Balanced And Barefoot

For the longest of times Ellie had an obsession about becoming a wife and mother. More importantly she has for a very long time planning her wedding . She knew what dress she wanted, centerpiece, cake ,theme ,and venue amongst other things that came with planning a wedding . Ellie believed in true love and she believed that she had found it with Dexter. He was always the safe choice for her. In her heart and mind Ellie believed that she had made the right choice by choosing Dex ; even when he didn't have a regular nine to five job. He was a lawyer and she was in the PR industry. Even though they were from different worlds, their differences made them a balanced couple... Until the unthinkable happened. Maxwell has only ever loved one person . He made the mistake of believing a lie he was told ;and years later he crosses paths with Ellie and wants to play for keeps. Even if it means taking a break from his career. Will Ellie ever open her heart again to love ? Will Maxwell make peace with his past and be worthy of Ellie's love?

Do you ever wish a secret billionaire would sweep you away to a tropical island? Do you ever wish that you could be like Cinderella and find your happily ever after with the prince? From New York Times bestselling author Krista Lakes, comes a sweet but spicy Billionaire Romance Series that will have you believing in happily ever after! Each story in this series is a stand-alone one. But with all the stories happen in one world, characters will reappear in other stories. ****** The First Set: Saltwater Kisses– An accidental marriage between Jack and Emma. Rainwater Kisses– Falling in love, and finding how they fit together with Owen and Kaylee. Freshwater Kisses– Finding love in childhood friends with Robbie and Sam. BONUS: Kisses From Jack: The first half of Saltwater Kisses, but from Jack's perspective! Timeless Love Stories: Champagne Kisses– A story of long lost love and second chances with Dean and Rachel. The Second Set: Sandcastle Kisses– Finding love in all the wrong places with Noah and Izzy Hurricane Kisses– Surviving the storm together with Logan and Olivia Barefoot Kisses– A Cinderella story with Aiden and Lena The Third Set: Sunrise Kisses– Ava and Bastian discovering true beauty Waterfall Kisses– Leo finally succumbing to Charlotte's charms Island Kisses: Gabe finally meets his match in Harper!

Anastasia Danish Lily Mondragon was born differently. Unusual, for she never shed a tear even after months of being born. When her mother looks at the infant staring back at her blankly, her heart is filled with pure hatred. She believes she is a monster in child's clothing. When Anastasia was eight, she was abducted by a group of researchers. Yet no one knew what she had suffered at the hands of those cruel humans. After a few days, she returned home. Barefoot and bruised, she walked home and landed in her worried mother's arms. She was in a state of coma for more than five months, her body responding weirdly. Anastasia woke up after twelve years. Her body recovered, but all her memories were lost. The worst tragedies happened not so long after. Clueless Anastasia was treated badly by her father, and her mother left without a trace. Now that she's twenty, Anastasia has become more curious about her past. As if something unknown haunts her until dawn. Fierce and determined, she started to make a move toward regaining her memories. But to know the truth, she has no choice but to take a dangerous path. She will meet a being that is supreme to all human beings. Is she willing to take the risk and gamble her life for the sake of bringing back her lost memories?

On our wedding anniversary, my CEO husband, Michael Grant, invited me to watch the ocean with him. Tragically, a typhoon hit. I stood there in the raging wind and rain for over two hours, and he never showed up. In the end, all I got was a text that he was suddenly going on a business trip and couldn’t make it. Right after that, his intern, Nora Blake, posted a video on her social feed. It showed my usually pampered husband barefoot while helping fishermen haul crates of seafood. Her caption read: "Our hardworking CEO loves to get his hands dirty!" I laughed and commented: "Diligent and enduring—a true role model for us all." The company Slack channel instantly exploded. Everyone was betting on whether I’d finally blow up this time. Michael called me, his voice tight with fury, "Lauren West! What the heck did you mean by posting that comment? Are you trying to humiliate Nora in public? "It was a typhoon. I helped her family move some fish. What’s the big deal? You’re such a pampered little princess who has no idea how hard life really is. Delete that comment now. I’ll take you to the coast another day." Disgust churned in me. I replied, "Let a man who’s already rolled in the mud take me to the ocean? Forget it." Yes. Michael was now tainted, and I didn’t want him anymore.

On the day of my 30th birthday, my CEO wife, Sabrina Langford, leaves hurriedly at 3:00 am. She claims that there's something urgent going on at the company and that she won't be home the whole day. Later on, Timothy Cross, the low-income university student that Sabrina has been sponsoring, updates his social media feed. In the photo, I see Sabrina standing at the side of the road in a bikini. Two big apples are balanced on her 36D bust. The caption of the photo is, "The beautiful and hot CEO has personally come over to my house to help me sell the homegrown apples. You'll regret it if you don't buy these apples from me!" My brows are drawn into a frown immediately. When I call Sabrina, the call goes through rather quickly. "I told you I'm very busy at the company right now. If you disturb me again, I'm not going to forgive you this easily!" After that, Sabrina ends the call. But right before the call gets cut off, I can hear a car honking in her background. I'm not mad at her at all. She likes helping others to sell fruits, right? I might as well lend her a helping hand. So, I share the social media post to the company's group chat. The message I've drafted is, "Does anyone here want a batch of rotten apples? I'll even throw in a second-hand wife for free."

I watched my family scrape and starve so I could save enough to come to Sicily for a tan, a fling, maybe my first proper kiss— maybe even lose my virginity to a hot stranger I’d never see again. I did not come to wrestle a kidnapped toddler out of a speedboat at gunpoint. One minute I was hiding from a flirty Italian on the beach. The next, I was running barefoot across the sand in a bikini with a terrified little boy in my arms… while men in black suits shot at me. Now the whole island thinks I’m the kidnapper. Especially the grey-eyed man with the gun who looks at me like I’m his next target. I don’t know his name. I don’t know who the boy really belongs to. I just know the man hunting me isn’t a hero and he’s not going to let me walk away. If I survive this holiday, I’m never leaving England again. If he stops looking at me like that… I might even miss the danger. Holy hell. I didn’t just grab any child. I snatched the heir to the Don of the most ruthless mafia outfit in Europe. And his best friend—the grey-eyed man with the gun—wants my head on a spike. I never imagined I’d die a virgin. But here I am.

Once upon a time, the world was balanced and peaceful, thanks to its protectors of nature, the Amazons, a unique breed of werewolves that existed solely to protect and maintain the balance of the natural world. But they fell victim to the seduction of greed and power, ultimately leading to the Tribe’s downfall, shattering the balance and laws of nature with it. This gave rise to the Council and its insatiable greed, depravity, and power-hungry behaviors, creating a further imbalance in the world, with she-wolves, once revered and respected, slowly dying out due to their enslaved existence. Still, some refuse to go down without a fight, clinging to the hope and rumor that a powerful she-wolf, their Savior, will rise and save them. Corinna Woods is the naive and kind-hearted Luna of the Dark Shadow pack and chosen mate of Xander Woods, but after years of horror, she runs. Years later, she’s changed into a broken, paranoid, reckless single mother unable to escape her pain. When she discovers her mate, she is petrified and refuses to accept, having vowed never to allow a man that kind of power over her again. Wyatt Campbell is a powerful Alpha who believes in the old ways of fated mate bonds and thinks the council's laws are ridiculous and degrading, refusing to follow them within his pack. When he finds his mate, he is shocked not only to find her after years of searching, but also when she rejects him. Can he prove to his mate that he is not like the others? Can their fated mate bond, along with the support of their allies, change the ways and restore the much-needed balance to the werewolf world before they become extinct?

Perfection was the curse. I was born into wealth, beauty, influence, and a family empire that stretched across continents. People envied my life, not knowing it was nothing more than a gilded prison. The only thing that ever felt real was ballet, the passion my parents forbade because it brought them no power, no profit, no leverage. My parents; greedy, ambitious, unfillable, hid their cruelty beneath luxury. And on my eighteenth birthday, they revealed the ultimate betrayal. I was engaged to a powerful man twice. . . no, three times my age. A man feared across Europe. A man whose hands were stained with secrets the world pretended not to see. They sold me to strengthen an alliance. So I ran. Barefoot, shaking, heartbroken. I stole one of our visitor's chopper and fled to Sicily, thinking distance could save me. I thought I escaped the monsters who owned my life. But I only ran into a darker one. Because Sicily is his territory; Aldrick Moretti, the shadow king of the Italian underworld. Cold. Untouchable. Beautiful in the most devastating way. The man people whisper about as if speaking his name is a sin. A man with eyes that see through lies. . . including mine. And the moment he found me trespassing on his land, bleeding, terrified, and wearing the remnants of a runaway bride. . . He didn’t return me. He didn’t free me. He claimed me. Not as a business deal. Not as an alliance. But as something far more dangerous. He became my captor, my protector, my obsession, and the forbidden flame I should never have touched. Because in his world, love is not tender. It’s a weapon. And I am the sacrifice wrapped in a veil he refuses to let go.

She’s a princess. She’s a weapon. She’s the illegitimate daughter no one was supposed to need. For millenia, peace between supernatural kingdoms has been maintained by a brutal tradition: the Bride Swap. An elven princess for a foreign king. Ten years of marriage to buy one hundred and ninety years of fragile silence. This year, the elves must give a bride to the werewolves. Princess Alicia Sunblade was never meant to be the chosen one. Wild, sharp-tongued, and dangerously gifted by both the goddess of war and the goddess of love, she lives in quiet exile from a father who rules with manipulation and fear. But when her king threatens the one person she loves most, Alicia is forced into an arranged marriage with Alpha Rocco Silvermane — the powerful, feared King of Wolfsreach. Elves and werewolves are natural enemies. Their borders bleed tension. Their histories drip with blood. Rocco is everything Alicia was raised to despise: dominant, ruthless, physically overwhelming — and politically untouchable. Yet he has his own kingdom to protect, his own factions to appease, and his own reasons for accepting the swap. Two rulers. Two unwilling sacrifices. One treaty balanced on a knife’s edge. But Alicia isn’t a lamb being led to slaughter. She is a strategist. A seductress blessed by divine persuasion. A warrior hiding behind silk and ceremony. If her father thinks he’s sending her away to be controlled, he may have just delivered his greatest weapon straight into enemy hands. Because if Alicia is going to be traded… She won’t just survive the wolves. She might just make their king kneel.

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.