Gosh, it seemed like forever ago!Elementary school, to be exact.I had a crush on the weirdest kid in our class – Kenny Emersyn. Very few kids liked him, so I don't know what I saw in him. His family was poor – his mother, a single mom of four kids, who hoped any of her varied weekend dates would stick around long enough to help her with her monthly financial obligations. However, that financial plan never quite seemed to work out for her.In third grade, when I drew K...

At fourteen years old, after revolving through one foster home after another, Casey Fielder finally found her dream - adoptive parents. Her new parents are everything Casey has ever dreamed of, and more - absolute perfection!Quiet, shy, and sweet, Casey is the dream daughter for Ella and Rob Edenberry - so well-mannered and polite - especially for a kid with such a transient past. A perfect fit for the perfect parents!Sometimes, however, the image of perfection is a devious...

Cole Dawson asked me to marry him when we were eight years old. He drove a nail halfway through his left hand, just to show me how much he loved me. That was many moons ago. Now, we're coming up on our ten-year high school reunion and the Cole Dawson I knew has changed - a lot. He went from being a small-town boy with a little scar in the center of his left hand. to this wild, hellraising rock star. Celebrity status. Famous! Now, he's wanting to catch up before the reunion and I'm star-str...

The Best Man.The Maid of Honor.An explosive love story only dreams could compare to – at least until the nightmare set in.In spite of his reputation for being a heartbreaker who lives life in the fast lane, when commercial pilot, Owen Quinn, finally got a chance to date the sweet, innocent, ice cream shop girl, Emma Welby, he found himself on unfamiliar ground. This wild, life-of-the-party guy had finally found something he knew he wanted to hold onto. With a passion...

It was a business idea born one Halloween night. A coffee house infused with a little mystical magic – spells, potions, elixirs, and maybe a hex here or there. I would open at odd hours – when the competition was sleeping. Midnight to noon. It was all brilliant and I made the vision a reality. It was working like a charm – and selling for eight dollars a cup, it was a very expensive charm, at that.It was all so perfect, until rumors started about how I was poisoning my customers.

Bob in For ApplesNestled in a small town in the mountains in Southern California lives a community which once thrived on autumn apple sales and tourist dollars brought in by the festivals and carnivals at harvest time. Once upon a time, those apple sales were enough to carry the villagers through the year. However, with drought came a serious decline in apple production. It didn't take long for word to get out that the fun of the apple farms was just not what it used to be. Tourist...

Erica:I couldn't stay, and he couldn't leave. I knew I was leaving Colorado when I started flirting with Rick McEntyre. I had no intention of falling in love with the guy. I didn't expect him to fall in love with me, either. One thing led to another and here we are. The thing is, it's not just about Rick and me, anymore. He doesn't know it, but I'm not the only one who just moved to Memphis.I've gotten myself into a real predicament.Rick:It didn't matter what I...

Drunken nights, red lights, brutal fights, and lowered tights.I've spent years, dancing on the stairs, decorating Miss Abby's stair rails. I've certainly "entertained" my fair share of gentleman. Men would always come and go, but a wench's brothel family - that's forever . . . Forever out to get over on you. Forever out to cheat you. Forever willing to steal from you. Forever vacant of heart. Forever waiting like vultures, starving to feast on the remnants of the hollowed corpse of...

Cupid brought us together.Cupid threatened to tear us apart, too.Noah McKinley was the best dog breeder, ever! He was also a rather handsome man . . . who had a girlfriend whom he adored. Unfortunately. It didn't matter. He was the highlight of my day, seeing as how I worked at the pet shop. So, the day he brought in Jack Russell puppies and handed one to me – one he had picked out, just for me – I took it very seriously. That meant a lot to me.Unable to afford the ...