By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Heather Long

The pop princess with her bright blue hair, pouty lips, haunting eyes, and the voice of a siren… She’s always been too busy for us. Music seems to be the one language we both speak.

It’s not enough. For her. For them. For anyone.

I’m not enough.

My brothers want her, the world owns her, and everyone else is vying for a piece of her. At the end of the school year, she walked away and didn’t give us a second look. Discarding us like she had her father.

Now, I can’t decide what I want more—for her to come back or to never see her again.

NOTE:
Please note this is a reverse harem and the author suggests you always read the forward in her books. Contains some bullying elements, mature situations, and is recommended for 17+. This is book two of four in a series and the story will continue through future books.

If you haven’t read ‘Problem Child’ STOP, go back and read it first. This series needs to be read in order.

At the end of the last book, Kaitlin makes a startling discovery at parent’s weekend. Her mother couldn’t make it and sent Johnny instead which was nice, what wasn’t was seeing her father. At first thinking he came for her, the truth comes out two-fold as she realizes he’s here for Ramsey, Lachlan and Jonas, they are her stepbrothers.

For the guys they are stunned to realize she didn’t know they were her stepbrothers, but also don’t understand why she treats her father the way she does.

The picture Ramsey paints in the first chapter of this book is not the one we have from Kaitlin. We also get a look at how much their mother dislikes Kaitlin, never a nice word there only viciousness.

We get to see Frankie and Ian at the beginning of this one too. I love their relationship with KC, Aubrey and Yvette. I found it very interesting that Dix is the one who sneaks Kaitlin out to dance in clubs. Even more interesting when Lachlan outs her and then things go sideways.

Summer over and everyone is settled back in the dorms. Ramsey as an RA, Jonas a senior with his own suite and KC and Aubrey in the same one as the previous year. Lachlan shows up and is now rooming with Ramsey as Jonas isn’t having him anywhere near him.

Not even a full night and fire breaks out in one of the girl’s dorms. Ramsey takes charge as buildings are evacuated.

This is just one of many favorite scenes in this book.

Harley descended one of the stairs. She had a girl with her, and they both wore masks yet were also sooty and coughing. “Can’t get up to the third floor. Something is wrong with the door…”

“Go,” I told her, ushering them toward the door. Then I was running up the steps. It was so hot inside that my skin felt like it had a sunburn, and it was harder and harder to take a breath. I pulled my shirt up to cover my mouth and nose, but it wasn’t much.

The door in question had no signs of warping. It wasn’t hot to the touch, but it was… jammed. I reached up to grab a screwdriver that had been crammed in between the hinges. There’d be no way to open it from either side.

I yanked the door open and turned my face away as hot air and smoke rushed out. “The door is open,” I yelled. “Can anyone hear me?”

“We’re coming,” a feminine voice yelled. “Need help, Kathy hurt herself…”

I didn’t recognize the name as I peered through the haze and the smoke. It was so dense in here I swore my chest burned. My eyes watered and then Aubrey Miller was there with Kathleen Ross. Behind her were three others, including a spark of blue hair. Relief hit as I reached for the injured girl.

“Give her to me,” I said. Her ankle was twisted at what had to be an uncomfortable angle. “Downstairs,” I ordered as I scooped her up. “Stay together.”

There were no arguments as they followed me down. I paused once or twice to make sure blue hair was still with us, but I kept losing her in the smoke. Outside, the cooler air hit like a sledgehammer.

I was coughing all the way over to the quad where the nurse and some of the security staff had set up. I passed them the wounded girl and turned around.

“How many, Harley?” I asked as soon as I found the RA.

“Four… four are missing…”

Four. I twisted, scanning the quad. I’d just brought out three or four. Where…

Aubrey Miller was racing past me back to the building when I caught her arm. “No, stay out. It’s too dangerous in there.”

“KC didn’t make it out. She was right behind me then she wasn’t.”

Shit.

“Stay,” I ordered before running back into the building. The hot air billowing out was suffocating. “KC,” I yelled as I took the steps two at a time.

“Kaitlin…”

My heart stopped on the second floor where I found my blue-haired menace struggling with a pair of large guitar cases.

“What the hell are you doing?” I tried to wrench one away from her and she held onto it.

“I can’t leave them,” she said in a voice so raw it hurt my soul to hear it. “I need them…”

“They aren’t worth your life.”

“Yes,” she countered. “They are.”

“Give me one,” I ordered. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t leave it?” The fact she sounded like she was begging in between coughs rankled me.

“I won’t,” I said. “I promise. Come on, let me get you and the guitars out of here.”

Finally, she relented and I took the larger of the two cases. Then she let me pull her to her feet. She staggered but managed to stay on them. We were descending the stairs together, and she coughed with every step. It was a violent struggle to breathe.

“C’mon,” I encouraged her, hating my own raw cough.

The smoke was thick, the visibility low, but I’d already done this route three times. I knew how to get us out of here. She stayed with me, her hand firmly clasped in mine as we made it to the doorway.

If not for how tight she dug her fingers into my hand, I would have missed her wavering and the sudden laxness as she passed out. Guitars, be damned. I turned and got her over my shoulder then seized the guitar to take with us.

Outside, I carried her, nearly dropping the guitar twice. She’d inhaled a lot of smoke; we both had.

“I have it,” Aubrey was saying as she pried the guitar from my hand. I kept going, racing KC over to where they had the triage set up.

“She needs oxygen.” I put her down, then went back for the second guitar.

She’d thought they were worth her life, so I wasn’t leaving the damn thing.

When I got back, she had an oxygen mask on. The flashing lights of emergency vehicles strobed through the smoke and the darkness. The sounds of sobbing filled the air. KC still struggled to breathe, even with the mask on. She coughed and kept trying to remove it even if her eyes were closed.

“Don’t,” I snapped in a croaking voice. “You could suffocate without oxygen right now.” Her throat could have smoke damage. Worse, her lungs. I turned away to cough, my eyes were irritated and even my breathing had turned to wheezing.

“Good advice,” a paramedic said as he slid in next to me. “Let’s get you some oxygen, too.”

“She needs a hospital,” I said. KC’s eyes were red and irritated. Worse, there was a hint of blue around her lips and not just her hair.

“We’ve got her,” the paramedic assured me, before he handed me a mask to put on. The coughing hurt, but the oxygen helped. KC suddenly tried to sit up, her expression wild.

I yanked off my mask. “They’re right there,” I told her in a raw voice. “Your guitars are safe.”

She sagged like someone had cut her strings. The paramedic got the mask more firmly set on her face. He was checking her vitals and then shooting me a look when she grabbed at my hand.

I held my mask in place and let her grip my hand as I watched the fire department get the water hoses on. The building was a loss. Even if they hosed down all the flames, I doubted whatever was left would be remotely salvageable.

“You want to go to the hospital with her?” the paramedic asked. “We’re triaging right now. She’s breathing, we want to keep her on the oxygen and then we’re gonna transport. We have others with more serious wounds who are going first.”

“I’ll stay with her,” I said. “Then yes, I want to go to the hospital with her.”

I needed to know she was going to be all right, especially if she was going to make such crazy calls where her life was concerned.

Her eyes were closed again, as she dug her nails into my hand until it felt like she wanted to draw blood. I didn’t try to pull away. Instead, I just leaned toward her and said, “I’m here, Kaitlin. I got you. You’re going to be okay.”

Far too briefly, her eyes flickered open and she focused on me, then they closed again. I had to keep both her mask and mine in place. It wasn’t long before Aubrey joined us. She shot me a narrow-eyed look, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Neither was she.

When it was our turn to transport in the ambulance, she gripped the guitars then stared at me and the vehicle.

“I’ll stay with her,” I promised. “Look after those.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said finally. “You better damn well take care of her.”

I didn’t offer any platitudes, but I wasn’t going anywhere until KC told me to fuck off herself. It wasn’t until I was sitting in the ambulance with a fresh oxygen mask that I caught sight of my brothers. The pair of them stared at me and then at her.
Heather Long. Mad Boys – Heather Long (Kindle Locations 844-889). Kindle Edition.

Payton shows her true colors in this book, she is obsessed with Ramsey, Lachlan and Jonas, even though they want nothing to do with her.

With housing limited on campus and Kaitlin and Aubrey assigned to a room with Payton things have to change rapidly. Jonas offers the empty room in his suite to Kaitlin and she accepts. This gets her away from the danger that is Payton.

I thought Kaitlin had been through a lot in the last book, but seriously this book goes to another level. I really loved that a friendship was beginning with Jonas, and that Ramsey makes headway as well. Lachlan really has a ninja problem that Kaitlin finds amusing though.

So much happens I can’t even begin to express how appalled I am at some of the behavior aimed at Kaitlin. I can’t even say more without giving stuff away and I won’t do that.

I couldn’t put this book down; it wasn’t a short book and it also has one heck of an ending. When’s that next book again?

5 Contented Purrs for Heather!

Heather Long

I love books. Not just a little bit, but a lot. Books were my best friends when I was growing up. Books didn’t care if I was new to a town or to a class. They were always there, my trustiest of companions. Until they turned on me and said I had to write them.

I can tell you that my own personal happily ever after included writing books. I’ve always said that an HEA is a work in progress. It’s true in my marriage, my friendships, and in my career. I am constantly nurturing my muse as we dive into new tales, new tropes, new characters and more.

After seventeen years back in Texas, we relocated to the Pacific Northwest in search of seasons, new experiences, and new geography. I can’t wait to discover what life (and my muse) have in store for me.

Maybe writing was always my destiny and romance my fate. After all, my grandmother wasn’t a fan of picture books and used to read me her Harlequin Romance novels.

Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, friends to enemies to lovers, you name it, I love them and love to write them. I started with Earth Witches Aren’t Easy, the first in the Chance Monroe trilogy, but my characters and I have traveled a long way since I created that urban fantasy world.

One of the series I hear my readers recommend the most is the Untouchable series followed in quick succession by the Vandals, and that just delights me. No lie, whenever one of my readers brings up my wolves, I do a little a fist pump.

I’m active on social media, and I love hearing from readers. Feel free to tag me with a question about any of my books, or just say hi!