Bookworm Haven

Harry DuBois is the name everyone knows. At 6'4", sharply dressed, with silver at his temples and a velvet voice, he commands attention the moment he enters a room. Owner of DuBois Fine Arts & Jazz Lounge, the town’s cultural heartbeat, he offers a haven for music, poetry, and taste. Women adore him, men envy him, and all assume he’s living the dream. But Harry is haunted. Beneath success lies a past that won’t let him go, a tragedy he never speaks of. For Harry, love isn’t just risky, it’s dangerous. He’s a single father to Naomi, his teenage daughter, the only light he’s allowed to stay. Yet even with her, there are walls. When new art curator Elena Rivera arrives from New York to partner with his lounge on a revival series, a celebration of Black art, music, and history. Harry is drawn to someone he hasn’t been with in decades. But Elena has secrets, and she’s starting to notice cracks in Harry’s perfect image. As past and present collide, Harry is forced to confront the pain he has buried for over 25 years. A love lost, a betrayal unforgiving, and a night that changed everything. The question is: can Harry finally allow himself to feel again, or will the past claim him once and for all?

I am the only son of the richest man in Fairmont. Before my coming-of-age, my mother selects nine girls for me, one of whom I am to marry when I turn 18. I choose Ruth Lonsdale, the girl who had grown up by my side since we were kids. But on our wedding day, Ruth secretly leaks my whereabouts to kidnappers and takes every single bodyguard my mother had assigned to protect me. After I am abducted, I call her and beg for help, but she answers with a cold laugh, "You're still acting? You had a bunch of thugs go after Jack, and I haven't gotten even with you for that yet! Anyway, I only took your bodyguards to protect him and make him feel safe. Don't make such a big deal out of it." She then hangs up. Enraged, the kidnappers stab me repeatedly before throwing my body from the rooftop. When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day I'm supposed to choose my bride. This time, I didn't even glance at Ruth's photo. I point to the most ordinary-looking girl of them all and say, "I choose her."

My twin sister, Ruby Stone, and I split up after our parents' divorce. She stays with Mom, while I went with Dad. Since the divorce, he's sunk into a deep depression, gambling away every penny we have. We move into a dark, damp apartment, and life becomes an endless struggle. Every day, I go to school and quietly work a part-time job to keep us afloat. Then, out of nowhere, Ruby—whom I haven't heard from in forever—sends me a link to a live stream. "Check this out, Aria. There's a surprise waiting for you." I click it, and my jaw drops. I'm the one topping the trending live streams. The screen splits in two. On one side, I sit in my dingy apartment, hunched over homework under the dim light. On the other side, Mom and Dad cuddle with Ruby on the fancy couch of their sprawling villa. The comments came pouring in. "Let's see what happens when twins are raised on opposite sides of fortune all the way to 18." "Aria still doesn't know, right? Her parents never divorced. They're loaded and perfectly happy. Ruby's life has been like a dream too." "Poor Aria. She's always starving and never has anything decent to wear. Isn't that basically abuse?" "She's the more sensible one, so her parents decided to raise her poorly."

My name is Gabriel Lockwood, I am the sole heir of the Italian mafia in New York. You might know my father. The shark. Raphael Lockwood. He is getting old and soft, so I am taking over. I don’t pretend to be a businessman. I am The Heir and people respect me knowing exactly who I am and what I do. I can say I control most of my surroundings. But no King should rule without a Queen. My father’s reign became a lot more successful when he found his wife and partner in crime. I have been looking for my Queen, but what can I say? I am a player. And I haven’t found the right woman, the woman that will make me realise I only need her in my bed, and in my life... until now. She is the most enigmatic woman I’ve ever met. Even her name... She’s not afraid of me. And she dares to talk back. Intriguing. Does she even know who I am? If she doesn’t I will show her soon. Once I get her in my bed. This is Book three of The Shark Mafia boss. You don’t have to read the previous two to understand this book but it would give you a better perspective on the characters lives. This book contains violence and sexual content. Read at your own risk.

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

After two years of development, my game finally launched successfully. My wife had promised me a $75,000 bonus, but instead, she gave the entire $750,000 payout to her male secretary, Wayne. All she tossed me was a $50 grocery coupon. "You're just a stay-at-home husband," she said casually. "You don't spend much. Go buy some groceries and cook dinner." I stared at her in disbelief. "That money is for our son's transplant surgery," I said. "If it's delayed for even a few days, he'll die." Her expression did not change. "He's weak. If he dies, he dies," she said flatly. "At least you won't bring any more bad luck into the office and pass it on to Wayne." She turned away, her tone instantly brightening as she talked about taking Wayne out that night to celebrate with a lavish dinner worth tens of thousands of dollars. In that instant, my heart froze. She had forgotten one thing. The game might be registered under her name, but I still held the core encryption key. I picked up the phone and called a rival company. "You've been trying to get Genyxis's core technology for a long time, haven't you?" I asked calmly. "All I want is $75,000, and it’ll be yours.”

Jane walked towards the forbidden building with a clenched fist. She looked scared at first but that didn't stop her curiosity about looking into the building she had been forbidden to reach. She looked back to see if any of the men were around to know of her sudden disappearance but nobody seemed to know since the alarm bells hadn't rung. She breathe out heavily and touched the door knob but before she could twist it open, her hand was yanked off it and she was pushed backward. She looked up only to meet the face of one person she had been trying to avoid. Allen stared coldly at the woman in front of him and stepped forward like a lion trying to stalk its prey. Jane looked terrified and gulped down with uneasiness. " What are you doing here? " Allen asked with his usual cold tone. " I was...uhm...just... " " Haven't I warned you not to step closer to this building huh? But it seems you are the stubborn pet. " Allen interrupted while continuing his walk towards her. " No...no, I was just being curious, that's all. " Jane replied as her back hits the wall. Allen trapped her in between. " Have you ever heard that curiosity kills the cat? " Allen smirked dangerously and Jane knew that she was in a long torture for the night. ______________ Don't miss out on this book. You will love it.

Welcome to West Ora Academy, where the supernatural reigns supreme and the magic never ends! Our academy is a haven for all creatures of the night, from dragons to shadow weavers to sirens and more. Each species has its designated building, where you'll learn everything there is to know about your kind and your unique powers. And for those of you who are hybrids, you'll have the unique opportunity to call more than one building home. So come join us at West Ora Academy, where the supernatural world is waiting for you to discover it! Get ready to unleash your inner power and become the supernatural you were always meant to be! High school is never easy. Multiply that by ten, and you have what it's like to attend West Ora Academy with its diverse body of various species. Told from multiple points of view, follow half siblings Jesse, Augustus, and Ares as they navigate high school and the drama of relationships. While Jesse struggles to handle being blackmailed by the guy she thought she loved. How will she handle it when she realizes he's her mate? Her brothers have their own issues. August and Ares find themselves in a love triangle as they both fall for their childhood friend Nova. Will Ares push aside his feeling for his brother's sake, or will he fight for Nova? Can Nova trust her feelings for Augustus, the playboy?

“I don’t know how,” I whispered. “Can you show me? Please, daddy.” He should have said no. Instead, he said, “Lie back and open those pretty legs. Let daddy take care of that for you.” When I shattered all over his fingers he looked at me like I was the most devastating thing he’d ever seen and said, “That’s my sweet girl.” Three days later he put me on a plane to London and didn’t look back. ----- She has spent three years across an ocean trying to unlearn her Stepfather; his voice, his hands, the way he said her name like it cost him something. She almost managed it. Then he called to say he was getting married again and he needed her home. Now she’s back in Boston, sleeping under his roof, watching him plan a future with someone else, and pretending she doesn’t still want him the way she did at nineteen. He is doing the same, pretending. Controlling. Building walls and calling it protection. But three years haven’t changed what’s between them. If anything, the distance made it worse. He sent her away once to save her from him. This time, she isn’t leaving. Some things are wrong in every way that matters, and still impossible to stop.

"Logan, just give me some sleeping pills. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks," Xavier said to his psychiatrist and childhood friend. "You don’t need sleeping pills, Xavier. What you need is a break. How about taking ten days off on a cruise?" Dr. Logan Pierce suggested. "You know how much money I can make in ten days? And you want me to waste it sitting idle on a boat? Every minute I’m off that ship is costing me." "That’s exactly why you need it. The world will survive without you for ten days. Maybe you’ll realize you can, too." "But…" Xavier protested. "Xavier, sleeping pills won’t help this time. You’re becoming too dependent on them, and I’m not prescribing more. If you want your sleep back, take a break—a cruise vacation will do the trick." "Fine. But if this doesn’t work, I’m never listening to you again." "Deal. Now, go pack. And leave your laptop at home." Little did Xavier know that these ten days on the cruise would bring him a surprise. Girlfriend? No. Memories? No. Friends? No. Then what? Twins... Now, Xavier doesn’t need sleeping pills to sleep—just a sofa with no noise. The only purpose of Xavier’s life now is to find a mother for the twins.