Best New Directions Books

My best friend, Mia Sullivan, had gone abroad for three years. When she finally came back, she was in tears. She said she had been dumped by a scumbag, was pregnant, and had nowhere to go. I felt terrible for her, so I not only let her move into my house but also asked my husband, Hudson Darby, to take extra care of her. That was until I found a prenatal checkup receipt in the study. The patient was Mia, and the family member who had signed was Hudson. I worried I was jumping to conclusions, so I shoved it back and rushed out the door. After I got downstairs, I realized I had forgotten the files I needed for my meeting, so I headed back up. That was when I saw Hudson and Mia in each other's arms. "What if Charlotte finds out the baby I'm carrying is actually yours?" Mia asked. "Don't worry. Charlotte trusts us so much, there's no way she'll figure it out," Hudson replied. In that moment, the seven years of love I had given him instantly turned into a cruel joke.

Five years ago, the Gotti family, who were on the verge of bankruptcy, managed to rise from the ashes thanks to my investment. Eventually, they develop their company into a firearms company that's well-known in the west, and they earn over hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of profits annually. At the celebratory party, Elena Bellini, the HR manager who has only joined the company for less than a month, shows my photo and my salary. She then berates me for skipping out on work and stealing from the company. "Half a year ago, Valentina went missing for more than a month for no reason! Even when she's needed for work at the company, she's nowhere to be found! "Also, how can a bottom feeder like her afford to spend money at the high-end restaurants and malls?" Elena keeps her head raised high as she looks at me in disdain. "The reason why Valentina has disappeared is so that she can steal expensive items from the company and sell them to other clients! This photo of her stealing a bottle of red wine is the proof! "I strongly suggest that Valentina is to be dismissed on the spot! We can't let her continue breaking the company's rules!" I remain silent as I turn to look at Matteo Gotti, the CEO of the company. He knows that a bunch of robbers had stolen a batch of important products half a year ago. I was the one who had snatched everything back without a weapon under my arsenal, seeing as I had walked past the warehouse by coincidence at that time. Because of that, I ended up getting injured and had to spend a month just to recuperate. Matteo also knows that I've taken the red wine just to entertain the other mafia leaders, who happen to be the company's clients. That red wine isn't for my own consumption at all. But he has the nerve to chuck the folder away angrily before glaring at me coldly, as though I truly am a criminal. "Valentina Caruso, is Elena speaking the truth? You'd better explain yourself right now!" I just sneer at him in return. "I have nothing to say." The frightening reality and the outcome, which is obviously a failure, is the best explanation I've given them.

Diane is heartbroken after finding out that her best friend and her husband are having an affair. But that's not all. When she nearly dies in a car accident orchestrated by her former bestie, that claims the life of her unborn child, she realizes just how unsafe she is. She makes the tough decision to disappear and go abroad for a while with the help of Keith, the handsome man who found her at the accident scene and saved her life. The two fall in love in no time, and with his help, Diane heals from the trauma of everything that her ex-husband and ex-bestfriend had done to her. When she returns, she sets about living her best life and getting her revenge on her bestie and her ex-husband, who is still very much attracted to her and wants her back. Will Diane be so consumed by her need for revenge that she fails to see what is right in front of her, which is that she's slowly but surely driving Keith away with her thirst for revenge and her trauma from the past? Will a new enemy, who has suddenly popped out of nowhere, succeed in her malicious plans to destroy Keith and Diane’s budding relationship?

“Damien!!” I struggled against the cuffs, trying to free myself. “What the hell are you doing?” He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his voice calm. “Until you learn to behave, you’re staying exactly where I want you, Mon Cara.” *** Abandoned by her father to settle his debts, Tracey Luke never imagined her life would fall into the hands of the ruthless Mafia King, Damien Black. Thrown into his dark, dangerous world, Tracey quickly learns that survival is a game she must learn to play if she wants to escape. But as the days pass, she finds herself caught between fear and something she never expected to feel—compassion. When Tracey first meets Damien, he’s nothing like the monster she imagined. He is confined to a wheelchair, which makes him look more like a prisoner than a predator. With pity stirring within her, she decides to stay by his side and tend to his needs while secretly plotting her escape from his dangerous world. But, on the night she finally makes her move, everything changes.

Synopsis "Baby girl, you know there’s no going back after this, right?" he said, licking her lower lip and holding her head up. "If I fuck you right now," he said again, "that means you’ll be mine alone, and no one else is allowed to touch you. I’m the only one who gets to touch you like this." He said, spreading her thighs with his knee. She swallowed hard and looked at him. She was really doing this. She was a grown woman, and she was about to fuck the man who used to be her best friend. She wanted this so badly. She’d never wanted someone like this before. She regretted lying to him years ago—if she had given him a chance back then, she would have been enjoying this all along. "Do you want this, Claire Ema Carter?" he asked, staring at her juicy lips. "Yes, please… I want this." He smirked and licked her ear. "Fucking great," he murmured, before crashing his lips onto hers. --- He never saw her as just a friend from the start—she was always his woman, even if she didn’t know it. He had loved her for a long time. All he ever wanted was to own her, to be the only man she could see and love. But it took her years to realize how much she meant to him.

Six years ago, Tara was abruptly dumped by the man she loved—Kade. Soon after, she discovered she was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Abby. Now a single mother, Tara is desperate to save her sick child. When Abby develops a mysterious illness no doctor can explain, Tara moves to a new city in search of treatment—only to meet Soren Hawthorne, a powerful man who unexpectedly offers her help. Life finally seems to turn in her favor… Until the truth comes out. Abby is a half-wolf. Soren is an Alpha werewolf. And Tara is his fated mate—a human he can never accept as his Luna. Worst of all? Kade, the man who abandoned her, is Soren’s best friend. Fate has returned—and this time, it won’t let her go.

Fate most times fate plays a joke on us. We don't decide whom to love, and we sure don't decide when to fall in love. It all happens when we least expected. Being the most popular cheerleader in the school, Kira never expects to fall in love with the new guy in school. At first they clashed, but later on became friends. From being friends, she gradually started developing feelings for her best friend, feelings that weren't reciprocated as Edin doesn't feel anything for her, or so she thought. When she got betrayed by her female best from, Kira decides to leave the country in pursuit of her career while Edin stayed back to take over his family's business. Three years later, Kira is back. A chance meeting will bring the two best friends back to each other. But things can't be all that smooth for the two young lovers.

I made a mistake that could ruin me. I fell for a man I should’ve feared. At sixteen, I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Gianni Rossetti. My best friend’s father. A ruthless billionaire. A cold-blooded villain. A man twice my age, who could destroy me with a single look. For years, I was nothing to him—a silly girl with a foolish crush. But I couldn’t forget those icy blue eyes, the way his presence made the world feel small and dangerous. By the time I was twenty-one, I knew I should’ve walked away, left my fantasies behind. But then, one night, Gianni noticed me. And my world turned upside down. He didn’t just see me—he ‘claimed’ me. Every forbidden fantasy I’d ever had, he brought to life. He touched me, possessed me, made me feel things that shattered everything I thought I knew. With him, I wasn’t just a woman; I was ‘his’. But the deeper I fall, the darker it gets. Gianni’s world is filled with secrets, shadows that whisper of violence and betrayal. His past is more than just a dark history—it’s a deadly curse that threatens to consume us both. I knew he was dangerous, but I never imagined this. Now I’m trapped, caught in a web of desire and deceit, and the deeper I go, the harder it is to find my way out. But the worst part? I’m not sure I want to escape. Not if it means losing him.

My name used to be Misty Smith, but I killed her with the help of a family court judge in the city and became Sophia O’Shea. Okay, I became emancipated at sixteen because my parents were addicts, and the judge was nice enough to let me change my name because their addiction were slowly destroying my future. I bought my first car, got a single-wide trailer in a small town, sued a girl on my first day at my new school during my senior year, and became a billionaire genius before receiving my high school diploma. It's all thanks to my four grandparents leaving me everything before they bit the dust even though we've never met, and after becoming friends with the girl I sued on the first day of my senior year, I found out my high school crush, who moved back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his family after graduation, also had a crush on me. Only time will tell if it was meant to be or if it was just a phase. **WARNING: ADDICTION, DRUGS, VIOLENCE, PROFANITY, SEXUAL REFERENCES, AND OTHER ADULT CONTENT PRESENT! May not be suitable for readers under the age of 18! Please read at your own discretion!**

Triggers; Explicit s*xual content Forbidden/taboo romance —- “Don’t stop, Ethan… please.” Her voice cracked on a moan as his fingers dug into her thighs, spreading her wide in the dark truck. For years, eighteen-year-old Mia has been hopelessly in love with Ethan — her older brother Jake’s twenty-two-year-old best friend. To him she has always been “squirt,” the little sister he swore to protect. But now their parents are gone for two weeks, and Mia is no longer willing to stay invisible. She launches a slow, relentless seduction: tiny bikinis by the pool, lingering touches in the kitchen, whispered questions that make his body betray him. Ethan fights it with everything he has — the bro code, his girlfriend Sarah, and years of loyalty to Jake. Every time he almost gives in, guilt forces him to pull away. But when Mia starts making him jealous, the tension finally snaps. One explosive night in a dark, secluded spot, Ethan stops resisting. He pins her down and devours her completely — raw, desperate, and utterly consuming. Now the line has been crossed. And neither of them knows if they can ever go back.