Library Manhattan Beach Novels & Stories

During the Thanksgiving holiday, my mother-in-law Mary came to visit us from Ohio. I took her to my husband Liam's new spa in Manhattan, Apropos. We enjoyed a basic facial treatment together, which I had purchased for $9.90 on an e-commerce platform. Right after the treatment, the beautician slapped a high-priced package down in front of us. She glanced at us contemptuously and said: "Do you really think you can enjoy our premium services with a $9.90 coupon?Stop kidding. You two look like you’re here to freeload. A single facial here costs thousands of dollars. This isn’t some free trial for cheapskates like you." I suppressed my anger and said coldly: “We have already paid for the basic treatment. How can you call this taking advantage for free?. Go get your manager.” A flashy woman walked over. Her arms were crossed. She looked down her nose at us. “I’m the Boss lady of this place.You and this old hag are just trying to get something for free, aren’t you? Let me be clear. You're buying this five-thousand-dollar hydration treatment today. Or you're not walking out that door.” A five-thousand-dollar hydration treatment? So this was it. This was why Liam suddenly got into the beauty industry. He didn't open a spa. He opened a scam shop to bankroll his mistress. I was about to call Liam, but she beat me to it, dialing a number. “Darling, you need to get down to the spa, right now. I've got a couple of hicks from the sticks making a scene, trying to get free services!”

Synopsis - Isabelle Ellwood, a plain, fuller-figured 19-year-old, hides her poetic soul and dreams of teaching behind dry wit, overshadowed by her beautiful sister who is counted as a family jewel for her grace and beauty and an ambitious father dreaming of snagging a royal title. When Prince Sebastian Nathaniel Winthorne, a bold, dark, and formidable warrior-king at 30, announces a bride-selection season at Cresthaven Palace, Isabelle dares to hope—not for love, but to glimpse the scarred-handed savior of her childhood. Unbeknownst to her, and him, he’s Sebastian, whose commanding presence and passionate heart blind him to her worth, fixated instead on the angelic Amelia Everhart, Isabelle's dearest friend. A secret library meeting shatters Isabelle’s illusions: Sebastian seeks her help to woo Amelia, praising her mind yet oblivious to her love. Their friendship deepens—his admiration grows, her longing festers—culminating in a rain-soaked confrontation where the lavender and breeze ignites his primal desire, clashing with her insecurities. Public scorn and familial cruelty drive Isabelle to flee, forcing Sebastian to confront the void she leaves. As time apart unravels his obsession with Amelia, he pursues Isabelle, his awakening raw and relentless. Their reunion at a glittering ball sparks a dance of resentment and longing, leading to a climactic confession where love triumphs over doubt. Isabelle’s journey from invisible dreamer to empowered princess, and Sebastian’s shift from idealized obsession to soul-deep love, crafts a tale of unseen hearts finding their place—a fiercely unique love story for readers craving wit, angst, and romance. In the opulent yet unforgiving world of Regency-inspired Eldoria, The Crown's Wrong Kiss weaves a slow-burn romance of unrequited love, repressed desire, and transformative self-worth.

“We signed the divorce papers six months ago. Tonight I’m wearing the lingerie he bought me on our honeymoon…and I’m not leaving his penthouse until he remembers why he put a ring on it.” Lila Grant never begged,not when Ethan built his empire on her late-night sketches. Not when he shut her out with silence colder than the marble floors of their Manhattan tomb. Not when she scrawled her signature on the line that severed them. But six months of celibate nights and whiskey-soaked memories have carved her hollow. One look at him across a crowded gala with his new fiancée draped on his arm like a cheap trophy and something primal snaps inside her. She kisses him in front of the cameras. Claims the mouth that once whispered mine against her throat and then she issues the ultimatum that detonates their carefully buried war: Thirty nights. His Hamptons fortress. One bed. No safe words. No surrender. If either of them says the word divorce, the other walks away with everything,money, pride, the last shred of sanity. Ethan never lost until Lila walks back in wearing red silk and the scent of ruin. What begins as a vicious game of who-blinks-first spirals into something darker. Jealousy that tastes like blood on the tongue. Sex that leaves bruises shaped like vows. He wants to punish her for leaving. She wants to burn the memory of his touch out of her skin. Both get exactly what they came for,until the one thing neither planned explodes between them: She’s pregnant. And the man who swore he’d never beg is on his knees

Torn between the billionaire who broke her and the mafia prince who’d kill to keep her. Three years ago, Victor Kane—cold, powerful billionaire—shattered Isabella "Bella" Moretti with one cruel sentence: “You’re too fragile for my world.” He walked away, leaving her heartbroken on the marble floors of his Manhattan penthouse. She rebuilt her life in Brooklyn’s shadows, vowing never to return to his glittering, controlling empire. But Victor doesn’t let go so easily. Now he’s back—wealthier, darker, more obsessive. Private jets, diamond collars, whispered commands in the dark: he wants her again. And this time, he’ll chain her to him forever. Then there’s Nico Moretti—her childhood best friend, the dangerously handsome heir to New York’s most feared crime family. The man who’s held her through every storm, buried her secrets, and never once demanded more. Until Victor reappears. Nico’s loyalty ignites into raw possession. His touches burn hotter. His eyes promise violence to anyone who tries to take her. He’s done waiting in the shadows. If she won’t choose him, no one else will have her. Two alphas. One rules boardrooms with ice and billions. The other rules streets with blood and loyalty. Both are dangerously obsessed. Both will destroy everything to claim her body and soul. In a deadly game of jealousy, betrayal, and scorching desire, Bella must decide: Surrender to the ex who once ruined her? Or fall into the arms of the best friend who’ll burn the world to own her? One woman. Two monsters. No safe escape.

Willow Grant has spent nearly a decade in Manhattan, building a life of logic, skyscrapers, and safety. She traded the wild air of Redwood Bay for the steady pulse of the city and found a man who offers her a quiet, uncomplicated love. She’s no longer the girl who wept on a cold floor; she is older, watchful, and finally in control. But when a family engagement demands her return to the territory, she discovers that some ghosts don't stay buried—they grow teeth. Seven years ago, he let her run. Now, he’s done waiting. Roman Vale is no longer the boy she once idolized. He is the Alpha of the Vale Clan, a lethal tactician who rules the northern territories with a heart of flint and a gaze of stormy gray. He has spent years in the shadows, expanding his empire and purging anyone who dared touch what belonged to him. He has stayed silent. He has stayed celibate. But he has never let go. From the moment Willow steps back onto his soil, the hunt is on. Roman doesn't want a civil conversation or a polite reunion. He wants the woman who was promised to him in the moonlight. He wants to tear down the walls she built in the city and remind her that no matter whose hand she holds, her wolf only howls for one man. As a dangerous conspiracy threatens the Grant lineage, Willow is forced into Roman’s orbit for protection. But in the corridors of the Vale Compound, the greatest threat isn't the enemies at the gate—it’s the suffocating, magnetic heat of the man who calls her Rosebud while looking at her like prey. The rose has finally bloomed. And this time, the Alpha is playing for keeps.

Ivy Sinclaire was born powerful—Heiress to House of Valemont and Manhattan royalty. Power doesn’t stop betrayal from crawling into her life—all cloaked in the form of her husband and her closest friend/ legal counsel. On the night she receives her Woman of Year award in global business, she walks into her office and finds Harry between Vivienne’s legs on her Italian marble desk—the same one she had closed multi-million deals on. The same night, her car crashes in a fiery wreck, and she’s declared dead, but alas! Ivy isn’t dead. She is saved by the one man who’s always wanted her and her nemesis. Chase Sterling. An arrogant billionaire and philanthropist in a tailored suit. A man who’s watched Ivy from the shadows for years. Keeping his distance, waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and be her hero. “They tried to kill you and they almost succeeded,” Chase scoffs, adjusting his cufflinks. “I shouldn’t have trusted them,” Ivy wipes the tears streaming down her cheeks violently. “So what now?” She looks him dead in the eye. “I’ll give you 30% of House of Valemont. In return, you help me destroy them.” Reborn as Victoria St. James, Ivy returns to New York—unrecognizable, vengeful, and dangerous. With Chase at her side, she sets the stage for a merciless takedown, but as their dark alliance deepens into something twisted and magnetic, the question remains: who’s really in control? Because Chase didn’t just save her… He remade her, and he has no intention of letting her go.

"They say the rich live beyond consequence. That no one bleeds behind a billion-dollar smile. They've clearly never met Rico Zane." Aria Lane didn't mean to sleep with a total stranger. Especially not the battered, bleeding man she pulled in off the sidewalk outside of an elite Manhattan nightclub. He had haunted eyes and a tempest brewing behind them. They had one night of weakness. One unforgettable mistake. And by morning, he'd vanished. Months later, she's now pregnant and swimming in secrets, Aria's life takes another sharp turn when stumbles into the father of her child again. This time, he's not bleeding in the shadows, he's standing in light and power. Rico Zane is not just anyone. He's the cold, brilliant CEO of Zane Industries. A billionaire who built a dynasty from the ruins of treachery and smashes anyone who gets in his path. And Aria? She's unfortunately the daughter of the one man who tried to ruin his family. To make matters more complicated, Rico's brother, who was presumed dead for years, returns to take the company and exact revenge on a past Aria is tied to by blood. While corporate wars rage and enemies loom in designer suits, Aria is swept up in a war of secrets, seduction, and strategy. She's both a pawn and a prize in a game of power where love is a liability… and trust a slow poison. Now forced into Rico's dangerous world for the sake of her unborn child, Aria must make a decision: does she stay with the man who sees her as both his weakness and his salvation? Or does she become the woman capable of rewriting her fate one secret at a time?

Eleanor thought she was everything to Henry. For three years, she was his constant—his quiet support, his emotional anchor. But when the woman he truly loves returns to the city, everything shatters. “I’ve been chasing her ghost,” Henry confesses, leaving Eleanor to pick up the pieces of a love that was never hers to begin with. In the glittering world of Manhattan’s elite, Eleanor finds herself trapped in a toxic relationship with a man who can’t let go of his past. After overhearing a conversation that reveals Henry’s betrayal, Eleanor is left questioning everything she thought she knew about love—and herself. With her heart shattered and her future uncertain, she turns to an unlikely solution: an arranged marriage to Jasper Blackwood, the stoic heir to a powerful family she’s known her whole life. But leaving Henry isn’t as easy as it seems. Jasper’s steady presence stirs something in Eleanor, something she hasn’t felt in years—security, respect, and a growing attraction. Yet, the pull of her past refuses to loosen its grip. As Henry desperately tries to win her back, Eleanor must confront the deepest fears she’s kept buried: Will she ever truly be able to trust again? And, more importantly, can she move on from a love that never truly belonged to her? In a world where wealth and power dominate, Eleanor’s journey to reclaim her self-worth is a battle she never saw coming. Will she finally choose herself—and the man who has always been there—or will her heart remain tethered to a past that can never be hers? The choice is hers. But will it be enough to heal a heart shattered by betrayal?

“That’s it, little sister,” he rasped against my ear, voice low and dangerous. “Soak your stepbrother’s fingers like the dirty, naughty girl you are.” Two thick fingers plunged deep into my dripping core without warning, stretching me, claiming me, pumping hard and fast. I whimpered, biting down on his shoulder to stifle the moan that threatened to betray us. “Be a good girl and stay silent…” he rumbled low in my ear, “or everyone in this library will know exactly how desperate you are to be fucked by me.” ~~~~ One reckless, drunken night. One masked stranger who set her body on fire with sin and secrets. No names. Just raw heat, tangled limbs, and forbidden pleasure. The next morning, still throbbing from the memory, Miyara walks into class only to freeze. The man commanding the lecture hall is no stranger. He’s Caden Cross, her stepbrother. The one who vanished six years ago, leaving her with a childhood crush she never quite buried. Her one-night stand. Now he’s back. Older. Darker. Her professor. The stepbrother she once ached for has returned with one purpose: to take her, ruin her, and break her completely, until she’s nothing but his. As buried secrets surface and outsiders conspire to tear them apart, Miyara must decide: fight the pull of the forbidden… or surrender to the man who’s always owned her heart and now wants every filthy, shattered piece of her. Will they burn together in the ashes of their taboo desire, consequences be damned? Or will the world force them apart before she can beg for more? ️ Warning: This story contains explicit sex scenes, stalking, non-con/dub-con acts, coercion and manipulation. Kindly proceed with caution

"What are you doing, Ms. Samantha?" Jack angrily said after seeing the employee chit-chatting with some random guys while the other girls are waiting for her service.  The surprised look was evident to the librarian when she sees her boss in front of them. She also stood up in her seat, and she gave a quick bow to her boss. But Jack ignored it. He walks in the direction of a librarian. "This is not an hour of flirting. I'm not paying you a lot of money only to flirt. But, if you like to seduce some guys. So, why don’t we make it intense for the men you’re flirting with? Hmm?" He smirks at his librarian, whose name is Samantha. "S-Sir…I-I'm sorry…I-I will never do…i-it…a-again…j-just please…s-spare my life." "Oh, sweetie, I'm not going to kill you. But, I'll help you to seduce a guy, you want?"The woman quickly shook her head many times because of fear. "N-no…no… si-sir please…no!" But she can't stop her boss from ripping her uniform. When Jack finished tearing off her upper and lower uniform, he even grinned demonically. "You're welcome, sweetie, don't cry. I'm just helping." Jack Krean Tomizara Miller is known as heartless and ruthless. He doesn't even care about people who beg him or asking him to forgive them for what they've done. He humiliated many employees.  So it isn't easy to get a new one on his property, even how significant the income is because they knew him as a demon. But a woman will give a try to apply as a new librarian. She's Linzi Mikaele Franzie.  What will be her fate after entering the famous library and meeting the Notorious Mafia King, Jack?