There’s something they don’t tell you about fairy tales. Happily ever after isn’t promised. Happy forever? Now, that’s a thing... I met my Prince Charming right out of pigtails and just before that point where boys stop being icky, and they just smell bad. Before I knew it, we went from best friends growing up to a whirlwind romance full of dream come trues. We were planning a forever that every love-soaked romance novel tries to recreate. I was living the ultimate romantic love story – skipped the frog phase and went straight to full blown prince. My life was perfect - until it wasn’t... I’m dying. The fairy tale just changed a bit, didn’t it? I can’t leave until those left behind know how to live their happy forever…without me. I won’t get the forever with them, but they’ll get a forever with me. I’m Cassidy O’Reilly…and this is my story.

The Revolution has cost Verity Sterrett nearly everything. Redcoats killed her father and burned her home. Verity is forced into living with her Loyalist uncle, who is determined to marry her off to a brutal British officer among those boarding with the family. And her beloved brother and his best friend Theo, the man Verity loves, are off fighting for independence. When one of the Redcoats brags of covert plans for an ambush, Verity sees her chance to aid her cause. It’s the first step in her role as a spy in Martha Washington’s spy ring. Major Theodore Kinnard volunteered to fight for his new nation with ideals of chivalry and honor. War has shattered those ideals. Gifted at sharpshooting, Theo has become General Washington’s best sniper. However, killing at a distance feels more like murder than honorable combat, and leaves Theo hesitant to admit his love for Verity lest he corrupt her innocence and goodness. As the war moves forward and Verity’s involvement grows, Theo does his best to shield her from its danger, and from himself. The battles rage on and Theo and Verity won’t stop fighting for independence. But when the danger mounts, if Verity can’t convince Theo to give their love a chance, their happiness and their freedom may become another casualty of the war.

What does love have to do with gaming? As games have grown in complexity, they have increasingly included narratives that seek to engage players with love in a variety of ways. While media attention often focuses on violent emotions and behavior in gaming, love has always been central to the experience. We love to play games, we have titles that we love, and sometimes we love too much or love terrible games for their shortcomings. Love in gaming is rather like love in life--often complicated and frustrating but also exciting and gratifying. This collection of fresh essays explores the meaning and role of love in gaming, describing a number of ways--from coding to cosplay--in which love can be expressed in, for and around games. Investigating how gaming involves love is also key to understanding the growing importance of games and gamers as cultural markers.

#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Selection series Kiera Cass is back with her most epic novel yet—a sweeping enemies-to-lovers standalone romance. “Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.” Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain. Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people. But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart. Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.

For golf pro Piper Holthaus, a not-so-secret romance with wealthy socialite Vanessa Devereaux in exchange for a life of privilege and promotion of her art seems like a small price to pay. Brook Myers is determined not to let her girlfriend Meg’s substance abuse ruin her life or her new catering business, but Meg really needs her and leaving the woman she once loved seems unfathomable. When Piper and Brook meet on a secluded fairway, neither can deny the intense connection that just might be love, but the entanglements of their past may destroy any possibility of a future. Content Warning: Substance abuse

Midwestern gal Stacey travels to Hollywood with one of her best friends on spring break. While there Stacey falls in love with a cook who works at a motion picture production studio. They share a torrid week making love and hate to separate, but she has to come back to finish her studies and graduate. After returning to home and family, she makes plans to go back to California, move in with the man she loves, forging a life with him cooking for the cast and crew at the studio. Disaster seems to strike when the studio is sold and dismantled, but with the help of friends, Stacey and her man begin what would become a multi-million-dollar cooking business that caters to the world. While this novel contains sexual material it is NOT “erotica,” but it is nonetheless intended for an open-minded adult audience.