Barbaric Proposal

Lana Harris has worked her entire life to inherit her father's company. She's been described as a loveless, workaholic ice queen with no life... But when a handsome new coworker catches her eye a fire is ignited inside her that has been lying dormant for some time. As her love life is heating up, so is her career. Her cold father makes her an offer she can't refuse, that is if she wants to become CEO. Will her father's proposal tear apart her newfound love and make Lana choose, the man of her dreams or everything she's ever worked for? ...

Coming from a prominent family of vampires, and as Prometheus’ only daughter, Luna Valentin is indeed living the princess's life. Since childhood, she was showered of everything beautiful and nothing but the best. However, her fate is already decided the moment she was born; she is bound to marry the Octavian’s one and only scion, Giovanni. Dominant, cold, and mysterious, everything opposite of the childish, naive, and innocent Luna. They are the ones fated to continue the legacy of the Valentin-Octavian bloodline. But everything seems to not go their way the moment Luna met this mystifying werewolf, Nero—with deep blue eyes, broad and irresistible physique, dominating aura— with its proposal to be its mate and lover. Secrets after secrets. Deaths after deaths. Vampires, Werewolves. Family feuds and betrayal. Let’s join Luna in her journey of unveiling every shadow of lies that covered her true identity, together with Giovanni and Nero, as they unravel the wonders of the Aerith Kingdom.

I was three months pregnant when my fiancé left me to marry his first love, Isabella Thompson. Soon after, I was in a car accident. I survived, but our baby didn't. My childhood friend, Daniel Smith, found out and insisted on marrying me despite his family's objections. He spent a fortune on the best doctors to ensure I recovered fully. Later, he arranged a grand proposal, confessing he had loved me for years. I was touched and agreed to marry him. But three years later, I overheard his conversation with his friend, Mike Perez. "Remember years ago when Isabella stole Jessica's fiancé? To avoid any future trouble for Isabella, you married Jessica and even caused that car accident, which killed the baby she was carrying. Now, can she even get pregnant anymore?" Mike asked. "No, I love Isabella," Daniel replied. "I just didn't want to have any babies with Jessica, so I put birth control in her water." I trembled, unable to believe what I had heard. It turned out Isabella was also Daniel's first love. I figured it was time for me to leave.

* "Marry Me! Stranger." I shout for the whole hall to hear and I pull him in for a deep kiss to the loud gasp of my supposed adopted parents at their first daughter's wedding. What is she doing?! Master cannot be kissed by just anybody! He'll have allergic reactions almost killing him! But what is he doing? He's holding her waist and pulling her further and kissing her back! * Samantha Stiles, denied of her marriage to her long time lover and boyfriend by a well planned and executed scheme by her mother and sister who claims to the world she is adopted, but a fact which remains unknown whether it's a lie or truth. Claude Whyte, a mega trillionaire who recently came to New York to attend an acquaintances wedding but a series of events which include a nightstand and a public proposal is making him stay back. For someone who can't kiss or touch just anybody, he seems quite comfortable with that cheeky woman kissing him in the public.

“Marry me.” Ashleigh Hartman froze. The CEO of Tixton Industries, Adrian Cagliari, had just offered her a deal that made no sense. “I’m sorry...what?” “It’s simple. A six-month marriage contract. You’ll get everything you need. I’ll get what I want.” **************** Ashleigh thought her life was predictable; she cleaned offices by day to save every penny for college, and stayed far away from public scrutiny. But one unsettling incident thrusts her into the attention of the powerful and mysterious man like Adrian Cagliari. Suddenly, she’s no longer invisible. Adrian’s proposal seems outrageous, but Ashleigh is cornered. With no real choice, she signs the contract... and steps into a world of ruthless business deals, hidden agendas, and secrets that could burn everything down and leave her more hurt than she started. How will the next six months go?

Cassian St. Clair, a businessman and the sole heir to a corporate empire, finds himself at an unexpected crossroads when his father announces that he can only assume control of the company when he finds an heir to carry on the family lineage. Pressured by time and the desire to meet the patriarch's expectations, Cassian embarks on an unconventional quest. It is in this moment of desperation that he encounters Emeraude, a young woman struggling to survive in a ruthless city. Unemployed and on the brink of eviction from her modest apartment, Emeraude seems to be the solution to Cassian's problems. He sees her as the perfect candidate to be the mother of his future child, the heir he so desperately needs. An unexpected proposal is made, and Emeraude is faced with a difficult choice: accept Cassian's offered pact to secure a financially stable future or forge her own uncertain path. As they embark on this unusual journey together, complicated feelings begin to surface, and what started as a convenience agreement becomes an intricate game of emotions.

Fernando hates the gold-diggers. He was traumatized by his ex-fiancee, who traded him for someone richer. Do you know what hurts more? His ex-fiancee traded him for his own father! Even if Fernando wanted to lose his temper and get angry, he chose to stay away. So he returned to Isla Marupok, where he met the beautiful but grumpy Carmelita. Most importantly, he discovered that she was a gold digger and was targeting the island's wealthy DOMs. That's when Fernando got the idea of taking revenge on all the gold-diggers, and his first victim was Carmelita. Fernando pretended to be a carried in the port and being poor. Before he could carry out his plan, he was surprised when Carmelita proposed to him. Fernando could not help doubting, but he continued to pretend and accepted the woman's proposal on one condition. What's that? Carmelita has to court him first.

Camilla's entire world shattered when her husband Nick Sinclair abruptly ended their three-year marriage, hurling divorce papers at her. His cruel, harsh words still echoed in her ears... "I'm done with this marriage. Get out of my house!" She always knew their arranged marriage was devoid of love, but she had clung to the possibility that he would one day grow to love her. However, the arrival of his first love, bearing a child she claimed was his, destroyed any lingering hopes and exposed the emptiness of their relationship. Fingers trembling, heart bleeding, she signed the divorce agreement. But the shock overwhelmed her just as she stepped outside Nick's mansion and she collapsed. Hours later, she awakened in the hospital, staring into the icy blue eyes of the stranger who saved her. ... Derek Donovan, New York's heartthrob and wealthiest billionaire CEO, had been searching for a way to deflect the media's attention from his status as a sought-after bachelor. In exchange for saving her life, he proposed a contract to Camilla: pretend to be his wife for three years to keep the press and paparazzi off. With no other options and no one to rely on, Camilla felt compelled to accept the proposal and sign the contract. But as they navigated the path of their fake marriage, the lines blurred. Derek's icy facade cracked, revealing a burning passion for Camilla. As Camilla's heart wavered, a shocking truth emerged: Derek's past hid secrets, and she was now entrenched in a deadly game of wealth, power, and deception. Will she risk everything to love again, or will the shadows of her past and the danger lurking in Derek's world destroy her forever? The contract has been signed, but the real stakes are only just beginning...

“What are you doing?” I heave, my breath hitched in my throat as I watch him slowly unbuckling his belt. “What does it look like I'm doing?” He tosses his belt away and unzips his pants. “I'm taking what's mine.” I gasp loudly when my eyes meet his huge shaft and I clench the sheets, my body flushing warm. “But... you can't.” “I can and I will,” he counters, hovering above me and tracing patterns up my inner thigh until his fingers graze my slit. He lowers his face to mine, his breath hot against my skin. “You became mine the moment you signed the contract. I own you and every inch of your body. And I'll claim it all, starting now. Now be a good girl and spread your legs for me.” *** Rayne's wedding day turns to chaos when a pregnant woman storms in and reveals her fiancé, Henry is the father of her unborn child. Fed up with Henry's neverending betrayal, Rayne becomes vengeful and lets herself loose in the arms of a stranger—Liam Everhart, New York's most elusive billionaire hearthrob and her boss whom she's never met. When Henry finds out about her one night stand, he throws her out on the streets and cuts her off financially. Desperate, penniless and with her health on the line, Rayne is forced to accept Liam's unexpected offer—a contract marriage that will secure her financial future and give Liam an edge over his rival cousins for the control of the Everhart family empire. But Rayne soon realizes that Liam's proposal comes with a very steep price: her freedom, heart, soul and her peace of mind, all of which are threatened by the ruthless power struggle within the Everhart family.

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing