FOLLOW ME
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Rattled was originally a short story included in an anthology to raise money for Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness. The original short, Rattled, is NOW part of Still Rattled. However, you can read Rattled, as it originally appeared, before it was expanded into Still Rattled.
She enters the tattoo shop with an envelope full of memories and a heart filled with longing. What she leaves with is more than she dreamed of, and it just might be the first step to healing the wounds of the past.
Two things stand in the way of Madison Cross realizing her dream of studying music performance and composition at a prestigious college:
1) Her parents, who don’t understand or get her, and want her to attend a community college and settle on a career that will actually support her one day; and
2) A private instructor.
No music school is going to take her seriously with only middle and high school instruction, but she has never been given the opportunity for private instructions (see #1 above). Her one shot is convincing Mrs. Dosek, a well-respected pianist who teaches for free, but the woman won’t return an email, let alone talk to her.
When Madison discovers a pink box of letters hidden in her parents’ attic, she’s consumed with wanting to know more about the woman who wrote them. Through reading the heartbreaking letters, Madison comes to learn more than she ever dreamed of about herself, but now she has to face her biggest fear, and it has nothing to do with college. She must learn where she came from in order to find out where she’s going.
Twelve years Dylan White has waited.
Twelve years since his family was yanked away
Twelve years of being alone—except for the friends he met at Baxter, who are now his family.
His brother, Noah, has disappeared.
His sister, Nina, just turned eighteen, but he has no way to find her.
Mary Robins wears her heart on her sleeve.
And it’s tattooed on her chest—the dog tags of the man she worshiped, surrounded by beautiful ribbons.
Her only purpose in life is to take care of those who are in need. Heal the broken and comfort that wounded—the very reason she’s becoming a nurse.
Except, she’s never allowed anyone to take care of her. Not in a very long time.
No one has wanted to take care of her until she meets Dylan and the Baxter boys. They’re a weird bunch – fiercely loyal and… hers.
Dylan is searching for something, and so is Mary. Searching for family, searching for friendships, and searching for love. Can they find what they so desperately need in each other?
Twelve years since Nina White’s family was ripped apart.
Twelve years since she’s seen her siblings.
Twelve years she’s had to fight for everything, including her own life and her freedom.
Tex has known Nina since she was a smart-mouthed, tough teen working with him at Miguel’s Gym. Tex knows nothing of Nina’s past, and he’s never had to fight for anything, until he decides he wants Nina, scars and all.
Nina has had it bad for Tex, not that she’d ever tell him. His sweet smile and a heart the size of Texas are way too good for her. If he ever learned about the ugliness of her past, he’d go back to his perfect family and his perfect home and his perfect life. What sane man wouldn’t?
Tex insists that she try to find her family.
Tex insists that she lower the walls surrounding her heart.
Tex insists that she love him back.
One kiss sends her world spinning out of control. The past has a way of catching up with you, and the future she never dreamed of is within her grasp. Will it be fleeting? Or can she make it hers
A brief meeting
An immediate attraction
A weekend to remember.
Christian Sucato wishes he’d never agreed to go on tour once he meets Bethany Dalton. But, he needs to go, and it’s not for the music. There’s someone he must find.
Bethany Dalton has avoided men and complications through college but just as she nears graduation, Christian Sucato steps into her life and nothing is ever going to be the same. Their weekend together was mind-blowing and bone melting, but is it a fling or real? Will there be anything left when he returns?
Two pregnancy tests.
One positive result.
His, not hers.
And Christian is left wondering if he’ll ever have the one thing he’s always wanted. A family and people that belong to him that are his blood. He’s not even sure he’ll live to have the chance.
Will Bethany remain?
Is it fair to even ask?
Noelle Dubois had the perfect life. She’d studied in Paris, became a pastry chef at a vineyard, and had the love and support of both parents.
In an instant, all that changed and now she’s back home in New York, without a job, taking care of her eight-year-old brother and living with her aging grandparents while waiting for her mother’s murderer to stand trial.
Six months of limbo.
Six months of waiting.
Six months to learn that all she ever dreamed about has gone up in smoke.
Sean Vines has dealt with his past and moved on.
He has goals and dreams, and only time and hard work will see them accomplished.
Things are good until a pastry chef and an eight-year-old boy churn up the memories from his childhood, and he learns that some things don’t stay buried permanently, no matter how much he may want them too.
Except this time it isn’t Sean who is facing horrific circumstances, but a child, and it’s his turn to step up and be that adult to help get him through this special kind of hell. And just maybe, he’ll find a lot more than he dreamed possible.
The funny thing about dreams, they can be altered by the people you meet, and that’s when you realize that maybe you just hadn’t dreamed big enough.
Thirteen years they’ve waited.
Thirteen years since they were torn apart.
Dylan White’s siblings were torn from him at the age of twelve following his parents’ arrest, and it’s taken him years to track them down. Now his sister Nina is living with him and together they are doing what they can to reunite the family. But with the youngest only being seventeen, it seems like an impossibility.
Perhaps with a little twist of fate, and a bit of holiday magic, Dylan will finally get the greatest gift of all: a family for Christmas.
Christian Sucato may have found love in Shake, Rattle and Roll, but he hadn’t found his family. Did the DNA kit Bethany give him lead to any answers?
Christian Sucato had spent his life wondering why he was abandoned at birth. When a DNA test matches him to a brother, Christian hopes that he will finally find the answers he’d always been searching for. However, he hadn’t expected a family, and he’s not quite prepared for the answers he’s about to get.
But, once the dust settles, will more fractures upset Christian’s world? Will Christian be forced to choose one of his best friends over his brother?
Scarlett Hannigan is really good at running away. She’s had quite a bit of practice. In the beginning, she’d run away from her family. She’d ran straight into the arms of a man. His name was Tony Volta, and she was pretty sure he was THE ONE… until he wasn’t.
Tony had finally found the right woman, one he wanted to share his life with. But then, one day, he’d come home and found her gone. She’d disappeared, just like she did when she left her family. Only Tony, an FBI guy, wasn’t willing to sit around and wait for her to return. He did what any reasonable, smart man who is desperately in love with a woman would do. He goes to the only place he knows he’ll find her. And he waits. And waits. And waits. And six months later, she’s back. He knew she would come home eventually. He just wishes that he was that home for her.
The day of reckoning has arrived. Scarlett must face her family and the man she loves all at the same time. Her family might forgive her. But can Tony? At the very least, he deserves an explanation. She deserves to get back the things she left behind. The most important thing she left behind – his heart.
One photo made them enemies.
Ryan Stark took it and wants to use it to promote his business.
Moira Murphy hates it and wants it destroyed. It’s a memory of the worst day in her life.
Now, they are stuck with each other in Paris.
Ryan Stark ended up with more questions about his past after he went through his grandmother’s storage unit. Those answers can only be found in France.
Moira has been keeping secrets from her best friend while building for her future. Ryan’s arrival could expose everything when she is tasked with watching over him under the guise of being his tour guide.
Ryan accepts Moira as the babysitter he does not need or want, but only because he is tasked with learning the truth and making certain all is well.
As the layers of secrets are peeled away, will Ryan and Moira discover that they can not only be friends but more, or will it be too hard to overcome the loss of trust?
The Baxter Boys may not be with Ryan in France physically, but they are there in spirit and check in often. They do not like one of their own being so far away and everyone will be happy when Ryan returns…if he returns.
