Diabetes in Fiction

ATLAS - Lauren Locklear. She has no idea that I would do anything for her. She doesn’t understand the mountains I would climb just to keep her safe. That’s okay though, I’ll make sure she does. She thinks she’s weak, and given the lack of love and support from those closest to her, I can understand why. That changes now, I will make her see the strong woman I see when I look at her. I’ve pined for her in secret, wanting nothing more than to show her what she could have. But with my past still haunting me, I knew it would be best to stay back. That is, until she needs access to health insurance and I see a solution to both her problem and my dilemma. All she has to do is say yes. REN - I’ve done something stupid. Something reckless. Something everyone will judge me for and I’m risking everything. My family. My career. Myself. I’m always too much to handle and the men I’ve allowed into my life have always reminded me of my shortcomings, even when it’s their fists doing the reminding. No one has ever truly cared for me, loved me. And then Atlas Hart asks me to marry him in order to save my life. This isn’t love. It’s barely a friendship, or so I thought. But as the days go by and I see what he so selflessly risks for me, I cannot help but think that maybe… this could be more.

Jo Quinn has everything under control. After her engagement suddenly ends, she is perfectly fine, thank you very much. Until her first love crashes through her walls and back into her life. Hunter Cleary is looking for a new start after coming out, and moving in with her first love might not be the best way to do it, but it definitely isn’t the worst. When her new roommate finds herself planning her ex-fiance’s wedding, Hunter steps up to the plate and volunteers to help in an unconventional way. Jo surprises herself when she agrees to the outlandish plan because, really, it can’t make things worse. The more fake they are with the world, the more real Jo and Hunter are with each other, slowly realizing that there’s so much more to the other than meets the eye. Because even though they’re not fifteen anymore, they still might be exactly who the other needs.

Calliope Harrison has enough on her plate, trying to get through college under the scrutiny of her overbearing father. She doesn’t need his TA, Sebastian Wrighting, analyzing her every move as well. Sebastian is the most arrogant man she’s ever met. He and the stick up his you-know-what are perfect for each other. Sebastian may be lacking in certain social areas, but he is an excellent judge of character. All the evidence he’s gathered has determined that Calliope is a spoiled brat and deserves the tight rein his mentor, Professor Harrison, keeps on her. As their paths continue to cross, every encounter gives them tantalizing glimpses into what the other person is truly like. The more they learn, the more they want to know. When Sebastian takes the first step toward bridging the gap, Callie chooses to meet him halfway. Maybe they can prove that two wrongs really can make a right.

Inès Dubois has it all planned out, her studies, her career, and a life free from distractions. But one distraction has been impossible to Kingsley Ashford, her friend and unrequited crush. For years, Kingsley has kept her in the friend zone, leaving Inès frustrated. When the handsome Nathan Salvatore asks her out, Inès believes it is time to move on from Kingsley. But is she ready to let him go? Kingsley Ashford’s life has always been about control, duty, and hiding his true feelings for Inès. But when Inès agrees to go on a date with another man, it stirs up possessive feelings he has been trying to ignore. Scared he will lose her, Kingsley makes a confession to Inè he wants her. They are thrust into uncharted territory, risking their friendship as they navigate their newly revealed feelings. Their relationship is soon tested when secrets come to light, and Inès struggles with unwanted attention from Nathan. Can their love survive, or will they lose each other forever?

Ash Keller prefers to keep her heart colder than the morgue. Having sworn off love after a disastrous breakup, she’s learned to thrive in her new career as a death doula. When her millionaire client, Augustus Fox, asks her to accompany him on an all-expenses paid trip to mend family ties and fulfill last wishes, she agrees. There’s just one nail in her coffin. Nathaniel Whitford—her client’s absurdly gorgeous, grumpy doctor of a grandson—is along for the trip. A man who has hated her guts since she crashed his wedding years ago. It’ll be a miracle if she survives this vacation without being tossed into a volcano. Still, Ash refuses to let Nathaniel’s smug smirk and rippling pectorals take her focus away from her death doula-ing duties. She can survive two weeks in paradise with his offensively handsome face. But when falling coconuts and family drama threaten to derail the vacation, Ash and Nathaniel strike a deal: Bury their animosity and make the vacation perfect for Augustus. Soon, a tentative bond—and mutual attraction—forms between the unlikely pair. With every tropical misadventure and steamy late-night hookup, Ash realizes there’s more to Nathaniel than his barbed banter and uptight façade. Suddenly love seems more complicated than death. And as the trip comes to an end, Ash must decide whether she’ll keep her heart six feet under or risk it all…for better or hearse.

Once a promising competitive swimmer, twenty-one-year-old Mason Burke never imagined his life would look like this. After a family crisis pulled him back to his hometown, he’s now a college dropout working as a lifeguard on the shores of Lake Michigan, scraping by on bills while raising his teenage sister. Then Hunter Davis shows up. A botany graduate student, Hunter’s in town for the summer to research lakeshore plants. But it feels like his real mission is to get under Mason’s skin, and it’s working. Mason tells himself he doesn’t have time for distractions—especially ones with pretty eyes, a sharp tongue, and a smile he can’t seem to stop noticing. As the summer heats up, so does the tension between them. It’s clear the beach isn’t big enough for the two of them… and neither is Mason’s carefully guarded heart. SINGING SANDS is a steamy summer romance about a grumpy lifeguard and a witty botany researcher who discover that some tides are worth surrendering to.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey launches a super sexy sports romance series with a rom-com about a bad boy professional athlete who falls for his biggest fan… Wells Whitaker was once golf’s hottest rising star, but lately, all he has to show for his ‘promising’ career is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs, and one remaining supporter. No matter how bad he plays, the beautiful, sunny redhead is always on the sidelines. He curses, she cheers. He scowls, she smiles. But when Wells quits in a blaze of glory and his fangirl finally goes home, he knows he made the greatest mistake of his life. Josephine Doyle believed in the gorgeous, grumpy golfer, even when he didn’t believe in himself. Yet after he throws in the towel, she begins to wonder if her faith was misplaced. Then a determined Wells shows up at her door with a wild proposal: be his new caddy, help him turn his game around, and split the prize money. And considering Josephine’s professional and personal life is in shambles, she could really use the cash… As they travel together, spending days on the green and nights in neighboring hotel rooms, sparks fly. Before long, they’re inseparable, Wells starts winning again, and Josephine is surprised to find a sweet, thoughtful guy underneath his gruff, growly exterior. This hot man wants to brush her hair, feed her snacks, and take bubble baths together? Is this real life? But Wells is technically her boss and an athlete falling for his fangirl would be ridiculous… right?

Being an assistant is not the easiest job in the world, and that’s especially true when your boss is Henry Cai, a Navy SEAL-turned CIA agent-turned assassin. You’d expect him to be harsh and cruel given his traumatic past and violent profession, but to Bethany “Beth” Reed, he’s a best friend, a partner…and the man she’s desperately in love with. She’s committed to hiding how she feels for him forever, but when one of his assignments goes horribly wrong and they are forced to hide out on a secluded island—things start to heat up, and not just because of the tropical climate. But with the looming threat of those hunting them and the dark truths of Henry’s past revealing themselves, their budding romance falls into jeopardy in more ways than one. It turns out the real enemy was never the people seeking vengeance upon them, it’s the fears and doubts festering inside a wounded heart that have now started to rot. If Henry and Beth don’t figure out a way to let go of the past and fight for their future, then history is bound to repeat itself, only this time they’ll lose everything. Assistant to the Assassin is the first book in the Criminal Hearts series, a collection of standalone dark romantic comedies. Inspired by Grosse Pointe Blank, Killers, and the Red franchise; you’ll laugh, you’ll swoon, and you’ll think twice before accepting a job as a hot guy’s assistant.

Payton McCrory is just your average junior at a Southern California college who happens to be secretly in love with her best guy friend . . . until she overhears her crush telling someone that she is “not his type” because he likes “sweet” girls. This incident spurs Payton onto an exploration of what it means to be sweet, with the help of her boy-crazy best friend and some unexpected influences along the way.  During Payton’s journey, she is confronted with the realities of betrayal, substance abuse, chronic illness, and sexual trauma—each of these elements that lead to her encounter with a surprisingly personal Divine Presence. This is not your everyday cheesy faith-based romance story. The plot twists of this tale mirror the uncertainties of real life, and readers will identify with Payton’s questions: Is there a God? Why do terrible things happen? Am I loved?  While readers may not be given answers as to the fate of each character, they will be given hope, along with the all-important and life-changing answers to these difficult questions.

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

He loathes the holidays. She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with Bah, Humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonable names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy dose of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the store’s owners confess its dire financial state, Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment. With the Baileys’ requests to minimize expenses, win new customers, and make record sales dancing in their heads, Jonathan and Gabby conclude—barring a financial Christmas miracle—one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime’s worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr. Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby’s deceptive ex won’t quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she’s called her cold-hearted enemy? Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out—or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know—and love—each other in ways they never thought possible.

He’s a flawed perfectionist… I can read women better than any blueprint. I understand their thoughts and feelings, their secret desires and insecurities, and I know how to get rid of them once I get off. But all bets are off when Tiel Desai slams into my life. She redefines what it means to be friends, and she makes it sound like the filthiest thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t read the gorgeous conservatory-trained violinist, but she’s the only one keeping me from shattering by small degrees, and I can’t let her go. She’s wildly independent… My past—and New Jersey—are far behind me, and now my life is blissfully full of music: playing, teaching, and lecturing, and scouring Boston’s underground scene with an annoyingly beautiful, troubled, tattooed architect. I’m defenseless against his rooftop kisses, our nearly naked dance parties, the snuggletimes that turn into sexytimes, and his deep, demanding voice. I have Sam Walsh stuck in my head like a song on repeat, and I’m happy pretending history won’t catch up with me. The one thing they have in common is a rock-solid disregard for the rules. They find more in each other than they ever realized they were missing, but they might have to fall apart before they can come together. It’s the wrongs that make the rights come to life.