Balthazar Shoes

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

To the outside world, Emma's life was perfect. She was married to the most powerful man in New York, she was the envy of many ladies, everyone wanted to be in her shoes because she had it all. Or so they thought. What people didn't know was that Emma had been sold off to Jeff as a result of her parents debts, they were the perfect couple outside but secretly, Emma was miserable. A unexpected pregnancy turns Emma's life upside down and when Jeff discovers that the pregnancy isn't his, he goes ahead and divorces her causing Emma to leave New York. Four years later, Emma returned to the city that was both her home and haunted her, now accompanied by her twins. Yet, New York was no longer the sanctuary she had hoped for. Jeff, still powerful and relentless, set his sights on reclaiming her. As if fate itself toyed with her emotions, the father of her children, Sam, reentered her life, bringing with him a second chance at love and happiness. Emma now has to choose between reigniting the flames of her past with Jeff or forging a new path with Sam, Emma faced her most daunting choice yet, one that would redefine not just her future, but the lives of her children as well.

Everyday! Bryce Armstrong has bullied me for the last four years since I moved here in my ninth-grade year because ever since, I messed up his shoes! Well, it's a long story, but I ran into him on my first day and knocked all my food over his brand-new shoes. So ever since that incident, he started making my life a nightmare. Ever since that day, he hated me! So, one night, Williow goes to a party but needs to know whose house it is. But when her cousin Maryann tells her where they are going, Williow doesn't know whose house it is until she sees a familiar face on the wall of this house! Bryce Armstrong! The guy who hates her guts and he promised to make her life a living hell. What would happen if she woke up the following day with her face on a half-naked guy's chest? But what if the half-naked guy is no other than the guy who made his life mission in high school to make her life suffer, and he always told her he would enjoy it when he did? What would happen when willow grabs her shoes off the floor and slowly opens the door when she tries to walk out? Before she can do that, she hears something behind her. She gasped when she felt a hand wrapped around her waist and pulled back, and her back was on his hard stomach. "So, no kiss goodbye?" She heard his deep raspy chuckle behind her. She was caught! Now it's too late, and Her monster got her in his lair. The Story of The Girl Behind the Book! High School Bully Romance.

Andromeda Flare Constantine, the heiress of the highest mafia organization, found her twin in a critical condition after being shot by unknown people. Filled with rage and hunger for vengeance and justice, Andromeda filled in the shoes of her twin in order to find the culprit behind her twin's incident. However, as she stepped into the life of her twin sister, Andromeda wasn't prepared for a total twist in her life. For there, she met Vaun who showed her the thin line between hatred and love. The man who would melt away her fury and teach her how to foolishly love. But then, what Andromeda's reckless love had brought her was only a glint of happiness veiling massive darkness of shocking and painful history. Whom will she fight for? What will Andromeda end up to be when she's left with no choices but to yield? And so, this is the story of Andromeda, the mafia heiress of the Constantines.

My mom treated me like the dirt beneath her shoes but worshiped my cousin like a queen. Since I could walk, I had scrubbed clothes and cooked meals, but I would still be yelled at or smacked if I messed up. On the contrary, my cousin twirled in princess dresses and played the piano. She was cherished by my aunt and uncle like she was the center of their world. Then came the day everything changed. At my cousin's birthday party, my mom got drunk and spilled the secret—she switched me and my cousin at birth. It turned out that I wasn't her daughter; I was my aunt's daughter. I was over the moon. Finally, I thought I'd found my real family, people who might actually care about me. But when I told my aunt, she just smirked. "You think I didn't know? I don't want you. You'll never be my daughter." Her words hit me like a bucket of ice water. I couldn't understand. Why didn't anyone want me? But that day, I made a vow—I'd never beg for anyone's love again. Years later, when I got into Mayward University—the best educational institution in the country—I threw two DNA test reports on the table in front of them. For the first time, they both looked terrified.

"I never imagined that in my new environment, I would feel at ease, much less like I would fit in. Although I don't know where I'm going or how long I'll walk, I just want to live my life by reaching out to the people who matter. I've always thought the journey is long and exhausting, but as I wear these shoes, I feel strengthened "— Kiara Michaelson. "I've come to understand that, despite our best efforts, life often presents us with unexpected twists that we are forced to deal with. I had to accept and experience this twist because it was mine "— Ian Calloway ******** Meet Kiara Michaelson, a typical person who only wants to live peacefully and in the moment with the people she loves the most. But for some reason, she was trapped in a society where everything she did was watched, and everything she had ever worked so hard for could go in a matter of seconds. Ian Calloway is everyone's dream boyfriend and the nation's hero. Despite the advantages of his job, he longs for privacy and the ability to live quietly like everyone else, yet that goal in and of itself is unattainable. What happens when fate decides to play a tragic game with these two people after they encounter. Will they stand up for what they have each worked for and value, or will they give up? Join Kiara and Ian as they fight through life's ups and downs and discover what its true plan is for them.

Ahava Deene Madden was a 16 years old girl with special needs, she’s a girl who loves butterflies and anything that is in vibrant color. She is the only heiress of their family so every servant in their house was calling her young lady. She’s studying in a prestigious school under special education when she met a guy in an accident, she steps on his brand new shoes with poop causing him to piss off. After a month they met again in their school event while she’s crying, that guy helps her to find her butler. That day she’s confused why that guy she pissed off before is always playing and spending time with her until she feels an unfamiliar feeling that she doesn’t know. But she doesn’t know that this guy was suffering from a serious stage of brain cancer and his days are counted. What does Deene feel? Is she allowed to fell in love with her condition? Who is that guy making her feel special? Can both of them be happy?

“You should know by now, The more you run away, the more I feel attracted to you, Dunn," Mason's cold voice rings in my head for the ninth time. I never imagined that a slap could change my life forever A visit to the club changed my life when I met the man I wished I had never met, The man who became my boss. I became His Alluring Obsession. At the mention of his name, everyone composes themself if only the name doesn't send them onto their knees. Seeing only his shoes, Fear enters his employer's body. That was the man who became obsessed with me. A regretful meeting. Will Dunn be able to resist her attraction towards her ruthless boss? Will Dunn be able to convince herself that what she is feeling for him is not love?

"Take off your ring." His command settled deep in my bones. I shouldn’t be doing this. And yet… I slid the ring off my finger. He stood on the other side of the room, his face hidden in shadows, but I felt him—his presence wrapping around me like a dark temptation. "Take off your clothes." I obeyed, my fingers hesitating at the waistband of my underwear. "I didn’t tell you to touch that." So I stood there—shoes on, pants still clinging to my hips—while my engagement party continued just down the hall. His gaze burned through me, drinking me in. "God, Butterfly." His voice was a tortured whisper, and I ached to comfort him. "Crawl to me." The words settled over me like silk and steel. Slowly, on all fours, I obeyed… --- Alessandra has always been the family push over even when her father forces her into a marriage. She plays the role of the perfect fiancée—obedient, loyal, untouchable. Until she meets him. Jeremy’s best friend. A man just as powerful, just as dangerous—but with eyes that see right through her. A man who tempts her to break every rule, risk every consequence. They hate each other on sight. But hate is just another kind of heat, and the fire between them threatens to burn everything to the ground. Loving him could cost her everything. Resisting him might destroy her. Either way, she’s already ruined. ~~~~~ Trigger warning : Dark Romance, obsession, Forbidden Romance, Male lead is a bit mentally checked out...

Two distinct perspectives on the same past. Two contrasting people, yet they both want the same word: hope. Pryce grew up despising life because his father did something unexpected that scarred her till her adolescence. She believes that the only way to numb things was the toxic escapism she acquired in her youth, when she met a man who thinks differently than her yet shares his history. Will she change her outlook on life now that she knows someone has been in her shoes? or would she let the stillness to consume her?