A single glance. A fleeting moment. A solitary touch could make everything worth it. This was my breaking point. This was where I lost myself completely. I did the only thing that made sense. The only thing I had left to give. I begged her.... To take me with her.

In a world where I had no say, violence became my refuge. Nothing else mattered, not even my own life, until her: Skyler Bell. It all started the first time I heard that voice, giving me hope for tomorrow. My first love was everything all at once - consuming, maddening, forever, mine. Except I never imagined there were secrets that needed to be shared, lies that needed to be confessed, truths that needed to be told, demons that needed to be buried. Once I realized that the depth, the longing, and the sadness and sorrow in her eyes mirrored my own, it was too late.  

Once upon a time...there was a girl with long, golden hair who had the truest, bluest eyes that turned white when she cried. She lived in a kingdom far, far away in a tower made of stone, but her mind was made of glass that she kept sharp as knives. Where her memories hid behind her darkest doubts. Her deepest thoughts. Her diary became the only thing she could rely on. No one saw through her looking glass. No one cared. No one tried. Until the villain presented himself as the hero in her life. He took and took and took some more.

The first time I met Merrick Crawford was during my job interview. Well, technically, I’d met him 20 minutes earlier when he’d barged into a fitting room a few doors down from my appointment. I yelled. He yelled. After an argument while standing in my bra, I proceeded to smash the door into the gorgeous jerk, trying to yank it shut. As you might imagine, I was freaked out when I discovered that the rude guy was my potential new boss. Yet he didn’t seem to recognize me. Or so I thought.... Until we wound up bickering again during my interview and he told me to go sniff my armpit.

So here you are.... Opening the next chapters of my life - wanting to know the next truths of my sins. As if the first half of my life wasn't enough. You. Need. More. You want my redemption. My heart. My soul. Your happily-ever-after.... You. Want. Answers. And I will grant you the very first one you're dying to know. Why did I leave her? So go ahead. Press play. I dare you. You just might not like the answer. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Maid of honor Kelsey Peterson is disappointed when the bride-to-be bails on her bachelorette party - especially since Kelsey’s already ordered the stripper. Desperate for a break from her romantic woes, Kelsey goes through with the party. After all, why let a good stripper go to waste? Dr. Aaron Baucus is definitely not a stripper. He’s a legit doctor with a PhD in neuropsychology. But when his friend calls him over to a bar to meet a bunch of tipsy, flirtatious bridesmaids, they assume otherwise.

A new baby is on the way for Ethic and Alani, but the stress of her high-risk pregnancy is weighing on the couple heavily. When the routine of their love changes, Alani's hormones send them on an emotional roller coaster filled with suspicion and miscommunication. With challenges from the children they have already on the horizon and Ethic's involvement with Nyair's city council run, things in the Okafor household are in disarray.

The day Shane boarded the plane for basic training, I was happy for him. He escaped a life we both despised. Then he was killed in action before I had the chance to tell him I loved him. Now I write letters he'll never read. Talk to a cold gravestone, heard only by the wind...and maybe that guy in a baseball cap I only glimpse before he disappears.

They say a soul mate only comes along once. I believe it, too. I had my chance, but it slipped away. Each day a little more of myself dies, but I pretend I’m fine. That is until I see him - the man who makes me feel alive - Garrick Shaw. Something within me changes. It’s unavoidable and unlike anything I’ve ever known. And it scares me, terrifies me. But there’s another danger lurking around the corner. Someone is conspiring to take it all away. Who are they? What do they want? Why are they after me?

I would say Dr. Cruz Costello is my archenemy. But that would require acknowledging one another, which we haven’t done in more than a decade. He’s the town’s golden child. The beloved quarterback-turned-physician. I’m the girl who got knocked up at 16 and now works at a diner. He is Fairhope royalty. I get my monarch dose from tabloid gossip. He’s well-off. I’m...well, off. When our siblings get engaged, Cruz’s parents invite both families to a pre-wedding cruise. Except Cruz and I find ourselves stuck on a different ship from everyone else.

I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day. Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak. We met on the verge of ending our lives. Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond. We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended. Same time. One roof. Two restless souls. We kept our promise for three years.

Hockey star Max Yearwood was everything I needed at the time - fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months, since he’d signed with a new team 3,000 miles away. Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right? Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. 

Jud Lawson found me stranded in the rain. Broken down on the side of the road in a deserted neighborhood with my piece-of-crap car. I wasn’t looking for a hero, and definitely not one who looks like him. An obscenely hot mountain of a man who screams danger. But I have little choice other than climbing onto the back of his bike.

Have you ever looked at someone and just knew, knew that they were put in your life for a reason? The one person that would be not only your best friend, but would be your absolute everything? That’s how I felt the first time I saw him. That one day when a few little words changed our entire lives forever...don’t be afraid, he said. Life can change so quickly. One moment you can be smiling and feeling as if you're walking on clouds and the next, everything you love, everything you treasure crumbles at your feet. I told him to fight, I told him I needed him. We needed him.

At 18, I walked away from Willow Creek Valley for good. I was young, scared, and stupid, and it cost me the love of my life - Grayson Parkerson. Fourteen years later, a crash sends me back home to recover. Back to where we met, fell in love, and planned a future. Working at The Park Inn together gives us a chance to reconnect, and seeing him with his little girl makes me long for the days when he was mine. I’m not the girl I was - intimidated by his wealthy family and desperate to escape our small town. How can I convince him to give first love a second chance?