The Gamble Kristen Ashley

After the cruise ship strikes a hidden reef, panicked passengers shove me and Kristen Langford into the sea. My boyfriend, Elijah Jensen, is the ship's captain, so he plunges into the water. But instead of saving me, he grabs Kristen and boards the last lifeboat. I thrash and cry for help, but he slaps my hand away. "You can swim. Stop pretending for attention!" Elijah snaps. "Kristen's body temperature is dropping. I have to get her to a hospital!" The waters around me are pitch-black, and his words feel like a death sentence. When the tracking bracelet I always wear is discovered inside a shark, Elijah dives alone into shark-infested waters, searching for three days and nights. In the end, the brilliant captain who once ruled the oceans can never sail again.

“Tis better to have loved and lost…” is utter balderdash. Losing love is devastating.When a horror-movie nightmare became real, it turned everything in Teri Munroe’s life on end, costing her all the relationships she held dear in one fell swoop, including with the one man she truly loved, Jim Erickson. The only option left to the sensitive and reserved IT security specialist was to rewrite the code of her life. Abandoning her childhood home and Jim, she made a life of contract work to provide for their child, the daughter Jim doesn’t know he has. But when random chance leads Teri to a lucrative contract in Jim’s hometown, she finds herself face to face with him again and the love she thought was lost. Can they find a way to restore it? And when Teri's nightmare comes full circle again, can they survive it this time together?

Grace Hammond lost the most important person in her life, her grandmother, Juliet. Left with little beyond a failing farm and not much clue how to run it, she's trapped-- either she gives up three generations of roots and leaves, or she finds some help and makes it work. When a mysterious letter from Juliet drops a much needed windfall in her lap, Grace knows she has one chance to save the only place she's ever called home and posts a want-ad.The knight that rides to her rescue is Robert Zhao, an Army veteran and struggling college student. A first generation Korean American, Rob is trying desperately to establish some roots, not just for himself, but for the parents he's trying to get through the immigration process, a secret he's keeping even from his best friends. Grace's posting for a local handyman, offering room and board in exchange for work he already loves doing, is exactly the situation he needs to put that process on track.Neither is prepared for the instant chemistry, the wild sweet desire that flares between them. But life in a small town isn't easy. At worst, strangers are regarded suspiciously, and at best, as profoundly flawed-- and the Hammond women have a habit of collecting obscure and ruthless enemies. Can their budding love take root in subtly hostile soil and weather the weeds seeking to choke them out?

Growing up, Sophie's life has been woven from threads of privilege and shame. As the illegitimate daughter of the esteemed Rowling family, she lived in shadows, her identity shaped by the secrets and lies that surround her birth. Despite her family's wealth and status, Sophie's existence felt like a whispered rumor, forcing her to live under the cruel and merciless shadow of her stepsister Mandy, the golden child Mandy was the epitome of everything Sophie could never be: legitimate, adored, and untouched by scandal. While Mandy basked in the spotlight, Sophie was relegated to the shadows, forced to make do with the leftovers – hand-me-down clothes, shoes, and even food. And now, it seemed, she has been reduced to a mere substitute in a marriage arrangement meant for Mandy, a typical hand-me-down marriage. Left to navigate the treacherous landscape of her new family alone, with no genuine support from her husband, Sophie knew she had to stand up for herself and fight for what she believed in.

Ryleigh didn’t remember being taken—only the cold bite of night and the blur of snarling shadows. Now she was locked in a cell beneath an unfamiliar pack house, her wrists sore, her memories foggy, and her heart pounding with questions. Her parents were dead, she’d just learned she was adopted, and now this—kidnapped by creatures that shouldn’t exist. Werewolves. Real ones. And someone with the initial D had left her a single note: You’re safe. Trust me. – D But safety felt like a lie. Especially after she witnessed a man shift before her eyes. Especially when the Alpha of the pack, Damien—arrogant, powerful, and dangerously charming—claimed ownership of her fate. Her only comfort came from Dr. Derek Blackthorn, the Alpha’s estranged brother, a healer with kind eyes and secrets of his own. In a house ruled by strict laws, bloodlines, and bitter alliances, Ryleigh must survive a world she was never meant to know. One where love could be her only weapon—or her greatest downfall.

The urge to protect begins with desire... A widowed researcher, Caitlyn Maddox, opts to take her second honeymoon trip with a hired escort, a mysterious man paired with her through an exhaustive agency matching process. Unbeknownst to her, the handsome stranger, Duke Carter, who her meets her at the airport isn’t the man she hired. Along the twisting channels of romantic Venice and the intimate eateries of sophisticated Florence, sparks fly between the duo. But the agency isn’t the only group looking for the spellbound scholar and her charming companion. Amid the narrow cobblestone streets, spectacular gardens and vitrine art galleries, dangerous secrets from both her late husband’s past and Duke’s present are swiftly encroaching on Caitlyn’s blissful fantasy. Against a firestorm of half-truths and flying bullets, Duke struggles to bring Caitlyn through safely. Not merely because it’s his job to protect her, but because no one is going to hurt what’s his.

"Darby.” My name comes out as a low snarl and I struggle to think. “I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Alpha.”"That's how I like you.” This almost purrs. He shifts his weight to the thigh between mine, brushing against my clit and I tremble as agonizing pleasure spirals through me. His nostrils flare with his next breath and the purr is a low sensual growl. “The better to see to every pleasurable need you have.”Big bad devilishly sexy wolf. Oh shit.

I never meant to fall for my boyfriend’s father. When I caught Liam cheating and ran to his family mansion for answers, the last thing I expected was to end up pinned against his father’s desk, moaning Diego Ramos’ name while his fingers ruined me. Diego is everything Liam isn’t — powerful, ruthless, and dangerously addictive. The billionaire CEO is twice my age, my boss, and completely off-limits. But after one forbidden kiss, one stolen night in my childhood bedroom, I can’t stop craving the man who makes me scream “Daddy” while my family is downstairs. Now Liam is back with a fiancée on his arm, demanding his parents play happy family for appearances. His mother is threatening to destroy everything. And the worst part? I don’t feel guilty anymore. Because every time Diego looks at me like he wants to claim me, I realize the truth: I was never meant to be Liam’s. I was always meant to be his father’s dirty little secret.

Just Before the engagement party began, Audrey walked up to Keith with the bad news. “Sophia is missing, am guessing she must have eloped with her boyfriend Frederick”. Keith dazed at her, everyone was gathered, his family, friends, business partners and reporters were everywhere all eagered to meet the young mistress of the Winslow family. He strode into the room and meet Lindsey, the event planner, staring at her, he uttered “Can you fit into Sophia's shoe" Audrey stared at him stunned, the suprise look on her face mixed with jealousy didn't escape Lindsey who gulped feeling nervous. "Keith what are you doing?" Audrey asked but Keith didn't spare her a glance

Dumped by her boyfriend, heartbroken Regina decided to go ahead with a pretend boyfriend arrangement suggested by her friend, Karina for the Christmas cruise vacation as a way to move on from Remy. Turned out that fate had its own plans, because she ended up fake dating with Karina's brother, Kristen. A hot billionaire heir who saved her from drowning in the beach. The chemistry between them couldn't be denied, but one obstacle was in the way— Kristen was engaged. The events of the cruise vacation heightened their love for each other and Kristen was torn between following his heart or maintaining the engagement with Billie, a heiress of the Sternberg group, for the growth of his father's company. The association with Kristen, opened the secret to her real identity that changed everything. Would it be just fake dating between them or would it amount to something more?