9720 Book(s) Related to a blind gamble the mate i never chose

The night before her wedding, Leah Carter caught her fiancé Elias in bed with another woman.

Elias humiliated her, manipulated her, and even plotted to pass her off to another man like an object to be discarded. In her most desperate moment, Matto Moretti came crashing through the door — reeking of blood and violence, the kind of man the entire underworld feared without question. He put a bullet through Elias's shoulder without blinking, then caught Leah's chin between his fingers, his voice low and absolute:

"Your man slept with my woman. That makes you responsible for the debt. Sign the paper and marry me."

Leah's Perspective

I told myself I was nothing more than a canary in his gilded cage — a substitute, a stand-in for someone else's sin.

We had known each other for exactly one month, and none of it made any sense. He detonated into my life like a bomb: money, tenderness, protection — all of it arriving at once, all of it suffocating in its intensity. He behaved like a man completely undone by me, and yet we had barely known each other thirty days.

Was this love at first sight? I didn't think so. There had to be another reason. I didn't know what I was to him, or why he looked at me the way he did — like a man who had loved me for years. And I knew nothing about him. Nothing at all.

Matto's Perspective

She will never know that she has been mine since long before any of this began.

I am not proud of how I came to have her. But that doesn't matter. What matters is this: you have no idea how long I have loved you. It started before all of this — before the gun, before the contract, before she ever knew my name. She will never know the truth of it, and that is fine. She only needs to know that I love her in ways that would frighten her if she ever truly understood.

As long as she stays, I would give her everything. My empire. My fortune. My life, without a moment's hesitation.

The man the world knew as cold-blooded and untouchable had been loving Leah Carter in the dark for years.

He would make Elias pay for what he had done. He would unearth the truth of her buried identity — a secret twenty years in the making. And in every shadow she could not see, he would clear the thorns from her path before she ever felt them, becoming the sharpest blade she never knew she carried.

Matto gave Leah his wealth and his kingdom. More than that, he gave her his heart — fierce, honest, and entirely hers.

"You have been mine since that day, long before you knew it."

"The whole world may fear me. But you — you are only ever allowed to love me."

He did not marry her on impulse.

He married her because he had been planning it for a very long time, and he had never once intended to let her go.

Leah × Matto — You are the captive in my hands, and the only salvation I have ever known.

DEATH BY TEMPTATION is Book #14 in the #1 Bestselling Caribbean Murder series, which begins with DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1)—a free download! It is also a stand-alone novel.In DEATH BY TEMPTATION, Cindy and Mattheus arrive for a vacation at St. Lucia. The island has been recommended by Mattheus’s friend Rod, whose daughter is honeymooning there. But when Rod’s daughter, Kara, suddenly goes missing after going for a swim alone one afternoon, a frantic search grips the island. Swept up in the horror, Cindy and Mattheus immediately join in. When Kara’s overbearing father, Rod, arrives at the island, Matheus is torn away from the case to comfort his friend. And when the dead body of another young woman turns up a few days later at the same beach, Cindy is convinced the cases are connected. Alone, Cindy delves deeper into the investigation, but what she may find, is what she may never suspect…

DEATH BY DEVOTION is Book #9 in the Bestselling Caribbean Murder series, which begins with the free book DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1)--a #1 Bestseller with over 100 five star reviews on Amazon! Before they get engaged, Cindy urges Mattheus to meet his long-lost Caribbean daughter, whom he has never met. Sixteen years ago, after a one night stand, the woman became pregnant, and Mattheus quickly left. Mattheus’ beautiful, volatile, fifteen year old daughter, Andrea, badly needs him, and she wants him to come to Anguilla, where she lives, so they can get to know each other. One caveat, though: he has to come without Cindy. Andrea has a mother, and one mother is enough. Mattheus feels his daughter is in trouble, feels compelled to go, and abruptly leaves Cindy behind. Convinced that her relationship with Mattheus is over, Cindy returns to the States, ready to start her life again. A few days after she gets back, amidst the excitement and a wonderful job offer, she receives a startling call from Mattheus down in Anguilla: Andrea’s stepfather has been killed and Andrea was found beside him, covered in his blood. Mattheus, desperate, begs Cindy to come down and help. Not only has his daughter been taken into custody—but now he is a suspect as well. Unable to say no, Cindy returns to the Caribbean to help find the true killer and to attempt to free both Mattheus and his daughter—but she soon finds that she’s up against an underground web of danger on the island, and it may be too late to save all of them—including herself. DEATH BY DEVOTION is both a stand-alone novel, and is also Book #9 in the Caribbean Murder series.

The masked stranger slammed into him with one devastating thrust, stretching Carter so perfectly he sobbed against the desk. “Fuck—yes, just like that!” he begged, hips slamming back as the masked alpha set a brutal rhythm, fisting his hair and stroking his cock in time.

“Finally mine, after all this time,” the man growled, then sank razor-sharp teeth into his neck and pleasure exploded through him like lightning.

Until the mask slipped and Dallas Cross, his childhood bully and bane of his existence, stared back with a vicious, satisfied smirk.

On the day Carter was supposed to propose to the love of his life, Carter walked in to find her in bed with his mortal enemy, Dallas Cross, wealthy heir of the Cross Group global empire.

One week later, a drunken club hookup leaves him marked, mated, and impossibly, pregnant with Dallas’s heir. The ruthless werewolf storms back into his life, demanding Carter pack his bags and move into the luxurious pack mansion to accept their unbreakable bond and carry his son… or watch his bankrupt family lose everything.

Trapped between red-hot hate, an unexpected pregnancy, and the tiny life already growing inside him, Carter faces an impossible choice.

His strict parents are pressuring him to forgive the cheating fiancée and save them from ruin. Meanwhile, Dallas’s possessive alpha instincts won’t let him go, blocking every escape, and whispering dark promises of protection, pleasure, and forever.

With every heated glare turning into uncontrollable lust and every denial crumbling under the mate bond, Carter must decide: run from the enemy who destroyed him… or surrender completely to the powerful alpha who now owns his body, his heart, and his fate.

I spent three years in the squad — three years carrying them to the top of the S-rank hero league. And their reward? They decided my B-rank rating wasn't good enough, and brought in an A-rank support to replace me. Fine. I'm done pretending. The truth is, I'm S-rank.

In this era of universal awakening, I've drawn the most tragic "BOSS" route.

For the sake of my fiancée Celine's guild, I signed an exclusive binding agreement. For four whole years, I was treated like an ATM for loot drops, and was mercilessly killed 2173 times.

When Celine led 137 elite members of her guild, armed with a permanent kill item, to stab me in the heart, preparing to dig out my core to pave the way for her new love, she thought she was about to usher in the supreme glory of being the first to kill me on the entire server.

But what she didn't know was that the hidden max-level reward for the BOSS route was "system administrator privileges".

The sword tip stopped at my chest, freezing time across the entire server. I looked at the greedy traitor before me, smiled, and pressed the "Level Reset" button.
"Sorry, this game is now in my hands."

Strip away god-tier equipment and wipe out max-level accounts. This time, I will bring down the reigning number one in the entire server, making him start from level 1 in the newbie village and personally pay the price for those two thousand bloody battles!

In my previous life, an endless polar night and frost-laden corpse tide swept through the entire city.
My wife and I took in her mother and younger brother out of familial obligation,
But when monsters attacked, they locked us outside the shelter and we were torn apart alive.
Opening my eyes again, there are only seven days until doomsday arrives.
My wife and I have reached a consensus—to hell with blood being thicker than water!
This time, we will build an icy tomb for them with our own hands at the highest point of this city.

When my boyfriend was a child, a maid sacrificed herself to save him from a fire. Afterward, his wealthy family adopted her daughter. Ever since, he tied himself to this adopted sister, giving her everything she demanded to repay that debt of gratitude.
Jealous of me, she framed and sabotaged me time and time again. And out of guilt, he always took her side.
Until one day, just to make her happy, he abandoned me in a freezing blizzard deep in the mountains.
Hunted by a hitman, I called him for help in desperation. Instead, I heard them laughing and clinking wine glasses over the phone.
"Stop faking your death," he scoffed. "And pick up some pizza on your way back." Then, he hung up.
He didn't know that the hitman hunting me down was hired by her for $50,000.
And he definitely didn't know that the "debt" he worshipped for years was built on a horrifying lie. During that fire years ago, the maid could have escaped. It was his precious adopted sister who deliberately locked the door, burning her own mother alive just so she could be taken in by his rich family.
At my birthday banquet, he planned to publicly humiliate me with a prank video, then step in to propose with a diamond ring like a "savior."
But when the giant screen lit up, it didn't show my humiliation. It broadcasted the ironclad proof of his sister hiring my killer and murdering her own mother!
Meanwhile, I was already sitting in first class on a flight to Paris.
Amidst the wailing police sirens, that was when he finally realized what a massive, unforgivable mistake he had made.

I'm two months pregnant with Tristan's baby when Brielle, the woman he'd do anything for, shoves me down the stairs.

She calls it an accident. I lose the baby.

I beg my husband to do something about it. Instead, he shields her and turns it around on me.

"Brielle saved my life in that fire. The whole Merrick family owes her. So drop it."

That debt. Always that debt.

Three years. No matter how many times Brielle humiliates me, degrades me, Tristan only ever has one answer: "I owe her my life."

But the truth about that fire? I'm the only one in the world who knows it.

I tried to tell him once. He laughed in my face. "Adeline, you're so desperate for attention you'd make up something like that?"

So I shut my mouth. Buried the truth. Buried whatever was left of my heart along with it.

The man I trusted with my life just handed my child to the woman who killed them, and called it loyalty.

I'm done.

I pull up the number I blocked three years ago and hit call.

"Dad. I'll take over the company. I'll go through with the engagement to Everett. But I have one condition. I want Tristan and Brielle ruined beyond recovery. Nothing and no one left."

After losing the baby, I finally gave Silas the one thing he had always craved: a trouble-free marriage.

No more interrogations when he stayed out all night. No more hysterical fits over the presence of his first love.

Even when I was discharged from the hospital, and the nurse asked for my husband's signature, I simply replied with chilling calm, "I don't have a husband."

My love for Silas died right alongside our unborn child.

By the time he finally realized the truth and begged me to come back, it would be far too late.

Everyone used to say Ethan Ward was crazy about me.

Then, three days after our worst fight, he got together with Avery Shaw—the freshman who had been chasing him for months.

That same day, the world ended.

I got bitten and turned into a zombie.

For days, I wandered without thought or purpose. Then I saw Ethan shielding Avery with his own body, and something inside my ruined head woke up.

His friend asked, “Aren't you worried about Nora?”

Ethan's brow tightened.

“Don't say her name. She was too stubborn for her own good. If she got turned, that's on her.”

He glanced over.

His eyes met mine.

I am Catherine Holloway, CEO of a tech company in Seattle.
It was just an ordinary rainy night. I was driving my Porsche Cayenne toward the airport when a beat-up Ford pickup rear-ended me on the off-ramp.
I never imagined that this seemingly routine accident would drag me into a serial murder case — turning me from a witness into the police's prime suspect.

48-hour countdown to an arctic apocalypse. I asked my wife for $50,000 to buy a system shelter to save our lives, but she told her family I wanted the money to support a mistress. I scraped together $50,000 from various sources and was about to activate the shelter when my wife called, triumphantly telling me she'd already transferred all my assets and was hiding in a luxury villa with her lover.

She didn't know that when the extreme cold arrived, the villa's floor-to-ceiling windows would shatter instantly, and the fireplace wood would last no more than three days.

The only place that could truly sustain life was my shelter.

Now, she's kneeling outside the shelter door...

I screamed as I burned to death while Julian ran past me to save Emma.

His first love. The girl he'd never let go of.

Eight years I spent being the understanding fiancée. The one who smiled through her endless crises. The one who died alone because he chose her panic over my screams.

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing at the altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Julian was leaning in, voice low—we needed to pause the ceremony. Emma was having a panic attack at the airport.

Last time, I'd said yes.

Not this time.

I looked at the man I'd died for and smiled.

Then I threw my bouquet at his face.

I turned and walked straight to the man who made Wall Street sweat. Julian's worst enemy.

Victor Kane.

"Go save her," I said. "I need a new groom."

After five years of bloody battles against the Xenomorphs, I've returned alive, bearing wounds and scars.

Five years ago, my wife Lisa and I fell in love in the military.

Just as Lisa became pregnant, I received a mandatory conscription order from my superior.

The Xenomorphs launched a massive attack. Despite my reluctance, I had to go.

Now the war is over. I've laid down my burden and returned home.

Standing in the dilapidated suburbs, I search for the wife I've wronged and the child I've never met.

My boyfriend successfully proposed with a spectacular drone light show.
The whole city erupted in celebration: “Mr. and Mrs. Hansen—finally, a couple united!”
Yet, nestled in his arms was none other than his secretary.
The "Mrs. Hansen" everyone speaks of is now nothing more than a forgotten memory, buried beneath the earth.

Amy didn't expect that her husband whom she had loved and trusted earnestly for many years would be cheating on her by having sex with his secretary.
When she confronted him, he and his secretary mocked and ridiculed her, they called her barren to her face, afterall, she had not conceived for the past three years that she had been married to her husband, Callan.
Terribly Heartbroken, she filed for divorce and left to the club, she picked a random gigolo, had a hot one night stand with him, paid him and dissapeared to a small city.
She came back to the country six years later with three identical cute boys and three identical cute girls of the same age. She settled and got a job but soon find out that her CEO was the gigolo she had sex with six years back at the club.
Will she be able to hide her six little cuties from her CEO, who happens to be the most powerful man in NorthHill and beleived to be infertile? Can Amy and the most powerful man in NorthHill get along considering the social gap between them?

"I need a few signatures on these administrative filings, Barnabas," I said, my voice as smooth as the polished mahogany of his desk. He didn't even look up to read the text; he just signed his freedom away with a bold, aggressive flourish. He didn't realize that buried beneath the boring headers of pack asset management were three words that would end our world: Dissolution of Marriage.
For eight years, Salome Stanley was the invisible engine behind the Richardson Pack’s billion-dollar empire, playing the role of the dutiful, quiet Luna while her husband, Alpha Barnabas, built a legacy on her brilliance. But loyalty has a price, and Salome paid it in the scent of cheap vanilla perfume clinging to Barnabas’s skin and the sight of his mistress, Portia Vane, lounging in their professional sanctuary.
Betrayed by her fated mate and humiliated by a scheming mother-in-law who views her as a "nobody," Salome executes a cold, calculated exit strategy: a secret divorce and a $300 million settlement that the Richardsons will never see coming. But as she attempts to vanish into a new life at Moon-Glass Manor, the shadows of the past turn deadly. A brutal assassination attempt by those she once called family leaves her broken and sedated in a locked hotel room - until the "Ghost Alpha" of the Shawn Group intervenes.
Jeremiah Shawn is ruthless, sovereign, and entirely untouchable. He doesn’t do favors, and he certainly doesn’t play hero. Yet, when he finds the shattered Luna, his wolf, Sovereign, lets out a low hum of recognition that changes everything. Now, under the protection of the most dangerous man in the region, Salome is no longer just a scorned wife - she is a queen reclaiming her crown.
Barnabas wants her back, Portia wants her dead, and the pack wants her silence - but Salome is busy sitting at the head of the boardroom, and this time, she isn't playing for the pack; she's playing to win.

In her past life, she trusted the wrong people—and betrayed the one man who loved her most. Blinded by lies, she pushed her fiancé into ruin. Yet even as the world turned against him, he forgave her. And in the end, he slaughtered all her enemies… before using the final blade to follow her into death.
Now reborn, she swears to rewrite her fate.
This time, she tears apart the fake innocents, crushes the traitors, and rises in brilliance—only for one purpose: to win back the heart of the man she once destroyed.
But little does she know…
He never truly left.
From the shadows, he has already laid his trap, created a world where she can only fall—back into his arms.
A love once buried in blood and regret will now reignite amidst vengeance, redemption, and fate's cruel game.

The night I asked for a divorce, my husband, who claimed to love someone else, lost control.

His slender fingers gripped my slender waist, his breath hot and ragged as he buried his face in my neck and murmured, "Can we not divorce? Who is that man in the painting?"

I tried to push him away, but his fingers slipped into my underwear, teasing me.

"Can he make you feel this good?"

--

Sloane once believed that three years together could warm Jared's cold heart.

But when his ex-girlfriend returned, she, the "legal wife," instantly became an eyesore in the way.

He thought her vicious and forced her to apologize to her scheming ex, never knowing she carried his child.

"After I sign the divorce papers, I'll disappear completely." She turned and left without looking back.

After the divorce, Jared looked at his successful and beautiful ex wife and was filled with regret.

"Let's remarry." He knelt before Sloane with a diamond ring.

But Sloane turned and embraced her childhood savior instead.

This time, can Jared win back Sloane's heart?

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT‼️
This story contains themes of BDSM, including elements of dominance and submission, bondage, name-calling kinks (such as terms like "whore"), consensual rough play, and some scenes that involve violence. If these topics could be triggering or uncomfortable for you, I strongly recommend proceeding with caution or choosing a different story.

But if you're into all this delicious chaos—welcome, and get ready for the ride of your life. Things are about to get wild. Enjoy! 😉

Why was I thinking about his lips? Was I really that starved for attention?

I couldn't tear my eyes away. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just the sheer need for something to distract me. But it wasn't just his lips. His jaw was sharp, the muscles of his neck visible beneath the fabric of his shirt. He looked like someone who could make me forget everything.

His voice broke through my thoughts. "Something wrong?"
I blinked, shaking my head, forcing my eyes to pull away from him. "No. Nothing."

I felt his gaze still on me, making me feel like he could see right through all the bullshit I was trying to wear. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, the heartbreak, or the way he looked at me, but suddenly it didn't feel like a mistake. It felt like something I needed.

Without thinking, I stood, my body moving before my mind could catch up. My heart raced as I stepped closer to him, his brow furrowing slightly in confusion. He was surprised, but I didn't care.
I grabbed his shirt, pulled him down to me, and pressed my lips to his.

“Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….This is the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re For Now and Forever) “A very well written novel, describing the struggle of a woman (Emily) to find her true identity. The author did an amazing job with the creation of the characters and her description of the environment. The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”--Books and Movies Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re For Now and Forever)FOREVER, WITH YOU is book #3 in the romance series THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR, which begins with book #1, FOR NOW AND FOREVER—a free download!35 year old Emily Mitchell has fled her job, apartment and ex-boyfriend in New York City for her father's abandoned home on the coast of Maine, needing a change in her life. Tapping her life savings to restore the historic home, and with a budding relationship with the caretaker, Daniel, Emily prepares to open the Inn at Sunset Harbor as Memorial Day comes.But all does not go as planned. Emily learns quickly that she has no idea how to run a B&B. The house, despite her efforts, needs new, urgent repairs she cannot afford. Her covetous neighbor is still determined to make trouble for her. And worst of all: just as her relationship with Daniel is blossoming, she learns he has a secret. One which will change everything.With her friends urging her to return to New York City and her ex-boyfriend trying to win her back, Emily has a life-changing decision to make. Will she try to stick it out, to embrace small-town life, her father’s old house? Or will she turn her back on her new friends, neighbors and life—and on the man she has fallen in love with?FOREVER, WITH YOU is book #3 of a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, make you cry, will keep you turning pages late into the night—and will make you fall in love with romance all over again.Book #4 will be available soon.

“Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….This is the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re For Now and Forever) FOREVER, PLUS ONE is book #6 in the bestselling romance series The Inn at Sunset Harbor, which begins with book #1, For Now and Forever—a free download!35 year old Emily Mitchell is still reeling from the surprise news that she is pregnant. Just married, she and Danielle have no time to process the news as they are thrust into doctor appointments, preparing for the baby’s arrival—and, in a surprise party, the revelation of their baby’s gender.Summer has finally returned to Sunset Harbor, and Emily and Daniel have their hands full with the overflowing inn, their gut renovation of Trevor’s house, the building of a new spa, and Chantelle’s reacting to the baby news. They barely have time to settle into life as newlyweds when Emily gets a call from her dad: he wants them all to visit him in England. Surprising herself, Emily agrees.A life-changing trip to England culminates in shocking news, and Emily finds herself reeling. Daniel withdraws, and as summer comes to a close and her pregnancy develops, she wonders: will she ever be able to settle into this new life?And will life with Daniel ever be the same again?FOREVER, PLUS ONE is book #6 in a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, cry, keep you turning pages late into the night—and make you fall in love with romance all over again.Book #7 will be available soon.“A very well written novel, describing the struggle of a woman (Emily) to find her true identity. The author did an amazing job with the creation of the characters and her description of the environment. The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”--Books and Movies Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re For Now and Forever)

Cindy and Mattheus, still reeling from Key West, unsure where their relationship stands, prepare to take some time away from each other—when a shocking call arrives. A beautiful bride is missing, the night before her destination wedding in the magnificent Cayman Islands. The groom, the last one to see her alive during their scuba diving outing, is the prime suspect.But the groom’s family insists he is innocent, and they hire Cindy and Mattheus to find out the truth. Cindy understands the pain of an ocean accident all too well, and the case strikes uncomfortably close to home, evoking memories of Clint at every turn. Police and Coast Guard search the sea and land, but the bride, Allie is nowhere to be found. Family, wedding party and guests have all been detained at their luxury hotel to be questioned. Was it an accident? Did the bride run away? Or has someone killed her? Who could have wanted her dead?As Cindy and Mattheus investigate and interview those at the celebration, we journey into the incredible wealth and opulence of the Islands and the lifestyle of those who have come down to celebrate the wedding and vacation there. As their relationships are exposed, we see the effects of wealth, greed, and intense jealousy, and how it runs their lives. We also meet Mac, a charismatic, suave partner in the firm who develops an attachment to Cindy, and Vivien, a gorgeous guest, who no man can resist. As Vivien goes after Mattheus, and Mac pursues Cindy, we watch Cindy and Mattheus’s relationship struggle and become infected by jealousy and suspicion as well.In a shocking turn of events, Cindy finds out more about Allie than anyone knew. And as the investigation takes a deadly turn, Cindy’s life is in danger, not once but twice. Once again, we see the forces of darkness try to undermine the search for truth. Will Cindy and Mattheus untangle the web of secrets among the rich and famous before it is too late?DEATH BY JEALOUSY is both a stand-alone novel, and is also Book #6 in the Caribbean Murder series, following DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1), DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2) and DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3), DEATH BY DESIRE (Book #4) and DEATH BY DECEIT (Book #5).

I stare at him, watching his chest expand.

How is it that someone so strong, so powerful, so dangerous to find become so small when faced with an adversary? The adversary being me.

I see him, knees on the cold tiled floor, his eyes fixated on me in equal parts disbelief. I disconnect my vision from his small form, looking briefly at what I'm wearing.

This morning when I woke up, the sun was shining, snow melting on my front lawn. My kids were sleeping, my husband gone, as usual, working, making money.

Everything was normal except when I woke up this morning, I received a message. This message contained a lot of things I've been waiting to hear but one part, in particular, stood out and made today different. This person on his knees in front of me was the big difference in my day. So when I woke up this morning and decided what I was going to wear I decided I would not wear black because black represented the sign of mourning. I wasn't going to wear white. After all, white represented a sign of new beginnings and not blue.

Blue, well blue was a sign of trust and green with a side of healing so when I woke up this morning I decided I would wear beige, it was an indifferent color something that matched any mood any desire any belief it doesn't necessarily represent anything but nor did it negate anything.

'You know what is so satisfying about killing you?"

'What?" He inquires with that tilt of his mouth and thin lips I have seen a time or two. Many women found this man handsome. sexy even. I was not different, but I knew more than many of them what made him, his colors, the layers that fell away leaving only the middle left and when you looked at it with naked eyes you'd see it was rotten.

I laugh.

'I became a player in this cat and rat game much later. I find it comical that I am the one who gets to catch you, considering there are many people who started in the beginning. What is even funnier is I am the one who would get to kill you."

'You didn't catch me Mrs. Catelli."He says my surname with a pinched face as though he can't bear the sound of it coming from his lips.

'Then what do you oppose I did?"

He smiles, but it is not a nice one. It is filled with the ugliness which has corrupted him over the years.

Copyright © 2022 Shan R.K

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction from the Author's imagination.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations for reviews or fan-made articles.

Any names resembling any living person are purely coincidental.

First Edition.

April, 19th 2022

Written by Shan R.K

Dedication

I dedicate this book to you the reader. Please enjoy it and look out for the anthology on my website coming soon for free.

Cindy and Mattheus, finally together, prepare to take time off and live together—when a stunning upset in their relationship tears them apart. Cindy flies home to New York, resigned to never work as a detective—and never see Mattheus—again.And then a shocking phone call comes out of the blue: it is Mattheus. A new body has turned up. Cindy at first refuses—until he tells her who it is: his wife. They finally found her, on the shores of Key West. Brutally murdered, they suspect, by an abusive boyfriend.Mattheus’ world is upside down, and Cindy has no choice but to fly back down to the islands and help him uncover what really happened. Why did she turn up now, after so many years? How did she turn up in Key West, so far from where he’d last seen her? Why had she never contacted him? Who was she dating? And have the police caught the right man?Their investigation takes them deep into the underworld of Key West, a gorgeous, idyllic place where the locals gather to watch the sunset every night with an evening drink. It is an enchanting place—but as Cindy learns, it is also a place with a dark underbelly. Cindy prods deeper into the murder and her investigation takes her into the world of an abused woman’s shelter. Soon, she is convinced the police have the wrong man. She and Mattheus, thrown together again, reconsider their feelings for one another. But there may not be time: Cindy finds out too much and comes in danger herself. As the murder hits too close to home, it may be too late for them both.DEATH BY DECEIT is both a stand-alone novel, and is also Book #5 in the Caribbean Murder series, following DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1), DEATH BY DIVORCE (Book #2) and DEATH BY MARRIAGE (Book #3) and DEATH BY DESIRE (Book #4).

Three years of marriage, and she was nothing but his invisible "secretary" — or worse, the woman he accused of drugging him to get a ring on her finger.
It wasn't until Grace watched Alfred stroll out of the VIP terminal with his ex on his arm that she finally understood. This marriage had only ever been real to one of them.
She signed the divorce papers without a scene. Quietly resigned. And moved on.
That's when he lost control.
"Grace, who gave you the right to just leave?"
"Is this about another man? You're divorcing me for him?"
Then came the night he stood in the rain, eyes red, blocking her path.
"I was wrong. Can we go home?"
She looked at him and said simply, "Mr. White, we're already divorced."

On the rugged, wild, eastern shore of Barbados, Cindy and Clint are enjoying their dream honeymoon, when paradise quickly turns into hell. Cindy finds her newly beloved taken away from her, drowned in a freak accident in the ocean. The local police are quick to declare it an accident, to insist that he was caught in a sudden riptide. But Cindy, left all alone, is not convinced.Cindy must return to her and Clint’s now-empty home in New York and face her in-laws, who never wanted Clint to marry her, and who did everything to make her engagement and wedding hell. She must deal with all of these women’s backbiting, gossiping and unspoken accusations, while she tries to get a handle on her own grief and to get clear on what really happened to Clint.Cindy is mailed an anonymous photo of a woman she had never met, addressed to Clint. As she tries to unravel the mysterious package, as she begins to dig deeper into Clint’s emails and files, she realizes how many secrets Clint had been hiding from his past. She realizes that she didn’t really know the man she loved. And she also realizes that Clint was murdered.She digs deeper, into the depths of Clint’s massive corporation, DGB oil, and as she starts to unearth information she shouldn’t, she goes too far. Soon her own life is in peril. On the run, she realizes that the only way to get answers, and to save her own life, is to return to where it all began: Barbados. As she heads into the dark underside of the island, into the heart of the local villages, she is shocked to discover what really happened to her husband on their honeymoon.But by then, it may already be too late.Books #2--#14 in the Caribbean Murder series (DEATH BY DIVORCE) are now also available!

When 23-year-old Halo Quincy is adopted into the glamorous, icy world of the Wolfe family, he never expected to come face-to-face with Lucian Wolfe—the elusive billionaire widower and the man from a one-night stand he never forgot.
Lucian doesn’t remember him.
Lucian doesn’t want him.
Lucian certainly doesn’t love him.
But none of that stops Halo from breaking the one rule that should have kept him safe: Don’t fall for the billionaire.
What starts as an obsession turns into a messy mix of power, desire, and hidden truths. Then, Lucian’s younger brother,Joan, the famous model, comes into the picture with his own secret plan—he also wants Halo for himself. And everything Halo thought he wanted begins to fall apart.
Because love can be everything you dream of.
Or it can be the perfect trap.

He made one mistake—he chose revenge instead of mercy.

Luna’s sharp tongue and careless drunken words should have been harmless. Instead, they mark her as a target for Daimen Blackwell, a billionaire who doesn’t forgive and never forgets.

What begins as punishment turns into possession when he forces her into a contract that binds her to him as his mistress—his rules, his house, his bed.

Luna is naïve in love but not in spirit, and her defiance slowly becomes the one thing Daimen can’t control. Somewhere between power plays and stolen moments, he wins her heart—only to destroy it.

When Daimen betrays her, Luna leaves with nothing but shattered trust. And that’s when he discovers the truth: she is the woman he has been searching for all his life.

This time, the billionaire has nothing left to bargain with.
Only regret. Only groveling. And the hope that love might survive the damage he caused.

As the eldest daughter of North America’s most feared Mafia family, the Romanos, I married Matteo purely for love. For five years, everyone constantly envied me, thinking I was the luckiest woman alive.

Until I opened that video file.

The screen flickered to life, and my world violently collapsed.

The woman he had completely pinned against the wall, thrusting into her with feral desperation, was Valentina. His sweet, innocent adopted sister. The girl we had both carefully grown up with.

And the hands gripping her waist so tightly they bruised? They bore the exact wedding band I had lovingly slipped onto Matteo’s finger.

"Oh God, brother… you're so hard. If your perfect wife knew you were deep inside me right now, she’d lose her mind."

"Good girl, then stop talking about that boring piece of wood."

My refined, elegant husband was groaning, his voice filthy and depraved between loud, wet slaps of skin. "Squeeze tighter, fuck... You drive me insane, baby. The moment I successfully drain all her family’s stock, you’ll be the true mistress of this whole estate."

Every sweet nothing he had ever whispered to me was a calculated lie, designed to completely destroy me.

Those two despicable cheaters believe they have successfully won. They think my marriage was built on submission.

Well, since this rising Mafia star completely forgot that I am a Romano first and a wife second, it’s severely past time I gave him a taste of my own wicked performance.

Playtime is over. Matteo thinks he can steal my empire while burying his face in his sister’s bed?

I am going to carefully tear down his "perfect husband" facade piece by bleeding piece, and aggressively send them both straight to hell.

In my past life, my husband Pietro locked me in a dark basement and tortured me to death. My only crime? I couldn't get pregnant.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the family’s arranged marriage banquet.
Pietro was an illegitimate son, desperate to secure his status through marriage. In my previous life, he chose me—the Godfather's daughter. But this time, he publicly wrapped his arm around my ambitious stepsister, Livia.
Livia had always envied my status. She craved power and desperately wanted to be the Don's wife. Seeing them together, I knew instantly: Pietro had been reborn, too.
Don Ettore laid down the law: Whoever sired a son first would inherit Castel City.
My sister thought she had just been handed a crown.
But she didn't know the truth. The barren one... was Pietro.

Beau and I have been together for three years. I paid for the entire yacht charter out of my own pocket, and he shows up with his childhood best friend Sadie in tow, then goes around telling everyone it was his idea, his grand gesture.

Out on the water, Sadie spots a small octopus drifting near the surface and decides she has to have it. The thing pulses with glowing blue rings.

I'm a certified expert diver. I know exactly what it is the second I see it. I try to stop her.

She bursts into tears and tells Beau I'm going after her.

So Beau, ever the hero where Sadie's concerned, jumps in himself and fishes the thing out.

Sadie plays with it. It bites her. She's on the deck before she even knows what hit her.

Beau grabs me, screaming at me to suck out the venom. I refuse. He calls me a cold, heartless bitch, and in the chaos, shoves me overboard into shark-infested water.

I die out there. Nothing left of me.

They use my phone to fake a suicide note. Depression, they say. Jumped on her own. Then they take my company, my assets, everything.

They post online hinting I tried to push Sadie in and slipped.

My parents, worn down by the online harassment and the grief of losing me, both die of heart attacks.

Then I open my eyes. And I'm back. The morning of the trip.

I was a billionaire's canary. Never asked for it — but every time I slept with him, he paid another chunk of my mom's medical bills. Later he made me his secretary, and stupidly, I thought we'd built something real. Turns out I was wrong. He drained my entire savings to buy his mistress a $500K necklace. "What do you mean, your money?" he sneered. "Every penny came from me." I begged. He laughed. Then the hospital called: Mom didn't make it. That's when I stopped being anyone's canary — and started billing him back, in full.

Two days before Valentine's Day, I found the tag of a pendant in my husband's coat.
For one bright, stupid second, I thought it was mine.
Then he kept making excuses — the office, the drawer, a box that was never in it. No pendant ever reached me.
And I stopped being stupid.
He hadn't forgotten. He hadn't lost it. He had simply bought it for someone who wasn't me.
Most women would have cried. Instead, I held out my bare neck and thanked him for the surprise.
I let him stumble. I let him run back to the office and run back home, sweating through his own story, until he put the real thing into my hands.
He wanted two lives. I kept the receipt.

Betrayed by her mate. Framed by her own family. Left to die.
Janette lost everything—including her unborn child. But fate gave her a second chance. Rescued by the ruthless Alpha Dominic, she rises stronger than ever, determined to take back what’s hers.
As secrets unravel and enemies lurk in the shadows, she faces the ultimate choice—seek revenge or embrace the Luna destiny she was born for.
The mate who broke her wants her back. But this time, she won’t be the one begging.

This is Book two in the Alpha Sexy Seduction Series:

What troubles you, my angel?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but it snapped shut the next second. She looked to be deep in thoughts as she pondered on her answer. Then finally, she shrugged. “Rejection I guess, I am scared that the wolves will reject me as their queen.”
My grandfather could never accept my dad, my dad's pack could never accept my mother,” she looked me dead in the eye and the unsaid words hung in the air like high tension wires.

And your pack may never accept me...

How can they reject what I, their Alpha loved the most in this world? How can they reject you? Heck, who in their right mind can even reject you?”

“Chen Lu Xian,” a brilliant surgeon, meets his end—
only to awaken as “Chen Lu,” a disfigured and worthless noble son.
When fate takes a dramatic turn,
his new goal becomes clear: vengeance
and rising again as a miracle physician of unmatched skill.
Lu Xian uses a restaurant as a front…
while secretly operating a hidden clinic behind the scenes.
He trains handmaidens in the healing arts,
alongside their practice in martial cultivation.
Fate entangles Lu Xian with the Fourth Prince,
a war-torn man bearing wounds from the battlefield.
That one act of healing… alters his life forever—
when he is forced into marriage!
From celestial physician to imperial consort of the Fourth Prince,
how will Chen Lu use his wits to survive the treacherous tides of court intrigue?
A path lined with schemes, love, and fierce battles lies ahead…

Seraphina gave her heart to fate the night the Moon Goddess bound her to Caspian — the ruthless, golden-haired Alpha every she-wolf dreamed of.
She believed in the sacredness of the mate bond. She believed in loyalty. She believed in him.
Until she opened a door she was never meant to open… and found her mate tangled in the arms of the one woman he swore was family — his adopted sister.
The betrayal doesn’t just shatter her heart. It fractures the bond itself.
While the pack whispers and Caspian demands silence, Seraphina does the unthinkable. She prepares divorce papers. She prepares to walk away from the most powerful Alpha in the territory. She prepares to reject the bond that was supposed to be eternal.
Caspian thought she would cry. He thought she would beg. He thought she would forgive.
He never expected her to leave.
Now Caspian must decide what matters more: his pride… or the only woman fate will ever give him.
And Seraphina?
She’s done being chosen second.

For twelve centuries, the exiled vampire king waited for the prophecy foretold to restore his fallen power. But never expected the girl destined to save him to be the reincarnation of the wife he lost.

Anastasia has spent 18 years of her life beneath her grandmother's watchful eye, hidden from a world she never knew wanted her dead. Sheltered. Obedient. Ordinary – or so she believed.

And the illness slowly stealing her life is not just a disease. It is an awakening.

The man she has quietly loved from afar – the impossibly perfect, untouchable Mr. William – is not who she thought he was either.

He is older than memory. A king without a kingdom. A vampire betrayed by his own brother, stripped of his power, and exiled from the ancient realm of Umbralord centuries ago.

And Anastasia is the one prophecy foretold would restore what was

She knows what she is to him:

A prophecy. A key. A sacrifice.

Anastasia knows there is no escaping destiny . So she makes him an offer.

For six months. He was to date her. Love her. Not out of duty or pity, but as if she truly belonged to him.

What neither of them knows is that the heavens have always been cruel. She was the nemesis placed into his perfect life from the beginning.

Because Anastasia is the reincarnation of the mate William lost twelve centuries ago – the same woman whose death ignited a war that nearly destroyed an entire kingdom.

And this time, fate is not letting go.

On our third wedding anniversary, my husband declared my twin sister as his fated mate.
As Luna of the Hilton Pack, I suffered seven miscarriages—only to be betrayed by the two closest to me. But when three ruthless mafia Alphas stormed into our celebration and seized my husband by the throat, their words stunned everyone:"How dare you treat our fated mate this way?"
Now they call me a sinner, yet claim me as their own. This time, I'll make every traitor beg on their knees for forgiveness.

“Your fate hasn’t changed,” he says, stepping closer. “What you saw will come to pass—unless you break the curse.”

“How?” My voice trembles. “Please, tell me. Anything to stop that horror.”

His gaze darkens. “Your death… by the hands of your mate.”

My world stops. And when I turn to Bion, his face is pale—like he already knows.

~

On her eighteenth birthday, Melanie Spane’s life shatters. Meeting her destined mate, Bion Anaxagoras—the most powerful and untouchable boy in school—should have been a dream. Instead, it becomes the beginning of her curse.

Memories of another life begin to surface. A hidden truth starts to crack: Melanie is no ordinary girl—she’s the lost princess of the supernatural world.

The same princess cursed by an ancient witch.
The same princess destined to destroy everything and everyone.

And the only way to stop her—is for her mate to kill her.

But Bion is no hero. He’s darkness wrapped in one—loyal only to her.

He would burn the world to see her breathe.

A fated love.

A deadly curse.

A choice between love and the end of the world.

Loving your best friend is not for the weak... But neither is falling for the bad boy.


Paris's life has never been the same since a 13-year-old blackmailed her into friendship with a doughnut four years ago. Colton and Paris have been best friends ever since. But when her feelings develop into something more—something deeper than their casual bickering, she confesses her love to him and is left broken when he dismisses her advances.

Just as her world seems to be taking a toll for the worst, Paris finds herself falling into the arms of a certain mystery boy, Fabian Smith. He didn't just save her from what could’ve been a hell of a concussion that night, he also saved her heart.

Thrown into a whirlwind of emotions, Paris learns to navigate the clash of their worlds, while trying to understand her best friend's sudden jolts of interest. But despite her former dream of having Colton see her as more than a friend, she can't deny the new-found attraction that she has towards Fabian. Things are going to get too messy, too soon.

And she doesn't know if she's ready for it.

Love saved him once.
This time, it may destroy them all.

Twenty-three days have passed since Ardan vanished into the storm—and returned as something heaven could no longer name. Blackthorn Academy pretends to be normal again. Classes resumed. Laughter echoed in the halls. The east wing remains sealed, and everyone avoids asking why.

But Anil knows.

Peace is only what exists before something stronger arrives.

Cael clings quietly to the love Anil chose, even while sensing the sky has changed. Lucien watches from the shadows, wings restless, warning them that fallen angels don’t disappear—they evolve.

And then it begins.

Not with thunder.
Not with flames.
But with a silver-shadowed feather at Anil’s door.

Not a threat.
Not a message.
A promise.

Ardan does not want to love her anymore.
He wants to rewrite the story he was forced to live.

He is no longer bound by fate.
No longer weakened by heartbreak.
And no longer willing to let destiny choose for him.

He is stronger now—and he is not alone.

Because angels fall…
But sometimes, they rise into something far more dangerous.

And when he returns—
nothing holy will be holy anymore.

They called her the Omega.
Weak. Unworthy. A stain on the royal bloodline.

But they were wrong.

When Seraphine Vale’s family was branded as traitors by the man she had loved the most, she witnessed her father’s execution by beheading, her mother burned alive, and her siblings slaughtered under a fabricated decree. She was beaten, broken, dragged to the altar of Drakar: the mountain where maidens were offered to the ruthless dragon king; she was abandoned to die… or so they believed.

But Azrath, the dragon king who was feared by all, didn’t eat her. Instead, he pressed his mark into her skin, an old fire sigil that tied their destinies together. The same beast who had laid waste to kingdoms and haunted the living and the dead had, inexplicably, been captivated by her beauty. There was something in her anger, her stubborn strength and the wildness in her blood that drew him in and she couldn't explain why.

But Seraphine was not an ordinary omega like they perceived. She was the Lycan Queen, the last of her kind that remained even though she herself didn't know. Werewolves of her kind were feared, hunted, and underestimated until her power was unlocked by extreme rage.

Now she rises from the ashes, half-lycan queen, half-marked by dragon fire, with fire in her veins and vengeance in her heart. All the kingdoms that betrayed her, the man she once loved who slaughtered her family, and people who underestimated her will tremble before her wrath.

The moon rises red.
The dragon watches.
The Lycan Queen walks from ashes, fury, and fire. Ready to claim what was stolen, punish those who wronged her, and rewrite the fate of all kingdoms.

A new fantasy by the Bestselling author! CHARLOTTE TWEED & THE SCHOOL FOR ORPHANED DRAGONS (Book #1) tells the story of Charlotte Tweed, a 15 year old orphan who longs to know who she truly is, and who her true parents are. Charlotte is kicked out of every foster home she is sent to, and living with a cruel family and sent to a school where she is bullied, Charlotte ducks off the fire drill line one day and cuts school. During this fateful walk she meets Tom Throtteldon, a wizard from another land, and he tells her he’s come to take her home.Charlotte is brought to the land of Annarunnus, the land, and is led to the famous Bellins School for Magic, where she must train to learn who she is and how to use her unique powers. Charlotte also discovers that a rare and precious event has taken place: dragon eggs have been found, hatching just two days before Charlotte’s arrival. Each student receives their own baby dragon to bond with, tame, and train. At Bellins Charlotte meets new friends, and struggles to discover herself and to bond with her obstinate baby dragon. She also meets Tyron, one of the handsome Outcasts. But dating is forbidden at Bellins, and they will have to decide if they will risk it all for love.

“Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….This is the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re For Now and Forever) IF ONLY FOREVER is book #4 in the bestselling romance series The Inn at Sunset Harbor, which begins with book #1, For Now and Forever—a free download!35 year old Emily Mitchell has fled her job, apartment and ex-boyfriend in New York City for her father's historic, abandoned home on the coast of Maine, needing a change in her life and determined to make it a B&B. She had never expected, though, that her relationship with its caretaker, Daniel, would turn her life on its head.Emily is still reeling from Daniel’s proposal. As all seems to finally fall into place in her life, she looks forward to an exciting engagement year ahead, from shopping for a venue and a wedding dress, to creating her invite list, to setting a date.But all does not goes as planned. The endless events of the engagement year add more stress than joy, putting pressure on their relationship as they are forced to make hard choices. Adjusting to life as parents doesn’t make it any easier, as Chantelle runs into problems at school and as a custody battle looms over them. As Christmas and New Years approach, the stress is only compounded.Meanwhile, as the B&B adds new guests and staff and as they find more priceless antiques, Emily discovers a shocking secret that just may bring her one step closer to finding her father.Will she and Daniel get married? Or will the stress of the engagement break them apart forever?IF ONLY FOREVER is book #4 in a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, cry, keep you turning pages late into the night—and make you fall in love with romance all over again.Book #5 will be available soon.“A very well written novel, describing the struggle of a woman (Emily) to find her true identity. The author did an amazing job with the creation of the characters and her description of the environment. The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”--Books and Movies Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re For Now and Forever)

DEATH BY REQUEST is Book #11 in the #1 Bestselling Caribbean Murder series, which begins with DEATH BY HONEYMOON (Book #1). It is also a standalone novel.In Death by Request (Book #11 of the Caribbean Murder Series), Cindy and Mattheus are given a shocking case they have never faced before: a clear-cut case of euthanasia might turn out to be something more ominous. Tara and Owen Danden, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Jamaica, are on the water, in a boat he rented, when the weather shifts and Tara falls overboard. As Owen tries desperately to save his wife, the boat spins and hits her head—sending her into a coma. Pulled out of the water, barely alive, Tara is airlifted to an elegant hospital on the island, and remains in a coma for two months. When she finally dies, however, there becomes a question of whether she truly died of natural causes. Based on scanty evidence, Owen is taken into custody and quickly hires Cindy and Mattheus to clear his name and find out who wanted Tara dead. Cindy and Mattheus’s journey takes us through an intriguing exploration of comas, euthanasia and what happens to those in altered states. As the investigation proceeds we watch Cindy and Mattheus’s relationship ripen, and take a new turn. We also meet Tara’s crazy family, learn the secret they’ve been hiding, and see what bearing it might have on the case. As a new suspect finally comes into focus, all is not what it seems to be…

Death by Seduction (Book #13 in the Caribbean Murder series)