There’s a crush, and then, there are the type of feelings that Croft Cruisie evokes from a person. He’s everything that any straight woman would want: tall, handsome, charismatic, muscular, and sweet. At least, Carmichael thought he was sweet, until he brings another woman to the gym she owns with her brother, on the night that’s to be their first date, and lets her know in a quick and painful, nonverbal way that her feelings are not reciprocated. Fast forward six months, and she’s still trying to move on from the rejection.

Don’t ever, ever, ever go near that boy. Not unless you want to be a single mother at 17. That boy is Bad with a capital B. The words that my father spoke to me when it came to Trouper Aoki didn’t scare me like they probably should. In fact, they only made me intrigued all the more. When it came to Troup, there was just no resisting fate when it came to the two of us. 

Six Ines Broussard walks right into the middle of hell. And at the center of it? Lynnwood Thatcher. The mayor. The man that she took one glance at on the night of his inauguration and dismissed as boring. A total stick in the mud. Only, he’s not so boring shirtless, in the middle of nowhere, doing things that are very illegal. At first, she’s appalled. Then her interest gets piqued. Stuck-up suit is hot! And he has tattoos. Then, he goes and kidnaps her...and she soon realizes, nobody is quite as hot as you thought they were when they’re holding you hostage. 

The moment that Caro wakes up, she knows that she’s not alone. One thump-thump from the living room and she quickly moves into action. One 9-1-1 call later, and she’s ready to defend herself. Only, she gets more than she bargains for when she steps out into her living room and comes face to face with a living, breathing nightmare. And isn’t it just fitting that the man that saves her by coming down the chimney with a large black gun in his hand is named Saint Nicholas? 

Sierra started writing to soldiers overseas through the soldier pen pal program when she was in high school. Years later, she had no idea that the one soldier that she’d been paired up with in the very beginning would be the one man that would change her world eight years down the road. 

Going from a professional baseball player to a SWAT officer should’ve been seamless. Should have been. But it wasn’t. All it took was one single calendar shoot for word to spread that Nathan Cox was not only no longer playing professional baseball, but he was also the man behind saving the life of Reggie Morton, the city of Kilgore’s princess. Reggie didn’t know that by agreeing to provide the expertise and the know-how for the Police Officer’s Ball that she would be required to actually attend the function.

He should’ve never left his house. He should’ve stayed at home. He has a legitimate excuse - he’s running a fever and he’s fairly sure he’s developing pneumonia. He should have called in sick...but he doesn’t. He goes to work, because his team is relying on him. Needless to say, when Samuel Adams walks into the pharmacy hours later, he only has one thing on his mind. Ibuprofen. Sadly, he never gets to the Ibuprofen. Mostly because before he gets there, he finds a junkie waving a gun around threatening to kill anybody that moves.

Coke Solomon has lived a full life. He’s a retired army drill sergeant, so he is more than used to getting his way. And if he can’t have it his way? Well, let’s just say that’s never happened before... At least not until Cora Maldonado walks into his life, demanding he fall in line, or she’ll find a way to make his life hell. It doesn’t matter that she’s younger than him, and has a father that would rather see him dead than have his baby girl anywhere near him. Nor does it matter that his ex-wife is highly offended that she’s been replaced with a much younger woman.

Amelia loves her good friend, Avery. So much so that she agrees to do the stupidest thing ever. A stranger photo shoot. You know the type. The photographer takes photos of two individuals. Two individuals that, until that day, have never met in their life. The moment she shows up at the photo shoot, she knows that she made a terrible decision. Why? Because the total stranger about to be in an intimate photo shoot with her is the hottest thing that’s ever walked the streets of Kilgore, Texas. If not the entire US of A.

Royal St. James got her name when she was born. Not because her mother loved her royally, but because Royal was a giant pain in the ass. She’s spent her entire life fighting to live, and the last thing she needs is to deal with some pretty-boy police officer who wouldn’t know a hardship if it came up and bit him in the...you know. Justice Rector wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was raised to work hard and always fight for what he believed in. His father was a cop, and ever since he could remember, he wanted to be one, too.

Candy Ray Sunshine - Yes, that is my real name, thank you very much, Mom and Dad - knew two things. One, she was going to work her butt off and open her very own coffee shop, even if she had to die doing it. Two, Banks Valentine was the world’s worst ex-boyfriend in the history of ex-boyfriends. Even if they were only boyfriend and girlfriend for one evening. She wouldn’t sneeze on him even if he was on fire. Then again, neither one of them expected that night to end the way it did, either - the night that both of them refused to talk about the next morning.

She's the definition of lost. Doesn't know her name? Check. Cruelly beaten within an inch of her life? Check. No memory of anything that's happened since she woke up from that beating? Check. Losing a child she doesn't remember conceiving? Check. She hasn't felt anything but lost in a very long time. Then an old biker tells her danger is on the horizon. He sends her to a man that she instantly feels a connection with. A bone deep connection.

Gabriel Luca Maldonado, III and Francesca Leandra Solomon were meant to be. They were so in love that everybody prayed for what they had. Everything was glorious. They would get married, have children and live a perfect life. She would be a doctor in the emergency room once she finished her doctorate, and he would be a badass Navy SEAL and save people for a living. But then Luca is deployed across the world, and per military regulations, Frankie isn’t allowed to follow.

He saw her from across a crowded ballpark and knew she was about to change his life. Yes, he realizes just how cliché that really is, but the moment his eyes locked on her, he knew that she was the one. At least, the one that royally screwed him over. The one responsible for his demotion and the subsequent disciplinary action taken against him before he’d even gotten out of the probationary period with Kilgore Police Department. It all started with a kiss.

Callum Valentine didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Then, again? When a man is calling a woman fat right in front of your table, it’s kind of hard not to intervene. Especially when the town’s most beautiful creature ever is the one being called fat. Desi just wants to be left alone. After an ugly divorce, she thinks she’s in the clear. Then, her ex takes it upon himself to continue to make her life miserable, giving Desi no choice but to take it or leave.