David Baldacci Best Stand-alone Books Novels & Stories

Everyone said I was lucky. After the Don, Lucas Vaughn, brought me back to his estate, I became the woman he treasured most. He would halt billion-dollar deals just to be home on time to put me to sleep. He even learned sign language in secret, just so he could communicate with me after my vocal cords were damaged. At first, I didn’t dare give him my heart. Whenever he looked at me, his focus would drift. He showered me with gifts, yet always disappeared on the days that mattered most. As the child in my womb grew, and as Lucas’s devotion intensified day by day, I let my guard down. I devoted myself completely to the role of wife and Donna. Until the night I gave birth. I hemorrhaged during a difficult labor, but Lucas never showed up. After surviving by sheer luck, I finally saw the trending news. Lucas attended a Thames-side gala arm-in-arm with rising movie star, Serena Vale. That was when I understood. To him, I had only ever been a substitute. He broke his rules for her again and again. He indulged her humiliations toward me and even shoved me toward armed attackers at the brink of life and death. Filled with hatred, I closed my eyes and sank into the deep sea, just as he wished. Later, he knelt, clutching the hem of my dress, begging, "Zoe, please give me one more chance. I’ll repay you with my life." His life was worth too little now. I no longer wanted it.

Genenvieve has always been in love with Daniel, her father's best friend. On her 18th birthday, she kisses him, and is immediately rejected by him. After that, Genevieve never heard from him again. Two years pass, and Daniel has an incredible night with a mysterious woman. He couldn't imagine that this woman was Genevieve, his best friend's daughter...

After I got pregnant, I witnessed my boyfriend's grandmother's death. She left behind a secret, and now, everyone who knows that secret is dead. First, it was my boyfriend's father who died. My boyfriend's mother followed soon after. Lastly, my boyfriend died too. He ended his life by overdosing right before my eyes. The media went wild. They dug obsessively for the truth. Again and again, the police summoned me for questioning. Online hate toward me was overwhelming. Everyone wants to know what the secret is. People claim I cursed my boyfriend's entire family to death, just to keep the secret to myself. I stay silent, never saying a word in defense of myself. On the seventh day after my boyfriend had passed, I spot someone at his funeral. At that moment, I place my hand on my swollen belly. I am utterly calm and at peace. It is time for me and my child to die too.

‘’Damn, they sent a perfect b***h,’’ he spoke while he loosen his tie. The Aphrodisiac was already taking a very strong effect on Daniel, the wholesome billionaire, and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. ‘’You invited me with your open legs. I will make sure to satisfy you,’’ he spoke in his raspy seductive voice and climbed over her. Grabbing her exposed milky white leg, he started moving his hand upwards from her thigh, creasing her soft skin, giving goosebumps to her. She felt a tingling sensation she never felt before. His eyes locked on her blossom, which was rising and falling with her heavy breaths. He placed his lips on her neck, giving her a nice love bite, making her bite her lips to stop that shameful moan escaping her mouth.

For eight years, I was James Carter's secretary and secret lover. Eight years of giving him my heart completely. I truly believed he loved me back - he was always tender and attentive when we were intimate, seemingly caring about my every need and desire. But then I overheard him telling others, "She's nothing but a stand-in, just someone to satisfy my physical needs when I'm bored. Did you really think I would marry her?" In that moment, I finally found the strength to let go and stop loving him. I handed in my resignation and walked away from it all. Yet after my whirlwind marriage to someone else, why did he suddenly start searching for me desperately across the city? Now he's here with tears in his eyes, claiming I'm the one he truly loves? Wasn't I just his convenient replacement all along?

After a falling out with my long-distance boyfriend, I decide to secretly fly home to patch things up with him. Unexpectedly, I catch him fooling around at home with his secretary. "Do you need to be so mad? I only got someone to act as your stand-in. Ultimately, you're still the one I love." I listen to his preposterous lies and hide my stomach cancer diagnosis behind my back. I say, "It's not a bad idea to gather more of these fakes. You won't be too upset when I'm dead." But after I die, he loses his mind when he looks at his secretary's face.

What happens when you have a steamy one night stand with your best friend's brother —yeah, the one you hate— and he returns for more? ********************************** Joan Madison has always despised Aaron Thompson, her best friend's arrogant, insufferable brother. The feeling was mutual—until it wasn't. A vacation meant for relaxation with her friend Rhoda takes a different turn when Joan finds herself tangled in a steamy, reckless encounter with the one man she swore she’d never want. What should’ve been a fleeting mistake becomes something far more dangerous as Aaron refuses to let her go—and his hunger for her only deepens. Jo’s trapped between desire and defiance, but one thing is clear: this game they’ve started could burn them both.

What do 26 years of friendship, plus 26 years of pent-up, sexual frustration, and one drunken, exciting, night on the beach get me? I just found out I'm pregnant with my best friend's baby... How the hell am I supposed to tell him that we're having a baby together? How will he react, and will he want this blessing just as much as I do? What's even worse is our parents have started to date each other... What does that mean for Cole and me?

"Girl, you have to help me satisfy my husband. I honestly can't take it anymore." Recently, my wife couldn't handle my intensity anymore and went crying to her best friend for help. Wanting to ease the tension between us, her bestie decided to come to our house alone. She showed up in a sexy short dress that barely contained her curves. "So I hear you're pretty wild, huh? Let me see what all the fuss is about."

Olivia had never thought she'd see Aiden other than her sister's best friend who is constantly a thorn in her shoes, but after they accidentally made out, things changed between them. Aiden is that one man she should not want. He's forbidden. Off Limits. A certified man whore who doesn't do relationship. And what's worse? Her sister's best friend.