Cherry Blossoms Before Winter

Leah had discovered her first real betrayal from the ones she loved the most... or so she thought. Her half-sister, wanted everything she had, but the one thing that was supposed to be hers, was ripped and taken from her too. When a kind stranger comes along, what does she do? Should she continue to seek her revenge or should she give up on the idea altogether? What happens when the stranger finds himself wanting her more and more? Is it fate or just a simple coincidence? One secret, one undiscovered truth, what will happen next? After all, there is pain before bliss...

"Before you go, was there something I could have said to make it all feel better?"- Lewis Calpadi Economic hierarchy strips a twenty three year old accountant, Maria Crawford, of a five year relationship with trillionaire Mama's boy, Dominic Payne. Things get a tad bit dramatic when a body is found in Dominic's trunk and love scores again as Maria does everything she can to prove that her ex is innocent. The Good news; she has a best friend who's a good lawyer and actually the best in the state named Zack Osborn, who lucky for them is in town. The Bad; our lawyer friend once had a bruised cheek courtesy of Mama's boy. With pleas from Maria, Zack agrees to be Dominic's lawyer even as he still hates his guts. What could a simple accountant know about murder cases? Would she be throwing herself out too for the murderer to find, or will she leave all these unscathed? ©️ Hillary 2022 ®️All rights reserved

Patrick and Clare wake up trapped in a basement, a thin wall separating their cells. Their captor is mysteriously absent, which at first seems like a blessing. As more time passes with no food or water, they begin to realize a clock is ticking for their survival.They know their captor is still out there, and it is only a matter of time before he returns.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Celeste Winters once had a name that echoed across territories, the daughter of the WinterMoon Alpha—fierce, loyal, and born of a legacy older than the crown that now rules the city. But all of that shattered the moment the man she trusted with her soul chose another without a word of goodbye. Cast aside without explanation, stripped of identity and purpose, Celeste ran. She abandoned her title, her pack, even her wolf… burying it all beneath perfume and silence. Now, in the heart of a city that doesn’t know her, she works late-night shifts at a diner and hides her scars behind forced smiles and lingering shadows. Every day she survives, but she does not live. Until the night everything begins to unravel. A rogue attack. A moment of instinct. A power she shouldn’t still have. And a single word whispered by the Alpha King himself as their eyes lock across the chaos: Mate. Celeste never wanted to love again. Never wanted to be claimed, or seen, or remembered. But he remembers her—her scent, her laugh, the steel behind her soft-spoken words. And worse, his wolf wants her. Craves her. But Celeste’s past isn’t just filled with heartbreak. It’s filled with secrets—deadly ones. The rogues aren’t just after her for revenge; they’re looking to return her to a father who will burn down every pack to get her back. A father who once ruled all, and never forgave betrayal. As the line between predator and protector begins to blur, Celeste must face the truth she’s tried to forget: she was never meant to disappear. And the more she lets herself feel again, the more dangerous her world becomes. The past is waking. The wolves are circling. And fate has never played fair.

“Imagine if both your wife and your lover fell into the water at the same time—who would you save first?” Upon remembering what her friend had said a few days ago, Myra felt her heart ache; it was so acute that it threatened to suffocate her. She stood stiffly in the banquet hall while the exquisite knee-length blue dress she wore was glued to her wet body, making her like a drowned rat. When the company employees in the hall saw her, they began to whisper and snicker among themselves. She did not have to eavesdrop to know what they said about her. “She’s trying to climb the corporate ladder by sleeping with the director…”

Unnatural murders have accumulated in the suburban area of Leonska State. The bizarre details of each murders confined the state police inside a hopeless predicament and as they widen their investigation it, the possibility of catching the perpretrator slowly died down. The police force knew that it would not take long before the case goes cold and unsolved. Paige Morsen, the sagacious, resilient, and the only female detective under the Homicide Unit received the approval of taking the case under her control. Despite the chauvinism she receives and invalidation from the police men in their force, she continued following the sketchy tracks of the killer, hoping she would mark the case as closed before the frantic race of the time would end. As she dives in towards the deep and twisted mind of the killer, she finds herself trapped inside a horrific cat-and-mouse chase with no other possible way out other than executing the killer himself. Would she be able to serve the justice? Or would it take another victim to again disappear before she could call it a case-closed?

A million reasons why we can’t be together, but a billion more why we desire to be. Hikari Yi is a girl of a grim, fatalistic world, the love of a family was never one of her assets. Away from the fallen realm of her father’s menacing territory, she leads an independent life. Little did she know the world she was running away from, was advancing towards her at a pace faster than she was travelling at. Hikari admires a world famous boy band, the ORIONS, consisting of seven members. She somehow receives an offer to look after them as a manager or a caretaker. As unexpected as it looks, it isn't. The more time she spends around them, she grows infatuated with one of the seven. Are the feelings mutual? Is he the one to fill the void of solicitude in her life? Overtime, mysteries unfold, what was Hikari's past? What other plans does she have for the boyband she adore? What secrets has she locked? As it is, it isn’t just her. The Orions, too, have got their own darkness to unravel. ____________________________________ -"Tell me once you again that you love me" -"Reassure me once more that you'll stay forever, that you won't leave me alone." -"Who are you.. No... What are you exactly?" -"I want you Hikari. Now." -"Is that how you talk to your boss?" -"Your clothes are see-through" -"Yakuzas are the most feared mob group" -“This world won’t let us be.” ____________________________________ It's an enthralling, mystery, romance, action thriller. It has everything you've been looking for. High school romance? Office heated relations? Eternal love? Mafia? demons? Vampires? Boys? Best friends? Family? Action? Suspense? It's all there, read to indulge in the roller-coaster adventure!

EZREN: Kiss or kill. Those were always the two options left.. until the past walks back into my life in the form of blue eyes, ginger curls, and a tattoo he swears I should remember. Knox Graye. A diagnosed psychopath. Says he was my brother’s boyfriend. That I left him to die and that I hold the only truth to his death. He is everywhere. Digging up my lies. Ruining what’s left of my life. Call me ‘Cherry’ like it means something. I swear I hate it. I hate him. I don’t know if he wants closure, revenge, or just someone to break. Either way, I’m his target and his third option. KNOX: Everyone thinks I’ve got a loose screw in the head but they're wrong. I lost the whole damn toolbox, buried six feet under with the only person I ever loved. I've spent six years grieving. Dying in pieces while he rots away in a grave but now? Now someone else walk around in his bones, smiling with his lips like he fuckin’ owns it. Like I wouldn’t recognize my own goddamn Cherry. Except now he calls himself Ezren. Cute. He thinks he has been hiding behind top grades and golden-boy charm, but I built his whole damn maze. And now that he's close? I’m done with subtlety. I want chaos in his veins, his secrets peeled off like skin. I want to crawl into the part of his head where he still hears his brother’s laugh and whisper: “You were always mine." He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to dismantle him. Brick by fucking brick. And when he finally breaks, I’ll be there to offer him a choice. “Kiss or kill, Cherry?”

Bloom, a 25 year-old single mom, loses her low paying job and must find a way to not just get herself a new job to cater for her 5 year-old son, but also landing one that pays much better than the one she was practically kicked out of. Plain, shy and antisocial Bloom Santiago is forced by her big brother to take up a job interview at W.M Companies to fill in the position of the C.E.O's secretary. But this shy 'Fluffy Little Rabbit' is lured and caught up in a whole new dangerous world that threatens the peace and tranquility of her little innocent world when she unfortunately attracts the desolate eyes of the Ice King, Hayes Warren. He's cold-hearted, introvertive and always seems to walk around bearing an ominous aura that reflects the void of his soul. Lost in the looming narrow corridors of his past, he chases after a woman he only met once. But what is this? Why does this little fluffy rabbit intrigue him so much? "You're hired" After his encounter with her, this little Rabbit successfully begins to hole her way into his heart with a relentless force he's never experienced before. Will the emotions the Ice King decisively buried away into the deepest abyss of his soul, ever be revived again? And will Bloom be able to survive in his resplendent, desolate abyss and save him from himself?

I made the decision to break up with Layla Freeman as I opened my eyes once more. She wanted to take Charles Jones and his son home so she could take care of them, so I would logically leave. I had a lot of arguments with Layla in my former life because of Charles and his son. She paid for Charles’ son’s wedding using the money I had saved for my retirement. Ultimately, the bitter cold killed me in the winter. When Layla found out about that, she was not filled with sadness. Rather, she accused me of dying on her godson’s wedding day. I would leave her and not have anything to do with her in this life.