Manhattan Beach A Novel Novels & Stories

What do 26 years of friendship, plus 26 years of pent-up, sexual frustration, and one drunken, exciting, night on the beach get me? I just found out I'm pregnant with my best friend's baby... How the hell am I supposed to tell him that we're having a baby together? How will he react, and will he want this blessing just as much as I do? What's even worse is our parents have started to date each other... What does that mean for Cole and me?

Following the success of her two novels, Cela receives an offer for the TV adaptation of her stories but a third story has to be written soon to complete a three-story special. She is not in to the project until she rediscovers the paper bearing the address of the meeting place of her supposed first date with Nate. Now that her mother is no longer around to interfere, she becomes inspired to reunite with him after many years and hopefully write the third novel based on their new story. Unfortunately, he is now about to get married in two months. Disappointed with the turn of events, she decides not to meet him again. She visits their old meeting place and finds it a good place to write but unexpectedly meets him there. They agree not to talk to each other if they meet there again but fate leads them to meet again under different circumstances leaving them no choice but to speak to each other. Suddenly, Nate’s fiancée starts acting weird and suggests that he spend the weekend with Cela while she is away. Although it confuses him, he figures that it is her way of helping him get closure. The two spend one Sunday reminiscing the past expecting a closure in the end but the wonderful moment they share this time only makes it harder to achieve that closure so Cela has to put a stop to it saying, “Please don't think even for a second that there is still something left or something new to explore after everything that happened or did not happen. This is not a novel. This is reality. We don't get sequels or spin-offs in real life. We just continue. We move forward and that's how we get to the ending."

Jarrel Grayson is a successful beach resort owner and teen heartthrob single dad to his four-year-old son, Jarshel. He can give his son everything—money, comfort, and luxury. But with all that he can give, he knows something is missing. Jarshel requires a mother. Resolute to finish his son's life, Jarrel starts looking for the ideal woman to take on the role. Unbeknownst to him, however, Jarshel had already picked someone—his teacher, Kai Mendoza. A woman from Jarrel's past. A past he had believed he had long buried.

Hannah is an adventurous brave lady. She loves to be with her friends always. Her mom and dad got separated when she was a kid but they were now together again because of Hannah. One day, Hannah was invited by her friendship to go for a beach bonding. She was about to cross the street that time but something came up. An unexpected thing happened to her. Hannah with her 6 friends experienced mysterious adventures. Every door they entered is a very challenging stage, they have to find the door that will take them home by answering the tag with a riddle. The doors bring them to different situation like a time-travel with a twist.

On our tenth wedding anniversary, I was trapped in a cabin with my daughter, Sofia Costello, as floodwaters raged outside. With shaking hands, I used the emergency satellite phone to call my mafia husband, Henson Costello, and begged for help. I dialed more than 90 times before the call finally went through, yet all I heard was the breathy moans of his first love, Angelina Rossi, on the other end. "Henson...slower..." Before I could even process the shock of his betrayal, I heard a conversation that sent me straight into hell. "That kid was dead weight anyway. Trading him for control of Pier 9 was the best deal the family ever made." It seemed that Leo Costello, my son, who had supposedly drowned at the beach five years ago, had not died in an accident after all. Henson had used him as part of a business deal. All this time, I had been drowning in guilt for taking him to that beach, blaming myself for the tragedy. I never knew the truth was this cruel. Tears streamed down my face as my body shook uncontrollably. After ten years of marriage, I finally realized I had never truly known the man I loved and sacrificed everything for. I picked up my phone again and dialed Vincenzo Moretti's number. "Vince, I'll marry you. But you have to help me destroy the Costello family from power." After a brief silence, his voice came through the line. "Aurelia Astor, I've been waiting ten years to hear you say that."

Penelope Lorenzo, a woman who’d just lost everything and in utter shambles. She had never imagined that life would bring her to this point. Brayden Giovanni, the big, masked mafia who shouldn’t be trifled with. Billionaire by day and Don by night. Thrust in each other’s worlds by circumstances beyond their control and some that seemed to be in his control. But with danger lurking from their forgotten pasts, including a serial killer on the loose, choices must be made or consequences abound. What happens when their cocoon is threatened by forces they can’t seem to identify? What happens when she leaves after unraveling his secrets and almost gets trafficked? Will she embrace he who would raze the underworld for her or will she leave with the fruit of their passion?

Lyana Dela Merced grew up with nothing but grit and determination. Life had never been kind to her. From abandoned by her lover, and later losing her only child to illness, she learned the hard way that pain doesn’t pause for anyone. But even when the world kept breaking her heart, she refused to stay down. Her younger brother, who battled mental illness, depended on her strength, and that was enough reason for Lyana to keep fighting. From one side job to another, Lyana took on every decent work she could find just to survive. Cleaning houses, waiting tables, running errands—name it, she’s done it. So when her doctor friend one night offered her a stable job with the wealthy Tejada family, she didn’t think twice. But what she didn’t expect was that the job came with a shocking twist. Instead of being hired as a simple housekeeper, the Tejadas wanted her to be their surrogate mother. They couldn’t have a child of their own, and they wanted Lyana to carry the baby for them. Torn between desperation and morality, she faced an impossible choice: become the billionaire’s baby maker, or walk away from the one chance that could change her family’s life forever. Years later, fate plays its hand again. The widowed Preston Tejada crosses paths with Lyana Dela Merced, the woman who once carried his child. Old secrets resurface, hearts begin to stir, and both must confront a past that refuses to stay buried. Can Lyana right the wrongs she once made with the Tejada family? Or will she find herself falling for the very man she was never meant to love?

“Marry me… or your family dies.” To save her father’s life, Rachel Owens signs the one contract no woman survives: becoming the wife of Damien Montrel, the city’s most feared mafia king. His rules are simple: Obey. Stay inside. Don’t ask questions. But behind the mansion’s locked doors, Rachel discovers a softer truth meant to stay hidden— Leo. A small boy who calls her “Mama,” and the only weakness Damien has ever had. Damien is ruthless to his enemies and merciless to traitors… yet for Rachel, his control begins to crack. Her kindness disarms him. Her silence wounds him. Her fear destroys him. Just as they begin to trust each other, a new enemy rises — The Raven, a shadow who knows Damien’s secrets, his past… and Rachel’s value. War is coming. In a world ruled by blood and vengeance, Rachel must decide: Is the real danger the man she married… or the one coming for them both?

"Your body is mine Kate... Every bit of it... I am going to make you feel the butterfly no one ever has." ** Kate Walter sought out to seek justice for her parents' death, and Dante Romano, who ran a club during the day and led a mafia at night, was a suspect. To dig into the truth, she took a job as a nanny for Dante's daughter. Little did she know that Dante was more than just a boss; he was known for his pleasurable lifestyle. The merciless mafia boss whose aura neither sized nor decreased. Now, Kate faces the challenge of staying focused on her mission without getting caught up in Dante's enticing world. Can Kate fulfill her mission without succumbing to the allure of the seductive mafia boss?

He wasn’t searching for love. He wasn’t ready for him. But some things—like family, and falling—happen when you least expect them. When Ezra Anderson's sister dies, he inherits three young children and a crumbling rural property he's nowhere near prepared for. Overwhelmed, heartbroken, and freshly dumped, Ezra turns to the one person he shouldn't: Sebastian Brown—the gentle, steady Omega child psychologist he once shared one reckless night with... and never dared to call back. Sebastian offers a safe harbor. Routine. Warm hands and a softer kind of strength Ezra didn’t know he craved. What starts as survival—two men building a life for three grieving kids—soon strains under the weight of something deeper. The Omega in Sebastian draws Ezra like gravity, making every glance burn and every touch linger. The lines between family and something more blur until Ezra can no longer pretend. One night becomes two. Secrets slip into routines. And somewhere between sneaking into beds at night and morning coffee, Ezra faces the one truth he swore he'd never have to: He might not be as straight, or as strong, as he thought. As his Alpha instincts pull him closer to Sebastian’s Omega warmth, the world outside keeps pressing in. Desire stops hiding. And when the outside world comes knocking, Ezra is forced to choose: Keep pretending... or hold on to the only thing that feels like home. SNEAK PEEK: “I’m not in love with you. I just… don’t know how to breathe when you’re not there.” - Ezra “I’m not gay. I’m just yours.” - Ezra “You keep saying you’re not mine… but you keep choosing me.” - Sebastian “You’re allowed to love me, you know.” - Sebastian NB: 18+ (Tissues highly recommended.)