Showing results by author "Ashley James" in All Categories

My entire life has been one steady plan after another. Go to college. Get married. Have a successful career. More than a decade goes by, and my entire world is rocked in more ways than one. Everything I thought I knew is ripped from under me in one fell swoop. Then I meet him: the enticing man behind the camera with the boyish grin and charismatic energy who makes me question everything. He was only supposed to be a means to an end. But what I got was so much more.

One unforgettable night and one nameless face changed everything. He's wealthy. He's powerful. And he's married… to my mother. Staying away is impossible, and secrets and lies have become second nature. He's crawled under my skin, an energy larger than life, refusing to be ignored as he bends me to his will. Now, I'm so far gone I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep him close, collateral damage be damned.

One night changed everything for me... I walked into that party surrounded by friends and walked out with an enemy. It's been two years and I still have no idea why he hates me. Now, we're forced to work together, and I'm going to enjoy getting under his skin.

I have everything I could ever want—a great family, awesome friends, a girlfriend, and I’m headed off to my dream college. But the past is always there, lurking like a shadow in the night....

Five years ago, I gave my heart and soul to my professor. He made me fall for him, only to destroy me with his silence. I've never been the same. I finally have the chance to leave this town, start over, and try to move on with my life. But what happens when fate insists the chapter of your life that haunts you isn't over?

The weight of the legacy I carry is a constant tug in my mind, with the ghosts of the generations before me always whispering for me to push harder, train longer, be better. In the eight seconds I have to ride, everything else falls away, and my sole focus is on doing what I do best. I am Shooter Graham, consecutive three-time world champion bronc rider. No one has ever come close to taking the title since I've had it… until him. Sterling Addams. The new cowboy in town with dark hair, eyes like honey, and a taste for me he likes to pretend he doesn't have.

Jules van der Meer... He's somebody I shouldn't want, someone I can't have. The forbidden fruit. The desire not to be indulged in. He's wealthy, successful, important... everything I'm not. I'm half his age. Immature and desperate. It's what they all say—the men in the night with the fancy clothes and the shiny cars, with enough money to make me do whatever they please. But him... well, he looks at me like I'm the answer to his prayers, a diamond in the rough. He doesn't realize how wrong he is, though.

Falling for my girlfriend’s twin brother wasn’t what I had in mind when I hired him to be my son’s nanny. Working on my family’s cattle ranch, the hours are long, and sometimes unpredictable, so when my regular nanny quits, leaving me in a pinch, I have to think fast. In walks Ash Tudor. My opposite in almost every way. He’s cheerful and bubbly, has horrible taste in music, and does yoga in my yard almost every morning in the tightest shorts I’ve ever seen. Not that I’m looking.

Conrad Strauss is the owner of Grazing Acres Ranch, home to some of the sharpest bucking bulls around. As Copper Lake's only veterinarian in our small town, I have to see him more than I'd like. It hasn't always been easy, but it's become manageable. Until, of course, the night my need for him burned too hot to ignore. The night I let my walls down and allowed myself to soak in his comfort and strong arms once more. If that wasn't bad enough, now his Nana is coming to visit, and she doesn't know we're divorced.

When I moved in with my sister over summer break, I had no intention of returning to college in the fall. A work trip for her meant a lot of time alone for me with her husband. Boone Stanton. World famous bull rider and way, way off limits. A few late-night deep conversations between the two of us, only the midnight sky our witness, and suddenly, I can't look away. Can't keep my mind off of him. It's in the way he works around the yard, sweaty and shirtless. Then one night, I see something I shouldn't. Something that makes my mouth water and my heart race.

There are some things you just don't do… Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't break the law. And absolutely do not, under any circumstance, sleep with your best friend's son. I've always prided myself on being a good man. I am a doctor after all. I consider myself to be a by-the-book man. A man with strong morals and a clear conscience. That is until a night out of town with too many drinks finds me naked and sweaty with the one person I shouldn't be rolling around in the sheets with.

The memory of Josiah DeMille has haunted me for close to a decade. The way he looked. The way he smelled. The way his lips felt pressed against mine, even when they shouldn't have been. The one person I've never been able to get over. The one singular part of my past I've never been able to move on from. In every lyric sung into the microphone, in every chord strummed on the guitar, in the bottom of every single whiskey bottle, he's there. His memory has me in a chokehold. His absence a gaping hole in my chest. I gave up years ago, wondering if I'd ever stop thinking about him.

Bronc riding has always been my main focus. The plan was simple: work hard, go pro, and show the world what I was made of. It hasn't been easy, but I did it through dedication and a whole lot of determination. My dreams came true, my life more than fulfilled… Or so I thought. I never knew how much I ached for more until I stopped to help a stranger on the side of a one-lane road one chilly fall afternoon. He couldn't be more different than me, with his messy curls and the chipped black polish.

The rush of the high. The mind tingling feeling of that first line. This secret of mine has spiraled out of control, but I can’t stop. The drugs fill a void, helping me feel something and nothing all at once. But him… He makes me feel everything.

Arrogant. Repulsive. Cocky. With an ego almost as big as his… Well, you know. There is no length he wouldn't go to score. To be in control. To win. Life is nothing but a game to him, and I've become nothing more than his little pawn. Something to toy with. To taunt. To mess with. And to hurt. The wicked smirk on his face as he helped upend my entire life is proof of that. He wants to push me to my limit until I'm begging for reprieve. For mercy. Or for more. Mateo Rojas is a force to be reckoned with. He's everything I should run from. He will be my ruin.

Welcome to Black Diamond Resort and Spa… Where the rich and famous go to disappear. Some to relax, some to get sober. For me… It's my last shot, my final chance at redemption. I'm hotheaded. Reckless. Self-Destructive. I don't want to be here, but not doing so means losing everything I've worked my whole life for. It means losing my band. The only family and the only constant I've ever known. They say I have a problem. That I need help. I say it's just part of fame. The drugs help numb the pain. Keep the demons away. I'm doing my best to keep my head down and bide my time until I can go home.

Penelope Boswell is my best friend. She’s my person. She’s who I call when I have good news and bad. She’s my comfort. My solace. But in the same breath, she’s my want, my longing, my ache. She isn’t mine. She never will be. It’s a special kind of cruel to be in love with someone you shouldn’t. To know your heart beats for someone you can never have. One phone call in the middle of the night, two thousand miles between us, and everything changes. She’s hurt. Sad. Broken. She needs me. He broke her, and now it’s my responsibility to step in and pick up the pieces…

“Teach me.” Two words I never thought I’d say while lying underneath somebody I barely know, yet here we are. August Moore is one of the sexiest cowboys I’ve ever laid my eyes on, with a flirty smirk and southern drawl that would make anybody weak in the knees. When I move to the small town of Wolf Creek and get a job at a local coffee shop, he sets his sights on me, and I don’t stand a chance against his charm and filthy mouth. After an embarrassing run in with him involving hot coffee and a whole lot of flour, he does the very last thing I expect… He asks me out.

A space where we embrace the power of being true to who we are. We explore what it means to live in alignment with your purpose, values and voice - because when you root yourself in authenticity, you don't just grow... you bloom. Join me as we dive into real conversations, soulful reflections and practical tools to help you to thrive from the inside out.

Childhood friends Ashley Eckstein (voice of “Ahsoka Tano” in Star Wars) and Michael James Scott (“The Genie” from Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway) team up for a weekly podcast with the singular mission of starting a friendship revolution, one “HypeFriend” (and one episode!) at a time.