Lori Gottlieb Illness Novels & Stories

In my first life, I believed love was salvation. I tore my future apart for two men who had grown up beside me—Marcus Black and Damian Knight. I chose one of them, only to be abandoned on my wedding day for Elena Rivers. My grandmother died that same day, shattered by grief. When I was at my lowest, the other man took my hand and promised he would never betray me. I believed him. I married him. And slowly, my world went cold. I thought his distance was regret. I thought my failing health was fate. Until the night I was dying, and I watched him run past me—to save Elena, whose injuries were nothing more than a scratch. That was when I understood. My life had never been a love story. It was a carefully scripted game. After my death, I learned the truth: Marcus and Damian had already written their wills, leaving everything to Elena Rivers. They had sabotaged my education, manipulated my career, and even fabricated a chronic illness to keep me weak, dependent, and easy to control. They never wanted me to succeed. They only wanted me quiet—so Elena could shine. But fate gave me another chance. This time, I tore up my admission letter to Harvard. This time, I rejected their confessions before they could cage me again. In this life, I will not be the woman they use, betray, or discard. I will live for myself. And I will never walk the same path twice.

I had always been naturally celibate. Yet somehow, I still ended up chemically castrating myself. It was all because, in my previous life, my wife's precious idealized lover, a libidinous playboy, went viral as a pickup artist and dumped every side effect of his indulgent lifestyle onto me. He spent nights partying in hotel rooms with groups of women while I collapsed from kidney failure and was rushed to the ER. He lounged in clubs with women in both arms, downing bottle after bottle, while I went into an allergic shock and nearly died. I confronted my wife about it, but she shoved me away impatiently. "Shane already told me nothing happened with those women! You're just jealous and faking illness to slander him!" However, the playboy's actions only escalated. Chasing bigger thrills, he even started getting involved with men in drag. Thanks to him, I caught an STD, which pushed my wife to demand a divorce. I went to the hospital for treatment, but the doctors could not find the cause. Instead, they tossed me straight into an addiction rehab program. Later, for the sake of boosting his live stream numbers, the playboy went wild in Southwind Asira's nightlife scene. After he spent an entire night drowning in pleasure, I, drained past my limit, collapsed and died on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day he began his online hunt.

My twin sister, Rebecca Shaffer, was kidnapped while saving me. The trauma left her with a mental illness that made her lash out at everyone around her. The only person who could get close to her, the only one who could calm her down, was my husband, Ezekiel Roberts. For the sake of her recovery, my parents insisted that Rebecca move into the master bedroom of my newlywed home. Whenever Ezekiel and I were intimate, Rebecca would lose control and throw things at me. Then, Ezekiel would scoop her up in his arms and carry her into the bedroom, soothing her with gentle words. Everyone kept telling me the same thing. "If Rebecca hadn't tried to save you, she wouldn't be like this now. You owe her this much!" I had no response to that, so I gave in again and again. That was, until I accidentally overheard a conversation between Rebecca and my parents. "How much longer do I have to keep pretending to be crazy? I'm so sick of sneaking around like this!" My parents looked at her with sympathy in their eyes. Ezekiel gently caressed her stomach and said, "Don't worry. I won't let Rebecca or the baby suffer even a little bit. Once I have Maisie completely under my control, I'll make everything public." I clutched the pregnancy test report in my hand and let out a bitter laugh. From now on, they would not need to keep up their elaborate charade. I would leave on my own.

Scholarship student Zara Corven came to Blackthorn University for a fresh start, desperate to escape a scandal that nearly destroyed her life. But Blackthorn is ruled by the untouchable elite, and Zara is an outsider until Damon Thorne, the school’s golden boy, suddenly claims her as his own. He drags her into a fake relationship, promising to protect her secrets in exchange for her playing the perfect girlfriend. ​The arrangement comes with one condition: stay away from Kai Ryder. ​Kai is Zara’s academic rival, the boy who seemed determined to make her life hell. Yet, between heated arguments and late night conversations, Zara sees the broken boy behind the arrogance. The night he cries in front of her is the night she realizes she’s falling for him. But the arrival of Elias, her long lost best friend who confesses his love, complicates everything. After a blurred night at a party, Elias is forced to watch Zara stand beside Damon the brother he has always hated. ​Jealousy turns love dark. Soon, the video Zara tried to bury is leaked to the entire university by the person she trusted most. Her reputation is ruined, but instead of ending the fake ruse with Damon, Zara stays—this time, to make Kai jealous. ​Just as Zara finally chooses the boy she truly loves, her life shatters. A sudden illness wipes her memory, leaving her with only one "fact": She is Damon Thorne’s girlfriend. She forgets the betrayal, the secrets, and the boy she gave her heart to. When the truth finally resurfaces, who will she choose?

Abby Barns is about to turn eighteen and face the Capitol, where every heir must meet to try and find their fated mate. But Abby isn’t ready to bind herself to a mate she hasn’t even met, not when she’s never felt her wolf stir since she was twelve and not when her family’s secrets keep gnawing at her like a hidden ache. Her sister Melody, once lively and fierce, is presumed dead behind a veil of illness that strikes their clan with increasing ferocity. Abby’s father, Graham, clings to a truth he refuses to admit: Melody’s condition might be more than misfortune. It might be poison. With two friends who are all sunshine and all spark, Abby steps into a city of glittering banners and looming danger, where a prince is guardian to the realm but aloof to the heart. Adrian, the silent, powerful protector with the deepest green eyes, seems to deny Abby’s presence even as her own pulse answers to his almost unspoken call. As old wounds surface, a rogue threat grows louder, and the mystery of Melody’s poisoning unravels a legacy that could redefine who Abby is and who she is fated to become. As Abby discovers the truth about wolf’s bane coursing through her veins, she must decide whether trust is a risk worth taking or a trap designed to hold her forever. In a world where love is both weapon and salvation, Abby’s journey from uncertainty to a life altering bond will test family loyalties, awaken a dormant wolf, and force her to choose between a dangerous future and a love she never expected.

The day Alpha Marcus and I marked each other, his first love, Cecilia, threw herself off a cliff into a ravine overgrown with wolfsbane. The pack searched for three full days and nights before they found her, barely clinging to life. She was once the most spirited she-wolf in our pack, but the fall cost her a leg and the ability to bear pups. I grieved for the beautiful life that had been ruined, and I blamed myself for not seeing how fragile she'd become. Marcus comforted me gently. "Elena, this wasn't your fault. Cecilia made her own choice. You did everything you could. Don't beat yourself up." Later, not long after our pup, Rylan, turned five, a sudden illness tore through him, and he died in my arms. Night after night, Marcus held me, wiping away my tears. "Don't be sad, Elena," he would murmur. "We'll have other children." I had always believed my mate was the most considerate, most protective Alpha in the entire world. Until the day I overheard him speaking with his Beta, Adrin. "Alpha, the dosage of wolfsbane we gave Rylan was perfect—just as you ordered. It looked like a genetic defect. No one will ever suspect." "It's been so long. Don't you think it's time to forgive the Luna?" "What's one pup compared to what Cecilia lost? She lost a leg, her future as a mother. Everything."

"Zachary Dawson will never see you as his potential wife. You are just a warmer for his bed." Elena's eyes widened as she heard her speak with so much hatred in her tone. She tried to keep her up her head upon the humiliation that she got from his family. "I can't believe my son's illness could be cured by someone like you. Just like my husband said, take this money and leave him. You are not the woman he needs." Elena's whole body was shivering, her fists tightened, and she felt like she was swallowing a sharp rock. She was never the one who forced this relationship. Just when she was about to open her mouth and speak. A heavy footsteps approached them. And all their attention was diverted to the man that just walked in with his cold, murdering eyes. "How dare you talk to my woman with that dirty mouth of yours.." He looked at his mother like he was looking at his enemy. ........... When Elena finally decided to live her new life a big city, she realized that one job wouldn’t be enough to feed her and save some for her dreams. So, when suddenly a job opportunity came on a usually busy day, she couldn’t resist. Moreover, when the pay was even bigger than the money of three of her part time jobs. Being a maid on the private villa belongs to Young Master Zachary Dawson. A man with rare phobia with women. Will Elena fall for his trap? Two choices. Run or stay.

Alpha werewolves should be cruel and merciless with unquestionable strength and authority, at least that’s what Alpha Charles Redmen believes and he doesn’t hesitate to raise his kids to be the same way. Alpha Cole Redmen is the youngest of six born to Alpha Charles and Luna Sara Mae, leaders of the Red Fang pack. Born prematurely, he is rejected without hesitation as weak and undeserving of his very life. By adulthood, his father’s hatred and abuse towards him has spilled over into the rest of the pack making him the scapegoat for those with the sadistic need to see him suffer. The rest are simply too afraid to even look his way leaving him little in the way of friends or family to turn to. Alpha Demetri Black is the leader of a sanctuary pack known as Crimson Dawn. It’s been years since a wolf has made their way to his pack via the warrior’s prospect program but that doesn’t mean he’s not looking for the tell tale signs of a wolf in need of help. Malnourished and injured upon his arrival, Cole’s anxious and overly submissive demeanor lands him in the very situation he’s desperate to avoid, in the attention of an unknown alpha. Yet somehow through the darkness of severe illness and injury he runs into the very person he’s been desperate to find since he turned eighteen, his Luna. His one way ticket out of the hell he’s been born into. Will Cole find the courage needed to leave his pack once and for all, to seek the love and acceptance he’s never had?

The day Dad brought my ashes home, Mom, who had claimed for years to be suffering from severe postpartum depression, suddenly told the truth. "Actually, I made the illness up. "We were never short on money, either. My company took off years ago. You never had to work six jobs a day until you nearly collapsed." Dad froze, then looked up at her in disbelief. Mom went on nonchalantly as if she were discussing nothing important. "And that day on the highway, it wasn't because my depression flared up and I lost control, leaving Caleb at the rest stop by himself. "He was spoiled by you. He actually dared to talk back to Adrian, so I left him there on purpose to teach him a lesson." Dad's eyes grew redder and redder. After a long moment, he forced one question through his locked throat. "Why?" Mom gave a light laugh. At the red light, she reached over and touched his earlobe, as if she were talking about a tiny, harmless joke. "Because you kept using my love for you as an excuse to bully Adrian. It was just a small punishment. "Now the punishment is over. Daniel, you really have suffered these past six years. I'll make it up to you from now on. "What about Caleb? Children recover quickly. He should be better by now, right? Why didn't he come home with you?" Dad looked at her through tears. Two seconds later, he suddenly laughed. With trembling fingers, he patted the urn in his arms. "He's here."

Blurb: “I shouldn’t want this…” I whispered, my chest heaving as my hands clawed at the bed sheets. Kael settles between my legs, his amber eyes glowing as his fingers slide against my throbbing clit. “But you do…” his breath was hot on my inner thighs. “And trust me omega, this is painful for me too…” I flinched as Ronan grabbed my chin, his lips ghosting over the shell of my ear. “You’re trembling like a leaf sis,” he started, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “Where’s the boldness you used to beg us to fuck you hmm?” I looked at them, at my bullies, my stepbrothers….my mates, and I was at a loss for words. Yet my wolf did the talking. “Please,” my body trembled with need. “I need you. All of you.” ***** Liora Dan was never meant to stand out, but fate had other plans. As an omega on scholarship at the prestigious Silverfang Academy, she was targeted by the Academy’s princes; the Alpha triplets. Kael, Elias, and Ronan. Liora was bullied and trampled on for her weakness, reduced to a laughing stock, but she endured it all for the sake of her ailing mother. But when her mother dies of a mysterious illness, Liora is taken in by her mother’s long-lost mate, promised a new life, pack, and family. Liora finds herself in the renowned Durban Pack, and fate plays its cruelest card yet. Her new stepbrothers are none other than the Alpha triplets, the same men who tormented her at school and made her life a living hell. And her mate. Will Liora be able to resist her desires? Or will she be consumed by the bond that changed everything?