Jolene – My life wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t have any real complaints — until something went horribly wrong and one of my potions blew up, killing my husband. Raising our son on my own hasn’t been easy. Grief and guilt keep getting in my way. But a certain biker keeps stopping by to lend a helping hand. Is it wrong I wish he’d do more than fix my porch steps?
Alan – I knew Jolene was mine, even when she belonged to someone else. Now that she’s single, I might have a chance. I can’t rush this, though. Not after what she’s been through. Not till I’m sure she’s ready. I’ll take my time, build a friendship with her, then lay all my cards on the table. Only one problem. I didn’t count on traffickers hitting our little town. Everything’s gone sideways. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my new family safe, even if I have to get my hands dirty.
WARNING: This is a Dixie Reapers Shifter MC story and contains bad language, violence, and adult situations. Recommended for adult readers 18+.
When Harley’s writing, her motto is the hotter the better — off-the-charts sex, commanding men, and the women who can’t deny them. If you want men who talk dirty, are sexy as hell, and take what they want, then you’ve come to the right place. She doesn’t shy away from the dangers and nastiness in the world, bringing those realities to the pages of her books, but always gives her characters a happily-ever-after and makes sure the bad guys get what they deserve.
ABOUT JESSICA COULTER SMITH
Award-winning author Jessica Coulter Smith has been in love with the written word since she was a child writing her first stories in crayon. Today she’s a multi-published author of over seventy-five novellas and novels. Romance is an integral part of her world and she firmly believes that love will find you at the right time, even if Mr. Right is literally out of this world.
Roadkill feels just like his name when he gets a glimpse at the battered, bruised face in front of him. She’s the one who got away–but never again. She was meant to be his–always.
Arrogant isn’t just a word. It is who he is. It is what ruined them.
Their storm isn’t easy to navigate. It is full of pain and heartache.
Their worlds had already collided and separated, but what was once can be again, can’t it?
My storm almost killed me…
Roadkill.
He’s exactly as I remembered, except better.
In the end, I wonder if he’s saving me or if I’m saving myself.
I was born and raised in California. My husband and I met when I was just 16. We were married a few years later, we lived in Oregon while he was in the US Coast Guard.
Texas is now where we call home, where our boots rest, and where we’re raising our two little boys and a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.
Raya — Elias kidnapped me nearly a decade ago and used me for his awful
experiments. His goal: to create a superior race. How could that possibly go
wrong? Now I’m no longer fully human and I’ve lived a life in
hell. But I adore my two kids, no matter how they were conceived. I thought
we’d die before we ever found freedom, but it arrived in the most
unexpected way. The big biker shifter is scary as hell, but it’s
either go with him, or remain chained and starving.
Henry — The dark mage killed my mate and unborn child. There’s
nothing I want more than revenge. It never occurred to me he’d have a
woman and kids chained in his cellar. They reek of black magick, enough so,
I hated them on sight. I’d planned to leave them behind. Until I heard
their story. My club won’t be happy when I walk in with three people
covered in the stench of black magick. But something unexpected happens when
I catch Raya’s true scent. She’s my fated mate, and now I have
the difficult task of not only gaining her trust, but the children’s
as well.
WARNING: Contains subject matter some readers may find difficult to read.
Recommended for ages 18+ due to adult situations, bad language, and
violence. Guaranteed happily-ever-after, no cheating, and no
cliffhanger.
Elias paced the small cabin. I didn’t know why we’d come here.
He’d spoken about this town before. Many times. I knew a shifter
nearly killed him thirty years ago. Fatally wounded, he’d escaped to a
community of mages, where they’d healed him. It had taken years for
him to regain his health and full power. He’d often bragged about
surviving.
Why return now? He’d dragged us all over the country. At first,
I’d thought he was running from something. Now I wondered if
he’d simply been heading toward Wolf Creek. Even though I’d been
with him for years, he never confided in me. Not about anything important.
There was no reason for it, since I was little more than a prisoner. His
slave.
I heard the chains clink in the cellar and fought not to wince. It
wouldn’t be long before I joined them. My babies. No matter how
they’d been conceived, I’d love them with all my heart until the
day I died. They were my reason for living. And the only way Elias
maintained control over me all this time. If it weren’t for my
precious children, I’d have run before now.
“It’s nearly time,” he muttered. “I’ll take
her just like the others. I’m sure she’ll be useful. Stupid
fucking dhampir doesn’t know why I invited him to Wolf Creek.
Everything is falling into place.”
Her? I didn’t know who he was talking about, and I would not ask. And
a dhampir? Did he mean the man I’d heard him speaking to a few times?
It didn’t matter. The less I knew, the better. I’d learned that
the hard way. Although, his words bothered me a great deal. Was he going to
enslave someone else? I reached up to lightly touch the collar around my
throat. I hadn’t been the first, nor the last. However, I’d been
the only woman to survive.
Elias not only used black magick, but he also liked to experiment.
He’d abducted countless women across the globe, all in the name of
creating a better species. It wasn’t something recent, either. From
what I’d learned during my time with him, he’d been working on
this project for decades. Even before he’d fled Wolf Creek thirty
years ago. I didn’t know what made me so special. Why had I survived
when others hadn’t?
I lifted my hand and stared at my fingers. Even now, black tendrils of
smoke shifted around the digits. I’d been completely human until Elias
snatched me off the street. Through pain and suffering, he’d infused
me with some of his black magick. I couldn’t actually use it, but it
had become part of my cellular structure, which meant I passed those traits
to my children, which had been his intent all along.
“It’s time.” He rubbed his hands together, a wide smile
on his face. “Into the basement. You know the rules. Keep your mouth
shut. But first… I’m going to prep you for a special guest
arriving within the next two days.”
I knew exactly what that meant. He removed a syringe from his pocket and
injected me with the serum that would make me mindless with need. While he
preferred for me to get pregnant without it, and enjoyed hearing me scream
in pain, he’d used this on me several times before. I honestly thought
he got off on hearing me beg for someone to fuck me. At least, it
didn’t take effect immediately.
Elias tossed the syringe aside and gave me a shove, and I walked to the
hidden door. He opened it and I went down the steps into what I assumed had
once been a root cellar. My children perked up when they saw me. Elias
followed me into the hole, attaching a chain to my collar. I held open my
arms and my babies ran to me. Their chains barely reached, but we were close
enough I could hold them.
I smoothed the hair of my precious little girl, Marigold, and kissed the
forehead of my son, Logan. Mari had not only inherited some of the black
magick, but she’d also gained her father’s ability to shift. As
for Logan, he only had black magick. His father had been a dark mage like
Elias.
“I’m scared,” Mari said.
I hugged her tight and wished I could ease her fears. Instead, I did my
best to tamp down my own. I didn’t think we’d ever escape Elias.
One day, he’d sell my children. When I became useless, he’d kill
me. As it was, I’d lost the last two babies. I knew he was searching
for another male to impregnate me. He’d desperately wanted a baby that
was half vampire and half dark mage. It seemed my body rejected the
vampire’s offspring, as both babies came from the same male.
“When I’m older, I’m going to get us out of here,”
Logan said. “With my magick, I’ll take down Elias and free us
from this prison.”
I placed my fingers over his lips. “Hush, sweetheart. If he hears you
say such a thing…”
He nodded, understanding what I meant. I hated that my children had to grow
up so quickly. They’d never been able to play, make friends, or enjoy
their lives. If I thought it would be possible to run away with them,
I’d have done it long ago. But I knew Elias would hunt us down and
punish us.
The door upstairs slammed, and the tension in my body eased. At least he
would be gone for a while. I felt bad for whatever woman he’d lured to
this town. Would her fate be the same as mine? I hoped not. I didn’t
wish this existence on anyone.
Mari began humming The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and I rocked her. Logan slumped
against my side and stared at the opposite wall. Elias hadn’t even
left us with anything to occupy ourselves while he was gone. There’d
been times he’d left a rubber ball or a pack of crayons and a coloring
book. I knew it wasn’t out of the kindness of his black heart.
He’d claimed it made the children less whiny and more tolerable.
“One day, if we’re ever free of Elias, you’ll get to
enroll in school so you can learn new things. You’ll make friends.
Play outside. Go to the movie theater, the park, learn to swim. We’ll
have so much fun.” I smiled wistfully, thinking of all they’d
missed out on, and the things I’d taken for granted before Elias
kidnapped me.
“Do you really think we’ll ever get away from him?” Logan
asked.
My heart ached at the despair in his voice. My little angel already knew
the answer. No matter how much I’d tried to instill hope in my
children, Logan somehow knew we’d be the property of Elias until he
either sold us or killed us.
I couldn’t answer him, refusing to lie.
Mari dozed a bit, and even Logan closed his eyes for a little while. Every
second was even more agonizing, because time stretched endlessly in the
cellar. At least the lightbulb hadn’t gone out. The dim light helped
little, but it dispelled some of the darkness. Being locked down here in
absolute blackness would have been much worse.
Mari whimpered in her sleep, waking Logan. I smoothed her hair and murmured
to her, hoping to ease whatever nightmare she might be having. Logan blinked
and rubbed his eyes before sitting up a little straighter. I knew he’d
fight to stay awake now. My little boy had grown up entirely too fast.
Mari woke twice and dozed off again each time. While she napped, I told
Logan a story. Mari liked the romantic fairy tales about princes. Logan,
however, wanted action and adventure. His favorites were tales of pirates or
explorers. So I talked about One-Eyed Willie, Captain Jack, and the others
I’d watched in movies when I’d still had my freedom. He ate up
every word, and it helped pass the time.
My stomach rumbled, and so did the children’s. Mari woke again,
yawning and leaning away from me a little. I knew she wouldn’t fall
asleep again anytime soon. Every time the monster who owned us made her go
hungry, she’d be awake for hours. Unlike Logan, who said sleep made
him feel less hungry.
Elias hadn’t left us with any food or water. A bucket in the corner
served as a toilet, but none of us had been desperate enough to use it
today. We’d each had a chance earlier to use the bathroom upstairs to
relieve ourselves and clean up a little.
“He’s been gone a while,” Logan said. “He
didn’t forget us, did he? I’m not sure starving to death is much
better than suffering whatever he’s planned for us.”
With no windows, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was by now.
However, my butt had gone numb from sitting on the hard ground. I had to
have been down here for more than an hour. I listened intently, wondering if
Elias had managed to quietly return. Minutes ticked by, and when I was going
to give up, I heard booted steps. They seemed to scout the entire
house.
Would they find the hidden door to the cellar? Did we want them to? I
caught Logan’s gaze, and he gave me a slight nod. Whatever he sensed
or smelled seemed to make him feel as if the person upstairs wouldn’t
harm us.
“Help! Please, we’re down here!” I yelled as loud as I
could. By the fifth time I’d called out, the door at the top of the
stairs opened and a large silhouette moved toward us. My breath caught when
the man approached. I couldn’t tell his age and depending on what he
was, he could have been hundreds of years old and still appeared
young.
“What the fuck?” he muttered. His gaze narrowed on me before
shifting to my children. I held them tighter, wondering if I’d made a
mistake by calling for help. “Who are you?”
Author Contact Links
Harley Wylde on Facebook , TikTok, Instagram: @harleywylde
Jessica Coulter Smith on Instagram: @jessica_coulter_smith
Raya — Elias kidnapped me nearly a decade ago and used me for his awful experiments. His goal: to create a superior race. How could that possibly go wrong? Now I’m no longer fully human and I’ve lived a life in hell. But I adore my two kids, no matter how they were conceived. I thought we’d die before we ever found freedom, but it arrived in the most unexpected way. The big biker shifter is scary as hell, but it’s either go with him, or remain chained and starving.
Henry — The dark mage killed my mate and unborn child. There’s nothing I want more than revenge. It never occurred to me he’d have a woman and kids chained in his cellar. They reek of black magick, enough so, I hated them on sight. I’d planned to leave them behind. Until I heard their story. My club won’t be happy when I walk in with three people covered in the stench of black magick. But something unexpected happens when I catch Raya’s true scent. She’s my fated mate, and now I have the difficult task of not only gaining her trust, but the children’s as well.
WARNING: Contains subject matter some readers may find difficult to read. Recommended for ages 18+ due to adult situations, bad language, and violence. Guaranteed happily-ever-after, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
∙∘☽ SNEAK PEEK ☾∘∙
Copyright 2023, Harley Wylde
“He’s been gone a while,” Logan said. “He didn’t forget us, did he? I’m not sure starving to death is much better than suffering whatever he’s planned for us.”
With no windows, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was by now. However, my butt had gone numb from sitting on the hard ground. I had to have been down here for more than an hour. I listened intently, wondering if Elias had managed to quietly return. Minutes ticked by, and when I was going to give up, I heard booted steps. They seemed to scout the entire house.
Would they find the hidden door to the cellar? Did we want them to? I caught Logan’s gaze, and he gave me a slight nod. Whatever he sensed seemed to make him feel as if the person upstairs wouldn’t harm us.
“Help! Please, we’re down here!” I yelled as loud as I could. By the fifth time I’d called out, the door at the top of the stairs opened and a large silhouette moved toward us. My breath caught when the man approached. I couldn’t tell his age and depending on what he was, he could have been hundreds of years old and still appeared young.
“What the f**k?” he muttered. His gaze narrowed on me before shifting to my children. I held them tighter, wondering if I’d made a mistake by calling for help. “Who are you?”
“A slave,” I said. “And these are my children.”
He scented the air, and a low growl came from him. “Dark mages.”
I shook my head. “No. At least, not entirely. If you could please release us and get us upstairs, I’ll tell you everything.”
Did you miss book one? Click the cover to find out more…
It’s the holidays in East Texas. The A/C is cranked down. The Old Ladies have decorated the clubhouse with care, hoping big bearded men will adorn them with gifts.
She never wants to celebrate Christmas again. He wants nothing more than to meet her beneath the mistletoe.
Lies don’t just hurt the liar. They destroy every life that is somehow touched by that lie. Moxie knows that more than anyone, the man she thought she loved turned out to be a lie.
Bans has always been the nerd. He’s the computer tech for the Nasty Bastards MC, but he sees something in Moxie. What he sees, he likes and wants for himself. He doesn’t just want to fix her. He wants to wrap her up and keep her.
She’s a shell. Broken beyond repair. But when Bans looks at her, she feels something that she hasn’t in far too long. Hope.
He has watched her go through hell. She has put herself through self-sabotage for far too long. The holidays are a time for renewal, rebirth, and leaving the past… in the past. But can she move forward when her entire adult life has been nothing but a lie?
I was born and raised in California. My husband and I met when I was just 16. We were married a few years later, we lived in Oregon while he was in the US Coast Guard.
Texas is now where we call home, where our boots rest, and where we’re raising our two little boys and a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.
Bain met Diana, a.k.a. Luce, the night before he was set to deploy to Afghanistan.
It’s not every day that you take your brother’s girlfriend to prom because he refuses to put out the effort.
That night was one of the best nights of his life and the next day, he leaves and doesn’t see her again.
But there are letters. Not many, but enough for them to form a connection.
Over the two-year deployment, they became great friends.
The best of friends—at least, as good of friends as you can be when it’s your brother’s wife.
Fast-forward six years and she still counts him as one of her greatest friends. Even going as far as to stick by him when he’s sent to prison because his own brother turned on him.
***
Luce had a crush on her then-boyfriend’s brother since way before she and Bain’s brother were married. From the moment he volunteered to take her to prom, she’d fallen.
Over the years, she’d tried to hide it. Tried to go on with her life and act like she loved her husband and only her husband. But as time went on and Braxton started to treat her more and more like crap, she realized the truth. Her husband wasn’t Bain. Her husband would never be him.
Hell, that’d been proven time and time again.
The smoking gun, though? The thing that made her realize it was time to leave?
When her husband stood by while she was assaulted, while the man she tried to act like was just a friend protected her. Then was sentenced to eight years in jail for it.
It was time to admit the truth.
Bain McDempsey was it for her. She just had to help him see it. Oh, and get him out of prison first.
BOOK REVIEW – 5 stars
Luce & Bain are the perfect couple!
Looking for a book with a military hero who’d go to jail if it meant keeping his woman safe?
Or a book with a determined, self-sufficient woman who goes after what she wants?
Need something with drama, action, and a psycho villain?
Well… that is definitely Good Trouble! Bain is this super big teddy bear – with fangs. He’s sweet and caring when it comes to his parents and his woman. Anyone who dares to hurt those he loves better have their affairs in order. Sure, that makes him like pretty much every romance hero out there, but isn’t that what we love about these books? The imperfectly perfect her?
Luce has her own issues, not to mention an ex-husband who is quite the piece of work! But Bain brings out her best qualities and loves her exactly as she is. She’s tough when she needs to be. Brave. Fierce. And loyal. Honestly, I think she’s now my favorite LLV heroine. She’s amazing.
I’d planned to start this book, then set it aside so I could actually sleep. I should have known better. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Lani Lynn Vale has done it yet again. Seriously. This book is all kinds of amazing.
*Disclaimer: I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Chloe — Manipulative on the best of days, my mother hooked up with the president of a powerful MC. When he retired, she decided to give me to a man I’ve never met. Guess she thought she’d still be able to keep her status if I became the ol’lady of the new president. I have no idea what the men in the club are like and I’m not judging, but they wear the 1% patch and I know enough about MCs to know that can’t be good for a girl like me.
Deadeye – I’m a patient man. Pride myself on that. So when I find a girl camping out under a rock watching the club, I camp out to watch her. The more I watch, the more I like what I see. Before I can make her mine, though, I need to find out why she’s here. No one’s more surprised than me when she tells me who her daddy is. Except maybe her daddy. Now I’m pitted against one of my own brothers. But the more I get to know the spunky little minx, the more I want her. And the more I realize I may have to kill my own MC brother and tear apart a rival MC looking for the woman meant to be their new president’s ol’lady.
I was tired. So fucking tired. I’d only been on the run for five days, but it was five days of backwoods hell. Finding the place I needed to get to had been hard enough. Actually getting there without anyone seeing me had been a feat like I’d never undertaken before. Still don’t know how I managed it without getting hopelessly lost. But here I was.
The name of the club was Bones MC, Somerset, Kentucky. I’d walked all the way from Jeffersonville, Indiana to find this place. Compared to the club I’d come from this one was relatively small. But from what I’d learned, they were very close-knit and incredibly dangerous.
I was currently hiding under a rock overhang just tall enough for me to lie flat on my belly and watch the place. I’d covered myself with leaves and sticks, camouflaging my hiding spot as best I could. So far, no one had spotted me. If they had, they hadn’t busted me yet. I should have just gone into the clubhouse, but I wanted to scout the place out first. If there seemed to be too much shady shit going down, I’d just move on without wasting my time. Or putting myself in a worse position than I’d been in when I ran.
So far, there had been parties that got pretty loud and wild, similar to what I’d seen at Iron Tzars MC. The guys at Bones partied hard, but they worked hard, too. Beyond the large clubhouse was a neighborhood. There were what looked like high-end, double-wide mobile homes, but also a smattering of houses, with more going up. The two days I’d been hiding out, I’d seen several of the club members working throughout the day. If there were drug deals or arms sales going down, it wasn’t anywhere near their compound. There were women all over the place, but none of them seemed to be there against their will.
The weather was turning. Autumn rain was coming, if the sky was any indication. It was cold and damp, and I had no desire to spend another night under a rock. If I’d judged this place wrong, I was in trouble. Of course, if I didn’t get some decent shelter soon, I’d still be in trouble. I’d heard good things about this club in the community. They might not be law-abiding citizens, but they weren’t so bad they were feared by the whole city. I was counting on the reputation they’d apparently worked hard to build. If Bones turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I was fucked, because I had nowhere else to go. And the one man I needed to see here, the one man who could help me in a way I could live with, had no idea I even existed.
Knowing there was nothing else I could find out without getting inside the place, I decided to quit being a pussy and stop stalling. I stood, looking down at my clothes. Having been outside under a rock for the better part of two days, I was filthy. Probably stank too. There was a creek just below my hiding place on the other side of the hill between me and the compound. I could wash there and change my clothes before trying to get inside. If I was lucky, they’d stop me at the gate and take me straight to the man I needed to see. I could only hope he remembered my mother. If not, I was probably screwed.
The wind had started to pick up, and there was a cold bite to it. I knew I needed to hurry, but not bathing and changing clothes simply wasn’t an option. If I came to their doorstep looking like a hobo, I was afraid no one would take me seriously. Or, worse, tell me to get the fuck on before they got rid of me.
I stripped, tossing my filthy, damp clothing to the ground. I kept the long-sleeved T-shirt to use as a washcloth, so I didn’t have to actually get in the creek. While it was still warm most days, the nights in this part of Kentucky were chilly this time of year. Shallow water, like the lazy stream here, had started to cool, making this bath seriously uncomfortable.
I’d never done this before. Bathed out in the open. In fact, though I’d lived in an MC for most of my life, roughing it wasn’t exactly in my repertoire. I’d never been camping. Or hunting. I’d been fishing occasionally but usually on a boat or a dock at the lake. All I’d had to eat the last five days were some snacks I’d managed to sneak out and a couple bottles of water I refilled every chance I got. Now, I was cold, dirty, hungry, and so fucking tired I just wanted to sleep for a fucking week.
“Well, now. What do we have here?” The lazy drawl made me jump and cry out. I tripped and landed on my ass, my naked body on full display. The guy smirked as he looked down at me, his big arms crossed over a powerful-looking chest. His shoulders were wide, stretching the fabric of his Henley, as did his biceps. He had a full beard reaching about halfway down his chest. Cold, assessing blue eyes were fixed squarely on me.
About the Author
Erotic romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of.
The problem with Wake was that he was understandable. He was the type of villain that literally scared the absolute shit out of you because you knew that under the right circumstances, you could end up exactly like him.
Which, sadly, was the case for me.
I’d done the exact same thing as Wake, and now I was a murderer just like him.
Did I know that I did wrong? Hell yes.
Did I regret that? Hell no.
Did I plan on changing a thing? Also, no.
Was I falling in love with a man that should scare the shit out of me? A resounding hell yes.
My review – 5 stars!
Dutch and Wake were so perfect together!
Strong female lead? Check!
Alpha male who protects the weak? Check!
Suspense? Check!
Sexiness? Check!
This book has it all… If you want a book that will have you cheering for the hero and heroine, wanting to reach into the pages to rip apart the evil villain, and gives you the happy ever after you crave, then you can’t go wrong with Nobody Cares Unless You’re Pretty.
To Ratchet fire wipes everything clean, but the fire he feels for Ricca will either leave him fully engulfed or burned to ash.
You can’t outrun your past, a mistake I learned the hard way. Stripped of the last piece of my innocence in the middle of the Californian desert, I waited for death. Then he appeared. My vengeful angel. He’s everything I’m not. He’s everything I want. He’s everything I can never have.
I will not let my past define me. Abandoned by my mother as a child, I would be dead if it weren’t for Jagger. He took me into the Heaven’s Rejects and saved my life. Now I want to save hers. The superficial cuts and bruises on her delicate skin, don’t compare to the pain lurking in her heart.
The pain I want to save her from. Somehow, I will find a way to get through to her.
Logan “Crow” Taylor had every intention of not getting involved in trouble after gaining his freedom and rejoining his motorcycle club. But when the rough and rowdy biker crosses paths with a single mother in need of help and his protection, he can’t turn his back and walk away.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play!
Chelle Bliss is the Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of Men of Inked Series and Misadventures of a City Girl.
She’s a full-time writer, time-waster extraordinaire, social media addict, coffee fiend, ex-high school history teacher, and currently lives near the beach even though she hates sand. Chelle loves spending time with her two cats, alpha boyfriend, and chatting with readers.
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