He Wasn't My Everything Till We Were Nothing

His lashes fluttered and when his eyes met mine this time, the emotions they expressed before were extinct. “You’re my best friend’s daughter. You’re the girl I swore to protect and shield from those who would seek to harm or use you. I cannot do this now. Your father will not forgive me. I will not forgive myself.” “But you want me.” “What I want doesn’t fucking matter, Elle. I am not the type of man you should desire. I am bad and I’m only going to hurt you.” “Why don’t you let me make that decision myself?” “Because you’re too blinded by the silly feeling you have to see the truth. There can be nothing between us. Not now, not ever.” he said with the utmost certainty. . All Estelle Biggs ever wanted was Jace Henshaw II, and all he has ever wanted to do was protect her from everything that would harm her, including himself.

Life forced Violet into a difficult situation. She had no choice but to get married to the billionaire, Stewart Johnston, so that she could get money to pay for her ailing mother’s treatment, but that only marked the beginning of her misfortune. Stewart treated Violet like a trash and named her a moocher since she got married to him because of his money. When Violet couldn’t take the humiliation anymore, she walked away from the marriage and she got the biggest shock of her life.

Clayton Amos finally agrees to marry me during my fifth year as the antagonist of a novel. On the day of my wedding, the chandelier in the middle of the hall suddenly snaps and falls. At the most critical moment, he shoves me aside and runs over to protect Gladys Dawson, the protagonist of the novel, and his first love. Clayton's arm is slashed as a result, and blood pours out of the wound, dyeing his pristine white suit red. Meanwhile, Gladys remains unharmed in his arms. I hold a hand against the bleeding wound on my neck and finally accept the fact that Clayton never loved me. This is when the system appears and asks me, "Hailey Paltrow, would you like to abort your mission now?" I nod in silent response. "Since he's going to end up losing all four of his limbs and ultimately wish for death, I'll let him have it."

From bestselling author Emily Goodwin comes the epic start to a sexy and exciting paranormal romance series... Never trust a vampire. I might have learned that lesson the hard way. But when I find myself in a vampire-owned bar, I don’t have much of a choice. With vampires still trying to assimilate into mainstream society, I’ve done Lucas King a favor by stopping one of his patrons from draining a human dry in the basement of his bar. A favor he'd prefer to repay in bed than in kind. Vampires and witches have had more than a jaded history, and when witches start showing up dead in surrounding covens, all signs point to something old and powerful. Something that knows the ways of the witches.Something--or someone--like Lucas. What's worse than trusting a vampire? Falling in love with one.Dead of Night a vampire/witch romance and is book one in the Thorne Hill series.

Daddy brought me to Aunt Jenny’s party. As I was eating a piece of cake, I tasted a cherry between the layers and hurriedly spat it out. Once, I broke out in rashes after eating a cherry and nearly died, so I was deeply traumatized by that flavor even as a young child. However, Aunt Jenny looked heartbroken. “I hid a cherry in the cake as a little surprise, just like it’s good luck to get a bay leaf in a pie. How could you be so rude, Kenny?” Daddy did not even let me explain. He chased me out in the yard and made me stand there as punishment. Mommy said it had been more than a hundred degrees out lately, so she told me to stay home and not go out to play. Now I knew just how hot 104 degrees could be! My body was all itchy, too. I was finding it hard to breathe. I wanted to ask Daddy to forgive me, but he refused to open the door no matter how hard I knocked. He glanced at me coldly through the floor-to-ceiling window. He was not going to let me back in.

He didn’t choose her then. He has to fight for her now. *** I married Alex Marwood because our families said it was right. He never chose me. Not once. One lie from my stepsister ruined everything. I signed the divorce papers with a secret in my belly. I left, learned how to breathe again, and built a quiet life with two little cute humans who call me “Mom.” Years later, fate walks through the lobby of my hotel in a tailored suit and the same storm-blue eyes my son wears. Alex stops. Looks at my twins. Looks at me. “I’m sorry,” he says. But where do I start? With the nights I cried alone? With the accident nobody will talk about? With the powerful people who would rather bury the truth than let me be happy? Alex wants a second chance. I want peace. But when old enemies start circling and “accidents” stop being accidents, I realize love isn’t just flowers and apologies. If he wants us back, he’ll have to fight for us.

Do you believe in werewolves? Because I don’t. At least, I didn’t until the night I saved one. I was ten years old, foolish enough to protect a stranger too handsome to die. I didn’t know he was a werewolf… or an alpha. That night, he smirked and made me promise: “When you grow up, you’ll be my wife. And little girl, promises can’t be broken.” Fifteen years later, I graduate and receive a job invitation I never applied for assistant to Malaki, the most powerful man in the city. Everyone fears him. OilTech may be his company, but the truth is darker. Behind the empire hides a mafia boss. Behind the mafia boss hides… a werewolf. The same werewolf my family has hunted for centuries. The same alpha whose pack my father destroyed. Now Malaki wants revenge. And he’s come for me his bride, his possession, his pet. How do you escape a 1000-year-old werewolf who swore you were his?

***EXCERPT*** "I could burn the world to ashes, and you would still be the only thing worth destroying," he whispered, his lips just close enough to feel my desperate, trembling breath, tears leaking down my eyes. "Your pain is beautiful, Tera," he whispered with a chilling smile. "It shows you're still trying to fight what you know you've already lost." *** Dr. Tera Williams thought her life couldn't sink any lower after signing the divorce papers her husband's mistress threw in her face. But when a twist of fate puts her in a prison cell, stripping her of her career and reputation, she realizes she hasn't even begun to fall. After spending three years in prison, she struggles to get her life back on track again by starting from her lowest. Despite all the hurdles she had to endure from her current boss, she finds love again with Ryan, a single father, who is madly in love with her. But just as she's about to marry him, her worst nightmare resurfaces: She finds out that she is still legally married to her obsessive ex-husband, Logan, who has been doing everything possible to win her back. How does she navigate her life when she is now trapped between two possessive men who are not willing to give her up for the other? Trigger Warning: This is a dark, intense romance with a few scenes of psychological manipulation, violence, and non-con. Recommended for mature readers.

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉... 𝑯𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅. Lindsay Maxwell had once been happy in her marriage until a twisted turn of events ruined it all for her. She can't say, but lately, she has noticed her husband, Engel, has become distant and less affectionate; their marriage has been a cold place in their empty mansion. All she wants is to be separated from him. Engel Gunther, first of the Gunther sons with an alias of the devil himself, when his beloved wife turns her back on him, Engel is forced to show a side of him he has withheld for long, his greed getting the best of him just to keep Lindsay with him. To him, he was protecting his most prized possession; to her, he was hurting her.

I messed up—big time. Blurting out at a family dinner that my boss, neighbor, and best friend’s brother, Arnold, asked me to be his wedding date was not my finest moment. Mortified, I’m ready to apologize and smooth things over with his family, but Arnold? He’s not having it. Instead, he doubles down, proposing a wild plan: a fake relationship that suits us both.The deal? Three months of playing the perfect couple while my toddler and I live in his house, rent-free. In return, Arnold shields me from my toxic ex, and I help him dodge the town’s relentless matchmaking efforts. It’s the perfect arrangement—until the lines between fake and real start to blur.Arnold’s not just playing a role. He’s reading bedtime stories to my son, cooking us meals, and kissing me like the world might end if he stops. With every tender touch and stolen glance, he makes me feel seen, desired, in a way I’ve never known. The guestroom feels colder each night when his strong, tattooed arms are just down the hall, calling to me.As our forbidden kisses deepen, so does the risk. Are we crafting a love that could break us? Or are we building something breathtakingly real?