Julian Barnes Books

My mother was dying. Her only wish before she passed was to see me married. For 27 days, I begged my girlfriend, Monica Teller, and she finally agreed to register for marriage with me on the 27th day. I waited at the courthouse until closing, but she never came. That same day, her childhood sweetheart, Gurney Barnes, posted their marriage certificate on social media. [Time sure flies. Three more days, and we'll have been married for a month.] It was then I finally realized that she had married her childhood sweetheart since the first day I started begging her. Not long after, an apology text from Monica buzzed on my phone. [I'm so sorry, Lincoln. Gurney's family was forcing him into marriage. I couldn't stand by and watch him get shackled to a stranger. Just give it three days. We'll file for divorce. Three days later, I'll marry you." Three days later, she showed up at the courthouse in a wedding gown, But the only thing waiting for her was my message. [Goodbye, Monica. May we never meet again.]

Dans sa vie antérieure, Josie était une idiote, ayant gaspillé trois ans à pleurer un mari qui avait simulé sa mort pour s'enfuir avec une autre femme. Elle est morte sur un trottoir pluvieux, un couteau planté dans la poitrine, voyant Julian s'éloigner avec son premier amour et leur enfant caché. Aujourd'hui, elle est de retour. C'est le matin de ses funérailles, mais Josie ne cherche pas un mouchoir ; elle cherche une casserole d'eau bouillante et un avocat spécialisé dans la liquidation. Tandis que le reste de la famille Hart se prépare au deuil, Josie s'affaire à vendre les voitures de luxe de Julian et à vider ses comptes bancaires secrets. Pour être sûre que Julian ne puisse jamais revenir dans sa vie, elle s'en prend au seul homme qu'il ait jamais vraiment craint : son oncle, Alexander Hart. Ce milliardaire impitoyable convoite Josie depuis vingt ans, et il est plus que ravi de l'aider à enterrer Julian pour de bon, pourvu qu'elle soit prête à payer le prix qu'il exige.

Jihan Ayunda Wiryawan (22thn) tidak pernah menyangka bahwa kedekatannya dengan sang senior, Airin Saraswati Adiningrat, akan membawanya masuk terlalu dalam ke kehidupan keluarga Adiwangsa. Sejak dibantu Airin di masa kuliah dulu, Jihan sudah menganggap Airin sebagai kakaknya sendiri. Namun, Jihan menyimpan satu rahasia besar: ia diam-diam mengagumi suami Airin, Julian Pratama Adiwangsa, seorang CEO muda yang selalu terlihat sempurna. ​Segalanya berubah ketika Airin meninggal dunia akibat kanker dua tahun lalu. Kepergian Airin meninggalkan duka mendalam bagi Julian yang menjadi dingin, serta putri kecil mereka, Aruna, yang kehilangan sosok ibu. ​Sebagai sahabat, Jihan merasa bertanggung jawab untuk tetap hadir. Di sela kesibukannya menyelesaikan skripsinya, Jihan selalu menyempatkan diri mengurus Aruna. Kehadiran Jihan yang telaten dan penuh kasih sayang perlahan menjadi satu-satunya alasan Aruna bisa kembali tersenyum. ​Melihat ketulusan Jihan, tembok pertahanan Julian perlahan runtuh. Pria yang tadinya menutup diri dari cinta itu mulai menyadari bahwa Jihan adalah sosok yang ia butuhkan untuk menyembuhkan luka masa lalunya. Kini, Jihan harus berhadapan dengan perasaannya sendiri: tetap menjadi sahabat yang setia pada kenangan Airin, atau berani mengambil kesempatan untuk menjadi bagian dari masa depan Julian dan Aruna.

Nightmare Land is a place unlike any other, where the rules of reality no longer apply. Portal, a character created by an author, has no memory of how he arrived in this strange realm, but he knows one thing: he was made to manage the author's books and handle the chaos they created. For years, he kept the books under control, but one day, when trying to portal back to where he belonged, his portals inexplicably took him to the Nightmare Realm—and refused to let him out. Now, trapped in this twisted land with only fragments of his past, Portal must navigate its dangers, using his ability to summon friends and characters from other books to help him survive. Communication with the author is rare, but when they can speak, they guide him through the trials he must face. In Nightmare Land, he meets new allies—the other Nightmare Lords. These former subjects of the Nightmare Master, each with their own deadly abilities, are also fighting for freedom through a series of brutal Trials. Portal must join forces with them, facing challenges that will test their will and strength. As he battles alongside them, he begins to regain his memories, unlocking the truth about his past, his purpose, and the dark forces that bind him to this world. To escape, he must uncover the secrets of the realm and survive the trials—or be trapped forever.

Some contracts are signed in ink. Others are written in something far more dangerous. Julian Evans has built his entire life on numbers; precise, logical, unyielding. As a forensic accountant, he follows the money, exposes the lies, and never gets close enough to feel the heat. Until the trail leads him somewhere no paper audit can protect him from: directly into the orbit of Alastor Vane. Powerful. Patient. Ruthless in ways that would make lesser men confess to sins they never committed. Their arrangement is simple on paper. Julian gets access. Alastor gets cover. No feelings. No complications. No crossing the line that separates what they are from what they could become. But the line keeps moving. The deeper Julian digs into the fraud unraveling at the edges of Alastor's empire, the more he realizes the rot isn't coming from outside, and the man he's supposed to be investigating might be the only one keeping him alive. Someone inside wants the investigation buried. Someone inside knows Julian's name. And the closer he gets to the truth, the harder it becomes to remember which side of the law he's supposed to be standing on. He came for evidence. He's staying for reasons he refuses to name. Because the most dangerous thing in Alastor Vane's world isn't the enemies at the door. It's the forensic accountant who's starting to look like home. A dark omegaverse romance. Slow burn. Morally complex. Not for the faint of heart.

Rachel is an intelligent and book-minded teenage girl. She and her best friend, Nana’s favorite quote is “Books before boys” and they did well to abide by this until a new grade (10th grade)started and everything started turning upside down. Rachel finally got noticed by her crush and a new guy in school also started liking her but it doesn’t end there. All guys want to have her. Is it her beauty, intelligence, personality that attracted guys to her? That, she also don’t know. Will Rachel keep to the “Books before boys” policy? and the first kiss she have always anticipated, who will take her first kiss? and most especially, who will she end up with it?

“You scrape by, taking me to cheap dinners, wearing the same old clothes, living like you're stuck in some broke college life. It’s embarrassing. You’re embarrassing!” Claire scoffed at Julian,“We’re done, Julian. Take your pathetic cheap gift and get out of my life. This is over.” -- Julian, a young man, barely getting by as a janitor, had always been belittled and looked down upon by society. He was constantly treated like he was worthless. Not caring what the world thought of him, he never stopped trying to make his fiance Claire happy, pouring every ounce of himself into their relationship. However,Julian uncovers the painful trut, that Claire has been cheating on him with his boss, leaving him broken hearted. That same night, he’s left homeless. Faced with the harsh reality, he was forced to reclaim his estranged family empire, to teach those who looked down on him, and treated him like dirt a lesson.

At the dinner table, my wife's best friend suddenly speaks to her in Lytian. "Three years ago, you married Julian in a grand wedding just to help Jace get Julian's letter of forgiveness. Over the years, I've seen Julian fall more and more deeply in love with you. Yet, you're still lying to him. "You gave him sterilization pills but passed them off as his depression medication. Aren't you afraid that he'll fall apart if he finds out the truth?" My wife, Erica Inman, briefly shows a conflicted expression on her face. She then gives a bitter smile and says, "A child unwanted by their mother has no reason to be born. As long as Julian doesn't stand in the way of Jace's happiness, I will keep my promise and stay by his side for the rest of his life." No one knows that I've learned Lytian to keep up with Erica. I stand in the living room and look at the fresh kiss mark on my neck. As I glance at the medication I take regularly for my depression, my whole body turns cold. It turns out that all of Erica's affection toward me was fake. What I thought was my salvation turns out to be nothing but a carefully planned deception. Since that's the case, I'll do my part to make sure they all get what they want.

Five years ago, Elara Thorne died in a wreckage of twisted metal and flames. Or so the world believed. In reality, she was running from the powerful Vance family who wanted her erased, and running from Julian Vance, the man who had shattered her heart before she could even tell him she was carrying his twins. Now, Elara is a shadow in the city, a mother living on the edge of survival. But the "Ice King" of New York has a long memory and even longer reach. When Julian catches a glimpse of a familiar face at an elite gala, his world of cold calculation turns into a furnace of obsession. He doesn't find a grieving ex-lover. He finds a woman who has become a lioness, and two children who are the perfect, sapphire-eyed images of himself. Julian doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He demands a debt. He drags Elara from the gutters of Brooklyn into the heights of his glass palace, forcing her into a Marriage of Convenience. He wants his heirs. He wants his revenge. And most of all, he wants to possess the woman who dared to make a fool of him. But Julian has forgotten one thing: a woman who has already survived death has nothing left to fear. As Elara steps back into the world of the elite, she isn't there to play the dutiful wife. She is a Trojan horse in a red silk dress, ready to dismantle the Vance empire from within.

Sophia Grant is desperate to save her marriage to Julian who's drifting away under the spell of his seductive employee, Vanessa. With their baby on the way, Sophia fights to rekindle Julian’s love, but as his betrayal becomes painfully clear, she must confront a harsh truth: love alone may not be enough. Heartbroken and humiliated, Sophia walks away, vowing to reclaim her life and her power. But what secrets lie in her past that could change everything? How can she do her revenge if she leaves with nothing but heartaches?