1453 Book(s) Related to marriage alliance for revenge ch 1

Ruby Steele, 30, beautiful, fit, seems just like any other ex-pat hiding out in the Bahamas and playing local bartender. But unruly patrons find out the hard way: Ruby is a mixed-martial-arts pro, and not one you’d want to cross.In fact, Ruby would be a champion if she hadn’t been forced to walk away and hide out in the Bahamas.Because Ruby knows too much. She knows where the bodies are buried. And she knows when it’s time to get out of town.But what Ruby doesn’t know is why there is a dead tourist in the dumpster behind her seedy bar.Or why, she, of all people, had to find it.Or why this guy was out at 3am when he had a pretty fiancé waiting in a hotel room a mile away.Or why the local cops are pinning her.Or why she’s gonna be forced into a choice: find the killer, or do hard time herself.For Ruby, good choices have never been her strong point.And this one’s definitely not going to be good…Welcome to the Bahamian world of Ruby Steele, replete with her local dive bar, her wily pet monkey, her major drinking problem, her (way) too many fights, her inability to get herself out of trouble, and her fists made of stone. Ruby’s life is a complete wreck. But there’s one thing she’s good at: capturing your heart.ON THE ROCKS (A RUBY STEELE COZY MYSTERY) is the debut novel in a page-turning cozy mystery/thriller series, one that will linger with you long after the last page is read. Books #2 (EXTRA DIRTY) and #3 (FULL-BODIED) in the series are also available.

“When you think that life cannot get better, Blake Pierce comes up with another masterpiece of thriller and mystery! This book is full of twists, and the end brings a surprising revelation. Strongly recommended for the permanent library of any reader who enjoys a very well-written thriller.”--Books and Movie Reviews (re Almost Gone) MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by #1 bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose Once Gone has over 1,500 five-star reviews.When London Rose, 33, is proposed to by her long-time boyfriend, she realizes she is facing a stable, predictable, pre-determined (and passionless) life. She freaks out and runs the other way—accepting instead a job across the Atlantic, as a tour-guide on a high-end European cruise line that travels through a country a day. London is searching for a more romantic, unscripted and exciting life that she feels sure exists out there somewhere.London is elated: the European river towns are small, historic and charming. She gets to see a new port every night, gets to sample an endless array of new cuisine and meet a stream of interesting people. It is a traveler’s dream, and it is anything but predictable.But when a wealthy, high-maintenance passenger suddenly turns up dead outside of Budapest, the cruise has become a bit too unpredictable. Even worse: as the last person to see her alive, suspicion falls on London, leaving her no choice but to solve the crime (with her new sidekick, an orphaned dog), and save her cruise line and herself.Laugh-out-loud funny, romantic, endearing, rife with new sights, culture and food, MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) offers a fun and suspenseful trip through the heart of Europe, anchored in an intriguing mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the very last page.Book #2 (DEATH AND APPLE STRUDEL) and book #3 (CRIME AND LAGER) in the series are now also available.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) NEXT DOOR (A Chloe Fine Mystery) is book #1 in a new psychological suspense series by bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. FBI Evidence Response Team intern Chloe Fine, 27, finds herself forced to confront her own dark past when her troubled twin sister needs her help—and when a body turns up dead in her small, suburban town.Chloe feels life is finally perfect as she moves back into her home town, and into a new house with her fiancé. Her career with the FBI looks promising, and her wedding is on the horizon. But, she learns, all is not as it seems in suburbia. Chloe begins to see the underside—the gossip, the secrets, the lies—and she finds herself haunted by her own demons: her mother’s mysterious death when she was 10, and her father’s imprisonment. And when a fresh body is found, Chloe soon realizes that her past, and this small town, might hold the key to solving both.An emotionally wrought psychological suspense with layered characters, small-town ambiance and heart-pounding suspense, NEXT DOOR is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #2 in the CHLOE FINE series will be available soon.

"With blood, fire, and magic I claim you Urmah son of Abdi_ili and Anunit, the descendant of royals, blessed by the two gods of the sun..." ... "I am Tiye daughter of pharaohs, I am Sekhmet daughter of the great god Ra, we claim you, body and soul to the rest of your days in this world and the after to be our lord and guardian, to be our love and spirit, here we bound you to us. May we never be set free forever and ever."

Princess Tiye was meant to be a goddess queen, she would sit on Egypt's throne and rule with Sekhmet's blessing, but before her eighteenth name day she was betrayed by her uncle and cousin, and she became a fugitive, a murderer.

on her journey for safety, she meets prince Urmah, The forsaken son of the Akkadian king. He promises to help her to take back what is rightfully hers and get her revenge after his visit with his father. But their plan fails when her troubles follow them to Akkad, and that's when the goddess makes her presence known to the world.

Who would prince Urmah choose, the woman he renounced his God for, or his father's approval and acceptance? And what would Tiye do when she is forced to witness the murder of her loved ones for the second time? Are her throne and revenge worth the sacrifice?

In the small, snow-covered town of Evergreen, Christmas preparations are in full swing, but far up in the surrounding mountains, a heartbreaking discovery is made forcing Melanie to return to the town that her parents called home.
Amidst the festive cheer, Morgan, a lonely Alpha with a difficult past, struggles with the weight of his loneliness. He yearns for companionship and family, watching enviously as others come together during the holidays yet he refuses to allow any of the humans that inhabit the town to get close to him, instead, watching from a distance.
After a second tragedy strikes as Melanie travels back to her parent's home, she finds herself trapped in a snowstorm with the lonely Alpha, forced to hole up in his isolated Cabin to wait out the storm.
As they find themselves growing closer, Morgan faces a difficult decision with the woman who refuses to let anything dampen her spirit and seems determined to bring a ray of sunshine back into his life.
Will he keep her at a distance or will he finally allow her to break down the barriers he constructed around his heart long ago?

"I want a divorce. "
The day before her third wedding anniversary, Fiona sees her husband walking to the obstetrics wing with his arm around his ex-girlfriend, Rowena. Rowena is pregnant.
Heartbroken, Fiona rejects Micah, her husband, her mate, the Lycan Prince of the Alastair Kingdom, and leaves the pack.

However, to Fiona’s surprise, after being rejected, Micah goes crazy looking for her all over the world.
Until one day, when he sees her walking down the street holding a little girl, he pins her against the wall.
“Is she my daughter?” Micah hisses.

“You look like her,” my father whispered, forcing me into my twin sister’s wedding dress, but he didn't warn me that I was marrying a monster.

My twin sister ran away, leaving me to marry Luciano Moretti, a ruthless Mafia Don. I walked down the aisle, trembling, praying he wouldn't notice the switch. But the moment he kissed me at the altar, his tongue invaded my mouth, demanding and possessive, tasting me like I was his property.

I thought I could hide the truth. But on our wedding night, he walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, water dripping down his sculpted abs and the distinct V-line that pointed to his heavy manhood.

He cornered me against the bed. “You smell different, wifey,” he whispered, his hand sliding up my thigh, his thumb brushing dangerously close to my wet heat.

I tried to push him away, but the next morning, he decided to test me. He pushed a plate of peanut butter bagels toward me—food that would kill me, but was my sister's favorite.

“Eat,” he commanded, his eyes dropping to my chest where my nipples were hard against the silk robe. “Or do you want me to feed you something else?”

His gaze darkened, shifting to my lips, and I knew he wasn't talking about food. He knows I'm a fake. And he’s going to enjoy every second of punishing me for it.

"This pup belongs to me," he growled, his voice thick with power.
"Who do you think you are to claim him?" I shouted.
"I am your father and your king."
When Sophie's twin sister dies mysteriously during childbirth, she makes a promise—to protect the baby no matter the cost. But that vow thrusts her into a world she never believed existed, one ruled by savage wolves, dangerous secrets… and a cursed Alpha King who now claims her nephew is his heir.
"You… You're the father?"
"Yes. Therefore, the pup belongs to me."
"No! I promised my sister I'd protect him. I won't let you take him—not even if I have to fight to the death!"
Attacked. Bitten. Marked.
Now Sophie is changing into something she never wanted to be—a wolf. And the ruthless Alpha King who once hunted her now claims she is his destined mate, chosen by the Moon Goddess herself.
Torn between her human emotions and rising wolf instincts, Sophie must fight to survive the excruciating transformation, uncover the truth behind her sister's betrayal, and protect the child who may be the key to breaking a deadly curse.
But when passion ignites beneath their deadly rivalry, Sophie faces an impossible choice: reject the monster who marked her… or embrace the terrifying power awakening inside her.

Francesca Diana, an innocent soul, is left heartbroken as her beloved Lorenzo vanishes overnight after their passionate first night together.

Lorenzo Fernando, deeply in love with Francesca, finds himself trapped when his father abruptly whisks him away to the USA for studies, leaving no chance for a farewell to his true love. With an unbreakable promise to return, he vanished from her life.

A decade later, Francesca has risen to fame and fortune, her past leaving indelible marks that have transformed her into a formidable woman. She extends an intriguing invitation to the man who once shattered her heart, setting the stage for a revenge-fueled reunion. She's prepared herself for this moment, her identity shrouded by a mask and eyes of a different hue.

By day, she's a respected and enigmatic sommelier; by night, a mesmerizing dancer who ensnares men's hearts.

Will she stay resolute in her quest for revenge? How will he react upon discovering his beloved is alive, nursing unfounded resentment?

Caught in the web of their complex emotions is Lorenzo's relentless father, fixated on the captivating Francesca.

Is there a chance for them to rekindle their love, or will fate once again keep them apart?

"MATE!!"
I caught the scent of my mate.
I thought the Moon Goddess had finally answered my prayers. I followed it through the crowd, ready to claim my mate, the woman with curves in all the right places.
Instead, I found Blake, a man with no curves at all.
I am Alpha Nate, the most powerful wolf in the region, and I have built my entire reputation on hating everything Blake represents. The Moon Goddess did not bless me. She punished me.
I tried to reject him on the spot, but Blake refused.
He made me a deal: three months to make me fall in love with him. If he failed, I could reject him and never see him again. I immediately accepted because I knew it was impossible.
I love women, their soft curves, their warmth, everything about them. There is no way a man could ever make me feel the same.
Three months.
That's all Blake has to prove the Moon Goddess didn't make a mistake.
But as the days pass, the line between certainty and doubt begins to blur, and the mate bond refuses to loosen its grip.
With my father—the man who created the law banning same-sex mates and an entire pack waiting for me to reject Blake, every choice I make threatens everything I've ever stood for.
Will I prove that fate was wrong… or discover that the one thing I've spent my life fighting is the one thing I can never escape?

"Dad?"
Dominic's expression remained stern, but a flicker of warning flashed in his eyes. He nodded subtly at Kael.
Kael strode towards Valerie, his movements fluid. "Vel, let's go."
Valerie's voice trembled as she asked Kael, "What's going on? Why is Dad kneeling there?"
Kael's expression softened, but his eyes remained guarded. He offered a gentle smile. "You don't need to worry about him, Valerie."
Valerie's concern deepened. "But what's happening?"
Kael's tone turned cold. "Anyway, that man doesn't deserve anyone's concern."
Valerie's eyes widened. "That man is my father."
Kael's jaw clenched. "That man was neither a good father nor an honest man. He's getting what he deserves."
Suddenly, the sound of a bullet firing cracked through the air. Valerie's eyes went wide, and she took a step forward, but Kael grasped her hand, holding her back.
"Don't go there, Valerie," Kael warned, his voice low and urgent. "The boss is very pissed off right now. It's not safe."
Tears welled up in Valerie's eyes, spilling down her cheeks. "He was my father," she whispered.

Trigger Warnings: This is dark, not soft romance. Expect BDSM, breeding kink, power play, rough sex, omega submission, orgasm denial, impact play, primal rut/heat, age-gap obsession, violence, and depraved scenes. Read at your own risk.

I spent two years grooming myself into the perfect omega for the man who rejected me: the deadliest SSS+ Alpha alive.

Marcus Kane—my father’s best friend, old enough to be my uncle—wants no children, but only a woman dark enough to take his brutality.

So I became her.

If he craves a throat that swallows his cock or cum without complaint, thighs that spread for his waist to occupy, or a body begging through pain and filth… I’ll give it all.

But he still fucks other omegas. Never me.

Then danger stalks us when my father’s research puts a target on our backs and shadowy enemies are looming, leaving Marcus as our only shield. I had to move into his penthouse.

And now, I’m done waiting. I will have him.

The Alpha who swore he would never claim me is ready to burn the world before anyone takes what is his—ME!

"What if I want to escape?"

I looked at the man before me.

He was Alexei Cardis, vampire prince, and the one who would sacrifice me with his own hands at the Eclipse Ritual.

"Then escape," he said, lowering his gaze to meet mine, his tone calm. "Just don't get caught."

—

At seven years old, I was brought into this vampire castle.

From that day on, I had the best teachers, and the most dangerous guardian.

Alexei taught me to read, taught me to calculate, taught me how to survive amid lies and conspiracies.

But he never told me—that the meaning of my existence was to become the offering on the altar.

As the Eclipse Ritual drew closer, I began searching for a way to survive.

Forging evidence, sowing discord among nobles, stealing weapons, planning my escape.

Everyone wanted to use me.

Everyone wanted me dead.

Only Alexei was different.

He stopped others from getting close to me again and again, yet pushed me toward my destined fate with his own hands.

I could no longer understand him.

Until later, when I discovered a secret hidden in a wooden box.

It turned out that behind all these years of what I thought was captivity and exploitation, there was another, more dangerous emotion.

But if he truly cared about me—

Why would he raise me only to personally send me to the altar?

And when the night of sacrifice arrives,

Will I kill him and escape to freedom,

Or will he, for the sake of the entire vampire race, kill me with his own hands?

Lucas: “You need the money, and I need a wife to shut my grandmother up. We’re a perfect match—don’t overthink it.”
Sophia: “You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet. Where’s the romance?”
Lucas: “I’m offering a solution, not a fairy tale.”
And that's how Sophia Lane got married to the Cruel CEO of Davenport and Co multi billion company, because of money and a burning hope to save her younger brother and selling her happiness as well.
But will she be able to tame the heart of her husband who is dead set on finding the woman Sofia Lang, who saved his grandmother from imminent death, but is unaware that he had already found her.
And when Lucas finds out the truth, can his sincerity be enough to heal the heart of an angel he broke intentionally

“Marry Damian.”
My father’s voice was cold.
“Or stop acting like a spoiled heiress.”

I laughed bitterly.
“You mean sell me to save your company?”

I was once the proud daughter of the Blackwood family—until my parents divorced, another woman moved into my house, and my father decided to trade my future for business.

Worse?

The man I was forced to marry was Damian Harrington—my childhood crush who broke my heart and now shamelessly flirts with my stepsister.

So instead of crying over him, I made a decision:

I would build my own company and take back control of my life.

Then one reckless night changed everything.

While escaping Damian, I ended up in the arms of a dangerously handsome stranger with cold blue eyes and a smile impossible to resist.

I thought he was just an expensive escort.

But later, I learned the truth.

The man I slept with wasn’t some stranger.

He was Gabriel Ashford—the billionaire every woman in Manhattan dreams about.

“Tianna! No! Stop it! Your brother is in the other room!”
Read and enjoy the experience of Valencia and Aaron, from friends with benefits to a real relationship. Will she leave Aaron for his sister Tianna? Read and find out!

Madam, your fetus is perfectly healthy, and all indicators are completely normal," Dr. Helena said with a smile as she looked at the image on the ultrasound machine.
"Really?" Emily slowly sat up on the hospital bed. She glanced down at her slightly swollen belly, gently placed her fingertips over it, and a look of worry crossed her face.
This was her second child. Her first pregnancy had also gone perfectly at every prenatal check-up, yet in the end…
"Everything is stable for now," Dr. Helena comforted her. "Rest assured, what happened last time was just an accident. Take good care of yourself this time, and come to the hospital right away if anything feels wrong."
The moment Emily thought of her first baby, a dull ache welled up in her heart.
It had been a baby boy.
Both of her children with her husband Watson were conceived through IVF.
When the first pregnancy succeeded, she had been overjoyed. She prepared the nursery, bought tiny baby clothes, and even started thinking of names.
But shortly after the baby was born, it passed away.

A prince needs to be taught how to handle a sword by Adira, the female gangster in her country. She was named the "Queen of Gangsters" because even men are afraid of her, especially when they hear her name, Adira.

When she enters the world of the nobles, she will meet many people; there are good, bad, and those who wear masks so as not to know what their real personalities are. Easy missions turn difficult.

The heart of the prince, who cannot beat for the person he loves because of an agreement, Stalwart Castle, Valiant Castle, and Paradise Castle—the countries with secret stories will be known by Adira.

Love or responsibility? Both words are really difficult to portray, but to choose is more painful if you want them to do both.

Martin Williams and Estella Jules grew up together, but lived completely different lives. She was the nanny’s daughter, while Martin was the child her mother served. After her mother died, Estella was taken in by the Williams family and raised to become the nanny’s replacement. At home, she was Martin’s loyal servant, but at school, she was his number one target.

Nobody knew about their secret master–maid relationship, and Martin would curse Estella if anyone ever found out they lived in the same apartment. He grew to hate her presence, while Estella continued to smile at him through everything. Not out of loyalty or obligation, but because she was sincerely in love with him.

Estella knew she would do anything for Martin, yet he never cared enough to notice. She couldn’t stop herself, like a moon drawn endlessly to the sun. Until one night, at Martin’s birthday party, her eyes finally opened to who he truly was. That night, she swore she would stop loving him, stop begging for him, and stop crying over him.

What she didn’t know was that her decision would only make their relationship even more complicated—messy, intense, and filled with the reckless sweetness of their perfectly imperfect youth.

This book is the prequel to A Werelion for Cat.

(Warning this book contains content that may be very sensitive to some readers)

Emma grew up in a world where all she knew was pain and abuse.

She had a mother who loved her but didn't have the confidence or self-esteem to stand up for herself or her daughter.

Emma's stepfather abused his wife and stepdaughter relentlessly, leading to the death of his wife.

Emma's stepbrother Leo didn't receive the same treatment as she and her mother. However, he grew up in a household with a man that treated females as worthless objects.

How will Emma survive the abuse that killed her mother and protect her daughter born from an unplanned pregnancy?

This story shows Emma's life from a young child to early adulthood and the struggles she endured along the way.

Everyone on campus has a theory about Lila Monroe. The whispers started freshman year and they never stopped. They call her cheap. Desperate. Available for the right price.

They are not entirely wrong.

What no one knows is why.

Lila Monroe does not arrive at Westfield Elite on a scholarship or a trust fund. She arrives on survival instinct and a secret she cannot afford to let anyone discover: she earns her tuition by selling her time to wealthy students who want company, a date to an event, or someone to pretend they matter to. It is not what anyone would choose. But it is keeping her enrolled. And staying is the only plan she has left.

Ryder Kane has never needed a plan. Everything at Westfield bends around him. The son of the man who controls the school board, he is untouchable by design. Until one night he overhears something he was never supposed to hear.

Now he has a proposal. She has a price. And neither of them has any idea what they are actually getting themselves into.

Betrayed by her fated mate and left shattered, June is banished—wolf broken, heart in pieces. But when the ruthless Shadow Alpha Cassian drags her from the darkness, one scorching touch ignites everything.
His massive body pins her to the wall, thick cock grinding against her dripping heat as he growls, “Mine.” Every filthy lick, every possessive thrust chases away her pain, turning agony into raw, screaming pleasure.
Yet her treacherous past is coming—sister and ex hunting her down.
Will Cassian claim her completely, burying himself so deep she forgets every other man… or will the old bond tear her apart mid moans?

“Go to your father’s chambers and kill him.”

The command controlled my body, forcing me to swing the saber. I watched in horror as I beheaded the Divine God—my own father. Stripped of my powers and exiled by my brothers, I fell from the sky and crashed into a freezing river.

I thought I would die. Instead, I was pulled out by three identical, breathtakingly handsome men.

“We should leave her,” one sneers.
“I’d like to fuck her though,” another says, his eyes raking over my soaked dress.

They are triplets. They are Alphas. And they have decided to keep me.
I am Lillyan Elyort, the fallen Moon Goddess. Now, I am a prisoner in the Blackmoon pack, surrounded by enemies who want to use me. But they don’t know one thing: I might be mortal now, but I still know how to bite back.

I am the fearsome godfather of the Mafia.
For the woman I love, I sheathed my fangs and willingly became a despised commoner son-in-law.
In the horrific car accident, I shielded her with my own flesh and blood, and steel bars pierced through my chest.
Faced with the only life-saving machine in the entire hospital, she did not hesitate to save her lightly injured "white moonlight" brother-in-law, leaving me to die in the basement.
She thought that as long as I bled to death, she could naturally embrace perfect love.
But she didn't know—
Without my protection, her proud, century-old family wouldn't even last a month ...

Seven years ago, Alpha Matthew's fiancée Elvira ran off with another alpha. I was just his assistant back then, harboring a secret crush but never imagining we could be together.

That night I picked him up from the bar. He was drunk and had been drugged. One night later I was pregnant, and Matthew became convinced I was the one who drugged him, that I'd schemed my way into becoming his luna. He hated me, but still gave me the title of secret mate. No mating ceremony, just a contract. My son and I lived in the guest wing of his estate for seven years.

Last night he drunkenly spun Liam around in circles. My son thought he was finally being accepted. But I heard the name Matthew was murmuring—Elvira. She was coming back, with her son.

I held my transfer request to the Eastern Region. This time, we're done waiting.

"Your wife is just making up another excuse to ask for money."

With just one sneer from his trusted female assistant, my husband hung up my desperate call for help on that stormy night.

Safe in his warm conference room, he scolded me for being unreasonable and told me to "let the rain cool your head."

What he didn't know was that on that freezing night, because of his assistant's vicious lies and my inability to pay the medical fees, our newborn baby stopped breathing forever.

Three months later, discovering the horrifying truth, he searched frantically for me like a madman.

Finally, before our baby’s tombstone, a broken and desperate man knelt in the mud, begging me to take him back.

I just turned my back on him and walked away.

"We are over. Forever."

"Fuck a whale like that? Dude, I'd need a goddamn forklift to dig through the rolls and find the hole. You could pay me a thousand bucks and I still wouldn't touch it. This isn't a date—this is a fear factor challenge."
Three months ago, those words boomed through the speakers at the frat party, filling every corner of the house.
That night, I was the joke. The fattest pig in their twisted little hunting game.
Three months later, I'm at the podium running for student body president. My waist dropped from 38 inches to 24, and this custom suit fits like a weapon.
Down below, the same people who laughed are staring up at me now. And that asshole who needed the forklift? He's face-down in the dirt like a kicked dog, waiting for me to end him.
My name is Leona. This isn't some crying fat girl's diary anymore. This is how I crushed every bastard who ever stepped on me—and clawed my way to the crown with blood and sweat.

My twin sister and I were born on the same day. She got the love. I got the debt.
Some doctor told my parents I stole Colette's immune system in the womb, and after that, the rule was simple: every time she got sick, I had to hurt worse. Fever meant the basement. Below freezing, no blanket, no socks, door padlocked from the outside.
I was seventeen and I weighed under seventy pounds. My teeth were coming loose. My hair was falling out.
Then, on the coldest night of the year, something moved behind the cracked mirror in the basement. A man in a tailcoat. He said he could give me anything, as long as I could pay.
All I wanted was a blanket and a piece of bread.
He asked what I had left to trade.
I didn't have anything. So I offered him my last years.

Three days ago, a car crash took my baby. I spent three nights in the hospital alone. My husband never came.
His assistant told me he was in Europe. He wasn't. He was home on the couch I picked out, holding Elodie while she cried about the thunder.
She's his "sister." No blood, no adoption, just his money. That night she was wearing my pajamas and the necklace I designed for our third anniversary.
I built the firm that has his name on the door. I drew the tower his company breaks ground on next month.
He gave my office to her. Then my design credit. Then he told me not to make a thing out of it.
Fine. She can have the office. She can have the tower.
I signed the divorce papers, left my ring sitting on top of my signature, and walked out with one suitcase.
He still has no idea what I took with me.

I am Nerissa Calvino, the illegitimate daughter of the Vespucci mafia family—a stain on their pristine name.
All I ever wanted was a quiet life, spent in the arms of Carmine, a simple doctor. But my half-sister, Renata, fell terminally ill and was declared infertile. To preserve the alliance between the Vespucci and Arcuri families, a filthy transaction was struck: I was to be the surrogate for Renata’s fiancé, Silvano, bearing the heir that would bind their syndicates together.
They threatened Carmine’s life. To save him, I had to spit venom, shredding our love to pieces with my own hands.
In public, Silvano was the perfect, doting fiancé to my sister. But in the dark, he locked me away, claiming my body with ruthless gravity.
When news of my pregnancy broke, the entire estate rejoiced. Only I remained trapped in a living nightmare.
Torn between a past I couldn’t return to and a forbidden entanglement I couldn't escape, I wondered: would I ever reclaim my own life?

I spent two years quietly building something I thought was worth building.
Full recovery support after birth, someone checking in on meals, leave approved the moment you asked for it. I worked out a deal with the best facility in the city and covered the difference myself, out of my own account. Not a cent of company money.
I did it because I'd watched a good employee disappear from the company the year she got pregnant. No announcement. Her desk just cleared out one day.
Then one of them posted about it.
She called it surveillance. A golden cage. The comment section called me a predator. By morning it was trending.
Here's what none of them knew: not a single dollar of that program belonged to the company.
So I listened to what they wanted and gave them exactly that.
I shut the whole thing down.

My childhood sweetheart, Henry, gave me a glass of milk the night before my Harvard interview.
I thought he cared.
Until I woke up with my waist-length hair hacked off and my brain drowning in sedatives.
Later, I found him at a cafe, laughing with the prettiest girl, Madison, in our class.
"You actually cut her hair? You're insane, Henry!" she giggled.
"Truth or dare, babe," I heard him. "She's fat anyway. But you need that Harvard spot, Madison."
The boy who promised to marry me traded my dream to impress someone else.
I didn't scream. I didn't cry.
Let him have his joke. I'm taking my life back.

Our clan worships the Spider Goddess.
To keep this face, every girl in our bloodline must sacrifice a truly evil man every ten years.
Just two weeks before my twentieth birthday, my mom asked me again over the phone:
"Sweetie, is it really that hard to find a sufficiently bad guy in a place like Ashfield?"
Right now, I’m looking at my boyfriend, who just handcuffed me to a bed. He’s laughing, negotiating a price with a buyer, thinking I’m tonight’s merchandise.
I think to myself—
Mom, I can answer your question now. This guy’s wickedness easily rivals your husband's—my father.

Half human, half wolf—my blood can heal anything. To keep the peace, the elders offer me to the pack's War God.
"I'd rather sleep with a rock than a half-blood," Zane spits.
The wind rips away the herbs masking my scent. He freezes mid-sentence.
"Mine," he growls, claiming me on the spot.
He warns me to stay away from the Alpha—he hates half-bloods, and he'll kill me.
But when Zane leaves for war, it's Lucius who collapses at my door, drenched in blood.
"Medicine won't save me. You already know what will."

When I was rushed to the ER with food poisoning, I heard the doctor shout, "We need to pump her stomach, now!"
But my mother, Catherine, calmly stopped the doctor's hand.
"No hurry," she said coldly. "Give her a sedative first."
My brother Austin panicked. "Mom! If you don't detox her, she could die!"
But my mother's voice was ruthless, low and sharp:
"If she dies, she dies. As long as her uterus is still warm, that's all that matters."
"Did you forget our plan? Sarah's transplant surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. If Elena wakes up now, what if she runs away?"
"Our priority is keeping her uterus safe for Sarah—not saving her life."
In that moment, the burn in my stomach was nothing compared to the chill in my heart.
I forced my eyes open and saw my brother—the one who'd always protected me—hesitate for a moment, then slowly let go of my hand.
"...Okay. You're right, Mom. Saving Sarah comes first."
The moment I closed my eyes, I made a decision: If I survived, this life would never belong to this family again.

Seven years. Seven bonding ceremonies. Seven times a pack of feral strays charged through the territory on the full moon and tore into me before the marking could take.
I thought the Moon Goddess had cursed us.
Then I woke up in the pack hospital and heard my Alpha whispering to her — the delicate white wolf he called his "sister."
"Next time you let them in, could you tell them to go easier? I'm scared she might actually die."
Seven years of attacks. Every single one orchestrated by the man I loved, designed to break me down until I gave up the Luna title and made room for her.
So I played the recording in front of his grandmother, looked him in the eye, and ended the engagement myself.
He thought that was the worst I could do.
He had no idea what those seven years had already cost me — what was already shutting down inside my body while he stood there worrying about her.
By the time he found out, it was far too late.

The day college applications were due, Fern Whitmore wouldn't stop crying — and my two childhood best friends were completely wrapped around her finger.

They actually threatened to give up their Ivy League spots to follow her to community college.

I tried everything to talk them out of it. Nothing worked. So I went behind their backs and called both their parents.

Their parents showed up that same night and put a stop to it. Applications corrected, crisis averted, everyone back on track.

Or so I thought.

Fern lost her two personal ATMs, and one night she posted a goodbye message on social media and swallowed a bottle of pills.

Nash and Declan didn't blame her for it. They blamed me.

They lured me up to the roof. Both of them shoved their hands against my chest.

"Maren." Declan's voice was ice. "You ruined Fern's future. Go apologize to her in hell."

I fell twelve stories.

When I opened my eyes, I was back at the beginning.

This time, I'm not saving anyone.

I was marrying Boone Ashcroft on a Saturday morning. Before I could step out of the truck, his mother walked up with a rope and pointed at the cattle chute behind the barn.
Her terms: hands and knees through six inches of mud and manure. A metal headgate clamped around my neck at the end. That was the price of walking through her front door.
I said no.
Then forty Ashcrofts surrounded the truck. My phone had zero signal. My family was blocked behind a hay baler a quarter mile back. And the man I'd spent three years with looked me in the eye and said: "You're going through that chute today. Crawling or walking — pick one."
They cornered my best friend. Threw hog blood on the windshield. Thought nobody was coming for me.
They didn't know about the CB radio under the console — or the ten cousins listening on the other end.

“Aeris, for the pup’s sake, I won’t reject you. But the suffering you caused Seraphina—I want you to experience it a thousandfold.”
I knew he didn't love me, but I didn't know he could be so heartless.
I am the one who saved my Alpha’s life, yet my Alpha mistook another woman for his savior. Even though I became his Luna and sacrificed so much for him, he still doesn’t love me. I was framed by that woman, and in a fit of rage, my Alpha accidentally killed me and our pup. At this moment, the truth is about to be revealed.
What will his reaction be after knowing the truth?

Ravens MC Series: Marlowe & Torin-Book 1 (Bad Boys Collections)
Triggers: dark theme, brief substance use, guns, knives, mature content, 18+

Marlowe Mills, the daughter of the president of the Sons of Morning Star, is unwittingly ensnared by Torin Montero, a member of her father's club, who becomes her fathers rival and her silent protector.
Years after a betrayal, the embers of Marlowe and Torin's love ignites once more. But Marlowe finds herself in the embrace of a Mob boss's son, entangled in a web of obsession and danger. Fate, however, has a twist in store.
When the lines between love and vengeance blur, Marlowe must choose her dance of destiny.

~ARJUN KASHYAP, 28 years Old, Co Owner of K&K CORPORATION, a multi billionaire company of India, A new emerging face among the herd of top Businessman of the World.

A VIRGIN BEAST. No one can double cross him. Who hates women around him But loose his Beastly heart to a Broken BEAUTY whom he loves to call JAAN (Life)..

PASHIKA SINHA, a 22 years old, A struggling and broken BEAUTY who is fighting with the Cruelty and the double standard of the world, unknowingly created a havoc in BEAST's life.

ARJUN: "You are Mine and I am Yours JAAN"

PASHIKA: "I am no one to you so stay away from me, You BEAST"

For ARJUN, it's Love at first sight but for PASHIKA, its Hate at first sight.

Two different souls from two different world clashed and their unconditional love with unexpected twists and turns reveals hidden truth and so many secrets from the past.

A complete roller coaster ride of BEAUTY and the BEAST.

....

“When you think that life cannot get better, Blake Pierce comes up with another masterpiece of thriller and mystery! This book is full of twists, and the end brings a surprising revelation. Strongly recommended for the permanent library of any reader who enjoys a very well-written thriller.”--Books and Movie Reviews (re Almost Gone) A MURDER IN PARIS is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone has received 1,500 five-star reviews.Diana Hope, 55, is still adjusting to her recent separation when she discovers her ex-husband has just proposed to a woman 30 years younger. Secretly hoping they would reunite, Diana is devastated. She realizes the time has come to reimagine life without him—in fact, to reimagine her life, period.Devoting the last 30 years of her life to being a dutiful wife and mother and to climbing the corporate ladder, Diana has been relentlessly driven, and has not taken a moment to do anything for herself. Now, the time has come.Diana never forgot her first boyfriend, who begged her to join him for a year in Europe after college. She had wanted to go so badly, but it had seemed like a wild, romantic idea, and a gap year, she’d thought, would hinder her resume and career. But now, with her daughters grown, her husband gone, and her career no longer fulfilling, Diana realizes it’s time for herself—and to take that romantic year in Europe she’d always dreamed of.Diana prepares to embark on the year of her life, finally turning to her bucket list, hoping to tour the most beautiful sights and sample the most scrumptious cuisines—and maybe, even, to fall in love again. But a year in Europe may have different plans in store for her. Can A-type Diana learn to go with the flow, to be spontaneous, to let down her guard and to learn to truly enjoy life again?In A MURDER IN PARIS (Book #1), Diana hopes to kick off her journey, and find new love, with an unforgettable night at the Versailles ball. But when the dramatic night takes a harrowing turn she could never expect, Diana realizes she will have to solve the crime—or else have her trip end in disaster.A YEAR IN EUROPE is a charming and laugh-out-loud cozy mystery series, packed with food and travel, with mysteries that will leave you on the edge of your seat, and with experiences that will leave you with a sense of wonder. As Diana embarks on her quixotic quest for love and meaning, you will find yourself falling in love and rooting for her. You will be in shock at the twists and turns her journey takes as she somehow finds herself at the center of a mystery, and must play amateur sleuth to solve it. Fans of books like Eat, Pray, Love and Under the Tuscan Sun have finally found the cozy mystery series they’ve been hoping for!Book #2 (DEATH IN FLORENCE) and book #3 (VENGEANCE IN VIENNA) in the series are now also available!

“A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go.”--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)From #1 bestselling mystery author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense.Keri Locke, Missing Persons Detective in the Homicide division of the LAPD, remains haunted by the abduction of her own daughter, years before, never found. Still obsessed with finding her, Keri buries her grief the only way she knows how: by throwing herself into the cases of missing persons in Los Angeles.A routine phone call from a worried mother of a high-schooler, only two hours missing, should be ignored. Yet something about the mother’s voice strikes a chord, and Keri decides to investigate.What she finds shocks her. The missing daughter—of a prominent senator—was hiding secrets no one knew. When all evidence points to a runaway, Keri is ordered off the case. And yet, despite pressure from her superiors, from the media, despite all trails going cold, the brilliant and obsessed Keri refuses to let it go. She knows she has but 48 hours if she has any chance of bringing this girl back alive.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, A TRACE OF DEATH marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)Book #2 in the Keri Locke series will be available soon.

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.

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.

“A MASTERPIECE OF THRILLER AND MYSTERY. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) GIRL, ALONE (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1) is the debut novel in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller Once Gone (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. FBI Agent Ella Dark, 29, is given her big chance to achieve her life’s dream: to join the Behavorial Crimes Unit. Ella has a hidden obsession: she has studied serial killers from the time she could read, devastated by the murder of her own sister. With her photographic memory, she has obtained an encyclopedic knowledge of every serial killer, every victim and every case. Singled out for her brilliant mind, Ella is invited to join the big leagues.But when a killer strikes in the swamps of Louisiana, Ella soon comes to learn that the real thing is nothing she could expect. Face to face with a real murder, a real killer, and a real ticking clock, Ella realizes she can’t rely on her knowledge. She must learn to trust her instinct, and allow herself to enter the dark canals of a real killer’s mind. If she gets it wrong, her career is at stake.And so is the next victim’s life.Will Ella’s talent be an asset? Or the source of her downfall?A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the ELLA DARK series is a riveting mystery, packed with suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night.Books #2 and #3 in the series—GIRL, TAKEN and GIRL, HUNTED—are also available.

In an elite suburb of New York City, girls are dying. That doesn’t happen in Greenvale, with its immaculate lawns, exclusive yacht clubs and multi-million dollar mansions. But behind its perfect façade, its trimmed hedges and luxury cars, a darkness lies. Girls, dependent on Adderall, outmaneuver each other to get into top colleges, while the mothers’ need to live vicariously only makes it worse. Bella DeFranco is one of the Bronx’s top SVU detectives. At only 37, she disarms everyone with her stunning good looks, yet she is as tough as most men—and a lot smarter, too. Yet when is summoned to Greenvale, she finds herself getting lost in a case that even she can’t comprehend. She stumbles into a land of secrets, a place where husbands hide their pasts from their wives, where friends are not what they seem, and where no one wants to know too much. As she digs deeper into layers of suburban dysfunction, she comes to learn that, behind all the fake smiles, there is a subtle violence--rivaling even her crime-ridden streets of the Bronx. With a killer on the loose, time running out, and a new partner who never recovered from his washed-up alcoholic days, the odds are stacked against Bella. She is determined, though, to save these girls, whatever the cost. Yet as she gets close, the depth of psychosis she discovers shocks even her….

Born in the slums, Wendy was heartlessly dumped by her self made boyfriend.
"You're not good enough for me."
She sneered, smashed his Ferrari, then climbed into a limited edition hypercar and drove away.
What her ex never knew was that the "burden" he abandoned was the one who made him successful.
Then her birth mother, who had abandoned her years ago, suddenly returned and demanded that Wendy go home and marry in place of her disabled sister.
Wendy smiled.
"Fine. If you all want me back so badly, I'll come home. And I'll repay every single one of you."

From the #1 Bestselling author of Death By Honeymoon, comes a new romance series....Nestled among trees and hills, set alongside a winding river, the small town of Tom’s River, Wisconsin, so beautiful and protected, is a place where everybody knows each other, a place where nothing ever changes and where people can feel safe. But one day, all that changes. Megan’s husband has gone missing, and no one can find him. As the search deepens, Megan discovers the truth not only about her husband, but also about the secrets he’s been hiding in their marriage. Her world is shook as she realizes she’s been living a lie, has been in a relationship with a man who’s been living a secret life, a man she never really knew. Some months after his disappearance, as the snows of winter melt, Hunter, a handsome, magnetic stranger, arrives in Tom’s River. A loner with a mysterious past, he is content with his solitary job at the lumber yard. But as a tornado ravages the town, he is destined to cross paths with Megan, as she seeks help to repair her damaged home. Once Hunter and Megan meet, nothing is ever the same again. As he repairs the roof that blew off her home, the two cannot hold back their feelings for each other. They fall madly in love. Yet Megan cannot, once again, live with a man who is keeping secrets from her: she needs Hunter to open up about who he is, about what he’s running from. And that is not something Hunter may be ready to do. As they face a crucial crossroads in their affair, a shocking and dramatic twist hits the town: one that will test their love, and will test the town. Nothing will be the same in Tom’s River again..