Flower Blooms

Welcome back to Clifton Heights. Sheriff Chris Baker and Father Ward meet for a Saturday morning breakfast at The Skylark Diner to once again commiserate over the weird and terrifying secrets surrounding their town. Sheriff Baker shares with Father Ward the story of a journal discovered in the ruins of what was once an elaborate koi pond and flower garden, which regales a tale of regret, buried pain, and unfulfilled debt: “Sophan” – Jake Burns has always been a bit...off. Rude, awkward, sometimes brutish, he's tolerated by Nate Slocum and his friends because he hits a mean line drive, and because they all know but don't discuss the abuse he faces at the hands of his troubled father, a Vietnam veteran consumed by his demons. But Jake is suffering something far worse than domestic abuse, and when Nate discovers what, he faces an impossible choice: help Jake and put himself in the path of evil, or abandon him, only to damn himself in the process. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

In a world which is filled with evil, where the powerful rules the city,where power and danger mean the same thing, a beautiful young woman called Alexandra finds herself in love with a man who seemed like the man of her dreams. With him,she feels like a woman and for a second,she thought that he was all a dream which she wishes never to wake up from. Luca, the mysterious man who captured her frail heart,hides a very deep secret from her as he fears that revealing it to her would make her distance herself from him. He is the feared leader of a very powerful mafia group. Never having time for love, he finds himself confused as he falls for Alexandra. He refuses to let her go even though he knew that she would be safe away from him. As the love between them blooms, Luca finds it difficult to protect Alexandra as her colorful life contrasts with the dark, corrupt world in which he belonged. Can their love stand strong against the weight of his secret and the danger that comes with them?

“ How much do you earn a month?”  “$75,000.”  “Only? How much will you earn in six months?”  “$450,000.” “And a year?”  “$900,000.”  “If you earn $900,000 a year, it will take you four years to pay off and who do you think will wait four years for a paltry sum?”  “I will work four jobs then.”  “And you expect to earn $75,000 from each job? You can't be serious.” He replied with a scoff. Biting the corner of her lips, she tried to come up with something else but her brain went blank.  ******************  Finding her boyfriend in bed with her best friend, Scarlett is left heartbroken and alone. What she didn’t expect is her life to change the very course of her existence after suffering a car accident and an unexpected matrimony in the hands of the most ruthless mafia man in Las Vegas, Damien Steel.  He needed a wife and she was the perfect candidate.   Love blooms in the hearts of the two individuals. However, their love is put to test.  Will they overcome, or surrender to the will of the temptation that surrounds them? Or perhaps, their love was never meant to be....

Odessa Sloane was an ordinary girl, trying to navigate life as an omega in a thriving pack until her mother married a billionaire and she became the step-sister of her enemy. To make matters worse, her fated mate appears, and he's off-limits. All Odessa wants to do is make it through college and hopefully craft a career as a physiotherapist, but that's difficult when the Pack's Alpha is hot on your back. Maverick isn't just the captain of the football team; he's the Alpha Heir. Maverick's focus was on having the best football year of his career with his two best friends, Storm and Gage, by his side, but that changed when an omega came into his life. His passion for her burns as strong as his love for the sport. As Maverick's life comes under threat because his time to become Alpha nears, he has to protect Odessa. Odessa and Maverick must navigate the dynamics of their relationships while a mystery blooms surrounding Odessa's biological father and the real reasons behind the attacks on Maverick. Will their love survive the infernos of life?

The cursed Alpha has claimed five lives. I was never meant to survive him—until a witch gave me a Redemption Code and a warning: I could cheat death only three times. Now I’m trapped in Kade’s world—a blindfolded Alpha feared by all, born from a forbidden union and cursed to destroy everything he touches. But every time I overcome the fear he plants in me, a black rose petal tattoo blooms on my skin—protecting me from the very curse meant to consume me. He says I’m different. That I might be the one to break his curse. That the tattoos mean I’m becoming immune. But I’m not here to save him. I’m here to survive him. And if the only way out of this bond is to pretend… then I’ll play along—until I uncover the truth behind his curse, his prophecy, and the reason he needs me alive. Even if a part of me is starting to wonder… what if the real curse is falling for him?

Second Edition Warning #slow burner #violence #sexual activity At eighteen Gabriella Chambers has no wolf and has no mate, so why is the Academy for shifters demanding she attends? When Gabbie gets there she's demoted to omega, the lowest rank in the pack. The only thing she looks forward to is seeing her best friend Alex again. Things have changed. Alex is a feared and respected Alpha Heir, strong and s*xy, but Gabbie is still his best friend. Even though an Alpha and an Omega must never mix. Things get complicated when Alpha Kade, Alex's rival for battle season, crosses paths with fiery Gabbie. In Kade's pack Omegas are scum, but what happens when simple encounters turn into something more. To add fuel to the fire, Gabbie is a target for three Alpha Females, including Alex's mate and Kade's chosen mate. A mystery blooms while Gabbie's at the academy that involves her past and her family. Will Gabbie survive long enough to awaken her wolf and find her mate?

She was born into the mafia. He swore he’d never love anyone from it. Gild Leoni knows how to survive in a man’s world—smart, fearless, and trained by her mafia father to fight, think, and win. But when she sets eyes on Alexandro Campania, the cold, dangerously handsome heir to the most feared mafia in Italy, her heart makes a choice her head can’t stop. The problem? Alexandro has vowed to marry only a woman who knows nothing about the mafia life. So Gild does the unthinkable. She becomes someone else—sweet, innocent, ordinary. A flower girl with a fake name and a perfect smile. Now, she’s playing the most dangerous game of her life—falling for a man who can never know who she really is. But Alexandro is already watching her. Intrigued. Drawn in. Addicted. And if he finds out the truth… He won’t just walk away. He might destroy them both.

My fiance, Henry Gordon, was two hours late to our vows on our wedding day. Just as he was catching his breath and about to say ‘I do’, he received a call from his secretary, Yvonne Luther. After hanging up, he looked at me apologetically. “Honey, my useless team can’t handle the personnel appointment of the financial team on their own. They’re insisting that I head back! I’ll make it up to you with another wedding later on.” I told him that I understood though I felt disappointed, because he was at a critical stage in his career. However, the moment he left without hesitation, I tossed the ring on my finger into the venue’s flower bed and announced to everyone that the wedding was cancelled. I had to see for myself who would ask Henry, a mere minority shareholder, to make such a significant decision without consulting me, the chairperson. He did not know that just a few hours earlier, I had taken back the ‘gift’ I gave him and reclaimed my position as the company’s chairperson.

BOOK 1 She needs money. He needs a wife. The situation is a win-win for Anastasia and Caleb. To save her family, Anastasia signed a contract to marry Caleb for a year. Starting from a contract marriage, will it end up in a real marriage? Amidst the challenges, will they break a rule from the contract to survive in this marriage? or will they end up losing each other? ********************** BOOK 2 To gain freedom from her overprotective parents' hands, the sunshine Thalia Carter refused to have her internship at her family's company. In the end, she got accepted into a company she didn't expect.  As soon as he saw her resume, the grumpy Damon Kane immediately approved her internship. Not because he was fond of her but because he literally hated her surname. He plans to make her life a living hell. Hate filled the office, but what happens if love blooms without their knowing? Despite the 11 years between them, will this office age gap romance be possible for these two? ********************* This book combines Book 1 and Book 2 in the series. Book 2 starts after Chapter 130.

Heat blooms between my legs, sudden and dizzying. It's as if he's run a thick finger between my pussy lips, circled my clit, slipped inside my slick channel. I can feel him stroking me, gently, then faster until I fall apart under his hands, under his stare, under his body. **** Iris Caldwell marries Edward Ashcroft for money and security – and becomes a widow before the day is over. The marriage contract leaves her with nothing but dependency, silence, and a place in the house of Edward’s father, Thomas: decades older, controlled, and dangerously attentive. From the first charged look, their attraction is immediate and illicit. What begins as protection hardens into command, what begins as fear turns into surrender. Under Thomas’s rule, Iris finds safety in obedience and heat in restraint. Every boundary sharpens the desire neither of them should feel... and cannot stop. A Daddy Dom and his little girl sub; a forbidden age-gap romance; a power exchange born of grief. A love that knows it’s wrong... and wants it anyway.