Showing results by narrator "Cendese Cendese" in All Categories

Rumors have swirled around Jake Cashen his whole life. Is he crazy like his father? Is it true they booted him out of the F.B.I. right after he cracked a career-making RICO case? Was he dirty? Only Jake knows, and he’s not telling. He came back to his tiny hometown at the foot of Ohio’s Blackhand Hills to serve as a deputy sheriff. He hopes to punch a clock and keep his head down until retirement. It was a solid plan—until someone put a bullet in the head of a revered county judge.

Based on years of research on marital and premarital happiness, How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk will help you break destructive dating patterns that have kept you from finding the love you deserve.

The first time you meet someone, you make eye contact. You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you're anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I'm very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I'm attracted to. At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I'd never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong.

Lex is chaos personified. He’s strange and alluring, unpredictable and unique. He drives me wild in a way I’ve never experienced. I’ve never felt desire like this, and now I find myself craving his touch and wanting him more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. I know I shouldn’t trust him, though. Lex wants something from me, and my family. He watches me through hidden cameras, stalking me like prey. But his voyeurism excites me. I want him to watch me, catch me, consume me.

For the last three years, I've lived and breathed hockey with one goal: team captain. There's only one thing standing in my way. TJ Beckett. Beck is irresponsible and immature, and I've hated him since the moment we met freshman year. Yet the coaches see something in him I obviously can't, and they refuse to choose between us. The captain spot is going to a team vote. And the team thinks that what we need are a bunch of challenges to prove our worth.

As social chair of Sigma Beta Psi, I’m the life of the party. It’s what I’m known for, and if it’s not fun, I’m not interested, simple as that. I’m not someone who overthinks. So, when one of my brothers hooks up with a dude from another frat house, it catches me off guard when I can’t stop thinking about them…together. There’s only one way for me to get this obsession out of my head, and that’s by jumping in with both feet and putting it into practice.

So I forgot about the night I spent with Sylvie Davis...big deal. Listing all of my one-night stands would be impossible. It’s par for the course for any man who decided early in life they’d rather enjoy a buffet instead of a single entrée. But now my boss has ordered me to accompany her back to her hometown.

Finding out those closest to me don’t see me as the great guy I think I am not only kicks me in the gut, it makes me question everything. Until that happened, I didn’t think I had many regrets in my life. Now, I have nothing but regrets. And when my NHL team is bought out, and the new owner makes his presence known, my existential crisis kicks up a notch. Because he might be my biggest regret of all. Parker Duchene. I made his life a living hell in high school, and now he’s inserting himself into my career to repay the favor.

The path to self-acceptance has always felt like an uphill battle for me. It's hard not to feel that way when the most important people in my life decided long ago they can't accept me as I am, that they don't want a gay son, a feminine son, a boy who likes pretty things. Caring for myself from a young age has come with a lot of hardships, but finding myself bruised, homeless, and sleeping in my car just about tops the list. Fortunately, the person I least expect offers to take me in and share his home with me.

When it comes to stealing from mafia men, there are three rules. Don't get caught. Don't be seen. And most of all—don't fall in love with them. After being hired to steal a painting, I find myself ensnared. Damon, Minos, and Aaecus are monsters, and they only want one thing: Me. Seven days of sin in exchange for freedom from the Three Fates Mafia. If only it were that easy. The strings of fate have bound the four of us together, and not even gods or monsters can keep us apart.

Tatum Kelly's life was spiraling. The funding for the women's hockey team was cut, her scholarship was ruined, and her hopes for the season were gone. With nothing else to lose, Tatum joins the men's team, much to the dismay of captain Callum O'Neil. Luckily for them, you don't need to be friends to be winners. As the tension builds, Callum's best friends, Jace and Shawn, pursue Tatum's respect, both on and off the ice. Determined to make this season her best yet, Tatum knows better than to get involved with one teammate, much less two.

Best friends. Teammates. Totally straight… until a kiss changes everything. Nate (Holky) Holcomb I’ve always been straight. No confusion, no questions—just a long list of hookups with women and a reputation for being the life of the party. But when Mad Dog moves into my house for a while, things start to get weird. Not in a bad way. Just in a “why do I want to kiss him” kind of way. We’re teammates. We’re roommates. We’re definitely not boyfriends. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Hooked. An app designed for the ideal one-night stand is the brainchild of Harvard graduate students Easton Jones and his two best friends. When Easton creates his Hooked profile, he gets a 100 percent perfect match. Who is this sure thing? Her username is Love. Their chemistry is off-the-charts explosive, and just when Easton begins falling for her, she disconnects from the app and disappears. Five years later, Hooked is now the number one dating app in the country. But that’s not the only thing on fire.

If my time with Ryan Miller were a hit track on the radio, I imagine the lyrics would go something like this: We're so different, but they say opposites attract. Oops, I've fallen, and my heart doesn't want to come back. His dad lives right next to my mom, and after the two of them suffered an unexplained accident while taking down holiday decorations, both Ryan and I were forced to become the only 30something residents of Sunny Creek Village Independent Senior Living Community.

When the guys at work dare me and the new guy to play a game of gay chicken, I figure I'll get my first kiss and bragging rights for winning. What I don't expect is for that game to awaken something in me. Something I've never felt before. Something that makes me want more. Makes me want him. I never back down from a challenge, but that doesn't explain why being with Noah feels so good. Why I can't stop thinking about him. Why he's the only person who's ever stirred even the slightest interest in me. Why getting him off gets me off.

My newest obsession is nothing like any of my past hookups. A perma-scowl and general leave-me-alone attitude? Yeah, that's the kind of thing I usually stay away from. But the most shocking part about all of this is that the person who's got me all out of whack . . . isn't a girl. Bash is a six-foot-four-tatted personal trainer who seems to want nothing to do with me. Until I'm naked, that is. As soon as I'm dressed, he's more than ready to say goodbye. But if there's one thing getting a taste of Sebastian Crawford has taught me, it's that one taste just isn't enough.

While I've always known my infatuation with Cash and Ford was meant to remain an unfulfilled dream, I never really lost hope. Hope that the two men, twice my age, would ever see me as more than just a kid. As more than just their best friend's son. I'm not a kid anymore, and at twenty-one, they're about to see that little meek and quiet Ben is old enough for many things. Old enough to finally attract their attention. And frankly, old enough to know better. To know that these stolen touches and lustful trysts behind closed doors could never really amount to more.

Jack Bowman is out of luck and out of money. That is, until he gets an offer to be a part of an experiment for a major scientific research company. All he has to do is get cryogenically frozen for a few years and he'll be rich. What could go wrong? Quite a bit, as it turns out. When Jack's pod splits open and he's met by two beautiful women, he's introduced to a very different world from the one he left behind. There are warring tribes, mutated animals, actual monsters, and even ogres. With so many threats, how can anyone hope to survive?

I wasn’t a keeper. Guys just didn’t pick me, and after one too many threw me away, my heart couldn’t take it anymore. When I was traded to the Buffalo Warriors, I knew things wouldn’t be any different. Skate. Score goals. Work out. Repeat. That’s my life. I’m living the dream by playing professional hockey, and I have some amazing friends. I’m happy. Really, I am. Or at least I’m trying to be. Until the night I run into Luca.

I'd been waiting my whole life to run. When I uncovered hidden papers detailing my inheritance, I knew my time had come. I packed my trunk full of plant babies, black nail polish, and determination. With my demons in the rearview mirror and my trauma for company, I made my way to Elmwood. The remote Maine mountain town is home to my future, a potential love interest, and a lot of really weird, possibly deadly secrets.