American Midnight Novels & Stories

In Chicago's underworld, power is currency and loyalty is bought in blood. Jameson Connelly needs a wife to claim his throne. Catarina Vitale needs an escape from her gilded cage. Their arranged marriage should be simple—a business transaction, nothing more. Except nothing about this is simple. To the world, Catarina is the perfect Italian princess: refined, untouchable, ornamental. The truth is far more dangerous. She's been trained since childhood to wield blades with lethal precision, her family's most lethal weapon hidden behind designer dresses and polite smiles. When Jameson discovers her midnight blade work and weapons collection, all bets are off. He's grumpy, commanding, and impossibly sexy—everything she shouldn't want. She's lethal, sarcastic, and hiding secrets that could shatter his world. The attraction between them is instantaneous and absolutely forbidden. But their marriage has painted targets on both families' backs. Rival factions circle like sharks, and assassination attempts multiply as quickly as the stolen glances between newlyweds. When Jameson's uncle emerges as a threat from within, Cat must decide how far she'll go to protect the man she's sworn to resent. And Jameson must choose between the empire he's always wanted and the woman he never expected to need. In a world where trust is weakness and love is a liability, they'll have to forge something stronger than steel to survive. A gritty slow-burn mafia romance featuring grumpy meets curvy, sharp banter, dangerous secrets, and the kind of tension that burns hotter than any fire.

The Devouring Queen is a paranormal revenge fantasy set between a blood drenched Lycan kingdom and a starving vampire empire, where every moon can crown a monarch or claim a corpse. The story follows Elara, once a gentle Luna who was betrayed and murdered on her wedding night. Instead of finding peace, she awakens three years in the past inside the stolen body of a hidden vampire princess. She returns to life in a world already preparing for her death, because in thirty nights the Lycan King must kill his true mate to awaken an ancient god beast. Now two women wear the same face, and only one can survive the prophecy that hungers for blood. Elara, reborn as a ghost wearing royal skin, abandons innocence and embraces the power she never had in her first life. With a quiet voice and a predator’s smile, she steps into a kingdom filled with secrets, manipulations and creatures who underestimate her. Cassius, the beautiful and broken Lycan King, is trapped between the woman he once loved, the version he helped destroy, and a prophecy that demands sacrifice. Their love is poisonous, irresistible and destined to end in ruin. As the nights slip away, Elara weaves a dark game of power and deception. She announces a false pregnancy, visits the chained original bride under midnight moons, and manipulates courts and armies with deadly grace. The mirrors around her begin to bleed, the lies thicken, and the prophecy tightens like a noose. The climax erupts in a courtyard filled with fallen soldiers, where the two identical brides tear the king apart to decide which destiny will rule. The kingdoms that remain have only two choices: kneel or burn.

Esmeralda Cantari has spent her life being told she is a mistake. The unwanted daughter of a powerful angel prince and a disgraced witch, she was cast aside by her father and barely tolerated by her mother’s coven. When her magic fails to appear like every other young mage’s, the coven finally exiles her for good. But the night they drive her out, something awakens. Blood answers her call. Wings of midnight blue and black tear free from her back. And suddenly the powerless girl everyone despised becomes something far more dangerous. Returning to Rosewood Sanctum for her third year, Esmeralda must hide abilities that could make her a target in a school ruled by powerful bloodlines—including the half-siblings who have bullied her for years. Yet strange things are already happening around the academy. Students are disappearing. Bodies are found drained of blood. And rumors of ancient monsters once thought extinct begin to circulate. The only people who seem to notice Esmeralda’s true potential are the most feared group of heirs at Rosewood: a shadow demon with dangerous curiosity, a brooding shifter whose beast reacts to her presence, a brilliant mage who feels he’s seen her before, a relentless fae warrior who sees her strength, and an angel prince who is watching her far too closely. As the mystery deepens, Esmeralda begins to realize her awakening may not be a coincidence. Something ancient is rising in the shadows of the supernatural world. And it has already started hunting for her.

Peter Cooper lives in the town of Capistrano. After being dumped by girlfriend Amelia his friend James arranges a job at Trans-Port, bossed by the famous Professor William Carver. Carver’s assistant is an American woman called Claire. Peter is pressurised into being a guinea pig for the company’s teleportation experiments and gets sent to another reality ‘The Projection’. On returning he's told Trans-Port have mentally imprisoned him in Capistrano slnce ten. The programme is a wormhole to another reality and Peter is forced to go back there and bring home its creator, his brilliant scientist father John, so Trans-Port's teleportation system can work successfully. The Projection is only programmed for John and Peter’s DNA. Peter finds the alternate reality called ‘Guildford’ similar to Capistrano but landscape and identities have changed. He meets another ‘Claire’, now English. She helps him find his ‘parents’ who informed his doppelganger (Other Peter) is a successful scientist, married to Amelia and working for Kilgore Industries in ‘Cambridge’. They are also building a teleportation device. Realising 'his' John might have gone there, Peter follows. At Kilgore he finds another ‘James’, now ‘Other Peter’s’ Project Manager. He pretends to be his doppleganger's non-existent brother to find out about an 'accident' on the site. That night a dream shows ‘Other Peter’ involved in a metaphysical reaction to the accident. John asks Peter to help him find out more about it. They force Amelia to take them to ‘Other Peter’ at Kilgore. They find him trapped between two states of reality just like Peter’s dream. Peter forces John to return to Capistrano but Carver appears telling him neither realty actually exists. The accident killed Peter and he is now purely cyber intelligence. But is this true? Can Peter’s REAL life still be saved?

*Hollis Bogard isn’t known for her commitment. In fact, she’s content leading a single, flirtatious life. That might change after meeting Whitney York, a free spirited artist thirsting for adventure.Having been cursed out, chased, and scorned by every broken hearted woman twenty eight year old heroin addict Hollis Bogard has slept around with, she’s not fazed at all by any of it. Always preferring to look for the next best set of kissable lips. Life as an emotionally unavailable bachelorette has served her well, and after all...everyone was warned before anything happened. Feelings were a big no. Hollis had seen what love did to her parents, and wanted nothing to do with the white picket-fenced lie. So long as her bed was warm when she needed it to be, that’s what mattered.Californian Whitney York is ready for a new start. While spontaneity wasn’t a strong suit of her’s, packing up everything she owned into her little black 2008 Toyota Prius and driving cross country to Auburn, Maine was the best idea she’d had all year. No more nagging mother, to hell with her father always comparing Whitney to her successful sister, Theresa. The one with the prestigious acting career, doting husband, and two all American poster children. She wanted to be free to figure out her own destiny. When elusive Hollis bumps into electrifying Whitney at a local bar on the outskirts of town, sparks fly between the unlikely pair.Disclaimer: Strong sexual content, graphic sex scenes, drug usage. 18+, please. This novel won’t be for you if you’re not comfortable with any of the above topics.2019 All Rights Reserved (you know how it goes) Please don’t attempt to steal any part of my work.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

To secure a fragile peace between two warring packs, a sacrifice must be made. Alpha Torin of the Midnight Pack expects the worst when he agrees to marry the daughter of his bitterest enemy. He’s heard the rumors: she is a spoiled, arrogant princess sent to spy on his people. Determined to break her spirit, Torin strips her of her titles, throws her into a freezing attic room, and forces her to work alongside the pack's lowliest servants. He waits for her to snap. He waits for her to fight back. But the girl who arrived at his packhouse isn't a princess at all. It's Evangeline—the forgotten, abused, and supposedly "wolfless" daughter her father hid from the world. Used to a lifetime of cruelty and starvation, Eva doesn't throw a fit; she quietly scrubs the floors until her hands bleed, terrified that any mistake will mean her execution. As Torin's fierce hatred turns to confusion, his inner wolf begins to roar in protest. The electric spark between them is undeniable, but Torin refuses to trust a suspected spy—even as his beast insists she is their fated mate. But a dark web of lies is unraveling. As the horrific truth of Eva's past comes to light, a dangerous secret begins to bloom in her veins. She was never wolfless; she was poisoned. And as the poison fades, the true royal Alpha heir is about to awaken. Torin wanted to break an enemy princess. Instead, he will have to spend his life kneeling before the queen he tried to ruin.

"Kneel, Madison. Or did you forget that a stray like you doesn't deserve to stand in the presence of a True Alpha?" Austin’s voice was a jagged blade, but the heat of his hand on my throat told a different story. He’d traded me for my sister—the "real" daughter—claiming my scent was too weak, my blood too thin. He threw me to the dirt, watching with a smirk as my adoptive father tossed a few hundred-dollar bills at my feet and told me to disappear into the slums. They thought they broke me. They thought I was heading toward a life of hunger and shame with a family of "nobodies." They were dead wrong. When the black helicopters darkened the sky and the most powerful Lycan King in history stepped out to bow to me, the look on Austin’s face was worth more than his pathetic pack. My "impoverished" biological family didn't live in a shack—they owned the world. And my five "starving" brothers? They were the most lethal Alphas on the planet, and they were hungry for the blood of anyone who touched their sister. Now, I’m back. Not as the girl who begged for scraps, but as the Zillionaire Queen with enough silver to buy their souls and enough power to burn their legacy to ash. But there’s a problem: Ethan Harper. The Cursed Lycan King. A man who smells like midnight and looks like sin. He wants my heart, he wants my throne, and he’s determined to prove that while revenge is sweet, submission is delicious. He thinks he can tame the White Wolf. I think I’ll enjoy watching him try.

The day my father slid that contract across the table, I should have walked away. I didn't. Instead, I signed my name next to his: Damien Blackwood. The most feared man in the city. Cold. Ruthless. The kind of man who buys companies for sport and destroys lives before breakfast. I told myself it was survival. That I was signing to save my mother and protect what was left of my family. But Damien Blackwood didn't choose me by accident. He chose me because he knew exactly who I was. Because he had been watching me for three years. Because the secret buried between our families goes deeper and darker than anything I was prepared to find. He says this is a partnership. He says we both want the same thing, to burn our fathers' empires to the ground. He says this is strictly business. But the man who shows up at my mother's hospital without being asked, the man who tucks my hair back in a dark car park and calls at midnight just to hear my voice, the man who kept a seven year old photograph and a handwritten note that says she is the one. That man isn't doing business. And neither am I. We started as enemies. We signed a contract. We were supposed to use each other and walk away. But somewhere between the revenge and the secrets, we forgot to stay on opposite sides. It was never just business. It was never going to be.

​"I hate that I want you." ​Those are the words Alpha Kaelen whispers against my skin when the fever takes him. ​To the world, I am just Elara, the disappointment, the maid, the shadow of his perfect Luna. To him, I am a temptation he cannot explain and a sin he cannot confess. ​He married my twin sister. He marked my twin sister. But his wolf knows the truth. ​Now, a mysterious "wasting sickness" is killing him, and his wife's touch only makes it worse. I am the only one who can bring him back from the edge. ​Every night, I am forced to enter his bedroom. Every night, I have to touch him to keep his heart beating. ​It starts with a cool cloth on his fevered brow. It ends with his heavy body pinning mine against the door, his hands rough and desperate, his nose buried in the curve of my neck. ​He thinks he’s hallucinating. He thinks I’m a test. "Why?" he growls, his hips grinding against mine with a hunger that terrifies me. "Why does my body scream for you when my mind chose her?" ​I am his shameful secret. His midnight addiction. He thinks he can use me to survive and then return to his wife in the morning. ​But the heat is rising. The bond is snapping. And soon, the Alpha won't just want to touch me. He’ll want to devour me.