Crossing Stars

Crossing Stars

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

While the city of Chicago sleeps, a war wages in the streets between two powerful families. While the public assumes organized crime is nothing more than a chapter torn out of America’s history, the Costa and Moran families battle for territory and domination. Caught up in the middle of this sinister world is Josette, the only child of Salvatore Costa, the ringleader and notorious godfather of Chicago’s Italian mafia. After the Irish Morans attempted to assassinate her when she was a child, Josette’s parents hid her behind the walls of their sprawling estate and kept her contact with outsiders to a minimum. But now Josette’s eighteen, and she’s questioning if a long life behind walls is worth trading for a potentially short one filled with excitement and adventure and all the things she’s only lived in her dreams. On the night she decides to risk becoming just an anonymous face in the crowd, Josette realizes that death isn’t only a possibility—it’s a certainty. Yet when a young man comes to her rescue, the turbulent waters between life and death are further muddied.
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Fissure

Fissure

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

His confidence on a hiatus, his swagger on sabbatical, and his ego bruised, Patrick Hayward is a shell of the man he once was. Cursing at and writing off love after the only woman he let himself fall for wound up marrying his older brother, Patrick enrolls himself at Stanford hoping college life, the California girls, and the epic surf will get him back to his free-spirited, ladies-man-extraordinaire self. Just when Patrick feels the shadow of himself returning, Emma Scarlett enters his life, seeing through his shenanigans and calling him on his crap. Intrigued by this fascinating creature who is ignorant to his charm, surrounded by four older brothers that look at Patrick like he's a bug to squish, and dating the same guy for the past six years who gives new meaning to the term territorial boyfriend, Patrick gravitates to Emma, knowing she's everything he shouldn't fall for. So, of course, he can't help himself. It doesn't take long for Patrick to discover Emma has as many secrets as he does. And hers may be just as dark as his. This time, falling for the girl could not only break his heart, but his spirit. FISSURE is the first installment in the two part series, THE PATRICK CHRONICLES, and is a side story to the best-selling YA series, THE EDEN TRILOGY. The final installment, FUSION, will be released in the summer of 2012.
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Scandal in Seattle

Scandal in Seattle

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Revenge isn’t what the Eves are about. Justice is. But when Sienna Stevens leaves Miami for her Errand in Seattle as Ally Andrews, revenge is the only thing on her mind. A woman scorned is one thing, but Ally is something else altogether. She will not rest until the man who upended her world is brought to his personal and financial knees. She won’t settle for just upending his world in return. She’s going for full-blown annihilation. Ally’s barely in Seattle a day before complications arise. She begins making slips. She’s one error away from being pulled from the biggest Errand of her career when she comes face to face with Henry Callahan. Former lover. Current Target. Things just went from complicated to catastrophic.
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Damaged Goods

Damaged Goods

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

When Liv Bennett said good-bye to her sinkhole of a hometown, she planned to leave that chapter of her life behind forever. But forever turned out to only be three years. After her addict of a mother up and disappears, Liv returns to what she considers her own personal hell smack in the middle of nowhere Nevada to take care of her two younger sisters, and she promptly reinstitutes the golden rule that got her through her first nineteen years of life without getting knocked up, roughed up, or messed up: don’t date the local boys and, god forbid, don’t fall in love with one of them. It isn’t long before that golden rule is put to the test. Will Goods grew up in the next trailer over, but the wild, careless boy who used to tear up the town with his three brothers has morphed into someone else so completely, he’s almost unrecognizable. The quiet, contemplative man who works on cars every night and takes care of his mentally ill mother every day is nothing like the local boys Liv grew up avoiding. But when Liv considers suspending her golden rule just this once, she finds out something about Will that will change everything. Will Goods isn’t who he used to be—he’s not even the man Liv thinks she’s gotten to know over the summer. He’s become someone else entirely. He’s become . . . Damaged Goods.
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Touching Down

Touching Down

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

The whole world might be in love with him. But all he’s ever loved is her. Grant Turner’s name is synonymous with football. The fans and media can’t get enough of the player known as The Invincible Man, a nickname he earned while growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country and the nickname he’s kept by being one of the best players in professional football today. No one can take him down. He’s unstoppable. But even a suit of armor has its weak point, and Grant’s has always been Ryan Hale. They were a couple of kids when they fell in love, and just when it looked like the happy ending neither expected was within reach, Ryan disappeared. No explanations. No good-byes. Grant coped by throwing himself into the game for seven years, and he’s finally moved on. Or so he thinks. When she walks back into his life, all of those feelings come crashing back, despite the warnings in his head that tell him she’ll leave him again. Grant can withstand the league’s toughest defensive line, but he’s always been weak where she’s concerned. No man can take Grant Turner down. But one woman certainly can. One woman will.
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Hate Story

Hate Story

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Nina can’t let herself fall in love with the man she’s going to marry. Both of them have experienced the sting and sham of love and have no intentions of falling victim to it twice. Love is expensive—hate is free. Three years. A million dollars. A solution to both of their problems. They planned it all, from the story of their first meeting to the date of their divorce. Nothing could go wrong. But what they didn’t consider was chemistry, and Nina and Max have no shortage of it. After too many near-kisses, Nina convinces herself that hating Max is better than loving him, and the more she gets to know this soon-to-be-husband of hers, the more she discovers just how very much she truly, madly, and deeply . . . hates him. This isn’t a love story. This is the other kind.
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Heart & Soul

Heart & Soul

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

NEW YORK TIMES & USATODAY Bestselling Series Love is what makes us. It’s also what breaks us. If this is true, Rowen just became the proverbial wrecking ball to Jesse’s life. Upon discovering Rowen is pregnant after taking every precaution to ensure otherwise due to a life-threatening heart condition, Jesse is forced to face too many harsh realities and they send him into a desperate, dark place. To consider the possibility that he might lose his wife and unborn child is too much for Jesse to bear. The situation is out of his control, so he gloms on to the few things he can control. Like noting Rowen’s every move, or dialing the doctor whenever her face goes a shade pale, or even acknowledging the fact he’d be willing to make a deal with the devil in exchange for his wife’s and child’s lives. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do or give or sacrifice to keep them from harm. But what happens when the devil takes that deal Jesse struck, and the tables turn? A life for a life. A soul for a soul. A heart for a heart. His life for theirs. Love is what makes us. It’s also what breaks us. Love’s made Jesse and Rowen. Love’s about to break them too.
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Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

NEW YORK TIMES and USATODAY Bestselling Series There’s tortured. And there’s Garth Black. His life has been a constant carousel of tragedy and disappointment, including his love life. Of course, applying the term “love” to Garth’s conquests is a gross misuse of the word. Some people were made to give and accept love, and others weren’t. Garth Black redefines the “others” category. He’s made a vow that the day he meets a woman who could sucker him into falling in love will be the day he runs away. Garth’s plan has one flaw. What happens when he’s already fallen hard for a girl before the warning signs and red flags go up? What happens when the love he’s avoided his entire life brings him to his knees? What happens when Garth Black lets the dirtiest four letter word he’s ever known into his dark, lonely life? This cowboy’s about to find out he can control some things, and he can’t control others. Number one on the what he can’t control list? Love. Recommended for mature readers due to moderate content and language
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Exes With Benefits

Exes With Benefits

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

He wants a second chance. I want a divorce. To get what I want, I’ll have to give him what he does. From New York Times & USA Today bestselling author, Nicole Williams: The only benefit I want from my ex is a divorce. We got married for all the wrong reasons. The one thing we got right was our separation. I should have known better than to think I could bet on forever with a guy like Canaan Ford. Everything about him screamed impermanent, from his wild eyes to his restless soul. When I left him and the small town I’d spent my whole life in, I swore I’d never go back. Never only turned out to be five years. Canaan claims he’s changed, but he hasn’t—same knowing smile, same rough demeanor, same body crafted from sin and sinew. And yet, something is different. He thinks this is his chance for redemption. My disagreement comes in the form of divorce papers dropped in his lap. He refuses to sign them. Unless . . . He wants a month to prove himself to me—that’s his offer. One month to make me fall in love with him again and if I don’t, he’ll sign the papers. As much as I want to say no, I agree. I can suffer my ex for a short amount of time if that’s what it takes to be free of him once and for all. I fell for him once; I won’t make that same mistake twice. He says we’re not over. I say we were over before we got started. Only one of us can be right, and I can’t let it be him.
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Almost Impossible

Almost Impossible

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Fans of Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins, and Jenny Han will delight as the fireworks spark and the secrets fly in this delicious summer romance from a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. When Jade decided to spend the summer with her aunt in California, she thought she knew what she was getting into. But nothing could have prepared her for Quentin. Jade hasn't been in suburbia long and even she knows her annoying (and annoyingly cute) next-door neighbor spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. And when Quentin learns Jade plans to spend her first American summer hiding out reading books, he refuses to be ignored. Sneaking out, staying up, and even a midnight swim, Quentin is determined to give Jade days--and nights--worth remembering. But despite their storybook-perfect romance, every time Jade moves closer, Quentin pulls away. And when rumors of a jilted ex-girlfriend come to light, Jade knows Quentin is hiding a secret--and she's determined to find out what it is.
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Fusion

Fusion

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Patrick Hayward isn’t used to feeling helpless. He’s a man of action used to controlling his destiny. But falling in love with Emma Scarlett had a way of upending everything, his sanity included. Locked away as inmate number one-three-seven-oh for a crime he didn’t commit, Patrick spends his days slopping toxic sludge onto trays, resisting the urge to tear the scratchy, orange jumpsuit from his body, and making sure every hardened criminal behind bars with him knows he’s the biggest and baddest of them all. With the help of his handy little gift of teleportation, his nights are spent watching a certain green eyed goddess from the shadows. When he discovers a couple of Inheritors stalking her one night, he realizes the obstacle of explaining who and what he is to Emma might not be the biggest battle they face.
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Three Brothers

Three Brothers

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

I grew up with three brothers. They weren’t tied to me by blood, but our connection went beyond genetics or bearing the same last name. Our connection was forged the summer I turned thirteen, the summer my mom ended her life and left me in the custody of John Armstrong, a man I’d never met. Packing all I owned in a couple of boxes, I left the familiarity of the big city and headed west to Red Mountain Ranch, set in a lonely valley outside of Jackson Hole. Nothing was as it seemed at Red Mountain—it didn’t take long for me to figure that out. John was kind to me but distant, as if he was afraid to let anyone get too close. His three teenage sons had their own devices for keeping love as far away as they could. The eldest distracted himself with cheap relationships that had a shelf-life of one night. The middle son threw himself into the rigor of running a ranch, and the third wielded cruelty and mind-games in his quest to keep people from getting close. Time has gone by, and I’ve spent those years trying to forget the brother I’d fallen for—the biggest mistake of my life. Finally, I’ve moved on. Finally, I’m back. But what I didn’t realize was that running away from the wrong brother meant I’d also run away from the right one. The one who’d been there for me all along, waiting in his brother’s shadow for the day I either would or could move on. But a decade is a long time to wait. Has the brother I should have chosen all of those years ago moved on too? Am I about to discover that my biggest mistake wasn’t falling in love with the wrong brother, but failing to return the love of the right one sooner? Does unrequited love have an expiration date? I’m about to find out. Author’s Note:* This book is a “sweet” romance that isn’t overly sexy. Fans of Lost & Found will be interested in Three Brothers*.
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Near and Far

Near and Far

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

NEW YORK TIMES & USATODAY Bestselling Series There’s optimistic. And there’s Jesse Walker. If he wasn’t so charming, his sunny disposition and incessant grin would get old. Fast. Falling in love with the broken girl who had at first seemed immune to anything resembling love was the best thing to happen to Jesse since the Walkers adopted him when he was five. As Jesse’s life continues at the ranch and Rowen begins making her mark in the Seattle art community, they wonder where the middle ground is. Or if there even is one. As push comes to shove, they’re forced to make choices neither are eager to make, and Jesse and Rowen have to face what their lives might look like without the other. Can two people with such tragic pasts and different presents expect a promising future together? Whatever the answer, they’ll need a lot more than love to make it. Recommended for mature readers due to moderate content and language.
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Dating the Enemy

Dating the Enemy

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Ms. Romance, Hannah Arden, writes one of the top read relationship advice columns in the nation. Mr. Reality, Brooks North, writes the top read relationship advice column. Ms. Romance believes in true love and soul mates. Mr. Reality believes love is a term humanity has assigned to the primal instinct to procreate. She believes in fate—he in chance. She knows there’s one right person for everyone—he knows there are multiple ones. The two writers couldn’t be more polarized on relationships. They’re professional rivals, and philosophical antagonists. For eight years, their battles have been fought with words and ink. That changes when they apply for the same position at the World Times and find themselves face-to-face for the first time. Brooks isn’t the sour-faced, antiquity of a man Hannah pictured. And Hannah isn’t exactly the middle-aged shrew with cat hair on her housedress that Brooks imagined either. In lieu of competing for the promotion traditional ways, the two writers are presented with playing the leading roles in a social experiment unlike any before. Can a person be tricked into falling in love? Can a relationship be crafted under the right string of circumstances? Hannah knows the answer. So does Brooks. Agreeing to the terms, the two set out on a three-month dating experiment, live-streamed for the world to watch. All Hannah has to do to win is not fall in love with the narcissistic brute. All Brooks has to do is get the starry-eyed dreamer to fall in love with him. Both are so confident in their philosophies, they expect the challenge to be easy. With the world watching, Brooks and Hannah will be forced to confront their beliefs and conclude, once and for all, who’s right. The answer is one neither of them saw coming.
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Crush

Crush

Nicole Williams

Young Adult / Literature & Fiction

Football glory. A giant diamond. A wandering eye. Jude and Lucy are happily engaged . . . but that doesn't mean life's a bed of roses. Once again, Jude and Lucy are torn apart by football training and a summer job that creates new tensions. This time Jude's the one with trust issues. Will Lucy's life-changing news bring them back together or end their relationship for good? Can love triumph forever?
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