A stand-alone, MMFM why choose romance from the author of the bestselling New York Ruthless series.

"Do you want some Goldfish crackers, Bliss?" Those were the last words my brother said to me before he was shot execution style. A childhood code only he and I knew, and one that had a single, clear meaning behind it.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I turned 16. The day I broke my first love's heart, ending things before I could ruin his career as a rock star. But damn, was I wrong. Things got progressively worse from that moment on, until now. Eight years later, when I find myself homeless, jobless, covered in blood, and running from a ghost of my past.

Moving to a new town to start college, where I can try to be normal. Or at least pretend I am. I’m willing to fake it, because I’m tired of trying to get better. Tired of spilling my guts to doctors and therapists to understand why I’ve heard voices since I was a child.

The hot stranger, who gate-crashed my party and almost came to blows with my boyfriend and my other lover, is my loathsome new stepbrother. Ares delights in telling me he’s named after the God of War, as he threatens to ruin me. Not sure what I have done to deserve his instant hatred, but whatever.

The Legacy boys are Windsor Preparatory Academy’s most privileged. No one crosses the devil spawn of this town’s upper echelon, but I managed. I call one of them out my first day, and no one hears it louder than their blond prince.

They make me feel like I belong for the first time since my parents were murdered. And when they touch me, my whole world sparks to flame. But they have enemies. Those who would give anything to harm what they hold dear. And while they’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe, sometimes falling in love will put you right in the line of fire.

"You may now kiss your bride". They were the last words my mother heard before she collapsed on the church steps, poison ending her pitifully short life. When her new husband dies minutes later, all eyes turn to me. There are whispers. Accusations. The verdict is split. I murdered them both. Or I'm the next to die.

In the beginning, there was Savannah Shaw. Teasing me with a mischievous, merciless grin by day. Crawling through my window with tear-stained cheeks by night. I was ordered to avoid her. Lectured on her misdeeds. Forbidden from seeing her. But my need to protect her was innate. So natural I never questioned it. So visceral I couldn’t fight it.

Savy St. James is a sad lonely girl with too many secrets to count. She hides away in her oversized frumpy clothes and thick glasses wishing she was brave enough to be seen without her mask. One small favor backfires and forces her into a fake date deal by the school’s hot shot quarterback. Him and his three best friends treat her like a pet to play with and are careless with her until she’s had enough and breaks the deal.

My brother’s best friend thinks he owns me. Mr. All-Star Quarterback won’t let me heal in peace. His perfectly chiseled features are always there, suffocating me, refusing to let me wallow in my own misery. Reid is the epitome of “hard-headed jock”…and he has his sights set on me. If he wasn’t so stubborn…. If he wasn’t so captivatingly handsome…. Maybe then I’d be able to keep my defenses up. Will these new feelings taint my brother’s memory? Will we cross a line that will ruin everything?

I’d go anywhere for her.... Even to Kingmakers, the most brutal college in the world. Where mafia heirs are trained to control, dominate, infiltrate, and kill. I followed Anna because she’s my best friend. I’ve always been right by her side. She needs me to protect her. Especially from Dean Yenin, a Bratva heir with a lethal grudge. He plans to take everything from me. Starting with Anna....

I had everything I ever wanted, until my life was flipped upside down. Now, I’m suddenly being forced to live in my parent’s hometown, with complete strangers. Like my heart isn’t broken enough. Could I fall any further? Yes. Yes, I could. Why might that be? The Allstars - Xavier Knight, Hunter Asheville, and Tobias Holmes - Asheville High’s prestigious star football players. They’re my worst nightmare. But damn...why do they have to be so mouth-wateringly hot?

My whole life, no one has had my back. My parents are dead, my adoptive mother is a drug addict, and the mean girls on campus mock me for my scars. So when I end up desperate for money and out of options, I agree to sell the one thing I have left: my innocence. On the night I’m meant to give my body to a brutal Russian mobster, three men storm into the room like dark shadows and kill him before he can claim me. When they drag me from the blood-soaked bed, I’m certain they’re going to kill me too.

When we were ten we made a pact. When we were twelve she moved away. Now she’s sixteen and returned home.