Penguin Modern Classics Novels & Stories

My younger sister, Celine Lowen, always goes home with her boyfriend, Jeffrey Burton. The thing is, she never uses any contraception when it comes to physical intimacy. When I ask her for the reason, that's when I find out that she gets her back entrance pounded all the time. I tell her that her anal region is very vulnerable, and that it's easy for her to pick up STDs if she keeps using it. In the modern times, everyone is very open-minded about physical intimacy. The one who truly loves Celine won't care about her virginity or lack of. Celine takes my advice very seriously. Later on, after she breaks up with Jeffrey, our mom introduces her to a rich scion named Gabriel Tate. On their wedding night, Gabriel gets into a fight with Celine simply because she doesn't shed any blood during their consummation. The next day, everyone knows about this incident. Feeling very humiliated, Celine pins the blame on me. She dunks my head into a pot of boiling water, her expression already twisted into one of ruthlessness and violence. "This is all your fault! I'd definitely be a rich wife by now if I were still a virgin! No one would make fun of me at all!" When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Celine tells me she doesn't use any contraception at all.

Zara Lovegrove Moonclaw is used to being the pack misfit. In a world of sleek, fast modern werewolves, she is a proud, plus-size, and chubby female who would rather spend her time devouring romance scrolls than running with the wolves. But when her old pack falls apart, she is forced into the rogue lands of the Moonhaven Metropolis, taking a low-level maid job at the Moonlight Feast Hall just to buy her next meal. Then, a disastrous shift brings her face-to-face with Theo Kingsley Silverfang—the legendary, grumpy, and fiercely powerful Bandy Alpha Warrior who rules the Silverfang Royal Pack. Theo is brooding, intense, and completely hardened by a devastating, highly public mate-bond split with his greedy ex-mate. He has sworn off the Lunar Fate Mark forever. But the moment his eyes land on Zara’s beautiful, heavy curves and fierce green eyes, his inner wolf screams one word: MATE. When Zara's safety is threatened by a perverted stalker in her basement apartment, Theo steps in like a true warrior, sweeping her up in his arms and demanding she move into his royal estate. Living under the same roof, the explosive attraction between the grumpy Future Alpha King and his sweet, chubby Future Luna becomes impossible to ignore. Can an outcast plus-size wolf find her happy ending with the most powerful Alpha on the ice arena, or will the ghosts of his royal past tear their Eternal Moonmate bond apart?

“I, Chika Whitmore, take this Alpha to be my strength and my vengeance.” The words were a death warrant, not a vow. In the high-stakes world of the werewolf syndicates, loyalty is a myth and blood is the only currency. When Chika Whitmore is brutally abandoned at the altar by the Blackwell heir, he doesn’t just lose a husband—he loses his standing in the underworld. Cast out by his own bloodline and left to the mercy of the city’s predators, Chika does the unthinkable. He walks into the territory of the most feared man in the modern mafia: Lucien Afolayan. Lucien is a King in exile, a dominant Alpha whose legs were shattered by a rival’s silver-trap. The world thinks he’s a broken dog, but behind the reinforced steel of his throne, the beast is hungry. He needs a consort to secure his claim to the Obsidian Crown Plaza; Chika needs a monster to burn down the people who broke him. It was supposed to be a cold-blooded merger. No feelings, no touch, just a tactical alliance to survive the Blackwell Pack’s impending war. But in the dark corners of the Afolayan estate, the scent of the moon doesn’t lie. Between the click of loaded pistols and the roar of shifting wolves, a lethal attraction begins to take root. Chika came for protection, but he might have just tied his soul to a man who won’t stop until the entire city bows—or burns. In this game of power, the only thing more dangerous than an enemy’s silver is a mate’s betrayal.

This is a modern adaptation of the classic tale "Le Mort d Arthur" also known as"King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" told from the point of view of one of the classic villains, Morgana or Morgan Le Fay. In this version, Morgana is the hero, fighting against the forces of Queen Mab, the Evil Faerie Queen of Summer and Light. She has been trapped in a cycle of reincarnation where she has been assassinated before she rises to power as the Queen of Winter and Shadow. It is now 2025. Morgana has been reborn as a biracial woman named Faye Archer. She is living in Oakland (San Francisco East Bay) with her mother Elaine (the Lady of the Lake) and is still recovering from the tragic death of her father. She is a 23 year old college student with striking red hair and violet colored eyes. She and her best friend, Embyr (A no nonsense city girl with a sharp tongue and wit) attend a fancy bonfire party in the Kensington Hills, an exclusive neighborhood above Berkeley. She has a one night stand with a billionaire playboy, the 19 year old Arthur Drake, who happens to be the reincarnation of King Arthur. Shortly after waking up next to him, she discovers that he is her new stepbrother. She slowly starts to develop powers and runs into Devona, or Merlin, who is a beautiful woman that she is oddly attracted to. Devona, Arthur and Faye and Embyr go on several adventures together where they battle deadly monsters (the mysterious horsemen) take on the Queen of Summer, and fight for Avalon and Earth at a terrible cost.

Elena Moore never imagined she would become a billionaire’s wife—especially not through a contract that stripped marriage of love, warmth, and choice. When her family faces financial ruin she cannot survive alone, Elena is summoned by Adrian Blackwood, a ruthless CEO whose empire is under threat. His solution is simple and brutal: marry him, stand by his side in public, obey the rules, and walk away when the contract ends. No love. No demands. No future. To the world, their wedding is a modern fairy tale—luxury, power, and prestige. Behind closed doors, it is a carefully controlled transaction. Separate bedrooms. Constant surveillance. A husband who reminds Elena that she is temporary, replaceable, and owned by the terms she signed. But Elena refuses to break. She learns his world without surrendering herself, meeting cruelty with composure and humiliation with dignity. Her calm defiance unsettles Adrian more than rebellion ever could. Control turns into irritation. Irritation into obsession. And obsession into a dangerous attraction neither of them is willing to name. When a scandal erupts and Adrian is forced to choose between his empire and the woman he swore not to love, he makes the decision that has always protected him best. Power. Publicly discarded and blamed for a betrayal she did not commit, Elena walks away without a word—carrying a secret that will change everything. By the time he understands what he has lost, she is gone—and forgiveness will cost him everything he once valued. A contract marriage. A devastating betrayal. And a love that demands suffering before it can be earned.

Obsessed with werewolf novels? So was Natalie Stewart, a typical 25 year old freelancing artist who spent majority of her spare time reading trashy werewolf books online. Over the years, she’d come across countless styles and variations of the classic tropes, enjoying every twist, heartbreak and steamy matebond moment the female leads would go through. But as Natalie unfortunately meets an untimely death, dying in her very own kitchen during a home invasion, the last thing she expected was to wake up inside the body of someone completely new. Someone beautiful and entirely unrecognisable. However, not everything is as perfect as the flawless stranger staring back at her in the mirror. Because as Natalie comes to terms with her new body, it doesn’t take long for her to discover someone else. A girl with clear signs of mistreatment and neglect, her skin flushed with bruises that peek out from under her ragged clothes. Looking at her, Natalie quickly realises she is no longer in the world she once knew. A place of modern luxuries and ordinary people. In fact, it’s far worse than she could have possibly imagined. Because she’s now trapped inside the last werewolf novel that she read. But she’s not Aurora, the goddess-chosen white wolf girl of prophecy with magical powers. The one who will escape her painful enslavement, find her Alpha King second-chance mate, and overcome obstacles to prove their love for each other. No... she has woken up in the body of Scarlett. The villainess who will get in her way.... and one who won’t live to see the end of the book.

After watching my mother’s marriage fall apart disastrously, I somehow went back ten years into the past and ran into my mother’s younger self. My mother had asked me excitedly, “Zoe, after your dad’s undercover operation ended, did he give me a wedding? Like, was it churchy or more modern? Did we end up in that nice house with the big backyard?” I forced down the lump in my throat and answered her, “There was no wedding. You didn’t get a house either. As for Dad… he married someone else.” My mother was silent for a long time. I thought she did not believe me, so I grew anxious and said, “Mom, you need to leave him now. If you stay, your life will fall apart. “He has a daughter named Melody, who turned out to be my classmate. He was never an undercover agent. He’s actually the heir of Xanders Group in Harbor City. He’s been lying to you this whole time and pretending to be broke just to string you along. “Melody’s mom eventually found out about you. You lost your job and home. In the end, you fell into depression and took your own life.” I noticed my mother’s eyes welling up in tears. “Today’s Children’s Day, right? You probably saw Dad taking some woman and her daughter to a theme park, didn’t you? “Go talk to that woman. Ask her about it. Then, you’ll learn the truth.”

Elara Voss is a 22 years old content creator grinding her way through TikTok dances and Instagram thirst traps in a bid for relevance. When viral videos lead to a DM from Kai Lennox, a wildly famous 28-year-old actor, singer, and heartthrob known for his bad-boy persona and rumored sex addiction, she believes her dreams have come true. Their connection is electric: raw chemistry, addictive nights, public dates that send social media into a frenzy but Kai’s appetites run deeper and darker than she imagined. Invited to his sprawling family mansion, Elara becomes prey for his older brother (ruthless businessman) and powerful father (industry mogul). The encounters start under coercion and secrecy, evolving into years of psychological control and taboo lust. Forced into silence to safeguard Kai’s career and the family’s empire, Elara suffers in the shadows while pretending to be the perfect girlfriend in public. Suicide attempts, crushing heartbreak, and conflicting feelings of love and hate for Kai complicate everything. When the truth finally surfaces, the real battle begins, Elara’s journey from victim to vengeful survivor, navigating toxic love, revenge plots, public exposure risks, and her own healing. The novel explores modern fame’s dark underbelly: cancel culture, NDAs, leaked videos, therapy, female empowerment, and the blurred lines between lust and love. Slightly explicit intimate scenes focus on power dynamics, intense physicality, and emotional turmoil rather than endless graphic detail.

In 1612, he couldn’t save her. In 2026, he might not want to. Elias Thorne was a man of maps and measurements, the King’s most trusted surveyor, until the smoke of the Lancashire witch trials choked the life out of everything he loved. Catherine wasn’t a witch—she was just an innocent woman caught in the gears of a superstitious world. When Elias was turned into something monstrous that same year, he didn't see it as a curse; he saw it as a deadline. He had forever to find a way to bring her back. For four centuries, Elias moved through the shadows of history, building an empire of wealth and dark influence. He hunted every myth, funded every occult discovery, and bled for every lead—all to find a soul that refused to return. He grew bitter, his heart hardening into the very stone of the London streets he walked. He eventually gave up on the heavens and the hells, settling into a life of cold, immortal apathy. Then, on a Tuesday afternoon, he sees her. She’s standing in line for coffee, wearing headphones and a denim jacket, looking exactly like the woman he watched die under a grey Jacobean sky. She has no memory of the fire, the maps, or the man who has spent four hundred years hating the world for her sake. Now, Elias faces a choice: Walk away and let her live the peaceful life he once prayed for, or reclaim a love that doesn’t belong to him anymore. But Catherine has secrets of her own—and in the modern world, the ghosts of 1612 are finally starting to catch up.

In a modern city governed by ancient bloodlines, an uneasy peace holds between vampires and nekos—two species bound by centuries of rivalry, betrayal, and war. Though the violence has quieted, resentment festers beneath the surface, and whispers of rebellion begin to circulate among the vampire clans who believe their power was unjustly stripped away. Maverick Delacroix, the disciplined heir to one of the most influential vampire families, has been raised to value control above all else. Loyalty to his lineage is not a choice but a duty etched into his very existence. Across the divide stands Odessa Kingsleigh, a sharp-witted neko diplomat trained to protect her people at any cost. Burdened by history and responsibility, she knows that trusting a vampire—especially a Delacroix—could unravel everything she has worked to preserve. When rising tensions force secret negotiations between the two factions, Maverick and Odessa are drawn into reluctant cooperation. What begins as a strategic alliance quickly deepens into something far more dangerous. As they navigate political intrigue, veiled threats, and the weight of ancestral hatred, their connection grows—challenging everything they have been taught to believe about enemies, loyalty, and destiny. But love in a divided city is never private. As extremist forces on both sides push for war and long-buried prophecies resurface, Maverick and Odessa find themselves at the center of a conflict that could destroy the fragile balance holding their world together. Choosing each other means defying their families, their cultures, and the expectations carved into their blood. With rebellion looming and trust in short supply, they must decide whether history will repeat itself in bloodshed—or whether their forbidden bond can forge a future neither species dared to imagine.