Heartbreakers and Heroes Read online

  Heartbreakers & Heroes

  Virginia Nelson

  Jennie Marts

  Carmen Falcone

  Veronica Forand

  Cody Gary

  Christine Glover

  TJ Kline

  Jodi Linton

  Heather Long

  Sharla Lovelace

  Michelle Major

  Hayson Manning

  Contents

  Copyright

  HEARTBREAKERS AND HEROES

  Hiding with the Heartbreaker

  Hiding with the Heartbreaker

  Dedication

  Rule #1 - Protect the innocent.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Also by Virginia Nelson

  How to Unbreak a Heart

  How to Unbreak a Heart

  Dedication

  Rule #2: If you love her, don’t let her go.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Her Heartbreaker Boss

  Her Heartbreaker Boss

  Dedication

  Rule #3: Never leave your woman unsatisfied.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Carmen Falcone

  Her Unwanted Hero

  Her Unwanted Hero

  Rule #4: A real man always helps someone in need... he may be the only one who does.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Veronica Forand

  How to Be a Heartbreaker

  How to be a Heartbreaker

  Dedication

  Rule #5 - Never Kiss And Tell

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Codi Gary

  Reforming the Heartbreaker

  Reforming the Heartbreaker

  Dedication

  Rule #6: A real man never breaks a woman’s heart.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Christine Glover

  Once a Heartbreaker

  Once a Heartbreaker

  Dedication

  Rule #7: A real man never lies, especially to a woman.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by TJ Kline

  Make Mine a Heartbreaker

  Make Mine a Heartbreaker

  Rule # 8: Love should always be fun…

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  9. Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Jodi Linton

  Hometown Heartbreaker

  Hometown Heartbreaker

  Dedication

  Rule #9 A real man always puts his best foot forward.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  About the Author

  Also by Heather Long

  Hero in Disguise

  Hero in Disguise

  Dedication

  Rule #10: A real man doesn’t buy respect. He earns it.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Sharla Lovelace

  Second Chance Hero

  Second Chance Hero

  Dedication

  Rule #11: A real man doesn’t build himself up by tearing others down.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Tutoring the Heartbreaker to Love

  Tutoring the Heartbreaker to Love

  Dedication

  Rule #12 A real man doesn’t touch the hired help.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Hayson Manning

  A Letter from John Stone

  Copyright © 2016 USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennie Marts, USA TODAY Bestselling author Virginia Nelson, Heather Long, Carmen Falcone, Veronica Forand, Codi Gary, Christine Glover, T.J. Kline, Jodi Linton, Sharla Lovelace, Michelle Major, & Hayson Manning

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  Cover Design by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

  HEARTBREAKERS AND HEROES

  Love doesn’t always play by the rules…

  Get your hands on TWELVE sexy HEARTBREAKERS AND HEROES, a brotherhood bound by their troubled youth. A tragedy reminds them of the mentor who taught them all the rules to become a man. But some of them haven’t been following the rules…These TWELVE new novellas from USA Today bestsellers and your favorite contemporary authors are sure get your pulse racing and heart pounding.

  USA Today bestseller Virginia Nelson HIDING WITH THE HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: Protect the innocent.

  Making people laugh for a living is easy, but when a beautiful stranger needs Aloysius Sutton’s help, he has to find a way to become Jude’s hero.

  USA Today bestseller Jennie Marts HOW TO UNBREAK A HEART

  Rule: If you love her, don’t let her go.

  Solitary cowboy, Trip Turner finally has a chance to correct the mistakes he made when he let the woman he loved walk out of his life twelve years ago. But now that Bre Wilson is back, will he be able to unbreak her heart?

  Carmen Falcone HER HEARTBREAKER BOSS

  Rule: Never leave your woman unsatisfied.

  Can Stefano and Roxie resist the heat flaring between them or will working together force them to face their rocky past and give them the happily ever after they deserve?

  Veronica Forand HER UNWANTED HERO

  Rule: A real man always helps someone in need… he may be the only one who does.

  A disenchanted police officer must choose between keeping a woman’s affection or keeping her alive.

  Codi Gary HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: A real man never kisses and tells.

  When an A list actor returns to his hometown, old wounds and fresh gossip emerge… along with a second chance at love, if he’s brave enough to stick around.

  Christine Glover REFORMING THE HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: A real man never breaks a woman’s heart.

  Can Olympic mountain bike champion Ryder Bennett and his public relations rep Addison Carrington keep things professional between them this time around, or will they risk a sexy scandal for a chance at love?

  T.J. Kline ONCE A HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: A real man never lies, especially to a woman.

  Ty Preston ran out on the woman he loved twelve years ago, but now he’s back to prove he’s a changed man. However, Rayne can’t risk getting her heart broken by the cowboy again.

  Jodi Linton MAKE MINE A HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: Love should always be fun.

  She's about to change this playboy's rule book.

  Heather Long HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKER

  Rule: A real man always puts his best foot forward.

  When an old friend asks Zeke to step up, he can’t say no. The only problem is Charity Lane. What wouldn’t the pundits give to know she’s the one who made him baseball’s “friar” in the first place.

  Sharla Lovelace HERO IN DISGUISE

  Rule: A real man doesn’t buy respect, he earns it.

  Billionaire playboy Jake Jericho thinks he has it all, until one phone call reminds him otherwise. Can one week in disguise reform this trust fund playboy, or will his deception destroy the only real love he’s ever known?

  Michelle Major SECOND CHANCE HERO

  Rule: A real man doesn’t build himself up by tearing someone else down.

  Travis Jackson might not be the white knight Hailey Moore needs, but he’ll risk his future to win her heart.

  Hayson Manning TUTORING THE HEARTBREAKER TO LOVE

  Rule: A real man never touches the hired help.

  Can Savannah teach serial heartbreaker Walker to be domesticated in ten days and convince them that maybe they can have s shot at a ‘them’ or can Walker convince Savannah there can be a ‘them’ on his terms only?

  TWELVE STORIES… 800 pages of sexy reading…

  Hiding with the Heartbreaker

  By Virginia Nelson

  Edited by Heather Long

  Hiding with the Heartbreaker

  Born to money and rather blasé about it, Aloysius James McCallister Sutton is the third son of an oil baron. He turned to video games at a young age and eventually became a star (much to his family's dismay) because of his hilarious internet videos. When a pal asks him to help out his girlfriend's little sister, his first response is not only no, but hell no. But they are a brotherhood, and their mentor told him that he must protect the innocent...

  When Jude Cramer is the only witness to a bungled burglary resulting in murder, the police point the finger at her as the guilty party. Not sure what to do, she runs to the one person she can trust—her sister. But her pregnant sister isn't much help, instead foisting off her protection on a man who takes absolutely nothing seriously.

  Can Jude find love while she’s Hiding with the Heartbreaker?

  To Mardi – Thanks for being such a wonderful friend and neighbor. Seriously, love ya, lady

  Rule #1 - Protect the innocent.

  Chapter 1

  The entire video was basically one long penis joke, set to song, but as Aloysius James McCallister Sutton watched the playback of his edited piece, he couldn’t stop his own grin. It pleased him to see his grandfather’s arrogant brow, his father’s somewhat regal nose, and his mother’s playful smile, all shuffled around under his own tumble of too-long brown hair.

  Somehow, knowing he resembled his father and that dear old Dad would watch the wildly offensive video—likely cringing the whole time—amused Al more than all of the millions of viewers subscribed to his channel on the internet.

  “I think you have another winner, Jimme Money,” Carpenter crowed.

  His partner in crime, so to speak, always supported and sometimes costarred in the videos. He never wrote them, leaving the hard part to Al, but he remained ever-willing to do whatever stupid thing Al came up with for the video. Carpenter, though, became excited about the money, not the laughs.

  Regardless of the number of hits they might get, Al hadn’t ever been in it for the money. None of it mattered to him, after all—his family already had more money than he’d ever manage to spend in one lifetime. Money didn’t change lives, his mentor used to say, it only changed where you lived them.

  No, for him the important part was the laughter.

  Clicking upload, he leaned back in his chair and considered the studio around him. It wasn’t anything his father would approve of, which added another layer of pleasure for Al. But Stone would appreciate the life he’d built for himself. Throughout his lifetime, the one man who understood—and managed to tame, even temporarily—his nature had been John Stone. Then again, Stone would likely never see the studio or any other part of Al’s current life. The man was too dedicated to his ranch and whatever new batch of unwieldy hellions had been shipped into his care to visit his former boys.

  Understanding Stone’s commitment and the importance of his work, Al tried to make it out to the Saddle Creek Ranch once a year. The boys usually were excited to meet him—it wasn’t every day that most of them got to meet a famous internet sensation, after all—but Al didn’t go for the kids. Not if he was really honest with himself, anyway.

  He went for Stone.

  As if his mentor knew Al thought of him, a text came in from his number. Thumbing his phone awake, Al scanned the words with a growing sense of dread.

  John is in a coma. They’ve put him on life support. It looks bad.

  Tapping his fingertips on his desk, Al tried to hide his upset. Carpenter got worked up easily, so if he knew Al worried, he’d immediately think it was a money thing and freak out.

  “I’m going out of town for a while, Carpenter. You can edit and post a video of extras cut from other videos this year
if I’m not back by next week, right?” There, his modulated tone would hopefully delay any panic in his partner.

  Carpenter sputtered, jamming his pale, freckled fingers into his mop of curling red hair. “What? Summertime is when we get the most hits! You know this, Jimme, which is why we do the extra videos over the holidays. The viewers—”

  “Will be fine with it,” Al said. “And my name isn’t Jimme. You always seem to forget; Jimme Money is a character. I’m Al, and I’m going out of town for a while. Look, you can either upload it, or we’ll miss a week. You pick.”

  Snagging his laptop off the desk, he slid it into a travel backpack and didn’t look up. Even without seeing him, he heard Carpenter spazzing out in the background. He tried to tune it out, instead wondering about Stone, but some of his partner’s words soaked through the worry.

  “We cannot simply miss a week. It doesn’t work that way. We’ve uploaded a video a week for more than five years. Five years, Jimme, builds up an expectation in the audience. They depend—”

  Cutting Carpenter off with a wave of his hand, Al pointed out what seemed to him to be obvious. “They don’t depend on a video, Carpenter. They might want a laugh, but they’ll be fine for a week if you don’t want to upload extras.”

  “Bullshit, man. Bullshit. They’ll look for your video and, if it isn’t there, they’ll go on to the next thing. We’ll lose subscribers and hits, which means we’ll lose money. Bottom line, man, bottom line.”

  The only line Al was concerned with right then likely beeping away in a hospital bed. Maybe alone. After all the lives he’d touched, Stone might be alone.

  The thought sent ice and dread to Al’s heart.

  “So upload the extras. Money isn’t the most important thing in life, nor is uploading videos.” With a few clicks on his phone, he had a plane ticket on the next commercial flight aimed toward the ranch. A couple seconds more landed him reservations at the hotel nearest Mercy General—the hospital in the town nearest to Saddle Creek Ranch. The last time he’d been in Mercy General was to fix up an arm he broke jumping off a cliff into his favorite pond on the property. This visit would be a far more somber one, indeed.