After the Ku Klux Klan murders her father in 1950s South Carolina, Chancie and her mother, Clara, move to Hicks, Georgia, for a better life. Clara works for the Parsons, a well-to-do black family. For a while, Chancie believes her life will return to normal. But when Clara unexpectedly dies, Chancie soon discovers that she is alone-and the odds are stacked against her. Her luck changes when the Parsons take her into their home. Chancie is fine for a while until her new family's daughter, B.J., seduces her. Before long, domineering B.J. pulls Chancie into an abusive relationship by possessing and controlling her every move. Seeking refuge, Chancie meets Cynthia and falls in love with the older, more experienced woman. Cynthia showers her with love and affection. Then a frightening pattern emerges as Cynthia begins to be abusive too. Chancie's future happiness is in jeopardy. Can she break the cycle of abuse before it's too late?

In Cleveland, Texas, the family of Billy Joe Jackson anxiously awaits the news of the National Football League draft. This Christian family is pleased to hear that Billy Joe, a quarterback from Texas A&M, has been drafted by the Nashville, Tennessee, Sphinx. And in Chicago, Andre Patterson, a wide receiver for the University of Illinois, celebrates when he hears that he, too, has been drafted by the Sphinx.

The two young men, adjusting to the new and demanding world of NFL football, become roommates. But the interest they share in football on the field is drastically different from their lives off the field. Billy Joe prides himself on being a soft-spoken man who thanks the Lord for his blessings and tries to be a role model for his family and others. Andre, however, loves the fast life of partying and women.

The situation becomes tangled when Andre tries to rekindle his relationship with his childhood friend, Arteah McMorris, a schoolteacher in Chicago. A caring and thoughtful woman, Arteah questions the sanity of Andre's lifestyle. But when temptation strikes and Arteah meets another man, she cannot predict the outcome.

The Closeness That Separates Us - when feelings go beyond words 'We are already moving into a game, and I am not sure I like the gaming part. The risk is too high, fun, however it might be. I want real life, in all its aspects, and yes, also the risky ones. Games are just games. It's like fiction, where you can try out things, see if they work, throw possibilities up into the air and see whatever falls down, with a bump, with a crash, with a gentle landing, with a bounce, and what fl oats or flies around up there, in the sky, be it beautiful but out of reach, or controlled from the ground, by the artist. That's fine, but unreal. My half-told stories, my mediocre poems, my indifferent blog scribblings can do that, but I want real life, and real-life risks when it seems worth running them. So show it to me, your purgatory. Describe it. In a mail, or a picture, whatever you find fitting. Or not fitting at all. I want your words, if they are real, and I want to feel the person behind the words. So I am just saying: Keep feeding me mails, keep tickling my mind. If you one day want to tickle my toes, I am sure that can be negotiated too, somehow, somewhere, somewhen. As long as it's real and not just words and thoughts and "what if" speculations and dreams. Those, I have had plenty of, just like you mention. Short-lived, split-second things, roaring by before they became unblurry. This is different. You are different. I like it.'

Marcus and Lasaia grew up together in Albany, Ga. After finding her hiding in his parent's shed, her family's dark secret becomes clear. She begs Marcus not to tell anyone, which becomes the first promise he ever made to her.but definitely not the last. Through their young life he would make promises to her, not knowing the full effect of his words. He would always bring his words to fruition, even when it seemed impossible. To him, he was just doing what his father always taught him to do. But to her, it meant much more than that. He was the only stable person in her otherwise chaotic life. After finishing high school, and going off to their respective colleges, they lose contact. That is until 10 years later when Marcus runs into her on a trip to Atlanta to visit his brother. As Lasaia begins to reinsert herself back into Marcus's life it becomes clear that he wants to move on while she is still living in the past. When Marcus returns to Atlanta for business, the two have a friendly night on the town. After a few drinks, Lasaia brings up the one promise that he failed to keep to her. A promise made back in their high school days. As Lasaia fights to reclaim what was once hers, Marcus fights to keep this woman from destroying his life. Sometimes keeping your word can have harmful, even deadly consequences. Sometimes promises are better left broken.

She was born beautiful. She had beautiful shoved down her throat from the time she was a small child. Beautiful will get you anything you desire. Beautiful will guarantee you a perfect life. The words echo through her mind as she thinks back to all that s been lost. She peers at her reflection in the mirror, only to find a flawless stranger staring back. Rita would give anything to look average, to feel normal. No more stares and jealousy, no more whispering, and no more abuse and grief. You can have beautiful THE MIRROR will sweep you through the seasons of Rita s seventy years, and by the end, perhaps cause you to reevaluate your own life. Long before the final chapter ends the reader will come to realize that beauty indeed comes from within, not from what s reflected in THE MIRROR."

On her way to a national conference in San Antonio, Texas, Tory Stanton considers ways she could vanish from her dull and dissatisfying life, leaving her husband and children behind. She dreams of just once doing something unusual or even crazy-like having wild, passionate sex with a man who is not her husband. Chris Enns, one of the conference organizers, is drawn to Tory the moment he sees her. They flirt and then hook up, intending it to be a one-time event. Next year, when they meet again at the same conference, things have changed-but Chris and Tory still cannot deny their attraction. Over the course of the next few years, they get together annually, at each conference, exploring their sexual limits. But when fate intervenes and they learn hard truths about each other, can they find a new relationship based in more than just sex? In this erotic romance, two people who hook up yearly at a conference must find another way to make their relationship work.

American small-town girl Elizabeth Bowman had hit rock bottom and was trying her hardest to pull her life back together, when she finally landed a decent job. Raven Fossen was a young, very successful business owner from Norway, living the perfect single mans life. What they both didn't realize was that their two very different worlds were about to collide. Raven never dreamed his Ancient Norwegian Powers would be a curse for him. Until, he was forbidden to be with Elizabeth. His Norwegian Society would never accept anyone outside of it and definitely not an American. This is a fast-paced love story filled with desire, deceit, and destiny ...

Against the glamorous background of the big city, five beautiful women struggle to find love, acceptance, and success. As the five prepare for a wedding, they take inventory of their own lives. Has pleasure been enough? Is glamour really all they need to be happy? And is that happiness worth it-at any cost?

No matter how hard they try to deny it, beneath the glitz is an inescapable tarnish. As the five friends flirt, seduce, and entice with gossipy, scandalous verve, Stilettos explores the risks a woman must take to find herself, real love, and her place in elite society.

Samantha is a savvy businesswoman married to her first love for over ten years. Can she find that spark again? Langston is drop-dead-gorgeous, with the kind of feminine wiles made only in Italy. Will her obsession with cocaine cost her everything? Ashley, who lost it all in a brutal divorce, is desperate to make ends meet. Does she dare to hope for love again? Starr is convinced that love and sex are overrated. Could a sex-fueled adventure really solve all her problems? Maxi, who struggles with a body dismorphic disorder, can't admit that she won't have her pick of men forever. Is she really willing to abandon true love to gain access to medical benefits?

"Stilettos" is a story about freedom, having dreams, and making choices-if only those choices were always the best ones.

Natalya Mae Hawkins is one of the first to meet the new girl at school-Jessica or, as she likes to be called, "Jess." Jessica moved to Richmond from Chicago, forced to leave her school and friends because of her stepfather's job. Richmond is different from Jessica's old home town, but Nat does her best to make Jessica's transition pleasant and easy. That's what new friends are for, right? Little does Jessica know Natalya is only acting like her friend to keep her away from the handsome Eddie McMichael. From the first time he sets eyes on Jessica, Eddie knows he wanted to be with her. Nat can't stand it; she's crazy about Eddie. She would do anything for him. Why does he want to be with this new girl? Despite Nat's best efforts to prevent it, the relationship between Jess and Eddie flourishes. Soon, however, a tragic incident lands young Jessica in the hospital, away from her beloved Eddie and the conniving Natalya. She wakes with amnesia, suffering from physical-and emotional-paralysis. Will she remember her love for Eddie, and will he be there when she does? Can the destruction be repaired in Jessica's life, or will the trials of being a troubled teen overshadow her future?

Sweatin' is pure entertainment. Described as a "soap opera in a book." Each chapter takes you on the tumultuous journey of Dani Thompson. With lessons in love, loss, lust and life, the characters in this book remind you of someone you knew. Someone you know or maybe they could be a reflection of yourself. Looking for love in all the wrong places, wanting something or someone so bad, you'd do anything to get it or them. Losing yourself in someone's nightmare. Finding your true self in your own dreams. It's a feel good book. Identifying with each character as their drama induced lives make you appreciate your own. Read it with your best friend or lover. There's no sense in Sweatin' alone.

DELUXE EDITION--featuring beautiful golden sprayed edges and a bonus character interview!

The fourth book in the scorchingly hot mafia romance Queens and Monsters series by USA Today bestselling author J.T. Geissinger, where John Wick meets Romeo and Juliet.

An Irish mobster with a brutal grudge. An Italian mafia princess with a dark secret. Two enemy empires joined in sacred marriage vows. Let the hating games begin.

Reyna:
If this arrogant Irish mobster my brother sold my niece to thinks I’m going to play nice over this arranged marriage BS, he should think again. I don’t care if this match with the Mob will make my brother capo of the Five Families. I don’t care how much money, territory, or power it will gain us. I especially don’t care that the Irishman is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. I won’t allow my innocent niece to suffer the same way I did. Even if I have to kill him.

Spider:
I’m supposed to marry sweet, beautiful Lili. So why can’t I stop thinking about her swamp witch of an aunt? Reyna who hates me. Reyna who challenges me. Reyna with the guts of a Viking, the body of a fertility goddess, and the attitude of a feral cat. Nothing good can come of what I’m feeling for a woman who’s not the one in the wedding contract I signed. A woman I want so much, I’ll have to burn the whole world down to get. If she doesn’t kill me first.

Before E. L. James and Sylvia Day, there was Anne Rice: Discover Beauty's Kingdom, the fourth novel in the bestselling Sleeping Beauty series Mega-bestselling author Anne Rice, writing as A. N. Roquelaure, returns to the mysterious kingdom of Queen Eleanor in this new chapter of her Sleeping Beauty series. When the great queen is reported dead, Beauty and Laurent return to the kingdom they left twenty years before. Beauty agrees to take the throne, but she insists that all erotic servitude be voluntary. Countless eager princes, princesses, lords, ladies, and commoners journey to Beauty's realm, where she and her husband usher in a new era of desire, longing, and ecstasy. Provocative and stirring, Rice's imaginative retelling of the Sleeping Beauty myth will be adored by her longtime fans and new readers of erotica just discovering the novels. This book is intended for mature audiences.

It's Fall in Manhattan a time when tourist and residents a like are enjoying the fashions, the crisp fall air and the Broadway nights. Everyone that is except for Detective Samantha Stephens and her partner Detective Steiner. They are on the hunt for a deviant serial killer who is preying on young petite women. With the collaborative efforts of FBI profiler Psychologist Dr. Franklin Houston they track down lead after lead as the bodies begin to pile up across the borough. The story begins with the discovery of yet another body. A young blonde woman lies dead, a victim of torture, strangulation, and sexual assault, just like the other victims. Sam realizes that this has all the makings of a serial killer- the victims all have the same stature, but differ in ethnicity. Thus begins the task of sifting through missing person's profiles to see if there are any more victims out there. The rest of the story takes the reader on a journey with Sam as she scours the borough of Manhattan in an effort to track down the killer and prevent any more victims. The combination of Sam's aggressiveness and Steiner's experience makes this tale an interesting cat-and-mouse chase. With the twists and turns in the plot along with deftly drawn characters, the reader is captivated at the outset.

Janice and Marvin Perry have been married for eight months, although they've dated off and on for ten years. Janice was surprised when Marvin proposed. He always seemed to be a player who enjoyed the freedom of lying and cheating. Still, she thought she loved him, so Janice agreed. Eight months in, though, matrimonial bliss has faded. Janice is sure Marvin is cheating on her already. She wants to break it off, but they aren't just dating anymore; they are legally bound.

Paul and Desiree Davis have been married for seventeen long, tumultuous years. Their daughter, Cynthia, is about to get married. Paul couldn't be happier for his little girl. She has found a good match-unlike Paul and Desiree, whose love has turned cold and angry. Paul knows Desiree is sleeping around, and the night of his daughter's wedding, his suspicion becomes reality when a tragic shooting sends someone to the hospital.

Fated to meet, Janice and Paul find each other at a hotel bar. Their attraction is immediate, and in spite of each of their difficult marriages, they are soon inseparable. Love is never easy, however, and outside influences fight to keep them apart. Forces of anger and envy struggle against them, but now that they have found one another, Janice and Paul will not easily relinquish true love. Despite all odds, they might finally be able to make love last for good.