52 Book Club 2023: #1 A Book With A Subtitle

"Fake dating a hot baseball player—what could go wrong? When aspiring actress Lucy Younger arrives on Hazel Island to film her first movie, she thinks she’s finally caught her big break. What could be better than spending her summer on a beautiful island while catching the attention of her mega-famous costar? Enter Carter Roberts: baseball player, playboy, and the most obnoxious, arrogant, and sexy man Lucy has ever had the misfortune to meet. Soon Carter offers her a role she can’t turn down: play his fake girlfriend and make her costar wild with jealousy. Never one to turn down a dare, Lucy agrees. But when she starts to fall for Carter, suddenly what was just a game becomes all too real. After a shoulder injury benches him for the season, star pitcher Carter Roberts is set adrift. When he travels to Hazel Island for work, he doesn’t expect to get anything out of it except an extended vacation. Until he meets a pretty little spitfire who sets his blood aflame with every barb she throws at him. Lucy thinks she’ll be able to resist him after she agrees to their bargain, but Carter knows that when he kisses her, she’ll forget all about her costar. Carter soon realizes he wants more than this made-up relationship. But unless he tears down the walls surrounding his heart, he’ll lose the only woman who’s ever mattered."

I am Wyatt Hayes, New York's most eligible bachelor, CEO of Hayes Enterprises. I’m also known as The Reaper, New York’s most feared Mafia Lord. The Reaper is my secret identity, and no one knows I am the man everyone wants to do business with, but will have nightmares about. I am getting engaged with the woman every man has dreams about, except me. She is a business deal. A business deal I will have to break because when I see HER, everything I know about Love seems wrong. She is someone from my past I didn’t see coming. She is a loose end that I have to end or bring into the darkness that is my life. My name is Blake Pierce. I am a promising freelancer journalist who specializes in crime. My friends call me the next Avenger. Bringing criminals to their knees is my passion. I do a better than the police. I am not afraid to bend the law to get the scoop I need. But when I see HIM, I realize that Love and hate walk hand in hand. He is my worst nightmare and the man I have always dreamed of having by my side. Between Love and Hate, there’s only a thin line. Will Wyatt and Blake hate loving each other or love hating one another?

Elliot O’More is Killian’s (Betrayed the Mafia) left hand in the New York Irish Mob. He is known for his ruthless killings and way around the dark web. Elliot might look like the guy next door, but he is not as lovely as it seems. He is a player that has given up on love. And we all know how dangerous that can be. Hazel walks into Elliot’s life, turning his head upside down, and the only way he can get her out of his system is by forging a contract marriage. He will protect her, and she will be his. His obsession with her soon becomes love, and Elliot struggles to stay sane and protect her when everyone around them wants them apart. Hazel is a pawn in the hands of the Russian Mafia. They use her to their benefit, and what happens when they decide to use her against the Irish, to use her against her husband?

Amberleigh Dubois never expected to find herself in this position twice, pregnant and alone. But she should've known the billionaire's offer was too good to be true, two million dollars to have his child. Following Grayson Godwin's shocking shotgun engagement, she returned back to the Cobra Club to try and pick up the pieces of her life. At least until a familiar face shows up. Leo Clemonte just may prove to be her happy ending to this dark fairytale after all. But then comes the call that changes everything, Grayson abducted, held for a hefty ransom. And just like that Amberleigh finds herself entangled with the billionaire once more. To find him before it's too late will take no princess. But a girl born and raised in The Fringe. But does a girl like her ever really get a happy ending?

Twilight is a strong-willed she-wolf who is content with her life as an Alpha and raising her ex-mate's pup without him. Her world is turned upside down when he finds out, and even more so when she discovers they still have a bond. While trying to fight the pull of the bond, she crosses paths with an unmated alpha and persuades him to agree to a secret contract marriage. But Twilight has another secret: she didn't marry him for the benefit of both packs. She married him with plans to take his pack for herself and would go to any lengths to get what she wants. As she spends more time with him, she begins to see him in a new light. He is kind, gentle, and everything she had hoped for in a mate. She begins to question her motives for marrying him but is hesitant to get involved with him out of fear of getting hurt again. Unfortunately for her, her husband begins losing interest in the benefits of their marriage and yearns for her affection. Twilight's choices are complicated by the fact that she is a werewolf. In her world, mates are chosen by the Moon Goddess, and they are meant to be together forever. But what if the Moon Goddess has made a mistake? Will she take a chance on her old life with Takumi or choose the excitement of a new beginning with her mystery husband? Or neither? Find out in this story full of love, loss, and redemption that will keep you guessing until the very end. TRIGGER WARNING: There might be a sensitive topic or two.

Dash is no stranger to pain, but he learned from a young age to conceal it from the world. He grew up watching his parents fight, his mother crying herself to sleep while his father drowned himself in booze. That’s not the life he wants for himself. Dash swore off women right there and then, but growing up, his hormones played a significant part in turning him into a man-.  Dash is a single billionaire with a gigantic dark secret. He is the Underboss of the biggest Mafia in New York City. Dash likes to sleep around, and rarely sleeps with the same girl twice, but his sense of humor and his charismatic smile make every girl bow at his will until he meets the only girl who won’t look twice at him.  Grace is Dash’s polar opposite, but opposites attract and Dash can’t stop thinking about the girl he saved the night he covered his twin brother’s . The girl who was dancing on the table trying to strip her clothes, and ended up in his arms. The same girl that emptied her stomach all down his new leather jacket.  Getting to know Grace and trying to seduce her will be Dash’s biggest challenge, bigger than taking down the Italian Mob that is threatening their power in New York. How serious will Dash be about Grace when he sees a target on her back? Will he be able to put her above everything and everyone, or will go back to his old self not caring about anyone else? This is the second book of The Legacies Series. You can read this book as a stand-alone, but for better comprehension, it is advisable to read the first book of the series. “The Reaper CEO” 

Book Two of Cruel Intentions Series. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but for better comprehension of the characters, it is recommended to be read after Betrayed the Mafia. Theodore is the second in command of the Irish mob in New York. He is known as a player, use and toss. Theo hates relationships seeing them as useless. Theodore is funny and lighthearted around his friends, but when dealing with business, he is ruthless and heartless. His cold heart always prevails. Theodore is manipulative and a great liar. Theodore is chosen to help forge an alliance between the Irish and the Americans. He needs to marry the daughter of the boss. He takes his job and position seriously and accepts his fate. He doesn’t believe in love anyway, so that nothing will change for him. He will just have to wear a ring and play house. What happens when she is the girl he has avoided for years, the girl he feels the need to protect? He sees her as a weakness. He condones how she lives her life, but the day he allows himself to get close to her, everything changes, and his addiction to her becomes impossible to resist. Theodore is everything Everly has always dreamed of as an online romance novel writer, and she is inexperienced and sassy. The only way she has experienced love is through her books. She lives almost in captivity because of who she is, and Her purity will be negotiable. But once Theodore pops her cherry, he can’t stay away, involving her in a thread of lies and manipulations that she could only imagine as a plot of one of her books.

Apat na taon na ang nakalipas mula nang tumakas si Samsara papuntang Italya para magpakasal sa kanyang ex-boss na si Maxwell, dala ang kambal na anak niya sa kanyang ex na milyonaryo na si Landon. Ngunit sa kanilang muling pagkikita, gagawin ni Landon ang lahat para mabawi ang kanyang mga anak at ang kanyang tunay na pag-ibig na si Samsara.

Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy. She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath. The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years? What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to the sinful temptations? Read this third book of the Temptation Series to find out!

Note: This is Book 2. Do not flip the pages of this book if you haven’t read Book 1, which is My Dark Past. “Can true love mend all the heartaches brought by the painful past?” The story follows the life of Diane after knowing the truth behind her forgotten past. How will she opt to continue living her life if the man whom she has gotten rid of—chooses to stay beside her?