Can I Read Port Town: How The People Of Long Beach Built, Defended, And Profited From Their Harbor Online For Free?

Callahan Hastings is relentless when it comes to getting what he wants, and what he wants is me–to be his private chef in the Hamptons for the summer. My dream job served to me on a silver platter by one of the wealthiest members of Pembroke Hills Country Club. The only catch? He’s my ex-boyfriend’s older brother with a reputation for being as charming as he is cunning. But Cal doesn’t take no for an answer. He draws you in with flirty smiles and extravagant promises. I should have seen him coming, but I didn’t. I should have stayed away, but I couldn’t. His playful touches and burning gaze have ignited a fire in me. The more I resist him, the more irresistible he becomes. I've always known there's an expiration date on the job–an expiration date on us. But leaving isn't going to be easy with Cal on his knees, begging me to stay...

I move into Emerald Bay to restore the plant specimens my mother leaves behind. No one knows that the most exclusive lakefront community in the city is actually mine. That changes when Monica Sullivan, the wife of the property management company's CEO, sets her sights on Lakeview Isle, the private island I built. She wants to host her daughter's influencer-style wedding there, insisting that the island's glass greenhouse makes the perfect backdrop for their photos. Desperate to curry favor with Edward Prescott, the CEO of the property management company, Victor Hayes, the property manager, shows up at my door with a forged resolution and demands that I hand over the keys. Soon, the neighbors are calling me a kept woman in the group chat, claiming someone as young as me has no business owning a property that valuable. I ignore them until they break into my house. They destroy the plant specimens my mother leaves behind and pour red wine over her portrait. Monica grabs my chin and sneers, "Here at the Emerald Bay, I decide who gets to live here." I wipe the blood from my face and dial the number I haven't called in three years. "Get the board online. You have ten minutes." Then I look at Monice and smile. "I'd like to know exactly when this property management company became the Prescott family's personal business."

Ishida, a young man, unexpectedly meets a girl named Rhina by sheer fate. But before long, a war erupts and they are captured by soldiers led by the malicious Lieutenant Monte. The lieutenant gives them a dreadfully simple choice: leave their homes in search of a legendary "lost city at sea," its immortal king, and bring back a mind-boggling amount of gold, or have their mountain reduced to ashes. Ishida’s father had set out in search of the place, too, but never returned. The journey will take them across oceans, sun-scorched deserts, and over perilous mountains; but most importantly of all: the two will discover their true selves will discover their true selves when they confront what will determine their fate. The questions remain: will they be able to find the lost city at sea and bring its treasures back to the avaricious lieutenant before time runs out? Or, perhaps the place they are searching for is simply non-existent?

My seventh year with Luca Bellini coincided with the launch of the Santa Lucia. The South Docks were packed with Bellini relatives, district bosses, and merchants who did business with the Family. Everyone knew I had been by Luca's side from the days when he was just a small-time enforcer collecting protection money at the fish market, all the way to his rise as head of the South Docks. Everyone assumed the launch of this new ship would finally make my place at his side official. Luca stood before the gleaming black hull and raised his glass with a smile. "I've had my eye on this ship for three months. Years ago, I made a girl a promise. Today, I'm giving her the ship and keeping that promise." I clutched the Family silver ring I had just taken from the safe, my heart pounding so hard I could barely hear the ceremonial cannon fire. He had never told me he was going to announce our engagement today, but I had been by his side since I was eighteen. I'd helped him check his first set of off-the-books ledgers, negotiate the deal for his first beachfront hotel, and survive more close calls than I could count over those seven years. Wasn't this the moment I'd been waiting for? Luca took the silver key from the host and looked at the crowd. I had barely stepped forward when Sophia Costa, dressed in white, rushed into his arms and took the key from him. She was the girl Luca had loved when he was young but could never have. She was the only daughter of one of the Family's longtime advisers. Two weeks ago, the heir of a wealthy East Coast businessman had dumped her, and she'd returned to Gray Harbor. Luca put an arm around her as the crowd toasted them. He glanced at me for a moment, then looked away as if I were just another bookkeeper. I stared at the ship's reflection on the water and laughed. Then I texted my mother, "You said Matteo from the Ricci shipyard wanted to meet me. Tell him I said yes."

When the tsunami came, ninety-five percent of the world's land disappeared beneath the ocean. I was just an ordinary graduate student in aquaculture when I was swept into the deep sea and unexpectedly awakened a god-tier talent: Dragon Lord. From then on, I could sense the emotions of marine life, issue simple commands, and even make elite sea beasts bow their heads and obey. While everyone else fought for a single mouthful of fresh water, I opened a ranch in the deep sea. With an army of sea beasts, I built a city of trade upon the sea!

Jack Saunders wanted one last hurrah before taking the mantle of DS Oil & Gas, the billion-dollar company that his father founded. His friend, Owen, let him borrow his mansion on a tropical island so that he could throw a final party before “marrying” the business that would dominate the rest of his life. He brought his secretary, Brandy, hoping that he could kindle a relationship that would last through the long days and nights of running a company. However, while the party was great, the gold digging woman he brought was not, and Jack resigned himself to a lifetime of loneliness. That was until he took a walk down the beach and met her. A woman who didn’t recognize him from the tabloids and only saw him, the man behind the money. Of all the women Jack had ever met, there was nobody like Emma LaRue. With one pretend marriage ceremony, she would change his life forever, and become the only one he ever wanted to give his saltwater kisses to. This novella is the first half of Saltwater Kisses written from Jack’s point-of-view, with a few bonus scenes thrown in as well.