Kamino Ward

Welcome back to Clifton Heights. Sheriff Chris Baker and Father Ward meet for a Saturday morning breakfast at The Skylark Diner to once again commiserate over the weird and terrifying secrets surrounding their town. Sheriff Baker shares with Father Ward the story of a journal discovered in the ruins of what was once an elaborate koi pond and flower garden, which regales a tale of regret, buried pain, and unfulfilled debt: “Sophan” – Jake Burns has always been a bit...off. Rude, awkward, sometimes brutish, he's tolerated by Nate Slocum and his friends because he hits a mean line drive, and because they all know but don't discuss the abuse he faces at the hands of his troubled father, a Vietnam veteran consumed by his demons. But Jake is suffering something far worse than domestic abuse, and when Nate discovers what, he faces an impossible choice: help Jake and put himself in the path of evil, or abandon him, only to damn himself in the process. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Chased by Sorin through neon-lit Vegas, Dawn’s uncontrolled light magic crackles in desperation. She slips past the ward that hides a magical realm and crashes into the Black Pistons motorcycle club’s territory. The club is led by twin alpha dragons, Riku and Rain, who have vowed against mating. Dawn’s arrival ignites an unexpected bond: Riku flirts, teasing her with warmth and guidance, while Rain, the colder brother, distances himself despite an undeniable draw. Offered shelter and protection, Dawn steps into a world of dragonfire and the shadow of a dark wizard who promises safety if she stops running. Rain’s distrust of Dawn’s magic leads him to impose strict rules while Riku encourages her to explore her power. Sorin infiltrates the ward, probing defenses and leaving Dawn shaken. A midnight ride under desert stars ends with an almost-kiss as Riku’s warmth contrasts Rain’s questions that reveal his inner conflict. During a training session Riku teaches her to channel light magic through touch, sparking an intimate moment abruptly interrupted by Sorin’s attack. As dreams twist under Malachar’s promises, Dawn finds herself torn between the twins’ opposing teachings when Rain, rescues her from danger. Jealousy and desire fracture their trio when Dawn admits to a bond with both brothers. Riku’s teasing hides tender devotion, while Rain’s hesitation dissolves as he tends to her wounds with touches. In a moonlit orchard their passion ignites until Rain’s sudden arrival sparks tension. Malachar’s emissary breaches the ward bearing a sigil, forcing the twins and Dawn into battle. Dragonfire and light magic merge in a display of unity that scatters their foe. In the aftermath adrenaline fuels an moment where neither brother claims her outright, their unclaimed bond shimmering with danger and undeniable promise.

BLURB Lena Hale thought heartbreak couldn’t get worse until she walked into a luxury restaurant with a Christmas gift in her hand and found her boyfriend on a date with another girl. Broken and humiliated, she flees home for the holidays, hoping her mother’s new marriage will give her a quiet place to recover. Instead, she walks straight into a nightmare. Her cheating ex, Bryce Carter, is waiting at the mansion… as the beloved nephew of her new stepfather. And her new stepbrother, Cassian Ward, the cold, quiet son who sees too much and says too little can’t seem to look away from her. Trapped together for Christmas, Lena is forced to face the boy who broke her and the man who’s slowly undoing her in ways she doesn’t understand. Bryce wants her back. Cassian wants her safe. And Lena wants to forget she still feels anything at all. But secrets run deep in the Ward family… and desire runs deeper. And this Christmas, falling for the wrong brother might be the most dangerous mistake she’s ever made.

After Josephine’s father died suddenly, she is forced to become the ward of powerful Lord Leven. As a new face many men are willing to do whatever they can to win her hand. She must find a husband to secure her future, but in a world of backstabbing and positional play will she settle for what’s safe or follow her love for a man she can’t have?

In the fourth year of her engagement to Mason Hart, Evelyn Ward still had not been able to marry him. The Hart family had produced officers for three generations, and marriages required approval from military headquarters. Yet every year, their marriage request was rejected. Until the fourth year, when Evelyn personally saw Mason alter the application. Only then did she realize that Mason had never intended to marry her at all.

After getting into an accident, I pretend to be an amnesiac to pull a prank on my husband and son. "Who are you guys?" I ask. A hint of delight flickers in my son's eyes. He pulls a woman waiting outside the hospital ward inside and says, "My parents and I came to visit you, ma'am." My husband watches all of this happen without saying a word. He doesn't correct our son.

I brought home eighty dollars’ worth of durian. When my sister-in-law, Lily Ward, saw me, she clutched her stomach and screamed from the couch. “Ugh, my stomach! Summer, you know I can’t stand that smell. Are you trying to suffocate my baby?” Before I could even steady myself, my mother, Rosemary Ward, slapped me across the face. It made me see how much my mother favored my younger brother, Jasper Ward. When we were children, she always reminded me that he was younger and told me to give him a pass. I thought things might change after he grew up and got married. Instead, her favoritism only got worse. “Summer, you jinx! Hurry up and sign over your apartment to Jas to make up for this!” Watching Jasper pull out a property transfer agreement, I covered my swollen cheek and smiled. So, this whole act was just to get the apartment I had bought. “Sure.” They were delighted to see me agree readily. However, they failed to consider one thing. I might have willingly given it away, but I wondered if any of them had the nerve to take it.

Men Of Manhattan #2. Who'd say that Alex Hardy's destiny was on an island in the Atlantic? But he discovered it in the most incredible way, by getting into Diego Gómez's shady affairs when he wakes up on a remote and almost desert island in the middle of nowhere, with an angelic-looking stranger above him, staring at him with extreme curiosity. A short time later, he learned that Abigail Ward meant trouble in capital letters. Of course, she wasn't some heavenly angel or anything like that, she was the devil.

He married into power—but he wasn’t powerless. Everyone thought Julian Ward was just the quiet husband in the shadow of the mighty Lancaster family. A live-in son-in-law, tolerated at best. Disposable at worst. But when enemies close in from all sides—corporate titans, crooked politicians, even his own blood—Julian doesn’t just endure. He retaliates. In a world where family is everything, this one doesn’t protect its own—they protect him. And together, they become a force no one can touch.

The last thing Lark Ward wants to do is return to Lovell. In a small town that keeps a big secret and memories of her unhappy childhood.For the sake of her aunt, she returns to where those who call themselves her family live, but they are not. They do not recognize her as their own, but one of them saw her as his mate. But she's not one of them. How to break the imposed connection? Will she be able to ignore someone else's life? Can he escape fate?