Roses & Thorns — Sage Marlowe

When bestselling author Chester Banning requires inside information on the life of a forensic pathologist, he comes across an enticing, yet unwilling study subject in the shape of sinfully attractive Dr Nicolas Sheridan. After a hot and slightly unsettling one-night stand, Sheridan turns out to be as inapproachable as he is intriguing and clearly not interested in intensifying their liaison. Chester, however, is already falling head over heels in love and doesn't rest until he's succeeded in cracking Sheridan's icy shell. What he discovers underneath is a man well capable of love and affection but caught up in a web of lies and domestic abuse that makes him seek punishment in self-harm. Refusing to watch Sheridan go farther down the road to self-destruction, Chester gives him all the love and support he is capable of -- but then he discovers the horrifying truth about Sheridan's past. Reader advisory: Suitable for adult readers only. Contains scenes of and references to dubious consent and domestic violence / abuse and self-harm in a non-erotic context.