The Journal Of Esther Edwards Burr, 1754-1757

Meet Esmerelda Sleuth. Sleuth is her name and investigating is her game. (Paranormal Investigating, that is.) Esmerelda makes a good living as an investigator in a rather progressive firm. She lives a stable and sensible life until she meets Lance; an old money "hottie" who works for a real estate firm next to her building. After accepting an invitation for a weekend getaway party, she quickly discovers that Lance has a secret. He is wealthy. That part is true. And, yes, he's procured a job as a realtor in the building next door. His secret is that he belongs to an underground society of humans who didn't abandon their connection to magic centuries ago when religion declared it evil and he has traveled through time specifically to find her and bring her back to his time to marry him. If that isn't enough of a far fetched tale to absorb, he informs her that she was born in his time to a family belonging to that same secret society and was promised in marriage to him as an infant. When enemies who didn't want to see the union of families take place made attempts on her life, her parents sent her into the future and erased her memories of them as a precaution. Possessing virtually no belief in magic, ghosts, psychics, time travel, etc., it takes some doing on Lance's part to convince her to believe his story and go back with him. When she does, the lies, deceit and attempts on her life start all over again. Will she escape emotionally and physically unscathed? "The Other Side Of the Mirror" is a steamy-paranormal-romance- mystery-thriller and book one of the Esmerelda Sleuth series.

The day my elder sister stole my fiancé from me, I did not fight back. Instead, I slipped past the maid guarding me and went straight to find my father. “She can have my fiancé. I’m marrying the Regent!” My father stared at me in shock. Everyone knew the Regent was in charge, but rumors said he could not father a child and had a nasty temper. What they did not know was that I was born under heaven’s favor—blessed with the gift of life itself. In my previous life, that blessing became my curse. My elder sister and stepmother smeared my name, claiming that my curves and easy fortune meant I had been defiled before marriage. My fiancé was disgusted and turned away from me. That was when my sister seized the chance to take my place. Even on her wedding day, my sister was not at ease. She had me dragged away like a lowly servant and sent to a brothel, ordering the madam to torture me. While I lay dying in the dark, she lived in the light, bearing children with my former fiancé and enjoying a lifetime of happiness that should have been mine. Now that I had been given another life, I refused to bow to fate again. She might have stolen my fiancé, but she could never take the blessing I was born with.

"Eve, what exactly are you up to." Ethan held her chin, staring into her eyes. "Have you developed a new way to achieve your divorce goal?" "Who said I wanted a divorce?" Eve flashed him her sweetest smile. "You're my darling husband, and my only goal is to make you happy." Ethan looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. The driver lost control and the car almost slammed into the gates. *** In her past life, Evelyn was doted on and admired by her husband, Ethan Anderson. But her foul temper and her desire to be with another man made her destroy her marriage. After that, she fell into a great misery when she discovered that her closest friends were her biggest enemies. It was too late, and she had to carry the regret to her grave. When she gets a second chance in life, Will she have the opportunity to redeem herself?

On the day I receive my Distinguished Service Medal, I also receive word that my grandma has passed away. My superior grants me special leave to return to my hometown to mourn her death, so I rush to my ancestral home at once. But when I reach the ancestral graveyard behind the hill, I witness something that makes my blood boil. The graves of my deceased family members have been razed to the ground. Even my parents' graves have been brutally dug up. Their urns are now placed under flower pots filled with blooming red roses. Grandma's coffin has been pried open as well.Her body now lies strewn on the ground and has started to rot. I also see Lucy Stewart, my autistic younger sister. Melissa Abbott, my wife's assistant, orders Lucy around like a maid, forcing her to move heavy construction materials around. Enraged, I grab Melissa by the throat and throw her to the ground. "How dare you destroy my family's ancestral cemetery and make my sister do hard labor! Do you want to end up buried here too?" Melissa coughs up blood before crawling back onto her feet, her expression vicious and scornful. "I'm simply carrying out Ms. Fuller's instructions. She says that your ancestral cemetery is located in a good spot. It's also the perfect size to be turned into a private horse ranch and a garden for her future husband. "Ms. Fuller calls the shots here in Joverton City. Who the hell do you think you are, huh?" Resisting the urge to put an end to her life, I call up Eva Fuller, my wife. "I heard you call the shots here in Joverton City. Well, I shall put that to the test today!"

On the one thousand and ninety-fourth day of being Mrs. Harris, I asked James Harris for a divorce. His face showed a hint of confusion, but it quickly shifted to his usual, composed expression. "As you wish," he said, his tone as flat as if we were discussing whether to replace the milk on the breakfast table. He did not even bother to ask why. On the one thousand and ninety-fifth day, I gently saw him and the children off, acting as if nothing had happened, and then completely left the Harris family behind.

For five years, Elara Vance was the invisible force behind her husband Julian’s meteoric rise. She managed his home, built his business plans, and raised the young son he brought into their lives with unconditional love. She thought she was a wife and a mother. She was wrong. The marriage was a calculated lie. The child was not an orphan, but Julian’s biological son with his "real" wife, Sienna, who had been living a luxury life abroad on Elara's hard-earned profits. Elara was never more than a convenient, unpaid caretaker used to build an empire she would never own. But when the truth breaks, so does Elara’s patience. She walks away with the one thing Julian underestimated: her brilliance. Overnight, the world shifts when Elara is revealed as the long-lost heiress to the Thorne family, inheriting a fortune that dwarfs Julian’s small kingdom. Now, she is the most hunted woman in high society, surrounded by enemies who want her new power and a vengeful ex-husband who thinks he can manipulate her back into submission. Desperate for a shield, Elara accepts a cold proposal from Caspian Thorne, the most powerful and feared man on the continent. "Marry me," he commands. "I will protect your name, and in return, you will stabilize mine." It is a contract written in ice, but as Elara begins to dismantle Julian’s life piece by piece, she realizes that Caspian is more than just a protector. In a world of lies and betrayal, Elara must decide if her heart can survive a second marriage, or if the only way to win is to become more ruthless than the men who tried to break her. The vengeance is hers, and the price is absolute.