Ocean County Library Hours Novels & Stories

"No stop. We should not be doing this. You are Noah's brother and my boss" Esme murmured and tried to push Leo away. But he didn't budge. He pinned her to the glass wall in his office and started kissing her. Her protests drowned with his kiss. ....... Esme stood on the Altar alone, waiting for the groom who dissappeared. Standing alone on the Altar on her big day should have been devastating. That too when the groom was her best friend of fifteen years and fiance of four years. She should have seen this coming. And she should be a crying mess. But she is not. Strangely, she is feeling relieved. Her gaze fixed on Leo Ashford, her Fiance's elder brother. The wrong brother she fell for. The brother she shouldn't be thinking about. The brother who is off limits. The last man to whom she shouldn't have lost her virginity to. 'I promise Esme, I will cherish you this time' she remembered Noah's promise from just a few hours ago. She felt bitter, because he couldn't even hold his promise for even a day.

Sloane Madden has spent her entire life fixing her twin sister's mistakes while remaining invisible for all the right reasons. When her reckless sister disappears forty-eight hours before a high-profile wedding, Sloane is forced to walk down the aisle in her place or lose the only home her family has left and the medical care her younger brother desperately needs. Declan Shaw, billionaire CEO of Shaw Industries, notices immediately that the woman standing beside him is not the one he proposed to. He marries her anyway. Their marriage is supposed to be temporary. Three months. Public appearances. Separate rooms. No emotions. But Sloane becomes dangerously good at solving Declan's problems, protecting his empire, and seeing parts of him no one else can reach. Then he humiliates her in front of the entire world. And this time, Sloane doesn't stay. She disappears with a secret that could destroy everything Declan thought he controlled. Years later, the woman he underestimated walks back into his life more powerful than he remembers and far less willing to forgive. The question is: what happens when a man realizes he destroyed the only woman he was never supposed to lose?

On my birthday, Connor Simpson's first love jumped off a building due to depression. She died on the spot. Connor blamed everything on me. I never celebrated my birthday again after she died. After the murderer electrocuted me for more than ten hours, they forced me to call Connor. "Connor, it's my 25th birthday today. Can you come over and spend time with me?" However, Connor did not notice anything unusual. His voice was laced with venomous iciness. "Clarisse Winter, Audrey wouldn't have died if it weren't for you. How dare you ask me to celebrate your birthday? If only you were the one who died." I heard him coaxing a woman on the other end just before he hung up on me. That low and gentle tone was what I loved to hear the most in the past. That night, the murderer cut my body into countless pieces, packed them in bags, and threw them in front of the police station. Connor was summoned back overnight. He spent two days and two nights piecing together the body parts, but he did not realize that the dead person was the wife that he hated the most.

Evy was a simple-minded girl. If there's work she's there. Evy is a known workaholic. She works day and night, dedicating each of her waking hours to her jobs and making sure that she reaches the deadline. On the day of her birthday, her body gave up and she died alone from exhaustion. Upon receiving the chance of a new life, she was reincarnated as the daughter of the Duke of Polvaros and acquired the prose of living a comfortable life ahead of her. Only she doesn't want that. She wants to work. Even if it's being a maid, a hired killer, or an adventurer. She will do it. The only thing wrong with Evy is that she has no concept of reincarnation or being isekaid. In her head, she was kidnapped to a faraway land… stranded in a place far away from Japan. So she has to learn things as she goes with as little knowledge as anyone else. Having no sense of ever knowing that she was living in fantasy nor knowing the destruction that lies ahead in the future. Evy will do her best to live the life she wanted and surprise a couple of people on the way. Unbeknownst to her, all her actions will make a ripple. Whether they be for the better or worse.... Evy has no clue.

Andy Williams is a nineteen year old Senior struggling to balance her school life, after hours job and moonlighting as a rock star. When her band is booked to do the end of term concert her cover is blown and she struggles to cope with the groupie, who just happened to be her Mathematics teacher, Miss Gweneviere Sheldon.Her English teacher, Miss Preston, offers to tutor her during the holidays and they start to get really close, perhaps too close? Uncomfortable with the situation Miss Preston calls everything off and sends Andy spiralling into a world of alcohol and drugs.Andys band tries to help Andy get over Miss Preston but ends up making the situation worse. Andy rethinks her actions during a couple of days in the hospital, she quits the band, changed her school schedule and starts extra Mathematics lessons to make up for lost time.She makes new friends, finds a new job. Her life seems to be back on track when a tragic accident happens on a school trip that leaves Andy temporarily paralyzed.She makes it through with the help of family and friends and reconnects with the band. With a little hard work Andy graduates and is free to pursue Miss Carol Preston.

The Sullivan brothers had always treated me like I was their whole world. That changed the day I was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. The pain soon grew unbearable, and I was told I might lose my memories if I opted for surgery. I reached out to the brothers. I did not want to forget them, and I needed their help. However, when the call connected, the only thing I heard was an icy, sharp voice. "Summer, it's Yvonne's birthday today. Can you not ruin it for once?" I blacked out from the pain. When I woke up in the hospital, there was a message from Yvonne on my phone. "Summer, the boys gave me these lucky charms for protection." Attached was a photo of three silver pendants, each engraved with the brothers' initials. I knew those pendants well. I had spent seven hours in the freezing rain just to get them blessed. That was the moment I gave up. I went abroad alone for the surgery, and with it, all my memories of the brothers faded away. I completely forgot about them until one day, three strangers knocked on my door, begging like madmen for my forgiveness.

Synopsis - Isabelle Ellwood, a plain, fuller-figured 19-year-old, hides her poetic soul and dreams of teaching behind dry wit, overshadowed by her beautiful sister who is counted as a family jewel for her grace and beauty and an ambitious father dreaming of snagging a royal title. When Prince Sebastian Nathaniel Winthorne, a bold, dark, and formidable warrior-king at 30, announces a bride-selection season at Cresthaven Palace, Isabelle dares to hope—not for love, but to glimpse the scarred-handed savior of her childhood. Unbeknownst to her, and him, he’s Sebastian, whose commanding presence and passionate heart blind him to her worth, fixated instead on the angelic Amelia Everhart, Isabelle's dearest friend. A secret library meeting shatters Isabelle’s illusions: Sebastian seeks her help to woo Amelia, praising her mind yet oblivious to her love. Their friendship deepens—his admiration grows, her longing festers—culminating in a rain-soaked confrontation where the lavender and breeze ignites his primal desire, clashing with her insecurities. Public scorn and familial cruelty drive Isabelle to flee, forcing Sebastian to confront the void she leaves. As time apart unravels his obsession with Amelia, he pursues Isabelle, his awakening raw and relentless. Their reunion at a glittering ball sparks a dance of resentment and longing, leading to a climactic confession where love triumphs over doubt. Isabelle’s journey from invisible dreamer to empowered princess, and Sebastian’s shift from idealized obsession to soul-deep love, crafts a tale of unseen hearts finding their place—a fiercely unique love story for readers craving wit, angst, and romance. In the opulent yet unforgiving world of Regency-inspired Eldoria, The Crown's Wrong Kiss weaves a slow-burn romance of unrequited love, repressed desire, and transformative self-worth.

I gave birth prematurely, just twenty days before the due date. Two hours after I entered the surgery room, I had a stillborn baby. I did not cry at all. I did not even spare a glance at the dead baby. I endured the pain from childbirth and calmly walked into the hospital nursery. After the door was tightly shut, I turned down the temperature of the air-conditioning. The temperature inside the nursery would be too cold for newborns to bear after an hour. The doctors and parents were begging me on their knees to let their babies live. They screamed and cried. They said I was a mother and hoped that I would understand. Instead, I laughed and said, “Yes, I was a mother. But my baby died!” The gynecologist knelt on the floor and begged, “We may be at fault for not being able to save your baby, but these babies are innocent! “Please don’t be reckless just because you lost your baby! You’re so young. You’ll have more babies in the future.” I gritted my teeth and roared, “But my baby isn’t dead! “She’s still alive. I’ll give you one hour. Bring her back to me!” But I was unsure if she would still be alive after an hour.

I worked for a restaurant, and our boss loved making empty promises about giving us restaurant shares. The boss said we would start with zero shares, but we could earn 0.01% for every two hours of overtime, covering someone else’s work or saving the restaurant 1,000 bucks. I suggested she write this down in an official document and have someone track it properly. She just smiled and told everyone to work harder. She never actually put it in writing. The experienced staff did not believe her, but one prep cook took it seriously. At the end of the year, he went to the boss to claim his shares. The boss said, “Sorry, the head chef told me there’s no official document, so it doesn’t count. You can’t claim any shares.” The prep cook worked hard all year and got nothing for it, so he took his anger out on me. The day before I was going home for the New Year, he killed me with a knife. “If you hadn’t said it doesn’t count without an official document, this whole restaurant would’ve been mine!” I lay in a pool of blood. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day the boss first made those empty promises.

Anna Russell thought she had found her forever in Derrick Martinez, the man holding the Silverfang Pack together while their Alphas were in seclusion. She gave him her innocence and her heart, only to find him in the arms of another woman hours later. Humiliated, rejected, and cast out into the rain by the very pack she called family, Anna decides she is done playing the victim. She trades her tears for a leather jacket and her heartbreak for a handgun. She rides to the Silverfang palace to end the man who betrayed her, but a single bullet intended for the Beta hits the wrong target. Ryker Reed, the most ruthless of the legendary Twin Alphas, doesn't even flinch when her bullet pierces his skin. Instead, he looks at Anna with a dark, hungry smirk. He and his brother Ronald have returned from eight years of exile to find their pack in shambles and their fated mate standing before them with a smoking gun. Now, Anna is caught between two powerful Alphas who want to claim her and a past that wants to destroy her. With the Silverfang Pack riddled with traitors, fake bonds, and hidden assassins, Anna must decide: Will she run from the destiny she never asked for? Or will she seduce the twin kings and take the throne she was born to rule?