How Did A Bartlett Giamatti Influence Modern Literature?

She was the daughter of a monster. He was the man who put a bullet in her father’s skull. Now, they're both trapped in a game of obsession, betrayal, and blood. When Mirabella Belluci escapes her brutal Mafia past in Chicago, she doesn't expect to be hunted by the man who freed her. Giovanni Moretti. He is cold, calculating, and a sworn enemy of her family and is meant to watch her from the shadows. Instead, he watches too closely... and wants too much. But in a world where love is weakness and loyalty is lethal, desire comes at a cost. And the closer they draw to each other, the deeper they sink into a war that could destroy them both. "Obsession is just another kind of loyalty.”

Every Christmas Eve in Port Saint Giovanni, the Camerlano family hosts the Claiming Rite at Saint Giovanni Manor. Twelve girls stand in a line. Whoever receives the white-gold signet pin becomes the heir’s publicly acknowledged bride candidate. I am Grace Sorrento, the bastard daughter of the Sorrento family. If I do not receive that signet tonight, by sunrise I will be put on a plane to Chicago and married off to a Rizzo, a man rumored to have killed two former fiancées. Adrian Camerlano, the boy I grew up with, swore to me in blood three days ago that the signet would be mine. But when the moment came, his hand turned. With a smile, he pinned it on Lucia, the orphan his family had sponsored. Then he leaned close to my ear. "Let Lucia have her moment. No one has ever really looked at her before. Don’t worry. This is my estate. No one will dare arrange your marriage without my say." I grabbed his sleeve, but he removed my fingers one by one. "Lucia has no roots and no last name. Tonight is all she has. But you are a Sorrento. Even without the signet, no one will touch you." That phrase, no last name, drew every gaze in the ballroom toward me, full of pity and quiet mockery. The next morning, I boarded a flight to Chicago. When Adrian heard, he made one call to Port Saint Giovanni Air Control. "Ground every plane. Nothing leaves today!"

She married him to save her father's life. He married her to settle a debt. Neither of them expected to fall in love. Isabella Romano never wanted this life. She grew up watching her father drown in debts he couldn't repay, surrounded by men who smiled while they threatened. She wanted freedom — a future she chose for herself. Instead, she got a wedding dress, a stranger's ring, and a debt paid in full through her own hand in marriage. Dante Moretti is the coldest don their world has ever feared. He took control of his family's empire at twenty-three and buried his heart alongside the woman he lost. To him, Isabella isn't a wife. She's a payment. A term in a contract he never wanted to sign. But their wedding day doesn't end quietly. A traitor is dragged from the crowd in chains, blood staining the white flowers, and a warning whispers through the garden: someone close to Dante wants him destroyed. As Isabella is pulled deeper into a world of danger and betrayal, she begins to notice the man hiding behind the don — and a cousin whose ambition hides behind a charming smile. Slowly, dangerously, Isabella becomes the one person Dante can't afford to lose — and the one person who might finally teach him how to feel again. Because somewhere between the cold rules of his house and the warmth she refuses to let him extinguish, Dante starts to understand that love isn't the weakness he always believed it to be. But in this family, nothing comes free. Not loyalty. Not power. And certainly not love. When the past finally catches up to them, Dante will have to choose: the empire he built his life around — or the woman who taught him to want something.

"It won’t fit," I whispered, my breath hitching as he leaned closer, his lips grazing my ear. His voice was dark, commanding, and impossibly seductive. "You have no idea what your body is capable of. Relax and let me teach you." Alessia never believed in fairy tales. Life had taught her that happy endings were a cruel illusion. Struggling to care for her sick mother, she’s spent years working dead-end jobs, her sharp tongue and stubborn nature ensuring she never stayed anywhere for long. Now, she’s a bartender in a shady Sicilian bar, juggling rowdy customers and a boss who thinks a raise is only for women willing to strip. Then he walked in. Luca Romano is a man of few words but commands a room with his presence. The whispers about him are conflicting—billionaire, recluse, criminal mastermind. Women throw themselves at his feet, but his cold, detached demeanor makes one thing clear: he doesn’t care about anyone. Yet when Alessia crosses his path, everything changes. What begins as a business arrangement—a desperate woman agreeing to play the role of his date for one night—quickly spirals into something much darker. Luca’s possessiveness knows no bounds, and Alessia finds herself drawn into a world of power, danger, and unrelenting desire. But Luca has secrets as deep as his scars, and his love is anything but gentle. He’s a man consumed by vengeance, his methods ruthless, his emotions raw. Alessia thought she could handle his intensity, but the closer she gets, the more she realizes there’s no escaping him. He doesn’t just want her. He owns her. And as their twisted romance unfolds.

Breaking news across every major media outlet was suddenly dominated by the tragic death of Ayleen Hazel, the rising bestselling novelist, who was declared dead after a devastating accident. Ironically, one of her most popular novels was just about to be adapted into a film. But what if Ayleen suddenly woke up years before she ever became famous? Would she seize this second chance to rewrite her destiny?

Jonathan Shaw is busy taking his mentor's daughter, who's burning up a fever, to the hospital on the day I fall. I'm pregnant. I need to undergo surgery to stabilize the pregnancy, but it's risky. However, Jonathan's tone is icy on the other end of the line. "I know you've always been biased against my mentor, Tessa. Still, do you think you can use something like this as an excuse to get me there?" I lose hope in him as a lone tear rolls down my face. "Don't bother saving the child. Help me abort it." My love for Jonathan leaves with our child.