Clean Reads

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

During a drinking session, Ibiza received a dare to cheat with Cydeo—who got a girlfriend that time. Ibiza Blessed Bartolome was a happy-go-lucky rebellious girl who longed for real love from someone who will see her worth. Cydeo Adams Izquierdo was the two-good-shoes popular guy in college who got a perfectly clean reputation. Ibiza and Cydeo's worlds seemed impossible to cross lines until Ibiza accepted the dare and guess what? Cydeo's response will shake her world.

Three months after my baby was born, I found out my husband, Joe, was cheating. The other woman? Hailey. Pregnant and smug. Joe actually got on his knees, begging for a divorce. I said yes. Until I could find a place, Joe's mom, Claudia, let me stay at the house. "Hailey," Claudia said, "you'll handle all the household responsibilities now." Hailey, all fake enthusiasm, chirped, "I'll take good care of this family!" Claudia replied, "Great. You'll start your day at five making breakfast. When Luca's hungry, you'll feed him and change his diapers. Once he's down for a nap, clean the house, grocery shop, and prep lunch. Laundry in the afternoon, tea service mid-day, then bathe Luca and cook dinner. After that, you'll put him to bed." Hailey's face? Priceless.

Salvatore El Manzoni is the most powerful mafia boss in the world. But if his mentor, Avanindra Vallar asks him, he would mountains and that was how Salvatore became a bodyguard to Mr Vallar's son. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets the clean businessman, Aryan Vallar. Aryan Vallar is the youngest billionaire around. He owns the seas and the oceans and is as reckless as any 28 year old hot blooded rich man. He has never been told no and when finally someone does, he is shocked. One night changes Aryan's world.

This Thanksgiving, Elmer Fuller finally agrees to go on a trip with me. But when I wake up in the hotel, I don't see him anywhere. I spend the entire day desperately searching for him, only to stumble across a social media post from his first love. It's a selfie of her and Elmer having a cozy family dinner with her parents. The caption reads, "Someone's finally meeting the parents on Thanksgiving night. Mom and Dad can stop pressuring me to get married now!" Around her neck is the scarf my mother knitted for me before she passed. I left a comment. "Stop using my things to flirt with my husband. Take the scarf off—you can have him." Not long after, she posts an update. The scarf is shredded into pieces and tossed into a dog bed, with the caption, "What trash—too filthy even for a dog!" Elmer likes the post.

Wolves are born, not turned. Rex fell in love, finding his mate in a human, which was forbidden to do, if he acted on that urge he knew the punishment would be severe. After saving his human from a group of Alphas trying to turn a human into a chew toy. Surprising the Alphas, Rex ran in and took off with his human. Spending time with his human made Rex realize he couldn’t live without him. Finding a long forgotten ritual, Rex was able to turn his human into a wolf so they could remain together. The consequences from that decision ignited a war between the Sire Lines, wolves from all corners of Gaia having their wolves and humans together in one body, tempering the bloodlust of their inner wolf brought a peaceful balance to the wolf. Some wolves being unhappy with the awakening of their humanity, a few started putting together a team of wolves, armed with a plan to eliminate Rex and his mate to satisfy a very old grudge, gaining the favor of Vuk Majka, the Mother of Wolves, to aid their cause. Vuk’s sister, Pandora sides with Rex and his wolves trying to keep Nature and Creation from wiping the slate clean, remaking Gaia from the ground to the Heavens.

Diana Crossfield has always been an outcast in the silver moon pack. Born wolfless, shunned for her mother's death in childhood and tormented by those that should have protected, she longed for freedom. Hope arrives when she learns she is to marry prince Donald , her childhood best friend and escape the hell she called home but her dreams shatter when she is betrayed and sold to a cursed rogue Prince of the mountain in exchange for her father's debt. Diana is thrown into a dark mysterious mansion where her mate, a monster feared by all, resides but instead of devouring her, he orders her to clean, she discovers more about the terrifying man bound to her by fate and soon realizes he is not monster the legend had said he was. Yet there are secrets hidden in the shadows about the prince, the curse that brings him and the truth of her own existence. Because Diana is more than just wolfless, she holds a power that could break the curse or doom them both And Edric Ambrose, the devil of the mountain, might just be the only one who can truly set her free.

At my wedding, a video of my fiancé cheating was exposed. I didn't make a scene; just turned around and walked away, left him to clean up the mess himself. I went back to my room and kissed my younger boyfriend. We were halfway through when we got interrupted. My fiancé stormed in, face red with shame and rage. "Is this really the time? All you can think about is kissing?" I smacked my lips, still savoring the moment. "Weren't you the one who introduced us?"

I'm an heiress who's been bound to a gossip system. Everyone reads my mind on my first day back home after being reunited with my family. "Mom sure has done a good job of maintaining her beauty. It's no wonder she became an OnlyFans streamer after divorcing Dad." My mother is about to berate me for something, but she pales and stops when she hears my thoughts. I glance at the fake heiress, who's weeping pitifully. "My, she's pregnant. Is it John's or Zach's?" My two brothers exchange odd looks. Then, my father arrives. I cluck my tongue. "Oh, it's Dad's."

Eyare gets married to the love of his life, Osagiede, shortly after completion of his university education. On the first day of their honeymoon in Ghana, he discovers his wife’s diary, and curiosity gets the better of him and he reads it. Therein, he finds out she married him as a measure to save face, a plan b, and a way out of her dilemma. Heart broken and torn between staying or breaking up with her, he comes to the decision of paying her back for all the hurt he’s feeling. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he is not able to carry out his plans, because he has fallen deeply in love with his own wife. Osagiede, meanwhile, gets reacquainted with her ex – Geoffrey. She decides to re-ignite a dalliance with him against the warnings of her best friend, Onari. Unbeknownst to her, she is being manipulated diabolically by him, and her best friend is in on it as well. Eyare is an heir to the throne in his hometown, but he is reluctant in ascending it. Forces from within will do everything in their power to try to stop him from being the next king. Question is, will they succeed? Plans will be made, negative acts will take place, and dangerous secrets will unfold. Through all this, love finally blossoms in Osagiede’s heart for her husband, but will their new-found love be enough to save them from the onslaught to come.