James Lee Burke Novels & Stories

“Tis better to have loved and lost…” is utter balderdash. Losing love is devastating.When a horror-movie nightmare became real, it turned everything in Teri Munroe’s life on end, costing her all the relationships she held dear in one fell swoop, including with the one man she truly loved, Jim Erickson. The only option left to the sensitive and reserved IT security specialist was to rewrite the code of her life. Abandoning her childhood home and Jim, she made a life of contract work to provide for their child, the daughter Jim doesn’t know he has. But when random chance leads Teri to a lucrative contract in Jim’s hometown, she finds herself face to face with him again and the love she thought was lost. Can they find a way to restore it? And when Teri's nightmare comes full circle again, can they survive it this time together?

Abby Barns is about to turn eighteen and face the Capitol, where every heir must meet to try and find their fated mate. But Abby isn’t ready to bind herself to a mate she hasn’t even met, not when she’s never felt her wolf stir since she was twelve and not when her family’s secrets keep gnawing at her like a hidden ache. Her sister Melody, once lively and fierce, is presumed dead behind a veil of illness that strikes their clan with increasing ferocity. Abby’s father, Graham, clings to a truth he refuses to admit: Melody’s condition might be more than misfortune. It might be poison. With two friends who are all sunshine and all spark, Abby steps into a city of glittering banners and looming danger, where a prince is guardian to the realm but aloof to the heart. Adrian, the silent, powerful protector with the deepest green eyes, seems to deny Abby’s presence even as her own pulse answers to his almost unspoken call. As old wounds surface, a rogue threat grows louder, and the mystery of Melody’s poisoning unravels a legacy that could redefine who Abby is and who she is fated to become. As Abby discovers the truth about wolf’s bane coursing through her veins, she must decide whether trust is a risk worth taking or a trap designed to hold her forever. In a world where love is both weapon and salvation, Abby’s journey from uncertainty to a life altering bond will test family loyalties, awaken a dormant wolf, and force her to choose between a dangerous future and a love she never expected.

"I'll do anything!" she pleads, grabbing my hands. "I'll do anything. Just let him go. He made a mistake." "That's not an excuse. It was a costly mistake." "Please. I'll do anything you want. Anything at all." I let the silence hang in the air between us as I think carefully, my eyes drawn to how firm and full her tits are. "Anything, princess?" She lets go of my hands and straightens, raising her chin. I watch as she swallows nervously. "Y-Yes. Anything at all." I raise my fingers to her face, smearing my thumbs with her tears. I trail them down her strong jaw, to her throat, over the small hollow between her collarbones, the skin of her chest, stopping between her tits. I circle the spot quietly while she holds her breath, perhaps in anticipation. "Would you let me fuck you, Titania?" — Feisty, yet innocent Titania Williams is best known for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and this time she's getting more than she bargained for. When her dear Uncle Patrick betrays one of the most powerful Mafia Lords in New York, Kristoff Stavkros, Titania is caught unexpectedly in the underworld web of crimes and deceit. To save her uncle's life, she makes Kristoff an offer. She'll be his for a month. Thirty days, he owns her body. Stupid, right? But Titania plays by the rules. But how can she come out victorious when Kristoff keeps changing the rules and is hell-bent on making her his forever?

Skyler Cress is ordinary. Bland, routinely boring and poor, Sky has a hard time believing life would get any better than the rut she's in. But when a handsome stranger asks her on a date, things go awry. All of a sudden, there are people after Sky and she's been told that she holds some ancient power that everyone is after. Before she can wrap her head around everything, Sky has to abandon her mundane life to go into hiding before someone figures out who she is. There, she's met with challenges of arranged marriages, a world of magic and trying to learn self discipline so she can save the world one day... All while trying not to get too close to anyone because she knows she'll have to leave eventually. With having to contend with a doppelganger from an alternate universe and trying to figure out her feelings, Sky is in for a Rollercoaster of a time - especially when she can't tell what's real anymore.

Esmeralda Cantari has spent her life being told she is a mistake. The unwanted daughter of a powerful angel prince and a disgraced witch, she was cast aside by her father and barely tolerated by her mother’s coven. When her magic fails to appear like every other young mage’s, the coven finally exiles her for good. But the night they drive her out, something awakens. Blood answers her call. Wings of midnight blue and black tear free from her back. And suddenly the powerless girl everyone despised becomes something far more dangerous. Returning to Rosewood Sanctum for her third year, Esmeralda must hide abilities that could make her a target in a school ruled by powerful bloodlines—including the half-siblings who have bullied her for years. Yet strange things are already happening around the academy. Students are disappearing. Bodies are found drained of blood. And rumors of ancient monsters once thought extinct begin to circulate. The only people who seem to notice Esmeralda’s true potential are the most feared group of heirs at Rosewood: a shadow demon with dangerous curiosity, a brooding shifter whose beast reacts to her presence, a brilliant mage who feels he’s seen her before, a relentless fae warrior who sees her strength, and an angel prince who is watching her far too closely. As the mystery deepens, Esmeralda begins to realize her awakening may not be a coincidence. Something ancient is rising in the shadows of the supernatural world. And it has already started hunting for her.

"I, Scarlett Monica Hathaway, promise to be nothing but everything to you, and if it is a loving wife you ask for, then a loving wife, I shall be..." Scarlett's life felt like a dream on a random frigid Friday night. It was intended to be a night she spent under her covers, in her warm bed, after getting ditched by her friends at a club she had utterly invited them to. But one minute Scarlett is fleeing a pervert at the clubhouse, and the next minute she's learning about a confusingly cryptic secret, and the next minute she's making a promise that was being dangerously sealed.

To the human world, they were Irish Twins, very few knew the truth. Lillian and Brayden had been raised by Lilliann's mother, Claire, in secret. But the day had come their power was gaining too much attention. The two teens would have to face off Lilliana's grandfather not just to save themselves, but keep the balance and most importantly the magic world a secret from the human world. Will they be able to save themselves this time or will they need to relive their 18 years again?

"I think you enjoyed at least part of your punishment last night, sweetheart." "No," I whispered, my voice barely audible, my eyes still on his hand, on his fingers as they drew small circles that made my toes curl on my exposed, sensitive skin. He moved closer to me, making a small gasp push past my lips as I looked up, our gazes colliding. "Relax. Do you know what the fun part is, Lana? It doesn't always have to be a punishment. It could be something... exciting too. Something you'll most definitely like." — To save her entire family from the Stravkos Mafia - which was the most powerful Mafia family in Tuscany, Italy - Twenty-two-year old Solana Williams agrees to take her sister's place and becomes a sacrificial lamb - becoming Abel Stravkos' wife. Theirs is just a mere marriage of convenience, but Solana is embittered, vowing revenge for all they did to her family. Abel Stravkos has no need of a wife, but with his cold-hearted father handling the helm of affairs, he's helpless to object. His heart isn't tied to this strange, beautiful, vengeful woman who's been forced down his throat. But the line between love and hate is thin, and Solana's staunch disobedience to his orders, fuels his need to control her in every way possible. Driven by revenge, and an undeniable passion sizzling just beneath the surface, it's only a matter of time before their attraction for each other becomes apparent, much to the dismay of his father and mistress who become forces, trying to pull them apart. Will they ever rise above obstacles lodged in their paths and get their happily-ever-after?

Vanessa's little world was turned upside down when she agreed to be married to ruthless playboy billionaire Adrian Knight due to her family's bankruptcy, her mother's ailing health and piling debts. The problem is, Adrian's crazy ex-girlfriend isn't over him yet and his younger brother Andrew already has his eyes set on Vanessa. Will she finally soften the playboy Adrian’s heart to become hers and only hers?? Or will the people against their marriage win?

Stormie has worked hard to earn her elite status, harder than anyone else. Her adopted family has aways pushed her to the be the best and has embraced her strange behaviors with open arms. But now her and the others of the Elite 8 are called upon to help their King solve a problem that has only been growing the last 15 years - the rogues. They had always been a nuisance but had begun to band together and were now a force to be reconned with. Together alongside the King the elite must solve the mystery behind the banded rogues before it's too late. The only problem is that traveling with someone who was once a friend has left Stormie feeling open and exposed in a way she never felt before. Can they take out this evil before someone gets hurt or will Stormie's past put them all in more danger?