Esme Shelby Lee

BLURB Maya Rossi was the "Ice Princess" until a bone-shattering fall turned her into a punchline. Now, the only way to keep her scholarship is to survive a forced partnership with Julian Thorne—the hockey team’s most violent enforcer. He’s a storm of aggression and secrets; she’s a hollow shell of her former self. But as the fake smiles they put on for the cameras start to feel real, a devastating secret threatens to crack the very ice they’re standing on. When the spotlight returns, will Julian be the one to catch her, or is he the one who’s been waiting for her to fall?

My parents died when I was ten years old, but a big shot in Jade City adopted me. It was rumored that Sean Graham was a cruel and violent man, but he doted on me for nearly ten years. He booked the advertising screens in the city to celebrate my birthday and promised to marry me when I got drunk and pestered him about it. I called him Uncle Sean at his request. Fear gripped me when I woke up in his bed every morning, but I kept it a secret. Yet one time, we accidentally slept with each other. I got pregnant with his child and wanted to keep it, but I knew I would not live for much longer. One day, I heard his conversation with a servant. “Clean up Zella’s room for Yulia.” “But Mr. Graham, Miss Cooper has been staying there for ten years. Didn’t you design it for her?” “No, I only let her stay there because Yulia had gone abroad.” I touched my belly as disappointment gripped me. It turned out that the man who had promised to provide me with a home as long as he lived wanted to drive me away.

Meet Esmerelda Sleuth. Sleuth is her name and investigating is her game. (Paranormal Investigating, that is.) Esmerelda makes a good living as an investigator in a rather progressive firm. She lives a stable and sensible life until she meets Lance; an old money "hottie" who works for a real estate firm next to her building. After accepting an invitation for a weekend getaway party, she quickly discovers that Lance has a secret. He is wealthy. That part is true. And, yes, he's procured a job as a realtor in the building next door. His secret is that he belongs to an underground society of humans who didn't abandon their connection to magic centuries ago when religion declared it evil and he has traveled through time specifically to find her and bring her back to his time to marry him. If that isn't enough of a far fetched tale to absorb, he informs her that she was born in his time to a family belonging to that same secret society and was promised in marriage to him as an infant. When enemies who didn't want to see the union of families take place made attempts on her life, her parents sent her into the future and erased her memories of them as a precaution. Possessing virtually no belief in magic, ghosts, psychics, time travel, etc., it takes some doing on Lance's part to convince her to believe his story and go back with him. When she does, the lies, deceit and attempts on her life start all over again. Will she escape emotionally and physically unscathed? "The Other Side Of the Mirror" is a steamy-paranormal-romance- mystery-thriller and book one of the Esmerelda Sleuth series.

Four days after my death, my four-year-old daughter finally sensed that something was terribly wrong. The fridge door slammed into her forehead when she tried to get a snack. Normally, I would've been there in a heartbeat—arms open, kisses ready, whispering, "You're okay, sweetheart, Mommy's here." But this time, I just lay on the bed, cold and still.​ She didn't understand. She thought the sweet treat would make me respond. So she held the final piece of chocolate up to my mouth. "Here, Mommy. Have some chocolate..." But I didn't even blink. She climbed into my arms, clutching my clothes tightly. "Mommy... Mommy, wake up..." She waited for me to stroke her hair, to tell her that everything was going to be fine. There was only silence.​ Completely lost and scared, she found my phone. "Daddy, why is Mommy still sleeping?" she asked, her voice filled with desperation.​ In response, Oliver sent a photo of himself having Christmas Eve dinner with his childhood sweetheart. His voice was icy cold when he replied, "She's just sleeping, not dead. It's Christmas Eve, and I'm busy. Tell her to stop playing games and come apologize when she's done sulking." Then he hung up.​ But when the truth finally hit Oliver—when the coroner's report came, when the police knocked on his door right in the middle of his laughter, when he realized I'd been lying dead for four days while he toasted—he broke.

Rencontrez Esmerelda Sleuth. Sleuth est son nom et enquêter est son jeu. (Enquête paranormale, c'est-à-dire.) Esmerelda gagne bien sa vie en tant qu'enquêteur dans un cabinet plutôt progressiste. Elle mène une vie stable et raisonnable jusqu'à ce qu'elle rencontre Lance; une vieille « bombasse » qui travaille pour une société immobilière à côté de son immeuble. Après avoir accepté une invitation pour un week-end d'escapade, elle découvre rapidement que Lance a un secret. Il est riche. Cette partie est vraie. Et, oui, il s'est procuré un travail d'agent immobilier dans l'immeuble d'à côté. Son secret est qu'il appartient à une société souterraine d'humains qui n'ont pas abandonné leur lien avec la magie il y a des siècles lorsque la religion l'a déclarée mauvaise et il a voyagé dans le temps spécifiquement pour la trouver et la ramener à son époque pour l'épouser. Si cela ne suffit pas à absorber une histoire farfelue, il l'informe qu'elle est née à son époque dans une famille appartenant à cette même société secrète et qu'elle lui a été promise en mariage alors qu'elle était enfant. Lorsque des ennemis qui ne voulaient pas voir se réaliser l'union des familles ont attenté à sa vie, ses parents l'ont envoyée dans le futur et ont effacé ses souvenirs d'eux par mesure de précaution. N'ayant pratiquement aucune croyance en la magie, les fantômes, les médiums, les voyages dans le temps, etc., il faut du temps à Lance pour la convaincre de croire son histoire et de retourner avec lui. Quand elle le fait, les mensonges, la tromperie et les tentatives contre sa vie recommencent. S'en sortira-t-elle émotionnellement et physiquement indemne ? "L'autre côté du miroir" est un thriller romantique et romanesque torride et paranormal et le premier livre de la série Esmerelda Sleuth.

After working overtime at the company for an entire week, I finally finish the last project on my plate and rush home. Not wanting to wake my sleeping wife, Mia Lawson, I carefully push the door open as quietly as I can. But the house is nothing like the silence I expected. A man's unrestrained laughter cuts sharply through the air. "You're already pregnant and still this bold. Aren't you afraid your husband will catch you?" "Why would I be? He hasn't been home for almost a week. Besides, once I tell him I'm pregnant, he'll be over the moon. There's no way he'll notice anything." In an instant, my hands and feet turn ice-cold, and blood rushes to my head. I'm about to charge in and catch them in the act when my phone suddenly vibrates with a follow-up message from the hospital. "Mr. Brooks, thank you for choosing our hospital for your vasectomy. We wish you and your wife a lifetime of happiness." A lifetime of happiness? I stare at those words, let out a cold laugh, and regain my composure. Then I turn around and call my divorce lawyer.

Framed for her father’s murder and betrayed by the people she loved, Nina Davies loses everything: her family, her freedom, and her identity. Left for dead in a fiery explosion, she survives but is mistaken for another woman, Lauren Hilton, a wealthy lawyer with a distant husband, Drew, and a neglected child. Given a chance to reclaim her life, Nina assumes Lauren’s identity, determined to uncover the truth and take back what was stolen.   But Drew is watching her closely. His wife was once cold and indifferent, so why is she suddenly passionate, fierce, and unlike the woman he married? As their marriage rekindles with unexpected desire, Nina finds herself torn between revenge and the man whose love she was never meant to have.   With her past threatening to expose her, Nina must play the most dangerous game of all: fooling the man who now holds her heart while uncovering the truth that could set her free, or destroy her for good.  Which would she choose? Read and find out.

"You will stay in a room and wait to see who has purchased your precious cherry. No niceness, no pleasantries, just a night of f**k, A business contract, signed, dealed and finished with a d**k." Those words sent chills to her spine as she read the content of the contract before signing nervously. Isabella's life was a rollercoaster of hardship and tough choices. With her father's life hanging by a thread, she found herself in a heart-wrenching dilemma – watch her father die in the cold hands of death or sell her virginity to a total stranger, a man, Ricco, who felt a connection since the day they shared an intimate and passionate encounter. He vows to find her as they embark on separate journeys. Fate intervened when Isabella became a maid in his mansion by luck but danger loomed in the form of Roberto, his sinister elder brother, who relentlessly pursued her coupled with the cruelty she had to endure from Ricco's girlfriend and aunt. Ricco , deeply in love, couldn't bear to see Isabella in peril. He made a tough call to protect her, providing the means for her independence and preventing her marriage to her father's ruthless creditor. But destiny had crueler plans in store. Kidnapped by her father's enemies, Isabella was thrust into a harrowing life as a forced prostitute, trapped by her father's debts. Will she summon the strength to break free from this nightmarish ordeal? What happens when she finds out she was pregnant with Ricco's child while captured to work as a prostitute. Dive into a gripping tale of love, sacrifice, and Isabella's unyielding resilience as she battles to rewrite her destiny.

My family's fate was sealed in an ancient war. We saved the lord of the Clare clan. In return, their lord forged an ancient blood pact with my line. Each generation, a woman from my family can choose a mate from the Clare heirs, to birth a hybrid child—one who walks in daylight, blessed with eternal life. When my time came, I didn't hesitate. I chose the eldest son, Evan, who had been in a cursed slumber for a century. Every vampire in the room was in disbelief. After all, everyone knew I'd spent the last few years obsessed with the third son, Julian. It had to be him, or no one. In my last life, I got my wish. I bonded with Julian and helped him seize control of the family's vast biotech empire. But after our union, he started an affair with my adopted sister, Chloe. To punish her for breaking the blood pact, the family exiled Chloe. Julian, however, was convinced I had orchestrated the whole thing. He hated me to his very core. From then on, he kept a string of lovers, and every single one of them looked like Chloe. The heartbreak shattered me. In the end, he poisoned my life-sustaining elixirs, making my flesh rot from my bones, and sacrificed my very soul in a dark ritual. Reborn, I decided to let them have each other. But I never imagined Julian would be reborn, too.

"Kamu selingkuh." Langkah kaki Saka terhenti, lalu dia mendengar tarikan napas tercekat Renata di belakangnya, membuatnya memutar tubuh untuk menatap Renata. Renata mengepalkan kedua tangannya, menatap Saka penuh tuntutan. "Apa yang kamu lakukan dengan wanita itu di hotel? Kalian..." kedua mata Renata membendung telaga yang siap tumpah detik itu juga. "Memangnya... kenapa kalau aku selingkuh?" Saka melangkah perlahan menghampiri Renata, berdiri tegak dengan tatapan dinginnya yang menusuk. Kepalanya sedikit merunduk hingga dia bisa berbisik di telinga Renata. "bukannya dulu kamu juga selingkuhan suami orang, hm? Jadi, berhenti lah bersikap seolah-olah kamu yang paling tersakiti. Padahal... kamu dan perempuan itu nggak ada bedanya, Nata." Saka menarik wajahnya, dia tersenyum miring ketika menemukan wajah pucat Renata yang menatap kosong ke depan. "aku benar, kan?"