Showing results by author "Tate James" in All Categories

I’ve spent too many nights caught between reality and nightmare, each bleeding into the other like a twisted dream I can’t wake from. The Devil’s Backbone Society continues to host our deepest terrors. The weight of betrayal crushes me, pressing down on my chest—bitter and suffocating. I don’t know what would be worse: losing the ones I love, the ones who have become my anchors, or losing myself entirely. In the end, is there even a difference?

You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don’t want to see the rotten teeth. In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.

“Madison Kate Danvers was murdered tonight.” Those words changed my life, and not for the better. They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up. After being charged with a string of offences - and made an example of by my political-minded father - I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind. Hate. Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid-out future. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.

“You’ll always be mine.” The latest taunt from my stalker reminded me I was nothing more than a possession to my father, to the Reapers, to Archer D’Ath. Even to Kody and Steele. Princess Danvers - the prize. His wife. Archer D’Ath’s wife. I hate them. They lied to me. Over and over again. I knew they were lying, and I hate myself for letting it happen. For believing in the fake relationships I want so desperately to be real.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” The words scrawled on the back of my newest stalker mail makes my blood run cold. I have no idea if it’s the lie I know or one that I don’t. Since arriving back into Shadow Grove, I’ve been stalked, tormented, chased, and almost killed. I’ve been lied to, repeatedly, by people I was growing to trust.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, the universe seems to take that as a personal challenge. The Devil’s Backbone Society has their fingers everywhere. It’s more than a secret society―it’s a leash and a prison sentence. The elders insist it’s about making connections that will help you for the rest of your life, but what they don’t tell you is how long―or, in this case, short―your life might be.

Meadowridge College was supposed to be a fresh start at the safest college in America. I'd be rubbing elbows with the elite of the world, while trying to complete my degree and find a path to a brighter future. My trauma had other ideas though. When the panic attacks send me into the arms of a gorgeous stranger in the library, it sets off a chaotic chain of events that end with me being kicked out of my dorms and forced to live and renovate a rundown old house on the edge of campus.

Being in the Guild is our life…or death. Not everyone is created equal, and not everyone is truly cut out for the work we do. It’s not pretty, it’s not glamorous, and it’s sure as shit not moral or good. The weight of the sins we carry can become too much for some, and they crack. When they do, they become a threat. No one quits the Guild. Not really. Either they cut a deal to make themselves useful in another capacity, or they get eliminated. But who, you might ask, can kill a killer? Who scares the boogeyman into running and hiding? Men like me.

Arbon Academy was supposed to be a bright new start. An opportunity for greatness, and something an orphan girl could only dream of. For a while there, it seemed to be exactly that. But Violet's bright future is suddenly looking dim. Arbon Academy and Prince Alex are nothing but a facade. A trap. In a sinister world of ballgowns and backstabbing, of perfumes and politics, of indulgent parties and illegal sword fights, Violet now faces the biggest challenge of all: recovering her shattered heart from the prince who crushed it.

You envision a dream, set a goal, and formulate a plan. I had diligently pursued all of these steps. I was on my way to obtaining my degree, engaging with breathtaking works of art, and unexpectedly falling into bed with my professor. Yeah, that last bit wasn’t part of the grand scheme, but even I had to admit that it wasn’t an unwelcome deviation. Ironically, despite my meticulous planning, attention to detail, and even despite my own deceptions, I ended up being the one deceived. Being manipulated and used.

Beautiful Thorns is book four of four in the Boys of Bellerose series and does not end on a cliff-hanger. This is a mafia/rock star reverse-harem romance series with dark elements. Content is intended for a mature audience.

Every four years, the criminal underworld engages in a game. The Game. The challenges range from the impossible to the deadly to the truly insane. Things that only a crazy person would tackle. I’ve won the game five times. This time will be no different. I’m at the top of my field now, the best of the world’s thieves. There’s nothing I can’t steal, and this time, the game is all about theft, subterfuge, and sleight of hand. Starting with a legendary painting of poppy flowers.

Shattered Dreams is book three of four in the Boys Of Bellerose series. This is a mafia/rock star reverse harem romance series with dark elements and gripping cliffhangers throughout. Content is intended for a mature audience.

I thought I’d reached a whole new low the day I ran from Bellerose. The day I was snatched by mafia goons, beaten half to death, and left wishing they’d finish the job. But then an Angel saved me. His kind of salvation wasn’t the freedom I’d been hoping for, though. Two months later, I’m his prisoner in the gilded cage of his home. His pregnant mistress.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I turned 16. The day I broke my first love's heart, ending things before I could ruin his career as a rock star. But damn, was I wrong. Things got progressively worse from that moment on, until now. Eight years later, when I find myself homeless, jobless, covered in blood, and running from a ghost of my past.

Destroy the Guild. Take Danny home. Live our life. That had been my goal. Now? I want her back. I want the Guild out of her life. I’ll sell my soul and work with my enemy if I have to. Whatever it takes.

All I’ve ever known is the Guild. They clothed me, fed me, raised me. They trained me. And in return I became their perfect weapon, their loyal soldier, their deadly asset. For as long as I can remember, the Guild has been my life. But now, it’s about to become my death. Not everyone is cut out to be a mercenary. I’ve watched countless colleagues fail in their missions and pay the ultimate price. I’ve watched peers lose their minds with the weight of the work we do, and pay with their lives to keep our secrets. I never thought I would become one of them.

My best friend, my right hand, the man I trusted above all others. Zayden de Rosa declared his love for me and pursued me until he shattered the walls between us. Then the man who loved me proved to be a traitor. I never saw that coming.

Vault is a Madison Kate Novella but is intended to be listened to after the Hades series, as several events overlap and this story does contain multiple spoilers for the Hades series.

They say to keep your enemies close and mine are all around me. At the heart of it are four dangerously gorgeous men. The man who wants to light my darkness and already paid the price for loving me. The man who can handle my power and loves every dark inch of me. The man who has been my closest companion and now threatens to upend our carefully balanced world in pursuit of me. But the fourth man is probably the most terrifying. He wants to take the others away. He wants to tear the spinal column out my empire. Destroy my businesses. Destroy me.