Marie Johnston

Fyra is on the run. Permanently. She had one job: make the vampire Bishop the underworld's tool. But despite her best feminine wiles, the stubborn, exasperating, delicious male wouldn't break. Now pursued by her fellow demons-and one very angry vampire-she's running out of options. Too bad she's no good at hiding. Everywhere she goes, fires break out. Her combustible personality is more than just an annoyance, it's going to get her killed. Leaving a fiery trail for her enemies to follow, she's as good as dead...unless Bishop finds her first. Tricked into a bond with a demon, Bishop must free himself before he is forced to turn on his team, his people, and the realm he's worked so hard to protect. But even if he can catch his luscious demoness, just what will he do with her? Her knowledge of the underworld alone is reason enough to keep her-and use the unwanted bond for himself. But Fyra is no pawn, and her fiery presence threatens to thaw secrets from Bishop's past best left on ice. As enemies circle and allies become foes, Fyra and Bishop will have no choice but to take on hell with fire and ice.

Alder Duke was my high school sweetheart turned husband, then he became a stranger who wanted his freedom. I gave it to him.Fifteen years later, I'm a single mom who desperately needs a place to live. He's a powerful CEO who needs a wife in order to get the house he grew up in, thanks to a trust his grandma left behind.He makes a deal with me: get married to him-again-and live with him for a year. Once the house is in his name, we can divorce-again-and he'll rent the place to me. Just one year. No strings. No feelings. Simple.But nothing about my ex-husband is simple. Gone is the man who wanted to stay out all night drinking with his buddies. This Alder cooks and cleans and unclogs sinks in gray sweatpants. He gets my stubborn daughter to like him. And with me? He looks at me like I'm the only woman in the world. I can't fall for his sweet daisy whispers. I know how it ends. This time we planned it. My life was already derailed by him once, and I barely came out intact. He's had my heart forever, but he only gets one year.

Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is a quiet week on my mom's ranch while she's gone and to watch my nieces and nephews open presents on Christmas morning.I'd also like to be rescued from a power outage in a snowstorm and be thrown into the warm bed of a hot man. Even better if I've had a major thing for that guy for most of my life. If I walk in on him doing laundry when every stitch of his clothing is in the wash, I'll consider that the best present ever.What I'd really like for Christmas is for him to get over our age difference and the fact that he works for my mom and finally admit he has feelings for me. But that might be a Christmas miracle I won't receive.Christmas wishes, Nora Barron

It was supposed to be one night to feel alive after getting out of a dud of a relationship. Now I'm having a baby, and I only have the soon-to-be dad's first name. After my breakup, I need to find a job and place to live, but I can't move into the house my grandma left me unless I'm married. Fortunately, the guy renting the place doesn't know that, so I stop by and find out if he can move at the end of his lease. Only when the door opens, it's him. My one-night stand. I do the only reasonable thing possible. I tell him we're going to have a baby and promptly puke over the railing of the porch. Next thing I know, I'm on his couch, and he's demanding a paternity test. Except he doesn't just want the test. He wants to make sure I don't tamper with the results. He doesn't believe me. Apparently showing up jobless and homeless to persuade him to move doesn't make me trustworthy. Guess I'm not the only one with a dating history that leaves me jaded. He insists I stay in the house that should be mine, right where he can monitor me. And the longer I'm around him, the more I can see that below his gruff exterior is a softie who planted acres of pumpkins for his cousin. A guy who wants to reconnect with his family. A man who makes me want to be more to him than violet promises.

Move out or get married. Those are my options, thanks to the trust my grandma left behind. My aunt is determined to see to the terms of the inheritance. If I don't get married, I'll have to find somewhere I can afford with two kids and a lot of debt-and do it without losing my brand new job. When she confronts me on the moveout deadline, I try to buy time. I blurt out a name. I tell her I'm engaged to Eliot Knight.Eliot's my boss's brother, and he's been around the vet clinic where I work. He's hot. He's charming. He's who I'd pick if I had to marry someone at a moment's notice. But he wasn't supposed to hear me. He wasn't supposed to get dragged into my mess. And he wasn't supposed to agree to help me. Now, we're Mr. and Mrs. Knight.We only need to be married for a year, and he runs his family's ranch in another town. Three hours away. Yet circumstances keep throwing us together, and I get a lot of time with my new husband. I enjoy his company. His...touch. I fall hard the first time I heard him say "my wife."But our lives are still separate. At the end of the year, I'm afraid I'll get to keep my house, but I'll lose my heart and be left with nothing but endless memories.

The only thing I coveted more than the old farmhouse next door is the guy who owns it. My best friend's brother.I don't mean to give my hot neighbor a full peep show when my puppy locks me outside in nothing but a towel. Austen Knight pretends he didn't see everything and offers me an interior design job-help him renovate the farmhouse I've adored since I was a kid. I'm a single mom trying to run a business in a small town. I can't be alone with Austen day in and day out without igniting rumors that could hurt the career I've worked so hard for. But I need the money, and he's leaving after the house is done and goes on the market.Turns out, renovating with him is fun. Working with him is addicting. And I look forward to our cold beer together after a long day. When work turns to pleasure, I should put a stop to what we're doing, it's not professional, but I can't.Austen reignites something in me that I left behind long ago. He's become so much more than my friend's brother and my neighbor, but he's going to be gone soon. Guys always leave in the end. I'll be a struggling single mom again, and he'll be nothing but a fearless memory. 

To all the other women in town, Ford Monroe's a player. To his ex, he's a failure she doesn't want around their kid. But to me, he's my best friend. The single dad and I both work as paramedics and are partners on the job. Dating isn't worth ruining the best relationship I've ever had, no matter how hot he is.But when my ex-fianc comes to town to woo me back and Ford's ex-fianc e claims he's a poor role model for his son, Ford has an idea. An idea so crazy it might just work to get both our exes off our backs.We're only supposed to pretend to date, but it's not long before I want the real thing. Yet when Ford's life gets rear-ended, the romance growing between us gets put on life support. He has to put his son first, and I'm done changing bandages on my heart for a guy.Eligible Best Friend was previously published as Shock in K. Bromberg's Everyday Heroes World project. Some details have been changed, but the story is still the same.

I never keep secrets from my best friend, but I'm not sure how to tell her I'm sneaking around with her brother...who's also my ex-husband. I might be single, but I'm not ready to mingle. I should've stayed home from the street dance. My feet are barely surviving the two-step and my dance partners are looking for dates while I'm only interested in forgetting the man I was once married to.The night's about to end with bruised toes and a rain storm when the guy who swept me off my feet years ago cuts in right before the downpour starts. Wilder Knight has always been the best dance partner I've ever had. Just not the best husband.Once the storm hits, we take refuge in his pickup, but that isn't all we do. After steaming up the windows and losing my underwear, I make a habit out of hooking up with my ex-husband.Only the longer we continue, the easier it is to see why our marriage fell apart. I couldn't get over him the first time and losing him a second time might destroy the secure life I've built for myself, leaving me to ask... Were we better left an unfinished memory?

The man in the magazine spread, the one dubbed the most eligible bachelor, is my ex-husband. Six months ago, Simon's company was never more successful, just like our marriage was never emptier. I was a stay-at-home mom with a sugar daddy who had no time to pass the sugar or be a daddy. I asked for a divorce and he let me go, just like that.Now, I'm mending my broken heart and finding myself while being a strong role model for our girls. But when my mom gets sick, I need help, and he's there like a superhero in a tailored suit. And when my mom recovers, he's still there, doing grocery runs and braiding our girls' hair.I don't want to hang my hopes on my workaholic ex just because he's suddenly wearing basketball shorts instead of designer threads or because he's giving me that look that melted my heart in college.Chemistry was never our problem. I don't want to trust that he's changed only to find out that, once again, I'm not worth fighting for. He needs to prove that he'll be as ruthless about us as he is in the boardroom.Eligible Ex-husband was previously published under the same title in the Cocky Heroes World project. Some details have been changed, but the story is still the same.

Nannying two adorable kids was a way to support myself until I got on my feet again. I wasn't supposed to fall for their stern single dad. After a sudden, bad breakup, I land in a small town in the middle of nowhere, cut off from all my accounts and resources. I have a stalled dancing career, a mom in long-term care, and no money.Then I meet Alcott "Cody" Knight. The type of guy I've learned to steer clear of-driven, rigid, and devastating in a suit. Only he also has two adorable kids, and he needs a nanny for the summer.For two months, he'll pay more than I need to help my mom and myself. For two months, I'll take care of his kids, give them dance lessons, and see what a normal life could be like. For two months, I have to try not to fall for a guy who's hotter in jeans and cowboy boots than in a suit and treats me like I matter.But my stay was only ever for a few months, to get back on my feet so I can get my life back. I might be used to leaving, but I can't stop wishing Cody and I could be more than a temporary memory.

I fled minutes before my wedding when I learned my fianc had been paid to marry me. Ten years, too many crappy exes, and one drunken decision later, I'm now his boss.A night out with a friend turned into shots and duping an old ex of mine into taking a job at my budding horse rescue. The last time Ansen Barron saw me, I was fishtailing away from our wedding with his dog. When he arrives, I expect him to reverse right back down my driveway after he learns I'm his boss. I don't expect to find a jaded man in the place of the easygoing guy I was once engaged to. I also don't expect my heart to race when he's around. Or for him to treat me like I always meant more to him than a payday. I don't regret hiring him. He's the best man for the job, and he's trying to prove he's changed, one melting kiss at a time. But no matter how hot we are together, I can't forget I once thought he was the best man for me and maybe it's safer for my heart if he stays a reckless memory.

MemphisIntroducing humans into our world is dangerous enough, but when my twin's mate has a worried brother who charges in at the wrong time to see me in full dragon mode, it's downright deadly. To save all our scale-covered behinds, I take the brother as my mate. I might've spared him, but I'm the one who has to live with a guy who's bitter about our circumstances and revolted by me.VaughnMemphis is the most sinful-looking woman I've ever met. But that's the problem. She's not a woman. I've seen what she can do, and it's terrifying. I'm a doctor. Violence and chaos turn me off-until I get a glimpse of the toll being a ruler of a small town full of dragon shifters takes on her. Yet if I start seeing her as a partner, a real person, I have to accept that I gave up everything to keep my sister safe. My practice. My home. My lonely single life. I'm little more than a prisoner, but the more I'm around Memphis, the harder it is to care.

Persephone's zest for life and love of bad jokes were quelled by parents who made her feel worthless. So she proved them right and became the angelic version of a rich mean girl. Until she trusted the wrong person and suffered wounds that'll scar her for the rest of her eternal life.Urban used to be an angelic warrior who was equal parts work and play. One day he'd had enough of a certain spoiled angel and said something he couldn't take back. And then he found himself standing over the beautiful female, who had injuries no immortal should suffer.During recovery, the warrior who'd verbally gutted Persephone stayed by her bedside. He even coaxed her to tell jokes again. He built her up instead of tearing her down. He helped her wonder what if.What if her parents and the rest of the realm were wrong? What if a privileged angel with no talent could make something of herself? What if she deserved love? Urban's with her the whole way-until danger threatens the realm and he's the one blocking her path.

Trust fund? Check. Restoration and brewery plans? Check. Grumpy project manager? Sigh...check.If I wanted to deal with a man just like my uptight dad, I would've told my parents what my brewery plans were. Only I didn't tell anyone. I waited for my trust fund to deliver once I turned twenty-five, and I bought the old train foundry I've been eyeing for years. Then McCoy Cunningham shows up.I'm told he's the best. He's older than me and knows both side of the business-the restoration and the brewing. But all I've gotten from him are scowls and dismissive grunts. McCoy might think he's the expert, he might look at me like I should be in diapers with pigtails, but he's wrong if he thinks he can bulldoze me.All it takes is one look. One time I catch him eyeing me with something other than disdain. One conversation where we're geeking out over yeast strains and hops. And one kiss that leads to more.But I promised myself I'd never settle for a guarded man who thinks he knows everything, especially one who won't put me before business. And after what McCoy's been through, he's all about work. No personal entanglements. I don't want to be left with a broken heart and flat beer once this brewery is finished.Make Me Exhale is a standalone novel in the Oil Barrons series.

Trust fund? Check. Restoration and brewery plans? Check. Grumpy project manager? Sigh...check.If I wanted to deal with a man just like my uptight dad, I would've told my parents what my brewery plans were. Only I didn't tell anyone. I waited for my trust fund to deliver once I turned twenty-five, and I bought the old train foundry I've been eyeing for years. Then McCoy Cunningham shows up.I'm told he's the best. He's older than me and knows both side of the business-the restoration and the brewing. But all I've gotten from him are scowls and dismissive grunts. McCoy might think he's the expert, he might look at me like I should be in diapers with pigtails, but he's wrong if he thinks he can bulldoze me.All it takes is one look. One time I catch him eyeing me with something other than disdain. One conversation where we're geeking out over yeast strains and hops. And one kiss that leads to more.But I promised myself I'd never settle for a guarded man who thinks he knows everything, especially one who won't put me before business. And after what McCoy's been through, he's all about work. No personal entanglements. I don't want to be left with a broken heart and flat beer once this brewery is finished.Make Me Exhale is a standalone novel in the Oil Barrons series.

LeviI roll into town, planning to only meet the cat shifter female my family wants me to mate, when I witness a lovely vision walking across the street. That same beauty, with hair of spun gold, is challenged by a male in the parking lot. He wants her as his own, to dominate, to destroy. But there's one problem. She happens to be the girl I'm supposed to meet. So I stake my claim.BrionyAll I wanted to do was lay low. I'm a target for people who want to get to my grandmother to lead the pack. But when I'm challenged, another guy steps in and says he's supposed to be my mate. He's a dragon shifter, and he's devastatingly handsome. It's hard to say no, but all he has to offer me is the same of what I have. Isolation and violence. No thanks. But Levi's determined to show me how sizzling being alone with him can be.

LachlanI was supposed to be a brutal and ruthless ruler of my dragon shifter clan, but I've defied the odds to become a calm male who thinks before he acts. I rule my small town fairly, without the bloodshed. The only time I acted with the same selfishness of my parents was when I selected my mate. And for the last four years, I've worried I ruined her life. I want to do better, but I don't know how, and if I don't figure it out, she'll be gone.IndyI know Lachlan didn't grow up like me. He didn't have a loving, supportive, and completely smothering family to dote on him. But when he announced he wanted me to be his, I was elated. I had high hopes. And then we just...existed together. A female dragon shifter is rarely short of pride, but if Lachlan doesn't talk to me, I can't picture a second chance for us. And when someone tries to kills me, I worry we won't be able to try.