Oil Kings Series (Audiobook)

King's Crown (book 1)
I needed a job and a place to live, but after getting snowed in with an oil tycoon I have to find a way to cool off first.

From Marie Johnston comes a forced proximity romance with an older man and younger woman and a dash of workplace romance.

I got laid off and kicked out of the house I was sharing with my ex—on the same day. Faced with moving home and being put back in charge of my five siblings, I jump at a mysterious job interview. The only catch is that I hitch a ride with a local oil tycoon…on his private jet.

Gentry King is also the single dad of the guy I’m interviewing with. Dads aren’t supposed to be that sexy in a suit, ooze power, or make me suddenly desire older men. All I have to do is get through one meeting in the middle of nowhere and then I can go my own way.

Only a snow storm strands us in a small town. Gentry and I find the last hotel room available, and I’m so relieved when we get into the room I almost don’t freeze solid at the sight of one bed. I don’t need to risk my chances by sleeping with Gentry, but once I wake up next to him I don’t have a snowball’s chance in a fire pit of resisting.

King's Ransom (book 2)
When revenge turns into a fake engagement...

From Marie Johnston comes a fake dating, hidden identity romance.

It was supposed to be a simple case of revenge: get to know King Tech owner and CEO Beckett King, learn his secrets, and ruin his life like he ruined my brother’s. But Beckett King offers me a deal I can't refuse.

Not only does he want me to pretend to be engaged to him, he needs to marry me to get his grandmother off his back. And at the end of the year, we can go our separate ways, only I’ll be a whole lot richer.

I won’t fall for his irresistible good looks, or that aw, shucks country-boy charm he still possesses from growing up on a ranch. I'm smarter than that. He has a lesson to learn and I'm the best one to teach him.

But that’s the tricky thing with revenge. It doesn’t always go as planned.

King's Treasure (book 3)
Getting married to a guy I just met in Las Vegas wasn’t how I meant to prove to my family I’m a responsible adult instead of a spoiled rich girl.

My parents think my environmental endeavors are a cute distraction from getting a real job, and they want me to show I can make my way in the world without their financial support. When the company I’m working for folds while I’m on a business trip, I’m stuck with no money in Las Vegas, proving them right. Then I meet an enigmatic photographer who makes me feel legitimate, not to mentioned desired, and I do the most reckless thing ever. An impromptu Vegas wedding.

Turns out I married into an oil empire. Xander King, son of the owner of King Oil. The environmentalist and the oil heir. My father is thrilled while my humiliation knows no bounds. I don’t care how amazing the wedding night was, or how hot my new husband is, I want an annulment now.

But Xander has a second proposal. If we can stay married for a year, he’ll get a giant trust fund. After our time is up, we can divorce and I’ll get half. I’ll finally be able to take care of myself without depending on anyone. Deal.

Only the more time we spend together, the more I wonder if staying married isn’t a better option. And the harder I fall for my globe-trotting husband, the more I think the responsible thing to do is divorce. Because then at the end of the year, I won’t be left alone, feeling like a sellout with a broken heart.

King's Country (book 4)
Our families have feuded for years, but when I get myself hurt during a winter storm, Dawson King rides in like a cowboy Prince Charming and tucks me into his bed until I get better. It’s suddenly hard to remember why I don’t like him.

From Marie Johnston comes an enemies to lovers, small town romance.

Dawson King’s mom died because of my dad’s poor decisions, and ever since, I’ve been at the bottom of the King Ranch manure pile. Years later, our circumstances couldn’t be more different. I’m left running my decrepit ranch, and he’s right next door, in his big house, with his fat and happy cattle, and he sneaks treats to my horse. Everyone in town loves him while hating me is their favorite game.

Yet when I get hurt in the middle of a snow storm, he’s the only one there to help me.

When I’m recovering at his place, he takes care of me, and I start to forget the resentment between us and remember the friendship we had as kids. He treats me like he sees beyond my caustic personality and the high emotional barriers I’ve erected thanks to my rough upbringing.

What I don’t know is that he’s hiding a secret that gives him millions of reasons behind his motivation to get close to me. The clock is ticking for Dawson and his generous trust fund, and if I don’t succumb to his intoxicating charm, I’ll end up back in the hovel I came from with a broken heart. But if I fall hard, I’m not sure if he’ll have a reason to be there to catch me.

King's Queen (book 5)
When I learned my husband married me to keep his trust fund, I served him divorce papers. Doing the deed on top of those papers probably wasn’t a good idea.

From Marie Johnston comes a second chance romance.

I was content being the girl from the trailer park who grew up to be a quiet librarian. My idea of excitement was when King Oil hosted an open house and invited my workplace. Aiden King would be there, and he’d probably look better than he did when we were kids. A girl could dream—his looks and money made sure of it.

I didn’t expect him to remember me, much less ask me out. And keep dating me. He proposed and we married. I tried to be happy but he was distant and always gone for work. Then I learned the millions of reasons why he married me. In order to keep his trust fund, he needed a wife. I was nothing but an easy target.

So I served him divorce papers. Only he won’t sign them, and I can’t figure out why. He cares more about his family’s company than me. I can’t believe I’m the woman he’d have chosen if he wasn’t rushed. But one night, he breaks and reveals why he’s not signing those papers, and his explanation is fast…and hot…and explosive. And right on top of those papers.

I want to believe a simple girl like me could land a wealthy, handsome guy like him, but he fooled me once already. And I can’t go back to a cold husband who won’t make me a priority.

King's Crown (book one), Chapter 1:

I picked at my hemline. If I had to wait outside my boss’s office any longer, I’d unravel the edge and walk away in a frayed hot mess. My phone vibrated, and I looked around. With my family, I couldn’t let it go for long.

The coast was clear. I dug it out of my wraparound dress pocket and looked at the caller. Yep. My youngest brother. His homework was probably late, or he’d forgotten to get his band card signed. Or he needed money for some club. Or he had a band performance he hadn’t told anyone about.

It was probably safe to call him back later. He was old enough to know what to do if he missed the bus. Again.

I slipped the phone back in my pocket and twiddled my thumbs, giving my hemline a break. When was this meeting going to happen? Sitting here gave me too much time to think about my roommate situation, which was also my ex-husband situation. We’d been divorced for almost two years but had devolved into roommates long before that.

We’d fallen into the complacency of sharing a house. I worked days, and he was on nights at the refinery. Most of his free time was spent at the bar watching “the game” that always seemed to be on no matter what season it was. Our lease was up on our rental house in a week, but Darren refused to talk about signing a new one.

I should’ve saved up for a place of my own, but I’d taken a gamble. Share rent and pay down loans first, and then I could afford a bigger place.

Who was I kidding? I was only sharing a place so that I didn’t have to move back home. How can you keep this place without my income, Kendall? You know you’re going to move back home. It’s inevitable and would save you a lot of fucking phone calls.

I shouldn’t have been intimidated by his insecurity when it came to my family. If I had moved home, I would’ve had a lot more saved up by now.

The foreboding wide panel door to my boss’s office opened. Finally.

Mr. Golding peered out, his hound-dog face especially droopy. “Ms. Brinkley, come on in.”

I couldn’t tell from his demeanor what this meeting was about. Mr. Golding was typically dour, always bemoaning the worst-case scenario. Why he’d chosen the marketing field was a mystery to me, but at least his doom-and-gloom tone wasn’t selling our clients’ products. I was.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said as he rounded his desk with a sigh. “It’s been an unrelenting morning.”
That’s what he said every day. The only thing that changed was whether it was morning or afternoon.

“No problem.” I sat in the no-frills metal chair across from him. The unupholstered seat had long lost its padding, and he was too cheap to buy a new one. I’d tried to broach the possibility of a work-injury claim if it collapsed under someone, but no dice.

He took his glasses off and huffed out a breath that left his mouth hanging open. I wasn’t sure he’d continue until he blinked up at me. “I’m going to come right out and say that we have to let you go. With many of our clients turning to cheaper online competition, our profits have shrunk to the point where I need to downsize. Your position is being dissolved.”

I bobbed my head, trying to process what he’d said. Dissolved? “So where am I going to work? Inquiries?” The mailroom? I’d take anything.

This job was the only thing keeping me from moving back in with my parents. I loved them a lot. They worked hard, to the point of being workaholics, and as the oldest kid, they leaned on me. But if I moved back home, it’d be on the tail of Darren’s I told you so.

“Outside of this company, Kendall.” He smiled, the look hardly transforming his face. He only smiled at bonus time when he explained how much we were worth and then paid us less. “It’s just . . . I prolonged it as long as I could, but during lean times we have to make cuts.”

Cuts. I was losing my job. Shit. “Why me? I thought my productivity this past year was—”

“It’s your education.”

“Excuse me?” I had a degree in business administration with a minor in marketing. I hadn’t majored in the eight ways to tap a keg like Terry in public relations. I bet he wasn’t getting fired.

He explained like he wasn’t tearing my worth down to pennies. “You have a four-year degree, but most of your coworkers have a graduate degree or certificate. While you would think that would make you cheaper to retain, I’m going to need those higher education credentials to level up with the clients we have and attract more.”

A graduate degree. I’d wanted one. I had even enrolled. But then I’d met Darren the last year of college and decided to live a little—which had equated to getting a job so we could afford a roof over our heads and pay student loans. I hadn’t even been able to move out of Billings after I’d left Montana State. Now I was almost twenty-nine, losing a damn job because I’d been young and stupid and in love.

“I can give you a good recommendation.”

I cocked my head, uncharacteristically letting my irritation run free. “Really? ‘Yeah, she was so valuable I laid her off.’ Big help there, boss.”

His scraggly gray brows popped up. “I mean . . .”

“Never mind, sorry. Yes, I’d appreciate it.”

I gathered what little pride I had left and walked out. I had the whole building to navigate to get back to my desk. My heels didn’t make a sound on the carpet tiles. The squares were the ugliest brown I’d ever seen, but then, Mr. Golding had picked it out from a clearance warehouse.

I passed Mary from billing, and she gave me a sunny smile that said she had no clue I was walking the plank.
On my way to my cubicle, I popped into the supply closet. I needed boxes. The shelves were stacked with pen boxes and Wite-Out. My gaze landed on the copier paper.

Perfect. Dumping the reams of paper onto the floor, I emptied two boxes. I ignored the compulsion to organize the reams. Someone who was getting paid could do it.

My cubicle mate, Ryan, looked up from his desk when I entered. “Moving out?”

Like Mary’s smile, his tone was light. He probably didn’t know. “I got laid off. So, yeah.”

He spun around. “Seriously?” He paused like I was going to tell him that I was joking. “Kendall, I’m sorry.”

The way his voice softened encouraged my tears. I hadn’t liked this job. It was okay, but nothing I was passionate about. Selling items like tomato juice and paper cups wasn’t what most kids dreamed of. But my coworkers had been cool. Ryan was mellow and an all-around nice guy. All he wanted was to do his job and go home to his family. On the bright side, at least he wasn’t fired.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.
That question was on replay in my head. “Find a new job?”

He gave me a steady look that suggested he was thinking what I was thinking. Where the hell was I going to find a marketing gig, and how long would it take? If Mr. Golding laid off a couple more people, they’d be applying for the same positions. And I was a little raw about being released because of my apparent lack of education. I had experience, but not much else that made me stand out past other candidates.

Ryan rubbed a hand over his face. He wheeled out to the edge of the cubicle and looked down the narrow walkway. If anyone had heard my announcement, they were keeping their heads down. Probably afraid they were next on the chopping block.

He scooted back toward his desk. “My sister just quit this job. Maybe you want to try for it?”

My ears perked up. I’d take what prospects I could get.

“I can’t really tell you much,” he continued. “She had to sign a nondisclosure. But I can tell you that it paid a lot. Like, a lot.”

Sounded too good to be true. “But I thought you said she just quit?”

Ryan shrugged. His expression said beggars couldn’t be choosers, and I was being too choosy. “Like I said, she couldn’t tell me much, and she was pretty frustrated about the whole deal, but it paid a lot.”

The it paid a lot detail was the clincher. “With what company?”

“I think she might’ve been asked to move out of state, but I thought she said King Oil. Send me an email and I’ll get the info.”

Frowning, I sifted through my mind for anything on King Oil. I’d seen their branding enough to know that they were an oil company, locally owned, and out of my league. But they had an opening, so I had a starting point.