Upcoming Reviews

Fantasizing about Trevor Grimm is Kylie Hood’s favorite escape from her cruel reality. So, when he asks for her help on a school project, sparks are bound to fly and her dreams are going to come true ...

Not in this fairy tale.

No, everything changes when Kylie meets Logan Grimm, Trevor’s older cousin and a professional MMA fighter some call the Big Bad Wolf.

He’s the first person to peer under the hood she hides beneath. He’s the first person to see the signs that something is wrong. He’s the first person to give her any attention. And he’s offering to help protect her.

But Logan’s world isn’t safe. It’s dirty, exhilarating, and dangerous. It’s everything Kylie needs to stay away from.

Janie Marie is a native Texan and resides in her hometown north of Austin, Texas, where she devotes her time to family, pets, and her writing.
Much of her life experiences--good and a lot of bad--are where she has chosen to draw inspiration from to create her characters and stories. It's important to her to create the kind of characters she needs or needed at one point in time because she wanted to create something only the saddest souls would recognize as brave and strong.
Be ready for raw, emotional tales, as Janie never holds back. With her darkest thoughts she found light is still possible, that the sad girl can sometimes glow the brightest. Because she is beauty surrounded by darkness.

“I’ll be there,” came a male voice that wasn’t Trevor’s. “Put five on me. Yeah, I have it.”

Kylie snapped her head up and forgot the growing pain behind her eyes, because what she was seeing could only be a gift from God.

It was a boy. No, he was a man. A man-boy. He was more mature than the boys she went to school with, but not that much older than her—maybe early twenties. A hot twenty-something, at that. With the perfect body, glistening with a light sheen of sweat, he was glorious. Solid and lean—not an inch of fat. Just pure muscle and sun-kissed skin painted with beautiful tattoos along his arms, chest and—dear God—the attractive V dipping below his low-sitting shorts.

Breathe, girl.

She sucked in a breath. Thank goodness he hadn’t noticed her sitting there. He rummaged through the fridge, his phone still pressed to his ear. It looked as though he’d found what he wanted because he stood, shutting the door as he lifted an apple to his lips.

The man was a god. And he was about to see her sitting there. Staring at him.

“Nah, I think I already fucked her, didn’t I?” He took a bite of the apple, finally making eye contact with her. He froze, staring at her with the same shocked expression she had stamped across her face.

Kylie gulped, unsure of how to explain who she was and what she was doing there, eavesdropping, all while admiring the apple juice dripping down his chin.

“What?” he said, shaking out of his daze but not looking away from her. “No, I’ll pick one later.” He wiped his chin, and with a jerk of his head, his black hair shifted away from his dark-brown eyes. “I said, I’ll pick. Yeah. See ya.”

Kylie started sweating under his intense stare as he ended the call. At first, he just kept staring at her. His gaze drifted over what he could see of her face and body, which couldn’t have been much, but even with her hood up, she felt as if he could see right into her soul.

Too afraid to speak, Kylie looked back down at the table, hoping he would just leave her alone. He was too intense for her, and she didn’t need to know him to understand that.

“What’s your name?” He spoke roughly and to the point.

She knew he wouldn’t care that she was the freak of their school. It was easy to see he was the kind of person who demanded and received.

She started to say, “Ky—” but Trevor’s return prevented her from answering him.

“Hey,” Trevor greeted the man who had yet to stop his inspection of her. “I didn’t think you’d be here today. Don’t you have a fight tonight?”

Trevor dumped his work on the table, causing her to flinch.

The man-boy narrowed his eyes on her. “I do,” he told Trevor, still watching her. “Are you going to ignore your friend, or introduce me?”

Trevor looked over at her and said, “Oh, this is Kylie. Kylie, this is my cousin Logan. I live with him while my dad is overseas.”

Logan took another bite of his apple as Trevor took a seat. She nodded in acknowledgment and looked away. She wasn’t used to meeting new people anymore, especially sexy guys like Logan.

“What’s your last name?” Logan asked.

Kylie couldn’t stop herself from jerking her head up. He had moved closer, standing opposite her now. His eyes never left her face. He no doubt figured she was a freak like everyone else did.

“Hood,” she said, wringing her hands together on her lap. “Kylie Hood.”

The small twitch at the corner of his mouth threatened to turn into a smirk, but he took another bite of his apple, finishing it and tossing it into the trash.

“Well, Kylie Hood,” he said, sounding amused, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand as he cut Trevor a dark look, but he focused on her as he grinned. “Logan Grimm.”

Lifting her shaking, sweating hand, Kylie knocked three times. It felt as though her stomach was being tied in knots and then cut apart with a jagged knife. A completely nauseous feeling, really. Her oatmeal from the early morning hours was seriously at risk of being sprayed all over the door in front of her.

There was no going back though. She was here, staring at the bedroom door that was slowly being pulled open.

The door creaked and came to a stop as it revealed Logan Grimm. Her stomach clenched and her body began to tremble upon seeing him.

Logan hadn’t even noticed her yet. He was looking down at his phone with a slight frown on his face.

Kylie couldn’t help but admire him in the moment. It was ridiculous for someone to be so attractive, but he was more than that. Logan Grimm was drop dead sexy.

“Hood?” he said, sounding surprised to see her standing outside his bedroom door on a Sunday afternoon.

It was a bold move on her part to just let herself into his apartment, but she couldn’t exactly go knock on the front door now. “Hey,” she whispered, feeling stupid because she had probably been standing there gawking at him. He was probably used to that look from her by now anyway. “I wanted to talk to you, if that’s okay?”

That signature smirk formed on his tempting lips as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down. The look made her squirm in place. No one had ever looked at her the way he did. It wasn’t romantic, at all. After all, she was simply a girl he wanted to get in his bed. But in a strange way, she couldn’t help but feel flattered that he put her in such an intimate category with himself. No one had put her in that category, not until Logan Grimm had set eyes on her.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He slid his phone into his pocket. “Figured you were running away. Are you okay?” His eyes lost that lustful gleam and scanned her full length.

Looking away from his intense scrutiny, she played with the hem of her hoodie. “I didn’t think you would either,” she mumbled, realizing how crazy this all was. It still surprised her that she was going to go through with this. “Are you busy? I can come back—or maybe you’ve changed your mind. Or you’re mad. Oh my God, I’m so stupid . . . You were playing with me!” Tears instantly threatened to fall. All her bravery, all her confidence was being yanked right out of her shaking hands while full-blown panic set in. Thoughts of his possible lies spun out of control in her head, along with the possibilities of him only messing with her the whole time.

All she could think was run. And unable to look at his confused face any longer, she quickly turned to leave.

But seeing that Logan was apparently descended from a god, he was too fast for her. He snagged a hold of her sleeve, letting out a low chuckle, and kept her still while she struggled to free herself. “Hood,” he said, sounding as if he was trying to soothe a small child. Obviously, he was ready to laugh and make her realize just how stupid she was to ever have believed he was genuine in his concern for her.

It only threw her further down the pit of embarrassment. She was going to be a laughing stock.

“Look at me, Hood.”

The seriousness in his tone caused her to stop fighting him and lift her head. His dark eyes were fixed on her face, studying her carefully.

“I’m sorry I came,” she said, trying not to sound so pathetic, but she was embarrassed and had never felt more stupid than she did in that moment.

“Why?”

“Because I realize now you didn’t mean anything you said before,” she said, almost yelling as a traitorous tear escaped.

He frowned and reached out to rub her tear away. It wasn’t like her books where she melted or felt sparks from a guy’s touch. No, his thumb was a bit rough against her smooth skin, and his caress was more like an upset parent wiping away dirt from a child’s face.

“How did you jump to that conclusion when I only asked if you were okay?” he asked, baffled.

She wanted to retort with some proof supporting her reaction, but she stayed quiet.

“I wasn’t lying about anything yesterday.” He searched her face. “Did you change your mind about us dating?” He seemed a little shocked, but his surprise vanished as he looked over her shoulder.

She felt someone watching them, and she shook a tiny bit because only one person should be in his apartment. Trevor. God, she’d completely forgotten about him. “I did.” She swallowed nervously, prepared for him to start laughing and to toss her out.

“Good.” He kept staring over her shoulder, then he smirked. “I hope you’re not a screamer.” Her eyes went wide as he grabbed her hoodie near her tummy and tugged gently. “Because it looks like we’re going to have an audience.” With that, Logan winked at Trevor and pulled her inside his room.