North Brothers (Salsbury)

In a city where image is everything, Gabriella turns heads for all the wrong reasons. The marks that slash across her neck and face turn people away. But I see the beauty that lies beneath, feel a kinship to her pain. I regret the way she found me-mugged and left for dead. I should walk away, follow the rules, but I can't. I want to see her again. There's only one problem. My brother convinced her I'm gay. I use that lie to my advantage, persuade her to be my pretend girlfriend, to help protect my fake-sexual identity from my judgmental family. But what starts as a shameless excuse to be near her leads to crossed lines and midnight confessions. I'm not who I led her to believe. I'm sin wrapped in silk. Betrayal masked by beauty. And she's not the only one with scars . . .

The North name is a heavy burden. Two things I learned young-the best way to keep my head on is to keep my head down, and . . . never fall in love. But I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress. Lillian came into my life swinging. Mistaking me for my abusive twin brother, she greets me with a swift kick to the balls and a busted lip. Then she really shakes up my world. She needs her job, but she needs a break just as much. And nothing silences my demons as efficiently as playing the hero. To protect her from my jerk twin-her boss-I take her on a business trip and quickly learn that she's different. Blunt. Honest. Intriguingly strange. I'm transfixed, so when she unknowingly sinks a multimillion-dollar deal, I don't speak up. Something my family won't forgive. Now, I have a choice to make. I can go against my own blood and burn the North legacy to the ground, or play it safe, commit to my self-imposed rules and predestined future. Choosing her would ruin my life as I know it, but I'm starting to wonder if a life without her is worth living.

Cruel North is an angsty second-chance, enemies to lovers romance where the most hated man in the North Brothers world finally gets brought to his knees. A teenage girl with my eyes and a familiar glare, strolls into my life and she's calling me Dad. Vanessa was my high school girlfriend and the smartest person I knew. She had a plan, a future, and she swore nothing would get in the way. Until she became pregnant. I thought we agreed on our plan. I sent her the money. Then she disappeared. Her parents told me she was in South America for a year. They told me she needed space. I never heard from her again. Seventeen years later and she's back. But it's not just about us anymore. We have a daughter. Wanting to get to know her, I convince them to move in with me for one month. I'm so angry with Vanessa and she seems to be equally upset. Every insult from her smart mouth invites me to engage. The brutal chemistry between us ignites old embers. I wish I could hate her. Instead, I want her. But too much time has passed, and I fear some hurts run too deep to heal. At the end of thirty days, I'll have to let them go. Unless I figure out a way to keep them.