Black-Hearted Maniac — Kylie Hillman

He's damaged. She's scarred. Together, they might heal.Amy Parker-Nguyen.As a twenty-eight-year-old widow with one son, she's determined to stay emotionally unavailable. Love is great until it ends—leaving you forever bereaved, and your outlook on life bleak and barren. After patching up her broken heart, she's happy to be known as the hard-assed, single mum and occasional good time, party girl.Nate Harvie.Being a twenty-two-year-old, MMA fighter has its perks. His days are filled with never-ending rotation of free booze, good drugs, and easy girls. Life is good. Well, it was until the night he broke his cardinal rule and let Amy get too close. Now, he wants things he shouldn't—things he can't have, unless he tells the truth.What should be a brief encounter that scratches a mutual itch grows into so much more before either of them realises. Amy becomes worried about Nate's worsening behaviour and, before she knows it, she's facing a choice—stick around and help him or return to the safety of the lonely life she was previously sinking under?Black-Hearted Maniac is the second full-length novel in the Black Hearts Bleed series. A dark and gritty tale of second chances, this story is set in a world where fighting is the way of life and happily-ever-afters aren't to be trusted. Some readers may find events in this story confronting so reader discretion is advised.PLEASE NOTE: this story was originally published in 2018 under the title, Conflict. It has been revised, re-edited, and republished in 2021.