L.B. Simmons

By the age of thirteen, Dalton Greer had already experienced abuse unfathomable to most. So bythe time he was finally rescued from the latest of his long string of foster homes, he wastraveling down a dangerous path. Indebted to a known drug lord as a means of protection, he chose the life of the streets thinking that was all his life had to offer until he met her. Five years later, she s the only bright spot in his very bleak existence. There isn t anything hewon t do to shield her from the evil he s experienced, and he wants nothing more than to protecther from the life he s chosen. The day Spencer Locke found Dalton sitting on her porch, she felt his pain and understood hisrage. They were bonded by both, though he would never understand why. He had been lostwhile she was found, and in that moment, she vowed to help him find his way too. As the years pass by, their initial bond transforms into something deeper. Spencer loves Daltonregardless of his past, and in spite of his choices. When all secrets are unleashed between thetwo, that love becomes binding. One night is all they have before fate makes its own decision. Dalton is forced to choose the pathhe will travel, and Spencer is left not knowing why. A story about the journey from true friendship into the blossoms of first love, the experiences of crucial sacrifice and ultimate betrayal, and the endurance of agonizing heartbreak on the way to finding lasting redemption, two souls find solace... Under the Influence of love."

When Aubrey Miller begins her education at Titan University, she is no longer the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl of her youth. In fact, she s no longer even Aubrey Miller. Now with jet-black hair, multiple sets of eccentric contact lenses, and several facial piercings, she s veiled herself in completedarkness as a form of protection for herself, as well as others. As she enters her first year of college, her goal is simple: earn a degree with the least amount of socialinteraction as possible. What she never anticipates is the formation of very unlikely relationships withtwo people who will change her life in ways she never believed possible: Quinn Matthews, the overtly cheerful pageant queen, and Kaeleb McMadden, a childhood friend who never really let her go. Over the years, as their connections intertwine and strengthen, a seemingly indestructible bond is formed between the three. And eventually, the ties of friendship and discovery of first love begin to coax her from her darkened path as they slowly bring Aubrey back to life. Spanning the course of four years, this is the story of a young woman s plight to finally reemerge, finding strength within unbreakable bonds as she delivers herself from her own manufactured darknessand safely back . . . Into the Light."