Concrete Jungles

When the heroic werewolf Ramos is trapped in the twilight realm, his Shadowmen comrades are unable to rescue him. Only a passionate woman with a spirit as wild as his own can set him free…. Oil heiress Angela Valdes fled the jungles of Belize to avoid becoming a pawn in her vicious uncle’s wicked schemes. Though she has found temporary sanctuary in little Twilight, Tennessee, only in her dreams does she taste freedom. At night, her spirit intertwines with a magnificent black wolf, and they run together under the glow of a forest moon. When a wounded stranger is brought to the camp where she is hiding, she glimpses in his eyes the mysterious being who has been the partner of her visions. But before she can explore her strange reaction to this man, they are kidnapped and imprisoned once again. Ramos is a shapeshifting Shadowman, captured by the evil Milan vampire who hopes to control Angela. Injured and blind, he struggles to regain his warrior’s strength as they fight for their freedom — and their lives. Together, their spirits form a powerful link matched only by the passion they discover in each other’s arms. But can a mortal woman attain true love with a man who is half wolf? And will their enemies give them time to find an answer?

The world humans once knew was now taken over by creatures who had fought and won control over it… The werewolves… Humans became slaves to their wrath, puppets to command and control, and sadly Marlie Barlowe was one of them. She hated werewolves with every bone that made up her body, just the thought of them disgusted her, so could you imagine the thought of actually breeding for them? She detested it, it repulsed her in more ways than just one. She preferred death than to give birth to one of them. But that night when she was tied naked against the unpainted concrete walls, she could do nothing but take what was dished out to her. She had fought back, cried and begged, but the man whose hand had ran along almost every crevice of her body had absolutely no heart. She could see the cruelty, the coldness in his eyes…her tears, the helpless little fight she put up; it was all appealing to him. And that made Marlie fear him. _ ~WARNING~ DARK THEMED ROMANCE~ READ WITH CAUTION~

John Handful’s first client is a member of the local Polish community wanted by the police for the disappearance of his pregnant wife. A new miracle cancer drug is stolen from a pharmaceutical complex located on a shingle spit, just off the Suffolk coast. A wealthy local financier is blackmailed, and a ripple of malice spreads across the village of Oxmarket. Each household of a cul-de-sac have a secret that could point to them being the murderer of a man found shot dead in his bedroom.A perplexing case unfolds with the revelation of secret lovers, flowers from the garden and a death that is not as it appears.John Handful finds himself enmeshed in a violent, multi-layered plot at a luxury hotel on a remote island. A man kills himself despite receiving the good news that his lover’s husband has agreed to a divorce.A woman is witnessed shooting herself by her husband even though she had already been dead several hours.A man has been found shot through the head in a locked room with suicide well and truly ruled out. How did he die?Severed limbs in a concrete block, leads, John Handful to believe that a cold calculated killer with a thirst for revenge is on the loose. Ten cases, one connection. What is it?

We share a world with beings not all like us, a world protected by old magic. In this Archipelago live the shifters; Lion, Wolf, Reptile, and Flyer. Each island is a perfect ecosystem for the prominent race of the land. Tropical, yes, but also filled with woods, deserts, jungles, and grasslands. Shifters here are destined to find their true mates in the fated unions of the islands. But if never found, they take their chosen mates. Creating stronger bonds and warriors all around. With this peace, The Archipelago is ruled by a beautifully regal Queen and her fated court. Together families are larger, stronger, and more loyal. The only one who seeks power and wants to rule over both worlds, The Shadow Warrior. His Shadow Clan army will stop at nothing to rule over all the shifters and even the humans. His plan, though bold, intertwines with the prophecy of the Queen.  A prophecy exists, but few know its true meaning. The Shadow Warrior has lived before and will rise again. He will stop at nothing to claim his prize, the Queen of the Shifters with amethyst eyes, but will he succeed? The Lion Queen, Kimarhi, is about to face the challenges of prophecy and fate. After losing her family, her path is set to rule over Lion Island. Little does she know finding love and destiny will set her crown in a blaze. She is passionate about the fight and willing to die for her people. But the love of her fated is strong, and it empowers her to become something more fierce. Channeling strength and the skill of her love, feeling the pull of the bond, and accepting her destiny. Will she win in the end, or will the hands of dark forces destroy her home and heart?

I’d just wrapped up a short trip with my daughter, Elara. On the way back, I figured I’d swing by the Hale, our family’s casino, to check in on my son, Cassian. Maybe grab dinner together. I didn’t expect to be mistaken for his latest fling. Correction: not mistaken—accused. Violently. “You think you can just waltz in here like some queen?” she hissed. “I’m the woman Cassian loves! What kind of whore are you? And is this your bastard daughter with him?” She locked us in the basement. No phone. No light. Just concrete walls and the stench of mildew and madness. Then came the fists. She slapped me across the face—again and again—until my skin stung and my ears rang. When that didn’t satisfy her, she pulled a gun and aimed low. The bullet tore through my knee. I bit back a scream, shielding Elara with my body. “You need to die, whore,” she spat. One of her men hesitated, “We should at least tell Mr. Hale first. If we are going to kill these two in his casino.” Lila of course said no. But that man brought Cassian anyway. My son stepped into this dark little room like it was any other Tuesday—until he saw me. His whole body went still. The blood drained from his face. And then, in the smallest, most broken voice I’d ever heard from him, he whispered, “Mom? What are you doing in my basement?”

"You have my daughter, La Gualias, I want Kira back,” Alan Whitaker demanded. “You have no rights on her, Dimitri La Gualias.” “I bought her, she is my property,” Dimitri replied. “I want my daughter, La Gualias,” Alan shouted. “And if I found out that you had defiled her!” “Well, I have already, multiple times,” Dimitri mocked. “La Gualias,” Alan screamed. “Well, she screams Dimitri when I fuck her!" Dimitri spoke shamelessly. “What do you intend to do with her?” Alan demanded. “Fuck her, use her, then maybe dump her in the jungles of Romania, what else do you think will happen? Why do you think I have a Whitaker in my home?” “So, you are using her?” Alan clarified. “Of course I am using her,” Dimitri looked stunned. “What else is she good for?” “I heard rumors that she is your mate,” Alan asked. “Well yeah! I had to pretend, what else!” Dimitri rolled his eyes. “She is very stubborn. She was a virgin who would not let me touch her until she had a promise of forever. And she threw herself at me once I did that, just like that… Are all girls in your bloodline so naïve and gullible?” ******* Dimitri, the most powerful alpha and mafia lord of the world, bought Kira at an auction. He is a ruthless man who likes to dominate. He is successful in everything he did, but he never knew that his one purchase will change the course of his life forever. But while Dimitri had power, Kira had a secret. She is the heiress to another powerful and rival clan, whose past, present, future are just as unpredictable as Dimitri's moods. What would happen when these two opposite personalities will clash? Delve in to their lives to get to know more...

Tied to a chair, it scraped against the concrete as Victor struggled. "Damn it, lady, I’ll give you this—you’ve got balls that even some men lack." he smiled, blood dripping from his mouth. Celestina pulled back the slide, the metallic click echoing in the quiet room as a bullet locked into place, ready to fire. She Pressed the gun to his head, "Are those your last words?" she asked coldly. ....................... How do you find peace when you're married to chaos itself? You don't. You become chaos. What would you do if your husband who murdered you and slaughtered your family proposed marriage again, and didn't recognize you? For Aria D'Amore, the answer is simple: marry him again, and make him pay for every drop of blood. When Aria is forced into a peace-treaty marriage with her family's enemy, she believes the war is over. Instead, Dante Vallenis uses their wedding celebration to massacre every D'Amore, making her watch before ordering her execution. She survives, barely, and "dies" in the eyes of the world. Eight years later, she returns as Celestina Vale, the mysterious Mistress of The Graveyard, an underground network that controls the Italian mafia through secrets and assassinations. When she manipulates her way into marrying Dante again, he doesn't recognize the stranger he's obsessed with controlling. But as she systematically destroys his empire from within, she falls for his uncle, the one man who tried to save her that night, and the one man who harbors a secret that could shatter everything she's built. So what will it be, love or revenge?

A dark and gloomy villa stood in the middle of the barren landscape, hidden from sight by a perched hedge. It was phenomenal and spectacular, but it makes it appear to have succumbed to a sullen and ominous atmosphere, both inside and out. A lanky hedge and gnarled shrubs give off the impression that the house has indeed been overlooked. The rainstorm seeping from the sewer pipes made the place appear miserable and dispirited. Needless to say, the house appeared razed to the ground and devoid of life. The house was made of rune stone that had been smeared darker in spots by downpours, sending it an insidious demeanor even during the day. The window frames were all padlocked and bricked up in steel frames and woods, as if what was inside would have been too grotesque to see, trying to give the impression that someone must have attempted to prevent something horrible from escaping. People have claimed that the residence was plagued by the witch who died there, but there has been no tangible evidence to substantiate their claims. It was even widely speculated that the villa was venomous and mowed down the leaves of trees that come into direct contact with its concrete pillars. People also construed a terrifying presumption that whoever tries to enter the house will never make it out alive because there is something inside that you would never dare to see with your very own eyes. Whatever was real or not, it was unmistakably foreshadowing, exponentially cold and savage at a hundredth of a thousand glances. A breathtaking doll sat competently on a rocking chair inside the house. Waiting complacently for someone brave and heroic enough to unravel the abominable and ghoulish mystery and paradox behind her enchanting, spine-chilling smile.

I first met Kai Valentine at the basketball court when I was ten years old. Kai was taller, louder, and faster than me. And from that day on, Kai became my best friend, my safe place. But then my parents passed away, and my family went bankrupt. After that, we weren't best friends anymore. We were just two strangers living in completely different worlds. Then, Kai starts "stealing" from me. He manages to steal every single girlfriend I've ever had. The day he steals my eighth girlfriend, I finally break. That's when I decide to fight back and get myself a boyfriend instead. That's right; I'm going to pretend to be gay! Let's see how he plans to steal this one. However, I never thought that my actions would make Kai go absolutely berserk. That night, Kai presses me against a dim corner in the stairwell. His fists slam into the concrete wall, his breath hot against my cheek. "If even he can be your boyfriend," he grits out, "then why can't I?" I laugh. "Are you out of your mind?" Kai just keeps pressing closer, his scorching gaze burning into me as his lips inch closer until he is just a breath away. "Do you still not get it?" Something hot and erect presses up against me. He then growls softly in my ear. "I never wanted to steal any of your girlfriends. The only person I ever wanted was you, Aiden Winston!"

As my due date approached, a massive discrepancy surfaced in the Galante family's arms accounts. The leadership made a swift decision. They sent me, Sophia Vitale, the Don's wife, the woman everyone claimed had nothing better to do, to personally inspect the armory and verify the inventory. I believed it was a routine check. I never imagined my husband's godsister, Monica Leone, would use it as cover to blow up the entire armory. The explosion was deafening. Fire ripped through the sky. Concrete collapsed around me, crushing my body as a searing pain tore through my abdomen. I did not call my husband on his highest-priority private line. Instead, I sent a distress signal to my father. In my previous life, the moment the explosion occurred, I had used that same priority channel to call my husband. The child had survived. Monica had been obliterated in the blast. My husband had claimed he did not blame me. He had said Monica was an outsider and that an heir mattered more. He had spared no expense, hiring elite obstetric specialists to monitor me day and night. He had told me to stay calm and wait for delivery. Then, on the day I went into labor, he personally locked me and the baby inside an abandoned warehouse drenched in gasoline and burned us alive. "If you hadn't deliberately delayed, she wouldn't have died. Do you really think playing the innocent victim could fool me? Dream on," he said. "You like playing with fire so much? Fine. I'll let you experience her despair yourself." When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the armory, at the exact moment of the explosion.