Object Madness

For eight years, I was the ghost in Lorenzo Valenti's empire. By day, I was his executive assistant, the engine of his criminal enterprise. By night, I was the most submissive bird in his gilded cage, and the nameless body in his bed. I loved him with a devotion that bordered on madness, a foolish flame I'd nurtured since I was a scholarship student pulled into his orbit. I believed my quiet love could one day melt the ice around his heart. I was wrong. The day his unforgettable first love, Isabella, returned, the man I knew vanished. The rare smiles once reserved for me were now all for her. My presence by his side was erased, replaced by hers. Even when she framed me, he believed her without hesitation. He chose her, again and again. I submitted my resignation. He signed it without looking. He thought I'd crawl back, broken and begging. He was wrong. While he was busy playing house with his "cuore mio", I was quietly packing away my life, preparing to vanish from his world forever.

Barry Ocason, extreme sportsman and outdoor travel writer, receives a magazine in his mailbox and opens to an ad for an adventure in the Bavarian Alps. Initially dismissing the invitation, which seems to have been meant specifically for him, he soon finds himself involved in a larger plot and seeking answers to why an individual known only as the elephant man is terrorizing his family. Barry and his daughter Kristen, who survived a twin sister taken from the family at a young age, travel from Juneau, Alaska to the sinister Spider Festival in Rio Tago, Brazil, before he ultimately answers the call to Bavaria, where the puzzle begins to come together. Amid tribulation, death, madness, and institutionalization, a document emerges describing a scientist’s bloody bid to breed a theoretical “third twin,” which is believed to have the potential, through its connection with its siblings, to bridge the gulf between life and afterlife. The godlike creature that soon emerges turns out to be Barry’s own offspring, and she has dark plans for the world of her conception that neither her father nor any other mortal can stop. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My mother was a traitor. To my pack, I am no better. I'm used to being overlooked. I've been unwanted from the time I was born, and my pack, River Crest, made it abundantly clear every chance they could that I was not welcome. No one and nowhere was safe. I've spent my entire life alone, with no family, no friends, and now, no mate. At 24 years old, unmated and unwanted, I've accepted that I must be one of the mateless. Wretched, forsaken wolves who are cursed to live out their lives alone. Or worse. The legends and histories claim that being a mateless wolf is worse than death. They suggest choosing a mate and forming a bond before madness sets in or the pack rejects me. But I've been rejected. I'm used to the feeling. I thrive in it. Because the more they push me away, the less pain and humiliation I have to face. If I can make it another year unmated, I could face banishment, and I'll finally be free. That's my goal. And I'll be damned if I let anyone get in my way. Even my mate.  

Falling in love with Zyair cost Adola more than she could pay. First, a threat, then a cruel eviction to save the life of the only family she had: only… she doesn’t go without a gift, a gift that made her situation much worse. But after six years of staying away, she returns to the same city she’d been evicted from. Not as a pauper this time, but a renowned realtor, an estate developer and a mother to a beautiful set of twins. Her plans to live a quiet life with her kids are distorted with two men barging into her life: her ex, Zyair Henderson— an eligible bachelor of Texas and a wealthy billionaire— who shattered her heart into pieces six years ago and is bent on making her life a living hell again. Then his charming younger brother, Chase Henderson, a celebrity popster and the country's sweetheart who has unabashedly fallen head over heels for her. She's torn between two grueling options: choosing the man that almost pushed her to the brink of madness or his younger brother who ticked all her boxes. But even that becomes twice harder when she realizes that her past's secrets are connected to the man she chooses.

Ophelia Silvercrown had one mission; escape the Midnight Hunters pack before her stepfather could sell her into marriage with Damian Crypthil—the deranged heir of the cursed Cryptid Pack. But fate is cruel. The same wolf she ran from becomes the man she’s bound to in a contract marriage with. Trapped between returning to her abusive stepfather or staying with Damian, Ophelia chooses the devil she doesn’t know… and steps into the role of his chosen mate. Damian Crypthil is haunted by blood and madness, forever branded deranged after the night he lost control. Determined to silence the whispers and prove himself worthy of being Alpha, he knows he needs a mate–what he doesn’t expect is her. Now Ophelia is caught in a dangerous game of power struggles, betrayal, and a love she never saw coming. With a vengeful physician plotting in the shadows, her stepfather’s schemes tightening around her, and Damian’s jealous ex determined to destroy her, every path leads to destruction. Will she be crushed by the forces against her—or will she rise as the Alpha’s true mate? Deranged Alpha and His Chosen Mate is a tale of survival and passion where love is the greatest risk of all.

I, Celine Walsh, and my dear sister, Caroline Walsh, became Pregnancy Maidens, who were fertile for merfolk, through the ingestion of special elixirs. We were betrothed to the merfolks through a political marriage. In my previous life, I had chosen a silver-finned merman who was powerfully built, but rough on the eyes. With him, I gave birth to several black-finned mer-children that were prized pedigree. Through them, I was elevated to the status of Crown Princess, enjoying a life of luxury and a prolonged lifespan of several centuries. Meanwhile, Caroline, who picked the purple-finned merman only ever gave birth to red-finned mer-children, which was considered the lowest of lows. For that, she became the laughingstock of the merfolk. Driven to madness by her jealousy, she took my inner pearl, turned me into minced meat and fed me to the fishes. When I finally opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day of my wedding. This time, Caroline quickly chose the silver-finned merman without any hesitation. Unbeknownst to her, rising to power through her children was not as easy as she had imagined. The silver-finned merman was a promiscuous and depraved one, the very embodiment of cruelty. His favorite activity? Torturing a pregnant lady…

For as long as Chloe can remember, she has been nothing more than a money making machine for Alpha Nathaniel Thorn of the Blue Mountain pack. To be fair, every female is consider no more than an object and a slave. Anyone who can’t serve the Alpha in the way he wants doesn't survive for very long. Dance, strip, sleep, repeat; Chloe doesn’t know any other way of life. But that all changes the night that Lucas Wolfe turns up. Lucas Wolfe has one mission and that’s to bring Alpha Nathaniel Thorn to justice following a months long investigation into the corrupt Alpha. Using his family connections and with the backing of the International Committee for Supernaturals, Lucas is able to infiltrate the Blue Mountain pack. He finds exactly what he needs to bring the Alpha down but what he didn’t count on was finding his mate; Chloe. But something much more sinister is looming over the pack. Girls are turning up dead which initially has nothing to do with the pack or the committee until a supernatural being is found dead for humans to find, opening a can of worms no one is prepared to handle. Meanwhile, someone or something is watching Chloe from the shadows, waiting until the moment is right…

What do you do when the person you've always loved is the same person who keeps hurting you the most? That's something Allison McConnell would like to know. Allison has had feelings for Derris Fox for as long as she could remember. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. As a musician and actor known worldwide, Derris was the dream of every girl and popular as he was, he was way out of her league. Allison thought she was doomed to be just one of his many fangirls until fate caused them to cross paths. Unfortunately, what would have been a dream come true for her turned out to be a nightmare after circumstances led to Derris developing an intense dislike for her causing him to treat her badly. Still struggling with issues at home along with her complicated relationship with Derris, Allison also has to handle being the object of affection of the equally handsome Max Crest, Derris' best friend which inadvertently puts tension between the two friends. As tensions heightens and Allison battles her feelings and enemies alike, will she make the right choice or will a sinister plot by a clingy ex ruin her chances at ‘happily ever after’?

"They call me Cherry... But you can call me anytime." ~Cherry~ She would be looked down upon the society, treated as a mere object by men, and considered the dirt of every city because of her job. But for him, she's special. She was the woman who captured his young heart, and everything he has ever dreamed of. He was her first man. And she was his... His Prized Possession. ***** World-renowned most eligible bachelor Xander Oxford is already prepared to be the next Boss of Asia. He's also the heir to the biggest company in the country -- the Oxford Group of Companies. As the son of the most powerful man in the country, he technically has no worries to think of. However, his almost perfect life is rattled when he fell in love with Cherry Lyn Avante - the girl he met in Club-V. At his age, he just doesn't care anymore as long as their relationship doesn't interfere with their private life, and feel happy with each other. Not until Cherry disappears with no trace or means of contact after everything he does. Determined to make their relationship work, can Xander do everything just to find Cherry and be with her again? Or stop himself from falling for the girl who is off-limits to him?

Eleanor Bella Starr is Black and You magazine's lead writer. After being threatened by her egocentric boss to either get something interesting enough to wow him, or take a tumble in his sheets, Eleanor hightails it to Orlando, Lake Creek. Lake Creek, home of the internet's weirdest stories. DESCRIPTION: STAY OUT! SAVE YOURSELF! How do you keep a writer away from that? Moreso, one as inquisitive as Eleanor. The mysteries begin the minute she arrives. The deeper she goes, the loopier it becomes. She is in a world of madness of the mind, death and bloodshed. She brought herself in.... But she can't get out. She hears things she can't fathom, sees things that are mind boggling and becomes something that definitely wasn't in her plans. Plans? There are no plans anymore. Plans can't exist in a world like this. Kill or be killed. Will the hunter become the hunted? Or will the hunter laugh last? Strangely enough, love blooms. She falls right into Andreas. Literally. Ever heard of the term, soul mates? How do you realize someone is yours, only after his mouth has been assaulted by someone else's, in your presence? In what world is that fair?!