Brent Weeks

Amanda was loved by everyone. She was brainy, smart and what's more very good at sports. Her dream was to become a top shot scientist and to achieve that, Amanda knew she had to work towards it. Her parents were her world, she looked up to them for everything. She couldn't quite imagine how lucky she was to have parents like that. They gave her everything she needed and supported her in her dreams and aspirations. Then tragedy struck. A once happy family, bounded by love was severely ruined. Amanda's parents died in a plane crash on their way to an event. At that moment, Amanda knew her life was coming to an end. For several weeks, the star girl was out of school, battling with her mental health. The only succour she had in those trying times were her friends, Emily and Leslie. Gradually, Amanda's life began to take shape again but yet, she knew nothing would ever remain the same. Like a beam of light, under the darkness, Parker came her way. At first, he resulted to bullying her, thinking he could oppress her as a result of the jealousy he had towards her being the school's star girl and all. At the end, he realized that what he felt for her wasn't hatred but love and it was evident in the fact that he found himself being drawn towards her. Amanda, thinking it was all a lie avoided him like the plague. She didn't believe she loved him but yet, there was a nagging feeling within her that he was something more than that. Till then, she was determined to keep her feelings for him in check until they just faded away. But one thing she failed to realize was that true love never dies.

Isabelle Ashford's aristocratic family is drowning in debt and scandal when Dante Marchetti offers a devil's bargain: marriage in exchange for erasing their financial ruin. She accepts, believing she's sacrificing herself for her younger sister's future. But from the moment she steps into Dante's fortress-like mansion, she realizes this isn't a marriage of convenience; it's a beautifully constructed prison. Dante is cold, controlling, and seems to delight in psychological games that leave her questioning her own sanity. He monitors her every move, isolates her from the outside world, and treats her like a possession he's studying under glass. As weeks pass, Isabelle begins noticing inconsistencies. Dante's cruelty sometimes feels like protection. His surveillance system captures threats she didn't know existed. His empire, built on blackmail and coercion, seems designed to destroy specific people connected to her family's past. When she discovers hidden files in his study, she learns a horrifying truth: her father wasn't just a failed businessman; he was part of a criminal syndicate that trafficked information and ruined lives. Dante's parents were among their victims. Her marriage isn't random, it's revenge twenty years in the making. But as Isabelle digs deeper, she uncovers something even more sinister: the syndicate her father once belonged to has been hunting Dante for years, and now they've marked her as their way to destroy him. Caught between a husband who married her to break her and enemies who want her dead, Isabelle must decide whether to escape the monster she married or join him in a war that could consume them both.

> “Stay still, Little Thorn… I want to taste you slowly.” His voice was velvet and ruin. His mouth, a weapon. And I—fool that I was—leaned closer. Before death wore a suit and called itself a lover, I used to believe in beauty. Before the blood. Before the runes. Before I painted the image that killed my parents—I believed my art could save me. Now I know better. I was just weeks from graduating when the painting came to me like a fever. I didn’t choose it. I didn’t plan it. My hands moved, possessed, dragging symbols I’d never seen and a face I’d never forgotten—his. Eyes red as wine. A crown pierced with thorns. And a girl in the center… me. Offering herself. I signed it with a mark I didn’t recognize. I sold it to a stranger. And days later, my parents were dead—no wounds, no reason, just... gone. The police said stress. I say fate. Now I’m being hunted by a world I didn’t know existed. Vampires with ancient courts and older grudges. Symbols that whisper in my blood. And Lucien D’Aragon—the vampire who says I summoned him with my brushstroke. That I belong to him. He says I’m his prophecy. His ruin. His Little Thorn. But I’m not just prey. Something is waking in me. Something hungry. Something I was never meant to survive. If I give in, I lose everything. If I fight, I might finally learn the truth. About my art. About my bloodline. About what really happened that night. And why he keeps whispering that I was painted for ruin... but made for him.

I run into my former sister-in-law, whom I haven't seen in ages, during a prenatal checkup at the hospital. Wynne Jenkins glances at my belly. And just like she always does, her face crinkles with disdain as she starts nagging me. "Look at you, wandering around with a pregnant belly at your age," she hollers. "What if something happens to my baby nephew? Can't you be a little more sensible and stop making Sean worry all the time?" She must have forgotten. A year ago, Mom was gravely ill. Her only wish was to see me married with children. I staked everything and proposed to Sean Jenkins. On our big day, I waited from dawn until nightfall—only to receive a 30-second voice message from him. "I won't show up at the ceremony, and I won't marry you. This is what you get for bullying Lav." Mom was so enraged by Sean's recklessness that she suffered a heart attack and passed away. After taking care of her funeral, I erased every trace of myself. With what little I had left, I fled Horton—while Sean was still abroad, skiing with Lavender Quinn. And yet now, Wynne says, "Sean spends more than two weeks every month flying around looking for you. He's lost nearly 20 pounds in less than a year. "He's been waiting for you, Janelle. Now that you're back, please stay and build a family with him." I smirk and raise my hand, flaunting the ring on my finger. "Sorry, I like to keep a low profile. I'm already married, but we kept the ceremony simple. That's why you didn't know."

"In the presence of the Moon Goddess and all members of the Pack, I, Damian, Alpha of Silvermoon Pack, officially reject Seraphina as my mate!” On the day of my Mating Ceremony when I was twenty, my childhood Alpha and Fated Mate, Damian, brought back an unfamiliar female werewolf, Vivian. He claimed that on the Night of Souls, the silhouette of the Fated Soul he had seen was hers, not mine. “Vivian has told me everything. You gave me a Hallucination Potion to make me believe my Fated Mate was you. Now, it’s time to correct that mistake!” The moment the words left his mouth, my heart felt like it was being torn apart. Pain ripped through my whole body. Our Mate Bond splintered, inch by inch. I dropped to my knees, blood trickling from the corner of my lips as I clutched my chest. My other childhood friend and also the pack’s Beta, Ethan, just watched coldly. “There was never a Mate Bond between you and Damian. Enough with your pitiful act! The more you do this, the more we’ll despise you.” The mate I loved most, and the friend I trusted the most, teamed up to rub my nose in the dirt in front of everyone. Their words were like knives, gutting me open bit by bit. Staggering, I turned and fled from the pack. Once, it was a place that held all my happiness. Now, there was only coldness and betrayal. None of them cared, convinced I was just throwing a tantrum and would come crawling back sooner or later. It wasn’t until weeks later that they learned I had begun the Healer’s closed-door training. All ties must be severed, and complete solitude was required. I wasn't allowed to return for ten years. That was the moment they finally fell apart.

"Promise me they will suffer for all they did to you." >>>> Emily. * "Five years ago, I made a vow to my best friend, that I would seek retribution against all those who wronged me in the past, who made me suffer and made my life miserable. However, after fleeing the country while pregnant, and giving birth to my little angel, while also finding success as a creative artist and finding love in a man who was starting to mend my broken heart, I decided to let go of my plans for vengeance. Part of me believed it was best to move on and leave the past behind, but another part still thirsty for revenge, determined to destroy those who wronged me in the past." >>> Hayley Forbes. *** Hayley's heart shattered the day she discovered her billionaire's husband's betrayal, devoid of any remorse as he demanded a divorce. Left with nothing but a broken heart, and forced eviction from her home, Hayley set out to start a new life, only to realize a few weeks later that she was carrying her ex-husband's child. She vowed to seek her revenge against all those who abandoned her, especially her unfaithful husband. Returning to her husband after being rejected twice wasn't an option. Instead, Hayley kept the pregnancy a secret, and resolved to raise the child on her own, fleeing to a distant place_ miles away from her family and ex-husband. But what happens five years later, when Hayley's estranged husband returns, claiming not only her but their child as well, with plans to reconnect with them and become family again? What will Hayley do? Will she confront her past and long-forgotten revenge plan? Or Will she forgive and forget? Delve in to find out!

A dark romance, vividly grotesque, morally questionable, fate-defying, vampirically induced tale of happily ever after. With a little bit of dark humor, of course. ****** Tessa was one of the best assassins for hire, she lives for the thrill of the kill. The blood of her victims never tainted her subconscious. Until one day there was a threat to her life. She had three months to live. Tessa was doomed, she had tried everything and she knew she couldn't get out of her impending death. And what did Tessa do when she only had three months to live? She made a bucket list. She had been busy with her lust to kill that she didn't get to live a normal life, after all, she was a psychopath. Within weeks numbers were being crossed off from her list, from having tacos for breakfast, the morning after sex, and somewhere on the list was falling in love. Tessa wrote that as a joke, but deep down she wanted to feel it, she wanted to be able to love someone before she died. Fun fact: Psychopaths are almost incapable of truly loving another. Will Tessa manage to cross everything on her list? ***** The Angel of Death, that was what they called him. Nero Severus Xerxes was a vampire King who was among the oldest. Nero had taken lives, he had taken humans, vampires, and other supernatural beings. Yet none would challenge him. He was a possessive bastard, he was a ruler, a sadistic male who protects what was his. One day Nero was faced with the most beautiful woman with a strange view of death. She even had a bucket list. As a vampire King who had lived a thousand lives her careless attitude intrigued him. Will Nero fall for her?

"Good boys don't wear briefs," the man murmured in a low, seductive tone, causing Ivan's blood to heat up. An involuntary soft moan escaped Ivan's lips as he fought to catch his breath. Upon returning home from the office, he had purposely discarded his briefs, knowing the effect it had on his mysterious lover. The man always preferred him naked, and Ivan complied willingly. Whispering softly, Ivan repeated the words of his dream invader: "Good boys do not wear briefs." His voice was barely audible. The man pulled Ivan's buttocks firmly against his hips, causing a surge of sensations to rush through Ivan's body. "Good boys must be spanked," the man declared, inhaling Ivan's sweet scent, before planting his lips on the exposed soft skin. Ivan trembled and closed his eyes as the man playfully bit and kissed his neck, his hands teasingly exploring his torso, eventually reaching his sensitive, hardened nipples. After weeks of longing and erotic torture, there was one thing Ivan yearned for: Why couldn't his dream progress to the moment when the man actually penetrated him? The point where he claimed Ivan as his own. For at least, Ivan believed that he would truly comprehend what it felt like to be intertwined with him even in his dreams. To have himself be intimately connected with him. However, Ivan was aware that enduring the torture from this man, in his dreams, was the price he must pay for what he did ten years ago. Everything he feared, everything he regretted was coming back to slap him in the face tonight. By 6 p.m. he would be coming face to face with his dream invader at the college ten years reunion party, Shawn Maddox, in flesh.

It happened one night, unexpectedly. But it cannot be revealed for he belongs to the showbiz industry. The truth cannot be told yet. Jameson Kye Velasco is a famous actor in his generation who met Callie Ivianna Perez, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in Ateneo de Manila University. They met at a luxurious and high-end bar in Bonifacio Global City in the most unexpected time. Both of them became wasted as the night got deeper. Callie decided to go to the rest room as she started to feel dizzy. While on her way, she suddenly bumped into Jameson Kye na halata na din sa mukha ang kalasingan. Sa paglalim ng gabi, isang hindi inaasahang pangyayari ang naganap. Jameson and Calllie had a one night stand, na itinuring na ding isang pagkakamali na ginawa ni Callie. Weeks had passed, at kakaiba na ang nararamdaman ni Callie sa kanyang sistema. Little did she know, she was pregnant. At alam na alam niya kung sino ang ama ng pinagbubuntis niya. She reached out to Jameson, but the boy thought it was all her lies just to ruin his reputation. Jameson’s manager and his friends knew about it, and so his manager decided na magsama muna sila ni Callie sa iisang buong hangga’t naghihintay ng tamang panahon para sa DNA test. But until the DNA result came, hindi pa rin naniniwala si Jameson. He even decided na itago ang katotohonan sa madla para lang maisalba ang kanyang karera. Hanggang sa napagdesisyunan na lamang ni Callie na umuwi sa kanilang mansion at mag-isa niyang palalakihin ang anak.

Eden Taylor thought she knew what heartbreak felt like ... until the day found out her fiancee was having an affair with her sister. Betrayed and broken, she fled the wreckage of her life, searching for peace in the mountains. There, she meets Everett, a man both magnetic and terrifying .. a being who claims to belong to the dark itself. Bound by forces neither of them understand, Eden feels her world shifting the moment they touch. The connection between them awakens something deep within her .. a light he’s been searching for since the dawn of time. Everett is no myth or monster. He is the God of Shadows, cursed to dwell in darkness, unable to move in daylight unless the Goddess of Light accepts him. That goddess, reborn in mortal form, is Eden .. though she doesn’t yet know it. As Everett slowly earns her trust, showing her the truth behind her fractured world, the bond between them deepens into something dangerous .. something divine. But ancient forces stir against them. Wraiths from the void break through the veil, drawn to her light and his defiance. When Eden nearly dies, Everett shatters every rule of their universe to bring her back... binding their souls in ways that neither heaven nor hell can undo. The mortal world believes she vanished for weeks, but she returns changed, her blood humming with the memory of him. Ben, her ex-fiancé, sees only madness... until Everett’s voice tears through the night with a warning that freezes his blood: “Get your fing hands off my light.”* Now, Eden stands between two worlds, the human life that betrayed her and the god who would burn the heavens to protect her. And in the war between light and shadow, love might just be the weapon that changes everything.