Louise Penny A World Of Curiosities

Sophia Carter has spent her entire life sacrificing her dreams to support a family that never valued her. With a terminally ill narcissistic mother and a selfish brother who sees her only as a source of support, she is on the brink of financial and emotional collapse. When every door seems to close, an unexpected proposal arises: a marriage of convenience with Alexander Hawthorne, the ruthless magnate who embodies everything she fears… and everything her heart insists on desiring. Alexander is known for his coldness and relentless mistrust, especially towards women. To him, everyone has a price, and Sophia is no different. She will be just another piece in his game: the perfect wife to maintain appearances and ensure the stability of his business. He doesn’t want love, nor intimacy. Much less does he intend to share a bed with her. But as Sophia and Alexander become entangled in this dangerous agreement, lines are crossed, secrets are revealed, and the desire they both struggle to deny threatens to ignite the icy facade they’ve built. In a world where everything seems to be a transaction, how far will they go to protect what’s left of their souls? A story of passion, power, and unyielding boundaries, where even the coldest hearts can be broken… or saved.

Gladis adalah seorang pembunuh bayaran yang menyamar menjadi asisten direktur di sebuah perusahaan. Dan kali ini, Gladis disewa oleh Mr. X. Jika Gladis menolak tawaran dari Mr. X, maka dia yang akan dibunuh. Targetnya adalah CEO salah satu perusahaan ternama di Indonesia, sekaligus rival dari perusahaan tempat Gladis bekerja. Setelah mengetahui siapa targetnya kali ini, ternyata seseorang yang pernah dia cintai. Gladis akhirnya menjadi dilema. Maka bagaimana nasib Gladis? Apa yang akan dia lakukan selanjutnya?.

SYNOPSIS Katherine Thawne grew up the hard way, life in the streets had never been fun. Her already hard life gets complicated when she gets tangled up with the Leader of the Italian Mafia, the most respected and feared man all over the world. Katherine Thawne is set to live a new life. A life has the Mafia's slave. Well...till her debt was cleared!

I'm 29 years old, nearly 30 and so far, my sister and Photography have been my life and soul. Ever since I stepped foot in my first darkroom during my Sophomore year I always had a hunch that this would be my true passion. Since I held my first camera. Set up my first tripod, captured my first photo and filmed my first piece. I just knew that this is what I wanted to do. My life has been a complicated mess since I was 10 years old. My life was thrown away by my parents because I was a burden to them, I had a pen pal who I vented my anger out on for years yet he had become a huge part of my life. I haven't had a serious relationship in...well...ever and It's not every day that you find a man wanting to talk to you...granted, this man is the one who spilt his coffee down me the first time we met and from then on he became the Baine of my existence. I live in Texas City, Houston and I love what I do, the freedom it gives me being behind a camera but it also comes with a price when you least expect it. My life was complicated enough but when I vent out on a secret to this man, my feelings towards him become stir crazy and a whirlwind of emotions. One's I didn't want in the first place because 2 weeks before meeting said man...I was applying for a year long fellow ship abroad. A once in a lifetime opportunity to go to one of Spain's most explored and cultured cities - Barcelona.

Lia Harrison is a witch who cannot use magic. Her poor aptitude for magic is a stain to her mother's reputation. That is, until a wrong turn in the bustling city of New York leaves her stranded and in the company of a Demon. Travis, a high-ranking demon, is on a mission to kill the Jade witch. The first face he sees when he arrives on Earth is Lia’s. Lia thinks that he is a human. The fact that she has no knowledge of a demon’s traits only makes matters worse. Travis doesn’t sense any magical aura from Lia and also assumes she is human. And so the Demon and the witch become friends, both being none the wiser. In a world where witches and demons walk separate paths, will their love end up like the dying embers of a flame, or will it transform into a blazing inferno?

Tired of her marriage with her cheating husband, twenty-three years old Betty Von Rosey, relocates (as advised by her friend, Laura) to Gut’s Island, an island that is believed to be magical enough to relieve the pains of the broken hearted, by sparing them chances of falling in love the second time. On the Island, she falls in love with a billionaire in the disguise of a chauffeur, birthing a new wave of romance between the two. But things begin to chatter when her red room ex-husband, Braun, visits the Island, and she discovers the true image of her recent lover, Stan.

The tree I fell from was rotten. It's leaves were rotten, it's bark was rotten, and it's roots were rotten. Unfortunately, I am an apple that didn't fall far from that rotten tree. I was groomed in the shadow of that rotten tree and sprayed with poison to ensure I would be nothing but it's germinated seed. My earliest memories are dark and painful. My most vibrant memories are coated in crimson red and shame. The small pieces of my soul that I kept hidden and protected are the only parts of myself I can tolerate. The rest of who I am... The despicable trash that haunts my dreams... I hate. Death is the only answer to my life. Not love. I don't deserve love. A tainted apple is never put amongst the ripe juices apples. It is thrown away, discarded... As I should be.

Apa yang kamu minta jika diberi satu permintaan? Kekayaan? Kecantikan? Kesehatan? Atau kesempurnaan? Hanya satu dan tidak boleh lebih. Hanya satu dan akan merubah segalanya. Hanya satu yang akan dikabulkan meski semustahil apapun permintaanmu. Awalnya ketika Violet ditanya apa yang akan dia minta jika diberi satu kesempatan untuk meminta apa saja. Violet menjawab bahwa dia tidak akan meminta apapun karena menurutnya hidupnya sudah sempurna. Dia tidak membutuhkan apapun lagi. Tapi suatu tragedi membuatnya hanya meminta satu hal. Kata-kata yang sempat dia ucapkan kala itu dia tarik kembali. Bukan kecantikan yang dia minta. Bukan pula kekayaan yang dia minta. Dan permintaan itu dapat langsung dikabulkan hanya dengan sekali kedipan mata. Tapi semua itu tidak gratis! Semua itu tidak bisa diberi secara percuma! Violet harus mengorbankan miliknya yang paling berharga agar permintaannya dapat dikabulkan. Dan Violet menyetujui hal itu. ️WARNING!!!️ CERITA INI MENGANDUNG BANYAK ADEGAN YANG MUNGKIN BISA MENYEBABKAN TRAUMA DAN SEBAGAINYA!!! YANG MELIPUTI KEKERASAN, DARAH, SUICIDE, PTSD, DSB. HARAP BIJAK SEBAGAI PEMBACA!!!

Wynter Aguilar is ordinary woman and a café owner. Isang lang naman ang tanging hiling niya sa buhay. Ang maayos at tahimik ang buhay na ibinigay naman sa kaniya. But everything changed when she met the man named, Cassiuz Velasquez. A drop-dead gorgeous man, rich and ideal man to every woman’s dream. Hindi lang maintindihan ni Wynter kung ano ang nagawa niya sa lalaki at lagi itong nakasunod sa kaniya. What she didn’t know that Cassiuz Velasquez will like her to the point of no return. Hindi rin naman maintindihan ni Cassiuz ang sarili dahil unang beses na pagkakita niya pa lang kay Wynter, nahulog na agad ang loob niya rito. Right at the moment, he wanted to make Wynter as his wife and he starts pursuing her. “You’re the one whom I want to be with.” – Cassiuz Velasquez.

Kahit halos hindi na makatayo sa kalasingan ay agad na pumunta si Maya sa dance floor at doon ay parang wala sa sariling umindak sa tugtugin. Ito ang paborito nilang kanta ng ate niya. Napaluha siya, at napaupo sa sahig, hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin niya ito kayang kalimutan. Pakiramdam niya ay siya nalang ang nag iisang tao sa mundo. "Miss, are you okay?" boses ng isang lalaki Tumingala siya rito habang inaabot nito sa kanya ang isang panyo. "Ate Riza?" hilam sa luhang tawag niya rito.