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

“I love you Tracy, even in my next life I still will. ” Tyler said as he fixed his intense gaze on me. “And I love you too.” I replied as I wrapped my hands around his neck, leaving the slightest space between our bodies. Never in my life did I ever think I will ever fall in love with a man I tortured and was suppose to kill with my bare hands. He came into my life and showed me all the ways of love.

Book 1 Saints and Sinners She was the light to my dark. The saint to my sinner. with her innocent eyes and devilish curves. A Madonna that was meant to be admired but never touched. Until someone took that innocence from her. She left. The darkness in my heart was finally complete. I avenged her, I killed for her, but she never came back. Until I saw her again. An angel dancing around a pole for money. She didn’t know I owned that club. She didn’t know I was watching. This time I won’t let her escape. I will make her back into the girl I knew. Whether she likes it or not. Book 2 Judge and Jury I can’t stop watching her. I’m not even sure I want to. Taylor Lawson, blonde, beautiful, and totally oblivious to how much dangers she’s in. She’s also the one juror in my upcoming murder trial that hasn’t been bought. The one who can put me behind bars for a very long time. I know I should execute her. After all that’s what I do. I am the Judge. I eliminate threats to The Family. And Taylor is a threat. But I don’t want to kill her. Possessing her, making her love me seems like a much better plan for this particular Juror.

Farah Anisa dan Kim Hongjoong adalah dua orang yang sulit akur. Sejak masa kuliah selalu ada persaingan, selalu ada kekesalan dan pertengkaran diantara mereka. Pantas saja rekan-rekan lain sudah matang dengan kelakuannya. Suatu hari, majikan mengirimkan memo yang mewajibkan Farah dan Hongjoong mengikuti program liburan perusahaan untuk 'mengembangkan kerja sama'. Namun keduanya langsung protes dan berusaha menghapus nama tersebut dari program tersebut. Sementara itu, Ny. Hongju, ibu Hongjoong telah merencanakan untuk menjodohkan Hongjoong dengan gadis pilihannya. Untuk menghindarinya, Hongjoong pun merencanakan sesuatu dengan melibatkan Farah dalam masalah keluarganya. "Aku tidak ingin menikah lagi, tapi ibuku suka memaksa. Jadi, aku ingin menikah denganmu." - Kim Hong Joong. "Apa?! Kamu gila Tuan Hongjoong!" - Farah Anisa. Ego masing-masing, tak mau mengakui perasaan yang tumbuh di hati. "Ini kontrak, aku tidak peduli kamu mau menerimanya atau tidak. Yang penting akhir pekan ini aku akan mengantarmu ke rumah ibu." - Kim Hong Joong. "Orang ini benar-benar gila. Aku bahkan tidak setuju, dia melemparkan kontrak itu ke wajahku!" -Farah Anisa. Keduanya terus adu mulut, ego masing-masing tak mau mengakui perasaan yang mulai tumbuh. Ketika akad nikah yang pertama hanya sekedar tipuan, akhirnya menjadi lebih dekat. Namun, mereka harus menghadapi perbedaan budaya, adat istiadat, dan agama yang menjadi tantangan. Akankah mereka mampu mengubah kontrak ini menjadi cinta sejati dan mungkin jannah bersama? Ataukah semua ini hanya drama seperti biasanya?

Sa mata ng lahat, si Cassandra ay ang “Queen” ng mundo ng negosyo ang asawa ni Nathaniel, isang makapangyarihang negosyante na tinaguriang “King of Business Empire.” Marangya ang kanilang buhay, puno ng pera, impluwensya, at kasikatan. Ngunit sa likod ng kinang, itinatago ni Cassandra ang bigat ng pagiging isang “trophy wife” na nakatali sa imahe at kapangyarihan ng asawa. Habang mas lumalawak ang kaharian ni Nathaniel sa mundo ng negosyo, mas nararamdaman ni Cassandra ang pagkawala ng sarili. Ang mga simpleng pangarap niya maging isang fashion designer, mamuhay nang tahimik at payapa ay natatabunan ng mga korona at trono na ipinipilit isuot sa kaniya ng asawa. Sa pagbabalik ng isang matalik na kaibigan mula sa nakaraan, muling nabuhay ang mga tanong sa puso ni Cassandra: Ano ba talaga ang tunay na halaga ng kaligayahan? Pera, kapangyarihan, at titulo? O ang kalayaan na sundin ang sariling pangarap kahit kapalit nito ay mawala ang lahat ng yaman at impluwensya?

"How did you capture his majesty's heart?" This is the question that everyone wishes to ask the newly hired eunuch to serve the emperor. Xu Zhengming, also known as Eunuch Xu, the great Casanova in town. His looks aren't inferior to Pan An's, and he knows it. This beautiful man knows all types of women and mastered the ways to get them. He experienced being chased many times but successfully gets away every single time. On that one fateful night, while running away from a group of women he bumped on his majesty the emperor. And with that, the ruler of an empire took him to his palace. Now that he's back to the imperial palace, previous relationships won't remain in the past. First friend, first love, first heartache. Connections that got severed by the sharp blade of fate. Will the once parted and now finally reunited be separated for the second time?

“I'm done with you, Lila; you and I know that there's no chemistry between us.” Grey Shun, the CEO of Bintex Ltd., one of the leading textile companies in the city of New York, told Lila Sims with his face devoid of any remorse. Lila Sims has been living in depression since the first day of her three-year-old marriage. She had done all she could to please Grey, but the more she tried, the more she kept getting depressed. Young, talented, and beautiful career woman, Lila Sims gave up everything for the sake of her marriage with Grey, turning her into a shadow of herself. A marriage she worked hard to keep moving ended like a flash of light on a day she least expected—her twenty-fifth birthday dinner! Lila Sims was ready to accept the divorce in good faith and let go of everything, until she discovered Grey's mystery mistress, who has been the cause of her misery in marriage. She vouch to take her revenge to the fullest. Lila conspired with Brian, Grey's ex-rival, to ruin Grey's life, but Brian wants more from her; he wants a relationship with her. Will Lila risk her heart for love again to get her revenge the way she planned, or will she give up on her revenge plans to avoid being heartbroken a second time?

Sophia Grant is desperate to save her marriage to Julian who's drifting away under the spell of his seductive employee, Vanessa. With their baby on the way, Sophia fights to rekindle Julian’s love, but as his betrayal becomes painfully clear, she must confront a harsh truth: love alone may not be enough. Heartbroken and humiliated, Sophia walks away, vowing to reclaim her life and her power. But what secrets lie in her past that could change everything? How can she do her revenge if she leaves with nothing but heartaches?

A young widow is given one more chance at life when her life is reversed back in time using a time travel machine that had been her late husband's father's life's work, way before she was forced into an arranged marriage. But what does the new trip in time hold for her, especially when she meets her then husband in a new setting, and sees him in a different light, bearing in mind that he is already dead? And how fast is a whirlwind romance when she has to go back to her place in time to an empty bed? "You don't...look like someone who has a long time to live." I said to him, watching as his gaze became a little sad. "I guess when you live right, you don't need to."

Asya is the most promising ballerina the Royal Ballet has seen in years. Wildly ambitious, back-breakingly disciplined, and immensely driven, she has only one objective: prima ballerina. There is nothing she won't do to earn this once-in-a-generation title. But behind her ballerina grace she hides dark secrets of an inhumanly strict mother, pushing her body to cruel limits, and serial hookups with male dancers. Roman Zharnov is the star of the Russian ballet: young, successful, arrogant, beautiful, and worst of all, talented. He's come to London for a fresh start after earning himself the nickname 'the bad boy of ballet'. It is during a rehearsal that his eye falls on Asya, a nineteen-year-old soloist with spitfire in her eyes and a raw talent capable of silencing an auditorium. But Asya has a partner, and she wants to stay as far away as possible from the Russian prodigy with a reputation that won't seem to leave him alone. In the competitive world of classical ballet Asya is climbing the ranks, earning coveted parts and building a name for herself as a promising soloist. But all the while she is playing a dangerous game behind the curtain. Roman has found the one ballerina that can keep up with him and wants her to partner him, but he will soon realise that animals can't do what she does.

Nat and Leo are two teenagers with a dark history behind them. Their worlds collide when they end up living next to each other but so it seems to them. Their story has begun long before everything. They fall in love but love is not easy for them. Secrets unravel and the truth is too harsh to interpret. With all these words left unsaid and time passing by, it's never too late to express your feelings. . . . . . . Is it?