by Carol Ericson

Chapter OneThey’d found her son.Jenna put her hand over the boy’s mouth and held a finger to her lips. His dark eyes, wide above the rim of her hand, danced with excitement. He knew the game.Only this time it was...

by Shelly Thacker

Chapter 1England, 1741The sun retreated over the waves, stealing away into the darkness until only a blood-red slash remained along the horizon. That last streak of light and warmth held out against the cold weight of night fo...

by Gina L. Maxwell

Day 1: SundayHe’s now officially an hour late.And talking to yourself out loud makes you crazy as well as hungry and stranded.Vanessa MacGregor sat on a bench next to her suitcase and carry-on outside the Honolulu airport...

by Marie Donovan

chapter 1LILY ADAMS STOOD in front of her New Jersey apartment building shivering in the predawn morning skies. Although it was July, the air was still damp and chilly at four in the morning. Her cousin Sarah and her cousin&...

by Marie Donovan

chapter 1JULIA COOPER SQUEEZED her eyes shut and blinked hard a few times as she sat at a small café table. She couldn’t have seen what she’d thought at first. Ever since her concussion, she didn’t quit...

by Lisa Childs

Chapter OneGoose bumps of dread rising on her arms, Josie Jessup slipped into a pew in the back of church. She hated funerals, hated saying goodbye to anyone but most especially to someone who had died too soon. And so sens...

by Lynn Kurland

PrologueA tall, distinguished-looking man of a certain age walked along the back streets of London, his kilt snapping briskly thanks to his haste, his dress sword avoiding the same only because he kept his hand on the hilt. N...

by Ashleyn Poston

SATURDAYChapter OneI'm a classic rock kind of girl. I'm the kind of girl who head bangs to Meat Loaf and air-guitars to "Bohemian Rhapsody." I'm the kind of girl who dissects Van Halen's "Jump," can pinpoint "Ho...

by Gail MacMillan

Chapter OneAllison and her mother followed the pallbearers and coffin out onto the church steps and she saw him for the first time in over a dozen years. Standing alone in the fog beside the waiting hearse, his field coat a...

by Rachel Lee

PrologueBuddy Jackson sat at the fancy dining table his great-grandmother had carted out here from back east almost a century ago, a table that looked out of place amidst the mostly rough-hewn surroundings of the cabin his gra...

by Rock Radio

Chapter 1Jonny Rock just got laid.Tall and tan with bright spiky bleached blonde hair, Jonny was a rock star - in his own mind.Jonathan Roeker was a poor student from Philadelphia. Bad grades and an even worse complexion were...

by Angie Stanton

Chapter 1Libby watched the cars zip by on the highway, longing for her dad’s SUV with out-of-state plates to take the exit and put her life back together. From her spot under an ancient oak she spied a red minivan exi...

by Morgan O'Neill

PrologueA.D. 414, The Royal Palace, Ravenna, ItalyIf he could have his way, Horace would never gaze upon another bird for the rest of his life — unless it was roasted.The banquet was over, the guests long gone, but Emperor ...

by Denise Jeffries

CHAPTER ONEI’ve got your medicine. Denver’s voice chimed as she entered John Doe’s room. She always talked to her patients even if they didn’t or couldn’t respond.She’d been a registered nurse for...

by Charlene Sands

chapter OneBountiful, Texas1878Molly McGuire stood at the Bountiful train depot, her Irish ire no longer tempered by womanly grace, then paced the plank sidewalk, waiting. She’d endured the long arduous trip from St. Louis,...

by Carol Arens

chapter OneDodge City, Kansas, 1881Land sakes! What did a woman have to do to get a husband in this cowboy-thick town—dance naked on the back of a steer?Emma Parker licked a film of dust from her lips to make them look mo...

by Emily March

chapter ONEThere’s a new girl in town.Sheriff Zach Turner first heard the news from Cam Murphy when he arrived at the man’s outdoor-sports shop, Refresh, on his day off. The fly rod he’d noticed on his previou...

by Kerrigan Byrne

Chapter OneThe question hung in the air like the heavy, inescapable stench of charred flesh or rotted meat. Everyone’s eyes held the same breathless and hopeful expectation as they stared at her.Kylah worried a part of he...

by Donna Fasano

CHAPTER ONEAlthough it was after midnight when she pulled open the plate glass door, rows of fluorescent bulbs lit up the police station as if it were noonday. The officer sitting behind the gun-metal gray desk cradled a tele...

by Jennie Lucas

CHAPTER ONE‘WHO is the father of your baby, Laura?’Holding her six-month-old baby on her hip, Laura Parker had been smiling with pride and pleasure across her family’s two-hundred-year-old farmhouse, lit with swayi...

by Ginny Baird

Chapter One"So, what do you think?"Marie McCloud opened her eyes wide and blinked. She saw bright blue eyes looking into hers, and a glacier-melting smile. What did she think, indeed.When she'd walked into the spectacle shop...

by Kristen Ashley

Chapter OneRaidenI sat in Rachelle’s Café. Today’s seat was facing the door.I tried to switch it up so he wouldn’t know.If my back was to the door, maybe one day, if he noticed me, he wouldn’t thi...

by Christina Daley

- 1 -InterferenceMary rolled off the plastic lounge chair, hitting something hard and flat with a graceless thud. "Ow," she mumbled.She lay there for a moment, wondering if she should wake up enough to climb back onto the cha...

by Bec Botefuhr

Chapter OneDash, baby, will you go get me some bourbon? My father calls from the couch.I’m in the middle of filling out a university application form. The pen is poking from my mouth and I’m mumbling angrily to my...

by Tina Folsom

chapter 1With a look at the calendar, Rose Haverford sighed heavily. Even without reading the date, she would have known what day it was. Every year, she felt it as though it had been carved into her bones, her skull, and ...

by Heather Graham

PROLOGUEGRACE, POISE, AND MAGIC...she was all of these, the epitome of all the beauty that the physical body of woman could be. She had been born to dance, her body trained to utilize the natural talent to the utmost. As sh...

by Sam Archer

Chapter One‘Mrs Edwards? And this must be Jake.’Chloe glanced up in surprise. She was bent over the receptionist’s desk, filling out the form as neatly as she could in the tiny spaces, resisting the instinct to...

by Janice Baker

PrologueIzzyI sucked down the last of my Shirley Temple making that slurping noise that Harry hates. I looked up and watched Mom walk out the front door with a man. I get so sad when she does that. She keeps promising she&...

by Samanthe Beck

Chapter OneTo be honest, I’m relieved Roger and I called off our engagement.The snippet of conversation from the booth behind her pulled Dr. Ellie Swann’s nose out of her medical journal. She blinked and stared at t...

by Victoria Parker

CHAPTER ONE‘LUCAS, MY FRIEND, I have a favour to ask of you.’Favour?Lucas Garcia had survived some of the worst conditions known to man, therefore a favour in his eyes involved hand grenades, automatic rifles or the...

by Quinn Loftis

Chapter 1Jacque Pierce sat in the window seat in her bedroom, watching her neighbors' house across the street. I'm not really being nosy, she thought to herself. Just curious.Yeah, she snorted. Only if you call curious ...

by Jennifer Ashley

CHAPTER ONEAndrea Gray had just set the beer bottle in front of her customer when the first of the shots rocketed through the open front door. The bar just outside of the Austin Shiftertown had no windows, but the front doo...

by Alexandra Ivy

PrologueValhalla was the stuff of myths.Named for the home of the Norse gods, the sprawling compound was a safe house for those people too special to be mainstreamed into society (a nice way of saying an orphanage for the ch...

by Suzanne M. Sabol

Chapter 1I was in trouble. A cool wash of vampire power pushed at my back, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and a shiver run up my spine. I didn’t move. There was no point. I had nowhere to go....

by Tabatha Vargo

PrologueThere’s a place you land right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow. It’s full of fresh air that fills your deprived lungs and so much light that even in its darkest corners it wa...

by Michelle Brewer

Chapter OnePenelope Lang lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling as she waited for the alarm to go off. She dreaded the day ahead of her, as she always did, and so she prolonged the start for as long as she could manage.Ev...

by Jeffe Kennedy

Chapter OneA grating roar cut through the quiet, startling the silver-haired woman in a peach suit and pillbox hat who’d stopped to peer in the gallery window. With an aghast look at the black-leather-clad man pulling up...

by Nicola Yeager

Friday 13thWouldn’t it be handy if men could be genetically engineered to have their personality types grafted onto their foreheads in some way or other? A small disk, maybe. Nothing too obtrusive or freaky. I was thinkin...

by Carly Phillips

OnePerfection was overrated, Mike Marsden thought, as he approached his childhood home. He arrived in time for dinner, just as he’d done every Sunday since his return to his hometown of Serendipity, New York, almost a mon...

by H. Ryder

Part one:The bit before chapter one, last Thursday: 17thoctober2013, 4pmThere's an old Chinese proverb that says: ‘the nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.’ People seem to like uniformity in behaviour and appear...

by Kate Bloomfield

Chapter OneThe CaptainElizabeth Searson ran along Baggot Street, her dusty green dress hitched above her ankles, and her elbows pointing outward absurdly. A red headed child laughed and pointed at her as she sped past. Elizabeth...

by Nicole James

Chapter OneYou serious?Cole Austin took a hit off his cigarette, watching the sunset. He looked over at the man who questioned him. The man who apparently was not too happy with the news he was delivering.Cole had come up he...

by Pamela Hearon

CHAPTER ONETHE INTERCOM BUZZED like a trapped insect, and Chance’s mind immediately shot to items he could use to put the old thing out of its misery. When he became a judge, his gavel would top the list.Sorry to bothe...

by Sara Reinke

PROLOGUESeptember, 1792The sun was little more than a rose-colored tint along the edge of the horizon, but seven-year-old Naima Morin was already hard at work in the yard behind the family’s great house. Her mother was hu...

by Christi Snow

PrologueJulie panicked as the rough hand ripped the thin fabric of her bikini top. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. She’d snuck the bikini into her clothes purchases, knowing it showed off her over-developed ...

by Elle Chardou

Part OneFreedomSummer 2013Chapter OneThe day started like any other day but by that evening, something inside me inwardly panicked. I needed to run and although I would hate myself in the morning, I kept telling myself it was...

by Jodi Thomas

Dear Readers,I love that Kensington has put the four novelettes I published in Texas anthologies together in one book. Now for those of you who would like my stories all together we have One Texas Night. I rarely call the f...

by Delores Fossen

Chapter OneMarshal Clayton Caldwell figured this could be bad.He waited at the window and watched the woman exit the dark blue car that she’d just parked next to the Marshals Service building where he worked. She glanced...

by Shelley Munro

BlurbHe wears his scars on the outside. She keeps hers safe inside.Charlotte Dixon ignores her stepmother’s edict and, in an act of disobedience, attends one of the social events of the year—a masked costume ball. Charlot...

by Lucy King

ONEThere was someone in the house.With the slam of the front door ringing in her ears, Nicky sat bolt upright in bed, her heart hammering like a pneumatic drill, alarm racing along her veins and her fingers gripping the edge...

by Mary Blayney

PrologueFoxley’s Gaming HellLondonDecember 1819JESS PENNISTAN WAS in a world of trouble with no one to blame but himself. He rubbed his neck as he stared at the losing play, then looked at Crenshaw, acknowledging the basta...

by Maggie Cox

CHAPTER ONE‘Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’The kingdom of Kabuyadir…THE sound of crying came to Zahir on the wind. At first he thought he’d imagined it. But when he stepped out onto the balcony...

by Rachel Hauck

Part OneThe PrinceONEWhat did he say? The storm gusts moving over the Atlantic must have garbled his words.I can’t marry you?Susanna stopped, flip-flops swinging from her fingertips. She’d misunderstood, right? Sand wash...

by Tanya Anne Crosby

CHAPTER 1EnglandThe Reign of StephenIt was a mortal sin.To lust after one’s brother’s wife.Not that they were wed as yet... though soon enough they would be, and he had no license to burn as he did.It was the crim...

by Natasha Tate

CHAPTER ONENo.Shocked denial cinched Colette’s stomach into a tight knot and she couldn’t seem to draw a proper breath. As she stared at the telltale blue line, the second in as many hours, Colette’s trembling ...

by Lauren Dane

chapter OneLily wandered through her new home—the apartment above the garage. Hard to fully think of it as home when just two weeks ago it’d been a collection place for unwanted crap her mother refused to get rid of.Sh...

by Jane Ashford

OneCharlotte Rutherford Wylde closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the brush moving rhythmically through her long hair. Lucy had been her maid since she was eleven years old and was well aware that her mistress’s...

by Frances Devine

PrologueChicago, 1899Ten-year-old Danielle shivered and crouched down lower as the cold November wind from off the Chicago River whipped around the huge crate. She wrapped one end of her mother’s tattered shawl around Jimmy&...

by Jane O'Reilly

Chapter One‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think this is a fake.’ Lottie tipped the art-deco bronze upside down and picked at the layer of greasy dirt on the marble base with her nail. She angle...

by Tina Folsom

1Hunger clawed at him. He fought the urge that controlled him, the need that made him shiver like an addict on withdrawal. He’d never imagined it being this painful, this difficult to resist, yet the thought of blood co...

by Bennett, Sawyer

REFLECTIONSI'm not sure what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone...something......

by Sawyer Bennett

CHAPTER 1Emily"Emily...hurry up, or we're going to be late."I groan as I hear my mother call up the stairs to me. I am just putting my jewelry on and glance at my Patek Philippe watch. I still have ten more minutes bef...

by Cynthia Wright

PrologueAmboise, FranceSeptember 10, 1532"Bernard Tevoulere pitted against Arnaud Guerre in the tournament!" exclaimed Aimée de St. Briac to her husband. "Everyone knows of Bernard's affair with Elise Guerre. It's madne...

by Marsha Doss

CHAPTER 1"Sonny!"Sondra Mead turned her head in the direction of the hauntingly familiar voice and her gaze fell upon the heavy-featured face of Michael O'Brien. Four years in Paris had not altered the magnetism that drew h...

by Tina Beckett

CHAPTER ONENOTHING COULD CONCEAL her shame.Not this time. Still, Chloe Jenkins yanked the belt of her beige trench coat tighter, until she was sure it would cut her in two—much like her heart had been. What had seemed sexy ...

by L.L. Muir

PROLOGUEGordon Land, Scotland, 1496They rose from the heather like dead men rising to complain of their bumpy purple graves, and Quinn knew by the sneers on their faces, he was the dead one.Greetin’s, Laird Ross. A long-l...

by Lucy Monroe

CHAPTER ONEEVEN in her exquisitely tailored designer suit, Chloe Spiridakou felt out of place in her ex-husband’s swank office waiting area.Like their marriage, the classic pink tweed skirt and blazer were two years past th...

by Jane Porter

PROLOGUEPalm Beach, FloridaYOU do look like me. Princess Emmeline d’Arcy’s voice was hushed as she slowly circled Hannah, her arched eyebrows pulling over deep blue eyes. Same face, same height, same age … if our ha...

by Carter Ashby

CHAPTER ONETravis was only a windshield's width away from snow and slush and freezing cold...it looked downright inviting compared to the frost emanating off the woman seated next to him. He reached down to the dash panel ...

by Jennifer Labrecque

chapter 1DELPHI REYNOLDS SLUNG her purse over her shoulder and headed down the hall of the now-silent medical office. She was ready to get home, pull off her nursing scrubs and put her feet up. It had been one hectic day.Dr...

by Amanda Heath

Chapter 1NormaNorma Jean! my mom screeches from the hallway outside my room. I have to admit I was asleep in the middle of the afternoon. I’m laying on my stomach with my hand next to my mouth which is now covered in...

by Kelley Brown

Prologue1965Nora sat cross legged on her rock hugging her four year old daughter Lauren’s back to her chest. They both looked out over the valley below watching the dairy cattle grazing on the rich green grass of the me...

by Rachel Bailey

OneHayden Black flicked through the documents and photos scattered across his D.C. hotel suite desk until he found the one he needed. Hauntingly beautiful hazel eyes; shoulder-length blond hair that shone as if polished; designer...

by Renee Roszel

chapter 1It is terrifying to care, of course, and the young man, whom I once heard say to the girl whose hand he was holding, ‘Shit. I think I love you,’ in the ominous tones of someone declaring that he was co...

by Janice Kay Johnson

CHAPTER ONEMOLLY CALLAHAN STUDIED the boy slumped sullenly in a straight chair facing her desk and wished desperately she could hand off dealing with him to someone else. Anyone else.She liked her job most of the time, althoug...

by Tiffany King

Chapter 1: Why lightweights shouldn't drinkAshton"Come on, go," my friend, Tressa said, trying to push me out of my chair. "What good is a bucket list if you're too chicken to do any of it?""Zip it," I said out of t...

by Jillian Burns

chapter 1IF SHE EVER got married in a place like this, her mother would weep and wail for a month of Sundays.Captain Alexandria Hughes, unlikely bridesmaid, looked around the small Las Vegas chapel, taking in the garish pink ...

by Sharie Kohle

PROLOGUEShe stood in shadows at the foot of the bed, staring down at the sleeping figure. At sixteen, he was almost a man, but still a boy in so many ways. Always her boy, her son, her baby. A lump thickened her throat a...

by Grace Burrowes

OneThe English peerage had come to a sorry pass when the heir to an earldom had to duck up the footmen’s stairway to hide from the lovely young women seeking to become his countess.Nicholas Haddonfield, Viscount Reston, ...

by Ashley Johnson

Chapter 1The sun peered in through the half open blinds that hung in the window of my bedroom. Apparently it was time to wake up but instead of dragging myself out of bed, I threw my teal comforter over my head and groane...

by Lydia Dare

Chapter OneCastle Hythe, KentAugust 1817Ever since Sorcha Ferguson had met her first Lycan, she’d been determined to have one for her very own. And her coven sister had promised there would be Lycans at the Duchess of Hy...

by Taylor M. Lunsford

Chapter 1Twenty-three. It had taken twenty-three boxes, one large moving van, and three people to move her from Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Unknown, Texas, a hole-in-the-wall little town three hours west of Austin.Melody Carr...

by Stephanie Lawton

Chapter OneIsaac, what’s happening? She always asks this question.Before it all fell apart, I’d tell her, I’ve got you.I knew it was a lie, even in the dream—like my subconscious was trying to will it to be ...

by Lisa Jackson

1KYRA! JESSE CHANDLER shouted to his business partner as he strode into the barn housing the offices of Crooked Branch Horse Farms. He juggled purchases from the tack shop until he reached a sawhorse table where he could set...

by Tawny Weber

PrologueI DON’T THINK I can go through with it, Belle Forsham said, one hand pressed to her chest. Beneath the beaded silk of her bodice, her heart raced like a terrified rabbit. I mean, this is crazy, you know? What ...

by Holley Trent

Chapter OneExcuse me, ma’am.The small woman with skin the color of light burnt sugar didn’t hear Matt Vogel calling into the barn for her attention. She was too busy cutting a rug to the tune of music Matt couldn&...

by Jeannie Lin

Chapter OneChina, Tang Dynasty—AD 824Fei Long faced the last room at the end of the narrow hallway, unsheathed his sword and kicked the door open.A feminine shriek pierced the air along with the frantic shuffle of feet as he...

by Joanne Rock

1COURTNEY, I HAVE two words. Washboard. Abs, My colleague Fawn hissed in my ear as we walked down the hall toward the private entrance to the company conference room. This talent agent is hotter than most of the A-list actor...

by Ashley Coleman

ONEBLOW HIS MUTHA’FUCKIN BRAINS OUT, A’SHAI! the man ordered. His heavy accent laced every word as he stared at the young rebel that stood before him. The boy was inexperienced when it came to murder and was intimi...

by Paula Graves

Chapter OnePeople in small towns were trusting souls. Even in this wicked age, doors remained unlocked, windows u...

by Savannah Wilde

Chapter 1Mike’s sister was up to something. That was nothing new, really, but this time something was a little different—a little more elaborate. Elaborate enough that Mike’s mom was poking her nose in.Kris heading o...

by Jane Toombs

Chapter 1"Apache Junction," Davis said as Vala stopped the rental car in front of a store advertising camping equipment. "That's a really cool name for a town, Mom."Seeing his enthusiasm made her almost forget the hassle to...

by Sarah Mayberry

CHAPTER ONETHE SOUND OF a champagne cork popping echoed in the small kitchen.Woohoo! We are going to have so much fun, former Warrant Officer Long. It’s going to be just like old times.Charlie Long smiled at her friend ...

by Lisa Scott

Pickup Lessons By Lisa ScottStone Kinney crouched behind a rack of clearance evening gowns while setting his sights on the blond woman fingering bottles at the perfume counter. She bit her lush lower lip as she considered the...

by Amanda Bennett

Prologue"Aston, are you even listening to me?"His voice broke through my thoughts and I was startled to see him still standing next to me."Sorry, what?""Aston, I asked you to marry me?" My mouth went as dry as the Sahara. I...

by Stephanie Nicole

Chapter 1Look at him standing over there surrounded by all those women...acting all smug and showing off his chiseled body! He thinks he's Mister Perfect, and those women do nothing but feed his over-inflated ego, like it&#...

by Tawny Weber

PrologueHE COULD HAVE BEEN WRAPPED around a sexy redhead, letting her use his body to fulfill any number of her kinkiest desires. He could be playing pirate and the captive wench at that very moment, stripping off his eye pa...

by R. E. Butler

Chapter 1I did it, Trav! Shyne gushed, opening the door to the Coffee Bean and rushing inside. Check it! She slapped the paper on the counter between them and beamed with pride.Look at you, baby girl, he laughed. Aren’t...

by Addison Fox

PrologueEIGHT YEARS AGOMayson McBride watched the hordes of Las Vegas tourists stream through the convention hall and gave herself a mental high-five.They’d done it.A heady streak of pride ran through her.Another glance towar...

by Sloan Archer

PREFACELos Angeles, CaliforniaJune 10, 1924The killer glowered down at the two lovers, enraged by the adoration they so visibly shared.Hand-in-hand, the happy couple ambled down the embankment towards the isolated beach, murmuring ...