Overachiever (Slumming It Book 2)

by S. M. Shade

  Oh, I should mention my PA, Melissa Teo, who was the first to read it and love it. She’s awesome too even though she’s no Rachel Van Dyken.

  You know I’m kidding, Mel. Thank you. I couldn’t do any of this without you. My late night neurotic messaging will continue unless you block me and even then, we both know I’ll find a way around it. You’re the one who taught me the stalker skills so you have only yourself to blame. I highly recommend following her in her book group, BANG. Just be ready to throw money at Amazon like it’s a top notch stripper because her recommendations are fire.

  I also need to mention Abigail Davies of Pink Elephant designs. She not only does beautiful work formatting my books, but also puts up with my last minute, procrastinating bullshit. Thank you so much, Abi.

  The cover was created by Ally Hastings of Starcrossed Covers, another victim of my last minute messages for changes. I swear, someday I’ll figure out how other authors know their titles so early and don’t change them 376 times before settling on one, but that’s not today. I can’t recommend her enough. Thank you, Ally.

  Finally, thank you, Danielle Sanchez of Wildfire Marketing Solutions, and everyone else who helps me get my books out there. There are too many to list without leaving someone out, but whether you’re an author, blogger, page owner, influencer, or reader, just know I see you sharing my books, and I appreciate all the support more than I can say.

  Where to find S.M. Shade

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  More by S.M. Shade

  The Violent Circle Series (ROMANTIC COMEDY)

  Scarlet Toys

  http://mybook.to/scarlettoys

  Living on Violet Circle, a place that’s less of a neighborhood and more of an insane asylum poured into the street, I thought I was prepared for anything. After you’ve seen a woman strip down at the laundry room to wash the clothes she’s wearing, then saunter across the street naked, you’ve seen it all, right?

  How naïve I was.

  After the factory closed, leaving me and a good portion of the town unemployed, I took a job managing Scarlet Toys. I knew it wouldn’t be a typical work environment, selling adult toys in a town more uptight than a constipated nun, but some things you just never see coming.

  Like the protesters covered in poison ivy, screaming about smut peddlers.

  Or a dancing dinosaur named Fappy.

  Or the allure of the man standing in the center of all the chaos.

  Wyatt Lawson, a six foot, four inch heap of muscle with a quick smile, ignited my interest in more than the available manager position. Like the missionary one. Or the rodeo. Maybe the side rider. What can I say? I’m an overachiever.

  Let’s just hope he doesn’t scare easily.

  Frat Hell

  http://mybook.to/frathell

  Frat Hell.

  That’s how the whole neighborhood refers to the apartment where I live with three other college students. It’s a bit judgmental, considering the neighborhood we live in is more like a zoo than an apartment complex, but not inaccurate. If you put that many young guys together, things are bound to be interesting. I still maintain that the giant water guns filled with poison ivy water were not my idea.

  January Dixon.

  She’s the girl I’ve lusted after for years. A smart mouth and sharp tongue surrounded by soft beauty and a body I’d give up an organ just to touch. An important organ, like a kidney, not one of those lame ones like a gallbladder.

  It’s a tricky situation since she lives right down the street, and dating a neighbor generally isn’t a good idea. But this is Violent Circle, where normal may as well be a dirty word. Thanks to an impromptu fashion show where I tossed all self-respect aside and strutted my stuff in full bondage gear in front of our small town, she now owes me a date.

  And I plan to collect.

  Clean Start

  http://mybook.to/cleanstart

  Everyone knows the rumors about Violet Circle and the crazy inhabitants, but becoming a resident was my best option. These are the kind of decisions you’re faced with when you have a baby at eighteen, and your knight in shining armor turns out to be a deadbeat dad in saggy boxers.

  Don’t get me wrong, my five-year-old son, Aiden, is the love of my life, even when he’s telling random strangers I’m constipated, or lecturing his preschool friends on the differences in their anatomy. I wouldn’t trade him for anything, but raising him as a single parent while cleaning motel rooms for a living is like walking a balance beam made of sand. One wrong slip, and we’re homeless.

  It doesn’t take us long to adjust to our new home with all its eccentric people, and Aiden is happy here, but danger lurks right across the street. Not in the apartment of the odd woman who always wears a floppy sun hat and trench coat, or the crazy apartment full of college kids. I wish it were that simple.

  Neal Chambers, the single father who is ten years my senior, sets off alarms in my head.

  Mainly because he sets off other things in my panties.

  Zero Fucks

  http://mybook.to/Zerobook

  Mr. Rogers did not prepare me for the people in my neighborhood. A cut in financial aid for college and a lot of bad luck have landed me not only on Violent Circle, but in the apartment known as Frat Hell.

  I can handle myself, so living with three guys isn’t a problem. Even the madhouse disguised as a low income neighborhood isn’t an issue. The trouble is Denton, the man with the mischievous grin in the room across from mine.

  I can resist the lean, muscled body. I’m stronger than the quick smile and adorable dimple. But his kindness, that may be the straw that breaks the vagina’s crack.

  I just need to keep my head down and my legs together while I focus on making my dream of owning my own tattoo shop a reality.

  Level Up

  http://mybook.to/LevelUp

  It's hard to believe it's almost over.

  After three years of living in the wildest apartment in the craziest neighborhood, the clock is ticking down.

  College is ending.

  My friends and I, known around Violent Circle as the Frat Hell Guys, have managed to make it to graduation without a major injury or arrest record. It was a close call.

  My career path as a video game designer is laid out clearly before me, but I have one more objective to achieve before the school year is over; show the beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I’m in love with that she’s mine.

  She just doesn’t know it yet.

  Tragic Duet (ROCKSTAR ROMANCE)

  Rock Star, Interrupted

  http://mybook.to/RSI

  I found my stillness, my space between breaths, when I was a kid. The answer is simple. If it hurts, I pour music on it.

  After years of hard work, it's finally happening. Tragic has a number one album and we've gone from being discussed as one hit wonders to hearing words like meteoric mentioned alongside our name.

  With two tours planned and another album on its way, we have a lot to look forward to. Playing in a different city every
night, the shimmer and roar of the crowd, after parties and endless women.

  My lifelong dream is in the palm of my hand until one phone call leaves everything hanging in the balance.

  Rock Star, Unbroken

  http://mybook.to/RSU

  I knew better and I let it happen anyway.

  I was drawn in by her kindness and the way she sees into people. The way she looks through their motivations, their fears, into the heart of them where the good waits. One glance and she’s stripped away the layers we wrap ourselves in to keep from being unique.

  She saw into me.

  Then used it to her advantage.

  Now, my son is in danger and if she’s behind it, there won’t be a hole deep enough for her to hide in.

  I broke my own rules for Naomi.

  My son will not pay the price.

  The Striking Back Series (ROMANTIC SUSPENSE/THRILLER)

  Everly (FREE BOOK)

  http://mybook.to/Everly

  The first time I met Mason Reed, we were standing naked in a bank, surrounded by guns.

  That should have been a warning.

  An MMA champion, trainer, and philanthropist, but not a man who gives up easily, Mason is trouble dipped in ink and covered in muscle.

  Growing up in foster care, I'm well aware that relationships are temporary, and I do my best to avoid them. After a sheet clenching one night stand, I'm happy to move on, but Mason pursues me relentlessly. Sweet, caring, protective, and at times, a bossy control freak, this persistent man has climbed inside my heart, and I can’t seem to shake him.

  After saving me from a life threatening situation, he’s also won something much harder to obtain. My trust. But does he deserve it? Is his true face the one he shows the world? Or is his charitable, loving manner only a thin veneer?

  This book contains sexual situations and is intended for ages 18 and older.

  Mason

  http://mybook.to/Masonbook

  From the moment I saw her, I wanted her in my bed.

  I should've stopped there.

  Everly Hall burst into my complicated life and changed it forever. I'm a fighter, but I had no defense against this beautiful, stubborn woman.

  Now, I stand to lose everything I have, everything I am. My secrets are dangerous, and put more lives at stake than my own. I intended to tell her in time, but my time is up.

  Everything rests on Everly.

  This is the conclusion of Mason and Everly's story.

  Contains violence and sexual situations and is intended for adults 18 and older.

  Parker

  http://mybook.to/Parker

  Hit it and quit it.

  One and done.

  Hump and dump.

  That has been my philosophy on relationships for the last seven years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad guy. I'm always upfront and truthful with the women I date. I don't promise them anything but a good time.

  I could've gone on happily sleeping my way through the major metropolitan area if it wasn't for her. The dark haired beauty who haunts my days and keeps me awake at night. Strong and sweet, she makes me reconsider everything I believe about love.

  Too bad she's completely off limits.

  I've never been good at following the rules.

  Alex – An M/M Romance

  http://mybook.to/Alexbook

  Ninety- two days. Thirteen weeks. That’s how long it’s been since I lost my love, my best friend. It’s been everything I can do to drag myself out of bed and get back to work, but I know Cooper would want me to move on. I think he’d even be happy if he knew who I want to move on with. The target of my affection, though, may not be so thrilled about my choice.

  He’s straight. Or he thinks he is.

  A womanizer of the worst kind with a face and body that keeps a steady stream of willing women at his door, he seems happy to work his way through the entire female population. But there’s no mistaking the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention.

  One way or another, I’ll show him what he really wants.

  This is book four of The Striking Back Series, but can also be read as a standalone novel.

  Intended for 18 years and older. Contains sexual content, including sex between two men.

  The In Safe Hands Series (ROMANTIC SUSPENSE/THRILLER)

  Landon (FREE BOOK)

  http://mybook.to/landon

  Zoe

  I’m not interested. I’m not interested in his blue-green ocean colored eyes, his lean muscular body, or that crooked smile that can be so infuriating. I have more important things to worry about, like how to keep myself in college and my sixteen year old brother fed and sheltered. We all know life is hard, some of us just learn that lesson younger than others, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I intend to succeed and make sure my brother has the opportunities he deserves, and no privileged jerk is going to distract me.

  Landon

  I don’t date. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from celibate, but my condition makes carrying on any kind of normal relationship impossible. My life revolves around In Safe Hands or ISH, the underground hacker group I work with to track down and take care of predators and sex offenders who beat the system. I’m satisfied with my life until the day I meet the smart mouthed, compassionate, determined woman who opens my eyes to possibilities I never thought existed.

  Dare

  http://mybook.to/Dare

  Ayda

  I hear him.

  His deep voice and rumbling laugh. The bang of the headboard slamming the wall and fake screams from yet another woman. Derek is a pile of muscle and ink, a bad boy fantasy only a few layers of wood and plaster away. It’s all I expect or want him to be.

  Until that irresistible voice begins talking to me.

  Dare

  I hear her.

  The clicking of her fingers on a keyboard, her music or TV playing in the background. Her musical laugh and soft cries of pleasure, accompanied by a low, steady buzz. Ayda is a good girl who keeps to herself, and I have no business pursuing her, but I’m not a man known for doing the right thing.

  I’m an ex-con. I’m a criminal.

  And I want her.

  Justus

  http://mybook.to/Justus

  Justus

  I’m not conceited.

  Really, I’m not. It just so happens I have a body a Greek God would be jealous of, and a face that could make an angel weep. Other than that, I’m just your everyday normal guy who happens to take his clothes off for money. Sure, I’ve had to dispose of a few guys for In Safe Hands, the organization I work for that helps track predators and child molesters, but other than that, completely normal.

  Women flock to me, screaming and paying for the right to touch me, so why is this woman so stubborn? Sadie Belmont’s curvy body and sharp tongue have haunted me since I met her a year ago. There’s something about her that gets stuck in my head like a bad song, and I’m determined to find out why I want her so badly, and why she can’t stomach the thought.

  Sadie

  I can’t believe I’m doing this. Of all the men in the world, I’m taking Justus Alexander to my childhood home in Oklahoma to meet my mother. A stripper who has a revolving door of women jumping in and out of his bed. Nine months ago when I lied to my mother and told her I had a steady boyfriend, I didn’t expect it to come to this. She doesn’t have long to live, and her only wish is to know I have a husband before she goes.

  I can’t disappoint her, and male escorts cost way more than I can afford, so when Justus volunteered, I took him up on his offer. I know what he wants. After annoying me with constant pick up lines for a year, he sees an opportunity to get me in bed. It’s not going to happen. I just need to get through this week with my sanity intact.

  Tucker

  http://mybook.to/tuckerbook

  Tucker

  She’s beautiful.

  She’s young.

  She’s driving me out of my mind.

  I’ve
always done my best to avoid Leah Bolt. I have enough problems without having to deal with a young woman with a crush. My life has been a disaster since I was court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the military. After spending a year living on the streets, I’m finally starting to pull things together.

  Now, I’m stuck with her, living side by side in my house with my complete opposite. If spending every day with this peppy, optimistic, energetic woman doesn’t kill me, her brother will. Dare is a friend and a member of In Safe Hands, a group that tracks down sexual predators and brings them to justice. He has also done time and is the size of a mountain.

  I’ve survived combat, but I may be taken down by a perky blond.

  Leah

  He’s gorgeous.

  He’s older.

  He’s a stubborn, broody jerk.

  Tucker Long is every woman’s dream…until you talk to him. He may be sexy when he’s out sweating in the sun with sawdust clinging to him as he hammers and saws, but try to hold a conversation and all you get are grunts and nods.

  He was the one who wanted a house sitter and just because his plans fell through doesn’t mean I’m changing mine. My future is up in the air while I try to decide who I want to be, and Tucker’s farm is the perfect place for me to do it. He calls me kid, but the way he looks at me doesn’t lie.