Norton Critical Editions Novels & Stories

“This….this is not right,” she whispered, closing her eyes as let her head fall back as he kissed her neck. Pleasure engulfing her, her mind hazy but at the same time working. “What isn’t?” He asked, in that rich, smooth, velvet voice that was quite enough to make her drop to her knees. She opened her eyes, staring right into his hunger filled ones. “It’s forbidden.” She whispered. “It won’t be nice if we get caught,” His lips twitched and he rubbed the back of his palm down her face, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Who said anything about getting caught, Rivers?” •••• If there was one thing Sloane Rivers loved most, it was Christmas. After working her ass off all year as an attorney, she was disappointed when she was nominated to go on the mandatory firm retreat. A day after she arrived, she found herself sharing the lodge with an unexpected “roomie” Ethan Hale. An arrogant, 6’2”, ridiculously wealthy CEO due to a storm. Their cohabitating came with plenty of back-and-forth bickering and arguments that slowly turned into something she looked forward to even after he moved out of her lodge. After the retreat ended, Sloane returned to her normal life. What she didn’t expect was for Ethan to crash into her world again, challenging every principle she’d lived by. The man she’d met a week before Christmas might just be her undoing, because mixing business with pleasure was strictly forbidden.

Isn’t it funny how love works? I have always loved Dreston, and he has always been the one for me—my first love. As a child, I loved him, as a teenager, nothing changed. And now, even as his wife, I still couldn’t love him any less. But he only ever loved Tina—my teenage best friend. She came into our lives and didn’t just take him away from me. She took my happiness, my laughter, and even the girl I used to be. I still remember her words to me: “You knew he was mine, yet you married him.” She made me feel like I was the villain. Maybe I was foolish to believe that love alone would bring him back to me. But nothing changed. He would always love her. I finally gave up the day I signed the divorce papers. I learned to let go, to move on, and to start fresh. And just when I had finally decided to start my life again—just when the universe rewarded me with a man who loved me unconditionally… Dreston came running back. Now he wants a second chance.

Emma Sterling believed she understood power. She lived beside it. Slept beside it. Loved it. As the wife of Dominic Sterling ,a ruthless billionaire CEO known for crushing enemies without hesitation ,she had learned to survive in a world ruled by control, loyalty, and silence. Until the night she walked into a hotel suite and found her husband in bed with her best friend, her childhood friend, friends since kindergarten. The betrayal destroys everything Emma thought was real. But Dominic does not beg forgiveness. He refuses to let her leave. She discovers she is pregnant with his child and she comes across the darker truths behind Dominic and his past …. The realization traps her deeper in a marriage that is no longer safe. Dominic’s obsession grows , Emma was pregnant with his heir. Possessive, controlling, and dangerously unwilling to lose what he considers his, he tightens his grip on every part of her life …emotionally, financially, and socially.

Arla-Rosa gave her heart to the wrong man and paid the ultimate price, her life, and the lives of her unborn children. Betrayed by her family, ruined by love, discarded like trash, she was left to die in the cold, her trust shattered and her spirit broken. But death was not her end. It was her rebirth. Waking six months before the night of her greatest betrayal, Arla is no longer the naive, trusting girl they destroyed. This time, she sees the daggers hidden behind smiles, the poison laced in sweet words. This time, she has no intention of forgiving. No plans to surrender. No mercy to spare. Armed with the knowledge of what’s to come and a heart forged in fire, Arla-Rosa is ready to play their games... only now, she is writing the rules. And when the final reckoning comes, they will learn one brutal truth: The phoenix does not forgive. It burns.

⚠️WARNING: This book contains explicit sexual content, possessive and toxic male leads, manipulation, emotional abuse, and disturbing themes that may be triggering to some readers. This is nothing like healthy love. ¥¥¥¥ I loved Tyler Beaumont for twelve years. Years of hoping and waiting, believing that one day, he would finally choose me. So when my parents told me I was being arranged to marry into his family… I thought it was fate. I thought I had won. But I was wrong, because the man waiting for me at the altar isn’t Tyler. It’s his brother, Grayson Beaumont. The one I never heard of—the one with cold eyes, a cruel mouth, and a hatred for me sharp enough to bleed. I don’t know what I did to deserve it. I don’t even remember. But he does. He remembers everything. He didn’t marry me for love, because from the moment I became his wife, he made one thing clear—I would pay for a past I don’t even remember. “I tried to forget you,” he tilted my chin, staring directly into my soul. “But watching you love him? That was the first time I understood what hatred really feels like.” And Tyler? The man I spent twelve years loving? He won’t let me go. “I don’t need you to choose me,” he whispered. “I just need you to understand… no matter whose name you take, you will always be mine.” Two brothers. One filled with hatred. The other with obsession. And me? Caught between a past I can’t remember…and a truth that could destroy us all. Because somewhere between lies, desire, and betrayal, I realize the most dangerous thing of all: I was never meant to love the right brother.

Skyla thought she had it all, a devoted boyfriend, a lifelong best friend, and a future she had carefully planned. But one heartbreaking revelation shatters her perfect world. Plunging her into a sea of misery. The two people she thought world of betrays, leaving her to drown in a series of heartbreaks and unanswered questions. Heartbroken and desperate for an escape, she stumbles into a dimly lit bar, drowning her pain in alcohol. The night takes an unexpected turn when dark memories from her past resurfaces, bearing gifts in hand, and prices she has to pay. As secrets unravel and old wounds resurface, Skyla is forced to confront a past she thought she had buried. But when love, betrayal, and forgotten passions collide. Will Skyla rise from the ashes or lose herself in the storm once more?

She never wanted to fix him. He was chaos, destruction, a man who wore his scars like armor. And she? She was the fool who dared to love him anyway. Revansh Malhotra was everything Aarini Joshi should have stayed away from—reckless, heartless, and incapable of love. But somewhere between his cruel smirks and broken promises, she saw a glimpse of the boy he once was... and the man he could become. "I don't want to fix you, Malhotra," she told him once. "But I wish to love you so fiercely, so fearlessly, that you won't have a choice but to change—for yourself, and for me." In a world where love is often a battlefield, Aarini chooses to fight not with anger, but with unwavering devotion. But some wars aren't meant to be won. Will her love heal a heart that’s forgotten how to feel? Or will she end up shattering herself in the process? A story of raw love, heartbreaking choices, and the painful beauty of believing in someone who refuses to believe in themselves.

Raised by a ruthless mercenary, Rebel became one of the deadliest assassins alive. Trained to kill, she knows only bloodshed—until a mission in Cali leads her to Daniel, an infuriating billionaire who makes her dream of something more. But love has a price. Betrayed by the organization that shaped her, Rebel uncovers a shocking truth: Her parents are alive and were victims of the organization and her disappearance was a warning to her Aristocratic father. Now, with Daniel and her mentor by her side, she’s turning the tables. The assassin becomes the avenger, and the hunter becomes the hunted. Only his love for her is powerful enough to bring her back from darkness.

You’re not supposed to want straight men. Carson Bitters wants nothing more than to feel his secretary inside him. He dreams of it every day. You’re not supposed to fall in love with them. They won’t love you back. But Carson can’t stop longing for Asher Hall; the man his homophobic father handpicked for him. A living, breathing, giant NO. And yet, every time Asher speaks, every glance, every careless brush of his hand, Carson finds himself wanting more. Needing more. And what starts as longing could destroy everything, or make it unforgettable.

She kissed the wrong man and became his wife. Leslie Webster has always been the family’s dirty little secret; an illegitimate daughter forced to live in the shadows while her half-sister basks in the spotlight. Her only solace is her long-term boyfriend... until she catches him in her sister’s arms. Heartbroken and humiliated at a glittering banquet, Leslie kisses the first man who walks in just to prove she still has a shred of dignity left. But the man she kisses isn’t just anyone. He’s Saint Baxter, the cold, untouchable billionaire who never lets a woman near him. And days later, he sues her for harassment. A story of revenge, redemption, and forbidden desire. When an unwanted kiss becomes the spark that burns down two empires, only love can rise from the ashes.