Em Torrey

Polish your jingle bells, strategically hang the mistletoe, and get ready to claim your spot on The Naughty List. This holiday season, fourteen of your favorite authors are spicing up the cocoa and taking advantage of those long winter nights, proving that sometimes it’s more fun to claim your coal than it is to stay on Santa’s good side. After all, well-behaved women might make the nice list, but naughty ones have all the fun… Sleighed by Em Torrey: Do you know the worst holiday to be single for? No, it’s not Valentine’s Day, definitely not Thanksgiving, it’s Christmas. Actually the whole week from Christmas Eve to New Years Day. I was so excited to bring my boyfriend home for the holidays to meet my family until he told me he didn’t think our relationship was working anymore. (Insert Throat Punch Here) So I’m driving up the mountain to meet my family with a passenger seat full of junk food and a slightly dented heart. Okay, it’s not broken, sue me. When my car gets stuck halfway up the mountain, I decide to stop at the local bar off the side of the road. (See stuck–not actually my decision, but I’m an empowered woman so i'm calling it a choice) Desperate and a little drunk, I con the hot bartender into being my fake boyfriend for the week. My mom loves him immediately, my sister’s jealous as soon as we walk in the door, and my dad knows something’s up. Can we keep the charade up all week or will the dominos fall before the eggnog is served? What happens when just for the week turns into something more? Other books in the Naughty List Collection: Wood Girl Gone Bad by Mae Harden Owned By Santa by Imani Jay Stuck Under the Mistletoe by Georgia Coffman Lovestruck by Julia Jarrett Secret Santa Surprise by Tamrin Banks Checking It Twice by Claire Hastings Falling for the Grinch by Amy Alves Unexpected Christmas by Eliza Peake Nailed by Claire Wilder Entry Level by Bella Michaels Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Breanna Lynn Two Pink Lines for Christmas by Ember Davis Run Run Rudolph by Chelle Sloan

A half million dollars to survive a month with one of my exes in the wilderness? Easy peasy. What girl doesn’t want to lay on the beach and tan while eating fresh seafood and sleeping under the stars every night?I may have overly romanticized what surviving in the wilderness would look like. I’m the first to admit it, mistakes were made. Alaska was not on my bingo card or my bucket list, I would have been fine in the Maldives. My list of ex’s is long, I could have done this experience with anyone else but him. He hates me with every fiber of his being for sins of the past but unfortunately for him, he needs me almost as much as I need the money from this show.Filming our every interaction shouldn’t be hard, progress and survival are easy to capture on camera. Thirty days in the Alaska Wilderness with my ex….whats the worst that could happen?

Intuition, noun; a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.Instincts are fickle, the world will tell you to trust your gut and go with whatever it tells you.Jaxson Reid has been following his instincts in the stock market for a decade, and he’s made millions off his keen intuition, but when one of the companies he’s invested in goes belly up, instincts are no longer an issue.The Federal Government calls what he did insider trading, but he calls it a hunch.We started as friends and after a week long fling in Mexico, I start to question my morals and the oath I’ve taken as a lawyer.As the top defense attorney in the state, I’ve defended some of the most heinous murderers of the last decade. So why should a green eyed man who makes my knees weak be the reason I’m questioning my morals.Do I follow my instincts or will my heart overrule it all?

I used to think Valentine’s Day was a coup between the card companies and the chocolate companies. What other holiday singles out singles? Ninety nine percent of my socks are single are they’re having a dang good time hanging out in the giant basket next to my bed. Can I let you in on a secret? I’ve never, and I mean never, had a real boyfriend on Valentine’s Day, no Dean from third grade you don’t count. This year though, this year is different, I uprooted my entire life for a man I’d known for a week last Christmas and I’ve never been happier in my entire life. Cabo San Lucas in February sounds like a dream, cocktails on the beach(hold the tail), a week with nothing to do other than the entire itinerary for my sister’s joint bachelor and bachelorette party. Will the week with my family pulls us apart or will it push us closer together? Are we headed towards the “L” word or will the week in paradise be a giant “L” in my love life?

Pride and progress are the only things I’ve worried about since graduating medical school. Pride in the work that I’m doing, and the progress we are making a difference in the world. Risks are not part of the equation in my line of work, when I take risks people end up dead. I’ve taken so few risks in my life up to this point that when Callahan Reid shows up on my doorstep with an ultimatum, I take the risk and plan for the outcome. I know the side effect of this deal is heartbreak but what if forcing him to face his feelings is the cure? What if the boy I had a crush on in high school could end up being the man who forces me to risk it all?

Behind every strong person is a story that gave them no choice. Before I became Pistol, one of the best female drummers in the world, I was Bristol, a girl from a small town in Oregon who learned how to play the drums to connect with my childhood friends. Those friends became a family, and that family skyrocketed to super-stardom. We traveled the world, rocked out in sold out arenas, and partied harder than we ever thought imaginable. Unfortunately, what comes up must come down, and the fallout caused me to walk away from the only band I’ve ever known and the only man I’ve ever loved. When a tragedy brings them back home, I’m faced with a decision that will change the course of my life. By staying or going, the destruction is the same, but maybe, just maybe, the truth I thought was real was all a lie, and maybe, just maybe, the music will reveal the answers to the questions I’ve had since walking away.

Life is a collection of memories and moments in time, choices and consequences. When you make a choice you have to live with the consequences, there are no take-backs, no do-overs. I knew that the moment I walked away from Dawson Meyers on graduation night I wouldn’t get a do-over, I’d have to live with the consequences of that decision forever. I haven’t been back to my hometown for more than a weekend in almost a decade and I haven’t had a relationship for the same reason; memories. When the invitation for my high school reunion shows up in the mail I almost throw it out but what if I didn’t look at the weekend at home as a nuisance instead

Imposter; one that assumes false identity or title for the purpose of deception. I knew from the get go that I should have told him the truth. There were no consequences to him knowing what I did for a living but the more we talked and the closer we became the truth became its own monster, lurking behind me waiting to ruin everything we’ve built. When Braysen moved into the penthouse in the building across from me I thought that it would make me feel safer, more looked after, but the way that he watches me makes me feel anything but safe. I feel like a mouse trapped between the waiting jaws of the cat and the trap that was carefully set up for me. No matter which way I move I'm bound to get caught. What happens if I’m not the only one wearing a mask in the wicked games we’re playing? What happens if the real imposter isn’t the one staring back at me in the mirror?

One night was all I wanted, to be carefree and wild but one night was never going to be enough. I knew the moment that shot of whiskey hit my lips that there was no going back to my old life, not after this. I had heard the stories about Jameson Rice long before I ever met him, he was Boone, North Carolina’s personal Boogie Man.MC President? Check.Outlaw? Check.God’s gift to women wrapped in a leather vest? Check, check. He was destined to be my downfall from the word go but I had no idea that I would be his destruction. He told me he’d help me walk on the wild side of life but he had no idea that my life was going to flip his upside down.

One night was all I wanted, to be carefree and wild but one night was never going to be enough. I knew the moment that shot of whiskey hit my lips that there was no going back to my old life, not after this. I had heard the stories about Jameson Rice long before I ever met him, he was Boone, North Carolina’s personal Boogie Man.MC President? Check.Outlaw? Check.God’s gift to women wrapped in a leather vest? Check, check. He was destined to be my downfall but what if I’m his destruction? Men like him don’t fall for southern belles. He told me he’d help me walk on the wild side of life but he had no idea that my life was going to flip his upside down.