Showing results for "Rival Penelope Douglas" in All Categories

Have you ever been so angry that hitting things felt good? Or numb to all emotions? The past few years have been like that for me. Traveling between fury and indifference with no stops in between. Some people hate me for it, while others are scared of me. But none of them can hurt me, because I don't care about anything or anyone. Except Tatum. I love her so much that I hate her. I hate that I can't let her go. We used to be friends, but I found out that I couldn't trust her - or anyone else....

I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got worse as time wore on. I even went to Europe for a year, just to avoid him. But I'm done hiding from him now, and there's no way I'll allow him to ruin another year. He might not have changed, but I have. It's time to fight back.

Everyone wants to be me. Maybe it's the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don't care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can't stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name. I'm her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I'm surviving - something he thought I'd never do.

Hawken Trent. So polite. So sweet. Such an upstanding young man. A virgin, too, I hear. He never gets naughty with a girl. Probably because Jesus told him not to. And now here he is, trying to be the hero by protecting another girl from me. He calls me a bully. Irrational. Unreasonable. A criminal. He can call me anything he wants, I’ve heard worse. And he can try to stand between me and my money, but he’s never had to fight for food. That rich, clean, school boy doesn’t have what it takes

Sending him to prison was the worst thing I could've done. It didn't matter that he did the crime or that I wished he was dead. Perhaps I thought I'd have time to disappear before he got out or he'd cool off in jail and be anything but the horror he was. But I was wrong. Three years came and went too fast, and now he's anything but calm. Prison only gave him time to plan. And while I anticipated his vengeance, I didn't expect this. He doesn't want to make me hurt. He wants to make everything hurt.

Banks: Buried in the shadows of the city, there's a hotel called The Pope. Ailing, empty, and dark, it sits abandoned and surrounded by a forgotten mystery. But you think it's true, don't you, Kai Mori? The story about the hidden 12th floor. The mystery of the dark guest who never checked in and never checks out. You think I can help you find that secret hideaway and get to him, don't you? I will never betray him. Kai: You have no idea what I seek, Little One. You don't know what I had to become to survive three years in prison for a crime I would gladly commit again.

In fifth grade my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn't take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever. For the next seven years, it was us. She's the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

The clock at St. Killian’s chimes as whispers float in the dark staircase above. Snow falls from the black sky beyond the windows, and candles glow - the flames lighting up the longest night of the year. Devil’s Night isn’t the only holiday we celebrate. Tonight, we’re pulling on a different mask. Some call it Midwinter. Others call it Yule. We call it Fire Night.

I cross the tracks every day for one reason - to graduate from this school and get into the Ivy League. I'm not ashamed of where I come from, my family, or how everyone at Marymount thinks my skirts are too short and my lipstick is too red. Clay Collins and her friends have always turned up their noses at me. The witch with her beautiful skin, clean shoes, and rich parents who torments me daily and thinks I won't fight back. At least not until I get her alone and find out she's hiding so much more than just what's underneath those pretty clothes.

We're not free to give into this. She's 19, and I'm 38. And I'm her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.

Sometimes I wonder what my hockey career is worth. Blood, sweat, and tears, sure. But losing Ash? I can't.

He's a sexy paramedic. I'm just a sick girl trying to survive college. Pretty sure my friend is trying to set me up with her boyfriend's older brother. There's just one problem. Macklin's the paramedic who drove me to the hospital after a particularly ugly seizure. And I have no desire to see him ever again. Sure, he's attractive, and sweet, no matter how grumpy I am to him. But he's also stubborn and is convinced we should be friends.

Welp. It's official. The entire hockey team knows I'm a virgin. And who do I have to thank for telling them about my v-card? Theodore Taylor, a.k.a. my brother's best friend and the pain in my butt since third grade. Then again, I'm kind of sick of this thing. My virgin status, that is. It's probably time I get rid of it. Which would be a heck of a lot easier if Theo hadn't made it his mission to be my own personal chastity belt for the foreseeable future. Which leaves me screwed. In every way except the literal sense. Lovely.

Henry Buchanan is cold. Calculating. And rich. He's also the owner of the new Lions NHL team and my boss. Oh, and did I mention he's a grumpy sonofabitch whose girlfriend is cheating on him? Not that I'm going to say anything. It's none of my business anyway. Besides, we aren't friends. And we couldn't be more different if we tried. He was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. I was born scraping by for every meal. Still. I do need this job. And creating social media content for a bunch of hot hockey players is a walk in the park. Until the infamous Henry Buchanan starts to act jealous.

I want a girl I can't have. She's my tutor. My best friend's girlfriend. And my kryptonite. She also looks really good in my T-shirt. But she wants the golden boy, and I'm more of the villain type. Or at least I was.... Until I saw her smile for the first time. But the good guy she wants wouldn't lust after his friend's girlfriend. And the good guy she's with sure as hell shouldn't be sneaking around behind her back. So where the hell does that leave me?

Living in a year around Christmas town has its drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave - I mean housekeeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits. And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

As a professional matchmaker, my biggest job this holiday season should be simple: find a date for the sexy single dad hockey player—aka my brother’s best friend—for his team’s fancy Christmas Eve gala. Sure Rowan’s hot as a crackling fire and spicier than a gingerbread man, but he hasn’t just sworn off romance. The Christmas hater has made a bet that I can’t find him a holidate.

Handsome, charismatic, and charming, Jensen Lakes is an enigma in a designer suit. But his playboy reputation is a persona—one of many—that he uses in his unique line of work. A priceless heirloom goes missing right before the holidays, and Jensen is hired to find it. Tracking down the perpetrator will be simple. He’ll be in and out before Santa hits chimneys.

Veronica “Vero” Mercer grew up with grifters for parents, and she knows her way around a con. When grad school bills pile up and her friends are in trouble, she turns her art history skills into a forgery side hustle. It’s supposed to be a short term deal, but her work draws the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a reserved, very British professor. Instead of turning her in, Ashworth kidnaps her—politely—and makes an unusual offer: forge a mysterious ancient manuscript for him.

It’s the holiday season and Caleb just got quite the Hannukah gift. The handsome scientist was able to buy his dream home: a brownstone with an apartment upstairs and a cozy mystery-themed bookshop downstairs. But when he moves in, he’s shocked to find that the bookshop is fully operational while its enigmatic owner has vanished. Caleb may be an expert in scientific research, but running a bookshop is entirely novel to him.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

Jules, Silas, and Grant were once inseparable — until Jules and Grant got engaged, Silas inherited a billion-dollar empire and everything fell apart. Then the unthinkable happens. Grant is gone. And Jules is alone.

Welcome to the Lilydale Foundation Center... home of second chances. At least, that's what they tell us it is. It's basically a glorified prison and asylum for the deranged with good alibis. When the police pulled me out of my burning home, along with what was left of my Father, I was deemed broken — even if I was the reason the fire started. So, here I am at my new home. They think they can save us with their fancy facility. But what insane person decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of young, unhinged people together?

After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself. The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter.

The moment I met Aston Cage, I knew my life had changed. A single dance later, we’re both all in. Until he ghosted me. Then my boss fires me for dancing with the enemy. Three months later, working for the Cages is my last resort. Now I’ll work beside him day by day, trying not to let my feelings take control. It’s heaven and hell. Except I’m starting to think there’s a part of this story I’m missing.

Charlotte Patcham's dream job running the Bath Physick Garden has turned into a nightmare: the underfunded garden has become a target for vandals, and her career and her social life are succumbing to mildew. So why does she hesitate to take the job of Head Gardener at Hampshire's famous Tillingford Hall? But when fate pushes Charlie towards Tillingford Hall can she learn to work alongside Seb so they can get everything ready for the public in time for the opening Christmas concert?

The instant New York Times bestseller! “Sublime…Colgan infuses her latest book with humor, wit, suspense and a perfectly cast love triangle.”--USA Today ""The Christmas Bookshop is literary hot chocolate with a bourbon shot: hot, sweet but with a surprising emotional kick.""--The Times...