Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

I think I hate my husband, but I’m trying very hard not to. He leaves me for hours, days on end. His friends don’t know I exist, and even after three years of marriage, we’ve still never been intimate… Does he keep me close just so he can hurt me? So he can show me he owns me like my father used to? When I take him to therapy I expect it to help, even if I forced him into it, but that’s the true beginning of our end. My therapist makes me feel things my husband never has, watches me, thinks about me, worries for me, his blue eyes following wherever I go.

We're not free to give into this. She's 19, and I'm 38. And I'm her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.

"Marry me." "What?" I stared back at him, unblinking. He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. "I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me." What's an 18-year-old girl who was madly in love with her 19-year-old boyfriend say? Of course, I said yes. Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel. Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why.

Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man. Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good. Think again, Cassie.