Around The Year In 52 Books

It was New Year's Eve. We were streaming live when my brother called. I spoke first, "I wish you peace and a happy, long life." He gave a cold laugh. "Yeah, well, I don't want you to have any of that. I hope you spend the rest of your life in misery." I'd cut him off the year he was flat broke. Now that he was successful, this was the first thing he did—get back at me. I kept my tone calm. "I wish you peace and a happy, long life." He sounded annoyed. "Cut it out. There's no way I'm wishing you well. If I have to say something, then I hope you stay miserable forever." The host hesitated, then chimed in, "Ben, that was just a recording of Hailey's message. And yes, when she left… she was in a lot of pain and quite miserable, just like you hoped for."

Felicity is a 23 year old known photographer and a hiker. One of those days when her company had a hiking campaign, she joined. One night in a dark forest when her team was playing she was concious of the presence sorrounding her. It's not normal. She decided to looked for it but she got lost and the rain starts to pour. She was left unconsious and she woke up in an unfamiliar place. What's she gonna do?

My husband, Alex Carter, is a top AI engineer. He one day gets drugged by a new intern at his company, and one night of chaos follows. He calls me the next morning, his voice hoarse from a hangover and filled with unfamiliar panic. "Em, I messed up. But don't worry. I gave her enough money to disappear from this city." After ten years together, I believe it is just a momentary lapse in judgment. Six months later, Alex's company suffers the worst cyber attack in its history, with core data hanging by a thread. I rush back from a fragrance exhibition in Astral, only to witness a scene at the data center entrance that sends me into shock. Alex stands outside the tightly sealed door, his face showing a weariness and guilt I have never seen before. The doctor says that the intern, Brooke Anderson, is three months pregnant and has spent 72 hours with him in the high-radiation server room. Now, she shows signs of miscarriage. Later, Brooke gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The entire Carter family is ecstatic. I remove the wedding ring that has accompanied me for ten years, my fingertips turning ice cold. I dial the number saved with only one letter "S" and say, "Mr. Sullivan, I accept the collaboration you proposed last time." A low, soft laugh comes from the other end of the line. "Ms. Emma Shaw, that's a wise decision."

The once-glorious empire is in ruins, its capital buried beneath ash, following a bloody uprising. A competent scavenger who has been hardened by grief, Zara endures in the broken world, plagued by memories of the empire's devastation, particularly the ruthless purge that claimed her family's lives. She discovers a secret amid the rubble: a wounded man named Kael who says he is the final heir to the crumbling empire. Zara reluctantly consents to assist him, viewing his survival as a way to make amends. But Kael isn't interested in bringing back the empire he was born into. Rather, he is dangerously knowledgeable about a weapon that could upset the delicate balance of power in the world. An unforeseen attachment forms between Zara and Kael, complicating their objective as they create an uneasy alliance to traverse the lethal world of bounty hunters, imperial loyalists, and rebels. Zara is compelled to face her own troubled past—including the potential that her long-lost brother is still alive and fighting for one of the factions—as they delve deeper into the empire's hidden secrets. After the rebels kidnap Kael and torture him to find the weapon, Zara must decide whether to risk everything to save him or let him perish. Zara and Kael are pushed to the limit by their increasing love and the burden of their common past as they work against the clock to destroy the weapon and keep it out of the wrong hands. Will the fires of their decisions consume them or will they find salvation in a world of ashes?

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ Warning; This book contains a few explicit contents, not advisable for readers younger than age 18. .............. Accused of plagiarism and physically assaulted on the night of his concert, Alan finds himself in a hospital ward with a badly, disfigured face. Faced with his long-term girlfriend's abandonment and his five year contract termination, he's disheartened..... now realizing that he's drowning in debts worth over a billion dollars. He turns his hopes to his family, seeking help but is met with their disdain as they see him as a nuisance, better off dead than alive. Torn, he decides to end his life..... But death....... was never meant to be the end.

Life was steady—maybe not ideal, but manageable—for Evelyn Morgan, the overlooked daughter of a powerful business magnate and his unforgiving wife. Evelyn’s world revolves around a thankless life in the Morgan Mansion, where she's treated as little more than a maid, despite being family by blood. But everything changes the night her glamorous sister Diane, the chosen heiress, vanishes without a trace, leaving Evelyn with an unexpected and weighty responsibility. To save her family’s reputation and future, Evelyn must step in as Diane’s replacement, meeting with the mysterious and notoriously wealthy Mr. Volkow. Rumored to be a crippled recluse, he is nothing like she expected—gorgeous, intense, and unnervingly sharp. Evelyn quickly realizes her life will never be quite the same, especially as she navigates a world where her role and her heart seem more complicated than she ever imagined. But with each encounter, Evelyn begins to wonder if she’s in over her head...

On the day of our wedding, Maverick Lowe sacrificed me as bait to save his childhood sweetheart, Janet Stewart, from her kidnappers. I was left behind, brutally tormented by the gang. The next day, the entire internet was flooded with indecent videos of me. Maverick publicly branded me a disgrace, broke off our engagement in front of everyone, and soon after, paraded Janet as his bride. While I was drowning in despair, my childhood friend Alfred Hawkins confessed his love. He said he had always cared for me, and vowed to shelter me from every storm. With him by my side, I slowly climbed out of that darkness. We married, and soon after welcomed our daughter, Ruby. The three of us built a life of simple, perfect happiness. Until one day, I stumbled upon Janet sobbing in Alfred's arms. Between tears, she choked out, ''The doctor said… without a matching heart, Yoana won't last another month…'' Yoana, her little girl, had been born with a congenital heart defect. Alfred's hand lingered tenderly on her shoulder as he whispered. ''Don't cry. I told you, Ruby's heart was always meant for Yoana. ''After her birthday, I'll arrange the accident. Then Ruby will be delivered straight to the hospital…''

A year ago, I lost my best friend, and I lost my way. I was at the top of my game and in a split second, Leah was dead and the two men that I loved more than life itself had betrayed me. I was alone. I was broken. Then, the mob called. And, I answered. It was a bad idea to get involved with the mob, but the longer I worked with Alessio, the harder it was to stay away from him. He was the missing piece that I had been longing for. Too bad he was a murderer, and his family was trying to kill me.

Nikolas Kowalski was a Lycan rogue that rose from the ashes of his past to become the most powerful man of his era. Although he had turned his life around, his thirst for revenge was beyond his control, and he sort to get even with the people that burned, destroyed his family and made them into rogues. He sorts to seek revenge on the alpha that defeated his father and exiled his mother while pregnant with him. Luckily he did not go feral because he was born packless, but his mother was able to hold on to her sanity long enough to raise him and tell him her version of the truth. Now that he has risen with so much hate, he seeks to destroy the man and people behind his family’s demise by taking his territory, his daughter, Aliana, and making her and the people suffer. Although Nikolas seeks revenge and retribution through Aliana, his heart and wolf seek otherwise; enthralled by her personality, he falls deeper than he could ever imagine.

Cory and Reece were childhood friends and playfully called themselves “Curry and Rice” until the different values of their families pulled them in different directions. Until Quinn Malley turns up at the business faculty of their college and a twisted bet unites them once again in a common goal – Quinn. Quinn has been in love with her step-brother, Antonio, from a young age and he has taught her everything she knows about love, relationships and sex. Being a notorious Italian Mafioso he is controlling, demanding, possessive and abusive, grooming Quinn from her teen years to be obedient to his needs. It takes Quinn meeting the two young charismatic men still known playfully around campus as Curry and Rice and their scandalous bet to be the first to bed her to make Quinn realize that Antonio never had any intention to love her only to destroy her in revenge for her real father’s murder of Antonio’s mother. As Cory and Reese fall for the enigmatic Quinn and find out the full story of her abuse they will band together to gain her freedom regardless of what Cory’s Police Commissioner father and Reese’s Irish Mob father have to say about it and plan to steal her away from the young Mafia Don – Antonio Ferrante – together. Quinn finds herself caught between; Mafia and Mob Criminals and the Law And most importantly sandwiched between Curry and Rice in this Double ML Romance.