I couldn’t trust my own blood or the man I married… Would I ever be able to put my life in another man's hands again? Once upon a time, I was daddy’s little girl, but that all changed the day my mother died, and my father became an abusive alcoholic. Scared and alone, I fled home at eighteen right into the arms of a man who turned out to be just like my father. I’d thought he’d hung the moon. But I was wrong Maybe dead wrong. Would my husband make good on his vows when he said, ‘Till death do us part? I didn’t know, but at twenty-three it wasn’t just my life that needed to be saved. And while I couldn’t risk help from another soul, the moment my eyes landed on Kace’s, a perfect stranger, I wanted to desperately sink into the protectiveness that shined in their depths. But after my past, could I trust him with my heart? Or more importantly, could I trust him with the life of my child?

I locked away a secret years ago… Would revealing it lead to more heartbreak? The moment I met them, I learned what it was like to love beyond my mother. It had been just her and I against the world until that fateful day I walked into a new school. Being a loner wasn’t easy, but after my two saviors crashed into my life, nothing was ever the same. Both guys stole my heart. Only in completely different ways. Years later, after losing them both, my soul was in tatters. But my son’s unconditional love mended almost every frayed piece. As a single mother, he was my everything, and I’d always protect him. No matter the cost. When our lives were upended, we ran to seek guidance from the one person that promised to help us. What I found, however, was my past, and he wasn’t what I’d been looking for. Not even if he still made the butterflies in my belly dance. Rowan wasn’t someone I could depend on. Or had that changed?

Abandonment made me wary of love… Would I ever trust enough to let down my guard? When I was a little girl, I wrapped my heart in a protective cocoon for safekeeping. After being dumped by my mother as an infant, I was left with painful scars that never fully healed. Not wanting to give anyone else the power to hurt me the way she had, I kept everyone at a distance except for my grandparents and my brother. They were all I needed. Until I met him. The moment I laid eyes on Lyric he took up space in my head and I couldn’t shake the feeling he would take up residence in other places if I allowed it. When a threat lurked in the shadows and the safety of my family was questioned, he rode in like a knight in shining armor and saved us. I quickly realized that when in his presence, my body craved his touch, his soul spoke to mine, and that four-letter word we call love had his name written all over it. Is Lyric the man to make me believe I deserve to be loved unconditionally and embrace what he has to offer without fear it will all disappear if I surrender my heart?

Loss had me doubting happily-ever-after existed… Would family secrets destroy the notion forever? Every time my body trembled it took me back to the past, back to the day my childhood was turned upside down. What I thought was the perfect life—at least for a six-year-old—ended and sorrow swept in, freezing a part of me I didn’t think happiness could ever touch again. Losing my parents rocked my world. Meeting him flip it on its axle. I learned to mask and downplay my true feelings, using my sass to guide me through the hard times. I often hide my troubles, fears and despair that plague me from my best friends. But somehow with him, I struggled to pretend. And that terrified me more than those who wanted to harm me. Some may say he was too old for me. Others might say it would never work. My heart was saying they were wrong. Could Bodie, the sexy single dad, be the first to show me what love was all about?