1515 Book(s) Related to short story books for adults

"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?

DEATH BY DESIRE is Book #4 in the #1 Bestselling Caribbean Murder series, following the FREE book DEATH BY HONEYMOON (#1), DEATH BY DIVORCE (#2) and DEATH BY MARRIAGE (#3). In the midst of gorgeous St. Bart’s, a few days before Christmas, a Senator’s daughter is found stabbed and strangled on the beach—the day after her engagement party. While the rich and famous are pouring in to celebrate the holidays, the local police are desperate to keep it quiet and not cause an uproar. But the Senator’s family wants justice for their daughter, and they hire Cindy and Mattheus to solve the crime. As Cindy and Mattheus investigate, they meet the elite crowd surrounding the Senator’s family, an exclusive world of unimaginable wealth, of luxurious parties on yachts and private villas. They learn of all the people who may have wanted the young woman dead, all the jealousies and rivalries, the secret ex-es and affairs. They meet her devastated fiancé, her twin sister and her distraught Mom—all intent on the killer’s being found. They meet the corrupt police force, who wants them stopped, and a rich Russian mogul who controls half the island—and has his own agenda to bring down the senator. As they delve deeper, they learn the many secrets of this exclusive family and the young woman, and discover that all was not as perfect as it appeared to be. As they get close to the answers, Cindy faces personal danger, while at the same time her relationship with Mattheus grows deeper—and faces a crisis of its own. And as the two of them are about to leave the island, a sudden twist in events changes everything. Ultimately, they come to learn that on the pristine, perfect St. Bart's, everything is not always as it seems to be. Books #5--#8 in the series are now also available!

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.

Ariel has spent years surviving the monster she calls home. Behind the perfect family facade lies a nightmare: a violent father who rules with fists and fear, a predatory stepbrother who offers “protection” at a sickening price, and a household that treats her like an unwanted stray. She hides the bruises, smiles for the world, and clings to the only bright spots in her life — her fierce best friends Claire and Winter.
But then there’s Harry Knight. The man she once destroyed with a single cruel laugh.
She rejected him brutally, pushing him away to protect him from her toxic world. She told him he wasn’t even worth the dirt on her shoes. Now Harry knows the truth — every dark secret, every scar, every monster she’s been hiding. The gentle boy she rejected is gone. In his place is a cold, ruthless man burning with obsession and revenge. He’s done waiting. He’s done being denied. And he’s determined to make Ariel pay for every moment of heartbreak she caused him… even as the dark pull between them grows more dangerous and addictive with every encounter.
She wanted him safe. He wants her broken. Completely. Irrevocably. His. In a story of trauma, vengeance, and twisted love, Ariel must decide whether the man who hates her most is also the only one who can truly save her — or destroy her once and for all.

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?

Blurb

My back was pressed against one of the bookshelves in his study, my legs raised against his hips as his fingers caressed my cunt. He moved slowly but fast enough to make me tremble with pleasure.

“You…you are my sister’s husband,” I managed to say, adjusting my ragged breath.

He pushed himself against me. “Ask me to stop and I will,” he whispered in my ear.

I pressed my lips together, unable to say a word, only moans escaping my mouth.


Alexandra Coleman is forced to work as a maid for her stepmother and sister as soon as her birth father dies. All her life she has been tortured and made to believe that her life meant nothing. Until one day when her stepsister Kara gets into an arranged marriage with a wealthy CEO.

Kara falls for him without knowing who he is, and he shares the same attraction. Now that she knows who he really is, will she be able to hide her emotions for him and work as a maid?

Or will their shared attraction draw them together?

Brynlee Walker has always loved hockey. She has played since middle school and has worked hard to become one of the best players in her school.
When she gets accepted into a 90-day elite hockey program, filled with experienced players and newbies, she sees it as her chance to finally get noticed and take her hockey career to another level.
But she never expected Nolan Hayes to be there.
Nolan is her older brother, Brian's best friend, handsome, wealthy and talented who have known each other for years, but Nolan and Brynlee have never really been close. She used to have a little crush on him, but she gave up on it a long time ago because she never thought he would see her in that light.
Now they are living in the same house and training together for the next 90 days.
Brynlee wants to focus on hockey and prove that she deserves to be there.
Nolan doesn't seem interested in getting close to her either. But as the days go by, things between them slowly start to change.
With competition, new friendships and unexpected feelings getting in the way, Brynlee soon realizes that these 90 days might change more than just her hockey career.

All my life, whenever I wished for something, my younger stepsister got twice as much. One doll for me meant two for Chloe. One bedroom meant she got a bigger room plus a study. Even my own mother seemed to love her twice as much.   Then a strange interface appeared on my phone and confirmed the rule.   So I stopped wishing for good things.   I wished for a twenty-six-year-old boyfriend. Chloe got a fifty-two-year-old stranger at our front door. I wished to lose ten pounds. She dropped twenty so fast she landed in the ICU. When my stepfather begged me to stop, I made one more wish.   I wished to lose six hours of sleep every night.   And Chloe got double.

In my past life, I was cheated on.
My wife is having an affair with my fitness coach, and even our five-year-old daughter isn't my child.
I filed for divorce, and she left with nothing. I thought my life couldn't get any worse—but then the apocalypse came, and I was bitten to death by zombies.
In her last moments before she died, I saw her family of three nestled in her lover's secluded mountain cabin, with plenty of food and drink, passing away peacefully in their old age.
God gave me a second chance.
Back on the day we signed the divorce papers, I smiled and said to my ex-wife, "You can have the villa, but I want Julian's dilapidated cabin."

Every anniversary, my boyfriend pretends to propose to me—just because his adopted sister thinks it’s hilarious.
One year, the ring box held nothing but a "Dream on" note. Another, he dropped to one knee—just to tie his shoe. Last year, he finally slid a real ring onto my finger. The band was lined with silver. While I screamed, he and Myrtle laughed themselves breathless. In the ER that night, he held my bandaged hand and swore: Next year. For real.
So, on the eve of our seventh anniversary, when he called me out to the lake house I’d designed for our future, I curled my hair. I wore a new dress.
I opened the door, and a bucket of ice-cold mud crashed down over my head.
“Sorry, babe,” Hesper grinned. “I bet them you’d show. You did—so no proposal this year.”
I ripped off the moonstone pendant I’d worn for seven years.
“Then we’re done.”

I lost my memory.
When I woke up, my biological parents and aloof wife were fussing over the fake young master's bedside.
I, the real young master who had just awakened from a coma, only received my wife's cold command: "Sebastian needs a blood transfusion. Go donate."
Looking at the scars on my wrists from her suicide attempt, my amnesiac mind only felt absurdity.
I calmly donated blood, then turned and signed the divorce papers, leaving with nothing, and unilaterally published a notice severing all ties with my family.
Later, the fake young master's conspiracy was exposed. My arrogant female CEO wife destroyed her entire family, flew halfway around the world overnight, and knelt at the airport, tears streaming down her face, begging me to come home.
I, however, took the hand of a haired female professor and looked at her coldly: " Sorry, I already have a partner ."

On the eve of the wedding, Dante sold me to Alex, a deranged auto mechanic, for two dollars.
His friend confused.
“You’re going to marry Chole, that adult film actress. Just send Lucia away. You two were betrothed as children, and she’s lived with the Costellos for ten years. You must care about her at least a little.”
“That mechanic’s violent and ugly. She’ll suffer terribly if she marries him.”
Dante smirked.
“It’s just a small punishment. Chole comes from the bottom and is riddled with insecurities; all she wants is the title of wife. But Lucia refused to be my mistress, and worse, she made Chole cry.”
“Mark my words. Before half a day passes, she’ll throw a fit, threaten to take her own life, and beg me to let her stay by my side.”
His friend shook his head.
“Aren’t you scared she’ll go through with the marriage out of spite?”
Dante sipped his tea unhurriedly.
“No need to worry. She’s believed since childhood that she’d be my wife. Even if she’s furious for a moment, she’d never give herself to another man. I’ll rescue her after I marry Chole the day after tomorrow, then take her on as my mistress. She’ll only grow more devoted to me afterward.”
I clutched the two dollars tight and turned away without a word.

My husband locked me in a suitcase to punish me for frightening his childhood sweetheart. He said I could come out when I apologized. By the time his assistant warned him about the smell, our baby and I were already dead. But Adrian still expected me to crawl out and beg for forgiveness—and I was trapped beside him, watching.

In my past life, we were camping in the wilderness area of a state park when my best friend handed out "lucky charms" to the whole group. Charms she'd secretly packed full of wildlife attractant.

A wild boar knocked me to the ground outside the cabin door. Its tusks tore into my stomach. I pounded on the wood with both fists, screaming. "Help! Open the door!"

Inside were my boyfriend of two years and the best friend I'd been quietly supporting for just as long. Autumn Warren.

"I'm so sorry, Brynn." Autumn's voice broke into sobs, but her weight stayed pressed hard against the door. "There are boars everywhere. We open that door, we're all dead."

"Just hold on! I'm calling 911!" Wyatt Fletcher's voice rang out with the kind of conviction that cost him absolutely nothing.

I paid for that trip. I'd fallen behind because I'd stopped to pull Autumn along.

And they stood on the other side of that door, my blood soaking into the dirt, and locked me out.

I open my eyes. I'm back. It's the day we left.

Three years ago, a private plane crash took my father, my mother, my brother Carter, and Grayson, the man I'd loved for seven years and was about to marry.

To hold onto everything they left behind, I cried until my eyes were raw, destroyed my stomach, and fought my way through boardrooms and Wall Street vultures.

On countless nights, I held their photographs and cried until I passed out.

What I never understood was why Willow, the foster sister we'd taken in, vanished without a trace after the crash.

Until today, three years later, when I drive back to the family estate with a diagnosis in my bag telling me I have three months to live.

I push open the heavy door and hear laughter. I see my family—the family that's supposed to be dead—gathered around Willow and her three-year-old son, singing happy birthday.

Turns out no one in this world ever loved me at all.

Why do they all get to live while I'm the only one who have to die?

The day I received my medical report and found out I was pregnant, my husband—Alpha Godfrey Hansen—held a small wedding ceremony in the hospital garden with his first love and former mate, Gillian Boyd.
He explained, “Her final wish in this life was to be my bride.”
But what about me?
What was I to him? A replacement?
It finally hit me—ten years of unwavering devotion and sacrifice meant nothing compared to a single tear shed by his first love.

ADRIAN Cole had it all. Wealth, power, a beautiful wife, and a daughter who adored him. But one mistake… one affair… and one phone call from his mistress was enough to shatter the perfect life he thought he controlled.

When Amelia walked away, she didn’t just leave her husband behind, she carried a secret of her own, a secret that would change everything.

Now Adrian is left chasing shadows of the woman who once loved him, realizing too late that money and pride can’t heal the wounds of betrayal. But the road back to Amelia’s heart isn’t just blocked by her pain, it’s poisoned by the jealousy of her own sister, whose hidden hatred runs deeper than anyone could imagine.

Caught between regret, family betrayal, and the fight for the woman he once took for granted, Adrian must prove that his love is real this time. But what if Amelia’s forgiveness is the one thing he can never buy back?

A story of betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption. Will love survive when it’s already too late for sorry?

Betrayed by both her mother, the alpha of her pack, his son and the lycan king, Raine finds herself in the hands of death. But fate intervened when a dying witch breathes new life into her, granting her a second at existence. Reborn as a Hexed Wolf, She was the ultimate hybrid with only one word on her mind:REVENGE.
Using her new powers and knowledge of black magic, she brings down all who have hurt her, but what would happen if she finds herself falling in love with the same lycan king that betrayed her?

Rule number one: Never fall for the Hockey Alpha.

That was the plan.

Ninety days.
One fake relationship.
No feelings.

I’m a fallen Crescent Moon princess turned scholarship boxer, fighting to save my sick brother while uncovering the truth behind my father’s disappearance.

Luca Silver is the hockey captain, the future Alpha, and the heir to the family I’ve spent years blaming for my downfall.

When a scandal threatens his reputation, he needs a fake girlfriend. I need money and answers.

So we make a deal.

No real kisses.
No emotions.
No falling in love.

Except Luca isn’t just my fake boyfriend.

He’s my roommate.
My enemy.
And my fated mate.

When our bond awakens, the lines between hate and desire begin to blur. But as dark secrets from the past resurface and rival packs close in, I discover my father’s disappearance was never an accident.

The Silver family may not be my enemy.

And falling for my enemy might be the choice that starts a war.

“Sidd, if you leave me here, I won’t ever forgive you,” I declared, glaring at him. “I will hold you responsible for anything that happens to me.

"Remember, you made me stay here till late," I stated, even though I was scared, holding him responsible for anything that might happen to me.“I don’t need your forgiveness, Rani,” he snarled. “Holding me responsible for anything bad that happens to you is what enemies do,” he declared and moved off. From hatred to love, it created a bond between Rani and Sidd.

Not without drastic challenges that are meant to separate them forever. Can they withstand the challenges and keep their love strong, or will they allow hatred to take over and be separated forever?

“Since you suck at stripping, why don’t we skip that part and go over to the main thing!.” Lucas suggested as he tries to suppress a laugh.

“S-sure!.” Kimberly stuttered and moved closer to him. She cursed herself for not knowing how to do something as simple as stripping.

With her heart beating very fast, Kimberly stood in front of Lucas confused on what to do next.

Lucas pulled her closer until she is plastered on his body and placed his right hand on her butt while his left hand moved inside her shirt and cease her bare skin.

Kimberly immediately panicked and pushed Lucas away from her.

“Sorry, I can’t do this. I am not a prostitute!.” Kimberly uttered and picked up her bag amd rushed out….


Kimberly needs to pay the fifty thousand dollars her mom owe to loan sharks in a week time or face the consequences.

Left with no choice, Kimberly decided to sell her body in order to get the money.

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.

Six months ago, a yacht explosion consumed everyone I loved: my husband Leonard, my parents, and my brother.
I escaped only because of stomach pain that kept me from boarding. My adopted sister Claire became the sole survivor.
Since then, I've become an empty shell.
Even after being diagnosed with terminal uterine cancer, even while carrying my late husband's child, I've endured the agony of chemotherapy alone, exhausting what little strength remains to scrape together money for Claire—who hides away in a private care facility, claiming severe PTSD.
Until this winter day, with a blizzard approaching.
Dragging my dying body to my husband's memorial to pay respects, I discovered a credit card statement—charges made three months after his death.
Following the address on that receipt, I pushed open the door of a luxurious suburban villa.
Inside, it was warm as spring. My parents and brother, who should have been at the bottom of the ocean, stood there perfectly alive.
At the center of the room, my husband—the man I'd grieved for day and night—was kissing my adopted sister, his lips tender against hers.
The whole family was celebrating, raising glasses to toast the infant cradled in Claire's arms—barely a month old.
There had never been any disaster at sea.
It was all a meticulously planned hoax—their twisted way to erase me from their lives forever.

My boyfriend of five years was actually Gideon Pryce, Vale City's wealthiest heir—and our entire relationship was just a gold-digger test.
Then he handed me the receipts. Every dollar he’d spent on me in five years. He wanted it back.
He didn’t know about the ultrasound in my purse. Eleven weeks. A rare complication. One surgery that afternoon was my baby’s only chance, and I’d scraped together every cent of the $120,000 it cost.
He drained my account and bought his childhood best friend a Birkin.
I lost the baby. He said I was being dramatic.
Fine. He wants to talk money? Let’s talk money.
He spent five years hunting for a gold digger. By the time I’m done, he’ll find one—staring back at him in the mirror.

I used to think I had the perfect family.
My husband Nico started coming home less and less, always saying he had a meeting. But the truth was, he had another woman, Alessia. And it had been going on for a while.
The affair I could've handled. What really killed me was that my son Leo and my daughter Mia had known all along. They'd even started calling his mistress "Mom."
They thought I was clueless. But I'd known for months, his assistant had told me everything.
I tried so hard to win them back. I did more for them, cared more, tried harder. But they kept choosing Alessia.
That day, I stopped trying.
They could all have each other—Nico, Alessia, Leo, Mia.
I hoped they'd be happy together.

On the day of our mate bond, Alpha Samuel decided we were going to be a childfree couple himself.
He held my hand and said affectionately, “No kids. I only want you.”
However, he came home with a pup in his arms later.
He claimed a friend had died, leaving the child alone, and asked us to take him in “just for a while.”
I didn’t make a scene. I didn’t demand answers. I didn’t even ask twice.
I kept cooking and cleaning, swallowed the unease and told myself to trust him.
Until that night, when I asked him where my dog had gone.
He didn’t answer. He set a bowl of dog meat soup in front of me instead.
He said my spirit dog could hurt the pup. But the spirit dog could sense bloodline, its growl wasn’t for that pup. It was for the lie he’d been hiding for three years.
At that moment, I finally understood: the pup he called “alone in the world” carried the exact same blood as him.
So our agreement was a lie and the so called childfree was an excuse.
And he’d already arranged what my ending was like when the day I agreed to bond with him.

My best friend Bella had a cluster of mushrooms growing on her back, every color you could imagine.

They throbbed like something alive, and the smell coming off them was like nothing I'd ever smelled.

She called it Moonlight Bloom, a gift straight from Viscount Lucas himself.

If she kept that thing on her body for forty days, not one more, not one less, until it bloomed its brightest spores, the viscount would marry her and take her into his estate.

So she refused to shower. Wouldn't let a drop of water touch her.

Everyone in the pack knew me as the one who always looked out for people, and I figured she'd been cursed with dark magic. So one night while she slept, I grabbed a bucket of soapy water and a stiff brush and scrubbed that thing clean off her back.

The next morning, she ran her hand over the raw patch of skin where it used to be, grabbed a silver dagger, and drove it straight through my heart.

"You jealous bitch! You just ruined my whole future!"

Bleeding out on the floor, that's when it hit me. She never cared how disgusting that thing was, or what it was doing to her body. All she cared about was marrying into money and status.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd gone back in time.

This time around, I decided I wasn't going to stick my nose where it didn't belong. I was going to sit back and watch that mushroom grow.

I don't realize how badly I've been wronged until they're strapping me to the gurney.

My name is Camille Brooks. I'm one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the city, and I have never lost a patient on my table.

My fiancé, Adrian Vance, is the golden boy of the entire hospital. We're supposed to get married next month.

It's a stormy night when he calls, telling me to get to the hospital right now. There's a patient bleeding out, and only I can save them.

I race through the rain, but I get stuck in traffic halfway there. By the time I push through the OR doors, the patient has no pulse.

The family points at me. They say I botched the procedure and killed him. And Adrian Vance, my own fiancé, takes the stand and shows up with "ironclad evidence" against me.

I have nothing to fight back with. I go to prison. My parents can't handle it. It destroys them both. They take their own lives.

It's only after I die that I learn who really held the scalpel that night: Daisy Whitman, the woman Adrian never got over.

I was just the fall guy.

Then I open my eyes.

I'm back. One hour before everything falls apart, riding through the rain toward the hospital.

This time, I'm going to survive.

And I'm going to watch both of you burn.

My husband, Caspian, faked his company’s bankruptcy. We had to sell our luxury cars and our mansion, squeezing into a leaky, moldy basement.
By day, I worked back-to-back shifts in the ER saving lives. By night, I slipped into revealing dresses to sling drinks at a bar, all to shoulder a massive debt that never even existed.
Until I bumped into him in a VIP room. The man who was supposedly drowning in stress was lounging on a sofa with his suit unbuttoned, swirling a glass of whiskey, a secretary in his arms. His mistress leaned in and smirked, telling me Caspian had found me boring for a long time.
She also bragged that while he claimed to be working until 3 AM, he was actually going back to our old house at 10 PM, sleeping in our master bedroom.
Caspian showed zero remorse. Instead, he demanded I roll over and accept the woman, tossing me a meager payoff and threatening to ruin my medical career.
I threw away my wedding ring. I swallowed my tears. I finally saw it all for what it was.
From today on, I am only doing one thing: taking back what belongs to me, piece by piece.

The ninety-ninth time I slept with Alexander, he dragged me back into his arms and said he was going to take me “home.”
I thought he finally wanted to acknowledge me. Turned out he just wanted me to go with him to meet his future Luna.
Later, when the car crash happened, the one he threw himself over to protect was someone else. At the hospital, he carefully held and fed the soup to someone else. On the night of the engagement party, he interlaced his fingers with hers under the lights and publicly announced their wedding.
I stood in the corner and watched him kiss another Omega.
That was the moment I finally understood—twenty years of devotion still couldn’t compare to a single soft “I’m scared” from her.
So, I turned around and walked away. Deleted his contact, blocked his number, disappeared from his world.
I thought he wouldn’t care.
I never expected that ten minutes before his wedding ceremony began, he was standing backstage, calling my number like a madman.

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.

News broke that a classmate had fallen from a building. The forensic assessment said it was homicide. Someone claimed they’d seen the killer: a young girl in a red coat.
The police came to our home. My stepsister shoved me forward. Mom said, “My daughter owns a red coat and she wasn’t at home yesterday.”

Raven thought she knew the truth: Darius Pike is a monster.
To avenge her sister, Raven Casmir infiltrates the supernatural Midnight Academy, masquerading as a human girl with a death wish. She takes his spot on the hockey team. She mocks his Alpha authority. She plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse in the shadows of his billion-dollar empire.

Darius has never met a human he couldn’t break. Until her. The fiery-haired rebel doesn’t bow. She fights. She’s the ultimate forbidden fruit—the sister of the girl he once rejected, and the only person who makes his wolf lose control.

But as blood ties turn to betrayals and ancient MoonWolf powers awaken, Raven discovers the most terrifying secret of all: Her sister lied. And the man she swore to destroy is the only one who can save her from the darkness in her own soul.

She thought she was human—until she drowned.

She wakes in the body of a missing selkie princess in a hidden island kingdom… and quickly realizes she’ll be executed if anyone discovers the truth.

The only person who knows? Her guard—cold, loyal, and furious she’s taken the place of the woman he was sworn to protect.

When her unstable shifting magic reveals something impossible—both selkie and tideborn blood—he’s forced to keep her secret… because exposing her would destabilize the crown.

Now, bound by duty and necessity, they must secretly search for the real princess—before her magic exposes them both.

After five years of mopping floors at Harrington Tower, I finally had enough saved for my son Theo's heart surgery.

I got off work early that day, folded my new paycheck in half twice, and tucked it into my inside pocket. I practically ran the whole way to the hospital. I wanted my husband, Beckett Reid, to be the first to know.

The door to the family lounge wasn't shut all the way, and I could hear the hospital director inside.

"Mr. Reid, Ms. Hale says she'll have the rest of the money this week. Do you still want us to keep the medical records going?"

Keep the records going? I held on to the doorframe. For a second, it didn't make sense.

Beckett was leaning back on the couch, completely relaxed. "No, you can stop. Thanks for playing along all this time. I'll sign off on the pediatric wing donation soon. She's had a rough few years. Last month her back was so bad she could barely stand up straight, and she wouldn't even buy herself a pain patch."

My best friend Blair was sitting next to him, her voice all sweet and gentle. "Don't go soft on me yet. A guy like you has to find out if she's in it for you or for your money. Besides, Theo needs a little more time to adjust."

Theo was curled up against her, pouting. "She smells like bleach all the time. It's so gross. I want Blair to be my mom."

Beckett looked at the two of them snuggled together and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Fine. Six more months."

I took the silver bracelet with Theo's name engraved on it out of my pocket and dropped it in the trash can in the hallway. I'd skipped lunch for two months to pay for it, and I'd stood at a jewelry counter at the mall for half an hour before I could bring myself to buy it.

Six more months? Don't bother.

Five years of night shifts. I'd just chalk it up to an expensive lesson. From now on, he could go be rich, and Theo could go be his precious little boy. None of it had anything to do with me anymore.

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.

The agony of dragonfire tearing through my flesh still seared my memory.
But I had been reborn.
I touched my reflection. No scorch marks. No melted skin. My eighteen-year-old face stared back.
The door burst open. Zephyra swept in, her dragonfire pendant gleaming.
"Megan, don't be nervous." Her voice dripped honey-sweet. "Even if you can't sense dragonfire, the Dragon God won't judge you harshly."
My father's legitimate daughter. Pure dragonblood. The family's pride.
And me? The bastard. A half-blood who couldn't even conjure a spark.
"The prophecy bond isn't set in stone." Her hand landed on my shoulder, grip too tight. "If Lord Roran feels overwhelming, bond with a lower-tier knight. I'll support whatever you choose."
Support me? The word tasted like ash.
Roran was the empire's youngest Dragon Knight Commander. In my past life, I'd believed her lies and married him.
I thought it was salvation. Instead, I became his shield while he slept with Zephyra.
At Zephyra's ascension ceremony, when a wyvern lunged for her, he shoved me into the beast's path.
The wyvern's claws tore into my abdomen. My unborn child died inside me.
Then came the dragonfire.
Roran unleashed it to save Zephyra. The flames swallowed everything: the beast, me, and the dragon egg I'd carried for months.
Through the agony, I watched him scoop Zephyra up. "Save Zephyra! The child—"
My child was already ash. He mourned hers.
"If I hadn't been pregnant, Megan wouldn't be so jealous..." Zephyra whispered.
"If there's a next life, I'll make this right." Roran's hollow guilt.
Next life?
Your dragonfire burned my child alive. You let me bleed out. And now you want redemption?
Not a chance.

Over the past three years of dating with my boyfriend, everything was perfect. 
My first time meeting his parents at their Sunday Roast went better than I ever dreamed. His mother smiled warmly, serving me mountains of food, excitedly discussing which city we should settle in after graduation. It felt like they were practically picking out wedding dates.
But that illusion shattered over a single spoonful of apple pie.
The moment I took a single bite of the homemade apple pie, his mother's smile vanished. She slammed her spoon onto the fine china with a deafening CRACK. 
"My son must be cursed to have brought home a woman like you!" she shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at my face.
Totally bewildered, I froze. Did I miss the dinner prayer? Did I use the wrong fork? Desperate, I looked to my boyfriend of three years for help. 
But he didn't defend me. He just looked at me with this strange, cold disgust.
"We're done, Sloane," he said, his voice like ice. "Let's break up."
I completelt froze.

Lysa loved Damian for seven years, yet hypnotic manipulation warped his memories, leading him to brand her the killer of his parents. With his own hands, he cut her bones and implanted canine fur, transforming her into a deformed half-human beast and subjecting her to endless humiliation and torture. She watched her mother die a brutal death and was forced to swallow her mother’s cremated ashes. At the brink of death, her ancestral sea spirit pendant awakened, shedding her mangled hound form to birth a tyrannical deep-sea siren. Once the scheming fake heroine’s lies were laid bare, Damian descended into madness, drowning in desperate remorse. Wielding the immortal power of a siren, Lysa cast all her tormentors into an endless living hell—and she would never grant them forgiveness.

When the screen lit up, my heart stopped beating.
The woman twisting on the bed, breathless and flushed, was Rachel. The innocent girl we grew up with. The adopted sister I had fiercely loved and protected for over a decade.

And the hands claiming her body?
They belonged to my childhood sweetheart, Sebastian. On his finger glinted the very wedding band I had lovingly slipped onto his hand.

"I missed you so much..."
"You drive me crazy, baby..."

His hoarse moans coming through the speaker were agonizingly familiar. Those exact sweet whispers, the ones that used to make my heart flutter, now completely destroyed me.

To the outside world, we were the ultimate power couple. I ran his empire, exhausted myself to build his perfect life, while he bathed in everyone's envy. But who knew my flawless marriage was nothing but a sick, twisted lie?

Tears blurred my vision, but as the video ended, my sorrow morphed into something cold and lethal.

Sebastian thinks he is a master manipulator. He thinks he can have my loyalty while drowning in my sister’s bed.

Well, since he loves acting so much... I think it’s time I gave him a taste of my own performance.

Playtime is over. I am going to tear down his 'perfect husband' facade piece by piece, and I won't stop until I witness his total ruin.

For six years, I had worked as a contract killer to pay for my brother's leukemia treatment.
Today, I had finally saved enough money to cover his surgery.
But he casually rejected the operation.
"Actually, I'm not sick. And Mom and Dad aren't dead, either. I planned that car accident six years ago."
My husband, Damian Blackwood, followed his confession with one of his own.
"I never went bankrupt, either. Every time I told you I had to work overtime, I was actually staying at our mansion because I couldn't stand squeezing into that filthy basement apartment with you."
"I originally planned to make you suffer for another three years, but the stench of blood and gunpowder on you has become unbearable."
My hand froze as I was about to swipe my card to pay the medical bills.
My brother snatched the bank card from my hand and tossed it into the trash.
"There's no money left on it. I gave away everything you earned from those assassination contracts to beggars. Money earned by taking lives is cursed. We don't want anything to do with it."
My blood ran cold.
Why were they doing this to me?
It wasn't until I saw my parents standing before me that I completely broke down.
They stood at a distance, their faces twisted with disgust, as though I were something contagious.
"If you promise never to bully Vivian again, you can still be our daughter. Otherwise, we'll cut all ties with you!"
Just as despair consumed me, a familiar mechanical voice sounded inside my head.
[Would you like to abandon this mission and leave this world?]

In a matter of life and death, the kidnappers forced my husband to choose who would walk out alive: my sister or me.

Declan chose me. My sister, Valerie, was executed because of it.

But in the three years following our rescue, Valerie's death became an uncrossable chasm between Declan and me.

He spiraled into heavy drinking, violently channeling all his resentment onto me.

It culminated in that dead of night, when he held my head forcefully underwater in the bathtub. With bloodshot eyes, he roared, "If I didn't have to save you, why would Valerie be dead?! Why wasn't it you?!"

As I suffocated, the man I loved snapped my neck with his bare hands.

When I open my eyes again, I am back on the day of the kidnapping.

Watching my husband feign his agonizing struggle in front of me, I feel nothing but a dead, numbing clarity.

Since I am going to end up dead whether he saves me or not.

Declan, in this life, I'll give you exactly what you want.

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 ten years of marriage, my fated mate, Alpha Harvey, had slept with nearly every female worker in the Silver Claw Packhouse.
When I was seven months pregnant, his newly kept mistress, Yvonne Robson, offended the Alpha of the Eclipse Pack at a celebration banquet. Badly.
"Jasmine, you, kneel and apologize on her behalf."
The entire banquet hall fell silent.
I blinked at him, sure I had misheard. "Excuse me?"
"She's young," he said impatiently, as if this were a minor inconvenience. "She made a mistake. You're the Luna. You need to fix it."
I placed a hand over my swollen belly, my wolf snarling inside me. "I'm pregnant, Harvey. How can I kneel? What if it hurts the pup—"
He cut me off harshly. 'It's just kneeling. You've never acted so delicate before.'
He dragged me forcefully to Alpha Kenneth.
Then, before I could react, Alpha Harvey shoved me down, forcing my head toward the ground.
Pain shot through my knees as they hit the floor.
And then—a sharp, wet sensation beneath me.

Loving him will cost them everything…

Not loving him will cost more.

Derek has one goal: survive high school without drawing too much attention or pissing off his pack’s alpha.

As the youngest son of the alpha, his life is governed by lycan hierarchy, tradition, and politics. With no signs of awakening a lycan spirit, his only value is what he can do for the pack’s image. He knows he’s only ever one misstep away from exile… or worse.

Then, he finds a boy trapped in a locker on orientation day, and everything changes.

Derek shouldn’t want Nikolias. He’s off-limits. A risk Derek can’t afford.

So why does it feel like he’s the only thing worth fighting for?

Nikolias has just lost everything: his parents, his home, and any sense of peace. Sent back to the town his family left years ago to live with his prejudiced and controlling uncle, who wants nothing to do with anything—or anyone—not human, he’s trying to do everything in his power to get out quickly.

But then he meets Derek again, and all of his plans vanish in the soft, yearning flecks of gold in Derek’s green-hazel eyes. He’s drawn to Derek in a way that’s impossible to deny, and he thinks Derek feels the same way, despite the danger their relationship holds for him.

As Moonshadow's politics turn deadly, Derek and Nikolai are caught in the crossfire of a war that had started long before they were born, and their bond becomes a threat and a lifeline that neither can afford to sever.

Because the heart wants what it wants….

And it never asks permission.

TW: Graphic Violence, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Child Abuse, Cult-Like Behavior

My Big Bad Wolf Series: Elysia & Alex-Book 1 (Nocturnal Collections)

She broke into his mansion. Now she’s trapped in his world.

A cunning thief with nothing to lose.
A powerful Alpha with everything to protect.
When Elysia Crinshaw is caught stealing from Alex Landry, she doesn’t go to jail, she’s claimed. Drawn into his world, she learns that freedom can be more dangerous than chains…and love more brutal than any cage.

MURDER IN THE MANOR (A LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 1) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace. Lacey Doyle, 39 years old and freshly divorced, needs a drastic change. She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the fast life. Making good on her childhood promise to herself, she decides to walk away from it all, and to relive a beloved childhood vacation in the quaint English seaside town of Wilfordshire.Wilfordshire is exactly as Lacey remembers it, with its ageless architecture, cobblestone streets, and with nature at its doorstep. Lacey doesn’t want to go back home—and spontaneously, she decides to stay, and to give her childhood dream a try: she will open her own antique shop.Lacey finally feels that her life is taking a step in the right direction—until her new star customer turns up dead.As the newcomer in town, all eyes are on Lacey, and it’s up to her to clear her own name.With a business to run, a next-door neighbor turned nemesis, a flirty baker across the street, and a crime to solve – is this new life all that Lacey thought it would be?Book #2 in the series—DEATH AND A DOG—is also available for preorder!

Criminal profiler in training (and newlywed) Jessie Hunt, 29, discovers that dark secrets lurk in her new suburban town; when a body turns up dead, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of her newfound friends, her husband’s secrets, her serial killer caseload—and the secrets of her own dark past.In THE PERFECT WIFE (A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book One), Criminal profiler-in-training Jessie Hunt is sure she's finally put the darkness of her childhood behind her. She and her husband, Kyle, just moved from a cramped downtown Los Angeles apartment into a Westport Beach mansion. Kyle's promotion has them swimming in money. And Jessie is on the verge of getting her Master's degree in forensic psychology, the last step in her dream of becoming a criminal profiler. But soon after their arrival, Jessie begins to notice a series of strange developments. The neighbors—and their au pairs—all seem to be hiding secrets. The mysterious yacht club Kyle is desperate to join is rife with cheating spouses, and with troubling rules of its own. And the notorious serial killer being held at the psychiatric hospital where Jessie is completing her degree seems to know more about her life than is normal—or safe. As her world starts to unravel, Jessie begins to question everything around her—including her own sanity. Has she truly uncovered a disturbing conspiracy buried within a sunny, wealthy Southern California beach town? Does the mass murderer she's studying really somehow know the origin of her private nightmares? Or has her tortured past finally come back to claim her?A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, THE PERFECT WIFE is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.