Pretending Synonyms

~BOOK ONE OF THE LOVE SERIES. Love’s darkest spark. ❧ To my darlings who wants to be owned and dominated, here is a perfect chance to get on your fucking knees. ❧ Love didn’t save them, hate did. Nicole Daniels never imagined her world would fall apart so violently. Betrayed by her husband, backstabbed by her best friend, and left grieving a child she never got to hold. She's done pretending to be okay. When Rhett Otis, her ex-husband’s cold and infuriating stepbrother, offers her a contract marriage with an offer she can’t refuse, she accepts without hesitation. It’s not love, It’s not hope. It’s survival and revenge or so she told herself. Yet she didn’t fall for him. She crashed, burned, and never recovered. While Rhett told her they were just business but he kissed her like she was his. He was supposed to stay away from her but he married her instead. She was forbidden, but he craved her destruction— hated her for slipping under his skin and hated himself even more for needing her to stay there. What began as a business arrangement becomes a brutal tangle of secrets, yearning, and something neither of them dare name. Enemies. Pretenders. Liars. That’s all they were ever meant to be. But sometimes, pretend hate burns too hot and love becomes the darkest spark.

Lena never expected her life to change overnight. One minute, she was just another invisible girl scraping by—dodging bills, counting coins, and pretending the weight of survival didn’t choke her daily. Then came Kai Ashford. A billionaire with a cold smile and eyes that saw through everything. He plucked her from the shadows and wrapped her in silk, marble, and secrets. Designer clothes replaced thrifted rags. Penthouse nights took over sleepless street corners. Everything she ever dreamed of was handed to her no questions asked. But nothing in Kai’s world is ever free. As Lena is pulled deeper into his luxurious web, she begins to realize she isn’t just living in his world she’s owned by it. Every choice, every glance, every step has been calculated. Her comfort is his control. And the deeper she falls, the harder it becomes to untangle what’s love… and what’s manipulation. Because Kai didn’t save her. He claimed her. And her entire existence may be the price she never agreed to pay.

“You’re insane.” “Maybe,” Robert admitted, his eyes locked on mine and his face too close. “But I always get what I want and right now Kayla, what I want… is you.” ~~~ He needed a wife. I needed the money. Robert Moore is ruthless and dangerous, a man who terrifies the entire city. I’d paid no mind to the warning bells that rang in my head when I proposed to marry him for money. When I’d agreed to be his fake wife for a year. The rules were simple. No falling in love. No asking questions. Marrying him was supposed to be my solution-a business deal, a clean exchange. But nothing about Robert is simple. He’s bossy, arrogant, and so sinfully attractive that every look he gives me feels like a dare. Then came the threats. The enemies. The danger and guns. Now, I’m not sure where the act ends and where the truth begins. Because the longer I stay by his side, the more I realize I might not be pretending anymore… And the mafia boss who swore he’d never love might be willing to burn the whole city down just to keep me.

Jamie Reyes doesn’t do one-night stands. But after a soul-crushing breakup and too many glasses of whiskey, he lets himself fall—just once—for a stranger’s hands, lips, and whispered promises in the dark. No names. No strings. No future. Until Monday morning, when his anonymous hookup steps into the conference room… as Julian Black, his new department supervisor. Julian is everything Jamie shouldn’t want—older, emotionally locked down, and strictly off-limits. Yet the tension simmers, sharp as ever, and pretending it didn’t happen is impossible when every brush of fingers feels like a memory. They’re supposed to be professionals. They’re not supposed to want more. And if they’re caught, everything Jamie’s worked for could fall apart. But what happens when the lines blur, and a one-night mistake becomes the one thing neither of them can walk away from? A steamy, slow-burn MM office romance filled with forbidden tension, secret glances, and the kind of chemistry that doesn’t stay buried.

“Are you crying?" She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. "Now I am truly and utterly alone. If I had just said yes to marrying him, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.” Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. “Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.” “But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away. I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine. “You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.” I tucked a hair behind her ear. “You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.” ___ Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar. On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.

Ever since her family went bankrupt, work is all Florence does to help out at home. But when she meets Scott Lee, a rich and handsome CEO, everything changes. Although gentle and romantic, Scott doesn’t believe in marriage. But when his grandfather warns him of the need to have an heir to carry on their legacy, Scott gets worried about the company falling into the wrong hands. Unable to stay away from Florence, he thinks the only way he can agree to his grandpa’s plan is if he marries her and proposes a deal: get married for the sake of their families and divorce after he gets the company. Florence accepts but falling in love wasn’t in the script. Now, she needs to control her feelings while pretending to be the perfect wife and remain safe as Scott’s enemies go after her. *** “I want you to go on a date with me.” “Why me?” “What kind of question is that? Why you? Why not you?” Falling for my Fake Husband is created by Rafaella Dutra, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

At 20, Judi thought her life was finally turning around. She and her niece Aria had been struggling for years, barely scraping by in a run down apartment. Then Aria met a man online, a Norwegian billionaire named Aleksander Barginsen and everything changed. Within days, money was pouring in. Gifts, rent paid in full, a luxury penthouse and it felt like a dream. But that dream unraveled fast. Because the man Aria had been talking to wasn’t Aleksander at all. It was his nephew, pretending to be him, spending Aleksander’s fortune behind his back. And when the real billionaire finds out, he shows up furious and ready to press charges. Aria is arrested, and Judi’s world falls apart all over again. But Aleksander offers her a deal: a contract with terms that could get Aria out of jail. It’s risky. It’s complicated. And it comes at a cost Judi isn’t sure she’s ready to pay. Twisted Fate is a gripping story about deception, loyalty, and the impossible choices we make for the people we love.

(This is a dark romance. 18+) King Sven laughs again, one hand fondling the breast of the woman on top of him. The pain in my chest becomes unbearable, and I wince. His eyes flicker with something dark and satisfied. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “Spending a week in prison hasn't tamed your tongue, I see,” he says, the teasing edge in his voice making my skin crawl. “I want to take my time with you… savor you to the fullest. I know I’ll enjoy breaking you.” “You’ll have to kill me first.” “Who says I won’t?” — In a world where Fae are hunted and treated less than an animal, Olivia and her mute twin brother, Kyle, have spent nine years hiding their true identity within the Shadow Moon Pack. Pretending to be lowly Omegas, they blend into the pack, constantly fearing discovery. But when a simple mistake exposes Olivia's Fae heritage to the sadistic Alpha King Sven—a ruthless hybrid known for his hatred of magical beings—their lives spiral into chaos, even worse they discover they're something more.

Four babies. A billion lies. One mess. Ares Langford is reckless, spoiled, and dangerously close to losing his billionaire inheritance. One more mistake and his father swears to cut him off for good. So when a cop pulls him over for speeding, Ares panics and lies. His girlfriend is giving birth, he claims. The officer insists on escorting him to the hospital. Desperate, Ares bribes a random nurse and finds a stranger who just gave birth to quadruplets. Tessa Monroe is exhausted, broke, and alone with four newborns she never planned to raise by herself. When a cocky rich guy begs her to play pretend for a million dollars, she agrees. But one lie spirals into a full blown scandal when Ares’ mother storms into the hospital, declares Tessa family, and whisks them all into the billionaire’s world. Now Ares is stuck playing baby daddy to four kids who aren’t his, pretending to love a woman he barely knows, and fending off his father’s wrath all while the world watches. What starts as a lie turns into the biggest twist of their lives. Will love bloom in the chaos or will the truth destroy everything?

Elena Vale has spent her entire life sticking to the rules, until the night she's forced into an engagement she never wanted. Fleeing from her high-society cage, she ends up in a grimy bar, drinking with a brooding stranger who offers the one thing she never expected: freedom.  Jack Roman is the last man a woman like Elena Vale should marry. Tattooed, sharp-tongued, and hiding secrets behind his sea blue eyes. He's everything she's been taught to avoid. But when an impulsive drunken wedding turns into a full-blown scandal, Elena seizes the chaos. She makes him a deal — six months of pretending, then they part ways. To Elena, faking a marriage with a stranger is supposed to keep her safe. But as sparks turn to passion, and buried truths come to light, Elena realizes she may have just traded one kind of prison for another. Because Jack didn't just walk into her life by accident… and falling in love with him might just cost her everything.