Novel & Cerita Old Romance Novels

Most of them were what I expected—books on strategy, history, a few on Italian mafia politics. And then, tucked on the bottom shelf, almost hidden— "You weren't kidding about these?" I pulled one out, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" "Put that back." "The Duke's Dangerous Desire," I read aloud, grinning. "A Rake's Redemption. The Highlander's Captive Bride—" "Jameson." Her voice was sharp, but I could hear the embarrassment underneath. "Put them back." "I'm not judging," I said, turning to face her. "I'm just surprised. You kill people for a living, but you read romance novels?"

The bookstore had a new shipment of romance novels. I spent the morning unpacking boxes with Ethan, laughing at the ridiculous cover art. Shirtless men. Women in flowing dresses. Dramatic titles like The Rake's Redemption and Tempted by the Billionaire. "This is basically p**n," Ethan said, holding up a particularly scandalous cover. "Glorious, wonderful, life-affirming p**n," I corrected. He laughed. "You're something else, Lucy."

"She's out to get me. She faked her death. She faked the whole dramatic exit. She'll show up once I've paid my dues." He clung to that belief. It was all he had. Even if the love he felt was nothing but a side effect of some drug. Even if that love had curdled into something dark. Nora was beside herself, crying next to him. Francis watched her, and after a long pause, a sly grin spread across his face. "Yeah, Natalie loved me. She'd come running back the second she heard I was off the market." Nora, eyes red and swollen, looked up at Francis on bended knee and heard him say softly, "Nora, let's go ahead with the wedding, okay?

"I also tried reading to you once. While you were asleep. I picked a romance novel." Louis's eyes widened. "Which one?" "The one you had on your nightstand." "That was a dark romance, Lorenzo. The main character gets buried alive." Lorenzo winced. "I didn't get that far. I fell asleep before the plot started." Louis shook his head, "You are hopeless and annoying” "Hopelessly in love with you," Lorenzo said, the words slipping out before he could stop them. Louis went still. "Don't read any more romance novels," he muttered. "You're bad at it."

Then, as I scrolled further, a suggestion caught my eye: "Read romance novels to understand what love looks like in action." It sounded ridiculous, but desperation overrode pride. I clicked onto a bookstore website and began scrolling through its romance section. The titles and covers differed-some sweet, others fiery-but they all promised the same thing: a vision of what love might look like. I put a stack of them into my cart, trying to block out that nagging little voice inside my head, which questioned what I was doing. As I finished placing the order, I caught my reflection in the screen. Garrett Cullen, crime lord, feared by most, now rummaging through romance novels for answers. The t

I needed to cut her off. "Look, they're doing the walking around the fire thing." She said. I hummed non committal. "I read about it in this book by Drethi Anis. Five thousand nights of obsession. The book was so good." "You read?" I asked. I had never seen any book in her apartment or caught her with a book. "Yes." She blushed, then quietly. "Romance books." "You don't strike me as the romance type." I looked at her intently. "Is it one of those raunchy books with shirtless men carrying scabbards on the cover."

Hazel’s eyes are wide with determination. “Uh-huh… Didn’t realize love was achieved using a math formula.” I scoff. Wouldn’t falling in love be better than putting on a performance? All the romance novels I have read always made love sound so unpredictable. I mean, I wouldn’t mind finding a mate, but I am not allowed to. So, I live vicariously through my hot, sexy fictional characters. What I wouldn’t give to lick melted marshmallow off one of those Alphas on the cover of my erotic romance novels. I growl in my head… He would have bulging muscles, perfect flowing long hair, and a thick slounge, everything moving in slow motion when he walks… YUMMY! Come to mama!

A total letdown. The library itself was just as disappointing. One section was crammed with Italian law books, dry histories of world wars, and mafia men. The other section was romance novels so ancient they might as well have been written on parchment paper, and it didn’t help that most of them were in Italian, which I couldn’t even read. What did I expect? Adrian having a collection of modern, romance, mysteries, or thrillers? This wasn’t some sappy romance novel where the heroine falls in love with a library.