4809 Book(s) Related to ruby bridges goes to school: my true story

"Mr. Geal, we can't… please." Her voice trembled as his fingers traced her jaw and brushed against her lips.
Her breath came in short gasps as she whispered, "Please, you're betrothed."
His hands slid to her neck, his voice a dark growl. "It doesn't matter. You're mine anyway."
Before she could speak, his mouth claimed hers, sealing a truth neither of them could escape.
Olivia Macurry's only dream was to escape the stage lights and start over.
No more stripping. No more selling herself to survive. Just a normal job, a normal life.
But fate had other plans.
One night, a stranger offered fifteen thousand dollars for her time. She agreed—then ran before the night was over.
Now, that same man is her new boss.
Leonardo Geal. Cold. Powerful. Addictive. The man she tried to forget, but who never stopped thinking about her.
What began as obsession soon twisted into something darker.
Attraction became possession.
Possession became madness.
He's engaged to another, yet he can't stay away.
Lies, secrets, and betrayal push them to the edge, until desire becomes their most dangerous weapon.
Leonardo thrives in chaos. And even though he's betrothed, he belongs to her— Body, mind, and soul.

Surprisingly, he moved closer to me, and gently placed his hands on my chest. "See, I can feel your breathing! You are indeed scared!"
Sadly, my body was betraying me! I was angry that his touches made me shiver. "Alexander Gray is my enemy, and I must hate him! I need to detest him!" I kept telling myself.


Aria's life takes a dark turn when she's betrayed and murdered by her boyfriend, Adrian, a powerful werewolf. But death is not the end. Resurrected by a malevolent demon lord, Aria returns to the living world with a mission: seek vengeance on the one who wronged her.
But Aria's vengeance takes an unexpected twist when she encounters Alex, Adrian's twin brother. Mistaken identity leads her to plan his demise, but as secrets unravel, Aria finds herself falling for the very person she sought to destroy.

Five years after the Cataclysm, wasteland survivor Emily Valen forged an identity as a Data Verifier to infiltrate Genesis Corp’s underground lab. The role was a cover for a breeding program using Zero, a captive prime Resonant, as a donor — and Emily had been chosen.Before anaesthesia kicked in, she stole a vial of mandatory symbiosis serum and escaped into the wasteland as the facility crumbled. Against one-in-four odds, she survived, carrying a child that should never have existed.By four, Adam sensed electromagnetic signals for kilometres. He could kill Resonants and steal their powers. Emily trained him to hide his spinal port and pretend to be normal. When their supplies ran out, she brought him out of hiding. She joined Victor’s disciplined squad, acting as a helpless widow to learn the wasteland’s rules and plan their escape. Yet quarantine genetic scans, high-priority bounty targets, and Adam’s secret are closing fast.

When hot-headed rogue Alpha: Reid Hades gets accepted into Northlands Crest University, Lyra Durin, the Vice Chancellor’s daughter, is far from thrilled.

Not just because he once coldly rejected her on the same night she failed to shift, but because he’s now living under her family’s roof.

When Lyra’s world shatters after catching her chosen mate in bed with her foster sister, she tries to punish the two betrayers using a revenge spell. But that spell backfires, restoring her mate bond with Reid instead. The only way out? Their hatred for each other has to overpower the strength of the bond.

The only question is… do they truly hate each other like they claim to do? Or is it all a facade?

A good girl like Lyra has no business getting involved with a bad boy like Reid, especially one with a past as dark as his. Reid is cursed and banished from his pack by his father, after murdering his own mother and attempting to kill his father’s second Luna again.

But secrets don’t stay buried for long, and the harder Lyra tries to hate him, the closer fate pulls them together.

He’s the last guy she should ever fall for.

She’s the only girl he can’t stay away from.

And in a house full of lies, rules, and deceit, love becomes the most dangerous rebellion of all.

How much of Reid’s darkness can Lyra handle before it finally consumes her? Can they really spare themselves from each other before the bond turns permanent?

My name is Emma. I used to be an interior designer with my own studio. To support my husband’s startup, I shut it all down, stepping into the shadows to become a full-time housewife.

On my birthday—our third wedding anniversary—he slammed divorce papers on the table.

He told me he had fallen in love with someone else: his subordinate, the woman who had been a constant fixture in our home lately.

But there was one crucial detail he missed.

She never joined his company for him.

She was my junior in college, the most fiercely loyal admirer of my design work. She didn't take that job or frequent our house because she was enamored with him. She did it to track me down, desperate to ask if I would ever design again.

And that man? Right up until the ink dried on those divorce papers, he smugly believed he was just dumping a mediocre, chore-bound wife.

He had no idea that the moment I picked up my drawing pen again, the housewife he looked down on would become a business rival entirely out of his league.

At the Falcone estate's riding ring, I watched my eight-year-old son Leo mount Starlight, preparing for the most important performance of his young life.
Before the third obstacle, the horse spooked. The instant Leo was thrown, I rushed forward to shield him—the cost was three shattered ribs and a kicked left lung.
When I woke from unconsciousness, I found myself in Dante's private clinic downstairs. From the adjacent room came the doctor's angry voice: "We agreed this was just a marrow extraction. Why did you set up what happened with the horse?"
My husband Dante Falcone's response made my blood run cold: "Leo was Mia's donor. Now that the procedure is complete, there's no point in continuing treatment. Mia is the real heir."
Eight years of marriage. I'd always believed that beneath Dante's cold exterior, Leo was still a son he treasured.
Only now did I understand—from the moment of his birth, Leo had been nothing more than a living donor prepared for his stepsister Mia.
The cruelest irony? Mia, the girl Dante loved so deeply, wasn't even his biological daughter.

Everyone knew my twin sister wouldn't live past eighteen. So they gave her all the love, leaving me to survive in the shadows.
When I suffered a asthma attack on our birthday, my mother locked me in the basement.
"Stop faking it. Don't ruin your sister's last birthday," my mother hissed.
She thought I was throwing a tantrum for attention.
She was wrong.
I died on the cold concrete floor while they sang Happy Birthday upstairs.
Now, I am just a ghost floating in our living room. I watch my parents complain about my selfishness. I watch them make empty promises to treat me better tomorrow.
They don't know there is no tomorrow for me...

My name is Dafu, I am a dog, and I can smell death.

Sweet, cloying spores and a metallic, fishy stench seeped in through the cracks in the door.
The owner's friend was crying and calling for help outside the door , but all I could hear from my nostrils was the gurgling of mucus and the rustling of fungal hyphae climbing—
The person outside had no heartbeat.

The owner ultimately decided to open the door and rescue the person .
no!

I bit his hand tightly , my eyes pleading desperately—
Master, trust me !
That thing outside the door! It's not a person at all!

The first time I met my best friend's older brother, he kissed me in a dark kitchen and scared me half to death.
Mia Cross and I had been inseparable since freshman orientation. I knew her coffee order, her worst ex's middle name, and exactly how long she could study before she started sending me videos of baby goats. I also knew she had an older brother, Adrian, but for almost three years he had existed only as a family legend.
He managed a major division of the Cross family's investment firm, spent most of his time overseas, and was apparently terrifying enough that Mia lowered her voice whenever she complained about him.
"He's coming home for good," she told me one Friday night as we sprawled across her bed. "Mom says he finally moved the last of his projects back."
"The tyrant returns."
"Exactly. Just a heads-up: don't poke the bear."

Six months after our bonding ceremony, I was ambushed by rogue wolves while searching for rare herbs in the Black Forest.
Their poisoned claws shredded my abdomen—and with it, any chance of ever carrying pups.
But my mate held my hand and wept. My mother swore she'd save me. My father said everything would be fine.
How pathetic—
Right before they wheeled me into surgery, I heard them through a cracked door, calmly discussing how to harvest my heart for the adopted sister who'd been waiting six months.
Turns out the "accident" was a gift from my loving family of four.
Turns out the last six months of "coming home" was just them fattening up my heart for harvest.
What they don't know? The voice memo on my phone caught everything.
What they really don't know? Six months from now, I'm coming back—
With a Dark Moon Alliance badge. And a heart much colder than the one they stole.
Shh. Listen.
That stolen heart? It's starting to reject.

In my previous life, I gave the SS-class Furnace Fortress to my sister, and she turned around and stabbed me in the back.
After being reborn, she wanted to take my forest . I smiled and said, "Fine, it's all yours."
This time, I chose the SS-class Forge Fortress.
And I want her to die crying in the yellow sand.

The man who turned me down is now dating my roommate.

I swore I’d never see him again until a hospital emergency forces us into the same room. Every quiet look tells me his rejection wasn‘t the whole story.

He’s supposed to be off-limits. He‘s hers. But the more I try to move on, the more he looks at me like I’m still his.

Can I resist the man who rejected me first or will the truth change everything?

Two years ago, my intended mate walked out of our Moon Rite, the night he was supposed to mark me, with his adopted sister in his arms. He didn't look back once.

That same night, his uncle, the Alpha King, held out his hand and asked if I'd consider a different mate.

I said yes.

Now Marcus is back, sure I've spent two years waiting for him. He laughs at the bite on my neck and calls it a sticker. He blocks my way at my own gates and orders me to apologize to his sister.

He has no idea whose house he's standing outside.

And his fragile little sister has a silver blade tucked up her sleeve.

The first time the system appeared, I thought it was a scam.
One wish per day, it said. Anything I wanted.
So I tested it with a hundred dollars.
That night, my mother handed me one bill. Then she smiled and told me she had bought my stepsister Mia a jacket worth two hundred.
That was when fifteen years of “coincidences” turned into math.
Every wish I had ever made came true.
And every time, Mia got double.
Toys. Shoes. Rooms. Phones. Love.
For years, I thought I was the daughter who was harder to love.
Then I realized the universe had been listening to me all along.
And for the first time, I wondered what would happen if I wished for something cruel.

Labeled a timid failure unfit for the stage, Maya is publicly humiliated and mocked by debate club vice president Blair. To save her, her best friend Chloe lies that ordinary vitamin C is a calming pill. Empowered by false confidence, Maya overcomes her fears and dominates the school debate finals with sharp logic. When the truth comes out, everyone realizes her stunning victory stems not from drugs, but from her own hidden talent and courage.

In order to raise the surgical fees for my "blind" boyfriend, I dedicated three entire years to scrubbing toilets.

I believed I was his eyes, the sole beacon of light in his world of darkness.

Until his birthday arrived, I was confronted with the sight of that "incapable" man—who required my assistance even to drink water—coddling his ex-girlfriend while flirting.

"That fool is still busy cleaning toilets," he chuckled with a patronizing grin, brandishing my late mother's memento to charm that woman. "After all, she outshone you at Parsons. Let her serve me like a dog for three years—that'll be her punishment."

It dawned on me that my sacrifices were but fodder for their idle amusement.

Drying my tears, I turned and dialed the number I had blocked for three years—the one belonging to the fiancé who controlled an entire business empire.

"Sebastian, about that arranged marriage... I accept."

My pack's golden girl—my adopted sister—vanished. On my eighteenth birthday—the day my wolf should have awakened—my parents dragged me to a witch.
"Show us what you did to her."
Fine. Let them look.
Let them see who drugged me the day I came home. Who stole credit while I bled. Who smiled while planning my destruction.
They chose their precious Rosalie over me for three years.
They wanted the truth?
They were about to choke on it.

To buy the sky-high-price cake for my blind piano prodigy girlfriend, I swallowed my pride and scrubbed toilets for three months.
But returning home early with the cake, I found her, who was supposed to be groping in the dark, entangled with her rich ex-boyfriend.
Her eyes were clear, and her face was full of sneering mockery: "Isn't letting this design genius serve me like a dog for three years the perfect punishment for him always outshining you?"
I stood in the chilly wind outside the door. So, the deep affection and despair of these three years were all just an act she put on to please her ex.
Calmly, I threw the cake box into the trash. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to the number I had blocked for three years:
"Cecilia, I accept your marriage proposal."

The boy I grew up with was this town's star quarterback.

Everyone saw him as the golden boy.

Yet, for a delinquent, he willingly threw away his athletic career and plunged headfirst into the local drug ring.

Desperate to pull him back from the edge, I tipped off the police about the drug den, hoping it would be his wake-up call.

Instead, he hated me to the bone for it.

To prove his loyalty to his "true love"—and to punish me—he gave our home security code to a crew of methed-up thugs.

They broke in and put a bullet through my parents' heads, wiping out my entire family.

It wasn't until I took a bullet to the chest and lay choking on my own blood, staring at a mocking text from him, that I finally woke up.

But fate, it turns out, decided to give me a second chance.

I loved Damien for ten years. Ten years, right up until the moment he took the heart that was supposed to save our daughter and gave it to someone else's child.

Lily was only seven. She was terrified of the dark, terrified of pain. She never got that heart. She just faded, right there in that hospital bed.

And Damien was down the hall, celebrating someone else's miracle.

He had no idea what I was holding when he finally came home. He had no idea my stomach cancer had already hit the final stage.

There was nothing left in this world worth staying for.

So this time, I didn't yell. I didn't cry.

I just slid the divorce papers across the table.

He thought I was bluffing.

But this time, I had nothing left to lose.

The fake heiress and I died twice fighting over the same thing—which of us would get adopted by that wealthy couple.

The first time, I got the necklace. I became their daughter. I thought I'd finally have everything I'd ever wanted. Three months later, they drowned me in the bathtub.

William's voice still echoes in my head. "This is your fault! If we'd taken Chloe instead, she'd still be alive!"

The second time, I gave Chloe the necklace. Let her have the good life. I thought that would keep me safe.

Five years later, Chloe turned up dead in their mansion. The Harringtons called the cops on me. They said I broke in and killed her out of jealousy. I died in prison, broken and tortured. The last thing I heard was Catherine's voice through the visiting room glass, cold as ice. "You belong in the gutter."

The third time, I open my eyes again.

I watch the couple smile at us, all warmth and kindness, and one question burns in my mind. Which daughter do they actually want?

The smell of antiseptic, the sharp sting of restraints biting into my flesh, and the pitying look on Silas's face as he stood by my hospital bed.
"Maeve, you're so sick. The baby is just a hallucination."
In my last life, consumed by despair and self-doubt, I threw myself off the roof of the psychiatric hospital.
But now, my eyes snapped open, my hands instinctively flying to protect my stomach.
My baby is still here!
I'm back—exactly one week before my child disappeared.

The winter I was eight, I found my own face in a trash can.
It was on a missing-child flyer. The girl on it had been gone five years. She had a birthmark on the back of her neck.
So did I.
There was a reward. A number with a long row of zeros. I didn't want it.
I was cold. I hadn't eaten since yesterday.
I just wanted a mom.
So that night, with a stranger's coins, I called the number at the bottom.
A woman answered on the first ring and screamed a name at me like it was mine.
She got to say it three times.
Then a hand came out of the dark behind me and hung up the phone for me.

On our wedding night, my husband wanted to play a game.
Trade secrets. The kind that could destroy you if they ever got out.
He went first.
"I hurt a girl once. At a ski lodge. She shouldn't have been in that room. But she was."
He said it like a parking ticket. Then he took a sip of whiskey and moved on.
My turn.
"I killed someone," I said. "Do you believe me?"
He laughed. He thought I was joking.
He really shouldn't have kissed me after that.

SOPHIE HUNTSBERGER found her way to a new life and new family when she ran from the physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. She has blossomed and healed in ways she never imagined she would or could be within the safe arms of her adoptive family.
ARRICK CARRERO has been her rock, her best friend, and her protector for years, but even he cannot get to the root of her growing emptiness.
Sophie is lost.
And she's reaching out for anything to fill the void and cure whatever ails her.
When Sophie realizes the answer has been within arms reach all along, she’s unable to prepare herself for Arrick’s spiraling emotions.
What was once innocent now comes into question - and life does not always let the heart prevail.
Characters that will break your heart, as well as each other.
Contains some mature, adult content and language.

"You will be married to the King of Grok on the fourth night, and that's final!"

I fell to my knees, the cold marble digging into my skin. I had studied for years in the flickering candlelight, memorizing every herb and poison to pass the healer's exam. I wanted freedom. I wanted to save my mother from the servant's quarters. I placed second. I thought I had won my life back.

But the King didn't give me a badge of honor. He gave me a death sentence.

"Raven Thorne shall be wed to the King of Grok," he announced, his voice echoing in the silent hall. Princess Ellie, the woman who had tormented me for years, slapped her hands over her mouth to hide her cruel laughter. She was supposed to marry the Beast. Now, I was the lamb being sent to the slaughter in her place.

They say King Liam drinks the blood of his enemies. They say he is more monster than man. And now, I have to walk into his bedroom, wearing the Princess's silk gown, and pray he doesn't tear me apart.

I looked at the King, tears streaming down my face. "I'll do it," I whispered, my voice trembling. "But my mother must be safe."

I sold my body and soul to a monster to save her. But when the carriage door opened and I finally looked into the Beast's golden eyes, I realized the terrifying truth...

He wasn't a stranger. He was the man I met in the woods.

"Oh, Moon Goddess," I whispered. "Can my day get any worse?"
I had no wolf. No strength. No weapons. This was how I was going to die.
But it never came. Instead, there was a sickening crunch.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice deep and gentle.


Rejected and abandoned from birth, Kira has spent her life in the shadows—mocked, cast aside, and branded as the daughter of a lowly omega. What no one knows is that she harbors a dangerous secret—two wolves reside within her, a power unheard of in all of history. To survive, she's learned to keep her head down and her true nature hidden.
But fate has other plans.
When Kira crosses paths with the ruthless Alpha Asher during mating season, their undeniable bond should seal their destiny. Instead, he rejects her, unwilling to be tied to someone of her bloodline. Shattered and alone, banished from her pack—she falls into the hands of Lycan Prince Dante, a man who claims her as his true mate.
As Kira is thrust into a world of power, ancient prophecy, dark blood-ties and deception, shocking truths unravel. A stolen identity. A lost legacy. And a revelation that ties her fate not only to Alpha Asher and Prince Dante but to the future of every pack.
With two powerful men vying for her heart and an ancient prophecy threatening to consume her, Kira must decide—will she embrace the destiny she never chose, or carve her own path before it's too late?

Nancy could not believe that she fell for his lies. He had said he loved her and wished to spend the rest of his days with her, but at the first sign of trouble, he had rejected her and she could not forget the words he had thrown at her.

"I have a great wife and four wonderful children. If you refuse to abort, then we are through. I love my family so much that I wouldn't want you to ruin it!"

"You're not just any she-wolf, Ava," Lucas's voice softened, though it still held a wicked undertone. "The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes. She gave you to all three of us."
I stared at him, dread and curiosity twisting inside me.
Three mates?
Ava Wynter, the disgraced daughter of an Alpha, has lived as a servant in her own pack—rejected, abused, and branded wolfless after a lie destroyed her life. But on the night of her eighteenth birthday, everything changes. Her wolf awakens. So does a dangerous, undeniable bond—with all three Alpha triplet brothers of the powerful Moonclaw Pack.
Zack rejects her. Kane claims her. Lucas desires her.
But nothing is as simple as a mate bond. Secrets run deep in the blood moon prophecy, and Ava is no ordinary wolf. As her hidden powers emerge and dark forces rise, Ava must decide: will she run from her fate or rise to become the Luna who changes everything?

Adalina lives with her very protective older brother Zarakai and his four best friends, they helped raise her after their parents died. Now she is eighteen and she doesn't know how to turn her feelings off. After being rejected by Austin, she turned to Jace who loves her more than he should considering the age gap. Now Austin is back in town and Jace doesn't like sharing. Adalina wants Jace and Austin. Maybe even Tyler and Spencer too. Will the four men learn to share her, or will she end up heartbroken?

She was never meant to be touched. Until he did.

When Maritza de León—heiress to a billion-dollar empire—catches her fiancé cheating, her life implodes in a single scandalous night. But her revenge kiss with Cole Harrison, the ruthless lawyer her family despises, lights a fire neither of them can put out.

He wants payback. She wants freedom. But the closer they get, the more dangerous their desire becomes—because Cole’s secret could destroy everything she’s fighting to protect.

Power. Betrayal. Obsession.

In the glittering world of the De León dynasty, love is the most forbidden sin of all.

"Marry me," my billionaire CEO demanded, trapping me in his office, completely unaware that my father was the man who murdered his parents.

I stared at John Alexander Blackwood, a man who evaluated people like stock options. He was cold, calculated, and terrifying. "A contract marriage," he said with dead eyes. "Three years. In exchange, your family's financial ruin disappears." I should have screamed no and ran out of that top-floor office. But I signed the papers, binding myself to a man I barely knew.

Moving into his sterile, expensive penthouse felt like walking into a beautiful prison. We lived like ghosts, avoiding each other in the hallways. But the ice between us started to crack. Late-night encounters in the kitchen turned into shared whiskey, and his dark, calculating eyes began tracking my every move with a burning intensity. Behind his cold armor, I found a broken man still grieving the parents he lost in a tragic car crash twenty-six years ago. I was falling for him. Hard.

But then, the anonymous envelope arrived.

My hands shook as I tore open the seal, staring at the faded contract inside. Fifty thousand dollars. That’s what my father was paid to sabotage the brakes on the Blackwood family car. The crash wasn't an accident. It was a cold-blooded assassination ordered by John's own grandfather, and my father pulled the trigger.

I was sleeping under the same roof as the man whose life my family had destroyed. If John found out, he wouldn't just divorce me—he would obliterate me.

Was I my father's daughter enough to pack my bags and run, or was I reckless enough to stay and let the truth burn us both to ashes?

He swore to kill his mate.
She was convinced she’d never have one.
For twenty-one years, Ximena Blackthorn has lived as the disgrace of her pack.
Born to an Alpha and Luna without a wolf, she's treated as lower than a servant—beaten, ignored, and reminded every day that she should never have been born. Without a wolf, she believes she is beyond the reach of the mate bond.
Then the impossible happens. The moment the Supreme Alpha touches her, the mate bond awakens.
There is only one problem.
Damon has spent centuries believing that a mate is nothing more than a weakness. He made a promise long before Ximena was born: if fate ever gave him a mate, he would kill her with his own hands.
So instead of claiming her...
He hunts her.
But the more Damon tries to destroy the bond, the more his own wolf rebels against him. And when ancient powers begin awakening inside Ximena—powers that should have remained buried forever—everyone begins hunting the woman the Supreme Alpha swore to kill.
Because Ximena isn't just the Supreme Alpha's mate.
She is the one person who was never meant to return. And when the power sleeping inside her finally awakens...
Damon may discover that fate has given him something far more dangerous than a mate. It has brought back an ancient curse. And some curses don't end with death…
They begin with it.

They threw me away like I was nothing.

Divorced me for my younger, prettier, fertile sister. I signed divorce papers while I suspected I was finally pregnant. Smiled while they handed me five thousand dollars and told me to disappear.

I disappeared, alright. Off a cliff, Into freezing water. Nearly drowned carrying his twins.

Someone wanted me dead. His family buried the investigation before my body was even cold, except there was no body. Because I survived.

Ten years later, I walk back into their world as Dr. Scarlett Fox. The surgeon they're begging to save his dying mother. He doesn't recognize me until it's too late. Untill he sees my face and his entire world crumbles.

Then he sees my kids, his kids. With his eyes and my fury.

Now Nicholas's on his knees. Saying he spent a decade in hell thinking he killed me. Saying he's changed.

But someone in his family is guilty, and as I dig deeper, people start watching.

The man who saved me, Spencer, wants me to stop. He says it's too dangerous. That I should choose him, let the past stay buried.

But I didn't survive murder just to run back scared.

I'm Dr. Scarlett Fox now. Elite surgeon. Single mother. And I'm about to perform the most important operation of my life.

Cutting out the cancer in the Cruz family.
Even if it kills me this time.

“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 author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense: CAUSE TO FEAR (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 4).When a body turns up floating beneath the frozen Charles River, the Boston Police summons its most brilliant and controversial homicide detective—Avery Black—to close the case. It doesn’t take Avery long, however, to realize that this is no isolated murder: it is the work of a serial killer.Other bodies begin to turn up, all of them sharing one thing in common: all are trapped in ice. Is it all a coincidence—or the signature of a particularly deranged killer?As the media converges and Avery suffers pressure from her bosses, she struggles to crack the inexplicable case, too bizarre even for her brilliant mind. At the same time she tries to keep her own depression at bay, as her personal life spirals to a new low. And she does it all while trying to enter the mind of a psychotic and elusive killer.What she will find will shock even her, and make her realizes that nothing is what it seems—and that the worst darkness may sometimes be closest to us.A psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, CAUSE TO FEAR is book #4 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #5 in the Avery Black series will be available soon. “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. 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. 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)

“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. In CAUSE TO RUN (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 2), a new serial killer is stalking Boston, killing his victims in bizarre ways, taunting the police with mysterious puzzles that reference the stars. As the stakes are upped and the pressure is on, the Boston Police Department is forced to call in its most brilliant—and most controversial—homicide detective: Avery Black.Avery, still reeling from her last case, finds herself up against a rival precinct and a brilliant, cunning killer who is always one step ahead of her. She is forced to enter his dark, twisted mind as he lays clues for his next killing, and forced to look into places in her own mind she would rather not go. She finds herself compelled to seek the counsel of Howard Randall, the twisted serial killer she’d put behind bars years ago, all while her new burgeoning life with Rose and Ramirez is falling apart.And just as things cannot get any worse, she finds out something else: she herself may be the target.In a game of psychological cat and mouse, a frantic race against time leads Avery through a series of shocking and unexpected twists—culminating in climax that even Avery could not imagine. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, CAUSE TO RUN is book #2 of a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #3 in the Avery Black series will be available soon. “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. 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. 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)

“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 author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense: CAUSE TO SAVE (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 5)—the final installment in the Avery Black series.In the epic finale of the Avery Black series, serial killer Howard Randall has escaped, and the entire city of Boston is on edge. Women are turning up gruesomely murdered, and everyone suspects Howard is at it again. When Boston’s most brilliant and controversial homicide detective—Avery Black—is herself stalked—and when people close to her are brutally killed, one by one—it seems the city’s worst fears are confirmed.But Avery is not so sure. The murders remind her of something she once saw in her past. They remind her of something too close to her heart—something that had to do with a secret she thought she had buried long ago….The most riveting and shocking book of the series, a psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, CAUSE TO SAVE is the finale that will leave you turning pages late into the night. “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. 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. 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)

Marriage is meant to be a dream come true, but Isolde Conklin’s marriage is the complete opposite. Sold to a cruel Alpha by her parents, she endures three agonizing years of constant assault.

During one cold night, she’s had enough of the humiliation and constant harassment. So she does something insane—she kills her own husband.

Soaked in his blood, she runs as bullets fly over her head, but she’s eventually saved by Alpha Ryder of the Redblood pack.

But Ryder didn’t save her because he cares. He saved her because he wants to avenge his mother’s death. Now trapped in a pack full of secrets, enemies, and men who would do anything to claim her, Isolde must survive or risk losing everything…..including her life.

When they threw me overboard, they thought a man with a broken leg couldn't possibly come back alive. When the floodwaters engulfed the world, turning land into a graveyard, I found a forgotten submarine in the deep sea. From underwater, I built my empire step by step . Not by pity, not by luck. By the time the survivors of this sea finally realized what lay beneath the surface, I no longer needed to hide. They called me the Deep Sea Ghost. I didn't care what they called me. I knew only one thing—from this day forward, this sea was mine to rule.

Caroline Mercer once believed kindness could be proven by sacrifice. She took in two orphaned children, gave them schools, doctors, tutors, rooms beside her daughter's nursery, and a path into the Mercer name.

Years later, those children returned as witnesses against her. Sloane Vale smiled for the cameras while calling Caroline a monster. Nolan Vale handed federal investigators a beautiful stack of forged evidence. Caroline's husband was broken, her company was seized, and her only daughter, Evelyn, died after being traded into a marriage meant to protect everyone else's reputation.

Then Caroline opened her eyes on the morning the Vale children first arrived at her door.

This time, she would feed them. She would house them. She would educate them. She would keep every receipt, every doctor's report, every legal notice.

But she would never again give strangers the keys to her child's future.

Dante Ashford is my stepbrother, and the one person I should never have fallen in love with.

When I was ten, my parents died saving his family. The Ashfords took me in. He was good to me back then. Somewhere along the way, I fell for him.

When I was eighteen, he nearly died in an ambush. I donated blood, then a kidney to save him. I was unconscious for three days. When I woke up, Vivian Ross sat by his bed—and he believed she was his savior.

After that, he pushed me away. Vivian became his fiancée.

In my past life, Vivian's crimes brought disaster to our family. Dante got on his knees and begged me to take her punishment. I refused. She died anyway. Then he pretended to love me, planned our wedding—and on that day, his assistant announced to everyone: "This wedding was a lesson to show Miss Elena Hayes what it feels like to be abandoned by the whole world."

I jumped from the church balcony.

When I opened my eyes, I was back at that moment—him on his knees, begging.

This time, I said yes.

Dante, from now on, we're done.

It was the kind of cold that seeped into your bones.
In my past life, I was locked in the abandoned freezer beneath St. Jude Preparatory Academy.
Outside the door stood my biological brother Spencer, along with Landon—my boyfriend of three years. And between them, wearing Landon's oversized football jacket, was my stepsister Lacey.
"Blythe, just admit you bullied me. Post an apology video to the whole school, and Spencer will let you out." Lacey's voice trembled, fake tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
Spencer's voice cut through the metal door like ice:
"Blythe, you brought this on yourself. You've been terrorizing Lacey at school, pushed her to the edge. Maybe some time in there will teach you what decency looks like."
Landon's voice dripped with disappointment: "Jesus, Blythe. I thought I knew you. This isn't who you are."
I pounded on the iron door until my fists were raw, screaming until my voice gave out.
I told them the truth—that I never touched Lacey. That she was the one forcing girls to their knees in the bathroom. That she stole my exam. That every shred of "evidence" was manufactured.
No one believed me.
I froze to death in that sub-zero hellhole.
As the cold claimed me, staring at my blue-purple fingers, all I felt was pure, burning hate.
Then I opened my eyes again—back to the day it all began.

My boyfriend came from a family with more money than they could ever spend. In seven years together, he'd never given me a gift. After proposing, he'd asked for the diamond ring back so he could return it. When we were supposed to get married at the courthouse, he decided even the license fee was a waste of money.

Then he married the girl he'd grown up with and booked the city's most expensive hotel for the engagement party he'd promised her.

The shock brought on my grandmother's heart attack. While the hospital tried to save her, I went down on my knees and begged him to return the wages he'd been keeping for me. I needed that money for her medical bills and the care I hoped she'd live to need.

He put an arm around his new wife and pretended he didn't know me. He said he didn't support beggars too lazy to work, then had security throw me out.

Grandma died on New Year's Eve, with fireworks going off outside.

While everyone else celebrated, I handled her funeral alone. I also accepted a job overseas.

When I went home for my passport, he was in a good mood after visiting his family with his childhood sweetheart. He thought I was sulking. For the first time, he made me a generous offer.

“Oh, come on. How bad can things be with your grandmother? I'll give you a big wedding. Let her show off a little.”

He didn't know that the moment Grandma stopped breathing, I stopped wanting to marry him.

At Holy Oak High, being the Top Flyer isn't just a crown.
It’s a ticket to the upper class.
Girls would pay any price to stand at the top of that pyramid.
But I didn't understand that the spotlight hid a man-eating abyss until I had to put on that blood-stained uniform.
Listen. Do you hear that scratching sound coming from inside the locker?

I shattered my knee in a blizzard getting our hockey captain Carter the wristguard he demanded.
Everyone on campus knew I was his desperate little errand girl. I told myself he was just testing my loyalty because the injury left him scared to let people in—until I stood outside the locker room and heard him say while the guys were losing their shit laughing:
"Luke's sister? Her brother destroyed my leg. She gets to be my punching bag. Fair trade."
"This weekend at the party, round thirteen—I'm dumping her in front of everyone and kicking her to the curb."
My hand found the paper in my pocket—my diagnosis from three years ago: permanent nerve damage, right hand. The souvenir I got from saving his life.
Suddenly the whole thing felt obscene.
If he wanted to play games so badly, I was more than happy to blow up his final round myself.

"Valerie, you've been working yourself to death. I booked you a flight to Switzerland—take Leo, go relax for a while." My husband Cedric set an Hermès scarf down on the table. "Early gift for our tenth anniversary."
I was thrilled, twirling in front of the mirror with the scarf, admiring how it looked.
That's when my son came around the corner, iPad in hand. "Mommy, a message just popped up. Daddy said he wants to give Seraphina a real family."
My mind just... blanked out.
I opened the message myself, and there it was—a whole year of secrets I never even knew existed.
So he wants to make things right with his old flame? Fine.
Then I get to take back everything I ever gave him.

On the way to the hospital to deliver my baby, rain was coming down in sheets.
Suddenly, my husband slammed on the brakes. He'd spotted his ex-girlfriend standing in the downpour with her child.
"She's struggling as a single mom. I'm just going to help her carry those groceries upstairs. Ten minutes, tops."
Clutching my belly through the contractions, I begged him, "But I'm about to give birth. I'm in so much pain."
He just locked the car doors with a click, his voice sharp with annoyance.
"Sarah, can you try to be a little more empathetic? She's soaking wet."
In those ten minutes, my water broke. Desperate to survive, blood on my hands, I crawled out through the back hatch.
While I was fighting for my life in the ER—
His ex posted a snapshot.
In the video, my husband was gently toweling off her hair. The caption read:
[So glad you're here.]

We had earned countless merits in war.

I could crush refined steel with my bare hands. My comrades could manipulate metal, hack electronic devices, and phase through concrete walls.

But what was the price?

Bone calcification, organ failure, every breath feeling like swallowing razor blades.

Ever since we broke into that laboratory,

For seventy years, we've been hiding in the gutters like rats, barely surviving.

Until my comrade was strapped to an experiment table once again.

I lay alone in a freezing hospital bed, gritting my teeth through the raw, burning pain of another round of skin-graft treatment. Every inch of me burned, as if fire ants were crawling beneath my skin.
And my fiancé, Alpha Mason, was in the room next door.
Serena, his childhood sweetheart, had a mild headache. Just a headache. Yet Mason sat at her bedside, blowing gently on spoonfuls of chicken soup before feeding them to her, as if she were the one who had almost died.
By the time I made it to her room and pushed the door open, I heard his voice before I saw him. Cold. Careless. Amused.
“Cora’s burn scars make me sick to look at,” he said to his Beta and a few high-ranking wolves gathered in Serena’s room. “She chose to run into that fire for me. Why am I supposed to spend the rest of my life paying for it? God, she’s so dramatic.”
I stood there, frozen.

On the seventh wedding anniversary, I woke up in the lounge and found a big word "BITCH" sprayed with red paint on my chest.
The culprit, holding a spray-paint can, had a naive-looking smile on her face and said, "I'm doing you a favor. Your white outfit's way too boring."
I was just about to take action when my husband rushed in to protect her, frowning and scolding me: "She's just a little girl; she doesn't know any better. Do you have to be so petty?"
At this moment, looking at the man in front of me who had risen because of my family's influence, I suddenly laughed.
He probably forgot who had given him this overwhelming wealth.
I unscrewed the red-tipped thick paint pen and walked step by step towards the trembling girl.
"Your face is boring, too. Let me do you a favor."
As for my husband?
I'll make him know that without me, he's worse than a dog.