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

After I finished the Luna training that every she-wolf dreamed, I went to my Alpha, Damien, with a request. To break our mate bond. "All this, just because I missed your ceremony to help my late brother's mate, Lilith, with the rogues in her territory?" A smirk twisted his lips, his voice a low rasp. I nodded, silent. "I gave my brother my word before he died. I swore I would protect Lilith. I can't break that vow! Why can't you understand?" he whispered, sighing heavily. "Stop being so childish! Why can't you be reasonable, like Lilith is?" I pushed him away with a chilling calm. Ten years. For ten years after our bond was confirmed, I gave up everything. Every hobby, every dream… all to learn how to be his Luna. Everyone in the pack thought I was helpless without him. That I couldn't even survive without his protection. But this time, I was done. He didn't know I'd already contacted the neutral packs in another land. I was going somewhere his Alpha scent could never reach me.

During a round of truth or dare, my boss, Victoria Hale, leaned in and kissed my husband, Ethan Graves. As just another junior employee, I didn’t even have the chance to call her out in front of everyone. Instead, I slipped away to the restroom and asked Ethan for a divorce. He brushed it off as if I were only sulking. "Don’t take it so seriously. She’s just had too much to drink. In the corporate world, you have to entertain, play along for the sake of the project." However, in the very next round, when Victoria was dared to kiss someone else, Ethan flipped the table in front of everyone. "Touch her, and see what happens."

After the sudden death of their parents, two step-sisters, Carla and Catherine, are left to fend for themselves. Carla sacrifices her education to support Catherine, working tirelessly to make ends meet while Catherine’s life remains untouched by struggle. In love, Carla gives up her dream to help her boyfriend, Charles, pursue his dream of becoming a surgeon. Months after he travels abroad to study, Carla discovers she is pregnant with his child. But when Charles returns, Carla uncovers a devastating betrayal—Charles has been cheating with Catherine’s friend, Ivory, and they have a child together. Heartbroken, Carla is abandoned at the altar by Charles, who chooses to be with Ivory instead. In the aftermath, Carla’s daughter, Mia, falls gravely ill. Despite Carla’s desperate pleas, no one comes to her aid, and Mia tragically dies. Carla vows revenge and in bid of that enters a contract marriage with Carlos, Catherine’s ex, intending to destroy her step-sister. But Carlos is still in love with Catherine, pulling Carla deeper into a web of lies and deceit. Just when Carla believes she has lost everything, she is saved by Henry Wordsworth, heir to TJX Fashion Company. With Henry’s help, she embarks on a quest for revenge, determined to take down everyone who wronged her. But what happens when she discovers that the parents of her newfound love, Henry, are the ones behind her parents' deaths?

Being the breadwinner in the family is a big responsibility. Izabela Oceania Calvez applies to work as a cashier at a club since she needs a job badly. She heard a lot of harsh words, but she chose to ignore them. One morning, when she was browsing the internet, she came across an advertisement for a candidate to work as the new CEO's secretary for a renowned textile company. She made an effort to apply. But when she happened to see the CEO of the company having sex inside his office, she immediately backed out of her interview.But she was taken aback when she got a call from the company informing her that her application had been approved. If they didn't interview her, how was she accepted? And worst of all, will she agree to the CEO’s proposal to be her part-time lover for ten million pesos? Will she accept it for the sake of her family?

After getting married, Veronica Sherman learns that she has infertility issues. She goes through many rounds of IVF and finally gets pregnant, but she unintentionally finds out that the baby she's carrying belongs to her husband, Henry Goodwin, and his first love, Daphne Moore. "You're so clever, Henry. You actually got Veronica to carry your and Daphne's baby, and it will be yours when it's born. She's nothing more than a tool for you!" Henry chuckles coldly and says, "Daphne's really scared of pain. Naturally, I can't make her suffer through pregnancy! "Also, hasn't Veronica always wanted to carry my child? I'm just fulfilling her wish!" Veronica is mad when she finds out. However, she learns about another truth at the hospital. Henry has slow swimmers, and the hospital somehow implanted the wrong embryo in her. The baby growing in her belly now belongs to her and a mysterious mogul. Since Veronica has no one to love her, she thinks she should just give birth to the baby so it can love her instead. After she successfully divorces Henry and is about to leave without looking back, he suddenly has a change of heart and regrets his decision. "Don't leave me, Veronica!" The mogul, Cade Johnson, suddenly appears behind Veronica and pulls her into his arms. "I heard that you're pregnant with my baby," he says.

Mirabella had built her life around love, trust, and devotion, believing that her marriage to Ethan was the very definition of a perfect union. Despite struggling with infertility, she held onto the dream of a future filled with happiness, willing to sacrifice anything for the man she loved. However, her world is irreversibly shattered when she unexpectedly walks in on Ethan in bed with her older sister, Sienna—the one person she had always trusted. Instead of guilt or remorse, Ethan throws divorce papers in her face, blaming her for her inability to conceive, while Sienna mocks and humiliates her, making it clear that Mirabella has been replaced. Left homeless, heartbroken, and utterly betrayed by those she once considered her entire world, Mirabella spirals into despair, her once-glamorous life crumbling around her. As she drowns in hopelessness, a powerful yet mysterious ally steps forward, offering her the support, resources, and guidance she needs to rise from the ashes of her past. Fueled by pain but strengthened by newfound determination, Mirabella reinvents herself, stepping into a world of power, influence, and ruthless ambition. No longer the fragile woman Ethan and Sienna discarded, she meticulously orchestrates a masterful plan to reclaim her dignity and dismantle the lives of those who wronged her. But as Ethan and Sienna’s world begins to crumble under the weight of their own greed and deception, Mirabella is faced with an unexpected realization—true power is not in revenge but in the ability to walk away. Will she take her vengeance to the bitter end, or will she choose to embrace a new beginning, where her happiness is no longer tied to the past?

Sophia Turner is a powerful woman in her own way, head nurse of the most renowned hospital in the United States, with a knowledge of medicine that makes many doctors jealous. She is her own woman, knows what she wants, doesn't care what people think of her and many say she is strange or the perfect woman, she has her own money, likes to have sex, is passionate about role-playing, and doesn't take any crap. Those who know her say she doesn't exist, how can she do all this being single? But Sophia has been through a lot of things to become who she is now, her past few people know, but those who know admire her. Having a balanced life is the most important thing, her health comes before anything else, after all, she learned this after years of treatment (which still continues). Her life changes upside down when one day the Houroux family suffers an attack and their leaders end up in the hospital... Perseus is seriously injured and has a specific blood type, the same as Sophia and she helps to save him. As if this were not enough, Sophia feels an inexplicable attraction for the second-in-command, Achilles Lykaios. The woman doesn't want to get involved again with people like the Houroux family, people with a lot of money who had influence in many places and who could buy anything if they wanted to. But Sophia is not for sale, and yet... She has to overcome some past traumas and accepts the proposal to accompany Perseus' progress and goes with the Houroux family. Things are not as they seem... What secrets will be revealed? A new world opens up for Sophia, a world she imagined only in her fantasy role-playing books.

Because of one night stand everything will change. ***** Maria Isabella Dimasali lived a normal life. She was not born with a golden spoon in her mouth but she is grateful to have an amazing parents and a bestfriend. She is always positive in life na kahit mahirap ang buhay ay nagagawa nyang ngumiti. Denrick Moncuedo is a rich businessman. He was called as a dragon in disguise and some even named him as the demon in a corporate suit. He is ruthless, merciless in the eyes of many people. But deep inside, he is just a broken man. Broken like a shattered glass. He doesn't want to move on. He wants to stay in the same position where his first love left him. Two different person with a very total different personality. Fate will make a way to cross their path. What will happen if this two person with a different personality will meet and work with each other? (COMPLETED)

“Tell me,” he said, low and dangerous. “Tell me who this cunt belongs to.” “You,” I panted, spreading wider, shameless. “It’s yours—please, Micaiah—” “Come on my cock,” he ordered through gritted teeth. “Show me how much you love being fucked by me.” ★⁠☆ Maliya comes home after two years abroad, hoping everything she ran from has finally cooled. But the moment she steps through the door, she realizes nothing has changed—especially not the one person she never wanted to face again. Micaiah. Her stepbrother. Her almost. Her reason for disappearing. She plans to keep her distance, start classes, rebuild her life… until her parents drop the news: they’ve transferred her to a new university, the one where Micaiah works as a professor. And they’re leaving for a three-month honeymoon, meaning she and Micaiah will be living in the same house. Alone. Maliya tells herself she can handle it. But Micaiah has his own ideas about unfinished business. Three months isn’t long… unless you’re stuck with the one person you swore you’d never fall for again.

Natasha is a young girl who dreams of a better life beyond her middle-class struggles. She earns a scholarship to Delengade College, a world ruled by the powerful elites and feared by the subs. For her, it becomes a chance to rise above poverty and change her family’s fate. But her quiet strength catches the attention of Peter Melton, heir to Delengade’s most powerful family. Every girl wants him, and when he starts to show interest in Natasha, it awakens a dangerous enemy– Sasha Bullock, the ruthless heiress who will stop at nothing to have Peter for herself. Natasha begins to fight for her life. One brutal act of jealousy shatters her world. Betrayed by those she trusts most and the boy she loves, Natasha is left for dead. Five years later, Natasha returns. No longer a naive scholarship girl, she becomes stronger, smarter, and deadlier, and she is ready to burn the world that destroyed her and to take revenge on every single person who had a hand in her death. But what happens when love and hate blur and Natasha discovers the truth behind Peter’s betrayal?