Madison Public Library Madison Ohio Novels & Stories

On New Year’s Eve, a poolside party was held at the hospital. There, my fiancee Valerie Charlton’s medical prodigy junior colleague, Cyrus Zeigler, drew the wildcard in a party game. His task was to select a woman from the attendees and enact an explicit scene in front of everyone. He scanned the crowd, and his gaze landed on Valerie. “Valerie, you’re about to get married. I know I can’t have you. So let me have this one time. Okay?” Valerie’s eyes welled up, and she was about to nod. I scoffed and tossed the unsigned medical equipment purchase contract onto the table. “You’d better think carefully. Either he gets lost, or your family’s hospital shuts down for good. Your choice.” Cyrus glared at me angrily when he saw that Valerie was torn with indecision. “Is it that Mr. Everest can’t take a joke? He’s already controlling everything you do before the wedding. After you get married, he’ll probably keep you in a cage.” Valerie calmed down. Then, she turned to me and said scornfully, “You are a grown man. Have some grace. What era are we living in? Do you have to flaunt your masculinity all the time?” I watched calmly as they walked toward the pool. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Since she doesn’t care about this marriage, she can watch the Charlton family crumble.”

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

Eight years after I married that award-winning actor, he publicly declared he was dating the top starlet, Celine James. He even posted a picture of the two of them celebrating their adopted “baby’s” birthday. I did not call him to interrogate him as usual. Instead, he hurriedly explained, “It’s just a pet we adopted. As its ‘dad’, I have to be there for its birthday.” I said calmly, “Rather than adopting a furbaby, why don’t we get a divorce? Then you can have an actual baby with her.”

At our bachelor party, Harry Cole, my fiance and I played Truth or Dare with his friends. We spun the bottle, and it stopped in front of Joanna, a woman he had known since childhood. The dare was to do the deed with the person placed right next to you, and Harry had been sitting beside her the entire evening. Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly said, “Why don’t you just pick Truth instead of Dare?” Joanna, however, did not back down. She sent me a look full of contempt and replied, “Don’t be such a prude, Suzie. It’s not that big of a deal. If I don’t mind, why should you?” She then looked at Harry. “Do you mind, Harry?” Everyone around us started cheering them on. Someone said, “Suzie can’t have fun to save her own life. If Harry doesn’t want to, I will gladly do it. Pick me, Joanna!” I grabbed Harry’s hand and turned to leave, but he flung my hand off. “What about Joanna? She has no one to help her if I leave. We’re about to get married, Suzie. Can’t I have one last night of freedom?” After saying that, he pinned Joanna under him, and his friends just cheered even more. I stared at him and Joanna. At that moment, I no longer saw a future for us.

I suffered from a skin condition. I scratched myself in the library, and millions of netizens spammed my private inbox. Only then did I find out that a girl accused me of harassing her. I took out my diagnostic report to defend my innocence, but the girl cried pitifully. “You really know how to make an excuse for yourself! How could someone innocent like me frame you?” Even my elder brother spoke up for her! “Why would she frame you of all people? Can’t you take a look at yourself?” I could not bear the cyberbullying, and I died from a sudden heart attack the day before the court hearing. My grandfather could not accept my death, and he collapsed into a coma. My parents cut off ties with my brother before they committed suicide at home. Meanwhile, the girl did not just successfully make her way into graduate school, but she also dug open my grave and used my ashes to make fireworks. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day when she had asked me to reserve a seat in the library.

SEQUEL TO A PUBLICIST'S PLIGHT Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. Corruption. Just your average day in an American corporation. Sebastian Harrison has successfully secured his spot as Harrison Incorporated's Chief Executive Officer. And although the goal has been achieved, it is only the beginning. With him and Leslie King on rocky ground and his father still trying to influence the future of Sebastian's company, Sebastian feels caught between doing the right thing and the safe thing. But when Leslie begins to show interest in Colombian Bachelor, Alejandro Quintanilla - nephew to Salvador Quintanilla, an important partner to Harrison Inc. - Sebastian struggles to put his money where his mouth is. And when it comes to Leslie whose budding new love interest and family intrusions have kept her busy, it's hard for Sebastian to step back and accept what never became. However, time can only conceal for so long, and in the midst of Sebastian's new position and Leslie's new relationship, it is inevitable that the past will come find it's way seeping through the cracks of the locked chest. Especially when this said chest has secrets being kept for each other's own good. **

(Rewritten version of 'Playboy Rehab' - Wattys 2014 Winner) Leslie King is a publicist nestled in the heart of Los Angeles representing Garrett Harrison, president of Harrison Incorporated - one of the world's leading real estate and brokerage empires. Having had Garrett Harrison as her client for years, she has grown used to the uniformity in her job - not to mention the uniformity in her personal life. However, when Garrett Harrison shares the news of his retirement, Leslie's professional and personal life becomes anything but the harmonious routine she has grown used to. Sebastian Harrison - handsome Hollywood playboy and the youngest son of Garrett Harrison - enters Leslie's life in the most unusual of ways as she is asked to turn the King of Debauchery into a man fit and trusted enough to become the CEO of Harrison Incorporated. Even though Leslie vows to fulfill the expectations of the task handed to her, she soon discovers that Sebastian Harrison's past is darker and more complicated than what she has read and researched about him. Now, Leslie is caught between satisfying the expectations of her job description and helping the mysterious and twisted spirit that Sebastian Harrison possesses. Regardless of what choice she makes, Leslie knows that there is more to Sebastian Harrison than she could have ever prepared herself for.

Wendy McNaulty never expected her twenties to look like this—sharing a quirky Boston townhouse with her two best friends, juggling a job she doesn’t love, and navigating a love life that’s as messy as the city’s winter slush. With Grady, her charming and overly confident roommate, and Scott, the quiet and steady best friend who knows her better than anyone, Wendy’s life is a whirlwind of late-night pizza runs, laughter, and unspoken tension. When a disastrous breakup pushes her to “figure herself out,” Wendy vows to swear off romance and focus on herself—only to find love and scandal showing up where she least expects it. As lines blur between friendship and something deeper, Wendy is forced to confront her own heart. Torn between the thrill of the new and the comfort of what’s always been, she begins to unravel feelings she’s kept buried for years. But just when she thinks she has it all figured out, an unexpected twist threatens to change everything. In the midst of secrets, mistakes, and the kind of vulnerability she’s always avoided, Wendy learns that true love doesn’t always come in the form you expect—it’s often been standing right beside you all along.

Ruled with an iron fist Alpha Alexander of ice moon pack killed my parents and took me in when I was 14. Being a slave to him and for years enduring pain and humiliation. Hopeful on my 18th birthday to leave on my own away from his pack is the only thing I’m aiming for, but Alpha Alexander has different plans for me. Unknowingly the Alpha has decided to claim a mate and using the excuse of me turning 18 as why he hasn’t found one yet. Plans to escape are my only options and fear of what he’ll do if he catches me and claims me as his mate.

The Pure…rare werewolves with special abilities. Read to see two mates meet and rule a pack together, defending each other and their loved ones against their enemies who are after the gifts blessed upon them by the moon goddess.