Dirty Secrets

  It is never too late to begin again... I had the perfect plan in place when I pressed the reset button on my life. Keep a low profile. It was the only way to keep prying eyes off my secret. Getting into a romantic relationship with the town's number one bachelor, Mario Princeton, was not the best way to remain anonymous, but I couldn't take my eyes and hands off Mario. I tried to dismiss our tension as mere infatuation at first, but this was one truth I couldn't deny. I drew attention to myself, and now someone is blackmailing me because they know what I'm hiding. I should be honest with Mario and his family. I'm not sure how much longer I can continue to tell this lie. But, let's face it, I'm terrified of squandering my second chance. Mario is fantastic, but how will he react if he discovers that his fiancé was a prostitute?

Cassidy never imagined her world would collapse on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. She came home early—just ten minutes early—because she forgot her sketchbook. Ten minutes. That was all it took to destroy everything. Because when she opened her bedroom door, she didn’t just catch her boyfriend cheating. She caught him with her mother. The betrayal hit harder than any heartbreak she’d ever read about in her romance novels. Humiliated, shaking, and unable to breathe, Cassidy did the only thing she could—she ran. Straight into the neon haze of the city’s wildest nightclub. She didn’t plan on drinking. She didn’t plan on dancing. And she definitely didn’t plan on meeting him. Dante Ashford. The dangerously handsome billionaire heir with a voice like velvet and a stare that feels like sin. He didn’t ask if she was okay—he asked her name like he was already claiming it. He touched her like he had every right. He kissed her like he’d been waiting for her his whole damn life. One shot turned into two. Her pain turned into recklessness. And one devastating night turned into the hottest mistake of her life. A one-night stand with a man whose name she never learned. Cassidy thought that would be the end of it. Just a secret she’d take to the grave. Until her mother announced she was getting married. And Cassidy came face-to-face with her new “family.” Dante—the stranger who’d had her pinned to silk sheets, whispering sinful things in her ear—is now her stepbrother. Worse? He remembers everything. Every kiss. Every moan. Every broken piece of her she tried to forget. And Dante isn’t the type of man who lets go. Not of the past. Not of secrets. And definitely not of her.

An alarm wakes everyone up at 1:00 am. It turns out that a few college students have gone missing during their exploration in Wolffang Valley. My heart goes tense at the news. After all, my stepdaughter, Nancy Campton, had told me yesterday that she'd be exploring that place! Since Nancy has asthma, I specifically prepare medication that's meant to treat asthma in my medical kit just in case anything happens. After carrying my backpack, I begin urging my husband, Jack Campton, who's also the leader of the rescue team, to set off right away. But he keeps stopping me in my tracks. "What's the rush? Let's wait for Dakota to finish doing her makeup." Half an hour later, Dakota Sweeney, who has a face full of makeup and is wearing a pink rescue jacket, begins complaining in a high-pitched voice. "Why did you keep rushing me? Thanks to you, my eyeliner came out all crooked!" On the way to the valley, Dakota actually pulls out a pair of pink lace panties. After unscrewing the cap of a bottle of life-saving water, she starts washing it with said water. I can't endure her stupid antics anymore. "Have you gone nuts? This bottle of water could potentially save someone's life!" But Dakota replies in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm a woman with principles! I must wash my underwear that I've changed out of on the same day!" Jack shoves me away at that moment. He then snatches the bottled water from me before passing it to Dakota. "Willow Armstrong, you're the crazy one here! Is it wrong for Dakota to take care of her hygiene?" As I stare at Jack, a cold smile slowly spreads across my face. It's not wrong for Dakota to take care of her hygiene. I just wonder if Jack is capable of facing the consequences behind Dakota's tendency to drag things out.

I was a keeper of many secrets, and I have been for a long time. Secrets that I can't ever share with the world because if I did, it would not only put me in danger but everyone I care about. I had given up the life that had taken so much from me, well, so I thought, but when the man that ruined everything for me showed back up, I don't have a choice but to get back into it. One more target and I will be free, that is what I keep telling myself. I have done this before; it won't be the first life that I have taken. I was hoping it would be the last. If I knew at the time, my target would be the man I was slowly falling for. I would have found a way to get out of it. But now I was in too deep, and I can't do anything about it, well so I thought. It turns out I am not the only one with dark secrets, and between us, it would be those dark secrets that would help change both our lives forever. Co-wrote with Emma-Louise

My crippled sister, Monica Porter, jumped from the roof of the classroom building. The day before she died, she had just been fitted with the custom prosthetic legs I had paid for with ten years of savings. She was glowing, excited to finally stand up on her own. But my wife's best friend, a guy she said was just like a brother to her, locked Monica inside an empty art room. He smashed her new legs, forced her to crawl on the floor and lick paint clean to retrieve the broken parts, and recorded everything on video. And my wife, a judge, ultimately ruled that the case could not stand. "The video cannot confirm the time it was recorded and may represent consensual performance art between both parties," she said. Sandra Pauley's final judgment was simple. "The deceased had a history of depression. The school and the defendant bear no responsibility." I smiled and cooked her a full table of food. The next day, I hung the bully, Eric Hoyles, from the school's flagpole and livestreamed it to the entire internet. "Honey, remember how you said Monica had such pretty legs?" I raised a claw hammer and brought it down on his ankle. "If you don't hand over the video evidence right now, I'll hook out his Achilles tendon one strand at a time and let him learn what it feels like to crawl!" The wind passed through. His screaming broke apart in the air, mixing with the strained creaking of the flagpole until it sounded almost like music. The live chat went insane. Meanwhile, I laughed until my eyes filled with tears.

Amber Star, a journalist with an easygoing life, had everything turned upside down when she stumbled upon a dark secret and in turn got her life entwined with something darker, leaving no room for an escape. Damian Stormborn, CEO of Starline Entertainment with a prestigious reputation as a sex god and every woman’s crazy dream man, had everything at his beck and call including a dirty secret that could ruin it all. Sadly, he had not counted on the fateful encounter that would reel a little rabbit into his dark lair. They had a problem. A sweet love tugging at his heartstrings and a dangerous romance ready to engulf her, changing all of her morals. With bigger problems and demons lurking in the dark, waiting to destroy all that he held dear, including her, how would the sex god survive this ordeal? Would both of them succumb or would they be determined to break the weak link, giving into the darkness?

She stared at him with hooded eyes, heated breaths mingling in the air between them, "If you agree to this, there's no turning back." His fingers dug into the curve of her ass and she mewled helplessly, "So tell me, flower. Do you agree?" As she gazed into his dark orbs, a fiery passion ignited within her chest. She wanted this, wanted him. But most all, she wanted to forget. "Yes," She replied breathlessly, pressing her bare breasts into his hard chest, "Yes, I agree." *********** Aurora is the perfect little princess, or so everyone thinks. She is smart, beautiful, a ballet prodigy and is also from an affluent family. All her life, Aurora has always been told what to do, how to act and even down to what she should eat. Her overbearing mother constantly dictates how she should live her life. In the eyes of everyone, she is little miss perfect. But little did they know, she was hiding a secret. A big one. And it came in the form of a devilishly handsome boxer.

There is nothing more important in Victoria's life than her CAREER because she believes that this makes her happy despite the complexities of her life. She poured tears and sweat into that career for too long to achieve the best in the world of showbiz. But only because a man she did not fully know would ruin everything she had worked for. She did not expect that this in itself would end what she had now. Victoria lost everything because of her treacherous love for the man. She did not fully expect that the man's fake love for her would be the most unforgettable scene in her life. But that didn't last long either because the baby died in her womb, causing Victoria's heart to fill with anger for it. She rose again despite her fall, and someone was waiting for her bright future. Victora's heart grew more assertive, especially when they faced the man who had ruined her life again.

Marianna tries to run from her past to start over but surprises along the way force her to confront her demons.

Book One: My Father’s Best Friend. I knew this was wrong on so many levels, the things that I felt for Vincent but each time I was in his arms, I wanted nothing more than to remain there. His lips were delicate and his aura was relentlessly enthralling. I could see the danger and unfiltered desire in his emerald green eyes, this was never supposed to happen. But the fact that he wanted me first made me want him even more. Falling for Vincent Calloway was so wrong but he made it so easy. And all it took was one summer In Oregon, one hot tumultuous summer with my dad’s best friend. What’s the worst that could happen?