Whisper doesn’t remember his real name. All he knows is the elite assassin guild that raised him—and controls him with the threat of blood magic. Plagued by nightmares, he doesn’t get to refuse assignments, even when his new job doesn’t make sense: infiltrate Prince Julien’s court, protect him until the signal arrives, then kill him.

Ari had a game plan for life: shoot people. Get money. Hang out with fellow criminal friends. He saw absolutely no reason to change that plan until one dark night in Memphis, when a little girl reached out to him with pocket change and a desperate plea for him to help her. Adopting an abused little girl off the streets was, needless to say, not part of the plan. Ari had no idea what he was doing with an eight year old. He especially didn’t know how to juggle taking contracts and raising a little girl.

Ferryman. The Grim Reaper. La Muerte. La Pelona. Shinigami. Charon. I've been called many names over the millennia, all thanks to my role in Hell—ferrying dead souls over the river Styx. Few know the demon behind the legend, how I came to be here, or the freedom I sacrificed to save the man I love.

After the death of his wife, Tanner Rowe takes a step toward making her dying wish come true and buys the house with the dilapidated barn she'd been drawn to in the Upper Peninsula. But after a year, he still can't get past his grief long enough to make the repairs he'd promised. Recently out of prison, Cole Lachlan has little to his name. Homeless, broke, and without many options as a felon, Cole heads to Red Bluff with hopes of a second chance. There he meets Tanner, whose loneliness mirrors his own, and soon Cole is trading room and board for rebuilding the burned-out barn.

It was just a one-time thing. And then a two-time thing. And a three-time thing. Before I know it, I'm in his fancy car, heading to the Wine Country for an extended weekend. My mission? Be the loving boyfriend you bring home to meet the parents. I'm risking my scholarship and my future at the elite Highgate Academy for a charming stranger in need of a boyfriend. Why? I wish I could tell you. But there's more to him than I imagined. I'm doing my best to convince everyone that we're a couple. But maybe I'd be wise to remind myself that we are not.