Best Early 2000s Romance Movies Novels & Stories

Mumbai. The city of dreams. Shining bright with impressive skyscrapers, glamorous filmstars, and glittering malls. Standing tall on the shimmering coast of the Arabian Sea. Everywhere Sun hits here, this city dazzles. But beneath this warm dazzle, there is another Mumbai. The cold Mumbai. The dark Mumbai. The stronghold of the mafia. Where narrow alleys are splattered with gun-powder and blood. Where lives are discarded like tissue papers. Where an obscene amount of money circulates unaudited. And since years now, this formidable underworld is under Lala Amarnath Vaghela's thumb. The powerful mafia kingpin who started his ascent from the slums of Dharavi years back, today he controls most of the Indian subcontinent's illegal dealings and organized crime with an iron fist. But not without help. Kunal Ranjan Vaghela. Lalaji's grandson and his heir apparent. Apple of his grandfather's eyes, he is calculative, sly, and cold-blooded. Samar Jagtap. Lalaji's ruthless and cunning protege. Indispensable, he is as unapologetic as they come in this business. Everything is working smoothly in Lalaji's world. Like a well-oiled machine. Or is it? Because apart from sharing Lalaji's trust, apparently these two capable young men also share an undisguised hatred for each other. Not above playing dirty in this high-stakes arena, both are merely bidding their time to tear one another down. But no matter who emerges the winner out of the two, there is someone who will only lose. A torn heart that refuses to take sides. A girl who dared to love them both. Stubborn and loyal-to-a-fault Maahi. Full name Maahi Ranjan Vaghela. Kunal Vaghela's beloved baby sister. And the beautiful confusion of Samar Jagtap's life.

Year three of hiding who I was and dating Jenny Knapp, my parents finally said yes to the marriage. I rushed home, ready to tell her—then froze outside the door. Jenny was inside with Nolan Cruz, her childhood friend. "My neighborhood's about to get redeveloped. Big payout. You can finally dump that loser and be with me. If my family hadn't gone broke, you wouldn't have settled for him." No pause. "I'll tell him my family's drowning in debt so we can break up. Then I'll register the marriage with you right away." The words on my tongue died. I pushed the door open. She turned to me, face tight. "My family owes $500,000. I don't want to drag you down. Let's break up." "Sure." I pulled out my phone and texted my dad. [Dad, don't transfer those three buildings to Jenny. Cancel the South Borevia redevelopment project.] If she thought we were worlds apart, I'd show her exactly where I stood.

I gave up everything to become a housewife—all for Tristan Fowler and our daughter. But ever since his first love got divorced, everything has changed. Tristan despises me, and my daughter orders me around like a maid. Crushed, I sign the divorce papers, give up everything, and leave for a faraway place. So why are they the ones now full of regret?

My CEO wife insists on taking a young, fresh intern under her wing. She wants to train him personally. She says to me, "Don't overthink this. I just value his potential." She's always been stern and stoic, but she starts dressing in pink and pulling her hair back in high ponytails. On our third wedding anniversary, she and the intern even willfully disappear for 48 hours. When others are searching for her like mad, she shares photos of her riding a carousel and holding cotton candy. She captions them, "I found the purest of joys in the most joyful of places—all because of you!" Our company loses a huge project because of this, and I lose my wife. I slip a divorce agreement between the pages of the intern's application to become a permanent staff member. My wife signs it without even looking and says, "Knowing what Elliot can do, he's more than capable of carrying out the role of a vice president." I calmly hand her my resignation. "You're right. That's why I'll make way for him."

At my own wedding, the groom switched—Malcolm Lowell bailed, and the best man stepped in. Lumi, the Irving's real daughter, latched onto Malcolm's arm and smirked from the crowd. "I was just feeling a little low," she said. "Didn't think Malcolm would go this far for me." Malcolm raised a brow. "I just wanted to make her happy. You took her spot for years. Time to pay it back. This is for your own good." That's when it hit me—this whole wedding was a setup, a twisted show just to entertain Lumi. All because I was the adopted one. I'd lived in her place for over two decades. I didn't cry. Didn't freak out. I just took the new groom's hand, faced the priest, and said, "Keep going."

He is a 10 but he is a decade older than me, my brother’s best friend, a therapist who wants to counsel me and... he likes to hurt little girls like me. “What were you doing this morning?” “I was meditating.” He is right. I am a terrible liar. Aiden raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?” He waited for my answer, crossing his arms over his chest. I got distracted by the way his biceps bulged. He noticed me staring. I glanced down at my lap, twiddling my thumbs. “Y-yes, Doctor Aiden, I was meditating and I-I focused on my breath like you taught me—” “Why are you lying to me, Ivy?” My head snapped at him. “I-I am not lying.” Aiden tilted his head and my throat went dry when he said, “Then why did I hear your voice moaning my name when you orgasmed with your fingers inside you?" He is her first love. She is his best friend's little sister. Will a chance reunion lead to true love? I was a good girl. An honor student. A dutiful daughter, sister and a sweet girlfriend to my boyfriend until I found him in my best friend’s bed. I didn’t want goody-two-shoe nice boys who gave me empty promises. What I wanted was a man who wouldn’t hurt me. When I found my brother’s best friend, Aiden Stone, with only a towel around his hot Greek body dripping wet from a shower, I decided that what I wanted, what I had been wanting for years, was him. The only problem? He is a decade older than me, my brother’s best friend, a therapist who wants to counsel me and... he likes to hurt little girls like me.

"I won’t say it twice you’re mine, or you die like the rest of your family." *************** He killed her brother. Erased her name from the legacy she once called home. Now, he claims her like a prize. Isabella Russo never wanted a part in her family’s brutal empire. She escaped the bloodshed and betrayal, choosing a quiet life free from the shadows of the mafia. But her past catches up to her in the form of Damian Vercetti—the man who reduced her world to ash. He says her brother betrayed him. That her family deserved what came. Now they’re gone... and Isabella is the last Russo left. To Damian, she’s leverage. A pawn. A possession. To Isabella, he’s the monster from her nightmares and the boy she once trusted. But when vengeance collides with obsession, and hate begins to twist into something darker, Isabella is forced to face the man who destroyed her life… and decide if she can survive him—or if part of her doesn’t want to. Power. Pain. Passion. In a world built on blood, love might be the deadliest sin of all.

The fake heiress, Jean Shore, has left a suicide note prior to taking her own life. In the note, she claims that I'm the one who killed her. In order to make me admit my crime, my parents has sent me to an institution as a human test subject. Every day, I'm forced to endure inhuman torture of all sorts. Needless to say, I'm in so much pain that I choose to secretly take some poison in order to kill myself. But my enraged older brother, Sebastian Shore, saves my life. With bloodshot eyes, he yanks me by the hair while yelling at me. "The pain that you've gone through isn't even a thousandth of the pain Jean had endured! You don't have the right to die!" I can only obey Sebastian numbly. But soon, I get sent to the restricted area. There, my belly swells with life, only for me to lose it some time later. Finally, I've learned my lesson and become docile. No matter what anyone asks me, I keep admitting that I'm a vile woman who has killed Jean. My parents burst into delighted tears. Sebastian can't wait to have me sent to the court, where I will be sentenced for my crime. He tells me, "As long as you admits your crime and go through the punishment, we'll forgive you." I say yes in an obedient manner. I know that my family wants me to be sentenced to death. But what they don't know is that I can't live long enough for the death sentence to be carried out.

There's nothing more shattering than hearing that you're signed off as a collateral to marry in order to clear off your uncle's stupid debts. "So this is it" I pull the hoodie over my head and grab my duffel bag that is already stuffed with all my important stuff that I need for survival. Carefully I jump down my window into the bushes below skillfully. I've done this a lot of times that I've mastered the art of jumping down my window. Today is different though, I'm not coming back here, never! I cannot accept marrying some rich ass junkie. I dust the leaves off my clothe and with feathery steps, I make out of the driveway. A bright headlight of a car points at me making me freeze in my tracks, another car stops and the door of the car opens. There's always only one option, Run!

Matthew Guerrero is the youngest son of a Mafia boss. He is a hot-headed man who always lets his fists act before his brain. But on the day he almost died at the hands of a treacherous client of his family, a man saved him—and that man was none other than Kaizer, someone who drifts from job to job. Their paths cross again when Kaizer becomes a bodyguard for the Guerrero family. Even though Kaizer once saved Matthew’s life, the two of them still constantly clash, both inside and outside the Guerrero mansion. Yet as time goes by, they slowly come to understand each other, and no one can separate these two men—through hardship and joy, they are always together. They get kidnapped together, shot together, end up in the hospital together, and even suffer food poisoning together from the street food they ate. After everything painful they have gone through, they are always side by side. Until little by little, what they feel for each other begins to change. Matthew thinks at first that it is just because Kaizer is his friend, but he realizes that what he feels for the man who is always with him is something far deeper. It is not easy for them to confess their feelings to each other before finally becoming a couple and doing the things only couples do. But behind those happy moments, Kaizer is hiding a secret—one that will shatter Matthew’s heart and world. A secret he has kept hidden for so long, one that will eventually explode and damage their love: a love born from trust and true affection… and lies.