Book Review Still Life Novels & Stories

On New Year's Eve, the smell of a roast in the oven drifted through the house. My grandmother walked over to me, with an old photograph in her hand, the edges worn soft with age. "Is Zack almost home?" My throat tightened. It had been three years. She could never remember that my younger brother was long gone. I was the one who picked up his ashes. At that moment, my phone rang. The moment I saw the name on the screen, the blood in my veins seemed to freeze. I stepped out onto the balcony before answering, keeping my voice low. "What is it?" The voice on the other end of the line trembled. "It's been three years. Are you still angry? I've been waiting for you to come home. Our son has, too. We're downstairs." Downstairs? I walked over and looked down to see a tall figure and a small one standing together. Through my phone, my son's voice came with a catch in his throat, saying, "Daddy…" My thoughts snapped back into place. I said flatly, "We've been divorced for a long time. He said he didn't want to stay with me." Then, I hung up without another word.

"I rather get dragged in the mud with chains by moving horses or be beaten with a club with nails on it than lose my virginity to you," she spat, looking at him with hate in her eyes, hoping her eyes conveyed the degree of contempt she felt when she spat out the words. Anger and disbelief flashed in his eyes. She was going to be the first woman that would ever reject him, and in such a preposterous manner. He stood up and went over to her while she gummed her back to the wall, having no other room to step back. He gripped her chin with his strong palm, forcing her to look at him, his wicked grey eyes bore into her hazel ones. "What if it's your only ticket to freedom?" "As I said, I rather die." He quickly shoved her onto the bed and she scooted away as he moved towards her. "I am Eros Castillo, leader of the El dragon gang, you dare not reject me, nobody rejects me," he said in a low husky voice, his eyes five shades darker, his countenance grim and dangerous.

"What happens when you meet a tall and handsome elf king who has saved your life but kill your temper?" ~*~*~*~ "I'm more of a man in this house. Why can't you let me be on top?" Sean asked with a pout. Oswin groaned, rolling his eyes and wondering just how much more innocent Sean could be. "It takes a heavy responsibility to be the top," he replied. "Responsibility? Then it's perfect. I'm making more money, cooking,..." "Sean. I'm talking about things like stretching and penetrating," Oswin explained as he ignored the bulge in his pants. "Do you even have experience?” “Then teach me, your majesty.” “With pleasure.” ~*~*~*~ It all starts when the elf king, Oswin Alvingham, mysteriously gets stuck in the human realm and loses his powers. As he roams the unfamiliar一dirty and low class if he is to describe Earth, he stumbles into Sean Cooper, a fresh graduate, and a full-time table-waiter, who gets bullied in the alley. Though Oswin's magical power is lost, his physical strength remains invincible. When he rescues Sean, the latter decides to take him in as gratitude. And that is where the mess begins. How can the king of the elf cope with his new life? How can Sean convince himself not to be evil enough to kick his savor out of his house? Most importantly, how do an average mortal and the noble upper-class immortal live together under the same roof and on the same bed? ~*~*~*~* P.S: 1) This book contains mature and explicit 18+ scenes. 2) It also contains little graphic violence in some chapters, but I'll put a warning on the top of those chapters. 3) The ELF here is inspired by Lord of The Ring Series. Therefore, they are tall, slender and beautiful. Not tiny little beings like in children fairy tales.]

My best friend, Mila Clarke, falsely accused my father and my family for betraying the pack and killing the warriors. I kneeled before my husband, Alpha Leon Black, and begged him to have faith in my father. But he merely gazed at me coldly no matter how hoarse I've gone from crying. Even my own pup, Lucas Black, berated me. "I feel ashamed of you and your family! You're not worthy to become my mother!" Later on, I got cast out to the barren plains surrounding the border. Six years later, Leon and Lucas want to take me home. But I already have a new pup, a new mate, and a new home here.

Three days into the silent treatment, Derrick—my fiancé and CEO—greenlit his assistant's pitch for a self-driving road trip. He expected me to flip, like always. I didn't. A month later, he came back and saw it—I wasn't the same. He backed Molly, stole my project, and thought I'd explode. I didn't. I just helped her draft the proposal. He trashed everything I built, just so she could snag her year-end bonus. I didn't fight back. Took the blame, took the hit. Molly was all smug. "See? Told you. You can't go at Yara head-on. Give her the silent treatment—she folds. She's scared of losing you. That's why she's playing nice." Derrick ate it up. Called her smart. Then he pulled me aside—offered a raise, a promotion, even a fancy wedding. First time he'd ever brought it up. But he missed one detail: he'd already signed off on my resignation while he was off playing road trip king. And I'd already dumped him. That was it. Clean cut. Nothing left.

Her name is Luna. No one sees her except her twin sister. She envies her twin sister's life, although their parents never failed to tell her they love her even though they can't see her. Luna was in total darkness while her twin sister had the life she wanted to be. She wanted to be as happy as her twin sister, but how? She's invisible. The thought depresses her so much that it leads her to run away from the palace. However, she accidentally fell into the portal, going to other dimensions that she didn't know existed. She doesn't know how to come back to her world. Later on, she accepts her fate and lives a life of being in different places, especially when something strange happens to her. She misses her family so much, but how could she come back? Will she remain forever in different dimensions? Will she survive alone? Unexpectedly, a twist happened. Leena, twin sister of Luna, fell into the portal too when she learned that her twin sister accidentally fell into the mysterious portal tree. However, fate never let them see each other and she's gone to a different dimension. The twins face a different path. Will Leena find Luna? Will they reunite again?

Sophia Ivanov Loosing my mother at the age of 16, the only person out of my parents who showered me with love, being left behind with the person who hated me. I always thought it was because I was a girl but he never looked at my baby sister Lucy with the look of disgust on his face. He always had the look of adoration and affection in his eye's whenever he looked at my brother's and Lucy. At he age of 20, my wedding was ambushed by a mafia, my husband killed in between the crossfire and me being rushed to the hospital.Waking up in that hospital I wasn't the same giddy Sophia. I started training, getting better then my brother's. Papa giving me extra attention then my brother's, taking me on mission's with him. Papa never let my brothers go on mission's. That was our father and daughter time. Killing people in cold blood without any remorse. Years went past and my older brother Alessandro died. A nother person I held dearly to my heart being ripped away from me. That same year Papa stepped down as the Don of the Russian mafia, handing the responsibility over to me. Taking the Russian mafia to the next level, continuing papa's legacy but ten times better. I was worse then papa was and people feared me more then papa. I was a Ivanov, this was my destiny but as the years went past, mafia's got fearless because papa got old and they thought papa was still the Don. Mafia's who got bold enough, to threaten my family and my mafia. I took care of them one by one but what I never expected was to find out the truth about my family, about everything I thought I knew my whole life.

On her 18th birthday, Tina Rodriguez will be the CEO of her deceased parents' corporation. It's what she's been working towards her whole young life. But it's not the only thing she was bound to inherit. Soon enough, Tina finds herself stuck between two worlds, both claiming her as their own. The only one she can rely on is Haneul, the handsome angel who has secrets of his own.

Book 2 Two years after the death of her mate, Lamia has returned to MacTire and built herself an empire. A war is coming, one that threatens all the kingdoms. she needs to work with all kingdoms to defeat the evil that threatens to change the way of life for shifters and mankind alike. When she crosses paths with the ruthless and cold King of the bears, who is holding her beloved father prisoner, she finds herself challenging him for her father’s life. There’s just one problem. Lamia isn’t a fan of bear shifters and he’s her second chance mate. With no other choice she makes a deal with the ruthless king, she is dead set on rejecting, but first she has to survive the storm that’s coming. Mathias Artos, the unforgiving and cold blooded King of the bears and ruler of Lonely City, a place where the scourge of the realm come to find respite, fortune and misguided happiness, was never destined to find another mate. He wasn’t interested in taking a chosen queen; he preferred his harem of women. Until, the Moon Goddess sent him a she-wolf he didn’t want her nor need. Or so he thought. When an old ally of the bear-shifters helps them discover who they really are, can they work together to take on the powerful man who is behind the army that is sweeping the realm and wiping out whole packs? When past and present collide Lamia and Mathias are forced to work together to unite all shifters in a bid to defeat the evil that is coming for them. Can Lamia and Mathias survive each other and work together to bring down a common enemy, or will their pride get in the way becoming their downfall.

Varun, an 18-year-old introvert steps into college to fulfill his dreams with the hope of finding himself and making new memories. But his whole life turns upside down when he meets her, she who makes him a completely different person, she who brings out the best in him, she who treats him like he deserves to be. But does she love him?