Paul Reed Smith Wood Library

"Will you reject me?" I asked lowly, ignoring the huge lump that had formed in my throat. I could only fight back my tears as they burned my eyes. His green eyes were like orbs of ice, piercing into my soul. It was glazed and cold, yet seemed to have a lot of secrets hidden in it. "Reject you?...I am cursed. You won't survive being my mate. I advice you kill yourself before I do it myself." He muttered silently and walked away immediately. Ella was the alpha's daughter. She was the supposed heir and first female Alpha of the pack after her parents failed to bear another child, but her life went sour. She was abhorred, rejected, and termed a demon by her father and entire pack after she murdered her mother on the day of her supposed first shift. Her life became more hellish as her father got another woman as his second mate and also abducted the Beta's daughter. She believed her finding and meeting her mate would bring the end of her suffering, but when she was faced with her fated mate, the cursed Lycan prince who stared back at her with contempt, irritation and hatred, her last hope became bleak. Ella was thrown into his arms as another prey to be devoured and everyone believed it was a death sentence. She was his third mate and next to get killed by his beast just as his curse demands. But when no one expected it, the unimaginable happened.

Raven’s entire life has been defined by loss and betrayal. At just 13, she watched as the Cartel brutally murdered her father—an act that not only tore her family apart but also set her on a path to destroy the empire responsible. Now, at 22, she’s back in Spain, leading a ragtag team of rebels with the singular goal of dismantling the Gonzalez Cartel from within. But as Raven infiltrates the Cartel’s operations and gets closer to Mario—Tito’s ruthless son—the lines between enemy and lover begin to blur. But love is a luxury Raven cannot afford. Lucas, her devoted team member and secret lover, has always been by her side, waiting for the day they can escape the Cartel’s grasp and finally be free. Torn between loyalty, love, and vengeance, Raven faces the ultimate dilemma: Will she sacrifice everything she’s fought for to build a future with Mario, or will her thirst for revenge consume her entirely, leaving no room for love? As the stakes rise and the Cartel’s reach tightens, Raven must choose whether to live for revenge or risk everything for the love she never thought possible.

Audrey Vance is pushed to the brink as her meticulously planned life starts to fall apart. Desperate to save her family home from going into foreclosure and drowning in debt, she does the unimaginable and spends a night of reckless diversion at a Manhattan bar. But rather than making a quick getaway, she meets Damien Knight, a stunningly attractive millionaire who has a lethal charm and an unmistakable evil side. A passionate one-night encounter turns into something far more sinister as Audrey is drawn into Damien's world, where his riches and influence serve as a front for the secrets he conceals. However, when long-held secrets come to light and old foes reappear, Audrey quickly realises that being with Damien might cost her everything, even her heart. Will she weather the tempest of loving a guy like Damien, or will they be torn apart forever by the perils of his world?

Quatre années de mariage. Sa seule signature m'a rendue libre. Il n'a jamais su ce qu'il signait. Je suis Sophie Moreau, l'épouse invisible de Julien Moreau, héritier de la famille mafieuse la plus puissante de la ville. Mais le jour où Victoria, son amour d'enfance, brillante et privilégiée, est revenue, j'ai enfin compris : je n'avais toujours été qu'une passagère. Alors, j'ai joué mon dernier coup. J'ai glissé les papiers sur son bureau — un divorce habilement déguisé en simples formulaires universitaires. Julien a signé sans même y jeter un second regard, sa plume griffonnant la page avec autant de désinvolture qu'il en avait eu pour notre mariage. Il n'a pas vu qu'il mettait fin à notre mariage. Mais je suis partie avec bien plus que ma liberté. Sous mon manteau, je portais l'héritier qu'il n'avait jamais imaginé… un secret qui pourrait le détruire le jour où il comprendrait ce qu'il avait perdu. À présent, Julien, qui ne m'avait jamais remarquée, retourne le monde pour me retrouver. Du sommet de son penthouse jusqu'aux bas-fonds, il fouille chaque recoin, soulève chaque pierre. Sauf que je ne suis pas une proie apeurée qui attend qu'on la capture. Je me suis reconstruite hors de sa portée — là où aucun membre de Moreau ne peut me suivre. Cette fois, je ne supplierai pas pour son amour. C'est lui qui suppliera pour le mien.

Max was resigned to the fact that he was never going to meet his fated mate. He was reaching close to 30 now and his pack was pressuring him to take a chosen mate. Everyone was more than aware that moon madness was only just around the corner. That is until he met her, the Moon Goddess has a twisted sense of humor though. She wasn't a Werewolf. Can Max sweep her off her feet the conventional way before he loses his mind? Will the neighboring packs realize his fated mate is human and dispose of her, sealing Max's fate and putting his pack up for the taking? or will she run as soon as he shares his secret with her?

I’m Isabella Russo, the mafia princess everyone loves to hate. Adrian Moretti—ice-cold underboss in a tailored suit—was sent to “discipline” me. I torched his villa, wrecked his meetings, even tried to make him lose control. At night, he did. Against glass, leather, marble—he taught me surrender and I hated how much I craved it. Then I learned the truth: Adrian was only a mask. His real name is Leon Moretti—heir to the empire and the fiancé promised to me since birth. It should have been a fairytale. Except my parents crowned a miracle sister who wasn’t a miracle at all. Elena slipped into my room, my heirloom, my future—and into his arms. When I was framed, caged in a walk-in freezer, whipped for a lie, he chose her. So I sold the engagement for $200M, left a single recording as proof, and vanished. By the time Leon becomes Don, he finally listens—to the tape that proves Elena’s an impostor… and to the echo of my footsteps leaving him for good. Now the most dangerous man in New York is done being careful. He’s hunting the woman he broke.

El día que se suponía que iba a ser mi boda, la novia no era yo. La ceremonia que había esperado durante cinco años se convirtió en una broma cuando Valentina, mi hermana, caminó por el pasillo de mármol con un vestido de novia blanco. Su brazo estaba entrelazado con el de Luca, el hombre que se suponía que me estaría esperando en el altar. —Lo siento, Bianca —dijo suavemente—. Pero ya no eres la novia hoy. Luego se tocó el estómago; sus ojos brillaban de triunfo. —Estoy embarazada del hijo de Don Romano. Sus palabras detonaron dentro de mi cabeza, y el mundo entero se quedó en silencio. Como si temiera que no le creyera, levantó algo brillante hacia la luz. Una imagen de ultrasonido en blanco y negro. Se leía claramente: [Edad gestacional —12 semanas.] Mis ojos ardieron, las lágrimas escocieron mientras me giraba hacia Luca, buscando desesperadamente cualquier cosa. Una negación, una explicación, o un arrepentimiento. En cambio, él solo suspiró, agotado y resignado. —Bianca, lo siento —dijo con impotencia—. A Valentina no le queda mucho tiempo. Esta boda... era su último deseo. Te lo compensaré —añadió—. Podemos tener otra boda más tarde. Mi padre, Moretti, se paró detrás de él, con la misma expresión severa que había usado toda mi vida. Nunca lo he visto sonreírme, ni siquiera una vez. —Bianca —dijo bruscamente—, tu hermana se está muriendo. Déjala tener esto. Mi hermano asintió sin decir una sola palabra, como si eso fuera suficiente para ser una respuesta sólida. Toda mi vida, la habían elegido a ella, sus lágrimas, sus caprichos y sus necesidades, por encima de las mías. Hoy no era diferente. Algo dentro de mí se rompió silenciosamente. Bien. Si nadie en esta familia se preocupa por mí, me iré.

—Necesito que me ayudes a simular un accidente de jet privado —dije en voz baja—. Es la única forma en que podré dejar a Luca Moretti. La gente decía que él había renunciado al trono de la Mafia por mí. Lo llamaban el hombre que cambió el poder por amor: el heredero que renunció a la sangre y al oro con tal de casarse con una mesera de los barrios bajos. Durante años, hizo que el mundo creyera en nosotros. Construyó imperios a mi nombre. Me enviaba rosas todos los lunes. Le dijo a la prensa que yo era su salvación. Pero el amor no siempre significa lealtad. Mientras yo me hacía la idea de que el “para siempre” existía, él construía un segundo hogar a mis espaldas: uno lleno de risas, juguetes y dos gemelos que tenían sus ojos. La noche en que desaparecí, su imperio ardió. Destrozó ciudades, sobornó gobiernos y enterró hombres vivos con tal de encontrarme. Pero para cuando lo hizo...ya me había ido. Y la mujer por la que una vez había muerto, ya no lo amaba lo suficiente como para mantener su vida anterior.

Kristen hatte nicht nur einen überdurchschnittlichen IQ sondern war auch gleichzeitig stolze Besitzerin eines eigenen Tattoo- Studios. Nun stand ihr achtzehnter Geburtstag vor der Tür. Nachdem sie jahrelang von ihrer Mutter misshandelt worden war, hatte sie beschlossen, ihr Rudel zu verlassen. Ihr Tattoo- Studio lief gut, also hatte sie genug Geld zur Verfügung. Sie wollte sich in ihr eigenes Abenteuer stürzen, ganz egal, wer ihr Gefährte war. Leider hatten mehrere Männer ein Problem mit ihrer Unabhängigkeit. Kristens feurige Persönlichkeit hatte sie in eine Situation gebracht, in der sie sich allen Dingen stellen mussten, denen sie eigentlich versucht hatte zu entfliehen. Wie viel kann eine Person ertragen, bevor sie aufgibt?

I was dying of kidney failure. Henry Colombo—the ruthless Mafia heir who once swore he’d burn the world to keep me alive— found me a donor. But the price… was her. Susan Miller, the woman who’d always lingered between us, smiled as she set her terms: “Be mine for one month. Pretend you love me—and I’ll save her life.” He agreed. He said it was just to save me. But every lie, every kiss, every photo she posted online was another nail in my coffin. Each time the surgery drew near, she invented a new delay—a fever, a nightmare, a tender bruise. And Henry believed her. He always believed her. The night my heart flatlined on the operating table, he was across the city, feeding her grapes under candlelight, whispering her name—the name of the woman who had let me die. When he finally learned the truth—that every tear she shed was rehearsed, every promise she made was poison— he destroyed everything. Her lies. Her wealth. Her family name. His own empire. But none of it brought me back.