52 Book Club 2024: #1 Locked-room Mystery

“Aku ingin menjual keperawanan ku” ucap Ashana yang putus asa harus mendapatkan uang dari mana Ibunya harus di operasi sedangkan ia tak memiliki apapun lagi untuk di jual selain dirinya sendiri ** Pria yang duduk di sofa itu menatap lama pada Asha, “Payudaranya gede juga, di tambah masih perawan. Gue rasa gue mau tidur sama temen lo itu. Tapi ada syarat nya..” Seringai pria itu langsung muncul menatap lurus pada Asha, “Suruh temen lo buka bajunya di sini. gue juga harus mastiin barang nya bagus apa engga” ucapnya yang langsung di sambut tawa semua orang di meja itu Dan di detik itu juga Asha langsung berlari dari sana. Ia tak bisa. hingga suara seseorang menghentikannya, “Saya akan beli rahim kamu seharga 1 Miliar”

Elise has never thought she could be someone special until she is warped into the past—to the Land of Magic—in Ancient Egypt. She finds herself including her brother and a couple of friends in the middle of the battle, between the Scorpion King and the Cobra King. She needs to choose to forge an alliance with to be able to survive in this ancient time and place and figure out how they can go back to their present time and be reunited with their parents.

Meskipun sang Terhebat kembali untuk melewati hari-harinya dengan damai, dia masih diremehkan oleh semua orang. Pada hari pernikahannya, hanya dengan lambaian tangannya, dia memanggil Sembilan Dewa Perang Agung, mereka semua memanggilnya sebagai tuan …

I’d just wrapped up a short trip with my daughter, Elara. On the way back, I figured I’d swing by the Hale, our family’s casino, to check in on my son, Cassian. Maybe grab dinner together. I didn’t expect to be mistaken for his latest fling. Correction: not mistaken—accused. Violently. “You think you can just waltz in here like some queen?” she hissed. “I’m the woman Cassian loves! What kind of whore are you? And is this your bastard daughter with him?” She locked us in the basement. No phone. No light. Just concrete walls and the stench of mildew and madness. Then came the fists. She slapped me across the face—again and again—until my skin stung and my ears rang. When that didn’t satisfy her, she pulled a gun and aimed low. The bullet tore through my knee. I bit back a scream, shielding Elara with my body. “You need to die, whore,” she spat. One of her men hesitated, “We should at least tell Mr. Hale first. If we are going to kill these two in his casino.” Lila of course said no. But that man brought Cassian anyway. My son stepped into this dark little room like it was any other Tuesday—until he saw me. His whole body went still. The blood drained from his face. And then, in the smallest, most broken voice I’d ever heard from him, he whispered, “Mom? What are you doing in my basement?”

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.

She was never meant to survive their world. Now she’s the only one who can burn it down. Lyra thought she was just a girl with strange dreams and a birthmark that shimmered beneath moonlight. But when a celestial event rips her from Earth and drops her into the brutal halls of the Academy of the Ascendant, she discovers a deadly truth: she’s the lost heir of a realm that erased her bloodline—and she’s carrying the forbidden magic that could unravel it all. The Academy is ruled by power and hierarchy. The weak are crushed. The strong ascend. And the Triad—three elite heirs born of elemental fire, storm, and air—will do anything to break her. Until they realize she’s more powerful than all of them. Mocked. Hunted. Desired. As Lyra unlocks the four elemental affinities no student should possess, she becomes the center of a prophecy that the Council has killed to keep buried. But it’s the fifth element—the forbidden Void—that marks her for something more. Survival means mastering her magic. Love could cost her everything. And rebellion might just start with a kiss. Perfect for fans of Zodiac Academy, Throne of Glass, and The Cruel Prince, Marked by Starlight is the explosive first book in a dark fantasy romance series filled with elemental magic, enemies-to-lovers heat, and a heroine who refuses to bow.

Book 1: EVAN RAY RICAFORTE Evan Ray Ricaforte—tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome. Wala pa siyang babaeng hindi napapa-ibig. At kapag nakuha na niya ang gusto niya at nagsawa na siya, he would leave that woman with no valid reason at all. Ganyan si Evan! A certified playboy in town! Isa si Carla sa nabiktima nito way back ten years ago. Halos masiraan siya ng bait for experiencing that terrible heartache in her past. Kaya't hindi na siya nagmahal muli. She created walls between her and those guys na umaaligid sa kanya. Ngunit paano kung pagtagpuin muli sila ng tadhana? Paano kung isa ito sa mga lalaking umaali-aligid din sa kanya? Paano kung marinig niya mula rito ang mga katagang, "WILL YOU BE MY FOREVER?" Maniniwala ba siya at tatanggapin ang lalaking magpahanggang ngayon ay mahal pa rin niya? O lalayuan ang lalaki sa pag-aakalang niloloko pa rin siya?

Katanya, langkah awal untuk maju adalah melupakan masa lalu. Tapi apakah bisa melupakan masa lalu? Kenangan manis, atau kesedihan yang pahit di masa lalu, Ilena selalu ingat, terutama pada Naftanya.

Isang doktor na nahulog sa kanyang pasyente. Dinakip at sapilitang inalok ng kasal. Makatatakas pa kaya s’ya? ***** Unang araw ni Claire sa Hope Psychiatric Hospital bilang isang sikayatris nang nakawan s’ya ng halik ng kanyang pasuway na pasyente. Ang buong akala n'ya ay kaya n’yang tulungan ang pasyente sa Room 213. Ngunit nagkakamali pala s’ya dahil ang lalaki ay higit pa pala sa pagiging isang hamak na pasyente lamang. “Si—Sino ka ba talaga..” Isang ngisi ang umusbong sa mapulang labi ng lalaki habang pinagmamasdan ang nakagapos na si Claire. “Me? I’m your patient, remember?” Dahan-dahang lumapit ang lalaki sa kinakabahang doktora. “And I need you as my medicine to cure this crazy obsession of mine.”

Kegelapan malam telah menyisakan sebuah penyesalan untuk memejamkan matanya. Rein, mencoba menyelidiki kasus kematian orang tuanya yang masih penuh misteri, meninggalkan trauma dan ketakutan dalam benaknya. Sebagai pewaris tunggal, ia menggantikan posisi ayahnya sebagai raja. Dengan kemampuan yang diwarisi oleh kedua orang tuanya, membuat sosoknya ditakuti. Perjalanan hidup yang diwarnai konflik dan politik licik serta cinta penuh dendam, membangkitkan sosok dirinya yang kejam. Hingga suatu saat ia mengangkat pedang untuk berperang, lagi dan lagi.