Sinking Spring Public Library Novels & Stories

SLOANE HOLBROOK is a thirty-five-year-old copywriter whose only commitment is to sarcasm, but every major holiday turns her into a single, pitiful spectacle for her judgmental family. Her solution? JACKSON, a charming, commitment-phobic Australian golf coach who needs a distraction just as badly as she does. They forge the "Holidate Pact" a year-long contract to be each other’s flawless, platonic plus-ones for every major event, with one rigid rule: zero feelings. But when a New Year's Eve kiss designed for public consumption feels startlingly real, Sloane and Jackson realize surviving the holiday calendar is easy; surviving the relentless, rule-breaking, undeniable attraction might be impossible. They signed up for a cynical transaction, but what happens when their fake relationship becomes the most honest thing in their lives?

When Aria Collins’ father desperately needs an expensive experimental cancer treatment that she can’t afford, she becomes desperate and forms a contract with CEO Alexander Blackwood: She will be his wife for three years in exchange for him giving his medical care and his financial security. What it really is business -- separate bedrooms, public appearances and a marriage of convenience. As Aria moves from being a part of Alexander’s elite business venture to being part of him, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. When feelings neither of them bargained for to start to open up, they need to decide whether to live up to the contract’s terms or risk everything in search of something bigger than convenience. In this marriage of convenience, convenience was never meant to become love

She had it all — fame, beauty, love. But in one fateful night, everything came crashing down. Betrayed by her fiancé and her envious stepsister, actress Liana Hayes wakes up in the room of a stranger, her name splashed across scandalous headlines. The public believes she cheated. Her career is in tatters. Her fiancé walks away. And her stepsister snatches everything she once cherished. But the stranger from that night — the cold, mysterious CEO Adrian Cole refuses to fade from her life. He holds a truth she hasn’t yet uncovered. As their lives become intertwined, Liana discovers that sometimes, the deepest betrayals can lead to the most genuine love… if she’s brave enough to fight for it.

Dainelle Jones is just your average girl. She graduated college with a biology degree, and plans to go to grad school the following august to finish her studies to become a physical therapist. she was a part of sorority in college, with her best friend, Scarlet. Dainelle doesn't realize whats is going to happen during her summer vacation in Italy. But she won't ever be that average girl again. -------------Nicola Rosi isn't your average man. He never went to a public school in his life, always home schooled by a tutor. He was born into a wicked way of life and is content with it. Always being feared and getting to tell others what to do. Until he stumbles upon a certain girl who changes his perspective of life.

Vincent Isabella was offered a contract marriage worth 5 million dollars by a cold and ruthless billionaire given 30 days to marry or lose his Empire to his corrupt brother. She agreed only for her sick sister and her parents’ debt. “One year of contract marriage. No attachment. No feelings. No sex. Just public appearances.” But when Alexander Lucas demanded a child, she refused, and said “It wasn’t part of the deal”. Yet, she later agreed to help him secure the Empire. During childbirth, the baby died, and Mr. Alexander, the real owner of the Empire, rewarded Isabella by bequeathing the entire Empire to her. The Empire meant for Lucas or William now belonged to Isabella. Will the Alexander family watch as Isabella controls them?

During a public lecture on derivatives, I hurl my water bottle hard at the blackboard. Under the stunned gazes of the professor and my classmates, I stand up and say, "Seriously? Is there a need to explain a problem this simple? Move on to the next one. How did you bunch of idiots get into the accelerated program? How are you even worthy of sitting in the same classroom as me?" I turn my head and see my mother, who is standing outside the classroom to accompany me as I attend the lecture. She has a pleased and approving look on her face. A reporter sitting in the back quickly points the camera at me. I smile and call out toward the door, "Mom, I need to pee. Come take me to the restroom."

She signed her freedom away with a trembling hand and a heart full of rage. Two years as Lucien Cross's contracted wife, playing the role of loving spouse while he remained her enemy behind closed doors. Mara Quinn made a deal with the devil to save her family. He married her to claim his inheritance. Their marriage is a battlefield, their home a cage gilded in wealth she never wanted. But hate burns hot—and somewhere between the fights and the forced proximity, between the public kisses that mean nothing and the private moments that mean everything, the line between enemies and lovers begins to blur. She promised herself she'd walk away when the contract expired. He promised himself he'd never care. They were both wrong.

My movie star husband's girlfriend suspected I was the other woman. She confronted me in public, beat me until I lost my child, and even left my face scarred beyond recognition. "You shameless homewrecker! How dare you seduce someone else's man—and even get pregnant?" she screamed in rage. "I'll send you and that child of yours straight to hell today!" And as for my husband, he didn't even spare me a glance. All he cared to say was, "Why did you bother hitting her yourself? Did your hand hurt?" But when he finally discovered that the woman his girlfriend had scarred and caused to miscarry was me, he lost his mind.

They say that marriage is a happy ending to everyone's life. However, not all fairy tales end happily ever after. Charlotte Hayes, a top model in Los Angeles, married actor Jake Hayes for two years. He was as delightful as sweets in public, but he was abusive at home. "Have an affair with me," she told Damien Yves Étienne, a billionaire, after discovering his hidden identity as a mafia boss. "Don't you want me to keep quiet about your secret? Have an affair with me in exchange for silence." Sentimental tempers flare. A woman fleeing an abusive marriage and meeting the billionaire boss of her husband. Charlotte grows to love, and her husband discovers the valuable lesson that abusers do not win. With that, milady's affair begins.

I manage to drag Jared Sheppard from death's door. Since then, I've accompanied him from his poorest times all the way to the current moment, when he's now worth tens of millions of dollars. On the day his company goes public, he gets engaged to another woman. "Gabrielle, she's different from you. She's an actual princess of the elite. I need to give her an official title, so I can't fool around with you anymore." I never bothered defending myself. It's time for this farce to end, anyway. After all, there's still a man waiting for me at home, who's been calling me his princess since I was a little girl.