Showing results by author "Rachel Van Dyken" in All Categories

One girl. Two brothers. Who knew that the sleepy town of Seaside, Oregon, would eventually be the location of both our downfall and our redemption? Drugs, sex, lies, shame...it all led us to the Coast. It led us to her. And ever since we met her, our lives have never been the same. You may think you know what really happened - but you don't. After all, there's two sides to every story. This is ours.

Trust. Loyalty. Family. The tangled web of mafia life. We grew up together. Me, Eden, my brother Tristian. He was always the safe bet, the sure thing, the good guy. And me? Well, I was the Casanova, the killer who flirted with anyone and anything, breaking Eden’s heart again and again. We both loved her. Mind. Body. Soul. Until I gifted her to my brother as if she meant nothing, when she meant everything to me. Tristian was safer. Better. Could give her the life I never would be able to. But things changed. We changed.

He was my best friend...until he became my enemy, all within the span of one night. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. The rapid fire of gunshots became the soundtrack to my life. This is the Mafia. Lines are blurred. Choices are never black and white. And the life you thought you knew is one giant lie. He was dead. I didn't want his life to be in vain, so I tried to make something of myself. Tried and failed. Now he's back. Alive. And he wants me. Nobody ever said the Mafia played fair.

Colby's living her best life: As a popular food blogger, she gets to fulfill her dreams of exploring the globe. But her world comes crashing down when a tragic accident leaves her co-guardian of her best friend's two adorable children. Not only does she need to put down roots—fast—but she'll be sharing custody with the one man she can't stand sharing a continent with, let alone a house.

I breathed in and out for a few seconds as I waited at the end of the aisle. It felt like I was standing overlooking the edge of a cliff, and the minute I saw my future wife, I was going to freefall. The music started. Shit, I was seriously going to pass out. People stood; Demetri nodded his head and patted me on the back. And then I saw her. It was like seeing her for the first time all over again. Memories of meeting her that first day of school had me grinning from ear to ear.

What is it about a junior-high crush that can send an otherwise intelligent woman into a tailspin? TV reporter Char Lynn wishes she knew. Jake Titus is too rich, too handsome, too arrogant: a trifecta that once lured Char into the best night—and worst morning-after—of her life. Now they've been thrown together in a wedding party. It's awkward, but survivable...until Jake stops acting like a jerk, and starts acting like the man she'd always hoped he could be.

One last trip to New York, one last chance to redeem a lost part of the Mafia family. The Empire is crumbling, and it's my job to fix it. It's my job to mend the pieces that were scattered over 30 years ago. But the only way to fix it is to do something I swore I'd never do again: an arranged marriage. This time I won't fall. Or so help me God, I'll kill her myself. My name is Sergio Abandonato. You think you know my pain, my suffering, my anger, my hate. You have no idea. I am the Mafia. I am the darkness. Blood in. No out.

Losing your ability to speak at the age of 17; it's not normal or fair. But trauma has a way of throwing normality out the window. Dani lives anything but a normal life: her sister is married to one of the biggest names in Hollywood, her best friends are rock stars, and she has more love around her than most people experience in a lifetime. But that doesn't change the fact their parents are dead, or that it's her fault. It seems her new normal is being a mute, living on the inside, unable to actually communicate on the outside.

Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart. Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a good-bye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant.

I'm not your typical girl. I've been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that depression has become my only comfort. I was content in the darkness...until Wes Michels offered to be my light. I didn't know that time wasn't my ally - that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean the end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer - each moment as it came - but it would never be enough.

Liv Olson has been drawn to Norse Mythology her entire life. After earning her degree and working as a curator at one of New York’s most prestigious museums, she gets an unexpected offer for her dream job in Norway - the same place her brother disappeared months ago – after a cryptic message about finding their long-lost father.

Chase Winter let the love of his life slip through his fingers and into the hands of his best friend and Mafia boss of the Abandonato family. Now that he's been given a second chance to right a wrong, he refuses to let his own selfishness stand in the way. The only problem is that he's not fully in possession of his heart. So when he is asked for a favor by Mil De Lange - the girl who's innocence he stole and who is heir to the worst of the worst Mafia families in the United States - he says yes, not realizing that that one yes has the power to destroy them all.

Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him. Trace Rooks has fallen irrevocably in love with the son of her family's sworn rival, and she knows in her bones nothing can tear them apart. Until Nix suddenly pushes her away and into the arms of his best friend... But Trace isn't ready to give up on a future with Nix.

Twenty-four hours before we were to be married, I offered to shoot her. 10 hours before our wedding, I made a mockery of her dying wish. Five hours before we were going to say our vows, I promised I'd never love her. One hour before I said I do, I vowed I'd never shed a tear over her death. But the minute we were pronounced man and wife, I knew. I knew I'd only use my gun to protect her. I'd give my life for hers. I'd cry. And I would, most definitely, lose myself to a dying girl - a girl who by all accounts never should have been mine in the first place.

All is lost. All. I don't recognize myself in the mirror anymore. My thoughts are filled with hatred and dripping with rage. I've lost my soul. She took it to the depths of hell with her and haunts me with images of what could have been. Sixty lives are mine to take. Sixty lives stand in the way of my vengeance. Sixty lives, plus one more. Mine. When the last drop of blood falls - mine will be spilled.

There are two sides to every story, and theirs isn't pretty, but then again, what's pretty about the Mafia? Trace Rooks, that's what. But she wants only one of them, and he'll kill the other before he lets him have her. The only problem is that they're cousins - and she may just be their long-lost enemy. Whoever said college was hard clearly didn't attend Eagle Elite University. Welcome to hell, also known as the Mafia, where blood is thicker than life, and to keep yours, you must keep your friends close - and your enemies even closer.

Welcome to the world of the Elite...where nothing is as it seems. All Tanit wants to do is make it through the school year without gaining any sort of attention. Until she gains his attention. He’s cruel. He’s beautiful. He’s everything she’s been warned to stay away from....

It’s not every day you're slapped on stage by two different women you've been dating for the last year. What sort of ballsy woman gets on stage and slaps a rockstar? Does nobody have self-control anymore? It may have been the talk of the Grammys. I was 33, hardly ready to settle down. Except now it's getting forced on me. Seaside, Oregon. My bandmates were more than happy to settle down, dig their roots into the sand, and start popping out kids. Meanwhile I was still enjoying life. Until now. I'm teaching freaking guitar lessons at the local studio for the next two months.

Emerson just made her dream come true as a professional cheerleader for her favorite pro football team. But even though the plus-size athlete is breaking down boundaries, she still has to contend with the massive rulebook. Carbs? Nope. Chocolate? Definitely not. Still, Emerson loves her curves, and she'll rock the hell out of this job even if it kills her. Except for one mandate that is easier read than done... No fraternizing with the players.

"I have a proposition for you." Kacey should have run the minute those words left Seattle millionaire Jake Titus's mouth. It's been years since Kacey's seen her childhood friend Jake, but the minute Jake mentions his ill grandmother, Kacey is ready to do anything for the sweet old woman. And if that means pretending they're engaged for her sake - so be it.