Penelope Lively Books

At the Thorn Pack banquet, Jacob Mason carefully cut the steak on my plate. His gentlemanly demeanor and meticulous attention to detail drew envious glances from those around us. "Our Alpha is so good to our Luna," a voice murmured from across the table. "You won’t find a more devoted mate in all of Southspire." I glanced at Jacob, a sweet warmth unfurled in my chest. I silently tightened my grip around the Moonstone Ring—a ring my father had left me, the symbol of power in the Lotus Pack. I had planned to give it to Jacob when the banquet ended, when we were alone. But as the evening wore on, the noise and the clinking of glasses became too much to bear. I feigned a slight dizziness, excusing myself to return to our castle ahead of him. In truth, I needed the time to prepare a surprise—something special to commemorate this night. When everything was set, I silently slipped back into the banquet hall, ready to take Jacob by the hand and whisk him away. But as I arrived, I stopped dead in my tracks. There he was, holding Hazel Rhea tightly in his arms. "Chloe is so rigid," he said. "Always clinging to the dignity of being the Lotus Pack Alpha's daughter. How could she ever compare to Hazel's passion?" "Don't worry," he added, his tone light with mock reassurance. "Hazel and I are just friends. Chloe won't feel betrayed." He laughed softly. "But don't tell her, alright? She's so old-fashioned—if she found out, she'd leave me for sure. Honestly, the thought of spending the rest of my life with such a dull partner… It's exhausting." Just friends? Is that what he called the way his hand slid beneath her dress—being "just friends"? I didn't interrupt them. There was no need to disturb their lively conversation. Instead, I slid the Moonstone Ring onto my finger. Without a word, I turned and left. In the quiet of the night, Xavier Grey—who had been following me all along—waited. Together, we set off on the journey I should have taken long ago.

After three years of gathering herbs, I finally returned to Green-Pouch Valley. But my master, Mr. Gu, was not there. On the ground, only a dark red pool of blood remained, soaking his cloth robes. My senior brothers and sisters, usually so lively, were nowhere to be found. My master's wife, Auntie Qin, sat collapsed beside the pool of blood. Her once-black hair was now mostly white, her voice a hoarse whisper as she called to me. "Shuang'er, your master traded his life for the valley's ascension. You must go to the Nine Heavens and offer your thanks." It was only then I understood. The Celestial Lord, Jun Che, in his quest to forge an immortal body for his mortal wife, had coveted my master's rare Celestial Bones of Healing. He used the promise of ascension for everyone in Green-Pouch Valley as bait, then brutally tore the bones from my master's living body. I was born with a strange affliction, a void where joy and sorrow should be. The others in the valley secretly called me a cold-blooded monster. Now, as I stared at the blood-soaked robes of the man who had saved me and treated me like his own daughter, my expression remained blank. "Auntie Qin, did Master do this willingly?" Auntie Qin's eyes instantly reddened. "Jun Che is the Celestial Lord. His word is heavenly law. How could we ever defy it?" I gave a faint nod. "If it was not what Master wanted, then Jun Che deserves to die." Auntie Qin's face went pale with fright. She lunged forward and clutched my arm. "Shuang'er, your master's last words were for you all to protect yourselves, not throw your lives away fighting an unwinnable war against the heavens." I pried her fingers off one by one and looked up at the glittering, golden Celestial Realm beyond the clouds. A faint smile touched my lips. "Auntie Qin, Master taught me that a healer's heart must be compassionate." "But he never taught me that gods can't be killed."

"I used to be the well-respected Lady Kara. Everyone feared me! No one beneath me dared to so much as look me in the eye or remain sitting whenever I walked into a room, but now, I've lost everything! My life, my status, my man, all gone! I've become a nobody all because of that bitch who suddenly came and stole everything from me. I hate her so much!!!" It seems the battle she fought so hard for had been lost by Omega Kara, and she is now left to rot and suffer in a cruel world full of people just like her former self. But does the goddess give second chances? Is it possible for the darkest and evilest of hearts to turn a new leaf and become pure and white as snow? With all of her past behaviours, Kara was deemed the devil herself; now it's time for her to pay for her crimes and receive her dose of the same pain and suffering she caused others. But what will happen when the moon goddess decides not just to give her another chance to mend her ways but also an unexpected mate? The man whom she hated the most. Another adventure awaits in The Beta's Unexpected Mate (Book 2 of the werewolf mate series). Book 1- The Alpha's Hated Slave Mate Book 2- The Beta's Unexpected Mate For updates on character reveals and character quotes, as well as all of my books, follow my Facebook page, Eyitee's library.

Three months since my husband, Julian Moretti, disappeared. I walked into his favorite den, the grief so deep it stole the air from my lungs. I just wanted to breathe him in, to find any trace of him that was left. Then I heard it. A familiar laugh. And the soft moan of a woman. Through a crack in the door, I saw him. My husband, the man "missing" for three months, had his hand tangled in another woman's hair. "Baby, just a little longer," he said. "Soon as I siphon enough cash from the family's books, we're gone. You and me." In his arms was Bianca, from the Rosso family. "What about your wife?" she purred. "Let her play the grieving widow. She's nothing without me anyway." My fists clenched. The world went quiet, my blood turning to ice. The next day, I put the word out to the entire Family. "I'm holding a memorial mass for my husband." At the service, he stormed in, a ghost returned from the grave, roaring that he was alive and there to take back what was his. But I was standing next to his uncle, Dante Moretti, and all I did was stare him down. "Then explain," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "Explain the woman. Explain the money. Explain your betrayal... to the Family. And to me."

"Rolling my eyes, I turn to see an extremely handsome man with short, styled, black hair staring back at me. His eyes are so dark brown that it appears that they are black. Even though I usually don't like men with a beard and mustache, he looks so hot with it, that I would melt in his hands if he touched me. This man oozes sex from every pore of his body. So much so, that when he accidently brushes my cheek with his hand, goosebumps instantly form on my arms. When I continue to stare at him, I notice that he glances down at my dress and just stares. Realizing why, I try to fold my arms across my chest, but he is standing so close, I can’t move without touching him." Dani as her family calls her lovingly, has always been the quiet mousy type.  She lives her life through books, while everyone else lives their lives to the fullest.  Always watching the world around her, she never quite is able to command the attention of anyone except for her friends and family.  When she finds out that she has to get a job to survive, she goes to the city and ends up working under Mr. knight.  Getting more than she bargains for, in the end is she naughty or nice?

Maturity Warning ⚠️ This story is a dark romance intended for mature audiences (18+). It contains explicit sexual content, predatory behavior, power imbalances, blackmail and taboo themes. Reader discretion is advised. **He's my Professor. He's my Step father. And he's the only man who devours me at night.** I am a science student who failed every course and was hated by his professor. But on one faithful morning my mum announced a heartbreaking information. She was going to marry the professor I lusted over. The one man I had imagined one day he would pin me down to his bed. Mr Chadwick is cold, brilliant, and sexy. He hated me for being dull and feminine but behind those eyes filled with fury, his darkest desires loomed around me. In public, Mr Chadwick is the perfect academic and the perfect step father. But behind closed doors of the study, he is a predator who had discovered my darkest secrets: a sketchbook filled with obsessive drawings of him. Now, the lessons have changed. Chadwick doesn't want me to study books; he wants me to study him. It was supposed to be a punishment. He curses me on the outside but claims me like a hungry lion every night. Under my mum's roof. It was supposed to break my spirit. But he found out, he lusted over the very thing he hated.

Alexander Petridis: I still have not found my mate in the seven years since my first shift. I nearly gave up, but then I left to build alliances and hopefully find her. Little did I know she'd been under my nose all along. When I see her, though, I'm stunned, not just because she's innocent little Delilah Fayte but because, in my absence, she made a choice I don't know if I can live with. Delilah Fayte: People have always thought I'm this naïve innocent girl. And okay, maybe I am innocent and all that. After my first shift, I didn't actively seek my mate. I had other plans. And sure, my family was against it at first, but mate or not, I wanted to help André and Darren. I didn't think in doing so, I'd alienate my mate and long-time crush, Alexander Petridis. This is the fourth of the Incubi Pack series. You do not need to have read the previous books to enjoy this book, but it is encouraged. The Incubi Pack Series: Book 1 - Alpha of Nightmares Book 2 - The Hybrid Alpha Book 3 - Dream Mate Anthology Short Story - Chosen Mate Anthology Bonus Story - Sicilian Holiday Anthology Short Story - The Quiet Giant's Mate Book 4 - Beta's Innocent Mate

Winner of The People Choice Awards (Fiction) 2019 for Best Diverse Books When "Gossip " meets "Pretty Little Liars" and had a kid with "Sherlock Holmes". That kid is "The Bad Nerd Boy". "You know my secret now. That's really bad, Summers." He smirked. That nerd smirked! And call me crazy but at this moment, he looked goddamn hot.      "I won't tell others." I blurted the words out, hoping it gave the assurance he needed so he would let me go because even though he looked damn hot, he also looked dangerous. Trying to stop myself from trembling, I bit my lips.  His eyes caught the movement and he bent forward, filling my nostrils with the smell of dope he smoked earlier. Tilting his head, he clicked his tongue and smiled. "Wrong move." With that, he slammed his lips against mine, knocking all the air from my lungs. He kissed me with no mercy. His tongue slipped at the seam of my mouth, and my mind went blank when I felt the tip of his tongue caressing mine. Pulling away he watched me with a mischievous look on his face as he said, "now I'm going to be yours." * * * Professionally edited by Fernanda Lemos. All Rights Reserved 2018 © agatharoza

London was supposed to be freedom. A clean start far from the bruises, the shouting, and the father who made my childhood a nightmare. For two quiet years, I built a small, safe life with books, cold nights, and nobody to fear. But safety ends the moment danger knocks on my door. One unforgivable mistake. And suddenly I'm not just found by the devil in a suit-I'm sold. Straight into the hands of Antonio Rosa, the ruthless Don of New York. Antonio Ruling New York with iron fist, blood, and zero mercy has always been therapeutic. People don't hand me their daughters on a whim-they hand me their fear. But when a useless man tries to buy his life with a trembling girl, I take the deal... if only to teach him a final lesson. Daisy Harrison is supposed to be my warning to him. The man who couldn't care less about her. My leverage. My future wife in name only. Something pretty to destroy while the world watches and does nothing. But the moment she lifts her chin at me, all fire and defiance, I know I've made the most dangerous mistake of my life. Because I don't fall. I don't feel. I don't love. Yet here I am... losing control over the one woman I was never meant to keep.

BOOK SIX (MATE SERIES) Previous books mentioned inside: He was silent; a brooding stranger basking in the darkness as if it were an old friend. The logical part of me wanted to run away screaming and some other part of me that I never knew existed wanted to learn more about him. He looked deadly but his touch was a gentle caress. He looked rude but he was the most easy-going guy I had ever met. We clicked the moment our eyes met and that was when my world turned from all things logic and science related to something mythical and supernatural. I thought it was magic but he laughed, the only sound I'd ever hear leave his perfect lips, and called it a mate bond. ____________________ Dea Kelly is as human as it gets. She doesn't believe in the divine and she most certainly doesn't believe in the supernatural. What she does believe in is science because everything must have a logical explanation. At the age of thirty, she had her entire future planned out. Marry Jason Yates, a fellow scientist who believed in everything she did. Have children ASAP. And live till a hundred (at least she would try to.) But then something happens that she suddenly can't explain. A handsome yet silent stranger that bumped into her while walking on the side walk and the moment their eyes connected, electricity passed between them. It was in that very moment that Dea's life turned inside out.