giving me a wedgie,” I say, laughing.

He lets out a frustrated sigh. “It’s always so much sexier when they do this on TV.”

I readjust myself and sit up straighter. “Try it again,” I encourage him. “You can do it, Miles.”

He grabs the left side of my panties and yanks them hard. “Ouch!” I yell, scooting in the direction he’s pulling to lessen the pain of the elastic digging into my right side.

He laughs and drops his face to my neck. “Sorry,” he says. “Got any scissors?”

I cringe at the thought of him coming at me with a pair of scissors. I scoot off of him and stand up, then pull my underwear down, kicking them off and away from me.
“Watching you do that was totally worth my failed attempt at being sexy,” he says.

I smile. “Your failed attempt at being sexy actually made you sexy.”

My comment makes him laugh again. I walk toward him and climb back onto his lap. He repositions me so that I’m straddling him again.
“My failures are a turn on for you?” he asks teasingly.

“Oh yeah,” I murmur. “So hot.”

His hands are on me again, roaming across my back and up into my hair and down my arms. “You would have loved me from the ages of thirteen to sixteen,” he says. “I failed at pretty much everything. Especially football.”

I grin. “Now we’re talking,” I say. “Tell me more.”

“Baseball,” he says, right before he presses his mouth to my neck. He slowly kisses his way up to my ear. “And one semester of world geography.”

“Holy shit.” I moan. “Now that’s hot.”

He moves to my mouth and pulls me in for a soft kiss, barely touching his lips to mine. “I failed at kissing, too,” he whispers against my mouth. “Terribly. I almost choked a girl with my tongue once.”

I laugh.

“Want me to show you?” he asks.

As soon as I nod, he’s repositioning us on the couch until I’m lying on my back and he’s on top of me. “Open your mouth,” he says.

I open it. He drops his mouth to mine and shoves his tongue inside, giving me what is quite possibly the worst kiss I’ve ever experienced. I push against his chest, attempting to get his tongue out of my mouth, but he doesn’t budge. I turn my face to the left and he begins licking my cheek, causing me to laugh even harder.
“Oh, my God, that was terrible, Miles!”

He pulls his mouth away and lowers himself on top of me. “I got better.”

I nod. “That’s a fact,” I say, agreeing wholeheartedly.

We’re both smiling. The contented look on his face fills me with so many emotions; I can’t even begin to classify them. I’m happy, because we’re having fun together. I’m sad, because we’re having fun together. I’m angry, because we’re having fun together and it makes me want so much more of this. So much more of him.

We quietly stare at each other, until he slowly dips his head, pressing a long kiss against my lips. He begins placing soft kisses all over my mouth until the kisses become longer and more intense. His tongue eventually parts my lips and the playfulness disappears.

It’s quite serious now as our kiss grows more hurried and his clothes begin to join mine on the floor, piece by piece.
“The couch or your bed?” he whispers.
“Both.”
He obliges.

“I wasn’t a violent guy. I never lost my cool, but right now I was close to it. Harlow was here. She’d heard me and Nan. Holy hell!” – Grant Carter from TAKE A CHANCE

“I shut the door behind me, leaned against it, and turned the lock. Our eyes met across the room and clung. “New lesson?” The words came out all husky and needful.

Nate straightened up to his full height. “Tonight’s lesson: Use your initiative.”

Without saying a word I shrugged out of my jacket and began to undress.

Nate’s eyes smoldered as he prowled toward me. “Good initiative.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Jimmy Ferris stepped out onto the balcony, his trademark sneery smile in place. I could have kissed him for his timely intervention. Except kissing was what had gotten me into this mess.

“Hiding from Indie?” asked Mal, calmly.

Jimmy flicked his dark hair back. His gaze slid to me before moving onto the city lights below. There was a non answer if I’d ever seen one.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Mal snorted. All of his intensity had evaporated into thin air, thank god.

“We’re all good thanks, bro. Just picking out names for our future children. Anne wants Malcolm Junior for a boy but I said no, absolutely not. Kid should at least have a chance at a life out from underneath the shadow of his old man.”

“That’s real big of you,” said Jimmy.

“I know right? Being a parent is all about the sacrifices.”

Mal slid his hand behind my neck, rubbing at the tight muscles. “Relax,” he ordered. “It isn’t good for the baby.”

“I am not pregnant.”

“Ah, shit, that’s right. We were ‘sposed to be keeping it quiet. Sorry, Pumpkin.” He smacked himself in the forehead. I would’ve been happy to do it for him.

“Don’t worry,” said Jimmy. “We’ve been friends since we were kids. I know when he’s speaking shit.”

I wish I did.

“Who’s pregnant?” asked David Ferris, wandering out onto the balcony with his wife in one hand and a beer in the other.

With a look of great pride, Mal rubbed my belly. Any roundness was far more likely due to a weakness for cake than any acts of procreation.

“We were keeping it on the down low,” said Mal. “We didn’t want to upstage you two lovebirds.”

“Fast work,” said David.

“My boys can swim.” Mal winked.

“I don’t think you can actually tell that soon, dickhead.” Jimmy crossed his arms, leaning against the wall of windows. “Science and stuff, right?”

“A real man knows when his woman is knocked up, Jimbo. I don’t expect you to understand.”

“A real man, huh?” Jimmy pushed off the window, walking slowly toward Mal. His smile would’ve given a shark second thoughts. Hell, they were both smiling. What was it about males that they felt this primal need to beat the shit out of each other for the fun of it? Why?

“Guys,” said Ev. “No punching at my do-over wedding, playful or otherwise.”

“What about bitch-slapping?” asked Mal, swinging his arm in Jimmy’s direction.

“Let’s not.” I grabbed his hand and dragged it down by my side before he could do anyone any damage.

“I can order my own liquor, princess.”

“Not princess,” she snapped, never taking her eyes from the page informing her how to get seven fucking orgasms in one go. Oh please. A woman should clap and bow and give us the key to the city if she even achieved one orgasm. That shit was hard work. Seven—that was just asking for a Nobel prize with an Oscar winner trophy all in one go.

Stupid woman.

“You want me to prove to you how ridiculous that claim is?” I twisted further so my finger hovered over the small blurb saying: I came just by looking into my soul-mates eyes.

She chuckled and turned the page. “I already know it’s ridiculous and don’t need a pumped-up idiot who’s afraid of women to tell me.” She smacked her lips. “Now, leave me alone.”

“Okay, then teach me how to do this.” She positions the white ball on the green felt of the table, lining it up to hit a green stripe in the corner. I lean back against my stool and watch her lean over the table, her ass pulling the cotton of her dress tight, and she shoots, completely missing.
“Josh?” She looks back at me over her shoulder.

“Yes, baby?”

“Help.”

“Put the cue down, Cara.”

She frowns and lays the cue on the table and turns to me.

“Come here.”

My arms are crossed over my chest, hands tucked firmly under my biceps as I lean on the chair, my feet shoulder-width apart.

“What is it?” She comes to stand directly in front of me.

I stare down at her for a moment, taking in her wide amber eyes, glassy from a little too much beer, and her long blond hair, tucked behind her ears now, showing off the hoops in her ears.

“You don’t want to play pool?” she asks with a raised brow.

I shake my head no, my face perfectly calm. “What do you want to do?”

I lean in, still not touching her, and whisper directly into her ear, “I want to take you home and f*ck the hell out of you all night long.”

I pull back in time to see her mouth drop in surprise, and then she sends me a sassy smile. “What are we waiting for?”

With a laugh, I bend down and lift her onto my shoulder, my forearm looped over the back of her thighs, careful to make sure the hem of her dress is covering all the necessary parts so I don’t have to kill anyone for looking up her skirt, and carry her out to the delight of the patrons still in the bar.

“Hey!” She slaps my ass and then braces herself on my hips as I slap hers back.

“Stay still, baby.”

“I was right, you are a caveman.”

“At least I’m not dragging you by your hair.”

“No, but can you still pull it later?” She giggles, earning another slap on her ass.

“Absolutely.”

“You sure slap my ass a lot, caveman.”

“I f*cking love your ass, baby.”

-Josh and Cara, LOVING CARA, available January 21, 2014 from Pocket Books.

It’s different within these four walls—behind this closed door, at night, in the dark. I’m not Madoc, and she’s not Fallon. I’m not smiling, cracking jokes, or putting up a front. And she’s not cutting me down with her smart mouth or looking at me and wishing I was a million miles away from her.

Here—in her room, on her turf—is where she’ll let go of everything that makes her fight me everywhere else. I told her that she could lock the door to keep me out. She never does.

Madoc thinks that he has me pegged. He thinks that what you see is what you get, and that he’s on top of this game. Three years ago, I was cast aside and kicked out of my home all because of him. The little prince plays a game not even knowing that we’re at war.

Some people call it fighting. Others call it angst. Our parents call it sibling rivalry.