Dire Crossword Clue

Title: Tempted by the Billionaire's Bride After a series of unfortunate events, the heroine, Emily, finds herself in dire financial straits. With no other options in sight, she signs up for a mail-order bride service, hoping to find a wealthy husband who can save her from her crippling debt. Little did she know that her intended groom, billionaire businessman, Alexander Pierce, was not looking for love, but a wife in name only. Despite his initial disdain for the arrangement, Alex finds himself drawn to Emily's sweet and timid nature. He offers to pay off her debts in exchange for a predetermined amount of time as his temporary wife. Emily, desperate for a way out, agrees to the terms, but can she really handle the cold and distant Billionaire who has control over her life? As they navigate their fake marriage, Emily starts seeing the softer side of Alex - the vulnerable man who has been hurt before. His guarded exterior starts to melt as he discovers how much he enjoys having Emily around. But just as they begin to develop feelings for each other, a dangerous figure from Alex's past resurfaces, throwing their newfound happiness into jeopardy. With secrets and lies threatening to tear them apart, can Alex and Emily overcome their differences and find true love? Or will their relationship be nothing more than a business arrangement?

“Oopsiedaisy! Can’t let you die on me after I finally found you, eh, fated mate?” My so-called savior stopped me from doing the one logical way to end my suffering. But when I realized that I was saved by the hands of Russell DeLucci, I know I’m now faced with an even worse situation than death. ========= Mallory Bishop is torn between living in a hell filled with misfortunes or death just so to end her misery. When she was about to end herself, carrying her younger half-sister in a plan of a double suicide, they were saved by the notoriously violent, mad hound of the Lucci Famiglia, Russell DeLucci. Russell is in dire need of a mate for the sake of his pack and after finding his fated mate in a human girl, he would do anything to keep her by his side even if it costs of being the worst enemy of all packs.

An ancient magical book, Time travel, and a prince. Thalia, a writer who would do anything to escape her haunting reality comes across an ancient time travel book. She seizes the chance immediately and is transported to the 18th century. There She meets Prince Aldric and they’re immediately drawn to each other. However as Thalia becomes more involved in the prince’s life, she realizes that her actions could either have dire consequences for the future or save a prince and an entire nation. As she struggles to navigate the complexities she faces in the past, Thalia must also confront her feelings for the prince and decide whether to stay in the past with him or return to her own time to restore balance.

When Lisa's stepfather's advances became too much for her jealous mother, she framed Lisa, accusing her of having an affair with her stepdad and throwing her out. Lisa seeks solace at a club, only to drown her sorrows in a night of heavy drinking. This leads to a fateful encounter with Branden, a mysterious stranger who rescues her from a predatory man at the club after he falls for her upon seeing her for the first time. As the night unfolds, Lisa's life takes a surreal turn when she ends up in Branden's bed, only to wake up the next morning with no memory of what transpired. A month later, Lisa discovers she's pregnant, and the only clue to the father's identity lies in the hazy memory of that wild night. Returning to the scene of the encounter, she meets Jim, Branden's younger brother. She goes ahead to tell him, believing he's the father, but is shocked as she's been interrupted by the famous and wealthy Branden Grevor. Confusion ensues when Jim excitedly claims he's the father, leaving Branden stunned that his brother had been intimate with his guest. As tensions rise between the brothers, Lisa flees in confusion, leaving her torn between two brothers and a truth she never expected. Will the truth tear the brothers apart? Who is actually the father of Lisa's child? Can Lisa find love and acceptance amidst the tangled web of betrayal and blurred lines?

The man who encouraged her to be the first Female Alpha; the father of her child; her first mate and the man she had loved and lost. Abhay now stood in front of Mikalya in the flesh, but not as an ally; as yet another adversary. Just when she had thought she had found her happiness once again, Mikalya is brought face to face with her first mate, but everything isn’t as it seems. He is no longer the man she once knew. On top of everything, what happens between her and Rhys now? But the situation is about to get even more dire for Mikalya as conspiracies are brewing everywhere to get rid of her. She’s a woman in a man’s role, the first of her kind. Now, she must ensure that she doesn’t become the last.

Scarlett, a determined writer, gets a job at the city's largest entertainment company, hoping to free her family from the grip of poverty. But her dreams take an unexpected turn when her path crosses Cade, her rude and seductive boss. Desperate to become CEO, Cade proposes a deal: financial assistance for Scarlett's family in exchange for a contract marriage. Torn between her hatred for Cade and her family's dire needs, Scarlett faces the test of her values. Will she compromise her principles for the sake of those she loves? Or will she find a way to loosen this tangled web of ambition, power, and unexpected attraction? Characterization

Ever since he was a kid, Sieghal was convinced that something terrifying was lurking under the sea, waiting for him with its jaws wide open. But he had no clue what kind of creature it could be. His fear only grew worse when his dad fell into the ocean, forcing him to return to his hometown—Shira, to face the terror he'd never been able to overcome for years. Returning to Shira after all these years was no cakewalk for Sieghal, who despised the sea. While most folks would say the ocean is a super romantic place, not for Sieghal, it was just a gateway ready to drag his soul into death. Unlike him, the people of Shira believed that the ocean, which had sustained them for decades, was protected by a guardian—a wonderful entity with shimmering silver scales. And it was this entity that had saved his dad when he fell into the sea during a massive storm that night. "Is seventy million dollars is enough to buy your dignity, Alfreeda Sieghal?" "Sir Dylan, I'm not to try sell my soul just to get money for my dad's medical bills."

Valentine Stephens never believed in fairy tales, but during times as dire as these, one takes what he can. With her brother's life hanging by a thread and medical bills she could never, ever afford to pay, she makes an impulsive decision to marry Adrian Sebastian, the ruthless CEO and business tycoon, who needs a wife for only one purpose: to inherit his grandfather's billion-dollar fortune. The arrangement is simple. One year, no feelings or complications. Hard, cold Adrian makes his intentions clear from the start. He doesn't have faith in love, and Val is merely a pawn used in his game. Val's college experience is transformed into a nightmare when her billionaire husband is exposed, and she becomes the target of gossip, jealousy, and scandal. she's betrayed by her best friend, and stalked by an unknown enemy hell-bent on destroying her. His half-brother, Damian, is eager to get his hands on his inheritance and will do whatever it takes to destroy the marriage. And just as Val is beginning to believe she knows Adrian, she finds out a secret that shattered all she knew about him. Adrian hadn't chosen her at random. He had known her the whole time. And the real reason he married her? It is a secret so dangerous it was capable of killing them both. Trapped in a lie, Val is presented with an ultimatum: walk away and forfeit everything, or fight fire with fire against the man who holds her heart and liberty in his hands. But what if the biggest enemy she will have to fight against is the man she is starting to fall in love with? Find out in the book.

Seven years ago, a misunderstanding caused Eudora and Ryan to break up. After leaving the city and returning to her hometown, she discovered she was pregnant. Eudora decided to raise her child alone, starting her journey as a single mother. However, life threw her a curveball. Her daughter was born with a congenital heart condition, and the cost of treatment put her family in a dire financial situation. She was even struggling to afford the life-saving treatment for her daughter. Driven to desperation, she made the difficult decision to work as a hostess at a nightclub to earn money for her daughter's medical expenses. But Eudora was completely shocked when her first customer on her first night turned out to be her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Ryan. Seeing Eudora in the nightclub, Ryan is initially stunned, then consumed by anger. She betrayed him for another man, and now she's living this miserable life. Was it all worth it? Seven years later, their paths are intertwined once more. Misunderstandings continue to fuel their pain, adding layer upon layer of humiliation. Can they finally release the past and find their way back to each other, or are they destined to drift apart, leaving behind wounds that will forever scar their hearts?

(Trios Legacies, Book 5) The battle may have been won, but the war is far from over. In Make Believe, the fifth explosive installment of the Trios Legacies series, the next generation of wolves, witches, gods, and hybrids must face the fallout of a broken magical world—and a rising evil that refuses to stay buried. When Josefina delivers a dire prophecy in the midst of childbirth—Lucifer is back—it sets off a chain reaction across realms. Three elite teams are dispatched to the fae courts to secure alliances before it's too late: Sebastián and his sharp-tongued witch partner Phoenix navigate Seelie politics and discover Sebastián’s mate is the king’s outcast granddaughter; Jai and the fiery Violet are ambushed en route to the Unseelie Court, only to discover Jai's fated mate is a guarded selkie with secrets of her own; and Aubrey, dropped into the Shadow Court with a witch she can't stand, ends up hunted by the Wild Hunt and entangled with its dangerously magnetic leader. As magic warps reality and the gods remain trapped in their realms, old enemies and unhealed wounds surface. Portals are failing. Alliances are fraying. The Wild Hunt wants blood. And Lucifer is building an army. With mates to protect, realms to defend, and fate itself unraveling, the heirs of Arcadia must fight like never before—not just to save the world, but to find where they belong in it. Because some wars are fought with weapons. Others, with love. And the hardest ones? Those are fought with truth.