How Big Things Get Done Novels & Stories

On our wedding day, Ethan got a call and bolted from the ceremony. Grandma was so furious she started coughing up blood, and everyone just watched. Not one person stepped in to help. I raced her to the hospital, but it was too late. She was gone before they even got her inside. Then, as I sat alone in the morgue, my phone lit up. It was Ethan. "Grace, get to the hospital. Bella's hurt and needs your blood!" "Ethan Carter, it's over between us." I ended the call, leaving the last pieces of my heart—and him—behind. Months later, he was on his knees in the pouring rain, begging for forgiveness, saying he'd do anything, give anything, if I'd only look back.

The Thornes built their aromatherapy business generations ago, but their ancestors made a fatal mistake and brought down a divine curse. For ninety-nine generations, every Thorne heir drew their punishment on their eighteenth birthday. Julian Thorne was the last. He drew the worst punishment: death from hemorrhage in ten months. The only way to break it was to marry a witch from the Old Bloodline and complete the life transference ritual. The witch inscribes a sigil on a parchment and infuses the child's blood essence on it, and the curse transfers to the parchment. I was that witch. My family owed the Thornes a blood debt going back three generations, so I married Julian, gave him a child, and performed the ritual to save his life. I was terrified of missing the ritual window, so I didn't even use anesthesia as the baby was cut out of my womb. However, Julian drove ninety-nine soul spikes into my body while I was still bleeding from the delivery, then set me on fire. "Miriam is the real heir. You're nothing but a fraud who wanted to marry up. "You drove her into the wilderness to protect your position. She went into labor alone and died with the baby. Even dying, she thought of me. She finished the ritual and saved my life. "You deceived my father. I'm destroying your soul. You'll pay for what you did to them." He ignored my screaming while he drained our newborn's blood essence. I watched helplessly as my child's life faded. Then I was nailed to a cross and burned until there was nothing left. When I opened my eyes, I was back on my wedding day.

…He caresses my check and I close my eyes and lean close so as to get more of his touch. "Catania, why is your pheromone doing this to me?" He asks calmly and this time around, I open my eyes. "Because… because you don't want to accept the…" my sentence is caught off by the feel of his lips colliding with mine. A thunder of emotions strike within me as he kisses me passionately, like he owns me, loves me. I return the kiss with all my might as I decide to forget everything that is going on and enjoy the moment. Without breaking the kiss, he gently pulls me into his big muscular arms and further intensifies the kiss. His lips are warm and soft. They are partly sighted, allowing my tongue to slip inside. Our bodies are pressed together heatedly as I our lips joined with each other's. I can taste our shared breath and feel the taste of our combined heartbeat. Warmth blossoms in my chest, igniting it as Alpha Nolan leans in close, with his lips brushing tentatively. This is my first kiss ever. The smell of his perfume is dizzying and it causes butterflies to dance in my stomach. My eyes are close and they seem to have gotten stuck. I want to open them, I want to get a better look at Alpha Nolan's dark brown eyes, I want to admire his crazy vampire hairline. I have the feeling this is never going to happen again and that this might even ruin what is left in my life, so I want to open my eyes and bear some witness but I can't, because I am so tired and his mouth is so soft… He cannot ignore the connection even if he wanted to…

Willow, a city girl, is heartbroken after walking in on her best friend and husband sleeping together. In an effort to find herself she rents a cabin in a secluded forest. To her surprise the remote cabin is full of surprises and it is soon clear the forest is full of secrets. To fuel her sadness she finds out her best friend is carrying her husband’s baby. This is the final straw for her and she runs into the forest and follows a wolf to a stone table. It turns out Willow has a family secret of her own, a magical bloodline that she had no clue about. She will have to find out fast because a family of werewolves fighting against a rival clan that wants to release a monster older than time. They will need Willows help if they want to keep the monster in the prison. Willow will have to look deep within herself and make choices she never thought possible for the greater good.

Lindsay Lennox, daughter of the governor of Turkey, worries she’ll never have the chance to meet a man and fall in love. Being the youngest of eight daughters, it is customary for all of her sisters to marry before she can be out in society and even meet a man. Her twenty-fourth birthday is coming quickly, and she’s running out of hope. Desperation takes hold and she disguises herself as a servant in order to slip through the palace gates. Disaster strikes when she meets a handsome sea captain and is mistakenly whisked across the sea to England. Lindsay knows her only hope of salvation will be to find her Whitton relatives in England and beg for help. Unfortunately, the devastating Captain Braxton proves more tempting than her lonely heart can resist.

Ever since I find out that my CEO husband, Rowan Goodwin, is incapable of letting his first love, Megan Dolton—who's divorced and has a child of her own—go, I begin teaching our son, Ryan Goodwin, to address Rowan as "Mr. Goodwin" all the time. When Ryan is burning up with a fever, Megan chooses to summon Rowan away from us in the middle of the night. As I caress Ryan's scalding forehead, I instruct him to tell Rowan, "Goodbye, Mr. Goodwin." When Rowan has agreed to attend the teacher-parent conference with Ryan, Megan calls him with tears streaking down her cheeks, claiming that her own son, Nelson Herrera, doesn't have a father to accompany him. So, Rowan doesn't hesitate to ditch us once again. Without bothering to raise my head, I pass my phone to Ryan so that he can take leave for "Mr. Goodwin" in the parents' group chat. Every time, Ryan always hesitates for a long time before carrying out my orders. Later on, Rowan finally realizes that he has owed us far too much. So, he takes the initiative to suggest that we take a family portrait together. When we reach the photography studio, Megan calls Rowan once again. Her sobs can be heard drifting from the loudspeaker. "Rowan, can you please come over and pick Nelson up from school? The children at the kindergarten keep making fun of him for not having a father…" Pity crosses Rowan's expression immediately. He's about to crouch down and explain to Ryan when the latter just waves airily at him without me having to nudge him. "It's fine, Mr. Goodwin. You should accompany the other child. Mommy and I are the only ones needed for the family portrait."

It’s end of October 1985 and the crumbling river town of Dubois, Iowa is shocked by the gruesome murder of one of the pillars of the community. Detective David Carlson has no motive, no evidence, and only one lead: the macabre local legend of “Boris Orlof,” a late night horror movie host who burned to death during a stage performance at the drive-in on Halloween night twenty years ago and the teenage loner obsessed with keeping his memory alive. The body count is rising and the darkness that hangs over the town grows by the hour. Time is running out as Carlson desperately chases shadows into a nightmare world of living horrors. On Halloween the drive-in re-opens at midnight for a show no one will ever forget. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

In the third year of her marriage to Caleb Montclair, the young master of the powerful Montclair family, Ashley discovers she’s pregnant. Eager to share the news with the man she loves, Ashley rushes home believing their broken marriage can still be saved. Instead, she’s greeted with divorce papers and Caleb choosing another woman over her. Humiliated, betrayed, and carrying his unborn child, Ashley walks away from the Montclair family and disappears without a trace. Five years later, fate brings them together again at the prestigious Beaumont family gala. But this time, Ashley is no longer the weak woman Caleb abandoned. She is Ashley Beaumont, the powerful young mistress of the wealthiest conglomerate family in the world. And this time, she’s no longer the woman they once destroyed.

My in-laws were old-fashioned. They insisted that spending New Year's in their hometown was a must for a smooth year ahead. We could not get train tickets, so we decided to drive back. When my wife’s first love heard about it, he insisted on coming with us. He even brazenly took the front passenger seat from me. “Charles, I get carsick easily. I can only sit in the front.” Evan shot me a disdainful look. "It's just a seat. Why are you being so touchy?" “If you knew how to drive, would this even be an issue?” My in-laws chimed in as well. “You’re a grown man. Why are you making such a fuss over something so small?” Outnumbered, I had no choice but to squeeze into the back seat with my in-laws. Then, when we were passing a toll booth, Yvonne spotted a stray dog and was suddenly overcome with compassion. “That poor dog. Let’s bring it home with us.” I immediately objected, “The car is already full. If we bring a dog too, we’ll be over the limit. We won’t even be allowed on the road.” Before I had even finished speaking, Evan turned on me without hesitation. “Charles, in that case, why don’t you give up your seat for the dog? You can just take a cab back!”

The night I spent with him was a mistake I paid for with everything I had. My family. My name. My son. He gave me money and a contract and told me to disappear. So I did. I built a quiet life from the wreckage he left behind and I never looked back. Until the job offer came. Until I walked into that office and saw his face staring back at me. He doesn’t remember me. Not my name, not my face, not what he took from me. But I remember everything. And I am not the same woman he paid off four years ago.