Real-estate mogul Carter Cross has spent his life toiling for another man’s legacy. Then, a phone call unlocks his true destiny as part of the country’s wealthiest oil dynasty. With his famously cool command, he’ll stop at nothing to seize the Cross family’s birthright.
When an infamous oil baron drops dead in a most scandalous fashion, tabloid reporter Nisha Donovan gets assigned to dig up dirt on the new J.P. Star Energy executive—the filthier, the better.
Neither of them counts on their undeniable attraction derailing their plans, but sometimes a star-crossed love can’t be denied. Can Carter and Nisha escape the snares of power to build a new legacy together?
Cross My Heart is book one in The Lone Star Crossed Saga and has a happily ever after. The family saga unfolds with soapy dramatic fun in each book, but there are no romance cliffhangers. Book one has a slow burn but heats up—way up—at the end, so grab a fan!
Nisha
I hoped I wouldn’t miss him. The only downside to these loosey-goosey barbecues was not knowing who was going to be there and when. I got to Victoria and James’ early to position myself on a barstool in the huge, eat-in kitchen with a wide view of the backyard.
If he came in the front door, he’d have to pass through to get outside, and if he walked around and went directly into the yard via the side gate, I should be able to catch him.
Doing another visual sweep of the patio and pool area where other guests enjoyed the warmer weather, I lost track of the conversation with my host temporarily. Victoria snapped a finger over my head while holding a knife in the other hand. “Hello, Nisha?”
I smiled and turned my gaze back to her, and she continued chopping onions and tomatoes for guacamole.
“What? Oh, yeah. Maya’s doing okay. She’s still staying with me.”
“You’re going to keep her?”
“Hopefully.” I sighed. “All Maya has to do is get through the next three years.”
Of course, I knew nothing about how to raise a teenager except worrying every day we were crammed into my townhouse. And now Lisa was back. My spine stiffened until my neck hurt.
It would be okay. Maya knew what she wanted. And I’d handle the rest. I reached out to my lawyer. He agreed to help, but representation would cost a couple thousand dollars I didn’t have just to get started. I would figure it out.
Lord. Today wasn’t for worrying about Maya. Today was for meeting the guy at the heart of the story that would help me not have to worry.
That’s why I’d asked Victoria about one particular hot, successful guy on the guest list. I hadn’t wanted to get her involved, but I needed to make sure he was going to be here. Otherwise, I’d have to get much more creative.
“Well—oh, hey.” She lowered her voice. “Your hookup is here.”
“What’s up, Victoria? I brought beer.”
The back of my neck tingled at the masculine rumble behind me.
I knew before I swiveled around that he was handsome.
All the news clippings and online pics told me that. But they couldn’t warn me about the earthquaking timber of his voice that surely registered on the Richter scale. The vibration made my toes curl around the footrest of my barstool. The only shakes like that around here came from fracking. The tremors in my stomach told me he might be as dangerous as his new oil magnate employer.
I drew in a steadying breath and turned.
“Hi.” The wicked energy of his grin swayed toward me in time with samba-like way his hips moved when he walked.
Damn.
Focus, Nisha.
What I needed from him didn’t have anything to do with his hips. Or the sinewed ripple of his forearms as he reached past me to set a case of Mexican beer on the counter. He wore a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It was open. His dark, smooth chest rippled and narrowed to hard abs that cut arrows pointing down into the waistband of his long swim trunks.
He started to say something else, but Victoria interrupted.
“There’s a tub of ice outside for the drinks. Then, come back in, and I’ll let Nisha introduce herself.” Victoria took a break from chopping and wiped her hands on a dish towel.
The slash of his smile spread across his face again. My heart swelled and thumped to the beat that had played in my head as I watched him walk in.
“Or we could do that now before I head outside.” He extended a hand. “Carter Cross.”
Even his hands were sexy. Callused, but smooth at the same time. Strong, but elegant. His fingers wrapped around my hand, and I thought about having the grip sliding up my arm, over my shoulder, and down, down, down.
I was sweating like Victoria’s A/C wasn’t cranked to a chill for the party.
Straightening my spine lifted my chest in my magenta bikini, and his eyes flickered down and back up to my face. Normally, that would have irritated me, but instead, my stomach did another salsa dance.
Let go of his hand, creeper. I’d clung on a nanosecond too long, then dropped it. “Nisha Donovan.”
“How have we never met before?”
“Are you sure we haven’t?” I crinkled my brow as if maybe I remembered him from somewhere else and not the days of research I’d done.
“No. I have an expert eye for faces. Yours”—he paused and pointed at me—“I haven’t seen before.”
I grinned. “Well, now you have.”
CEO heiress Reese Star-Hunter is a fighter. She’s spent her life trying to earn the respect of everyone who thinks a woman can't take charge of her family’s multibillion-dollar fortune. With the fallout from the sudden death of the Star family patriarch, she finds herself not only in charge but cleaning up the mess left by the parents and grandparents she trusted. That included making amends to her childhood sweetheart and first love—until he goes on the attack.
Ty Bonham never forgot how Reese broke his heart. On top of that betrayal, he’s discovered the true story behind his father’s imprisonment, which plunged his family into disgrace and financial ruin. She says she’s sorry. She says she wants to make things right, but you can’t trust a Star—any Star. No matter how enticing she looks begging for forgiveness or how many hate-hookups they enjoy, nothing can change the past. He only wants one thing: payback.
Ty’s righteous crusade to punish the Stars tests Reese’s loyalties and threatens his happiness. Can Ty let go of his pain and embrace the future? Will Reese do what she’s always done and pick her family and her company over herself? Or can they both learn to trust and follow their hearts?
Coming in 2022, Circle the Stars is book two in The Lone Star Crossed Saga, although each book in the series can be read as a standalone. No romance cliffhangers. This is a second-chance, enemies-to-lovers romance with a spicy reunion that's a long time coming. Warning: language, steamy scenes, and a heart-pounding happily ever after.
Her passion for writing is only matched by her passion for the adventures of travel. In 2008, she let a friend talk her into sleeping outside for the first time in her life when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
P.S. If you're buying her a gift, she has a penchant for single-malt Scotch and scarves.
Delilah Johnston and Griffin Kelso ring in the New Year with revels and romance. But once the champagne runs dry, the differences between them crash the party.
With a divorce, raising her daughter, and a corporate job in the rearview mirror, forty-something Delilah is ready to indulge herself with passion and a new life. Yes, she agreed to help her ex-boss Griffin launch his new business, but that’s temporary. The tantalizing heat between them, however, isn’t—or so she hopes.
Nearly ten years her junior, Griffin jettisons his playboy ways and sets his sights on Delilah. He aims to build a personal legacy with her by his side. But when his father’s health problems—and the older man’s scheming wife—call him home, he can no longer ignore the betrayal and pain of the past.
He finds refuge in the always willing and wise Delilah. But the more he leans on her, the more she wonders: when is it her turn?
Family drama knocks the couple off course into a tangle of secrets. Can Delilah and Griffin find a path forward together? Or will a shocking revelation divide them forever?
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