The Ties That Bind: The Borderlands Book 1

When his wife died aboard The Defender in the Matrovean attack, all Michael wanted to do was join her in death. He sought oblivion but the Guild needed his skills as a cartographer as they sent teams inland to survey the planet outside of the town limits of Haven. Pulled back from the edge of oblivion for one last job, Mateo promises Michael that there are plenty of things on the alien world that could kill him if he looks hard enough. Hoping for a quick death, Michael agrees, but soon finds out there is more to the survey than he expected. Will Michael find the death he craves and doom the rest of his team into the bargain?

Brownie Oxford, now going by the name Bonnie Brown, is trying her best to avoid notice. She found someone to teach her the skills she needs to control her abilities and people have stopped leaving dead bodies on the lawn in front of her apartment building. Unfortunately, she is surrounded on all sides by Federal Agents trying to confirm she is Brownie Oxford so she once again be an asset. Maintaining her guise as a mild mannered seamstress and student of fashion isn’t easy, especially when the beast supposedly trapped by the Searchers starts visiting and ghosts start making demands. Can Brownie manage to keep this new life she built when even one false step could betray her?

After the dawn ritual on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie is welcomed by those of Abraham's pantheon. While she knows she isn't a Walker no one is quite willing to tell her exactly what she is other than 'family'. They are excited about the skills she might develop as her training begins and she realizes that she is the latest entertainment to break up the long monotony of their eternity. As she struggles to maintain her place in the regular world and complete her midterms, the mystical world and her newly developing abilities threaten to intrude. The line between her separate worlds is thin and beginning to blur. How long can Cassie remain a part of both?

After surviving an attack by the Brotherhood, Ivy tries to get back to normal life preparing for the launch of Wildwood's retail venture. Unfortunately others have different expectations. The head of the Seers shows up demanding Irina and Nick be turned over to him and Hamilton demands she figure out who else the Brotherhood paid off. Can Ivy figure things out before more attacks occur?

After being shot, Ivy Chambers settles in to her home in Wildwood to recover and read through her purloined files. Her recovery time is interrupted when the Head of the Mage Clan calls reporting that the golems running the Shadow Council Headquarters are malfunctioning. While she knows very little about golems, Hamilton can't risk anyone knowing he's lost control and since Ivy's ancestor created the golems, she's the one who needs to fix them. With a crash course in golems under her belt, Ivy returns to the archives, but it isn't only her family's actions causing problems. It seems more than the golems are malfunctioning. Can Ivy settle things without taking more damage or is the world destined to spin even further out of control?

Brownie Oxford is on the run. After the death of both Matheson and Dave in the Mayenfield Cemetery, she takes Matheson's rental car and sneaks out of town, eluding those watching her. Unable to resist the lure of finding out more about her own past, Brownie finds herself making a brief stop at the Matheson Estate before finding a place to hide out. Unfortunately, the brief visit leaves her with more questions than it answered. Away from the estate, Brownie starts a new life under an assumed name and alters her appearance. As Brownie attempts normality a serial killer starts stashing the bodies of his victims in cemeteries bringing the attention of Swift and threatening Brownie's attempt at a normal life. Is Brownie's disguise enough to fool her old handler into believing she is someone else? And just who is killing all those people?

Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..."  But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"

The kiss grew more passionate as he felt her warm supple body pressing against his chest. He couldn't believe how soft she was. He was gentler this time, making love to her with a slow, languorous pace, pausing now and then to check the expression on her face. Kira was. transported. She no longer felt the fabric of the sheets underneath her. One moment, she was floating in the air, cuddled by cotton candy clouds. The next, she'd become one with a dinghy, bobbing up and down with the undulating waves. His scent enveloped her. He was on top of her, using his arms to support his weight and avoid crushing her. She snuggled up closer to him, safe and snug, cocooned in his warmth. Kira had always marvelled at Austyn's stamina, but he outdid himself tonight. In the midst of overwhelming rapture, Kira still had the presence of mind to broach the subject she'd been meaning to bring up. 'My dad's medical bills.' Austyn paused. He frowned as he looked into those beseeching eyes. 'It'll be taken care of by the end of business day tomorrow,' he said with a bit of an edge in his voice. Kira breathed out. ****** She is a 21-year-old college student who dreams of becoming a journalist. He is the heir of the McCarthy family and president of a business empire. She is bright-eyed and vivacious, a glass-half-full kind of gal. When life throws her a curveball, she knocks it out of the park. He is the archetypal alpha male, aggressive and domineering. Endowed with both brains and brawn, he steamrolls over his enemies and rules his company with an iron fist. The two would never have crossed paths if not for a cruel twist of fate. Kira's world was turned upside down when her father was hospitalised after a car accident. The medical bills were astronomical. Austyn McCarthy offered her a way out. The price: becoming his contract wife. At night, he consummated their marriage but called out another woman's name. Who was she? Why did Austyn marry Kira if he was in love with someone else? Kira was his lawful wife, but she had no right to ask these questions. Then one day, the woman showed up in front of her.

After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."

The night before her engagement, Valerie was tricked by her boyfriend and stepsister into spending the night with a stranger. After the night together, the man vanished. Later, her boyfriend accused her of cheating, revealing his affair with her stepsister. Pressured by her father, Valerie married an unconscious man in place of her stepsister. Valerie exposed the scheme, sabotaged her father’s ambitions, and transformed herself. When her husband woke and chased her to the airport, she calmly refused him, saying, "It's over between us." He held her firmly. "You married me, so you must commit."

"I am flawed in every way possible," she said. "Good, I never asked for perfection," he replied immediately. When Sapphire Conrad, the wayward daughter of the Conrad Family, was called back to New York after running away from home to Gisborne, she only had a plan. Appear at the mansion, listen to whatever nonsense she had to say and say no to it, put up a strong font, then go back to her kids in Gisborne. Using her energy while trying to get revenge on all of them is a total waste of time even though they deserved to be trampled upon for what they did to her. It sounds like an easy enough plan until she got there and was asked to get into a marriage of convenience. Staying at New York was risky, she would be forced to face her ex-fiance who she had a nine years relationship with, the ex-best friend who snatched her fiance, her sister and mother who hate her with passion, and the list was longer than just that. But she couldn't leave her twin brother who is in danger there and there is this tiny little fact that Mr. Alexander Antonio Aldine, the CEO of Triple A Group definitely won't let her go.

"Ms. Crawford, it’s time for you to divorce Mr. Larsen and come home. You're the only heiress the Master's waiting for.” ~•~ For the sake of love, Amara accepted the arranged marriage with Tobias William Larsen. She did everything to gain her husband’s heart but when his old love returned, she realized that all her effort was all for naught. Tobias demanded a divorce on the night of their wedding anniversary, even at the price of threatening her. Heartbroken, she finally dropped all her illusions about him and returned home to be the heiress. The next time she met Tobias, they were no longer couples but opponents. "Mr. Larsen, should I remind you again? We've divorced." "Amara, that's the stupidest mistake I've ever made. Please come back to me."