Books To Read This Year Novels & Stories

At the award-giving ceremony of the end-of-the-year gala, my boss, George White, suddenly announces that he will be adding a bonus round on a whim. "This is the annual department evaluation! The department that comes last shall come onto the stage and receive a tiny encouragement from me!" The huge screen lights up at that moment. The sales achievements accumulated by all departments are being shown in a ranking system. The sales department is ranked first. The operations department comes second, and the marketing department gets third place. As for the administrative department, the sales achievements shown on the screen are none. After all, that department has no KPI to achieve at all. George beams at us from the administrative department. "Everyone from the administrative department, come on up and receive your prize!" Two people can be seen carrying a basket of brooms up the stage. Everyone bursts into laughter instantly. "Come now, sweep away your bad luck with the brooms! Try not to come up as the bottom-ranked department again next year!" George personally thrusts the brooms into our hands. Camera flashes go off beneath the stage—people are clearly taking photos of us. The people from the sales department are the ones laughing the hardest. "Finally, the peeps from the administrative department are getting the recognition they deserve!"

Remington “Remi” Flounder grew up wanting a brother, so of course he should’ve been overjoyed when his mother remarried a man with a son his age. Wrong. Remi hated him. He hated Soren the pompous, infuriatingly handsome, and dangerously sexy stepbrother hockey star who made it his mission to ruin his life. He mocked him. Taunted him. Drove him insane. Their hatred bloomed into something darker, their madness feeding on each other’s thirst for revenge. But one mistake had Soren cast out by his father… and that’s when Remi began to see their enmity for what it truly was, something more. Years later, he returns. A hockey captain out for his blood. But what happens when his first act is to destroy those who cross him? When he wards off every man who dares approach him? Or even betraying his best friend when he dares to want him too. Amid his twisted games, he whispers to him: “Let’s make a bet, Remi. Make me fall in love with you in three months, and I’ll leave you the fuck alone. Lose the bet, and you’ll submit to my three dares.” Now Remi finds himself torn between the stepbrother who loathes yet obsesses over him, a devilishly handsome man who betrayed his trust but would burn the world to win him back, and his equally possessive best friend, the man of his forbidden dreams

My husband, Kieran, is the heir to the Thompson family. In the three years of our arranged marriage, he has never once touched me. I told myself he was just cold and guarded, that I could find a way into his heart, little by little. Then one day he came home drunk, pinned me to the bed for the first time, and called out his first love's name. "Camilla, all these years... I've thought of you every second of every day..." That was when I knew. All the passion and love he possessed was already spent on another woman. I pushed him away, burned every photo of us, and went to a high-end club in New York full of handsome male models. Nine months later, I walked into the airport with my newborn baby in my arms. Later, Kieran searched the world for me, his eyes bloodshot. He asked in a trembling voice why I never told him I was pregnant, why I wouldn't let him see our baby. I glanced at him and gave a light, breezy smile. "Who said the baby was yours?"

YEARNERS delivers addictive short stories filled with building tension and passionate moments. Each tale is a complete journey spread over 7 to 10 chapters. You’ll find slow teasing that leads to overwhelming encounters, touches turning into strong claims, and characters who lose themselves completely in the wrong person. Expect deep emotional games, secret conflicts, and characters who give in to what they know is wrong. Open the book… if you dare to surrender.

"Our marriage will only last until I can end this war. I would never subject my people to the punishment of having someone like you as their Luna.” In silence, Corinne just stared at her new husband. After all, it would be rude to tell him that she was hoping, as much as he was, for a quick divorce. Even though she was raised in isolation by her father, the Alpha of the Tigers, Corinne Valiant's terrible reputation follows her wherever she goes, especially in her arranged marriage to the Alpha of the Wolves, Hunter Calibur. To ensure the safety of his people and end an dangerous crisis, Hunter is willing to do anything, even temporarily marrying an evil, selfish, violent and troublemaking Tigress. Whether she is his fated mate or not is just an unwanted detail that he plans to ignore. However, when Corinne begins to show herself different from what the rumors said, gaining his trust and awakening his obsession, Hunter is surprised to realize that, when the time comes, he may not want to let his wife go, no matter how bad she seems ready to get rejected.

When Adriano Morelli realized I hadn’t submitted a single household request in three days, he called me himself for the first time in months. “Serafina,” he said, his voice smooth and patient, “the clinic has been cleared. Your file is back on priority. See? When you stop making things difficult and learn how this family works, I make sure you’re taken care of.” He always sounded the gentlest when he was reminding me who held the power. What he didn’t know was that by the time his name lit up my screen, the divorce papers were already drafted. From the outside, I had everything a woman could want: a guarded penthouse, a driver on call, designer clothes, and the last name of one of the most feared men in the city. But almost none of it was mine. The cards were monitored. Cash had to be approved. Staff took Viviana Costa’s orders before they ever listened to me. Even the wardrobe budget, my schedule, and access to the family office all ran through her hands. Adriano called it convenience. Three days ago, I was rushed into a private clinic, blood soaking through my dress, while a doctor told me there was still a chance to save the baby if the emergency deposit was paid immediately. I called Adriano until my hands shook. Viviana stalled the transfer. First there was no direct authorization. Then the amount was too large. Then Adriano was in a meeting and could not be disturbed over something that might not be serious. By the time the money came through, it was too late. The baby was gone. I had stayed with Adriano for two reasons: I loved him, and I believed that when it truly mattered, he would choose me. I was wrong about both. Our child died first. My marriage died with it.

Charlie Sinclair married me to punish me. He had a reason. He believed it. He never asked me a single question about it in three years. He never looked at my face for three years either. Then the woman he had been waiting for came home, and he handed me the divorce papers without looking up. He never knew I left that house carrying a secret. Two of them. I came back five years later with an empire he does not know I built, and two children he does not know are his. Yesterday he saw me at JFK. For the first time in eight years, he looked. He knelt down and handed my daughter her ball, and he did not know whose eyes were looking back at him. Too late, Mr. Sinclair. I am no longer the wife you could not see.

Braving a downpour, I delivered a lavish food order, anticipating the hefty commission and a $100 tip. Laughter suddenly echoed from the villa. Someone started, "He really believes your car crash left you paralyzed? He's hustling deliveries to support you and even pawned his dad's heirloom?" Another said, "What if he discovers you're actually a billionaire heiress, just playing poor? He'd probably break down in tears." Jessica Stark toyed with her wine glass. "Guys like him are wired to serve, especially since he always outshone Mark in our school days. This is his comeuppance." I stood in the relentless rain, a bitter chuckle escaping my lips. Turned out, her two-year charade of paralysis was merely to avenge her childhood sweetheart. Her broken legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears were all meticulously crafted lies. Disillusioned, I dialed my estranged tycoon mother. "You win. I'll go through with the arranged marriage."

I'm the only university student in the village. But my entire family praises my cousin, Calvin Meyer, who has graduated from a vocational school, for being a talented person. What I've discovered is that Calvin's so-called talent actually comes from him voicing my thoughts. When I want to recite a poem as a toast to the guests, Calvin quickly says the poem out loud, resulting in everyone applauding for him. Naturally, Calvin takes the initiative to show off his "flair" for poetry in front of Barbara Sullivan, a well-known professor, by reciting the poetry that I've thought up. Because of that, she has taken a fancy to him. My uncle, Gary Meyer, uses the opportunity to insult me for being a dull bookworm who doesn't know how to socialize with others. On my grandpa's 80th birthday, my aunt, Sierra Meyer, who runs a huge business on her own, brings her family back to the village for the occasion. Uncle Gary arranges for me and Calvin to prepare a speech of our own so that we can convince Aunt Sierra to extend a helping hand to the youngsters' careers in the family. At the banquet, Calvin shoots up to his feet with his wine glass raised. He shoots me a smug look at that moment. Meanwhile, I just keep smiling before I begin thinking about the shocking gossip featuring Aunt Sierra and her family.

During a turf war, I took a bullet for Daniel Wilson. When I woke up in the family hospital after three years in a coma, I discovered that Eva, the showgirl I'd saved from a black market auction, had usurped my place in the Wilson family. My husband Daniel, the family's Underboss, saw that I was awake, and his first words to me were: "The entire underworld recognizes Eva as the woman by my side now. Why did you have to wake up at a time like this?" "Alice and I both love her. She's the one who's been by our side these past three years. And you? You've just been a body in a hospital bed, absent from our lives." "We're through, Sarah." Watching the man I once loved so deeply speak such heartless words, I didn't put up a fight. I simply nodded and gave him what he wanted. But he had no idea the Wilson family was about to burn to the ground.