Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:24:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 Nobody Like Us (Like Us #13) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/nobody-like-us-like-us-13-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:24:33 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/nobody-like-us-like-us-13-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Becca Ritchie
Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)

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Sci-fi writer, heiress, weirdo, and oldest daughter of the beloved and infamous Hale family, 21-year-old Luna Hale has been known by many names. But the title she’s coveted these days has been elusive…until now.

She can see it. It’s in reach. She’s more than ready to be his girlfriend.
Luna wants to go on an exploration of Paul Donnelly. Top to bottom. Inside out. To discover all there is to know about her human hero. But he’s afraid some skeletons are better left in the darkness.
As a death in the family unsteadies multiple futures, Luna and Donnelly see turbulence ahead, but they’re determined to steer their ship through the rubble and finally make a landing. This time, together.

Luna and Donnelly’s out-of-this-world, cosmic love returns in this romantic, heart-pounding, and epic conclusion to the Like Us series.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

DECEMBER

“All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.”

— Battlestar Galactica

1

PAUL DONNELLY

I’ve been avoiding funerals most of my life. Didn’t make it to my grandmom’s when she croaked. Skipped out on mass for deceased aunts and uncles. Been to one wake for a cousin. But that was because I was thirteen and hungry and they had roast beef hoagies. I’m not big on death. It feels like the conclusion of something—and I’d just rather keep on running, keep on going, than celebrate any kind of ending.

On the grassy hill of a cemetery a little outside Philly, it hits me like a burst of cold December wind.

My first funeral is for a Calloway.

Not my mom.

Not my dad.

A fucking Calloway.

I’d laugh at the sheer shock of it—but can’t laugh during a funeral. I have manners and all—even if everyone in the cemetery has been eyeballing me and Luna rather than the coffin that’ll descend into the freshly dug earth.

Feels like we were the ones who died.

Like half the people here are lowering us into the ground.

At least I’m with her. In life, in death…at least I’m with Luna Hale.

I scrape a hand through my hair.

Yeah, I’m not dead yet. Luna leans into my shoulder, her warmth radiating against me, and my left arm is already around this girl.

I look down at her. Residual glitter is still stuck in her light brown hair, the strands sparkling, and her round cheeks are rosy from the biting winter air. Her black puffer jacket is too short to warm the length of her body, but I tuck her close to me.

She’s mine. She’s all mine, but from across the wooden casket, I spot a fortysomething woman with deep auburn hair yanked into a taut bun. Luna’s therapist. If she could chuck stones, I’d be pelted to death by now. She would rather I let Luna go.

It’s worse when I spot Luna’s parents. Her mom practically turns her face into her husband’s chest just to avoid me. Like I’m truly disease-ridden and toxic waste.

My stomach clenches.

It’s not about me. She’s just upset about who died. It’s upsetting. This death. This whole thing. I try to convince myself, but it’s also clear she’s doing her best not to make eye contact with me.

Luna senses her mom’s avoidance, and she shifts uneasily. I squeeze her in a side-hug.

A light layer of snow blankets the dewy morning grass. Everyone is standing, hundreds in attendance to pay their respects, and I only feel like a special invitee because I can see the gravesite. I’m not two or three rows behind friends-of-friends and other security.

I am on-duty though. Had to keep the press and paparazzi out of the cemetery, but I managed to sneak up to the front to be beside Luna. I’m Epsilon—been that way for three days—and my fellow SFE brethren are looking at me like I deserve to be shoved in the hole. O’Malley, most especially.

I meet the intensity of his glare with one of my own.

Fuck him.

My blood courses hatefully, and I despise this feeling. I want to release it, but after all that’s happened, I can’t figure out how. I’m afraid to live inside hatred, maybe more than I am to live inside the past.

I glance back down at Luna—she’s worth everything. She’s my everything. But I’m still partially in her world. One foot in, one foot out. Like with a big enough gust of wind, I could be blown away from her.

She springs on her tiptoes to whisper to me, “It kinda feels like we’re being stared at.”

I dip my head to whisper back, “Accurate assessment, I’d say. They’re probably just jealous.”

“Uh-huh,” she says, her voice tense.

We both know they’re not envious of the hell we’ve been going through. No one in their right mind would be.

They’re also not envious of what happened to us three days ago—the same day we learned a Calloway died. Also known as the day another member of Luna’s family walked in on me giving her head. History repeats itself in strange ways, and I don’t know what it says about me that this happened yet again.

What didn’t repeat: Keeping it under wraps.

Her entire family got wind of it today. Hence, being eyeballed during the funeral like we’re the ones in the casket.

I’d say we already had some metaphorical or spiritual death of sorts, but it’s not that easy to put me to rest.

THREE DAYS EARLIER

2

PAUL DONNELLY

“Let’s go, my furry friends.” Arkham and Orion lead the way into the Hale House. While Luna, Maximoff, and Farrow talk on the front lawn about the sudden death in the family, I give them a minute to themselves. Letting the Hales have this family moment. So I offered to bring the dogs inside.

Boxes of Christmas lights are on the front brick porch. I’d been stringing them on the roof before Maximoff dropped the bad news. I collect my phone and radio nearby, in a bit of a daze.

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Misfits Like Us (Like Us #12) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/misfits-like-us-like-us-12-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Sun, 30 Jul 2023 16:01:08 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/misfits-like-us-like-us-12-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Becca Ritchie
Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 174544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)

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29-year-old Paul Donnelly has been many things in his life. Son of addicts, high school dropout, tattooist, the shameless bodyguard to Beckett Cobalt, the "bodyguard camp counselor" to the rookies of SFO, Loren Hale's nemesis, and Xander's wise one.
But nothing means as much without Luna Hale. The sci-fi-loving writer. A weirdo. Sister to his client. The only one he's fallen for.
To be with Luna, he has to ensure it's totally, completely, unmistakably safe. That starts with taking care of his family-the family he walked away from as a teenager.
He knows he'll survive. He can survive anything. But this time, he just wants to survive with her.
Take an epic cosmic journey with Luna & Donnelly through heartache, hope, darkness, love, and an unceasing light-where the bonds we make are what power us through time.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PART ONE

“The will to win and the power of war are given by the dark side—or, as dawn throws back the night…they are given by the light!”

- Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic (Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon #1)

1

LUNA HALE

If I could stay on the shingled roof for another lightyear, I would. I’d never unplant my butt from this very spot. I’d just wait here until my dad changes his mind and gives Donnelly permission to date me.

I think I have a better chance of rotting away on the roof.

Donnelly has disappeared into the dark of my parents’ backyard. After fighting to see the last outline of his body, he’s just…gone. Instead of glancing up at the twinkling stars, I gaze down at the sketch he just drew for me.

Black pen bleeds into the ripped paper: him and me kissing among whirling planets and stars, all fancifully drawn in one continuous line. Like we’re forever connected to the galaxy of our dreams. I clutch the sketch protectively. It’s the embodiment of us. Of what we could be.

Of what I hope we will be.

I hate that it still feels so out of reach. Like this happily ever after version of us lives in another timeline. But I know what Donnelly would say. I can practically feel the warmth of him beside me, murmuring the loving words against the pit of my ear.

“Believe with me.”

I whisper in the night, “I want to.” Oh, how I want to. The cynical pieces of me struggle to cling on to that light. Reality is darker. Sadder. Bleaker.

I try to take a breath. The savory smell of meatloaf wafts through my open window. Joining a family dinner is the last thing I feel like doing. An ache has blossomed in my chest, and I don’t know how to temper the pain other than to transplant it with anger.

We didn’t need my dad’s permission to date. Not really.

Donnelly and I are both adults. We’re not stuck in some medieval romance where he has to beg the king to wed the princess. It’s not like that at all. Though, here on this planet, I am considered an American princess. Fame and media are usually the bigger considerations when dating anyone.

How much privacy will they lose?

How much media attention will I gain dating so-and-so?

Will the public hate them or love them?

We haven’t even breached that stage of deliberation. We’re trapped in the beginning.

I do understand that Donnelly wants this to be easier for both of us, and that means having my dad on our side. It’s a rational plan. A good plan.

Especially if my dad’s hatred of Donnelly somehow becomes a headline: Loren Hale Disapproves of Daughter’s New Boyfriend! I could see the press eating up the rivalry like it’s a seven-course meal.

I just hate this shitty outcome where my dad told Donnelly to live in purgatory until his family is no longer a threat. Tears prick my eyes. Because I know, deep down, that Donnelly’s family might always be a threat. And what then?

We’ll never be together.

“Luna?!” my sister calls out. “Mom told me to come get you for dinner!”

With the sketch in my fingers, I hug my knees to my chest and blink repeatedly to keep the waterworks at bay. My throat swells too much to talk.

“Luna?!” Kinney’s voice grows louder. I imagine she’s walking deeper into my room. “Are you on the roof? You’re not trying to get beamed up again, are you?” There’s a sharpness to her voice like she thinks the idea is completely absurd.

Some of my very first trips to my roof were in pursuit of being taken away by extraterrestrial life. By you, unearthly reader. Not only to see a new planet. New galaxy. But I felt like the only way to escape my problems was to leave this planet. The idea of being kidnapped and swept away somewhere better had this dark allure.

I guess it doesn’t seem as cool now.

Donnelly probably wouldn’t be beamed up with me, and I don’t really want to live on a planet where he’s not there.

“Luna, did you hear me?” Kinney steps closer to my window and sticks half her body outside.

I turn my head a fraction, and her narrowed green eyes fix on mine. Dyed black hair is chopped at her collarbones, bangs shading her brows.

“The aliens aren’t coming for you,” she deadpans. “But if you fall off the roof, you will turn into a ghost.”

She sounds so much like our dad. It just enlarges a rock in my esophagus. Words are lodged.

“I’ll be down in a sec,” I say so quietly. I’m unsure if she hears.

Her black-painted lips draw into a thin line, and her vexed expression is riddled with blistering concern. Kinney wears worry like a dress made of razor blades. Unapproachable, untouchable. It’s as hard for me to near her as it’d be for any enemy.

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Misfits Like Us (Like Us #11) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/misfits-like-us-like-us-11-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Wed, 10 Aug 2022 01:10:01 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/misfits-like-us-like-us-11-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire, Contemporary, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 132933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Misfits Like Us (Like Us #11)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
Book Information:
As the eldest daughter of famous parents, Luna Hale is anything but normal. She escapes most days inside the fandoms she loves and the fics she writes, and she’s accepted that real life just sucks more than fiction. But there is someone who could rival every swoony man inside her imagination. And he only lives three floors below her. Too bad he’s incredibly off-limits. Her brother’s bodyguard, eight years older (okay, sometimes, nine), and the son of meth addicts—the tattooed, shameless bodyguard is the only one her dad really hates. But Luna isn’t sure exactly why. She’s trying not to be hung up on him. Paul Donnelly is trying not to be hung up on her. With his life among the security team and his friends at stake, he doesn’t need to make waves among the Hales, especially the notoriously overprotective Loren Hale, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Petty. But when Donnelly’s two best friends set a time and place for a double—no, a “triple” date—the countdown to finding a date is on. Donnelly has no idea who he should bring. He just knows it can’t be her. Luna finds herself in the same predicament as bad luck unfolds. Find a date. And it can’t be him. Yet, the more they try to stay away, the more the universe has other plans. Nowhere in Luna’s wildest imagination could she have predicted what happens next. The slow burn heartache, feel-good fandom chats, lifelong friendships, and epic cosmic love of this next installment in the Like Us series will send your hearts into orbit with Luna & Donnelly, and you won’t want to make a landing without them. The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

1

PAUL DONNELLY

SEPTEMBER

Life isn’t something complicated to me. Been living for twenty-nine years. Think I can survive for one more. I’ve got that ruthless confidence that makes love to merciless independence, and my head isn’t in the clouds with some over-hyped optimism. I just know if I’m in the dark, I’ll dig my way through shit to find the light.

Self-reliance is the best drug my parents ever gave me.

Elbowing the front door shut, I’m quiet as I enter the Philly house. Eight bedrooms. Plenty of bathrooms. House is a funny way of saying mansion.

Though, not that many call it one. It’s not swimming in crystals and marble like the Cobalt Estate. It’s cozy with furniture you’d see in family sitcoms. Shelves aren’t stocked with first edition novels in different languages. Just comics.

Lots and lots of comics.

It’s still strange being here and not with the Cobalt Empire. I protected two Cobalt brothers before I was assigned to protect a Hale. Thought I’d be assigned to every Cobalt before I was put on a Hale’s detail.

Mainly because of their dad.

Mostly because of him.

Goals—I make them often. Most people probably think I have none. But I got ‘em.

Goal: Don’t run into Loren Hale.

It’s Friday. I’ve succeeded all week. I deserve a cheesecake, thank you very much. Might go get one tonight. What’s stopping me?

Her dad.

I push back the nagging thought. He’s not stopping me from eating cheesecake. He’s not. And no one likes a nag. The kind that poke at your brain and make you rethink yourself at every turn—those gotta be the worst. I don’t like rethinking everything.

I just like doing.

“I’m at the Hale House. Where you at?” I ask in a whisper, phone propped to my ear with my shoulder. It’s the ear without the tactical earpiece. My hands are full of Earth’s greatest nectar.

Wawa coffee.

Two steaming to-go cups warm my palms.

“New York. Trying not to wake up my baby sister,” Oscar tells me quietly and spits in the sink, probably brushing his teeth this early a.m.

“Need some diapers?” I ask lightly, a grin forming. I hear his grunt, like he wants to retort but can’t with a mouth full of toothpaste, so I go on. “Gotta get the pureed chicken and gravy for your baby, man. Can’t let her starve. Only the best for Baby Jo.”

He mumbles out, “You have recent experience eating baby food?”

“Nah, that shit’s expensive.” I did once look up the cost of baby food. When I thought I got a girl pregnant. Baby wasn’t mine. Didn’t even sleep with her. Turns out, the baby belonged to my uncle in prison, and now that baby has been adopted by Farrow and Maximoff Hale.

Life does have happy endings that way. I have to believe in them. Or else what’s the point, right? Some great endings just take an arm or a leg to reach.

I hear the faucet.

Oscar spits again. “You say any of that around Jo and she’ll have your nuts rolling on the floor ten-feet away from your dick, and I’ll watch and laugh.”

I will too. “Sounds like your sister just wants in my pants.”

“No, no, no. Sister jokes are officially off-limits. Legitimately, you’ve met your quota, which should be zero.” I don’t usually bring Joana into things.

“All I’m saying is she’s not a baby. Isn’t she twenty-one?”

“Almost.”

I know her birthday is in the fall. Late October. Next month, actually. I try not to forget things like that when it comes to the people who matter to me. Oscar matters. Which means so does his almost twenty-one-year-old sister.

“And she’ll always be my baby sister to me,” Oscar concludes.

“Yeah, I know.” Even though I’m an only child, I understand the power and bond of a sibling. And not just because I’m surrounded by families.

Families that I’m dedicated to protecting.

While I walk through the Hales’ foyer, I’m still trying not to be loud. So I don’t ask much about Joana living at his Hell’s Kitchen studio, which security (aka Akara Kitsuwon) pays for. I’m guessing she’s not moving out anytime soon. Free place to crash. Extra time spent with her big bro.

Who would leave?

Oscar is at his studio only when Charlie Cobalt is in New York, and then when Charlie is here, Oscar stays at the Philly apartment he owns with his husband, Jack.

The life I lived in New York, rooming with Oscar and protecting Beckett Cobalt while he protected Charlie, that doesn’t even feel that long ago. Though, I know it’s been almost two years.

In two years, my best friends both got married.

Amazing things.

And then the bad:

In two years, I wiped out my bank account for an uncle that I don’t even like.

In two years, I’ve sleepwalked more than I have in the past ten.

In two years, I haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about her.

Fuck me, right?

Oscar keeps chatting. “I have ten minutes before I go chase Charlie around Manhattan with my husband.” I heard Jack is filming some kind of travel project for Charlie while We Are Calloway is in post-production. Editors are tweaking the Summer Olympic footage for the newest season.

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Infamous Like Us (Like Us #10) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/infamous-like-us-like-us-10-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:11:58 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/infamous-like-us-like-us-10-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Sports Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 162567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Infamous Like Us (Like Us #10)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B08M499P5C
Book Information:
22-year-old Sullivan Meadows knew dating Akara & Banks would be complicated, but now that her relationship is public, everything has been put on blast: @HeatherB: Can’t believe Sullivan Meadows is dating TWO men and they’re like all together. Like OMG. Totally didn’t think the rumors were true. @YuiK: anyone know what happened to Sullivan Meadows? News is saying something bad went down. Seems bad. @PaulieP: Why is there no reporting on the thing that “allegedly” happened to that Meadows girl? They aren’t saying whether her boyfriends were there??? @TiffanyW: Y’all I can’t with Sullivan’s boyfriends. They just sandwiched her in PUBLIC to avoid cameras lmao @RiverT: Banks Moretti & Akara Kitsuwon are totally banging. I don’t make the rules @CarlaR: OMGOMGOMG Sullivan Meadows qualified for the Olympics! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! @LacieA: Celebrity Crush is saying ALL the families will be at the Olympics to root for Sullivan. Im dead #HalesMeadowsCobalts @GeorgieO: Dude no way she wins a gold medal. Sulli the Slut is too busy screwing anything that walks @VenusQ: I bet her boyfriends will distract her. Last Olympics, she was single. This one, she’s a MESS. Messiness isn’t getting gold #sorrynotsorry With danger, Olympics, and unexpected life twists on the horizon for Akara, Sulli, and Banks, the only way out of the rising tide is to swim harder. Infamous Like Us is an MFM Romance and Book 10 in the Like Us Series.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

1

SULLIVAN MEADOWS

Fireworks blast off into the California night sky. I don’t see colorful bursts of light, but the noise thunders around me and vibrates the ground. Even the bathroom stall rattles from the cacophony—a very real reminder that I shouldn’t be squandering my time here on this fucking toilet.

Or as Banks calls it—a shitter.

My lips rise as soon as I think about one of my boyfriends. Boyfriends. Not such a bizarre fucking concept anymore. At least to me. I’ve lost a lot of faith that the world will ever understand. I told Akara that I bet they’d only approve if I died.

In my death, they’d accept my love of two men because I’d be gone and there’d be nothing left to criticize or hate. Or maybe they’d just keep on hating.

We’re not letting anyone get to us, Akara reminded me. It’s been our motto since we confirmed our relationship to the world.

We’re not letting anyone get to us.

They won’t break us apart.

They won’t hurt us.

They won’t win.

I’m fucking competitive, but I never imagined the harder race would be against anonymous faces and internet hatred than swimming an actual Olympic event.

They won’t hurt us.

But fuck, does it hurt some days. Thick skin comes and goes like armor I’m renting from the Cobalt Empire, but Moffy says that the painful parts just make me human. Jane says Cobalts hurt too.

Beckett tells me not to worry—that all my family are here for me. And they are. Literally. Cousins, aunts, uncles, plus my mom, dad, and sister are in the packed stands somewhere outside this bathroom. Even Beckett, my notoriously busy best friend, has taken a couple weeks off ballet to cheer me on.

And here I am, holed up in a fucking toilet stall. Hoping my current mega-crisis will shrink to a mini-one. My pulse climbs, knees jostle. Boom!

I flinch.

Another firework bursts.

And then another.

It’s just a firework.

It’s just a fucking firework.

I blow out a measured breath and try to let my pulse decelerate. We arrived in Los Angeles over a week ago to frenzied crowds, aggressive paparazzi—more pushing and pulling—and I want to blame this fucking city for the extra mayhem, the extra stress, the invasive questions and blistering spotlight.

But it hasn’t just been a week of fame I can’t escape, can’t circumvent, can’t outwit, outplay, or outlast.

It’s been six months.

Six months since I climbed into my childhood treehouse with my boyfriends. Six months since I announced to the world that I’m in a poly relationship with two bodyguards.

Six months since everything changed.

Sitting on the shut toilet lid, more worry crawls under my skin, but the source isn’t from brash noises or impending danger.

Nerves swarm me as I stare hard at the slim white pregnancy test in my hand.

Boom!

I jerk my neck. You’re safe. You’re fine, Sulli. Fireworks are like a ticking clock, telling me I need to hurry. I need to go. Join the festivities.

Delight in all the hard work that brought me here.

The Summer Olympics.

Be with my boyfriends, who are no doubt a little fucking freaked out that I’m taking so long. But I can’t leave until I have this one answer.

“Sulli, get your fucking shit together,” I coach under my breath. My legs jostle more as I stare hard at the test.

I already pissed on the stick and recapped it.

Thirty-seconds through the 5-minute wait, and I swear I’m already sweating through this thick navy Ralph Lauren blazer.

“It’s the Opening Ceremony to the fucking Olympics,” I whisper. “And you’re in a bathroom talking to yourself while you wait for…” I can’t finish the words.

Not that I think someone will overhear. Akara and Banks searched the bathroom stalls before I even entered. All clear. Now my boyfriends stand guard outside the door, and my stomach is in knots.

I check my watch. “Three more minutes,” I say to myself. Hearing my own voice calms me a bit more. Noise is a constant background whenever I’m in public, and I haven’t been swimming in this much quiet during make-it-or-break-it, stress-induced situations in a while.

I could call Akara or Banks in here.

To wait with me. To be a shoulder to lean on. To comfort me. They both would. But here’s the fucking thing: I haven’t told them.

When I realized I missed my period recently, I didn’t want to bring up the issue to Akara or Banks. We already had one scare months ago after the condom ripped. And fuck, we’ve been careful since that slip-up at the end of January. I took Plan B. I got my period.

Not pregnant.

Now it’s the tail-end of July, and I’m in a worse situation. Too late for Plan B. A pregnancy test in hand.

The Olympics literally starting now.

Even buying a pregnancy test took Harry Potter levels of sorcery—exactly what Luna said to me when she slipped the pregnancy stick in my pocket like a badass James Bond.

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Fearless Like Us (Like Us #9) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/fearless-like-us-like-us-9-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Sat, 29 May 2021 22:37:25 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/fearless-like-us-like-us-9-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 168980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Fearless Like Us (Like Us #9)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B08M49GW63
Book Information:
Twenty-one-year-old Sullivan Meadows just unleashed the biggest bomb-drop on her overprotective dad. She's dating a ruggedly handsome Banks Moretti and a swoon-worthy hot Akara Kitsuwon. Two men. Two bodyguards. One polyamorous relationship. Nothing can prepare Sulli for her dad's hot-tempered reaction. And the fallout isn't the only explosion Sulli, Akara, and Banks are facing. More family drama leaves them at odds with people they love, and Sulli finds herself striving to prove that she's all grown up. Her determination comes at--knock knock. The Royal Leaks are here. We reveal all the truths about the American Royals. These are verified and come directly from the source. No American Royal is safe. ROYAL LEAK #1: We know everything. Fearless Like Us is an MFM Romance and Book 9 in the Like Us Series.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

Character List

Not all characters in this list will make an appearance in the book, but most will be mentioned.

Ages represent the age of the character at the beginning of the book. Some characters will be older when they’re introduced, depending on their birthday.

THE MEADOWS

Ryke Meadows & Daisy Calloway

Sullivan – 21

Winona – 15

THE COBALTS

Richard Connor Cobalt & Rose Calloway

Jane – 24

Charlie – 22

Beckett – 22

Eliot – 20

Tom – 19

Ben – 17

Audrey – 14

THE HALES

Loren Hale & Lily Calloway

Maximoff – 24

Luna – 19

Xander – 16

Kinney – 15

THE ABBEYS

Garrison Abbey & Willow Hale

Vada – 15

THE SECURITY TEAM

These are the bodyguards that protect the Cobalts, Hales, and Meadows.

Kitsuwon Securities Inc.

Security Force Omega

Akara Kitsuwon (boss) – 27

Thatcher Moretti (lead) – 29

Banks Moretti – 29

Farrow Hale – 29

Oscar Highland-Oliveira – 32

Quinn Oliveira – 22

Paul Donnelly – 28

Gabe Montgomery – 22

Price Kepler’s Triple Shield Services

Security Force Epsilon

Jon Sinclair (lead) – 40s

Greer Bell – 30s

…and more

Security Force Alpha

Price Kepler (lead) – 40s

Wylie Jones – 40s

Tony Ramella – 29

…and more

1

SULLIVAN MEADOWS

So, Dad, I’d like you to meet my boyfriends. Akara Kitsuwon and Banks Moretti.

Those words hang in the air like the smoke cloud after a bomb drop. I can’t close my eyes. Can’t look away from my dad whose brows furrow in utter fucking confusion. Before I have a chance to explain—like really fucking explain—he speaks.

“I didn’t hear you fucking right, Sul,” he says. “Say it again.”

Oh fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

How am I supposed to say this twice?!

My mouth dries, and I instinctively look behind me at Akara, who usually comes in with the save. When words fail me in social settings, he takes over…but usually not with my dad.

Usually, I can manage to form some kind of coherent sentence in front of him. My dad is the last person to really care when I struggle to say what I mean, so typically, I try to reach the point. Fucks and all. But his intensity right now, in this moment, is setting my feet on fire.

I want to run away, but I stay still and let the heat scorch my soles.

Akara picks up my distress signal, then looks to my dad. “Ryke—”

“Wait, let her fucking talk.” He zeroes in on me. “Sul?”

God, my dad is so fucking intense.

Feel the moment.

Yeah, feel the fucking moment—what was I thinking?! There is no back-peddling, no laughing this off with poorly placed dick jokes. Swimming forward is all that makes sense, and I hope the man who taught me to float as a baby isn’t about to see me drown as an adult.

And if Akara and Banks wished I didn’t explode this news to my dad first, I can’t tell. All of us are stopped at the base of the rock face, and they remain completely guarded, like they’re on-duty about to protect me from an enraged horde of so-called fans.

Only that horde is one person, and I’m hoping with everything in my soul and body that he’s not soon-to-be enraged.

“Um…” I have two fingers to my lips, lost in contemplation, and I drop my arm fast. “Fuck…so what I said was, I’d like you to meet my boyfriends.” I wave my hand from Akara to Banks, like this needs actual physical indication of what I mean.

His death-stare burns into Akara, then Banks, with more confusion than anger, I think. And I’m also hoping. Please, fucking please.

“Boyfriends?” He shakes his head, brows knotting. “I don’t…fucking understand.”

“The three of us are together,” I say quickly, my pulse speeding out of fucking control.

His confusion is setting me on the cliff’s edge—the one that we just climbed in the quarry. Like I’m no longer grounded. Like I’m falling forward without a harness. I wonder if my dad feels the exact same.

Like he’s being pushed off the same cliff.

By me.

He holds up a hand. “Wait, so you’re with Akara?” He shifts his weight, an angry fucking shift. He runs his hand aggressively across his scruffy jaw. His eyes nail into Akara. Both men are unblinking.

“Dad, Dad,” I call out until he looks at me. Once he does, I tell him clearly, “I’m also with Banks.”

He tries to shake his head, but the movement is cemented. His neck is tight. “What?” His face hardens to stone. “What the fuck, you can’t…you’re…” He exhales roughly, painfully. “You’re fucking with me. The three of you are playing some fucking practical joke on me.” He’s waiting for one of us to jump out with the punchline.

Banks hangs his head slightly so he’s not towering over my dad. But his eyes lift up with his brows as he tells him, “We’re not joking, sir.”

Without falter, Akara adds, “Sulli is telling you the truth.”

My dad is barely breathing. His carriage is barely rising. He’s just rock burning from within, and he turns to me. “This better be a joke, Sulli.”

Hurt builds pressure on my chest. “You know me better than that,” I say. “I would never make this into a fucking joke.” Winona, maybe. She likes trying to get a rise out of him. But me?

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Wild Like Us (Like Us #8) Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie http://www.ilovenovels.com/wild-like-us-like-us-8-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:22:56 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wild-like-us-like-us-8-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Becca Ritchie
Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 145257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Wild Like Us (Like Us #8)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B0888T2PCD
Book Information:
One is new to love. One is bad at love. One denies love. Twenty-one-year-old, foul-mouthed Olympian, Sullivan Meadows, just made a huge mistake. She told her bodyguards—her buddies, her pals—they could take her virginity. Words forever engrained in her brain. And theirs. Akara Kitsuwon & Banks Moretti are best friends, sworn to protect each other and their client Sullivan. But upon hearing her confession, their reactions aren’t what Sulli expects. They’re all friends anyway. Just friends. Solid, good friends. Right? As the three embark on the road to Yellowstone, tension builds and close quarters leave no secrets behind. Feelings for her childhood friendship with Akara—that teasing, flirty leader—grow hotter, but so do her feelings for Banks, the rugged, heart-melting Marine. While Sulli is out west to free-solo her dad’s old climbing routes, the only true destination the three of them are certain of is Yellowstone. Love & romance are totally up in the air. Wild Like Us is an MFM Romance and Book 8 in the Like Us Series. The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

1

SULLIVAN MEADOWS

The best way to describe this situation is fucking comical.

I have to pee.

Like I might piss my pants if I don’t find a toilet kind of pee, and I’m nowhere near a toilet. I’m in the middle of a field that’s landscaped with flashing lights, a giant Ferris wheel, thrill rides, cotton-candy stands, and too many beady-eyes that follow me as they wonder what the fuck I’m up to.

Where are you running off to so quickly, Sullivan Minnie Meadows? Why are you not with your little sister or your parents at the Carnival Fundraiser? Why’d you leave them at the Tilt-A-Whirl?

Because I downed five bottles of orange cream soda. For a good cause: a belching contest with my fifteen-year-old sister. Which turned into a “first to not puke on the Tilt-A-Whirl” contest. The squirt and I were both victorious, as life should be. Our mom would say, sisters at war is the saddest adventure of all.

Thankfully I’ve never been on that gloomy voyage. Winona is all the tendons that hold my heart together. A life without her would break me.

The carnival is packed tonight, and I go from a clench-the-thighs trot to a full power-walk, quickly bypassing a corn dog stand. The reality of my situation would disappoint many gossip blogs.

You mean to say the oldest daughter of thrill-seeking Daisy and Ryke Meadows isn’t leaving for a rendezvous with a secret boyfriend?

Nope.

You mean to say that she’s never had a boyfriend before?

That was true until last year. First boyfriend at twenty. First kiss at twenty. First break-up at twenty-one.

I could’ve waited longer for those good firsts if the right guy didn’t come around. Not that Will Rochester was Mr. Forever. He was Mr. Back Then. Mr. Good for Now.

Growing up, I always sidelined the idea of romance in favor of my first love.

Swimming.

Boys were big fucking distractions, not that many tried to distract me, but I refused to cheat on my first love, my drive to win. Myself. But once I retired from swimming, my focus expanded beyond reaching Olympic gold. No time for romance became all the time in the world to fall in love.

I honestly don’t have much faith in myself in the romance department. It’s not like I have a lot of fucking experience there, and you can’t really train for the dating game.

At least not when the pool of people I trust is small. Like Fisher-Price plastic fishing toy-set small.

But the secret boyfriend is long-gone now. Will Rochester is in the past, and our relationship wasn’t totally secret to everyone. Just the public. Thank fucking God. I couldn’t have imagined dealing with the scrutiny of a million eyes while dating for the first time.

Water guns squirt clown targets at a nearby game booth, and all I hear is the forceful splash of water. My need to pee intensifies. “Oh fuck that last sip of soda.” I pick up speed into a slight-jog, and I’m going to outpace the two men in front of me if they don’t haul ass.

I place my hands on their backs, and at the exact same time, they glance over their shoulders. They look downward to meet my eyes, and I’m really fucking tall—especially in my worn-leather boots, I crest over 6-foot—but they’re taller.

“Go, fucking go,” I say strongly, pushing them towards the bathrooms.

They easily lengthen their stride, but they’re on the cusp of full-bellied laughter.

Akara’s brown eyes twinkle, his lips lifting as he looks to Banks, his six-foot-seven Italian-American friend. “You hear that running water?”

Banks cracks a smile at me. “You mean the waterfall between her legs?”

I’d probably laugh if I weren’t so afraid of wetting myself. “Hardy-har-har.” I twist my long brown hair into a messy bun to distract my bladder. Putting my hands on their lower backs again, I shove them forward as they skillfully weave between carnival attendees.

Akara teases, “Hey, Sulli, I hear that waterfall right now.” He glances back at me. “You hear it? Goes something like woooosh.”

I almost tinkle. Fucking God. “You’re going to regret that when I piss myself and jump on you.”

Banks is laughing his ass off.

I playfully slug his side. “Why are you laughing? I’d jump on you first.”

Akara bursts into laughter now.

Banks bites down on a toothpick, mouth curved up. “You wanna jump on me, just don’t miss. It’s a long way from my body to the ground, and I wouldn’t want you to break your ass.”

I laugh hard at that, and we’re all smiling on the trek and the urge to piss actually recedes for a second.

And then we pass a long, winding line for funnel cake. Teenagers—boys and girls around my sister’s age—eye me, and their heads shift in eerie unison. Like something bizarre from Black Mirror.

I wince at the thought. Only because that’s Beckett’s favorite TV show.

We’d binge-watch all the episodes together between his ballet schedule. Since we’re not really talking that much right now, I try to push my best friend (ex-best-friend?) out of my head.

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Charming Like Us Read online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie (Like Us #7) http://www.ilovenovels.com/charming-like-us-7-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Fri, 31 Jan 2020 01:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/charming-like-us-7-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Gay, GLBT, M-M Romance, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 149982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 750(@200wpm)___ 600(@250wpm)___ 500(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Charming Like Us (Like Us #7)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie	Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B0815SNY6S
Book Information:
As the hottest bodyguard on Security Force Omega, Oscar Oliveira has no trouble finding a warm body at any odd hour. But he's ready for more. And for the first time in this ex-pro boxer's life, he just got rejected. For a kiss. Oscar's friends warned him not to fall for the straight guy, but flirty, sexy-as-hell Jack Highland made that difficult. Now Jack has Oscar's sweater. His belt. His bandana. And Oscar seriously wants them back. As for Jack – well, Jack wants a lot of things. But for the first time in this confident filmmaker's life, he's absolutely 100%... confused. Add another ultra-complication in a sea of complicated: Enter Charlie Cobalt. The enigmatic famous one that Oscar is sworn to protect wants his own show, and he's asked Jack to film it. A Charlie-centric docuseries will force Oscar & Jack to share the same air again. Option 1: Ignore each other. Option 2: Flirt, aw yeah. And act like the rejection never happened. Option 3: Confront each other about the rejected kiss. With options on the table and their romantic lives unsettled, both Jack & Oscar are concerned about why Charlie wants his own show. And the longer filming lasts, the more tumultuous their personal & professional worlds become. Chaos reigns when you're around the Cobalts, and Jack & Oscar are swept up among the most destructive one.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie	Becca Ritchie

1

OSCAR OLIVEIRA

Ten times a day, I question why I’m the bodyguard to Charlie Keating Cobalt. The sun just set, and I’m already at number eleven. Why me?

Because I can keep up.

Because despite the fact that he’s actively trying to lose me in a crowd that’s fifty people deep, I’m still six feet behind him. I could lunge and grab his thin, billowing white button-down, untucked from his black jeans.

No one has noticed the famous twenty-one-year-old yet.

Thanks to the fact that Charlie is moving through a crowd of tourists who are all too enamored with the glittering Manhattan skyscrapers. They’re too unaware that a celebrity just passed them by, with his unkempt, sandy-brown hair that takes flight with the summer wind.

Charlie veers to the left, suddenly, and his head disappears behind a group of taller men. If it were my first day on the job, I’d think he was trying to lose me in the crowd. But it’s not my first day. Not even my second.

I’ve been Charlie’s bodyguard for over five years.

So I don’t think it.

I know he’s trying to lose me.

Here’s an annoying fact: His success rate is about 50%.

Here’s a less annoying fact: Before me, his success rate was 100%.

Charlie’s previous bodyguards were making him look like a gold-star Houdini. They had zero shot to catch up to him. If Charlie wanted to disappear, he’d vanish into thin air.

With me, he has to try a little fucking harder, and that’s why I’m still on his detail after all these years. Can’t lie, it’s not rose petals and holy water over here. It’s never stopping. Not for a second. It’s stress on stress on stress, and I’m terrified of the day I lose this.

Being his bodyguard.

Because it’ll be like going from a hundred million miles an hour to being glued to the ground. I’ve been at Charlie’s speed for so long, I don’t know how to stop anymore.

I watch him near a department store, and instead of following his footsteps, I keep walking ahead with the throngs. Officially, I lose sight of him. It’s a calculated risk, one with opportunity cost.

And as I make the decision, I know exactly what it’s going to cost me…and my client.

I hear overwhelmed, elated, shrill screams of a young girl.

“Ohmygod Charlie COBALT!”

Her high-pitched “oh my gods” are probably echoing down the New Jersey Turnpike. Can I blame her? I grew up thinking the Cobalts walked on water. All three famous families are considered American royalty, but the Cobalts are the gods among the princes, and now that I protect them, I still think it.

The difference is, I’m not a teenager envious of their flawless intellect and their arm-in-arm impenetrable bonds…their closeness that made my family life seem unspooled and messy.

Because I’m older now, and I’m an incredibly intelligent motherfucker. And I’ve come face-to-face with the Cobalts, who are just as messy, just as dysfunctional, just as chaotic as my family still is.

And it made me love the Cobalt Empire even more.

So they still walk on water, but I’m one of several men who picks their asses out of a Great Lake when they slip and begin to drown.

Call me The Pro.

The media already does.

More screaming blisters the New York City air, and with a swift turn, I round the corner into an empty alleyway.

I keep a relaxed pace, comms earpiece situated in my ear. The July heat tries to suction my navy-blue button-down to my chest. Curly pieces of my hair brush my forehead, and I push them back and walk. Normally bodyguards alert their lead if they lost sight of their client. Yet, it’s pointless, if I radio in.

Fuck, I remember Charlie’s past bodyguards and their hysteria over comms.

I lost him. I lost him! Fucking shit, I lost the kid!

He’s just gone. I swear I had eyes on him.

I can’t…I can’t find him anywhere.

Fuck this, I quit.

Having to deploy a search and rescue mission for your client is embarrassing. Epsilon is still licking their wounds after losing the girl squad in Anacapri, which was about a week ago. The youngest girls in the famous families are fledgling teenagers, and they might as well be the babies, the treasured irreplaceable diamonds.

You don’t lose them.

Charlie is different. For one, he’s an adult. For another, he does this all the fucking time. If I asked for a “search and rescue,” I know Akara and Thatcher would help me track him, but there’s not much they can actually do.

They don’t have more or better intel than me.

Anyway, I’ve got it covered.

Halfway down the alleyway, I reach the back door of the department store. I check my watch and then lean a hip against the brick. Waiting. After a second, I pull out my cell to call an Uber Black.

Being the 24/7 bodyguard to a Cobalt, to anyone really, was never my plan, but it also wasn’t a far leap from professional boxing.

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Headstrong Like Us Read online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie (Like Us #6) http://www.ilovenovels.com/headstrong-like-us-6-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Tue, 25 Sep 2018 13:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/headstrong-like-us-6-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: GLBT, M-M Romance, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 136029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Headstrong Like Us (Like Us #5)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie	Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B07X32Q5WR
Book Information:
You’re cordially invited to the wedding of Maximoff Hale & Farrow Keene, and according to Celebrity Crush—the ceremony for this American prince and his tattooed bodyguard is going to be the event of the century. There will be no wedding crashers. Including but not limited to: hateful people, rabid fans, nosy paparazzi, and other so-called media. There will be no drama. None whatsoever. Because when you put three famous families and their hot bodyguards together, nothing will go down. There will be no fighting. No brawls, fists flying, verbal slingshots, or rifts that tear into craters. Lovers only! Everything will be perfect. Nothing will go amiss during the happiest, most anticipated occasion of the year. But then again… They don't call it the Hale Curse for nothing. The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie Books	Becca Ritchie Books

Prologue

4 1/2 Years Ago

MAXIMOFF HALE

I think a ton.

I’ve overthought what I’m about to do about a billion-and-one times. I could just forget about it. Because that’s so damn easy for me.

Yeah, I wish…

But then again, I don’t want to just sit here. I don’t know…I don’t want to not go over to him. That feels worse, somehow.

I lounge pretty rigidly on a burnt-orange outdoor blanket. I’m doing a piss-poor job at trying to relax in a beautiful Philly park. Like seriously beautiful. The October air is crisp, a twinkling, star-blanketed sky overhead. Not far away, my sister Luna lies back and traces constellations with her finger, one eye shut.

Laughter carries across the grassy knoll as a talking black cat cracks a joke on a big screen. Hocus Pocus plays for tonight’s Movie on the Green. A public event.

Kinney had the option to do a “private” movie screening for her birthday, but she wanted to do the whole public park thing that the city hosts every October. I’m happy that I could fly home from college to celebrate my little sister turning ten.

It’s a huge milestone. Ten-years-old.

And it’s not like I’m having a fucking blast at Harvard.

I’m a major distraction to students. They film me during class. Some just stare open-mouthed and short breathed the whole hour. A professor told me, “I need to be able to do my job.” He sent me study packets and suggested I skip lectures. Another professor asked me to leave class and complete take-home tests. I’m impeding their ability to teach people who are paying for an education.

It still makes me feel like shit.

Just knowing my presence is hurting someone.

I keep thinking about how I dreamed of having the ultimate college experience: learning more, sitting in philosophy lectures, swimming for a team, meeting new people like they show on overly happy collegiate infomercials.

I know it’s not meant for me. In the past couple months, I’ve been slowly realizing that I can’t have something so painfully normal.

Maybe it’d be easier if Charlie were with me, but that hope died too. I’m alone in Cambridge.

Coming home to Philly, I’ve smiled ten thousand times more. Right now, the park is jam-packed with gawking strangers, camera-wielding fans and paparazzi, stoic bodyguards, and my famous family—it’s my usual mix.

My normal.

And God, I missed this. Strangely, I even missed you. The noise, the world. A constant in my unconventional life.

But you’re highly unaware that I’m not actually paying attention to the 90s movie, even though my eyes are super-glued to the jumbo screen.

I’m in a colossal-sized internal crisis.

It has nothing to do with college and everything to do with my mom’s new bodyguard: the twenty-four-year-old tattooed know-it-all who can’t know that I’m thinking about him.

Too damn much.

I shut my eyes in a slow blink. Forcing myself not to scan the park for Farrow Redford Keene. He’s blending into the scenery with the rest of Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon. Bodyguards lounge on blankets several feet away from my family.

I know because I looked already, once…or twice.

He didn’t notice me staring. Yeah, I fucking hope.

While the Sanderson witches grace the big screen, Jane tears open a yellow box of Raisinets beside me. I lean over to my best friend. “This is a bad idea, right?” I whisper. “The worst I’ve ever had?”

Janie pinches a chocolate between two fingers. “On the contrary, old chap. It’s far from terrible.” She starts to smile. She’s the only one who’s known about the humongous crush I had on Farrow.

I almost smile and groan, but my stomach overturns. “Maybe I should just stay here with you. We haven’t seen each other in a while.” We FaceTime and text a ton, but I’ve missed Janie while she’s been in Princeton. Homesickness has infected her too.

We’ve also been blanket-hopping most of the night. Spending time with our younger siblings and cousins who group off in different familial cliques.

She sips a fountain soda. “I’ll always be here. It’s not as though you’ll be gone forever.” She glances at her pastel blue wristwatch. “By my predictions, you should only take thirty minutes, tops.”

I scrunch my face. “If I spend thirty minutes with Farrow, I’m going to die of Chronic Agitation.”

She grins. “Twenty minutes, then.”

I shake my head and slip my backpack strap over a shoulder. “Cela va durer une solide minute.” This is lasting one solid minute. “Any longer and I’ll need a stretcher and CPR.”

I try not to remember that Farrow graduated from Yale medical school.

He’s a doctor.

He can perform CPR on me. Mouth-to-mouth—stop thinking.

She taps my arm. “You should go now.” Jane is looking to our left. At my mom, whose gangly frame is hidden in an oversized black cable-knit sweater. She’s heading to the pop-up concession tents.

And her bodyguard is leading the way.

Approaching Farrow will be easier if he’s separated from the security team. Quickly (but not too quickly) I stand up, adjusting the other backpack strap on my muscular shoulder.

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Sinful Like Us Read online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie (Like Us #5) http://www.ilovenovels.com/sinful-like-us-5-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Sat, 30 Jun 2018 01:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/sinful-like-us-5-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 148434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Sinful Like Us (Like Us #5)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie	Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B07TLZWD98
Book Information:
HOW CAN IT BE WRONG IF IT FEELS SO GOOD Dating an American princess comes with a massive amount of baggage–all of which I’m willing to carry strapped on my back in quicksand and through seven hells. But Jane Cobalt’s baggage, I’m unprepared for. It comes in the form of her five equally famous and notoriously hard-to-please brothers. I want Jane. Completely. Unconditionally. But when there’s a trip scheduled that I can’t be a part of, I only have one option. It’s immoral. Something I’d never consider until now. But, hell, there’s got to be some perks to being a twin. So I’m doing it. I’m switching places with my brother. Done and done. It should have been easy. There were little consequences. Until the storm hit. The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie Books	Becca Ritchie Books

Prologue

Nearly 1 Year Ago

JANE COBALT

Late in the quiet night of the lake house, I’m curled up on a leather sofa. Eyes raw from crying, pastel purple stationery paper lies on my lap, and I lift my ballpoint pen off inked words, my stomach sunk low.

I stare faraway at my messy scrawl. “This isn’t the end,” I whisper, grabbing at any leftover optimism.

I’m all alone and talking to myself. It’s certain then: happy or sad, I can’t shut up.

My cousins, brothers, and bodyguards are in their bedrooms for the night—while I’m in the living room, staying warm in flannel pajamas beside a lit fireplace.

I don’t love the solitary quiet, but the crackle of flames fills the silence a little. Light flickers against the dark walls, and I blow out a breath. “Come on, Jane.”

My heart has been broken. Just recently.

Torn to bleeding shreds, and I’m trying not to sit with these painful feelings. “You can withstand anything,” I murmur. “You’re a Cobalt.” A lump lodges in my throat, and I bite the inside of my mouth to quell emotion—emotion that pierces all the armor I’ve ever built.

I’m not sure I want to be a Cobalt these days, and even the thought feels sacrilege. My family is my everything.

But I never prepared to be hurt by the people I love. By two Cobalts. By my parents.

Aren’t they supposed to believe me and trust me? When I’ve done nothing devious in my life to elicit their doubt. Yet, they’re the ones who believed I could be in a forbidden relationship with my best friend.

Oh, and that best friend—he happens to be my cousin.

It’s unthinkable. Never in my life have I ever even imagined…

My face starts to twist in a cringe and then morphs into a grimace as I remember how my parents will be at the lake house tomorrow. I’ll have to confront them face-to-face then.

I can’t say that I’m ready. Not when I’m wallowing. More pitifully than I like.

I sigh at myself. Where is the fierce roar of a lion? “Where are the claws?” I mutter and tuck a piece of wavy hair behind my ear.

God, I feel kicked down and meek. As the firstborn Cobalt, I’m supposed to be the fiercest, the most vicious and courageous of them all.

Not a puddle that people can splash in.

My voice falls to a softer whisper. “Buck up.” Soon, I’ll be on a tour bus and on the path to rebuilding my tarnished friendship with Moffy.

I nod. We’ll be okay.

It’s the bright side of an awful December. I take another breath and focus more on the stationery paper.

My fingers brush along my handwriting, a few words scribbled at the top:

For Thatcher Moretti.

I continue writing out a list.

- I prefer that you ride in my car with me. You don’t need to follow in a security vehicle.

- Fans can approach, but if you feel they’re possible threats, please don’t let them near me.

- I talk a lot. (If I bother you, please let me know.)

I spend a few more minutes making notes for my brand-new bodyguard, and I end with just three words.

I write: keep me safe.

Once I pick my pen off the paper, I look around. Half expecting one of my cats to keep me company. They’re not here at the lake house in the Smoky Mountains.

I really don’t love being alone, and these rumors have wedged something between me and Moffy. Pushing him further out to sea while I’m standing on a lonely island.

I take an umpteenth breath and pull out my phone. Without second thought, I text my new bodyguard: I have the list you asked for. We can go over it now if you’re still awake. I’m in the living room.

It’s late and it’s highly likely he’s fast asleep. But as I lower my phone to my lap, a message lights up the screen.

I’ll be down in a minute. – Thatcher

A small smile tries to tug my lips. Thatcher coming at my call is new to me. Lately, and very slowly, it’s been dawning on me that he’s been transferred to my detail.

Just temporarily.

He’s considered my secondary bodyguard, you see. Quinn Oliveira, the youngest SFO bodyguard, is still on my detail. I’ll have two men protecting me during the charity FanCon.

I look up as floorboards creak.

Thatcher walks across the third-floor balcony towards the stairs, moving with grave authority. A sort of domineering confidence. Like he’s on a single life-or-death mission. It lures me in for a much longer moment, an even longer minute, reminding me that he’s a leader among security, and this is the first time I’ve ever been protected by a lead.

His shoulders are bound strictly, a radio in his fist, and his serious gaze sweeps the living room—he sweeps me.

He zones in on my eyes, which must be red and bloodshot I’m guessing. Mostly because he lingers on my gaze for quite a while. At the same time, he’s hiking down the steps.

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Tangled Like Us Read Online Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie (Like Us #4) http://www.ilovenovels.com/tangled-like-us-4-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Mon, 30 Oct 2017 01:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/tangled-like-us-4-read-online-krista-ritchie-becca-ritchie Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance Authors: Becca Ritchie, Krista Ritchie Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
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Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 141165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >143

Read Online Books/Novels:	Tangled Like Us (Like Us #4)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Krista Ritchie	Becca Ritchie
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B07JLLFFSX
Book Information:
How to protect your heart: Let your bodyguard have it. Jane Cobalt is an American princess. The loyal and painfully curious twenty-three-year-old has inherited immense pressure to preserve the Cobalt legacy. But for Jane — sex, love, and life have been a series of royal failures. After a friends-with-benefits ended in disaster, she's sworn to a “no sex” hiatus for, well, eternity — and she has no intention of letting anyone in her bed and definitely not her heart. Twenty-eight-year-old Thatcher Moretti is painfully professional. As the stern 24/7 bodyguard to Jane, thinking about unbridled sex with his sweet client is a sin. One that he keeps committing. But the real act is a hard line he’d never cross. When a family member betrays Jane's trust, the media becomes obsessed with matchmaking the perpetually “single” Jane Cobalt and unwanted attention suddenly compromises her safety. Thatcher would do anything to protect her, and one solution may level the threats: Become the fake boyfriend to an American princess. Entwined together with boiling chemistry, new “professional” parameters, and an oath, unsaid feelings threaten to rise and change everything. The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them.
Books in Series:	Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Books by Author:	Krista Ritchie Books	Becca Ritchie Books

1

THATCHER MORETTI

First thing people know about me, I’m tall.

Second thing, I’m a twin.

Third thing, I’m a pain in your fucking ass. If you’re not giving a hundred shits at rest or in high water, I will hammer you.

One further, I’ll volunteer to be the bad guy if it means protecting lives and keeping minds right on the team.

But I didn’t imagine I’d lose her in the process.

I stare straight ahead and breathe hot breath out of my fucking nose. Can’t think about that now. I have a job to do.

She is my job.

And I need to unfuck this shit. I take full responsibility, and I’m going to shovel us out of the hellhole I’ve thrown ourselves in.

I have to.

A roaring beach bonfire lights up the sparkling night sky. The Aegean Sea calm and dark behind me, my boots sunk in damp sand on the shoreline. I stand still. Watchful.

Attentive.

Prepared for any hellfire.

This isn’t my first time in Greece, and that fact sits with me for an extra beat. I grew up in a one-bedroom South Philly apartment and shared a pullout couch with my brother. In my head, there weren’t many ways I’d see the world.

Eventually, Xander Hale happened. Becoming that kid’s bodyguard was a bright spot in my life. Not because I could see more of the world, but because I still had a hand in protecting someone else’s.

It’s what fuels me.

I’m strong to protect the soft.

I’ve felt that, even as a fucking teenager. I read The Iliad in high school. Men fighting on an ancient battlefield. Facing challenges that’d test their strength of will. Embarking on harrowing adventures while serving their country.

I wanted to be a Spartan warrior.

And I grew to look like one. Broad-chested and shouldered, muscled and toned, towering and relentless at six-foot-seven. Severity within hard lines of my body and face.

No matter where my boots land, I’m meant to fight for something.

And at twenty-two, I began protecting these three famous families. Cut to six years later, and this is still where I need to be. Where I want to be. I’d put my life on the fucking line for them. It’s more than a nine-to-five job, more than a career—this is a lifestyle meant for the men who aren’t going to quit and take the easy fucking out.

I’ve kicked exits open for bodyguards who thought private security would be a straight shot to luxury. This is about keeping people safe 24-hours a day, and we’re not entitled to anything. We fulfill our purpose. If we expect more, we’ve failed at our promise to these generous, loving families who just want to live in peace.

We should be humbled to be in Greece or wherever protecting them leads us.

Stay focused.

On her.

Jane Eleanor Cobalt.

She’s sitting about twenty meters away, feet buried in the sand. Light-hearted blue eyes concentrated on one of her many brothers.

Eliot Cobalt stands near the bonfire and rehashes a story or some play. Flames lick the air, and as he gesticulates theatrically, the famous families laugh and clap.

She taps her beer bottle in applause.

I catch myself about to skim her up and down. Don’t.

I remain stationary. I’m not supposed to be an active participant, but some surrounding bodyguards clap for Eliot. They’re the ones who’ve grown closer to the Cobalts throughout the years.

I wouldn’t place myself on that shelf.

Before transferring to Jane’s detail, I was attached to the Hale family. Xander Hale had been my only other client, and even if I were better acquainted with the Cobalt Empire, I’m not interested in joking around while on-duty. If I wouldn’t do it during an op, I’m not doing it on her detail.

Her safety comes first.

Jane sips a beer on the private beach, and she stays quiet while her brother quotes Shakespeare, or some other tragedy. I wouldn’t know which.

I keep a close eye on Jane and her surroundings.

It’s my job.

It’s also my job to know her well. Like how she’s been unusually quiet this summer trip, and it’s my job to know that I’m to blame.

Can’t worry about that now.

But I am.

Jane lets a beach blanket fall off her sunburnt shoulders, warmed near the bonfire. A pale blue tankini hugs her body.

I want to think some things I shouldn’t be fucking thinking. Put in some adjectives that I shouldn’t be using. All good things—don’t go there.

Don’t fucking do it.

I’m not overstepping the solid boundary.

I scan the beach with crossed arms, but eventually, my dark narrowed eyes return to Jane.

Long brunette hair frizzes around her freckled cheeks, and she smiles brightly at her brother. Applauding him again before she sticks two fingers in her mouth and whistles loudly. She’s only twenty-three.

She’s only twenty-three. And she’s dealt with more harassment than any girl her age should—than any person should.

I’ve heard sacks of horseshit spew hatred and try to degrade her, and they actually believe they’re entitled to her body and time like she’s some fucking doll they can rip apart with no consequence.

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