52 Book Club 2025: #17 - Told In Verse

In the dark circles of the elite world, he is one of the Saints—most gorgeous, wealthiest, sexiest legacies of old money familias. Objectified and revered, they can do nothing wrong. In truth, Giancarlo Verrazzano came dangerously close to perdition before earning his title. He now lives a life forged out of this past, whilst staying away from its clutches. Then a young daughter of a family friend is sent to him to mentor before their families present her to society as the Von Schiller heiress. Elise is grown up, desirable and exquisite—it’s torment not to touch her. Everyday, he tries to protect her from himself. But when danger stalks her steps, sexual crimes of a serial killer persist and another Saint fixates on her, he gives in to his desires so he can publicly own her. He will do anything to shield her from the shadows that targets her as a result of his teenage obsession with her beautiful mother. Elise dreads the day she must face the world as a Von Schiller and she clings to the man whose blanket of protection has always kept her safe. If only she doesn’t want him, he wouldn’t drive her nuts! The nasty rumors about a dead ex should have repelled her, but Gian can never scare her. So when she finds out she resembles this ex and a sex club exist in her memory, she has to step back and see with unbiased eyes what kind of man truly lurks behind his beautiful mask.

Celine Beaumont grew up in the Hamptons at her parent's equestrian center. Ten months out of the year she had a happy life, but every summer wealthy families invaded the Hamptons and her stables. Celine was forced to take lessons with their children, and they were monsters. Especially anyone who was born into the Billionaires Club. Especially anyone named Phillip Bloombard. Then one summer Sebastian Gale, a new B-Club heir joined the stables. His family was newly rich and unlike the other B-Club bullies, he was nice and normal and he befriended Celine. This drove Phillip crazy. Years passed and Celine was 16. She was gorgeous, and an accomplished rider, and was still friends with Sebastian. But that year, their friendship started to become something more, until Sebastian disappeared without a word. Two years later Celine was married to Phillip who was more sophisticated in his methods of torture. But she loved him and he used that to turn her into the perfect billionaires’ wife. Six years passed and the night her mother died she couldn’t find Phillip and when she did, it led to a divorce. Celine was 24 divorced and getting her life back together. She made one rule she must never break. Never under any circumstance could she fall in love with a billionaire. But, Sebastian reappeared and Phillip wanted her back. No matter how hard she tried she could not get rid of those billionaires. Then one catastrophe after another strikes and it’s life and death. What will she do? What will she have to sacrifice? The Billionaires Club had a billion ways to get what they wanted and she might be back in their clutches again.

After the plane crash, my body was never recovered. My soul drifted back to the home I hadn't stepped foot in for five years. They didn't know I was dead. They were still waiting for me to come home for Christmas. When my mom got the call from the airline, she froze for a long time, completely at a loss, before breaking down in tears. I followed them as they went to the memorial crash site. That was when I noticed something strange—I could see their levels of regret hovering above their heads. My brother's regret level read: 40%. My father's showed: 60%. Even my sister-in-law had 30% over her head. But my mother's regret level? It flashed a cold, unchanging 0%.

[Menantumu sakit, Bu Nur? Sayang sekali. Padahal aku suka cara dia bekerja. Terpaksa aku harus cari karyawan lain,] Suara wanita di rekaman itu terdengar jelas. [Iya, Amira sudah sebulan hanya bisa berbaring saja. Kedua kakinya lumpuh. Kata dokter gejala stroke ringan. Oleh karena ini aku sangat terpukul. Sedih sekali rasanya, sebab kasihan sekali melihat Habib, karena istrinya sakit begini, Habib harus mengurus dirinya sendiri.] [Semoga Amira lekas sembuh, ya. Amiin.] [Amira tidak akan sembuh, Bu Sarah. Dia terserang stroke. Tidak mungkin sembuh lagi. Oleh karena ini aku memilih untuk menyuruh Habib menghalalkan Laila. Aku dan Habib sudah bicara soal ini dan dia setuju. Selanjutnya aku akan membicarakan hal ini pada Amira] "Ya Allah," Amira mengelus dada, lebih tepatnya ia terkesiap. [Apa? Menikahi Laila maksudnya?] [Apalagi kalau bukan? Itu bukan dosa, kenapa kau harus terkejut?]

Emmilia Marino is the daughter of a dangerous fixer who was killed by the head of the Luna crime family. When his son, Cesare Luna, finds out the two plan a fake wedding ceremony to lure his father to his death so Cesare can take over his family.

I dated my lawyer boyfriend for five years. He canceled our wedding. Fifty-two times. First time? His intern messed up some paperwork. He ditched me at the beach to fix it. I waited all day. Alone. Second time, we were mid-ceremony when he bolted. Heard that intern was getting heat from another lawyer and left me to face the guests and their stares. After that, every time we tried again, there was always some "emergency" with her. Always. I finally hit my limit. I was done. Packed up and broke it off. But the day I left Ainsley? He totally lost it trying to find me.

"Why are you here, Aaron?" The question was charged with the need to really uncover the truth. "Because," he said, his breath hot against my skin, "there's justice in redemption, and you, Roanne, seek for justice in the wrong place." Before I could process the weight of his words, his mouth was on mine, a kiss that stole the air from my lungs and branded me with a hunger I'd fought to forget. It was possession, it was power—it was a battle I wasn't sure I wanted to win. - Roanne is a sophomore who is seduced into a secret campus revenge society by new "friends" promising justice against elite misdeeds, but becomes entangled in an intricate web of romantic obsession, family empires, high society deceit and dangerous underground power plays. The most dangerous game she plays is to seduce her ex’s best friend, but what happens when he becomes the hunter and not the prey? The Revenge Club is created by Amelie Bergen, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

On August 23, the Metropolitan Police entered a well-appointed flat at 36 Suffolk Street, in the heart of London. In the flat, they found an ensuite bathroom; in the bathtub, they found a padlocked bag, and in the bag, they found the body of Tina Davis Tina, a brilliant mathematician, worked in Cheltenham for GQHC, Britain's domestic eavesdropping agency. She lived in London on secondment to MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, and the block of flats where they found her body is an MI6 "safe house reportedly". Uninterested in potential national-security angles, the police immediately announced they were looking for clues to Tina's mysterious death in the details of her private life. But they didn't make much headway. A month after discovering her body, they still hadn't determined the cause of death, although they had admitted the case was "complex" and "unexplained." It seemed like a job for Quintus Noone Fortunately, he happened to be available.

Ava Gray is at a crossroads, giving up being "The Call Center Girl" for a job as an assistant in a very important hotel outside of New York City, she knows that she could improve her limited economy, even fill her refrigerator and pay bills at the end of the month, but when he goes to the interview, the warning bells ring inside his head, he feels the need to flee, but is prevented by that man, the billionaire of the club. Bilogy #ElBillonario

Lumi-as someone who's being told what to believe and hope in everything as she grows up-reckons that living is a way to comply with and entrust one's entire life to serving superiors on top of the hierarchy. Who will not think of that way anyway? Being harbored in the lands of Castellanos, it is engraved in her mind that she lives to pay her debt of gratitude to the family who sheltered her, who protected her from all the cruelties the outside world has to offer behind those fences. What they're doing is to protect her life and welfare-that's what they told her. So there's no other way to live but be the gullible and obedient yokel of the Castellano clan, because they're doing everything just for her safety. But that's before her life turns upside-down as she discovers a strange note from the attic. "To whoever finds this message, they erased us. This is all that remains. Remember us, please." What does the note want to convey? Is it just one of those mundane trivial stuff found in an attic like the usual when someone decides to clean it? Or is it something connected to her... "safety?" For sure it is for her safety. That's what they always tell her. But what one hears is not always the version of reality. Most of the time, it is the most convenient scheme to twist and bend the truth. That... That's what they will never tell her.