John Locke Pronunciation

I stretched lazily on the bed, much like a contented kitten, before opening my eyes. Hovering above me was a face that could have been sculpted by the gods—a handsome, well-defined face with sun-kissed golden eyes. My first groggy thought was that Cara had finally brought home a decent, well-groomed man for a change. But…. Why is he in my room? I abruptly shoved him away, ending the spell. "Get off your asshole!" With a scowl on my face, I got up quickly. “Was personal space not mentioned by Clara, huh?” I spoke in an irritated tone. “Clara?” He turned and casually picked up some papers from a nearby table, settling down with an annoying smile. “And who might that be, if I may ask?” He doesn’t even remember her? Asshole “Well, if you must know, Clara—” I started, but my words faltered as something shiny caught my eye. What is..? Then my memories began to flood back. —it’s a damn golden sofa. Shit. Brain Freeze. ~~~ Growing up as the oldest kid on a Chicago farm was no picnic for Mary Johnson. Her folks, good ol' Mr. and Mrs. Becky Johnson, were salt-of-the-earth types, who worked hard on their small farm not far from the gritty backstreets of Chicago. They taught Mary and her siblings the value of hard work, self-value. But as much as Mary loved her family, she dreamed big, but those dreams took a backseat when she needed to step up and help support her family. Then, out of the blue, fate threw her a curveball. A chance in the US came knocking, and Mary didn't hesitate. And then she crossed paths with the Blacks – New York’s high society, dripping with wealth and power, who offered her a deal she couldn’t refuse.

"You’re mine, Emery. You always have been." Emery Hart is a lawyer, famous for crafting the perfect prenup agreement for couples. But her most frustrating client? The one and only billionaire, Darren Blackwood, her ex-husband. Every time he gets engaged, he hires her to draft the contract, only for the relationship to crash and burn. Emery tells herself it’s just business, but deep down, she knows the truth, Darren is still playing with her. When another prenup lands on her desk, she assumes it's just another fiancée. But Darren corners her, his voice low and possessive. "Did you even read it, sweetheart? This contract… it’s for you." Trapped in his games, Emery confronts the past she’s been running from. Because Darren never stopped wanting her and this time, he won’t let her go.

My mate, Alpha Ryan, started skipping my healer's appointments after I got pregnant. He always blamed pack business. But I found him at the clinic anyway. He was with another pregnant she-wolf—his childhood friend, Bonnie. He held her with a tenderness he no longer gave me. "I'll take responsibility for this child," he promised her. "He'll be safe." His words shattered my world. Their child? I stormed in to confront them and saw it: his temporary mark on her neck. He swore the pup wasn't his. He claimed a rogue attacked her and the mark was only for protection. His lie was a knife twisting in our mate bond. I was carrying his pure-blooded heir. But he let the pack brand my child a bastard, while hailing her half-blood pup as his true heir. To protect Bonnie, he locked me in a silver-laced cell. The silver was a living death. He didn't realize his mistake until I took the forbidden herbs, sacrificing our child and collapsing in a pool of my own blood. Only then did he cradle my broken body, begging for a forgiveness I would never give.

I'd been married to Joshua Merck for five years, but we still didn't have kids. To stay healthy, I took those pricey custom vitamins he ordered from overseas—never missed a dose. Then my cousin came back from studying abroad, took one look at the bottle, and was like, "That brand doesn't even make custom vitamins." I sent them to the hospital for testing. The lab report hit me like a truck—birth control pills. Powerful ones. Suddenly, all those mornings with Joshua hovering over me, acting so concerned while I took my "vitamins," made sense. The whole thing had been a lie. Five years of lies. Just as I was gearing up to confront him, my phone buzzed—a group chat notification. Shirley Hoare had tagged Joshua. [Honey, I had a prenatal checkup today, and the doctor said I'm carrying twins! Your family's about to get two grandchildren at once—excited?] My heart turned to ash. Everything clicked. Fine. We were done. I pulled out my phone and replied to my childhood sweetheart's message from three days ago: [After watching the northern lights, I still wanted to see penguins in Antarctica.]

They were the cause of murders in their place, their territory was known to be precarious. They are struggling to blend in, for the world is against them. Cases unsolved and lives at risk, who will survive at the end?

In 'Hope of Astria,' a mysterious sanctuary for orphaned children, Nowo and her friend Moha reach a pivotal age of 18, receiving locker keys that unlock a portal to a withered world. Guided by fairy guardians, Lane and Talaa, they embark on a journey to fulfill their destiny as defenders against the dark realm.

My father's adopted daughter was only locked in the cramped storage closet for around fifteen minutes, yet he punished me by tying me up and throwing me inside. He even sealed off the ventilation with towels. "As Wendy's older sister, if you can't take care of her, then you should also experience how scared she was," he declared coldly. He knew I was claustrophobic, but my desperate pleas for mercy, my terror, were met with nothing but heartless reprimands. "Let this be a lesson on how to be a good sister." As the last sliver of light disappeared, swallowed by the oppressive darkness, I struggled helplessly. A week passed before my father finally remembered my existence and decided it was time to end my punishment. "Let's hope this week served as a good lesson for you, Jennifer. If this happens again, you will no longer be allowed in this house." He would never know that I had already taken my last breath in that suffocating room. My body had begun to rot in the darkness.

Aruna Danurdara terjebak dalam pernikahan kontrak dengan Ocean Mallory Johnson untuk menyelamatkan perusahaan keluarganya setelah ayahnya kalah dalam pertaruhan. Meski telah menikah, hubungan mereka dingin, bahkan tidak ada keintiman. Aruna berusaha mendapatkan hati suaminya, namun suatu hari, ia terkejut ketika mendengar Sean menyebut nama perempuan lain saat mereka tidur bersama. Kesal dan terluka, Aruna mengusulkan perceraian, tapi Sean menolak. Apa yang akan terjadi pada kehidupan Aruna dan Sean selanjutnya?

"Mark the day Alpha Sahin, if I die in that dungeon....it will be your doom!" ***** The baby Princess of the Donner's pack has never transformed and therefore had no pure were wolf blood running in her. She was bashed, abused and tortured for it by her father, the Alpha and she swore never to forgive him - will she want revenge? Prince Lucius of the Alphaeus pack doesn't want to become Alpha, therefore, he ran away from home. He met the girl with a deep blue eyes, speckling with gold around her Iris and he fell for her but attacked her instead, why? Every day of his birth, he loses control of his wolf and becomes feral, dangerous, ruthless that every inch of the pack trembled whenever he howled - he was always locked up. Then, meeting his mate, will he reject her as she is human? Deepest secrets, he locked himself up - how and why? Will he ever open his locked self?

The last thing Miranda thought when she responded to a prison pen pal request was to find true love. Joel, well, he was only hoping to pass time and maybe if he was lucky, he'd find someone to have a little fun with after doing ten years of hard time in the state penitentiary for a crime he committed when he had just barely turned eighteen years old. He had been hardened by the things he'd seen and the experiences of imprisonment and no longer believed in lovey dovey fairy tales or happily ever after. So hardened in fact, that he knew women only led to one thing-trouble. Not even a good girl like Miranda would break him ever again. Not with her long dark hair, those hypnotizing amber-eyes, and definitely not those full lips that would look so good…nope, nope, nope. What neither one expected was to find the perfect balance of emotional and physical attraction. Can Miranda's persistence and commitment soften and heal Joel's untrusting heart or will Joel break Miranda in ways she has never experienced before? This is the first book of three in the Locked-Up Lovers series. Enjoy!