Dakota County Library Hours Novels & Stories

"Here I am,  kill me," she said with tears in her eyes and I cupped her cheeks with my hands. "I don't want to."  Dakota Cruise who was a college student showed much interest in a new student named Luke Calvin who offered the same course as her. Because of his abnormal behaviours, she tagged him as "mysterious." When she tried talking to him at first, he seemed dense and mean, but she kept on trying to get acquainted with him because she had a liking for him. But unknown to her he was an assassin sent to kill her and her family. As time went by, they fell in love with each other and Luke did not want to kill her again, she also found out something shocking and mind-blowing about him, he was a cyborg--Half-human, half-machine--it was Luke's biggest secret and she had to keep it. Luke forfeited being an assassin because he had found something better than killing people--his love for Dakota.  Luke's decision made him an enemy of his ever-young creator and boss, Doctor Hernandez, a multi-billionaire psychopathic doctor who had been living for decades without losing his youthful looks due to his body modifications. Will Luke be able to keep Dakota safe? And how long will it take before Luke will be hunted down by his maker?

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

Gen Williams, a smart, usually confident, and beautiful girl, perfect in the eyes of college admissions personnel, parents, and teachers, gets her reputation tarnished because of one night. This night, seemingly harmless, filled with teenagers being teenagers, ended terribly once a rumor about Gen spread throughout her home of Clarenton county, New York. Her friends and acquaintances distance themselves because of the controversy, and she's left with one companion, whom she met on Tinder. Can she trust him, or will this end in betrayal, too?

The North Lotus pack is thrown into complete jeopardy when under mysterious circumstances, their Alpha - Luna Dakota Dolphus - is declared missing, few weeks before the dreaded blood moon eclipse. To them, this can only mean bad news. Catori Dolphus, only child of Luna Dakota, has had all her life preparing to be Alpha one day, but what she never prepared for was the division and chaos rising amongst her pack. With the blood moon eclipse drawing closer with each day, the counsel gives Catori an ultimatum of either finding her Mum before the eclipse or having the Alpha position taken away from their lineage. When disaster keeps setting in at Catori’s every corner, her last option is getting help from the rumored Ghost reapers - a 4-man rogue gang of both urban myth and intrigue. However, Catori’s 4 unlikely heroes soon turn to be more trouble than she bargained for when she discovers that Fenris Covel, wickedly handsome as he was, was her betrothed - her mate. Only problem? Fenris Covel doesn’t ‘do’ mate. Raised in the wild, Fenris Covel was anything but controllable. He was wild, untamed and infuriatingly sexy. But most of all, he has no time for a mate - especially one like Catori Dolphus. His only concern was his job and at the moment, it was finding Catori’s mum. However, the matters of the heart can never be predicted and as their chemistry and intense desire for each other blossoms, danger lurks closer than they could imagine.

Lena thought graduate school would be about focus, discipline, and finally proving to herself that she belonged in the world of academics. Books, research, and long nights in the library—that was the plan. Romance had no place in it. Especially not with the one man who should have been completely off-limits. Professor Jace Carrington is everything Lena was warned about. Brilliant. Confident. Dangerous in his quiet control. His lectures command attention, his presence silences a room, and when his eyes find hers across the crowded lecture hall, she feels both seen and undone. He is a man who draws lines with precision—and a man who knows exactly how to make someone want to cross them. What begins as a spark of curiosity turns into stolen glances, late-night office hours, and conversations that blur the line between mentorship and something far more intimate. Jace’s rules are simple: no one can know, and she always has a choice. But rules are easy to write and far harder to follow. The deeper Lena falls, the more she realizes this isn’t just attraction—it’s obsession, it’s surrender, and it’s freedom all at once. Secrets, however, have a way of surfacing, and on a campus where whispers spread like wildfire, forbidden love can burn everything in its path. Lessons After Dark is a steamy, character-driven romance filled with power, temptation, and the dangerous pull of a secret relationship. For readers who crave tension, intimacy, and the thrill of crossing every line you were told not to, this story will keep you turning pages long after the lights go out.

Mistreated her whole life by the family she was adopted into, Dakota Stone still strives to win her stepfamily’s love and approval despite their aloof and uncaring behavior towards her. Her life takes an unexpected turn when Elias Persson, a cold and intimidating billionaire, who was supposed to marry her sister, takes a sudden interest in her instead. Faced with a shocking betrayal by her fiancé and sister, she turns to Elias with a surprising proposal - a contract marriage. As long buried secrets in her family come to light, will the weight of her family’s deeds destroy her or will she find a safe haven in the arms of Elias?

Thirty would be Alpha males determined to prove themselves and practically bursting with testosterone stuck on a mountain together. Oh, make that twenty-nine males and one stubborn female. All because Alpha Braden of Misty Glen has every confidence his daughter is just as good, if not the best that the werewolf world has to offer in terms of a leader. She’s been raised to believe she’s just as strong, smart and capable as any male. Dakota is convinced nothing could stand in the way of proving herself. Except of course, finding out that her partner at the alpha Blood Creek camp is none other than her fated mate. Dex has always been the strong silent type, but meeting Dakota forces him to see everything through new eyes. The eyes… of a mate. Excerpt: My wolf lets out a low growl to assert his dominance, and to let this creature know that we are not going to take the bait. It’s actually a brilliant idea. There’s literally no chance any males would expect this kind of trap. So dangling a sweet smelling and likely beautiful she-wolf in front of us makes sense. Only there’s nothing else out here. Nothing at all. Where the hell is the wildlife? And surely there are some camp people out here to witness this? Not that I think anyone would physically hurt a female but… They wouldn’t be dumb enough to throw her literally to the wolves would they?

16+The content contains slightly adult themes (sex, violence, alcohol, gambling, etc) that aren't as graphic as explicit-rated content. Layla Luther is the only daughter, and last child of the Lutheran family, a highly reputed family in the fictional county of Palmdale and beyond. Being the only Omega in the Silver Moon pack, she's often overlooked by her parents, and seen as weak, at the same time, constantly bullied and maltreated by her elder brothers. She soon realizes that her and her supposed mate, Jacob Calvin are not meant to be, since his family pack, known as the Crystal Crescent are actually enemies of the Silver Moon pack, and she is being used as a medium to settle the historical dispute between the two packs. The Silver Moon pack pushes her to the Crystal Crescent pack by telling her she is meant for Jacob Calvin, therefore she belongs to the Crystal Crescent pack. She catches Jacob cheating, and without remorse, he opens up about her not being his actual mate, and was just being used by her family to settle an unending rival, since she's considered worthless. In pain and anger, she leaves Palmdale and heads to Westwoods, where she feels the mate bond, and in no time becomes mated to Alpha Hermes who recently recovered from the grief of loosing his former mate. With the help of Alpha Hermes, she becomes a thoroughly feared Lunar in the county of Palmdale. But things are about to change when her rich family, seeks to come back into her life. It get worse when she realizes that the Silver Moon pack are behind Alpha Hermes grief, as they had slaughtered his former mate and the late Lunar of the Desert Wolf pack. Would she choose the Silver Moon pack over the Desert wolves?

At the bachelor party the night before the wedding, the truth-or-dare penalty was brutal—show the most hidden photo on your phone. Gina, Peter's so-called "girl bro," lost. She just grinned and cast her screen onto the big TV. A marriage license filled the screen, stamped by the county clerk. Names: Peter Cooke and Gina Draper. Date: yesterday. The room went dead silent. I stared at Peter's drained face. Gina didn't flinch. She patted his shoulder. "Oops. Guess you found out. Joey, don't take it seriously. Just a dumb bet. I wanted to see what the county clerk's office looked like, so I dared Peter to register a marriage with me." She leaned in, eyes on me like I was the joke. "You're still getting your wedding tomorrow. The vows, the ceremony. I just borrowed your fiancé for a stamp. Don't tell me you're jealous of his buddy." Peter jumped up and pulled me in. "Babe, listen. You're the only one in my heart. It was just a joke." He pulled out the diamond ring, dropped to one knee. "I'll file for divorce first thing tomorrow. It won't mess up our noon wedding. Invites are already out. Don't make this a scene in front of my friends. Once we're married, all my money's yours, okay?" I smiled. He had no clue how any of this worked. Didn't even know divorce came with a thirty-day wait. I didn't take the ring. I pulled out my phone and blasted a group text canceling the wedding.

Can a Christmas angel fix a meet-cute gone wrong? Memory Wilson is supposed to meet Dakota Brooks and fall in love. When a sudden gust of wind from a startled angel prevents that from happening, their paths never intersect. Can Memory's recently departed, beloved Grandma Helen come back to Christmas Falls, Indiana, in disguise and bring Memory and Dak together? Or will Memory's assumption that Dak is just a money-greedy real estate developer keep her from falling in love? If you enjoy sweet Christmas romances with heavenly themes, then you'll love Christmas Memory!