Epilogue Kitchen Novels & Stories

Because of a last-minute business trip, my husband missed the Thanksgiving family dinner. I spent the entire day helping out at my in-laws' place in the countryside with our five-year-old son, only to receive a complaint from the downstairs neighbor just before dinner. "Ari, could you please close your kitchen window when you're cooking? I can smell the hot sauce from all the way here. My husband has a lung condition—he can't handle it." My neighbor's words shocked me, and I immediately called my husband, who was allergic to chili peppers. "Honey, did someone break into the house? The neighbor said there was smoke coming from the kitchen." His breathing hitched for a second before he let out a casual laugh. "No break-in. My flight got canceled, so I was home alone cooking. When are you two coming back? I really miss you." I smiled and told him we'd stay a couple more days, but in the middle of the night, I packed up our son and drove straight home.

After Oliver felt the excruciating pain of his mate's death, almost killing him in the process, he left his pack to travel and clear his head. He never expected that he would come across the one person who had caused him so much pain, to begin with, alive and well. Seeing that his fated mate had marked another as her chosen mate had broken him. She had known that placing the mark on someone else without rejecting her fated mate, Oliver, first could kill him. Yet, she did it anyway. Lana had enough of controlling men. She had lived her life in fear of the next time her drunken husband would raise a hand to her or her daughter. After running away from her abusive home, she finds peace in a small cabin with her daughter. When an injured wolf shows up, her daughter convinces her to take care of the wild beast. Seeing him transform into a man in her kitchen was the last thing she expected… Can be read as a STAND-ALONE. Book 3 of The Alpha's Girl Series

My husband was Damian, the Don of the Manhattan Mafia. Everyone thought he worshipped me, but the second his childhood sweetheart, Sophia, came back, I became invisible. He ditched me for her over and over again. It all broke when I started miscarrying. Even as my blood stained his car seat, he didn't even flinch. He just shoved me out of the car. "Sophia has a severe phobia of blood. You’re going to terrify her!" I woke up in the hospital to a taunting text from her: “I said I was a little hungry, and Damian actually got in the kitchen to cook for me. He spoils me way too much.” The photo showed the most powerful man in the city personally making her a meal. I didn't cry. I just called my mentor. "Sir, I had thought it through, and I was accepting the invitation for that international medical research project. Get me out of here. The further, the better." Since he couldn't let Sophia go, I decided to let them be. In three days, I was leaving Damian’s world for good.

Triggers; Explicit s*xual content Forbidden/taboo romance —- “Don’t stop, Ethan… please.” Her voice cracked on a moan as his fingers dug into her thighs, spreading her wide in the dark truck. For years, eighteen-year-old Mia has been hopelessly in love with Ethan — her older brother Jake’s twenty-two-year-old best friend. To him she has always been “squirt,” the little sister he swore to protect. But now their parents are gone for two weeks, and Mia is no longer willing to stay invisible. She launches a slow, relentless seduction: tiny bikinis by the pool, lingering touches in the kitchen, whispered questions that make his body betray him. Ethan fights it with everything he has — the bro code, his girlfriend Sarah, and years of loyalty to Jake. Every time he almost gives in, guilt forces him to pull away. But when Mia starts making him jealous, the tension finally snaps. One explosive night in a dark, secluded spot, Ethan stops resisting. He pins her down and devours her completely — raw, desperate, and utterly consuming. Now the line has been crossed. And neither of them knows if they can ever go back.

Julianna Macey, or Juls for short, is desperate to leave her parents' home. Living at home for her undergrad degree is ruining her social life and making it difficult for her to keep in touch with friends. So when her friend Carlo offers her the chance to move into a student apartment, she jumps at the chance. The only problem is that the available room is shared by his three friends Kyle, Mark, and Kent. As if living with three boys she's never met wasn't bad enough, Kent appears to despise her. When she's around, he makes a mess in the kitchen, never puts his laundry in the dryer, and acts as if she doesn't exist. Despite being good looking, Kent and Juls develop a fierce hatred for one another, and she begins to regret her decision to move in with them. However, because her lease still has a year to run, she is unable to leave. Juls begins to question whether living with boys has any benefits or if she acted prematurely. More importantly, she questions whether or not she and Kent will ever get along as well as why he despises her so much.

My mother-in-law is extremely frugal. She reuses paper others have discarded, carefully saving the unmarked portions. She even takes the black waste oil from the kitchen range hood and uses it to cook our meals. She says, "Frugality is a virtue—it brings blessings!" I try tirelessly to convince her otherwise, throwing out all her filthy items to protect my family's health. But while she praises me to my face, behind my back, she uses my baby's food scissors to clip her grimy toenails. My child eventually dies of a lung infection, leaving me heartbroken. My mother-in-law, however, points her finger at me, saying I'm unlucky and that I've brought misfortune to their family. Even my husband blames me. In the end, they use a knitting needle to pierce my throat and stab me to death. When I open my eyes again, I find myself back on the day I first see her picking up dirty paper. The first thing I do is hide all the high-quality tissue paper I had stocked up on before my pregnancy, pretending I knew nothing. She calls these blessings, right? Fine. The blessings of this miserly frugality—she can reap them all herself!

I've been married to my Mafia Boss husband for 15 years. When we first got married, he couldn't even afford a ring, but I didn't care; I loved him. I hid my identity. I secretly used my family's influence to help him build his empire from scratch, and I even bore him two children. His adopted sister always mocked me, calling me an old-fashioned housewife and saying I wasn't good enough for him. To avoid embarrassing him, I always endured it. Until our 15th anniversary, because both me and his adopted sister wore red dresses, he told me to stay in the kitchen: "Sofia's right. That red doesn't suit you. Don't come out until the banquet actually ends. Stay in the kitchen. I don't need the Dons from New York seeing you and getting the wrong impression." I was completely heartbroken and didn't argue anymore. I dialed a number I hadn't made in 15 years: "Principessa?" "It's me," I said, my voice steady. "Tell those old fossils on the Council... Isabella Corleone is coming home."

Selene , the loyal best friend, accidentally has a wild one-night stand with a tall, bearded stranger in a motel during a snowstorm—raw, unforgettable sex she thinks she’ll never repeat. The next day at Gwen’s family dinner, the stranger walks in: it’s CK—Gwen’s lifelong childhood crush and family friend, now their new roommate. Guilt crashes in as Selene realizes she slept with her best friend’s obsession. But the chemistry is too strong to resist. Secret hookups ignite in their shared apartment (kitchen counters, shared bathroom risks, late-night motel dates). They agree to date in hiding—Gwen can never know. Every stolen moment is hotter because it’s wrong. Close calls multiply. CK’s quiet depression cracks around Selene. External pressure builds from ex Megan at his new law firm job. When Gwen starts noticing marks, deleted texts, weird vibes, and the growing distance between her two closest people—the secret begins to crack. The truth explodes at Gwen’s surprise birthday party (puppy reveal, friends, cake). After fallout and healing, Selene and CK reunite months later—no lies, just honest love. Hopeful but scarred ending.

“You murderer!” No A resounding slap followed those words from Katrina’s Mother-in-law. The entire extended family gasped in shock but no one made a move to help. Not even Katrina’s husband, Damon Winchester. He just stood there, watching lazily, like he always did while his mother berated her for every little thing. But this wasn’t little, no. This was more than the fine china dishes that were one of the family’s heirlooms which Katrina broke last thanksgiving and earned her harsh insults from her mother-in-law. This was nothing like the family dinner she made last Christmas that caused half the kitchen to catch fire, needing a renovation. This couldn't be compared to that afternoon in summer, when she knocked over an antique vase while dusting, freezing as it cracked clean down the middle and her mother-in-law murmured that Katrina’s touch spoiled anything of value. No. This was the death of the only woman who loved someone as unlovable as Katrina. The woman who raised her. The woman who constantly fought for Katrina’s place in the Winchester Family even when she didn’t belong. Alana Winchester, Damon’s grandmother. Like every other thing, it was all her fault. Everything Katrina touched turned to ashes.

Selene, the loyal best friend, accidentally has a wild one-night stand with a tall, bearded stranger in a motel during a snowstorm—raw, unforgettable sex she thinks she’ll never repeat. The next day at Gwen’s family dinner, the stranger walks in: it’s CK—Gwen’s lifelong childhood crush and family friend, now their new roommate. Guilt crashes in as Selene realizes she slept with her best friend’s obsession. But the chemistry is too strong to resist. Secret hookups ignite in their shared apartment (kitchen counters, shared bathroom risks, late-night motel dates). They agree to date in hiding—Gwen can never know. Every stolen moment is hotter because it’s wrong. Close calls multiply. CK’s quiet depression cracks around Selene. External pressure builds from ex Megan at his new law firm job. When Gwen starts noticing marks, deleted texts, weird vibes, and the growing distance between her two closest people—the secret begins to crack. The truth explodes at Gwen’s surprise birthday party (puppy reveal, friends, cake). After fallout and healing, Selene and CK reunite months later—no lies, just honest love. Hopeful but scarred ending.