Nora Roberts Year One

The nights in Vicente were a coexistence of order and gunfire. Tonight was the wedding, ten years overdue, between Anthony Oliver, the don of the Oliver mafia family, and Mabel Samson, the woman who had stood beside him through bloodshed, betrayals, and underworld wars. A top-tier luxury hotel had been cleared by the family's soldati. Below them glittered a sea of city lights; above them bloomed fireworks commissioned for the future Donna alone. The man known for his ruthlessness knelt on one knee with a rare diamond ring, his eyes filled with rare tenderness. "Mabel," he said, "you walked through hell at my side. Let me give you peace for the rest of your life." It seemed that all the sacrifices and patience had finally led somewhere. However, just as Mabel's fingers were about to touch the ring, a piercing scream came from above. "Don't! Anthony! Save me!" That single cry drew all of Anthony's attention away. The girl was not unfamiliar to Mabel. Two years earlier, Anthony's twin brother had been tortured to death by a rival mafia family while covering his retreat. His body was never recovered. And Cheryl Reyes was the fiancée he had protected with his life. Mabel watched as the man she loved abandoned everything without hesitation and ran toward another woman. She stepped forward and tried to stop him. "Don't go. The wedding isn't over." However, when their eyes met, the Don accused her coldly of being heartless and selfish. And in that moment, Mabel felt tired. Perhaps it was time, just once, to choose herself over the Family.

The night before the entrance exams, my childhood best friend, Tyson Sutherland, receives a text message from his girlfriend, Isabelle Landon, saying she was attempting suicide by jumping off a building. He immediately gets anxious and brings along a few male classmates with him to go and save her. In my past life, I learned that it was fake, and that Isabelle never planned to kill herself. That was why I was against them going to save her. I called up my teacher, Mr. Fred Nielson, and asked him to inform the boys' parents, successfully stopping them from going. … The next day, everyone sat for their entrance exams as usual, and we all got accepted into Rayward University, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Meanwhile, Isabelle survived the jump somehow, but she became a cripple. As revenge, Tyson hacked off my arms and legs and buried me alive. "It's all your fault! You were the one who turned Belle into a cripple! I'm going to kill you!" All my classmates did nothing as they watched him kill me under their watchful eyes. They all told me that I deserved to be killed. … When I open my eyes again, I realize that I have returned to the night when Tyson tells me he wants to save Isabella. I don't stop him or the others from going anymore. Instead, I sit for the entrance exams alone. I refuse to interfere in other people's fates again.

“You’re late.” Alexander’s voice was smooth but hard, a tone that meant no arguments. I swallowed. “Security downstairs…” “I don’t like excuses,” he cuts me off. He then proceeded to looked at me from my head to my toe like I was something he was buying and smiled a little, like he loved what he saw. “You came, that’s what matters.” I felt my face getting hot with the way he was looking at me. “I almost didn’t.” He walked closer till he was standing just a breath away. I could feel the heat radiating from his body and he smelled so good, like expensive cologne mixed with smoke, and something sinful. His hand went to my face, his fingers glazing my jaw. It shouldn’t have made my knees weak, but it did. “You were always going to come,” he said softly, his thumb rubbing my bottom lip. “The question is… how many times tonight?” What happens next? Follow Ethan and Alex as they navigate a world filled with possession, betrayal, and control, where love is twisted into a weapon, family secrets refuse to stay buried, and every choice costs more than either of them is ready to lose.

At the New Year's party, my pineapple juice is swapped for beer. To make things worse, I've just taken cephalexin, which shouldn't be mixed with alcohol. After barely surviving the ordeal, I am shocked to see my husband, Harry Grant, defending Sally Lane, who was responsible for the mix-up. "Can we please just let it go? She didn't do it on purpose," Harry pleads. However, I'm not about to forgive Sally, especially given how sketchy her relationship with my husband has always been. But Harry cuts me off with a scowl, "Enough! She's just graduated and doesn't know any better. "What's the point of holding a grudge? Do you really want to ruin her life to feel better?" he asks, clearly trying to protect her. As I watch him stand by her, my heart sinks. "Fine then, go live with her."

At the annual company raffle, I had barely stepped onto the stage when my supervisor, Lily Smith, pressed a crumpled slip of paper into my palm. "A special reward for our top salesperson," she chirped. "Go ahead, open it. Let everyone see." Under the eager gaze of the crowd, I unfolded the note. Written in messy handwriting were the words: Clean the company toilets for three days. The room erupted in laughter. Lily folded her arms, cocked her head, and smirked at me. "Nice, right?" she said. "Everyone knows those sales of yours came from sleeping with old men. Dirty money. To keep things fair, the others get a break, and you pick up a little extra work. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" The laughter surged again, nearly lifting the roof. From the side of the room, my boyfriend, Seth Hoffman, the company's CEO, watched everything unfold. As usual, he said nothing in my defense. They all thought I would fall apart, cry, or make a scene. Instead, I simply gave a calm nod. The very next day, the company was hit with over three hundred property cancellations. Its cash flow collapsed overnight. That was when Lily and Seth rushed to me, demanding I go plead with the buyers. I smiled and said, "No thanks. I wouldn't want to help the company recover and end up with strong numbers again. That might make everyone even more uncomfortable."

We Are One Fantasy Romance Banished from the underworld and stripped of her place among her kind, Anika wanders the mortal realm alone—haunted, hunted, and broken. When Olivia, the mate of the reigning Alpha and a seer with a gift for prophecy, has a vision of a mysterious young woman cloaked in sorrow, fate begins to stir. One fateful night, their paths cross, and Olivia brings the wounded stranger into her home. Corbin, Olivia’s son and heir to the Alpha title, senses something ancient and undeniable the moment he meets Anika: she is his destined mate. But Anika carries dark secrets, scars from a past that threaten both her future and his pack. As their bond deepens, Corbin and Anika must navigate the politics of pack life, confront the dangers of Anika’s origin, and face a destiny that demands unity of body, heart, and soul. In a world where strength is tested and loyalty is earned, love may be the most powerful force of all. Together, they must rise. Together, they are one.

"Everyone knew she was his." ~ Ava and Lucas have been best friends since Lucas saw Ava at the playground when she was 4 years old. She is innocent and shy where as Lucas is more intimidating to everyone other than Ava. Despite this, they do everything together. Where ever one went, the other followed. Never going more than a day without seeing each other, it's safe to say they were inseparable. Now at 16, Ava is forced to spend a year in public school after being home-schooled all her life. How is Lucas going to react with all the new people she is going to meet, especially being so possessive over Ava. However, even though they are best friends, Lucas is keeping a secret from Ava. A big one. Lucas is a werewolf. And Ava is his mate.

All it took was one bad decision, one too many glasses of , one tight fitting dress, one muscular hottie and just one night to turn Gianni's imperfect but planned out life up side down. "Lets take this back to the hotel before I bend you over this table and bang you hard for the world to see" his rich, smooth but strong and commanding voice fill my ears, his minty breath fanning my face. So , I giggle and nod frantically unable to even function." Elijah Russo had everything growing up, he need not work a day in his life, but that wasn't enough, he had to run the world and so he made it his life mission to get any and everything almost impossible to have, his. He's a lady's man, he has the body, the brains and he definitely has that junk in the trunk. He's heartless and doesn't do the same woman twice. Gianni Summers hasn't had the best of life so typically she sets out to make sure she has one of the best futures. No parents,no family alone in the world, no one to depend on but herself,she has to make something out of her life. Studying for three years without break and working two day jobs. She just has no time for love and games all is work and no . So what happens when she finds herself and knows nothing about her baby daddy other than his name, Elijah.

Before Mom's surgery, Mason—yeah, the Mason Leonhart from one of Brighton's big-name families—suddenly "had" to go on a business trip and couldn't be at the hospital. A few hours later, Judy Yeager blasted a video on social. There was Mason, Mr. Born-With-A-Silver-Spoon, recycling bottles with her. Caption: [If we work hard together, no hardship can scare us.] I couldn't resist. [Future Leonhart heir, worth ten billion, still helping his girl recycle bottles to trade in for cash—heartwarming.] It vanished in seconds. My phone lit up. Mason's voice? Ice cold. "Shiloh Harrington, what was that? Call Judy. Tell her you were joking." I laughed. "Keep playing your little poor-boy cosplay without me." Hung up. Three days till the divorce cooling-off ended. Then Mason could be the broke man he was pretending to be.

In the year 2020, the world faced Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, and took several years to slowly recover from its immense effect. Thirty years after, another virus rose and affected the world's population in just a few weeks. The health workers couldn't determine what exactly the virus is, its type, and the way it is being passed from person to person despite the advanced and improved technology. Because of this and the sudden virus outbreak, the World Health Organization assigned Richforte Medical Team for a research mission for the virus and find a cure for it as soon as possible. Would they be able to accomplish this mission if, in the next few hours, the world would have what they called Zombie Apocalypse?