Contra Costa Library Hours Novels & Stories

One word. One shadow. One mistake. To save her dying father and escape a murder frame-up, Angel Molley signs a two-year contract with Drake Crane. He is a cold, dying Alpha who needs a nameless bride to spite his clan and confuse his enemies. Angel thought she was buying her freedom. She didn't realize she was stepping into a world of monsters where the ink on the page is paid for in blood. She signed the paper to save a life, but can she survive the beast she married?

Lily's life is shattered after an attack against her family by Jaxon, the mafia don from the south. Her father and brother were murdered and as the only daughter, Lily was used as a tool by Jaxon to control other mafia families. Unable to bear the hard life, Lily ran away. A few years later she reappeared as a different Lily. She was strong, hard to fall in love, and became the leader of an organization that fought all the mafia. They met again and agreed to marry on contract to work together. But Lily comes not for love but for revenge. Will Lily be able to overpower her vivid feelings for Jaxon or will she fall into his world and repeat the same mistakes?

Ava Sinclair is drowning in debt, desperate to save her critically ill twin brother. With nowhere else to turn, she seeks help from Damian Blackwood—her ruthless, emotionless CEO. But Damian has problems of his own. As an Alpha who despises women, he’s being pressured by his powerful grandmother to marry within a week. Furious, he vows to marry on his terms. A drunken call mistakenly connects him to Ava, where he demands she find him a woman. She misunderstands, insults him, and calls him a pervert. The next day, Damian summons her, revealing he knows about her financial struggles. He offers her a deal—marry him in exchange for clearing all her debts. Ava agrees but sets strict conditions: no touching, no mistresses in their home, and no breaking the contract. Damian smirks, thinking it will be an easy arrangement—until his wolf stirs at her presence. Despite his hatred for Omegas, his possessiveness grows. His wolf whispers, She is ours. Mark her. But Damian refuses to accept it. His past—his mother’s betrayal—fuels his loathing for the mate bond. Yet, Ava fights back against his dominance, defying him at every turn. Tension simmers, jealousy flares, and his control begins to shatter. When a rival Alpha targets Ava, Damian is forced into battle—not just against his enemies, but himself. In a moment of desperation, his wolf takes over. He realizes too late—Ava is his mate. But she’s gone. Kidnapped. Enraged, Damian unleashes his fury, tearing through his enemies. When he finally gets her back, she is broken, unwilling to trust him. For the first time, Damian Blackwood begs. "Give me one chance, Ava." But she won’t be caged. Now, he must fight—not as an Alpha, but as a man in love.

Six years of my life. My time, my trust, my whole heart and Adrian Cross exchanged vows with another woman like I never existed. I had his promises. His plans. The names we picked for children we never got to have. All gone in one day. And if that wasn’t enough, my father was sick and the bills were drowning me. Then his Rival, Jaden Parker, came with an offer. Clear every hospital bill in exchange for two years of marriage. No love. No emotions. Just a deal with an expiration date. I said yes. But no one warned me what two years next to the same man does to a heart that was already broken. Now I’m falling for someone who made me sign a contract that says love isn’t allowed. Do I tell him or do I protect what’s left of myself?

Desperate to protect her honor, Bella Thompson agrees to a one year contract to become an Alpha's wife. But the marriage is cold and straining as Bella hates Alpha Draven for forcing her into this. To make matters worse, Alpha brings his mistress into their home, and Bella is flirting with another man. But as the time passed by, Bella finds herself slowly falling for her husband, despite the fact that he is womanizer and arrogant. But what if she discovers the truth behind the past from Alpha Draven's ex fiancée. Will she still choose to love him after all?

Lyra is forced to endure the pain of watching her husband Aaric fall back into the arms of his ex-lover. Casted aside, disrespected, and ultimately blamed for a tragedy that shattered her heart, she finally decides she has had enough and is forced to leave. But the moon goddess has other plans. A mysterious stranger blocks her path on the night of her exile, he offers her an unexpected bargain: revenge against those who wronged her in exchange for bearing his children. Left with nowhere to turn and her name blacklisted among all packs, Lyra reluctantly agrees. What she doesn't know is that Alpha Jayden, the feared Alpha of all Alphas, has been searching for her for years. She is his fated mate—the only woman who can bear his children and the one his wolf has always called for. As Lyra struggles with growing feelings that violate their strict contract, darker forces move against them. Someone has been eliminating every woman who gets close to Jayden, and now they've set their sights on Lyra.

When Claire and Christian's lives collide on a cruise ship, their worlds are turned upside down. After a steamy night between them which leads to a misunderstanding, mistaken identities, and a leaked sextape, they're forced to pretend to be engaged to save their reputations. When the ship docked, they both go their separate ways, puting an end to the charade, until Claire turns up pregnant a month later with Christian's child. What starts as a fake engagement becomes a twisted, complicated reality as Claire and Christian find themselves trapped in a contract marriage, fighting against their past, the danger lurking in the present, and their growing forbidden feelings for each other.

CAMILLA WALTERS thought she had come to the end of the road when fate caught up with her. No where left to run or hide, on the verge of becoming fish food at the hands of drug runners she owed a lot of money to. That was until fate brought her ALEXI, head of the family CARRERO - The unexpected hero who saved her ass and changed her life in one easy manouvre. Who knew she would have to sign her soul over to the devil in a bid to stay alive and in doing so, lose her heart and mind in the process. This is not your typical hearts and roses story - Let the games begin and the war commence. This is book 7 in The Carrero Series, although you can read this without prior books. There are back story hints from previous books worked in, so this new trio can be read alone. For a fuller understanding then start with The Carrero Effect .

This book is under editing: All Ariella needed was money to pay for her dying mother's surgery. In the guise of sleeping with a man to make money for the surgery, she is sent to her friend's boyfriend's bed. When she realized that it was a set-up by her friend, she felt disgusted.  A month later, Ariella discovers that she is pregnant and the man she slept with; her friend's boyfriend suddenly appears with a proposal of a one-year marriage contract for the sake of the child. “We will be together for a year until you have given birth to my child. I don't want my child to be born out of wedlock,” That's only what he told her before proceeding to throw the documents he was holding on the table. Namely NDA He was a rich and well-known man, she was a poor and unknown model. Of course, he wouldn't want that world to know about them.

She was drowning in debt, she needed to pay off her mother's medical bill, but working, schooling and paying bills the same time was just too much for her, and her insurance could not cover it, she was contracted to marry a psycho for five years, to help him buy enough time to get over the loss of his wife, but she fell inlove with him in the long run, and he treats her so well, that she also fell for him. Unsure of what he feels truly feels for her, for he only calls her by the name of his dead wife. She tries to make herself relevant in his life. But What happens when he regains his senses, and realize he has been living with his wife's look alike, and not his wife?