Next To Never Novels & Stories

In my previous life, my husband suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage and died instantly in his office. When I arrived at the hospital, all that awaited me was his lifeless body. Overwhelmed with grief, I coughed up blood and was bedridden ever since. On my deathbed, I happened to see a news report—my husband had won a $15 million lottery. Standing beside him at the prize ceremony was none other than my best friend. The shock killed me on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my husband had just died.

Kourtney was out of options. To save herself and get her inheritance, she did something crazy—she kidnapped Travis Forger. Now, she stood in front of him, holding a marriage contract, her last hope. “If you marry me, I can get my inheritance. After that, we’ll let you go,” she told him, her voice shaking. But Travis didn’t panic. He stayed calm. “And what do I get from this?” he said. “I already have a fiancée. I love her." Those words broke Kourtney’s heart. She already knew about Kim, but hearing him say it hurt more than she expected. “You’re my hostage!” she snapped. “You have to do what I say!” Travis looked at her, no anger—just disappointment. “This isn’t love, Kourtney. This is just fear.” Her hands dropped to her sides. She felt small, helpless, and humiliated. But deep inside, something darker began to grow. As she turned away, her eyes filled with tears, and one dangerous thought crossed her mind: If Travis won’t marry her by choice… Then maybe he won’t have a choice at all.

After the plane crash, my body was never recovered. My soul drifted back to the home I hadn't stepped foot in for five years. They didn't know I was dead. They were still waiting for me to come home for Christmas. When my mom got the call from the airline, she froze for a long time, completely at a loss, before breaking down in tears. I followed them as they went to the memorial crash site. That was when I noticed something strange—I could see their levels of regret hovering above their heads. My brother's regret level read: 40%. My father's showed: 60%. Even my sister-in-law had 30% over her head. But my mother's regret level? It flashed a cold, unchanging 0%.

“Alpha…” I whispered as I got up, trying to hug his waist but he grabbed my hand immediately. “Do you want money?” He demanded coldly and I shook my head. “Don’t get any funny ideas, Freya. I told you my heart belongs to my mate.” He replied and I nodded, my shoulders slumping with disappointment. “It’s been four years…” ****************************** After 4 years of warming the Alpha’s bed, his mate returns, it didn’t take anything for the alpha to toss me aside like I was nothing and I realized loving him for 8 years was a waste and I was never going to get a chance with him. Gathering the shreds of my broken heart, I decided to walk away but just when I found my mate, the alpha returns and this time he’s determined to do everything to have me back. It’s up to me to decide whether I want the man who never loved me or if I should go for my mate but there’s one problem, I have secrets huge enough to destroy both men and everything they stand for.

Wren Calloway agreed to wear her estranged half-sister's name for one night — a single gala, one borrowed dress, a fiancée's smile for a man she'd never met, so Isabella could vanish and handle a danger she wouldn't explain. Forty-eight hours, Isabella promised. Then she never came back. Now Wren is trapped in a life that was never meant to be hers, opposite Sebastian Vale, a man who noticed the lie within the first hour and chose, for reasons of his own, to let it continue. He needs a fiancée steady enough to survive his company's transition. She needs time to find her sister before whoever frightened Isabella into running finds Wren first. But the deeper Wren digs into the Vale family archives, the more she uncovers a history that was never supposed to surface — a stolen patent, a ruined partner, an empire built on a name that wasn't Vale's to claim alone. Her own name, it turns out, was never a coincidence. Between a borrowed engagement and a buried fraud, Wren must decide whether the man falling for a woman who doesn't exist deserves to know who she really is before someone else tells him first.

My husband has azoospermia. After trying all the options available, I finally conceived. However, my husband is worried my child will hurt his first love's feelings—she had a miscarriage. He tricks me into going for a prenatal checkup. In truth, he conspires with a doctor to induce labor when I'm only five months along. He says, "You must be the one with the problem. Why else is it so hard for us to have children? The baby won't be healthy even if it's born! We can have more children when you're healthier. Julie has just had a miscarriage; I don't want to aggravate her." He doesn't know he has azoospermia. I only managed to conceive this child after trying out IVF countless times and taking countless folk remedies. He will never have a child of his own in this lifetime, and I discover his true colors. I ask for a divorce, and that's when he loses his mind.

I spent decades taking care of my kid and the elderly. I ignored my stomach pain until it turned into cancer. By the end, it had eaten me alive. Before I died, I went back to my old family home to sort through my stuff. That's when I found Danny's diary. My dead husband's diary. Hidden for fifteen years. I carefully flipped through it until I reached the last page. [Some loves are worth dying for. Alicia, I'm coming with you.] The diary never mentioned me. Not once. Page after page, it was all Alicia. That was when I learned Danny hadn't died in an accident. He and Alicia Doyle—the woman he never got over—had chosen to die together. I sank onto a chair and stared at his framed photo. "Danny Caldwell, if you loved her that much, did you regret marrying me?" Blood filled my throat. I threw his picture to the floor. "Because I regret marrying you." When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the past. This time, I refused to rot in a loveless marriage. I walked out and never looked back. He smirked and told his friends, "She'll crawl back. Bet she won't last three hours." But three hours passed. Then three days. Then three months. I never came back. Later, he asked when I'd return to him. My answer was simple. "Never."

It was not until after I married Bennett that I found out he had a clingy little childhood friend who loved to play the victim. On the very first day of our marriage, at dinner, I simply asked Bennett to pass me a bite of food. She immediately exploded. "Holly, you're disgusting! Bennett already used those utensils, and you seriously asked him to serve you food? What, don't you have hands?" I froze, completely blindsided. Before I could even react, Bennett put down his spoon and went straight to her, wrapping her in his arms like she was the one who had been wronged. Then he turned to me and said I should just get my own food from now on. However, honestly, wasn't it normal for a husband to serve his wife a bite? What was so outrageous about that? I barely got a word out before Bennett shut me down in a low, firm voice. "That's final. If Rosie doesn't like it, then we're not doing it. End of discussion."

Who said a parallel universe does not exist! He swore never to fall in love again. He's ruthless and cold. Lucas Quinn, is rich beyond anyone's wildest imagination and no one has ever been able to get close to him. All he cares about in life is perfection, which he always is looking for in novels and what not. But then an unruly, perfectly imperfect lady, Tasha Rowan, bumps into him, ruining a first edition book signed by the best-selling classic author in town. And she is the exact version of his dead girlfriend!

"I hate you!" Allison spat, her teeth grinding against each other loudly in anger. "You do?" Dante asked, grinning wolfishly. His gold eyes glinted in amusement. Darting his tongue, he licked his canines as he eyed her plump parted lips. "How about we find out how much?" And before she could blink, he smashed his lips against hers. **** When the Lycan King comes to visit Allison's pack, the last thing she expected was to find out he was her mate. Heck, the last thing she wanted was a mate. With the murder of her parents on her mind and running her pack as a Beta, Allison has no need and no taste for the Lycan King nor his terrible reputation as a womanizer. How long though can she resist his charms or the pull of the mate bond? And with her parents murderers lurking in the shadows, how far will she go for her revenge?