Booktok Gifts Novels & Stories

Richard Franklin has left his Midwestern roots behind to live on the coast of Maine with his family. But in the autumn of the year 2000, he must return to his Illinois birthplace on a sorrowful journey. His wife Michelle has been killed in New England by a hit-and-run driver who is never found, so back home he comes with her cremated remains, to fulfill a final wish and on her birthday scatter her ashes in the park along the river in Blackwater Valley—simply Blackwater Val to locals—the small town where they both grew up and fell in love. With him he brings his six-year-old daughter Katie who still grieves for her lost mother: Katie, who can sometimes guess who’s going to be on the phone before it rings. Who can stop all the clocks in the house, and break up clouds in the sky with her mind, and heal sicknesses, and who sometimes sees things that aren’t there...people who are no longer alive. All gifts she inherited from her mother. Only something isn’t quite right in the Val. Sinkholes are opening up, revealing the plague pits the sleepy hamlet was built over in the 1830s, when malaria and cholera outbreaks ran riot. Mysterious bird and fish die-offs begin to occur, and Katie can see ghosts of the dead gathering all around. But what she can’t see is the charred, centuries-old malevolence which has been waiting for her, and wants her for its very own. Or the pale Sallow Man who haunts the town’s nighttime streets...or the river witch—another Blackwater Val, of sorts—each of whom will be drawn one by one into the nightmarish bloodletting about to take place. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My girlfriend had always been drawn to powerful men, yet she was perfectly content to keep a useless intern on her payroll. She said she loved me with her whole life. When a routine health screening showed that the intern and I shared a rare blood type, she chose to keep him close. She claimed it was just a precaution, a backup source of blood in case I ever needed it. She cooked for him, took him on trips, made him gifts by hand, and fussed over him at every turn. She insisted it was all for my sake. To build good karma for my future. Then I was in a car accident. She arranged for blood to be brought in from over 60 miles away rather than let the intern donate a single drop. She said he had a cold and worried his blood might make me sick. The next day, the intern was diagnosed with uremic nephropathy. My girlfriend drugged me and had me wheeled into the operating room to donate a kidney before I could say a word. Her voice was gentle when she explained it afterward. "Daniel is our trump card. He has to stay healthy. He can only be used when your life is genuinely on the line, not wasted on every small setback. I had you donate the kidney for your own future, so you would stop overthinking everything. Once you are out of surgery, I am marrying you." What she did not know was that I already had mid-stage leukemia. The surgery accelerated its spread. I was dying, and I would never have the chance to marry her.

Aria Kane thought the Moon Goddess had finally favored her when Alpha Kael Voss of the Shadowthorn Pack claimed her as his fated mate beneath the blood moon,his hand wrapped around her throat, his teeth grazing her neck while the entire pack watched in awe. One heartbeat later, he shattered her. “You are nothing but weak, weak filth,” he snarled, rejecting their bond in front of everyone before choosing the pure blooded Seraphina as his Luna for a political alliance. Humiliated, broken, and cast out like trash, Aria fled into the night with nothing but the burning scar of a severed mate bond. Two months later, she discovered she was carrying his twins. Five years on, Aria returns to Shadowthorn,not as the timid girl they discarded, but as a deadly rogue hunter with a reputation soaked in blood. She is raising two powerful five year old heirs who carry ancient shadow wolf blood and gifts that could destroy the pack. When a brutal war with the rival Crimsonfang Pack forces Kael to summon her back under threat of death, the rejected mate bond erupts violently between them. The same alpha who once humiliated her now looks at her like a starving beast, desperate to claim what he threw away. He will lock her in his chambers, knot her until she screams, and burn his own empire to possess her again. But Aria is done being anyone’s mate. She has secrets that could topple the Shadowthorn throne. Allies who betrayed her in the darkest ways. And two innocent children Kael can never have,unless he is willing to kneel, bleed, and destroy everything he once chose over her.

On Emily's birthday, her father, Mr. Albert, didn't celebrate with her and her mother. Instead he went to celebrate his ex-girlfriend's son's birthday. He bought expensive gifts for them, but her daughter got nothing but heartbreak. Emily was suffering from the worst brain tumor. She has been on drugs since she turned two. When Albert's ex-girlfriend showed up with a boy, he felt happy and proud to have a living child. Because to him, Emily is just a waste of space. A disturbance to his life and finances. Deep down, he wanted her to die quickly so he would stop spending his money on drugs. He accused his wife, Jennifer, of cheating on him. That his sperm can never produce a problem child—a living dead child. One fateful morning, a day Jennifer went to deliver a cake to the CEO of a bankrupting company. There, right in his office, she made a prediction that turned the man into a multibillionaire. "Marry me, Jennifer, and I will make you the richest woman in the world." The man said with one knee on the ground while presenting a diamond ring before her. "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm married with a child, and I love my husband," she said and got home only to receive a divorce paper. "Sign this paper and leave with your sick daughter if you don't want me to marry a second wife." "Wow, you just made it easy for me. I don't even need you anymore." She signed it and left with reckless abandon. Will Albert regret his actions? Was he actually the father of his ex-girlfriend's son? Most importantly, will Emily survive? Join me and find out for yourself.

"But why me?" I asked the question that was bothering me. "If you hate me so much, why did you decide to marry me? Why didn't you just pick anyone else? Maybe Chiara, or some random lady in Trinigad, why does it have to be me?" I wasn't staring, but I knew he probably looked at me like I was naive or stupid. He clapped his hand, quite loudly, staggering me, "I never said I hated you," he declared, taking me off guard. I looked at him. His hazel eyes pierced at me with an intensity unmatched, making my stomach clench. "You are merely a pawn in my grand plan, a stepping stone. I do not hate you, but I do not need to love you either, I just need to make the most of you." Annalisa, the princess of Trinigad, was born in a world where Omega's were highly revered, and her father — Alpha king of the kingdom of Trinigad, showered her with immense love and gifts as a result. She was spoiled, ruthless. No one had ever refused her anything until she crossed paths with Alpha Alexander. Love at first sight. Alpha Alexander, a man of mystery whose being was an orchestrated falsehood, was the Alpha of the white pack. A pack concentrated in the kingdom of Trinigad. After receiving a marriage proposal from Annalisa, he accepted without hesitation. Albeit, making it clear to her that he only needed her for her womb and he didn't plan on loving her since his heart already belonged to another. As Annalisa and Alexander begin a relationship based on hate, hormones come into play, mate bonds are discovered, secrets are unraveled, one that could potentially orchestrate the downfall of the werewolf species, hanging in the balance of an ultimatum.

Annabella has spent her life as the invisible daughter, the "little mouse" her brother mockingly named her. As the Beta's third-in-line heir, she should command respect. Instead, she endures her father Eugene's abuse in silence, documenting everything with hidden cameras while treasuring anonymous gifts from a secret admirer who sees her worth. For three years, she's found solace in Lucious, the second-born Alpha Heir who defies his brothers' cruel jokes to love her openly. But on her eighteenth birthday, everything changes. The mate bond doesn't just snap into place with Lucious; it ignites with all six Alpha Heirs. A legendary sixfold bond, the rarest connection their kind has known in centuries. Before Annabella can process this revelation, her world shatters. Her father didn't just abuse her; he sold her. A contract with the Moon Slashers Pack, half a million dollars, and a plan to rip her from Lucious's arms and deliver her to another Alpha's bed. Her brother Tate, her supposed protector, helped orchestrate it all. When Eugene's betrayal explodes at her coming-of-age breakfast, Annabella's forced first shift becomes a desperate flight for survival. Six mates who failed to protect her now race to prove their worth. A father willing to destroy anyone in his path to power. A mother she believed dead for five years: alive, drugged, imprisoned. And hidden camera footage revealing a conspiracy that spans multiple packs, threatens the Alpha's reign, and exposes a trafficking ring built on selling she-wolves like livestock. The little mouse was never weak. She was waiting for her moment to roar. Six mates. One truth. And chains that are finally breaking.

Ophelia Lewis, a privileged young woman, had her world shattered when she lost her father in a tragic accident. With her stepmother and jealous stepsister, Samara, scheming against her, she is forced into an arranged marriage with Kent to secure her place as CEO of Lewis & Hale. However, betrayal strikes when she finds Kent and Samara in an intimate moment. Humiliated and cast out of her own company, Ophelia speeds away—only to fall victim to a rigged car accident orchestrated by Samara. She wakes up in a hospital, saved by strangers, only to discover she is pregnant. Determined to take back her life, Ophelia fakes her death, undergoes plastic surgery, and reinvents herself. Her plan? To infiltrate the business world, reclaim her company, and exact revenge. Her journey leads her to Aaron Donovan, a ruthless billionaire with a dark past. He hires Ophelia, unaware of her true identity. Their working relationship is a battlefield of clashing egos, yet undeniable chemistry ignites between them. As she rises in the corporate world, fate intervenes—Aaron’s company merges with Lewis & Hale, bringing Ophelia face-to-face with her enemies. As secrets unravel, Ophelia’s presence unsettles Samara, who senses familiarity but fails to uncover the truth—until she stumbles upon hospital records. A deadly game begins as Samara orchestrates the kidnapping of Ophelia’s son, Caleb. In a tense showdown, betrayal and bullets fly. Kent meets his end, and Ophelia finally puts an end to Samara’s reign of terror. Three months later, Aaron proposes, sealing their bond. As a final act of love, he gifts Ophelia ownership of Lewis & Hale—the company that was once stolen from her. With vengeance fulfilled and love found, Ophelia steps into a future she fought to reclaim.

During the year when my relationship with my Alpha father was at its worst, he gave me the newly elected Beta of the Sunfang Pack to make me happy. After spending the night with him, I fell for him. Three months later, I mended things with my father. Four months later, I was pregnant. From then on, I became the most distinguished expecting she-wolf in the pack. Whenever it was time for a checkup, the Alpha and Beta of the pack would come with me. But when I was six months pregnant, neither of them was around. “I have something urgent to take care of in the pack.” My father patted my head. Scott stroked my pregnant belly. “I have to help too. I’ll prepare gifts for you and our pup.” I smiled as I sent them off, only to receive a video from an unknown number. My father was dressed as a groom, and beside him stood Jelena, the mistress who drove my mother to her death. Katie, their illegitimate daughter, was also pregnant. She wore a wedding gown as she leaned against Scott and smiled happily. “This is a doubly joyous occasion!” Someone in the video raised their glass. “Congratulations to our Alpha for bringing his first love back, and congratulations to the Beta for holding his bonding ceremony!” At the end of the video, my father said airily, “Your mate certificate with Claire is fake. Wouldn’t that make Claire’s pup illegitimate?” Scott chuckled and said, “Claire has had everything since she was born, but Katie has been an illegitimate child for most of her life. I can’t let her pup grow up bearing that shame as well.” At that moment, my heart shattered into pieces. I called my brother, who had become the Lycan Chairman, and cried as I said, “Hoills, I want to leave with you.”

Note!! There are 2 books in this series "I didn’t rescue you out of mercy, Daphne. I took you because you’re mine." After Daphne’s pack was slaughtered, she lived as a rogue, eventually becoming a stripper to pay off a dead man’s debts. But her life shatters when she discovers her mates are the two most powerful men in the Moonstone Pack—and they don’t want her heart. They want her womb. Used, abused, and forced to carry a child for a man she hates, Daphne thinks she has hit rock bottom when a tragic betrayal steals her baby and her freedom. Then comes Theo. He is the ruthless Alpha of the Silver Pack, a man who wears a mask to hide his "demon" eyes and a heart turned to ice. He saves her from the wreckage, but his touch sparks a fire that shouldn't exist. He is her mate. He is her protector. And he is her stepbrother. In a world where the weak are discarded, Daphne must train to prove she is worthy of the Silver Pack. But as the ghosts of their shared past return and war looms on the horizon, Daphne realizes the biggest danger isn't the Alpha who wants her dead... it's the one she was never meant to love. He’s her family. He’s her King. And he will burn the world to keep her. ************ Book 2: Aurora, the Moonvale Pack’s enslaved white wolf, discovers her mate is her tormentor, Alpha Luca. Seeking her death, Luca gifts her to the cursed Lycan King, Andrea. But Aurora’s scent tames Andrea’s bloodlust. Now, the discarded slave returns as a powerful queen. Backed by a king, she’s coming to rescue her mother and burn Luca’s empire to the ground.

On her third wedding anniversary, Emilia believes she is about to give her husband, Jason, the greatest gift of all. The company her late parents left. She thinks love and trust will keep them together forever. But in one cruel moment, Emilia learns the truth: Jason never truly loved her. He betrays her, takes everything she owns, and leaves her with nothing but heartbreak. Lost, hurt, and with nowhere to turn, Emilia’s world falls apart. One night, she meets a quiet stranger who helps her when she needs it most. Their meeting is brief, and meant to be forgotten, or so Emilia thinks. Trying to rebuild her life from scratch, Emilia finds a new job and hopes for a fresh start. But fate has other plans. Her new boss turns out to be Sebastian, the man she never expected to see again. Old misunderstandings, wounded pride, and hidden feelings turn their working days into a battle of sharp words and silent glances. When Sebastian's family pressures him to get married, he makes a risky decision: a pretend marriage. To Emilia, it sounds like a chance to stand tall again and reclaim what was stolen from her. What begins as a deal slowly turns into something much deeper. But the past refuses to stay buried. Jealous enemies spread lies, old wounds reopen, and Emilia must decide if she is strong enough to believe in love again. As danger closes in and secrets are revealed, Emilia learns that true love is not about gifts or promises; it is about courage, and choosing to stand up for yourself. Will Emilia finally get the happy ending she deserves, or will the shadows of betrayal steal her future once more? A powerful story of loss, strength, and finding love when you least expect it.