Better Than Before Lynn Painter

The fifth year of my marriage to Silas marked a turning point I would never forget. Our son, Yael, was kidnapped. The ransom was set at ten million dollars, an insignificant amount for Silas, yet his response chilled me to the core. “No rush. A Gardner needs to experience some hardships to grow.” Ten million meant nothing to him, but Yael’s life meant everything to me. I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face, and begged him relentlessly, pleading for Yael to be brought home as soon as possible. Silas, however, remained unmoved. Three days later, Yael was returned to us, but the cheerful boy I knew was gone. He had been so traumatized that he could not speak. Far from showing concern, Silas coldly remarked, “Yuna said Yael keeps telling everyone at school she’s a fatherless child. Let’s see how he spreads lies now.” His words cut through me like a knife. I picked Yael up in my arms and whispered softly in his ear, “Don’t be afraid, Yael. Mommy will take you away from here.”

He rescued her and now he can't let her go... Giovanni de Luca, a Beverly Hills born mobster climbing the ladder to success. He will do anything to protect his family and ensure their successful name throughout L.A. When he meets Rosalia Bernardi, a gorgeous young woman from Palermo, things change dramatically. It's not only him and his family he has to protect now but also the young life of Rosalia. The pair commence a rollercoaster ride they can't seem to get off especially because Giovanni is in the Mafia.

When Cali Olwen, the only werewolf with a gift gets sent out of her pack, life becomes a living hell without control over her powers. But what happens when she meets the cold hybrid that everyone talks about. The one people feared because he was half demon. What happens when she finds out he was given to her by the moon goddess and his sister is the key to unlocking her hidden powers and how to control them. Will she be able to run from the devil or succumb to his touch of ecstasy. Read IN HER EYES to find out.

Vera Lee, an introverted yet lonesome bibliophile who writes for a living, meets Jackson Young, her charming yet secretive next door neighbor on an online book auction of Stephen King's The Shining. The two enter into a last minute bidding war making Vera take matters into her own hands by convincing Jackson to give up. Vera's life changes when Jackson starts to make her heart flutter and race as their lives continue to intertwine. But the secrets he keep are holding her back. With the pandemic going on, is it even wise to enter into a relationship? For someone who's been alone her whole life, can she risk her heart in the middle of the pandemic?

When Esme Ames, a 22-Year-old virgin ends up on a nightstand, with a stranger, after seeing her step-sister Raina in bed with her boyfriend of three years Titus. Her life takes a turn for worse when her one-night stand partner turns out to be Cassian Van, the biggest controller of all corporate business, and the biggest don in the underworld. He takes her to be nothing and sends her away with a billion dollars, asking her to never appear in front of him. What happens when Esme gets pregnant with Cassian Van's child and when Cassian finds out that Esme is not like the other women he's met?

"My life was ash. Burned to the ground. Razed with no chance of rebuilding.Empty.Alone.Just as I had to be.No one else was going to get hurt because of me. No more deaths.For years I’ve secluded myself, stayed in the darkness, and tried to melt into the background. Hiding in plain sight.Taking a new job, working in close confines with a new partner, is risky, and I thought I was up to the task. So I hide behind a mask of my own making, a façade for the world.The problem is, I can’t stop thinking about my new partner. I hate her, but I crave her like she’s the most intoxicating thing I’ve ever encountered.It’s maddening, but I need to stay away. I have to stay away.I can’t love anyone ever again."

Ariel Young finally had her life together. She graduated from a prestigious University in New York and finally landed her dream job.Well...not exactly THE job. Her goal is to start from the bottom and work her way up to become the Executive member of the company. To achieve that goal, she decided to accept the job as the assistant of the CEO at the company. A narcissistic nightmarish of a person who became determined to make her his woman.Find my interview with Goodnovel: https://tinyurl.com/yxmz84q2

PART 1: ANA AND AMBROSE Analyn is a human in a world full of werewolves. Her family is one of the last remaining holdouts to their violent takeover, but all she wants to do is live in peace away from the fierce beasts. But her father has other plans. Using her as a pawn in the name of peace, he arranges for her to marry the notorious future Alpha of the Lightbridge Shadows, only the strongest pack in North America. Despite his young age, Ambrose has built the reputation of a ruthless and ferocious wolf who showed no mercy. He doesn't want anything to do with Ana because he finds humans weak and useless. But his father had other plans for Ambrose's future as the Alpha. Now she has to pretend to be the perfect happily wedded wife on the outside while she's married to Ambrose, who hated her on sight. But Analyn isn't one to just meekly follow the rules, and she's determined to push all of his buttons. PART 2 and 3: Bonus stories.

"My will to live is weak.By all accounts, I should be dead, but somehow I made it through. Broken, battered, and barely hanging on, I’m forced to rely on the man who destroyed me. Recovery is a long road, and I’m not sure I can take it by his side, so I punish him, refusing to grant forgiveness.But it’s still there—the spark. That incessant pull that I can’t escape.The deepest scars of our hearts spill out. All the secrets we kept locked away are laid bare.Everything is different. Time is running out.All the infractions are catching up to us."

Growing up in the orphanage Amanda knew she was different. Labeled crazy and unadoptable because of the voice in her head. Her 18th birthday finally meant freedom. Moving to a small town as far away as she could afford and getting a job as a waitress. When the weekend crowd comes in she finds out the voice is much more.