Damaged Goods Ao3

Love is a Lie. As a photographer for the New York Post, Kari Martin was used to seeing heartache and scandal up close. But one night at the club… her whole world changed. Heartbroken and willing to call off her wedding, she decides a change is in order and moves from NYC to a small town in Maine, where the average age of the residents there is sixty (or thereabouts). She works to fit in perfectly, and tries like hell not to let anyone find out just how very jaded she’s recently become over the lie called love. Jake Isaac left Texas quite a few years ago; his heart torn from his chest, and his mind set on being a bachelor forever. Maine would welcome him, give him land to explore and a community to belong to. Getting a job as the coach of the local junior high and serving on the fire department kept him busy — and labeled him a hometown hero — but the truth of his damaged heart was forever hidden. No one would ever know just how jaded he was about love. That is… until he meets Kari.

The past never stays buried forever... The past caught up with Harper Carrington in the cruelest way. After tragedy summoned her home to Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains, she was confronted with another twist of the knife – Wyck, her first love who abandoned her fifteen years before and disappeared off the map. Wyck Ward never planned to see Harper again after her powerful father exiled him from Carrington Ridge. Consumed by the desire for revenge, Wyck spent over a decade systematically destroying the man's corrupt legacy. But with his enemy suddenly dead, Wyck realizes his all-consuming vendetta could cost him what his fractured soul needs - Harper. Join Harper and Wyck as they discover if some hearts are too damaged to ever mend or if even the coldest embers can flare back to life when two fractured souls find the pieces they’ve been missing. If you enjoy small town, second chance romances with complex characters, all the feels, a side of steam, and lots of twisty mountain roads, you'll love this first book in the new Carrington Ridge series.

Survival taught Elon Rivers that his body could be a weapon—just not in the way his stepfather intended. Now he works the con: dress pretty, play helpless, drug them, and disappear with their valuables. It's not honest work, but nothing about Elon's life has ever been honest. When he targets the wrong mark—Fort Thorne, a mafia enforcer with eyes like a winter grave—his carefully constructed world shatters. Fort knew exactly what Elon was from the moment he walked into that hotel room. The briefcase Elon stole contained information worth killing for, and Fort wants it back. There's just one problem: Elon's roommate has already stolen it from him, and now Fort is out two million dollars. Fort's offer is simple: return what was stolen, or work off the debt. Every single Penny. Trapped in Fort's world of violence and power, Elon discovers that his captor is as damaged as he is, and that the line between hatred and desire is thinner than he ever imagined. But in a world where trust is a luxury neither can afford, falling for the enemy might be the most dangerous con of all.

Anya Who would have thought turning 21 would change my life and send me into the depths of hell and into the arms of a bad man. A very bad man who has a vendetta against my father. He can never know who I am or my life is over before it even begins. I'm kidnapped during my birthday celebration and tossed into the underground of a hotel to be auctioned off, then bought by the very same man who would love to watch me bleed. I do the only thing I can - fake it, if only to survive one more night. I tell him my name is Anika and he seems to buy my excuses. But how long can I hide behind a mask and how long before he learns of my true identity and brutalizes me for revenge? I'll pay for my father's sins. Maybe even with my life. *** Bastien I've never claimed to be a good man. I trade in the dark; anything, save for humans, can be up for sale to the highest bidder. The king of the black market, this city is my playground. All until tonight... All until her… The auction is held at my hotel once every four months with one iron clad rule in place: no trafficking. So to say that I'm shocked to find her on my stage amongst the goods like a precious lamb to the slaughter is putting it lightly. I had to buy her to appease one of my biggest clients, but the more I look at her, the more I realise… That I want her to be mine alone. But who is this little doll truly and why did she end up on my stage, ready to be sold to the highest bidder?

He compares himself to a rainbow, but what exactly does a rainbow made up of colors mean? Ephraim Ivonis Yousef Zallega Jr is a competitive young man, who was forced to become a man so that he won't be like his brother who lost the Zallega's legacy. He tried hard and did not fail himself to continue his family's legacy. Dignity. Pride. Honor. Reputation. Zallega. Men. He promised himself that he would not embarrass his father who was a respectable man in the field of Construction and Politics. Ivo was forced to be successful at a very young age before he met the high-maintenance girl that he never imagined to have, Zuri Aniyah Altavas. The lady she wanted to witness her growth on becoming a woman and became his life. But what exactly is the reason why Ivo’s reputation has been damaged? What was the lie believed to keep the two of them apart? What exactly is the truth hiding behind the clouds that only blue skies like Zuri’s eyes believed? Can love survive when everything is falling apart? Or... can love pulls them together again as they will abide after so long years as they fight against the odds?

My Alpha husband, Ryder, has always hated the sound of a crying pup. But recently, he started caring for my adopted sister's newborn pup, staying by its side in the nursery every night until dawn. Every time Ryder left our bedroom for the nursery, an inexplicable stabbing pain would pierce through my chest. This agony would last all night until dawn when he returned. I had finally reached my breaking point. At the Full Moon Festival, I announced in front of the entire pack that I was rejecting our mate bond. The pack's mind-link erupted with whispers that the battle had damaged my mind. A golden light ignited in Ryder's eyes as he stared at me in disbelief. "Because I was too busy to check on you when you were injured, you're rejecting our bond over a six month old pup?" I didn't meet his eyes. Instead, my gaze lingered on the faint lipstick mark smudged inside his collar. My voice trembled, yet it did not waver. "Since you love her pup so much, once our bond is severed, you can openly be the father."

"On the table!" He ordered, leaving me fear-stricken as I scurried and positioned myself the way he had instructed earlier. Who was I to disobey the most callous Alpha King? "Part those legs!" He bellowed calmly, yet dangerously, emphasizing on every word. His voice sounded like the voices of many mighty men...authoritative, mysterious, deafening..like a thunder ready to strike. My eyes travelled up to the Moon that hung up in the sky, communicating to it as if telling it to send me a saviour. "There is no one coming to save you, Aurora. I am your new master. Now take off your clothes, I want to see the goods I purchased!" *** Aurora was supposed to be the Alpha's beloved daughter, but fate played a trick on her, making her serve as the pack's slave instead. Someone stole her life. Years went by, the truth got exposed, but when she was about to live her best life and assume her role in the pack, trouble rears its ugly head. Her pack was under attack. Faced with two difficult choices, she would either offer herself as a peace offering to the most cruel Alpha King in exchange for protection for her loved ones, or watch everything she holds dear crumble before her eyes. Desperate to save her loved ones, she offered herself to the king without thinking of the consequences. But the castle of the Alpha King is filled with shocking secrets. What if plans changed and she finds not one, not two, but three Alpha Kings ready to claim her? Would she agree to become their breeder? How long would she be able to resist their charms?

Hades Blackwood, like his name sounded, was as dark as night. He is the King of Blackwood pack, a pack sworn to uphold secrecy and a threat to neighboring packs. However, under his all brooding personality is a child crying for help. A young lad whose dreams had been shattered, replaced with nothing but pain. Unlike others, Hades embraced this pain. He turned it into armor, a shield to protect himself with. Alpha Hades Blackwood, the well known powerful lycan king had always been hunted by a fragment of his past, of the night his parents and more than half of his pack had been massacred. He lives for revenge. Clamors for it. He’s always wanted revenge or so he thought until an opportunity to exert his revenge reared its head. But what happens then when he finally meets the enemy he’s searched far and wide for only to be met with an angel? Will he give in to the fiery wild passion her body promises to render or would he be so deeply damaged that only revenge is what he seeks for? The moon goddess is a tricky being. Delve into this story surrounding Hades’ plight as he’s forced between tearing either Hailey’s or his world down as she happens to not just be his mate but his brother’s as well, … and his other brother’s.

Daisy is the soft-hearted mother of one with a dark past and an ex husband she's running from. She's spent the past six months building a new life for her and her daughter, Hope, trying to blend into the world around them. Her memories are tainted, her delicate heart is shattered, and her innocence took advantage of. She doesn't want to be found, she doesn't want to be recognised, and she certainly isn't interested in falling in love again. Nate has been heartbroken once before, betrayed by those he loves, and secretly desperate to find that one woman who can turn his world upside down for the better. He's practically a billionaire with his own confectionary company, but he still feels like a damaged puzzle with lost pieces. Until he meets her. Her sapphire blue eyes were mesmerizing pulling him in a trance, her petite curvy body was delicious, and that sweet angelic voice was a melody to his ears. Damn he wanted her, and he intended to make sure he did. However, the closer he gets the more he learns about the fragile Daisy, can they both survive a rollercoaster of events, emotions and get their happy ever after?

Ivan is a lost soul. He longs for each month's fight to the death in the Cage to be his last day on earth. Except when Cherish's terrified clear blue eyes meet his in a post-fight haze, he feels compelled to get involved. If he doesn't claim her body as his victory prize one of the other embittered fighters will. While Cherish despises Ivan for his notorious brutality in the Cage, she soon realises she cannot afford for him to lose the next fight. Not just for her own safety, but for her softening heart as he defies her expectations about shifters. Both have secrets, but when trapped together under the watchful eye of the Axelon gang, fellow fighters and desperate gamblers, is their love enough to achieve the impossible, and escape? Fate has kept Ivan alive this long, is Cherish the reason? Or is there to be a final cruel twist from the Moon Goddess… White Forest Pack Series (Can all be read as standalone) *Book 1 - A Banished Alpha *Book 2 - The Luna's Rejected Assassin *Book 3 - The Beta's Prize Shadowlands Series (Can all be read standalone) *Book 1 - A Damaged Alpha *Book 2 - The Luna Who Wants Everything (2023)