Library Manhattan Beach Novels & Stories

For Emma Montgomery, life as the pampered daughter of Manhattan's elite carried the weight of impossible expectations. Groomed from birth to lead her family's corporate dynasty, genuine love seemed an elusive dream amid the superficial trappings of wealth. That is, until a shocking proposal opened doors to an unexpected future. When her father arranges for Emma to enter a marriage contract with James Reynolds, the charismatic heir to a powerful political family, she sees it as an escape from her turbulent past. But neither Emma nor James could foresee the firestorm of passion and betrayal that would be sparked by their convenient union. As the one-year countdown on their sham marriage begins, Emma finds herself falling for James's unexpected depths and charm. But James has his own demons - bound by duty to fulfill his father's Machiavellian ambitions while his own heart belongs to another. As cordial pretenses melt into smoldering intimacy, their worlds collide in a maelstrom of corporate greed, political ambition, and star-crossed desire. In this sumptuous tale of love among New York's upper echelons, Emma and James become delicious pawns in a high-stakes game they never imagined playing. With every blistering secret revealed, every heart-wrenching choice posed, they must decide whether to surrender to the inescapable lure of power and privilege, or burn it all to the ground for a love too intoxicating to deny.

Ernest West left the courtroom with wings on his feet. Leaving Don James was, in Ernest's opinion, the best thing he had ever done for himself. No more tense silences. No more Don's silent, smothering adoration. Ernest had been released. Three years have passed since then. Now, what once was the best choice has turned into a noose around their necks. There is a sinister provision buried within the small print of the divorce papers that Ernest's attorney overlooked; they are obligated to live together and manage the small beach hotel that they used to own as a couple for an entire year. Thus, Ernest finds himself back amid the groaning wooden boards and salty panes of glass within the walls of where their love once withered away. However, Don is no longer the same weak and longing man that Ernest abandoned. He now stands as an intimidating pillar of cold indifference, forged by the stony resolve and lack of concern. Not even a passing glance comes from Don’s green eyes, which regard Ernest with only polite reserve. A year of closeness. A year of unresolved tension. A year of dealing with each and every lie that Ernest tried to bury beneath "irreconcilable differences." In the beginning, the plan is a silent battle—appointments stuck to the fridge, dinners taken in different corners of the house. Yet, there’s something about closeness that reveals the whole truth. Ernest discovers the picture albums that Don never discarded. He listens to telephone conversations in the dead of night that reveal the loneliness he feels himself. And gradually, painfully, he discovers that the greatest error made wasn’t the separation. It was letting Don leave.

Maeve Sinclair learned the hard way that love can be the cruelest of prisons. After years of running from her traumatic past and the three men who never stopped loving her, she is kidnapped and wakes up tied up in a presidential suite on a luxurious cruise ship at sea. Her captors? The same ones she tried to forget: Zion Brooks — the famous singer with a seductive voice and explosive temper, who hides a dark side, part of the mafia underworld. Luka Rhodes — the brilliant music producer who hides a dangerous life in the Irish mafia alongside Declan Callahan. Elias Voss — the ex-military man and boxer, silent, lethal, and obsessively protective. Trapped together for seven nights in the middle of the Caribbean, the three are willing to do anything to break down the walls Maeve has built around her heart. They feed her, protect her, tease her… and tie her up when necessary. Because for them, Maeve had always belonged to them — from that unforgettable night on the beach, from the conception of Matthew, the eleven-year-old son she raised alone while hiding secrets capable of destroying them all. Between luxury, forbidden desire, and suffocating possessiveness, Maeve fights against her own body and against the unhealthy love she feels for them. But the more she resists, the closer the three get to truths she swore to take to the grave: the abuse from her father that still haunts her, the depression that almost destroyed her as a mother, and the paralyzing fear that her love is poison to everyone around her. On a cruise where there is no escape, Maeve discovers that the real prison was never the silk ropes… It was their love.

Marcus Donnelly at twenty-six is one of the most successful and famous painters in the whole country. His masterpieces on contemporary art have sold for millions making him quite a well-known figure in the world of Fine Arts. However, after a mishap, two years ago, he develops a painter’s block which he’s unable to overcome. He has almost given up hope when he lands up at a beautiful beach house on Long Island. The positive atmosphere in the house coupled with the presence of a young, delicate girl willing to work as his housekeeper, compels him to buy the property. Will he be able to get over his block? What will happen when he falls head over heels in love with the young girl? Can he control his feelings when they turn into an obsession? What will happen when he uncovers secrets of her past life that drive her away from him? Cara Rose Sullivan is a sweet, eighteen-year-old, school dropout who is struggling to make ends meet after her parents' death. The sole breadwinner of her family, she is somehow providing for her three small siblings by taking up odd jobs. So when the very attractive Marcus Donnelly offers her a permanent job, can she decline it? Can she stop her heart from beating fast every time he’s near her? What will she do when he seems to be always near her? What will she do when he seems to invade her dreams as well? Read this heart-stopping, emotional roller-coaster of a love story that will keep you spell-bound!

Cassie Cruz is a twenty-two-year-old who has never met her parents and was raised by her grandfather. Cassie's grandfather passes away and she moves in with her best friend, McKenzie in South Carolina. There, McKenzie gets Cassie a job working with her in Myrtle Beach, cleaning Mansions for the wealthy. The two of them end up cleaning a mansion together, and in a twist, the owner, Devin Deacon accuses McKenzie of stealing a flash drive. After Devin realizes he only misplaced it, he steps outside by the pool and meets Cassie. Cassie falls into the pool, beginning to drown and Devin saves her. Once again Devin proceeds to save her as she's leaving from an intruder who tries stealing her purse, finally convincing Cassie to go on a date. That date turning into another that makes the two of them feel something strong for each other. As days go by Cassie cleans another mansion owned by John Myles. John is obsessed with Cassie, even going as far as trying to force her to leave with him, but Devin once again comes to Cassie's rescue. Cassie falls ill, sending her to the hospital where Devin stays with her, even taking care of her after she returns home. They find out John poisoned Cassie, forcing Devin, Cassie, and McKenzie to go find John in The Cayman Islands, leaving Cassie in for an even bigger surprise. Money is nothing when love is involved. Will Cassie and Devin become soulmates? Or will their million-dollar kiss only turn into a wild seduction between the two of them?

We were on a field trip to the Holy State of Aram, when the prom queen, Susie Lambert, complained about the hot weather and called for a bikini party. My boyfriend Ken insisted on bringing the whole class along just to satisfy her whim, even though I warned him, "That's against the law, and visitors who are found guilty will be remanded, if not killed…" He slapped me across the face and snapped, "Don't try to scare us! You're just jealous that Susie's got a nice bod, and you don't want to see us being happy together!" Everyone else in the class roared in approval too. "Exactly! You already took Ken away from Susie, and you'd now come up with such bullshit!" I was furious and frustrated, but for their sake, I spoke to Mrs. Dent, the class teacher. She scolded everyone when she realized what they were doing and called off the bikini party. However, Susie got so upset that she ran off alone and flaunted her bikini at the beach anyway, and she was caught before being executed as a spy by zealots. Ken blamed it all on me. In the middle of the night, he sneaked into my home and set fire to it with gasoline, killing my entire family. Afterward, the entire class testified on his behalf to create an alibi. But I opened my eyes again and found myself returning to that day when Susie goaded everyone to join her bikini party. This time, I simply smiled. "Go ahead, enjoy yourselves all you want!"

Ambelyn did something terrible six years ago. She willingly gave her virginity to the college bully who had been tormenting her because she was forced in an arranged marriage by her family to marry the son of their biggest investor. Now stuck in a loveless marriage, where she watches her husband parade his first love and their second child hurting her and her miracle baby. Her husband hated her after divorcing she wasn't a virgin, which was the main requirement for their marriage and decided to show her how worthless she was. She swallows the insult for the sake of their child, but when her husband refuses to sign the papers for their son to get surgery or loses his life, and their second child bullying her and his elder brother and wishing for a new mummy, she decides to do what she never thought and divorce her husband, granting him slow custody of the second child, while she takes sole custody of the first child. The only issue was, she started working for the Heartless Cruel CEO who returned back home after six years abroad and it was the same man who pinned her against a library shelf and deflowered her. Would Ambelyn be able to survive working under the bully who once made her life a living hell, or would she be able to find her happily ever after in the hands of someone unexpected.

I took a drugged drink for Moretti, the Don I had loved for seven years. He helped Bella, my frightened sister, to her feet first. "Bella is fragile. I'll get her to the car." "Iris, wait here. I'll come back for you soon." My stomach burned like fire, but my fingers were turning cold. I stood there frozen for a long moment before a bitter laugh slipped out. It was the ninety-ninth time he had chosen Bella. In college, I once waited for him in the library with a fever, expecting him to take me home. Then Bella called and said her panic attack was back, so he told me to wait. Years later, I entered the Valtieri family and became his underboss. I balanced his books, negotiated his deals, took bullets for him. He still believed I would always wait. I bit my tongue and forced myself to stay clear-headed while I handled another round of probing from the rival family. At one in the morning, Moretti still had not come back. Bella's post appeared first. In the photo, Moretti was making her a late-night meal. That was when I understood. This time, too, he would not come back for me. And I no longer wanted to wait. I opened my phone and bought a ticket to Sicily three days later. Moretti, goodbye.

Who meets Prince Charming in an elevator while carrying their broken shoe? Lena Masterson was having a rough day. Her coffee pot exploded, her favorite heel broke on the way to work, her computer died, and her coworker sabotaged her performance review that she should have aced. To top it all off, she had to stay late. So when she ran into a handsome stranger at work, she was certain that it was the worst day of her life. Instead, it was the start of something wonderful. From the moment she nearly bowled the man over, she thought about him. She didn’t know anything about him, and could only assume that he was someone’s assistant. Still, the encounter left her with new self-confidence. She made a move assertive enough to get the attention of her boss’ boss, and be granted a new position as the personal paralegal of the head partner. This promotion soon led to an important trip to the Caribbean, where she saw a familiar face on the beach… Everything seemed perfect when she was in Aiden’s arms, but he was holding something back. Worse, Lena was keeping a secret from him as well. She knew that she couldn’t keep up her little white lie forever, but it turned out that Aiden’s secret was much bigger. Much much much bigger. A billion times bigger, in fact. Even though he treated her like Cinderella at the ball, it was possible that the billionaire playboy just thought of her as one of his “flavors of the week”. After saying goodbye with one last barefoot kiss and returning to the real world, there was a burning question on Lena’s mind: Did this Prince Charming love her as much as she loved him?

Isolde Wrenleigh once had a promising future until an injury destroyed her ballet career and her half-sister, Vivienne, vanished under mysterious circumstances. Now, disguised under a false identity, Isolde infiltrates Velvet, a hidden elite club in Manhattan known for secrecy, seduction, and unspoken power. What she doesn’t expect is Dorian Blackthorn. A tech billionaire with a haunted past, Dorian secretly owns Velvet and controls everything within its walls. He lives by one rule: never get emotionally involved. But Isolde challenges that rule from the moment she enters curious, defiant, and hiding something even he can’t decode. Drawn to each other in spite of the lies, their connection ignites into a dangerous, all-consuming romance. Dorian offers her pleasure, protection, and dominance but Isolde has come for answers, not affection. And the deeper she digs, the more Velvet’s polished façade begins to crack. Behind the scenes, a darker operation is in motion missing women, encrypted files, and a conspiracy that reaches from club patrons to global power players. As enemies close in and betrayals shatter what little trust they’ve built, Isolde and Dorian must decide who to protect, what to sacrifice, and whether love is worth risking everything. Tangled in Velvet is a high-octane, emotionally raw romance filled with explosive passion, unexpected twists, and secrets that could destroy them both. In a world where control is currency and trust is a weapon, love is the most dangerous gamble of all.