Harper Collins

THE ALTAR WE BURNED- Synopsis We burned in silence. We sinned in shadows. And in the house of God, we made a bed of ashes. Every time he pushed me away, I came back craving more. Every time he prayed for forgiveness, I found another reason to fall deeper. What started with longing turned into obsession and the line between salvation and damnation vanished. But loving him comes with a price. He was a man of God. I was the girl who shouldn’t have looked twice. Father Arthur Harper; the parish’s miracle, young, striking, and painfully devoted to his vows. They whispered about how he turned down wealth, women, and a powerful life just to serve behind the altar. But beneath the collar was something dangerous. Magnetic. Something that set fire to every quiet confession and holy glance. I shouldn’t have been drawn to him,but I was. He saw me; Isabella Luca the troubled soul who came to church for peace but stayed because he made my heart race, One touch, One stolen moment, One kiss,That’s all it took to unravel us. The Altar We Burned is a fast-burn, emotionally intense, and sinfully steamy forbidden romance that explores the cost of desire, the power of temptation, and what happens when love crosses the ultimate line. Prepare to confess… because this story doesn’t play by the rules.

Married for five years, I'm known as the woman with the perfect husband. Alexander Foster is tall, strong, endlessly passionate, and people love to joke that we can't keep our hands off each other. Then he goes on a mission one day and never returns. I fall apart. I try to end my life six times, and six times someone drags me back. On the night of the sixth attempt, I overhear my mother-in-law, Anna Greyson, whispering to the man everyone believes is Alexander's younger brother, Daniel Foster. "Alexander, how long are you going to keep hiding this? Mia has tried to kill herself six times because of you." Alexander's voice stays calm. "Mom, before Daniel died, he asked me to take care of Lily. She's fragile, and now she's pregnant with my child. If she learns the truth, she won't survive it." And that's when the truth hits me. My husband isn't dead at all. He's been pretending to be his own younger brother and plans to have a child with Lily Harper under that lie. After crying until I can barely stand, I contact Margaret Warren at the matchmaking agency. "About that blind date you mentioned. I'll take it. And I want the wedding as soon as possible."

I was born with a one-track mind—I take everything seriously and do exactly as I'm told. When my adoptive father cursed a rival company, calling them bloodsucking vampires, I immediately went out, bought ten pounds of garlic and a crucifix, and stormed into their CEO's office to perform an exorcism. When my adoptive mother said she was willing to sell a kidney for the sake of the company, I contacted an underground black-market clinic on the spot and asked when they could schedule her surgery. Over time, no one dared joke casually around me anymore. Everyone in the family chose their words with extreme care, terrified I might take them at face value. That is, until the day of the family reunion banquet—when the fake heiress, who refused to leave no matter what, showed up as well. She hooked her arm through my brother's and flashed me a provocative smile. "Arista, Benji dotes on me the most," she said sweetly. "He said if anyone dares to make me unhappy, he'll chop them into pieces and dump them in the river to feed the fish." The banquet hall erupted in laughter. I was the only one whose face went deathly pale. The next second, I kicked my brother, Benji Collins, straight onto the dining table. I grabbed the silver steak knife and pressed it against his throat. "Everyone, stay calm," I announced loudly. "I've already called the police! For publicly advocating premeditated murder, desecration of a corpse, and antisocial personality tendencies… The minimum sentence is the death penalty!"

Emily Harper’s life is defined by quiet struggle. Working long hours at the bank barely pays her bills, and her parents have long stopped believing she’ll ever make something of herself. Her only comfort is her kind, funny boss, Mr. Zelinsky—the one person who makes her feel seen. But everything changes one night when she returns to the bank to fetch her forgotten inhaler… and walks in on a robbery. The thief is none other than Caleb Monroe, her old high school bully and Mr. Zelinsky’s estranged son. Shock turns to chaos when Caleb forces her to help him escape, a moment that leaves her shaken and confused. The next day, Emily faces him again—this time in daylight, as her boss proudly introduces Caleb as his son. Then tragedy strikes. Mr. Zelinsky dies suddenly, and Emily’s life takes another unexpected turn when his will binds her and Caleb together by marriage to inherit his empire. Now, caught between grief, distrust, and a strange pull she can’t explain, Emily must decide if she can survive living and pretending with the man who once made her life hell. But as secrets unravel and feelings blur, one thing becomes painfully clear: Caleb isn’t the only one hiding something.

Evelyn Harper, a jaded thirty-two-year-old archivist fleeing a bitter divorce, purchases a sprawling Victorian mansion on remote Harrow Hill for an absurdly low price. Locals whisper that the house claimed its last three owners each found dead in ecstasy, bodies marked with impossible bruises and expressions of unbearable bliss. From the moment Evelyn crosses the threshold, she is no longer alone. An ancient, unseen entity once a man, now something far worse has waited decades for a new vessel. It feeds on desire, amplifies it, twists it into obsession until the boundary between pleasure and terror dissolves. Night after night, the presence invades her dreams and her body, forcing her to confront hungers she never knew she possessed. Each surrender binds her tighter to the house, eroding her will, rewriting her flesh, and awakening something dormant inside her own bloodline. As Evelyn spirals into a fever of increasingly depraved encounters some consensual in the heat of the moment, others unmistakably forced she uncovers the house’s history: a century of owners corrupted and consumed, their final moments preserved in hidden photographs and journals. The entity promises eternal ecstasy if she yields completely, but the cost is her humanity. In the end, Evelyn must decide whether to flee before she’s lost forever… or embrace the darkness and become the house’s new eternal mistress, luring the next lonely soul up the hill.

Three days before my wedding, I found out that Shane Dawson had changed the venue from Grandma Mae’s home in the South to Castillo de Sol, the Spanish castle that Tania Collins, his childhood sweetheart, adored. I confronted him, only to overhear him complaining to his friend, "Thank God Tania has taste. Otherwise, I’d be laughed at for life." His friend reminded him, "Didn’t you promise her you’d hold the ceremony at her grandmother’s house? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get angry and refuse to marry you?" Shane just laughed, sharp and dismissive. "The Quinns are on the verge of bankruptcy. Marrying me is her only way out. She can’t afford to gamble. I’ve already asked the planner to call her. She’s probably scrambling to change her flight right now." Anger and humiliation burned in my chest. I bit down on my lip and, in the end, turned away. Three days later, the castle wedding went on as scheduled, but I didn’t reschedule my flight. I didn’t show up. Instead, I stood in Grandma Mae’s old courtyard and exchanged rings with another man. To this day, Shane doesn’t understand. I never married him for some so-called escape route. I married him for a love that lasted ten years. However, once the dream was over, it was time for me to choose a different path.

Blurb: She signed the divorce papers. He never signed away his obsession. Veronica Stanford was the perfect wife—devoted, patient, and hopelessly in love. But when her billionaire husband, Jason Harper, trades her in for her treacherous best friend, Rhea, Veronica’s world shatters. Broken and betrayed, she drowns her sorrows in a bar, only to be saved by a dangerously alluring stranger with emerald-green eyes and a lethal reputation: Monte "Four" Zagcanni, the ruthless heir to a mafia empire. Four is everything Jason isn’t—dark, dangerous, and devastatingly protective. When Veronica discovers she’s pregnant with Jason’s child, she strikes a deal with Four: a fake marriage to shield her from scandal. But what starts as a cold arrangement ignites into a passion neither can resist. Jason, realizing his mistake too late, wants Veronica back—along with the son he never knew existed. But Four isn’t a man who surrenders what’s his. And Veronica? She’s done being the meek wife. Betrayal runs deep. Revenge burns hotter. As secrets unravel—her father’s bloody past, Rhea’s twisted obsession, and Jason’s deadly lies—Veronica must decide: trust the man who destroyed her once, or surrender to the devil who might destroy her forever. One wants her back. The other wants her forever. And neither plays nice.

For the 100th time, my Alpha mate, Ryker, used his command on me, threatening to reject our bond if I didn't sacrifice myself for my twin sister, Ivy. I didn't cry or protest. I simply signed the mate bond rejection papers. I surrendered the Alpha I had loved for ten years to my sister. A few days later, Ivy caused a scene at the Pack Alliance Banquet, humiliating the Silvermoon Alpha's daughter. Once again, I stepped forward to take her place, enduring the pain of a disfiguring silver brand. Later, when they demanded I test the safety of the Wolf Spirit Regeneration Ritual with my own body for my sister, I accepted with a smile. My Beta parents, their eyes red-rimmed, told me I was finally being the older sister I was supposed to be. Even Ryker, who had always been so distant toward me, stood before the cellar. He gently stroked my cheek for the first time in ages and said softly, "Harper, don't be afraid. As soon as the trial is over, I'll take you to see the auroras at Moon Goddess Lake." But he didn't know that, regardless of the trial's outcome, he would never see me again. My wolf spirit was already fading. Nothing could save me. This time, when I closed my eyes, it would be forever.

Selene gave her all her love, her loyalty, her life. But when she learned the truth behind her husband's betrayal, it was already too late. Now reborn, she's no longer the naive wife they once controlled. This time, she's playing by her own rules. And payback… is only just beginning. But being back is only the beginning. What Selene didn’t expect… was that this new life wouldn’t follow the same script. Her past may have been tragic, but this present? It's unpredictable. The players have changed. The game is messier, new enemies new allies and new secrets. And everyone’s out to get what they want and Selene is caught right in the middle of it all. And then… there’s Collins. Collins never believed he’d be able to feel desire again — not with Sarah, the fake girlfriend he barely tolerated. Not with the desperate women who threw themselves at him. He had long accepted that he’d been broken beyond repair, emotionally and physically dismantled with no urges. Until that night. The M&D Corporation party. when the drug hit. He felt it — the spinning, the heat, the blur. And all he wanted was to get away. And in his struggles to hide he stumbled into the wrong restroom while shoving a figure out of his way in his haze… only to be met with a spark that shouldn't have existed. It should’ve ended there. But fate doesn’t let go so easily. Because the woman? She’s married off-limits and complicated..

It was true. We never know what we have until we lose it. Seven years ago, I'd found the perfect woman who accepted me for who I am. She didn't care whether I was a Vampire King or not. She had served me faithfully. She was the only person who didn't fear me. And she was Kate, my secretary. We were different. The ones who served me couldn't accept her. They call her the only rock among the diamonds in my treasure box. But I adore that rock. When my 'rut' came, our relationship had been put to a test. Something happened between us. And then she disappeared the next morning. Seven years later, we met again. I found out that we had a baby together. I was happy. I thought it was my chance. She had changed. From the rock she used to be, she had become a diamond. She glowed. And I loved her. I'd found something more addictive than blood itself. It was Kate, my cure, my addiction, my lover. But the cure I thought became my poison later on. Kate lied to me. She was the Queen of the Hunters whose mission was to kill me. In this twisted fairytale, when the Vampire King and the Hunter Queen meet in the battlefield, where anger, obsession, and betrayal rules, should we kill each other? Or should we save each other? I am Zachary Collins, the Vampire King. And this is my story.