Showing results by narrator "Michael Dean" in All Categories

When my marriage fell apart, and I lost custody of my kids, my world shattered. My own fault, all of it, from the pills I was taking to how badly I handled the court case. I retreated to my grandparents’ old home, shut the door, and hunkered down with my Labrador Retriever, Lucky. Life is rough, and the constant construction noise from the mansion going up next door will truly be the end of me.

The whole red suit and beard should’ve been a turn-off, not to mention the reindeer and sleigh. Oh, and his age. The guy’s easily twenty years older than me. But when I spot the super sexy Santa someone hired for my dad’s bachelor party—don’t ask—I want to sit on his lap and tell him all I want for Christmas is him. The good news is that Santa—whose real name is Ellery—is into men and, more specifically, me. And he’s not opposed to me sitting on his lap at all. Or taking a ride on…I mean with him. We’re having our own wonderful Christmas time.

More than 19 years ago, ATF special agent Kane Delancey witnessed his father’s murder at the hands of an enforcer for the Boston mob. He put his past behind him when he and his family entered the witness protection program. Now, many years later, the murderer he testified against is about to go free on a technicality. The FBI and US Marshals are asking Delancey to go undercover to help stop the killer before he has the chance to tap his son as successor.

A quiet place to live and some time to recharge before my band heads out on the road again sounds amazing. I wouldn’t mind a distraction, too, but my new neighbor is off-limits. There are rules about not getting involved with your bandmate’s ex, right? And Sean isn’t my type anyway. He’s too bossy, too commanding, and he has way too much baggage. I’ve learned that it’s best to let go of the heavy stuff. So why am I so drawn to him?

He left me broken. He walked out of my life 10 years ago with no explanation, and I fell apart. Ian, the only man I’ve ever loved just walked back into my life...with his sassy, 11-year-old daughter, Ayla, who’s deaf. Yes, I can do the math.

I had a stable life as a fire captain in Seattle, married to one of my best friends and raising two awesome kids. Now, my kids are grown, and my marriage is toast. I'm solidly past forty and back in my tiny hometown of Mount Hope, Oregon, filling in as a firefighter. My future is one big question mark keeping me up at night. Also keeping me up? The short-order cook at Honey's Hotcake Hut.

I’ve always been a helper, someone who sees the world in a brighter light than others do, who tries to show everyone there’s good in this world. So when I meet Henry, I immediately make it my mission to show him how great the world can be if he’ll only accept a little help. Easier said than done. But I’ve always liked a challenge.

I let Vinnie seduce me. I was an easy mark. I would have granted him anything, but I didn't know who he was. I didn't know I was setting a man up for death. But even now I still want him, and he has no intention of letting me go.

The college twink scene is wearing on me. Sure, it works out for a no-commitment guy like myself, but the constant drama and nameless rotation of pretty boys in and out of my bed isn't as exciting as it once was. Maybe watching one of my best friends find love is poking at me too. That's what was on my mind when someone new walked into Moby's looking lost, nervous, and extremely biteable. It only seemed right that I offered to keep him company, and when he readily accepted, I was looking forward to trying someone older, mature, and not looking for anything serious. Just like me.

So this sexy silver fox rolls into my small New England town and buys a run-down old house in need of renovation. That’s where I come in. My job is to do some basic repairs, so he can write in peace. Yep, the hotshot is a best-selling author, but that’s not why I recognize Cameron Warren.

In high school, Maverick and I were best friends. Inseparable. We shared everything from video games to camping adventures to a first kiss that shattered everything I knew about myself. Our first love was sweet and true and not nearly enough to keep Maverick on the ranch he hated. Twenty years later, Maverick’s back in town to sell the ranch he’s inherited. As the sheriff, I know losing the ranch will devastate the county. The area needs Maverick to stay. As a single dad with far more than my own heart on the line, I need him gone.

I once lived a fairly quiet existence as a math professor. Then Teagan Donahue crashed into my life like a shooting star. Now every day's a holiday, and my very best friend is also the guy I can't stop fantasizing about. The guy I'm madly in love with. The guy I'm ready to turn down my dream job for. But the statistical probability of a man like Teagan wanting his shy, nerdy roommate as more than a friend is incredibly low, and if I have to choose between having everything else I've ever wanted and having Teagan in my life... well, I know which one I'll pick, every time.

A legal technicality might be the reason I’m out of prison after serving only two years of what should have been multiple life sentences, but all I care about now is finding the man who put me behind bars in the first place. JJ Ferguson needs to see firsthand what his lies have turned me into. Two years ago, JJ and I should have been talking about our future together. Our lives had changed that night, just not in the way they should have.

Sadly, there’s no What to Expect manual for navigating life after forty. Right when I’ve begun piecing together my life as a widower and single dad to four older kids, my college-age daughter announces she’s pregnant. Oh, baby. And, of course, the other grandfather-to-be is the hot, single bar owner seemingly determined to flirt his way into my locked heart. Magnus is a temptation I don’t need. When a fire leaves Magnus and his dogs without a home, I offer my carriage house as a solution.

When phone-sex operator Azrael gets into Travis's Uber, the driver profile claims Travis is deaf. Thank goodness, right? Otherwise, the guy would hear Az's dirty talk which would be all kinds of humiliating considering Az is actually a virgin who doesn't even know if he's doing phone job properly. But Travis isn't deaf. He's standing in for someone else and hears every single word of Az's raunchy call. So when they're randomly set up on a blind date together, the sparks fly from the very first moment they meet.

In the dim lights of Aurora’s premier kink club waits an alpha eager to take control. Billionaire Crawford Daniels has bedded submissives before, but he’s never given one his collar. That privilege is reserved for the man who’s strong-willed enough to tell him no, but whose pretty lips always say yes. Crawford wants more than a pet - he wants a partner. Someone to pamper and spoil or punish.

When Adler arrives at Second Chance Ranch, I know he’s trouble. Adler gets under my skin like no one else and threatens my quiet, orderly, ranch foreman life. In fact, my body’s reaction to his presence is something of a surprise. When I have the chance to explore the chemistry between us while secretly skinny dipping, I go for it because I know all too well that city slickers never stay long. Except Adler comes back… And I’m tasked with training him to be a ranch hand. No matter how tempting Adler’s easy smiles are, I can’t risk a repeat encounter for several reasons: I’m his boss.

I don’t do emotions or romantic entanglements. My life is simple: I work hard and I play hard, with anyone willing. I’m not discriminatory. And then I go home…alone. Until my body decides to stop cooperating. Nothing is stirring anymore, and it scares me to death. While navigating this issue, support comes from an unlikely source. Ennio, my best friend’s little brother, is sweet and sassy but also stubborn in his decision to be there for me. He’s the vibrant glittery sunshine to my grumpy black heart.

My life turned upside down when I uncovered my bosses’ criminal activities and needed protection. Instead of the type of safehouse I expected, I was sent to a historic townhouse to live with Dom, a scarred former assassin who rarely talks and wishes I wasn't there.

Dr. Leo Reeves has always considered himself a halfway decent criminal profiler. Some of his colleagues even call him brilliant. With this assignment, he sure as hell doesn’t feel that way. He’s been missing something at every turn. The case is dragging into its seventh month and every lead he and his team follow, takes them to a dead end...literally.