Edgar Award For Best Novel Novels & Stories

**Completed. This is the second book in the Baxter Brother's series. It can be read as a stand-alone novel. Almost ten years ago, Landon watched his mate be killed right before his eyes. It changed him. After being hard and controlling for years, he has finally learned how to deal with the fact that she was gone. Forever. So when he arrives in Washington, Landon is shocked to find his mate alive. And he is even more determined to convince her to give him a chance. Brooklyn Eversteen almost died ten years ago. She vividly remembers the beckoning golden eyes that saved her, but she never saw him again. Ten years later, she agrees to marry Vincent in the agreement that he will forgive the debt. But when those beckoning golden eyes return, she finds she must make an even harder decision.

Protocol for Seduction By Daniel Ejemai In a city where data is more valuable than loyalty and desire is a currency of its own, Julian Vane controls everything—markets, media, and the invisible algorithms that predict human behavior before it happens. As the enigmatic CEO of Vane Industries, he has built an empire on surveillance and precision. Nothing surprises him. Nothing escapes him. Until Elara steps into his tower. Brilliant, defiant, and dangerously curious, Elara seeks access to classified files that could expose the true extent of Vane’s predictive policing system. Julian offers her a deal instead: thirty days under his rules—his proximity, his control, his world—in exchange for the information she wants. What begins as a calculated arrangement quickly ignites into something neither of them can fully command. Power shifts. Boundaries blur. Attraction becomes a weapon—and a weakness. As secrets surface and emotions intensify, Elara must decide whether she’s dismantling a tyrant… or surrendering to the only man capable of matching her fire. In a world wired for control, love may be the one variable no algorithm can predict.

Prologue “We can’t be together,” he whispered, voice breaking. “You are my destruction.” Tears burned her eyes as she shook her head, stepping closer even though it felt like standing at the edge of a blade. “And you… are my ruin too.” The words tasted like a goodbye neither of them could accept. They were bound by something older than choice, older than mercy. A curse carved into blood and grief, waiting patiently for the moment they would finally meet. They were never meant to love safely. And if they ever surrendered to it— One would die. The other would be destroyed by love. The curse waited patiently. And destiny, cruel and inevitable, had already begun to pull them closer.

Mom always said my entire life ran on luck. When I ranked first in my class, she said, "You just guessed really well." When I won a gold medal, she said, "The judges must've been blind." When I got into Westridge University, she told everyone, "This kid has no real ability, just good luck!" So on my first day of college, she tossed me a book of scratch cards. "Since your luck's so good anyway, might as well let it handle your living expenses too. "You get one book per semester. However much you scratch off is all you get. "And just so you can't come crying to me about being broke, I'm blocking you now. I'll unblock you next semester." With that, she ignored every one of my desperate pleas and blocked me on every single platform. I wanted to cry but could not even manage tears. All I could do was scratch two cards every day. On good days, I would win 20 to 50 dollars. Most days, I won absolutely nothing. I survived by sneaking expired cookies out of my roommates' trash. By the last week of the semester, I had developed severe anemia. As I used every ounce of strength to scratch the final card, I laughed. Mom was right. My luck really was incredible.

Zekailah Anderson caught her Fiance cheating with her sister, hiding inside the closet while recording the video, glaring at them with bloodshot eyes. Eaten by her anger, Zekailah came up with the plan to ruin her own wedding the next day. She played the video during the ceremony, thinking that it will embarrassed her family. But what she was expecting didn't go well according to the plan. Her parents still pushed the wedding and made her sister married her fiancee. Zekailah was furious and devastated. She ran away and met Zachary Vergara, her new boytoy that she will use to start her revenge. Few days later, she married Zachary and helped her with her vengeance.

* It is said that the most painful wounds leave the deepest scars. No one could attest to that more than Afrah Aminu. For eleven years she's kept a secret to herself, knowing that she might never be able to tell anyone. Not that she wanted to. But now, with the sudden arrival of a strange man in her life, she finds herself thrown into the terrifying situation of having to relive it all. As he tears down each and every wall she has set up around her heart, the memories of that haunting night come crashing in waves. Will she be able to survive it? Or will she be crushed underneath its weight?

Eduardo is a rich and handsome guy who has lived a luxurious life. He grew up in his father's mansion not knowing who his real mother was. After he lost his first love through assassination by his cousin, Jeffrey, who wanted revenge for sleeping with his girlfriend, his life was shattered, until he met Cindy who turned the whole story around. Cindy who was the only child of her parents lost her parents in an accident and was turned into a house help in her father's house. Cindy almost got killed by Eduardo's car in the process of running away from her home. She later discovered that it wasn't really an accident that killed her parents but her uncle Mr Black who wanted to take over her father's wealth. Jessica was supposed to be married to Eduardo, but he refused her because of Cindy without even realizing he was in love with her. Jessica made multiple attempts to kill Cindy when she found out she was the reason why Eduardo refused her and when she didn't succeed she almost committed suicide. Eduardo's mother who has been an imposter since he married Eduardo's father, killed him and arranged for Eduardo to marry Jessica but when she saw that he was in love with another girl, Cindy, she tried to kill her by pushing her down the balcony. Eduardo's mother was exposed for all her evil deeds against Eduardo's father Mr Hudson and Cindy, Mr Black Cindy's uncle and Mr Austin the great treasure hunter in the city were arrested and thrown into prison.

As the youngest daughter of the powerful mafia family, the Blythes, I was spoiled the moment I was born. I had three older brothers who adored me. When I turned eighteen, our father was killed in a turf fight. The shock sent our mother into a rapid decline, and she passed away less than a week later. To avenge our father, my three brothers waged war against our enemies for three days. Though they emerged victorious, all three were critically wounded. My eldest brother, Damon Blythe, suffered a ruptured liver and was on the brink of death. Matt Blythe, my second brother, had severe kidney damage. Chris Blythe had lost too much blood and went into heart failure. I spent a fortune hiring the world’s top surgeons. They transplanted half of my liver to Damon, a kidney to Matt, and even gave my heart to Chris, replacing mine with a mechanical one. Thanks to the doctors’ skill, all three survived and went on to take over the Blythes’ empire. Five years later, they became infatuated with Sophia Foster, a poor but strong-willed intern. They even forced me to give up my last kidney to her. It was only after I had died on the operating table that they regretted what they had done.

Bad things happen to good people. That's what Luna Sharon found out the painful way. Falsely accused of a crime she didn’t commit, scorned by her Alpha,betrayed by her own pack and sentenced without mercy, Sharon was tortured and burned alive under the cold gaze of the moon. But when her cries of innocence reach the Moon Goddess she is given a second chance, at a huge cost, but she is willing to pay it. With a new face,new name and old desire for vengance, Sharon will make sure those who wronged her will go down as she did, in a prye of tears and blood.

All because of Leo Cullen’s words, I gave up a place at a top-tier university in Ceres and stayed behind to retake the entrance exams with him—three times. By the fourth year, a girl arrived at our cram school, and Leo forgot the promise we made. He started skipping class, picking fights, smoking—doing everything but studying. One day, I stood at the school gate, blocking his path with a textbook in hand as he tried to ditch class. He smirked, unimpressed, and blew a bubble with his gum, letting it stick to the ends of my hair. “Naomi…,” he began, “who still cares about studying these days?” So I stopped caring and avoided him entirely. When he fooled around in the classroom, I went to the library. When he played basketball, I sat in a quiet corner with my books. Even when I craved noodles from my favorite shop, I’d scan the room first to make sure he wasn’t there. “Are you avoiding me, Naomi?” he asked later, his face in a frown. I shook my head. “Why would you think that?”