Showing results by author "Monica Murphy" in All Categories

Whit Lancaster burst into my life like a storm. Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless, and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain. He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand.

Wren Beaumont is many things. Beautiful. Smart. Sweet. Innocent. At Lancaster Prep, the girls love her. They all want to be her friend. Only I see Wren for who she really is. A repressed little virgin who keeps her feelings locked up so tight she’s probably close to bursting. She thinks she’s above us all. Even me. I shouldn’t be drawn to her. She’s not my type. Until we’re forced to work together in class and realize we might have more things in common than we originally thought.

Spencer Donato. My brother’s best friend. My dirty little secret. We fell for each other at Lancaster Prep. Sneaking around. Not wanting anyone to find out. He was my first love, my protector, my knight in shining armor. We were made for each other, and I truly believed he was my forever. But then I did the unthinkable, and betrayed him in the worst possible way. I thought I lost him for good … Until I saw him at my brother’s wedding. Now he’s older. Crueler. Unbearably handsome. We’re drawn to each other still, but will Spencer be there for me when I need him the most?

Knox Maguire is the king of our college campus, the star offensive tight end on the football team. He is the complete opposite of me in every way. I'm quiet. He's loud. I'm shy. He's definitely not. Everyone loves him. No one knows me. Fresh out of a breakup, I don't really trust him, and why should I? Knox is the ultimate player. When I become his English tutor, I tell myself we need to keep things between us strictly business. Watching my mother deal with my ex-athlete father long ago taught me to stay far away from that type of man. Yet Knox is impossible to resist.

Caroline Abbott loves her job - helping engaged couples pick out the perfect save-the-date cards and invitations for their dream wedding. Working at Noteworthy means she has to deal with the occasional bridezilla, but Caroline’s always up for the challenge. Until one particular bridezilla, whose fiancé happens to be the boy Caroline shared her first kiss with, walks into the stationery store. Alexander Wilder is all grown up now, helping run his family’s successful luxury hotel chain, and is somehow even better looking than she remembers.

Eli Bennett: quarterback at our biggest rival high school and my brother’s worst enemy. So why can’t I stop thinking about him? For one, he’s totally gorgeous, and boy, does he know it. He’s an arrogant trash talker who brings drama wherever he goes. And for some reason, he’s set his sights on me.

Transferring to UC Santa Mira is supposed to be my ultimate college experience—until housing falls through at the last minute. So when I overhear a group of guys complaining they need another roommate, I jump at the opportunity. They’re just football players. Even if one of them makes me weak in the knees, it doesn’t mean anything unless I let it. And I won’t. We want different things. Wanting each other doesn’t change that.

I've moved through life doing what's expected of me. I'm the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and survived. The one who devoted herself to her family's business empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I. When Zachary got a promotion, however, he left me in the dust. Maybe it's for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me.

My first crush. My first kiss. The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time. Willingly. We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway as they avoid each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year.... The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored.

One moment I'm the forgotten daughter of one of the most wealthy families in the country, and the next I'm the blushing bride in an arranged marriage. My fate is sealed in my wedded union with a complete stranger. In public, Perry Constantine is the life of the party. Easygoing. Adored. In private, he's brooding. Dark. Angry. But so am I. It's a contest of wills to see who will break in the bedroom first, and while I try to remain strong, I find myself craving the very man I swore to hate. My husband.

I’ve had a thing for Gavin Maddox ever since I was a freshman, but it’s a mission doomed to fail. Of all the guys I could have picked on campus, I had to go too far with the quarterback, my brother’s best friend. We’ve spent the last two years avoiding each other. It’s not that easy when you have the same friends, not to mention I can’t forget the way it felt to be with him. But I can be civil. Polite. Detached.

Ace Townsend is the biggest player on campus. The sexy new quarterback on the football team. I should probably mention he's also a complete flirt. The life of the party wherever he goes. Someone I should avoid at all costs. It's difficult, though, when I'm on the social media crew for the football team, and we're out on the field during practice almost every day, filming them. On the sidelines at games. Hanging out with them at bars. The more I spend time with Ace, the more I'm drawn to him. The attraction is there, but it's more than that. I actually like him.

This was supposed to be the best year of Rowan Lancaster's life. Instead, thanks to a massive linebacker, his ankle is broken and his last football season at Lancaster Prep is done. Just like that. Now his days are dull and gray. Boring. Except for the days that include Arabella Hartley Thomas. She's the girl everyone wants to be friends with. Beautiful but approachable. Stylish. Quirky. Yet she gets under Rowan's skin like no other, and he doesn't understand why. Sure, they flirt and banter and give each other grief.

Jake Callahan. Prince of the popular crowd. My mortal enemy. Gorgeous. All the girls want him. Quarterback. All the boys want to be his friend. He’s the most popular boy in the senior class. And he hates me. Or so I thought. What I mistook for hatred turns out to be…interest. There’s that thin line, right? It makes me crazy. I can’t stand it. Attraction, chemistry, whatever it is, I also can’t resist it. And neither can he.

It's the end of summer. Just before I start senior year with my two best friends in the whole world. Dustin and Emily are everything to me. We've been inseparable since middle school, and when we're together, nothing can go wrong. But things aren't always what they seem. Em's turned into a drunken mess who parties too much. Dustin and I have hooked up a few times - and now he's ready to take our relationship to the next level. Yet I'm not sure I want things to change.

I'm your average girl at your average high school, trying to figure out my place in life. After catching my now ex-boyfriend messing around with my now ex-best friend, I've made some big changes. No more band, no more backstabbing friends and no more boring old life. Now I have new friends, a new job and new interests. But there's a certain someone who's interested in me, and I don't get it. Jordan Tuttle could have anyone he wants. He's the most popular boy in school.

Our marriage may look like a fairytale, but outside forces threaten to tear us apart. Don't they realize that nothing will keep me apart from Charlotte? Not my family. Not hers either. What started out as a relationship in name only has evolved into something much more. Something deeper. And when Charlotte is taken from me, I launch into action, determined to rescue her. She's mine. Nothing is going to stop me from being with her. Not a damn thing.

Diego Garcia. Class bully. Football star. My boyfriend. I fell hard and fast for the resident bad boy, and he fell just as hard for me, too. We were the perfect couple, until things turned sour. Senior year and we’re both super busy. He has football. I have volleyball. Soon enough, I hear the rumors - Diego’s cheating on me. After everything we’ve been through, I’m devastated. Breaking up with him was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. He doesn’t love me. Besides, only a few more months of school, and then I’m going away to college.

Working at Bliss, Sarah Harrison deals with all sorts of...interesting clientele. Yet no one sparks her interest more than Jared Gaines, the ultra-rich, ultra-sexy businessman who frequents her shop, buying delicate little “gifts” for the women in his life. But one day, Jared sends Sarah a gift from Bliss. Then another - and another. So when Sarah walks into his office demanding to know why, he makes her an offer she somehow can’t refuse: be his fake girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother’s engagement party.

I started flirting with a guy while waiting for my car to be serviced. Now granted, he wasn’t just any guy. Tall. Dark. Hot. Mysterious. Can you blame me for wanting to talk to him? He’s in town visiting his parents. So am I. He goes to the same college as I do. Such a coincidence. Almost as if our meeting is destined. But I shouldn’t believe in that sort of thing. I am single as a Pringle and always ready to mingle. Until I keep running into Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious everywhere I go.