Booker Prize Winners Novels & Stories

She spent six years loving him. Six years planning forever. But on the eve of her dream wedding, Adrianna Rodriguez is forced to watch it all shatter, her groom, Damien Blackwood, is marrying someone else. Not just anyone. Her dying sister. Katherina’s final wish? To wear the dress Adrianna was supposed to wear and to marry the man she thought was hers. It was supposed to be a sacrifice. It felt like betrayal. Offered half of Damien’s empire as compensation, Adrianna is left broken into pieces and silenced. But broken hearts don’t stay quiet forever. What happens when love demands too much? When family guilt disguises cruelty? When forgiveness is no longer an option? In a world of twisted loyalty and secrets buried as sacrifice, Adrianna must choose walk away quietly… or turn heartbreak into revenge. Extract “She wants to marry me,” Damien said, his voice thick with emotion. “It’s her last wish.” Adrianna’s breath caught in her throat. The perfect wedding, the life they had planned, the vows they were going to say all seemed to fall apart in front of her. “My wedding,” she whispered, her voice trembling with heartbreak, “was supposed to be our day.” Damien stepped closer, desperation in his eyes. “I’m offering you half my properties. Two million dollars. I want you to understand… this isn’t just about money. It’s about family.” Her jaw clenched. Anger began to burn inside her like a wildfire. “Compensation? Is that what I am to you? A deal? A consolation prize?”Something you can pay off?”

HE’S THE FRAGILE OMEGA THE PACK WANTS TO BREAK. HE’S THE REBEL SAFETY WHO REFUSES TO LET HIM FALL. Castel “Cass” Castillo had the perfect life—until the night he walked into his dorm and found his boyfriend, the star quarterback, tangled in the sheets with his roommate. In a city of wolves, Cass is suddenly left with nothing but his pride and a target on his back. When the pack’s enforcers come looking for the runaway Castillo, he doesn’t run to his fathers. He runs to the one male he was warned to fear: Lucas “Luke” Navarro. Luke is everything the pack despises—a gritty, cynical safety who lives for the cold iron of the rink and the secrets he keeps in his shadowed apartment. He knows better than to open his door to a Castillo. He knows that harboring an omega on the run is a death sentence, especially when that omega is claimed by a rival. But when Cass leans into his palm, his skin burning against Luke’s calloused, hockey-scarred hands, the predatory instinct in Luke’s blood overrides every rule of survival. They are worlds apart—one sheltered and broken, the other hardened by the brutal reality of the ice. But in the silence of the Navarro Ridge, the line between hate and hunger blurs. As the pack hunts for blood and Brandon Cole makes his move to reclaim his prize, Luke realizes he hasn’t just taken in a roommate. He’s claimed a mate. And in a world where the cold bites, they are about to start a fire that will consume them both. BETRAYAL IS THE WOUND. OBSESSION IS THE CURE. BUT IN THE GAME OF WOLVES, WINNING MIGHT COST EVERYTHING.

*If I become extraordinary enough, maybe he will finally love me.* Evelina Calder spent two years trying to earn her husband’s love. She became the perfect wife. Quiet. Loyal. Invisible. While secretly working nights on the architectural project she believed would finally make Julian Sterling proud enough to claim her publicly, Evelina held onto that desperate hope. But on the night of their second anniversary, Julian walks into her studio, drops divorce papers over her life’s work, and tells her he’s marrying another woman instead. Aria Vance. Beautiful. Powerful. Everything Evelina was trying to become. Humiliated and heartbroken, Evelina signs the divorce papers and disappears from the Sterling world carrying a secret Julian never knew about: She’s pregnant with his child. While Julian and Aria become the most celebrated couple in the city, Evelina struggles alone, determined to rebuild her life without anyone’s pity. But when she wins the world’s most prestigious architecture prize and becomes the youngest woman in history to claim the five-hundred-million-dollar award, the quiet wife Julian discarded suddenly becomes the woman everyone wants. Especially his older brother. Dominic Sterling sees Evelina long before the rest of the world does. He sees the brilliance beneath her silence, the strength beneath her pain, and the woman Julian failed to value until it was too late. Now Julian wants her back. But the wife he abandoned is gone. And the woman who rose from the ruins may never belong to him again.

We share a world with beings not all like us, a world protected by old magic. In this Archipelago live the shifters; Lion, Wolf, Reptile, and Flyer. Each island is a perfect ecosystem for the prominent race of the land. Tropical, yes, but also filled with woods, deserts, jungles, and grasslands. Shifters here are destined to find their true mates in the fated unions of the islands. But if never found, they take their chosen mates. Creating stronger bonds and warriors all around. With this peace, The Archipelago is ruled by a beautifully regal Queen and her fated court. Together families are larger, stronger, and more loyal. The only one who seeks power and wants to rule over both worlds, The Shadow Warrior. His Shadow Clan army will stop at nothing to rule over all the shifters and even the humans. His plan, though bold, intertwines with the prophecy of the Queen.  A prophecy exists, but few know its true meaning. The Shadow Warrior has lived before and will rise again. He will stop at nothing to claim his prize, the Queen of the Shifters with amethyst eyes, but will he succeed? The Lion Queen, Kimarhi, is about to face the challenges of prophecy and fate. After losing her family, her path is set to rule over Lion Island. Little does she know finding love and destiny will set her crown in a blaze. She is passionate about the fight and willing to die for her people. But the love of her fated is strong, and it empowers her to become something more fierce. Channeling strength and the skill of her love, feeling the pull of the bond, and accepting her destiny. Will she win in the end, or will the hands of dark forces destroy her home and heart?

After the War of the Gods, Olympus forged a new pact with the last of the Titans. From then on, the mortal realm was ruled by demigods. Those who carried the blood of the gods within them. Once a century, Olympus held the Sacred Marriage. The twelve ruling gods would choose mortal noblewomen as brides. Their goal: to sire heirs with divine cores. The rule was simple: whoever birthed a demigod first would see her husband crowned the next High Councilor of the Gods. In my past life, I married Deimos, the son of Ares, a man renowned for his fierce devotion. Soon after, I gave him a son—a demigod brimming with raw power. A prophecy declared our boy would one day rule Olympus, and Deimos rode that promise to absolute power. Meanwhile, my sister Evadne, blinded by the beauty of the Sun clan, insisted on marrying Lucian, Apollo's playboy heir. But Lucian's philandering left her with more than a broken heart. He gave her a divine blight, a curse that left her barren. She blamed me for it. She hated me with every fiber of her being. On the very night I was crowned Queen of the Gods, she set the holy temple ablaze, burning me and my son alive. Then I opened my eyes. I was back on the day of the Sacred Marriage. Evadne had already broken into the temple and climbed into Deimos's bed. I knew it right then. She had been reborn, too. But she didn't know the truth. The blood of the War God is violent. Deimos wasn't a prize to be won. He was a monster in disguise.

Eira Thornwind has spent four years hiding the most dangerous secret in the shifter world—her wolf, Veyla, awakened at fourteen, two years earlier than any shifter in recorded history. Ancient, powerful, and carrying memories that don’t belong to this age, Veyla marks Eira as a prize any alpha would wage war to claim. Only her parents and a pair of trusted elders know the truth, and they intend to keep it that way. Now, with Eira’s eighteenth birthday approaching—the age when shifters can finally sense their fated mate—the annual Summit of the High Packs arrives on Crescent Fang land. Politics, competition, and centuries-old grudges simmer beneath the surface. Among the visiting delegations is Kalen Draven, the newly risen Alpha of the Ironshade Pack. Ruthless. Respected. Scarred by a past that forged him into a weapon. He expects manipulation, strategy, and power plays. He does not expect the Alpha’s daughter to strike him like a bolt of silver fire. Eira wants nothing to do with him. She doesn’t trust the cold Alpha with predator’s eyes, and she certainly doesn’t trust the way her ancient wolf stirs whenever he enters a room. Their packs are enemies. Their futures are already tangled with responsibility. But fate has its own design. Something old stirs beneath their feet. And a bond forged in silver flames may be the only thing that can save—or destroy—the shifter world. A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers shifter romance filled with prophecy, danger, forbidden power, and a connection neither of them is ready for.

"This game of yours is barbaric. How dare you make me play it?" Karen's anger rose again as she realized it was his own fault for being sore, tired, and bleeding. She could have died if it had not been for that asshole guy. "I suggest you take your finger out, Karen, and speak to me in a more respectful manner," Xavier warned. She finally lowered her hand, but she wouldn't back down. What he had done was unacceptable. "Why did you leave me to fight those werewolves if all that senseless bloodshed was to find a mate? I'm a hybrid, half-wolf! Obviously I shouldn't be there," she said angrily. "I have my reasons," he replied lightly. "Damn it!" she grabbed his fur again to make sure. ****************************************************** Karenina Mason, a headstrong and independent young woman, is not just an ordinary human-she is a rare hybrid with a powerful lineage. Unknowingly, she becomes entangled in a perilous game of political intrigue, where the coveted prize is to become the mate of the enigmatic and all-powerful Alpha of Westwood. Karenina resists this unwanted destiny, but fate seems insistent on thrusting her into this union. In her vulnerable state, Karenina finds herself surrounded by adversaries, and her once-trusted friends remain beyond her reach. Forced to rely on Xavier Westwood, a mysterious and captivating figure with his own hidden agenda, Karenina is drawn into a world of danger and desire. As they navigate the treacherous path together, an intense attraction grows between them, unraveling long-concealed secrets that should have remained locked away-secrets that may unleash powers too volatile to control.

My brother-in-law, Timmy Lynch, racks up 50 million dollars of illegal gambling debt but leaves my contact information behind. By the time the interest snowballs to 100 million dollars, the debt collectors show up at my doorstep. After I persuade them to leave, my wife, Celia Lynch, and my mother-in-law, Meryl Unwin, finally come out of the room. Celia's face is pale as she says, "Let's get divorced. I'd rather leave with nothing. Your gambling debts are your own problem, so don't even think about dragging me into this." No matter how many times I explain that it was Timmy who bet on an underdog team and lost, she refuses to believe me. Meryl even slaps me across the face and roars, "Not only are you trying to trick my daughter into paying your debt, but you're also slandering my son? Listen to me, Celia—divorce him immediately!" Then, she turns to me and says, "I might as well tell you the truth now. Celia is pregnant, and the baby's father is your buddy. Just give up already and sign the divorce papers." Wait, what? I literally just won a 100-million-dollar prize from winning a World Soccer Tournament bet last night. I was going to ask if they need help covering Timmy's debt. How did this suddenly turn into a full-on divorce? Fine, then. They can pay back his massive debt themselves.

“If you leave this palace tonight, you become prey” Lyra Vale got rejected by her fated mate like yesterday’s trash, hauled into enemy land, and turned into the single most lethal prize a blood-soaked kingdom has ever drooled over. In Dravenhold they don’t chain prisoners. They drape them in silk that costs more than most packs see in a lifetime and call them queen. Kael Draven, the Enemy King, had every reason to slit her throat the second she hit his dirt. Instead he put his mouth to her ear and claimed her protection. Claimed her. Now the whole damn continent whispers the same filthy truth: her blood can make kings. Or drown them. The past won’t stay buried. Rowan, the Alpha who ripped her heart out to “save his people,” creeps back through the shadows with one desperate, cocky demand: come back to me. Stay here and she becomes Kael’s living blade, soaked in power and whatever else he decides to take from her body. Leave, and she lights the match that turns every pack into smoking graves. One man wants her soul to rule with. The other already shattered it and still thinks he deserves the pieces. Lyra’s done being the girl who waits to be chosen. In a world where power gets ripped out of throats, not politely handed over… she isn’t prey anymore. She’s the f*cking throne. And she’s deciding who bleeds for the right to sit on it.

I thought divorce would free me from Roland Voss, the man who turned our marriage into a gilded prison. But walking away from a Voss isn’t freedom. It’s war. The press calls me a gold-digger. His lawyers call me a liability. And Roland? He just smirks across his mahogany desk and murmurs, “You’ll never escape me, Aliyah. Not while you carry my name.” I swore I’d never shatter again until I met him. Dominic Voss. Roland’s younger brother. The man I shouldn’t even look at, let alone want. He sees the cracks in me no one else bothers to notice. When the world turns its back, Dominic leans close and whispers, “Let me protect you. Even if it means going against my own blood.” Every stolen glance is treason. Every brush of his hand sets me on fire. And when Victor Hale, a rival billionaire with teeth sharper than Roland’s, circles closer, I realize I’ve become the prize in a game where men like them never lose. But I’m not the same woman Roland once broke. This time, I’m willing to risk everything, scandal, ruin, even the wrath of the dynasty that branded me theirs to choose the man who makes me feel alive. The question is… Will my freedom cost me my heart? Or will loving Dominic ignite a war that none of us survive?