Ocean County Library Hours Novels & Stories

He’s back from the dead. But he didn't come back alone. Alex was the love of Danny’s life until the day he disappeared. Two years later, he walks back into town with the same eyes but a different soul. To survive the shadowy organization still tracking them, Danny and Alex are forced into an irreversible pact—a bond that ties their very lives together. From cryptic clues to a web of ancient crimes, they are running out of time. Danny is about to learn that the truth doesn't just set you free—it bites. If they can’t expose the conspiracy before the clock runs out, Danny won’t just lose Alex again. This time, he’ll lose his life.

Struggling college student Lena Carter works late-night deliveries to keep herself afloat, surviving on tips, exhaustion, and determination. Every night she delivered to his door. Every night he gave her another reason to stay. Lena thought Adrian Cole was just a customer. She was wrong. He was temptation in a tailored suit. And once he decided he wanted her— walking away was never part of the story. What begins with after-hours orders and dangerous flirtation soon spirals into a passionate connection neither of them can control. The deeper she falls, the harder it becomes to tell where attraction ends… and obsession begins. Because Adrian doesn’t pursue halfway. And Lena may be the one thing he refuses to let go. Late Night Deliveries: The After Hours is a seductive romance filled with longing, tension, possessive love, and the kind of chemistry that burns hottest after dark. Some deliveries arrive late. Some change everything.

While we were scuba diving, my boyfriend, Raphael Carlisle, ripped off my oxygen mask and put it on his childhood friend, Lucia Fairchild, whose mask had started leaking. I was left thrashing helplessly in the freezing water. Just as I thought it was over, Raphael's younger brother, Gabriel Carlisle, swam over, breathed life into me, and brought me back to the surface. After he saved me, he presented me with the purple diamond ring he designed himself and proposed, "For as long as I live, I'll never let you face danger again." I believed that he was my one true love, so I married him, leaving my job behind to focus on starting a family. On the day Lucia was given a critical condition notice, I ended up in a car accident. As I lay half-conscious on the hospital bed, I overheard Gabriel talking with Raphael. "Get a doctor to induce labor right away! Lucia's illness can only be treated with a stem cell transplant from umbilical cord blood. The only reason I got Phoebe pregnant was for this very day." "But she's carrying our bloodline! How could you have someone hit her with a car?" Raphael yelled. Gabriel replied, "Lucy matters more to me! As for Phoebe, I can spoil her rotten once she wakes up." At that moment, I realized the love I held on to was nothing but a lie. If that was the case, I'd just leave.

This is a story about a beautiful 22 year old girl who's hungry for the world, hungry to grab the world by her hands and make twist of it with just one finger, centering it into what she saw in her dreams. She drops out of varsity so because of tuition fees, gets a temporal job just so she could get some money to survive and to save up for school. Mia felt like her dreams were beneath her surroundings, she wantedto explore Europe ,Ever-since she was young, but she meets the one cute guy who offers her a stepladder to climb and get to touch the centre of the bulb.

“Thirty minutes for 10 thousand dollars.” That was the deal. Julian Valentino is the “Holy Billionaire,” an ice-cold CEO who views love as a liability. After a brutal Valentine’s Day betrayal, he didn’t just swear off women…. he chose a path of strict celibacy, vowing to keep his body as untouchable as his empire. For years, he has been a saint in a world of sinners, until he is anonymously drugged in his own hotel. With his control now crumbling and his body on fire, he turns to the only woman who can quench the flame: THALIA. Popularly known as "Tee" in elite lounges, she is a high-end sex worker who doesn’t believe in fairytales love and only lives for the bag to fund the search for her lost identity. What she expects to be an easy paycheck turns into a nightmare when a city-wide murder triggers a 48-hour security lockdown. Now trapped with a possessive, drug-fevered billionaire, thirty minutes of service becomes two days of raw heat and secret whispers. But when the doors finally open, Julian doesn't want to let her go. He wants a new deal... a new contract to buy her time and be her exclusive client. And that is when it dawns on Thalia that she has walked into a trap. Behind the closed doors, another contract was waiting. She isn’t just a worker anymore… with the outside contract? She’s now the very weapon sent to destroy the Valentino empire. CONTENT WARNING: This story is strongly 18+

She was her own person and knew exactly what she wanted. He owned the whole damn thing and thought he could do anything. She had something he wanted but didn't know. He had what she'd always dreamed of, but she had no idea how to achieve it. She lied out of love. He didn't forgive anyone. She hated him from the first time she saw him. He tried to destroy her in every way possible. Bárbara Novaes never imagined that her peaceful life would suddenly turn upside down, when a deathbed request would make her main objective to enter the life of the best-known CEO in the country. Heitor Casanova has never seen a woman as persecuting and insistent as Barbara. But it didn't cross her mind that she didn't want the same thing as everyone else: "him". The bond that united them would force the two to live under the same roof, with a single common goal: to protect what they loved most. Is it possible for mutual anger to turn into love? Would they admit the new feelings that were emerging that they were not able to accept? And would they overcome together all the obstacles that would be created to prevent this relationship from happening??? My first enemies to lovers and CEO together!!! What will it do??? I don't know. Want to find out with me??? Cover: Larah Mattos

A car accident left me with severe brain injuries. I was left hanging by a thread. My wife, a renowned medical genius, personally operated on me for 18 consecutive hours, pulling me back from death's grasp. Yet, the first words I said to her after waking up were, "Grace, I want a divorce." Her eyes were filled with tears. "Derek, I just saved your life, and now, you want to leave me? Is it because I've been too busy at the hospital? Because I haven't spent enough time with you?" I frowned. "It's exactly because you saved me that I want this divorce. I won't let you sacrifice your reputation for me." The family elders tried to reason with me. "Grace is such a wonderful wife. She takes care of everything and loves you deeply. Why insist on a divorce? Why throw away such happiness?" No matter who approached me, I dismissed them with the same response. "If you think she's so perfect, then she'll be available once we're divorced." The elders were furious. "Fine! Get your divorce! But don't come crying to us when you regret it!" I whispered under my breath, "The only thing I regret is not divorcing her sooner."

The day I decided to donate my body to science, my family gathered around my adopted sister, Hailey, celebrating her acceptance into a cutting-edge experimental treatment program. The one with brain cancer was supposed to be me. But Hailey used my husband Zane's position at the hospital to swap her healthy medical records with my terminal diagnosis, stealing the one chance I had to survive. And the worst part? Everyone cheered her on. The pain became too much. I fought to stay present, only to overhear the nurses whispering, "It's a good thing Dr. Zane secured that spot for Hailey. They said she only had three days left." So, in the last 72 hours of my life, I quietly let go of everything. When I gave Hailey the original manuscripts of my novels I had poured my heart and soul into, my father and brother gave me a satisfied smile. When Zane decided to grant Hailey her dying wish by marrying her, he handed me the divorce papers. I signed without a moment's hesitation. He sighed and praised me for finally being "so reasonable." And when I was the one who coaxed our daughter, Olivia, into calling Hailey "Mommy," Olivia gushed that her new mom was the best. "Don't worry," Zane soothed. "We're just keeping it safe for now. Once she's gone, it'll all come back to you." I gave Hailey everything I had, just like they wanted. So why, when they find out this was all Hailey's vicious lie, do they come crying, saying I'm the one they wanted all along?

During a long holiday, my husband booked flights for a family vacation. On the way to the airport, I suddenly saw numbers appearing on everyone’s head. The numbers on my husband’s head indicated sixty years, but my parents and I had only six hours indicated on our heads. While I was puzzled over the meaning of those numbers, I noticed that the driver next to us only had six seconds indicated over his head through the car window. Five… Four… Three… Two… One. When the number turned zero, a massive truck immediately rammed into the car next to us. I saw flickers of fire, flesh and blood exploding before my eyes. People were screaming for help, but I could not hear anything. I trembled as cold sweat drenched my entire body. It was because my flight would be taking off in six hours.

The woman in Eden's arms should have been me — but I died on the marking ceremony night. The life that I had planned properly since childhood was ripped away without mercy. My supposed mate and twin sister danced around in glee, looking very happy. If only they knew I was standing before them right now as a ghost — watching every smile, every touch, every stolen moment. Quietly waiting to watch them fall from their high pedestal.