Ann Patchett's "52 All-time Favorite Books From The Year I Turned 52"

I go deaf in an attempt to save James Duncan. He falls to his knees before my parents and begs them to let me marry him. He says he'll care for me for life. He finally passes his five-year test, but he sleeps with his lover before our wedding. He does it before my very eyes. He clamps a hand over her mouth and says, "Be quiet. Don't wake Layla up." His lover giggles and nibbles on his palm. "What's there to be afraid of? She's deaf; she can't hear us." James doesn't know that I've already regained my hearing. He and his lover are also unaware that their behavior is being livestreamed.

He is my only chance at freedom. She is the daughter of my enemy. Will their love survive? Zain As the Sultan of one of the most powerful countries in the Middle-East, I need to find my Sultana. But I don’t intend to have heirs or even get married. Until I stumbled into Nasrin Elbaz. I cannot resist her. So I will claim her as mine. My Sultana. My Wife. My Lover. I, Sultan Zain Al Latif, will propose to Princess Nasrin for a marriage. If she rejects me… Well, I have been told I can be quite persuasive and demanding when I want to be. Nasrin He is a Sultan and I am the Princess of the country he is nemesis with. I don’t belong in his wealthy country that bleeds gold and his Palace. I am trying to hold on to what little freedom I have. No way can I fall for some dirty talking or his obsidian eyes curling with hunger whenever he sees me. Even if my body craves his tender touch and his sinful mouth. I have to get my freedom and find a way to escape the proposals of marriage. Without his help, thank you very much. “I am asking you to marry me.” “Are you asking or ordering, Sultan?” “I am asking, Princess.” I smiled at her. “For now.”

I bring Selena Bloomberg home because I find her pitiful, and I treat her very well as if she were my own younger sister. However, I didn't think that she would end up impersonating me as the Bloomberg family's heiress and kill me afterward before getting rid of my body. Now that I am reborn, I refuse to let the same tragedy happen again. I swear that I will make her pay. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!

Natalie is ecstatic to be mated to her childhood crush but after two years in a loveless union, her love morphs into hatred. Two years of being bound to a man who neither loves nor cherishes her is enough for her to make up her mind. She is done. She prepares for her divorce, expecting Kian to happily let her go but his reaction is unexpected. Kian Zephyr is more than just an Alpha – he is a force to be reckoned with, a man ruthless on and off the battlefield. A man who is wealthy and powerful, Kian has the world at his feet. When his grandfather forces him to take the starry-eyed girl who has chased after him from childhood as his mate, he does so with reluctance but when said girl decides she no longer wants him, hell breaks loose. When Kian wants something, he takes it and when he claims someone, they stay his. And he has claimed Natalie. To Kian, Natalie is a constant, a person who will be by his side until death but Natalie is done with him. She spent years believing she meant nothing to him but the moment she decides to leave, she realizes Kian would never let her go without a fight. Yet, she is not one to lose. Natalie is determined to escape Kian and with her mind set, even a man like Kian has trouble holding on to her. Desperate and filled with regret, Kian would do anything to win back his mate but the harder he tries, the harder she pushes him away. With blades aimed at their necks and enemies disguised as friends, will Kian’s love reach Natalie or is he destined to lose her forever?

Mia Thomson, an eighteen-year-old high school student, is heartbroken when she learns her longtime boyfriend has fallen for her best friend. Overwhelmed, she collapses and is rushed to the hospital. There, she unexpectedly encounters Shawn Mandez, the CEO of Beats Corporation, who urgently needs a spouse. Despite her predicament, Mia decides to help him out, only to be swiftly served divorced by him immediately after they finish signing their marriage certificate: “I’ll have my personal assistant send you the divorce papers," the CEO, who was not a man of many words, uttered coldly. Right at this moment, a sleek black Maybach pulled up in front of them. Without sparing the girl as little as a second glance, the demi-god stepped into the luxurious car and it soon disappeared out of sight. Mia was stunned.

After catching her boyfriend in bed with her best friend, 22 years old Isabella world collapses. Broke, heartbroken, humiliated, and homeless she was offered a job a a maid by Julian Rothwell a cold and mysterious billionaire CEO. He’s handsome and shockingly interested in her. after serving him for sometime Julian offers her a deal, marry him for one year to silence rumors about his sexuality, and walk away afterward with ten million dollars. No love, no touching, no strings. Just a contract. Desperate for a fresh start, Isabella signs. But living in Julian’s luxurious mansion brings more than comfort it stirs old wounds, buried emotions, and unexpected sparks. As she settles into this fake marriage, Isabella discovers there's more to Julian than cold suits and legal documents. And Julian finds himself drawn to the one woman who isn’t impressed by his wealth. But just as trust begins to grow between them, someone close is planning their destruction the trusted family butler, Niles. Underneath his polished manners lies a dangerous agenda. Driven by greed Niles slowly poisons Isabella to make her appear terminally ill. His ultimate plan is to distract Julian and make him sign transfer of ownership documents and inherit his wealth. As Isabella’s health spirals and Julian begins to unravel the truth, the couple must fight not just for their lives but for the love neither of them expected to find.

A marriage is a divine vow of a pact made by the consent of God. It's divine because it can bond the destiny of two people to one destiny by love. It's divine because it can make one work for the drawback of the other. It's divine because it can give one a shoulder where they can always lean on. It's divine because it can give birth to a new life only which a God Creator can do. If such a divine vow is made into a pact of lies, what will happen to the ones that play. Jayson and Ellen bounded by a contract of marriage only have hate and scowl for each other. Can the divine vow make them fall in love or the hate they have for the other grow to break the vow and their marriage?

Nancy Miller, a smart and capable but ugly secretary, has secretly loved her billionaire boss, Dwayne Johnson, for years. When he offers her a marriage to secure his inheritance, she agrees, hoping for more. But after one cruel night, she runs away… carrying his secret baby. Now, with her child’s life in danger, Nancy must return to the man who once shattered her—unsure if he’ll save them or break her again.

I went abroad for a year to further my studies and kept in touch with my girlfriend through video calls every day. One day, I saw her first love posted a photo with a caption: [We are finally back together after ten years!] In the photo, my girlfriend was visibly pregnant, holding the arm of the man next to her with a sweet smile.

Danica Laurent never imagined one mistake could change her entire life. After a reckless night with a stranger, she finds herself pregnant and shamed in front of the world. Eden Cross, a ruthless billionaire with everything never planned to take responsibility for the pregnancy when he finds out. He still loves his ex, fashion icon Erica Lancaster. But under pressure from his grandmother and the looming media storm, he steps forward… on one condition. A one-year contract. One year of marriage. One hundred million dollars will be given to her. And after that? She must disappear—without the child. But Danica has dreams of her own. A struggling medical student, she agrees to the contract. But what happens when hearts start to shift? When Eden’s cold heart starts to burn for her? He gave her one year, but she might steal a lifetime.