Showing results by author "Tess Oliver" in All Categories

I never meant to kiss a stranger. But when my horrible ex stormed into the bar looking for me, I panicked. I grabbed the closest man and pulled his face down for a kiss … and he kissed me back. His arms locked around me in a strong, protective embrace, and I felt safe—until my sleeve slipped and he saw the bruises. That’s when his expression turned lethal. They say a brutal past hardened Colt Stone against love and attachment.

He was definitely trouble, and the worst kind of trouble because he was wrapped up in an incredible package of muscles, ink and heartbreak. A guy like him was the last thing I needed now. A guy like Colt Stone was the last thing I ever needed.

In high school, I hated my brother’s best friend. The fact that he was also my boyfriend’s best friend further complicated things. Angry and scowling was his default mode around me. Even before the accident—our hate was mutual. It’s been more than a decade since I’ve been home, since I’ve seen him. But my new life in Los Angeles just imploded, and I have nowhere else to go.

After nearly losing his friend in a logging accident, Gage Barringer is convinced now more than ever that he needs to find a different job. But his side business of breaking colts at the small Montana ranch he inherited from his grandfather doesn't earn him enough money. He has his mind set on running The Raven's Nest, a popular bar and restaurant near his ranch. The original owner has died and Gage is waiting for it to be put up for sale. But there is a five-foot-four, brown-eyed obstacle in his way, an obstacle with lips made for sin and a voice made for breaking hearts.

They'd called it betrayal. He was gone, and he hadn't deserved her yet I was labeled a traitor. I had loved her long before I should have but this thing between us was fragile. She was everything that was right in my world—but maybe we just weren't meant to be. Jack 'Bronx' Devlin is the toughest of the tough. He grew up breaking colts and parachutes into wildfires as a smokejumper for a living, but Layla Rafferty, the elusive woman he loves but can't have, might be the one to finally break him.

The last thing Angus Kilmer was looking for was a steady relationship. But he couldn't ignore his instant attraction to Chastain "Chase" Brooks. There was only one problem—Chase, the hard-edged, no-nonsense and undeniably hot owner of a rock and roll bar loathed him. Angus never looked away from a challenge but would Chase prove to be just too out of reach, even for him?

Growing up, I could never imagine myself ending up with anyone else. Back then, she had been my one. But tragedy had obliterated that imagined happy ending, and my emotions had been flipped upside down. Tough guy smokejumper and all-around bad boy Kingston ‘King’ Bristow gave his heart away as a teen and has struggled to find love again. He gets more than he bargained for when the past comes back to haunt him and the truth behind Westridge’s sketchy history begins to unravel.

A horrid, unstable childhood and a long stint with Bedlam, an outlaw MC, has left Cash Tremaine hardened, disillusioned and desperate to find a better life. A love of the ocean and a job referral from an old friend take him to the small coastal town of Tucker's Village where he meets Esme Drake. Esme is tough, resilient, independent, and impossibly pretty. Cash wonders if he's finally found his place in the world down by the sea, but he soon discovers that even far away from the MC, trouble manages to find him.

She was gone. She’d been so unreal, I almost wondered if I'd just imagined her. But her sweet perfume still lingered on my skin and on the sheets. I couldn't get rid of the disappointing feeling that kept inching into my gut knowing that I wasn't ever going to see her again.

She could be standing in a sea of beautiful women and hers would be the only face I saw. It was something I would have told her if I hadn't been such a fool. But I was a fool.

Sometimes one good dose of trouble could turn your life around, put you on the right path. But I'd taken the opposite side of the forked road and headed off looking for even more trouble, like a junkie constantly searching for the next high. Never would I have guessed that turn would lead me to her. I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was an angel, a hardcore, bonafide angel, and in her short life she'd already had a taste of hell.

Bridget Walsh stole my breath the second I saw her, but I never expected her to turn my whole damn life upside down. It would figure that the first time I fell in love, it would be with Nathan Walsh’s daughter. Nathan Walsh, a rich, greedy, ruthless developer took over the neighboring town of Oceanview and now he has his sights set on my hometown, the Stone hometown of Trayton. And he’s made it brutally clear that he doesn’t want me anywhere near his daughter.

Everything about him spelled trouble, and I loved him even more for it. A coal miner’s son, Kellan Braddock always knew he’d follow in his late dad’s steel toed boots. He also always knew that he’d never love anyone as much he loved Rylan Merritt. But sometimes love isn't enough. Seven years ago, Rylan Merritt left Bluefield Ridge with her heart in tatters. Now she’s back. And Kellan Braddock, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the boy who she loved beyond anything has grown into a man.

Cole King lives the bachelor's dream life. He runs the family construction company and spends his free time in Southern California riding freestyle motocross with his two friends, Denver and Rodeo. Being the son of legendary rock star, Nicky King, Cole has always followed in his dad's footsteps, bouncing from girl to girl and never really stopping to fall in love. But when Rodeo bets Cole that he can't land a date with his neighbor, Kensington Modante, heiress to the Modante Winery, he accepts the challenge. Cole soon discovers that win or lose, it's a bet that will turn his heart upside down.

A unique summer job lands 18-year-old Eden Saxon into a lifestyle completely different than her own. She becomes a companion for 19-year-old Finley King, the daughter of a rock legend. Finley suffers from severe anxiety, and her father fears her being alone. Eden leaves her loving, but wildly dysfunctional, parents and dreary apartment and enters a world where no luxury is overlooked. She instantly adores Finley and her charming, quirky personality. The whole situation has only one flaw - Finley's older brother, Jude.

When Taylor Flinn's parents shipped her off to an aunt for her last year of high school, James "Clutch" Mason had convinced himself it was for the best. Taylor, the wild, impulsive, and far too appealing 17-year-old had been driving him nuts. Her schoolgirl crush on him had been the last thing he needed. Now he had time to concentrate on his booming classic-car-part business, his newfound love of drag racing, and keeping his 20-year-old brother Barrett out of trouble.

Barrett "Rett" Mason has never found the one girl who can tame his wild heart. And sometimes life is just easier and less complicated without love. While working for Kingston Construction, Barrett becomes fast friends with the owner's son, Cole. They have one major thing in common - their insatiable appetite for women. But when Barrett meets Cole's sister, Finley, the easy, care-free, no commitment lifestyle he's grown used to suddenly loses its appeal. Now Barrett has met his match and the one girl who is just too damn impossible to walk out on.

When Cassie, the woman he loves, leaves him for a job in New York, Dray Warner finds his life falling apart. With nothing else to lose, he takes up his friend's, Barrett Mason's, offer to head down to Mexico for some surfing and good times. But Dray's conscience, hot temper, and extreme fighting skills hurl him into a world of danger...a danger that could cost him his life.

The premature death of his dad and a tumultuous childhood has left coal miner Tommy 'Huck" Sawyer hardened to emotion and relationships. Andi Sullivan is the one woman who can break through that tough exterior. But Andi, the twin sister of Tommy's best friend, is destined for better things, away from her harsh father's control and their sooty mining town. It seems everything is against Tommy ever having the one thing his heart wants most.

Dawson Sullivan needs a break from coal mining and from his friends, Tommy and Kellan, who have both found happiness with true love, something that still seems impossible and out of reach for Dawson. His vacation plans throw him into the path of Lenix Harlow, lead singer of the rock band Ice Cake. Even knowing that a relationship with Lenix would be impossible, Dawson finds himself falling hard for the sultry rock star. He's found his true love, only happiness is nowhere in sight.