Carter Brothers (Gray)

I'm Harlow Evans. Shortly after my parents were murdered. I moved in with my Grandma. It meant switching schools, losing friends, and moving away from the only home I knew. All I wanted was to finish the school year hassle free. Switching seats on that first day altered my life. After surviving the loss of my parents I never thought anything could break me, but then HE came into my life . . . He wants to hurt me. Destroy me. Ruin me. Tragedy brought me here, and a cruel twist of fate has me desperate to leave. There's also someone here that has me fighting to stay, though. All my life I've lived in the shadows, trying to go unnoticed, until I met HIM . . . Malik Carter . . . He's broody, quiet, and holding on to a dark past. From that first meeting I was drawn to him, his painfully gorgeous looks and model physique, but I also knew he was totally out of my league. He's the boy next door who, with his domineering personality, has somehow etched his way into my life. When the Carter Brothers take it upon themselves to protect me from what's coming, I'm not sure whether to be relieved or shocked. You see, when a Carter brother loves, they love fiercely, strongly and protectively. No one can get in their way. They're also used to getting what they want, even if it means getting hurt. There's one thing you should know about the Carter brothers before you hear my story . . . If you mess with one, you mess with them all. Contains mature themes.

I'm Denny Smith. I moved away to my Nan's house after my parents happily kicked me out. Why, you ask? Because I ruined my future, so they say. If you ask me, I was a naive seventeen year-old girl who chose to sleep with the boy she had loved from afar for years, only for him to want nothing to do with me in return. So here I am, back at the one place I had hoped to never return, where I'll attend court as a witness. Now I have to face him . . . Mason. There's no other way around it. He can't know my secret . . . but he will. When I returned, I expected him to have moved on with at least a million and one other girls, to have forgotten the naive school girl with a crush that followed him around like a lost puppy, but I was wrong. What I got when I arrived was five brothers, a Granddad, a pushy Grandma, and a best friend who would stop at nothing to make me stay. But only one of them has the power to make me stay . . . Mason. After everything, can I truly trust him again or will he continue to break my heart? If you mess with one Carter brother, you mess with them all. Contains mature themes.

I'm Kayla Martin . . . I was once sweet and innocent, saw the world bright with color, but now all I see is black and white. He not only ripped my innocence away from me, tortured me and made my life a living hell, but he stole the very soul that made me who I am. I'm a shell of the girl I once knew. But it's all about to change. I'm ready to face my fear. And that's going right back to the very place all this started. Grayson High. I've had to stay back a year to re-take my exams, back to the halls where students whispered, bullied, and taunted me. It's been four years and I'm still trying to perfect the art of faking. It's easy most of the time. My parents never really cared about me; they just saw the fake smile and assumed everything was fabulous, until he waltzes back into my life. Myles freaking Carter. My childhood crush. And he sees straight past my fake smiles to the broken girl inside. But what happens when he finds out about the real me . . . the broken, scared, weak girl? My biggest fear is on the verge of becoming discovered because he becomes my rock. I'm petrified that he'll find out what I've been hiding from everyone. Will he be able to look me in the eye once he finds out my secret? Contains mature themes.

Max . . . I've got my looks, my charm, and well, a smile that melts panties. My charm only gets me so far though. I don't even care when the courts finally give me a punishment for vandalizing the church property; in my defense, I didn't know it was a church. They've got me serving community service working at the local church's Salvation shelter. They think three months here will change me; that I will change my delinquent ways. If only they knew . . . nothing could ever tame me. Lake Miller . . . For the past year of my life I've never stayed anywhere longer than a few weeks. I'd sleep at different homeless shelters, park benches, or anywhere I could find a dry place to sleep; the only belongings I have are carried in my backpack. Now I've ended up in Coldenshire; tired of sleeping on the streets, tired of hurting, and tired of eating scraps of food. So, when a chance encounter for a job at the local church shelter popped up, I took it. I know my time here is running out and that I should run, especially when the town bad boy, who is sexy as sin and annoying as hell, walks through the doors thinking he's God's gift to women. Contains mature themes.

Maverick I'm the eldest of five brothers. Brothers I fought to protect. Brothers I failed. They don't know the truth. I've kept secrets. Told them lies. And now everything I've worked so hard to keep hidden is about to explode and everyone I wanted to protect will be caught in the crossfire. Teagan Meeting him was fate. Him being a part of my past was a coincidence. Falling for him was my destiny. What happens after . . . that is a disaster. Contains mature themes.