Small Pleasures Novels & Stories

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

you think i came all the way from paris to this small town of pakistan for what for three lacks " he smirked and looked towrds his men who laughed at that thought. "well clearly you did because if not what are you doing here then or wait did you wanted to have tour of this small town because i don,t see other reason of yours to be here . " this time she replied who were just standing there quitely from the beginning . "well darling " he came close to her and said "i came for my bride , i came for you " he said while touching her cheek with his thumb. larib khan a straightforward ,religious , cute , innocent , decent girl . she seems calm but if someone make her angry it will be their last day . but if they are on her good side she loves from her heart and can give her life for her loved ones king Xavier albert thomson, he has a body like greek god he is just like a shell ,hard from outside but from the inside he is soo soft but only few people knows that . Noone dare to call him by name who did they are 12 feet beneath the ground . the most merciless mafia king who runs mafia and also is the ceo of the most top biggest company of paris ,he kill first and ask question later . HE never knew he could love but after seeing her it was love for first sight or lust of having her he doesn,t know but he knows one thing . "larib khan is his only his even if he have to force her to be his or kill the world to have her but no one takes what is his from him not even her .

Eleven was born into a happy family, but all had to end when her mother died and her father became a drunkard and gambler. Being abused by her own father made Eleven feel traumatized by men. Her life is just cooped up in a small flat together with the humans she hates the most. Until one day, someone came to take her away from that place, her father sold his own daughter to pay off all his debts at the most dangerous bookies. Eleven, who was desperate with her dark life, tried to end her own life, but her plan had to end in vain. When the son of a bookie found her lying almost unconscious from bleeding. Love never knows time and place, when their eyes are locked, that's when the universe unites their feelings.

For the sake of her secretary, who was supposedly battling cancer, my wife, Sofia Griffin, made a shocking proposal. She would pay ten million for taking his virginity as an attempt to help him raise the funds needed. I had barely opened my mouth to object when she cut me down with a sharp rebuke. She said, "Chris has always been a proud man. Just giving him the money would seem like a handout and hurt his pride. "Can't you try to be compassionate? Do you really have to be jealous over something this small?" I said nothing. I simply smiled and nodded. What she didn't know was that, as an infectious disease specialist, I had already recognized the signs. It wasn't cancer... It was late-stage AIDS.

She was born in a cage. He offered her a golden one. 19-year-old Amara Leone has spent her life under the rule of her brutal uncle, leader of a small but ruthless mafia branch. After her parents’ murder, she was “taken in,” but instead of love, she received scars. But one day, everything changed. She’s told she’s being married off to the heir of the Romano Mafia Empire—Dominic Romano. Cold. Calculating. Known as The Black King in the underworld. No one dares disobey him. His enemies disappear. His lovers don’t last. To Dominic, the marriage is a deal—peace between rival territories, and a woman he doesn’t want, but must own. To Amara, it’s another prison. But what neither expected… was the fire. But behind everything: WHY IS DOMINIC SO OBSESSED ABOUT HER.

In Gangnam, Seoul's district known for it's wealth and glamour, a series of mysterious disappearances and brutal murders occurs. The criminal is quickly called by public the 'Cherry Blossom Reaper' because of his choice for young, beautiful women and fact, that the day after the kidnapping, in the place of the disappearance, he leaves a small bouquet made of artificial cherry blossoms, slightly sprinkled with the victim's blood. When the daughter of the well-known fashion house CEO disappear, the case is transferred to Kim Soo Min, a female detective from Seoul's Investigation Departament. But as it turns out, the case is not easy to solve, even for such a talented detective as her. The list of suspects is getting longer and evidence does not clearly indicate any of them. [ IMPORTANT: This story is entirely fictional, just like its characters. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. ]

He looks transparent and plain as a water of river but deep down under the shadows of his darkness he is that stealth ocean hiding the darkest secrets in it's depth. He is like a black colour who can absorb any colour into it and remain same in appearance until the colour is not white. She is just like that white colour , her heart is pure without any dark patch on it . She is strong , ambitious yet soft and cranky . Morals and ethics runs through her veins yet she is open minded in every manner . She can fight with big problems but small thing can hurt her similarly she don't need something big to be happy. Love and darkness ,both the things are totally opposite yet similar . One can never felt depth of it's own before been through other one .

Just like Dragons and Dinosaurs, werewolves had started to extinguish from the earth. Unlike previous times, werewolves stopped living in the forest, in the pack but in the human world in a small house. They stopped turning into a werewolf to hide their identity and the new generations of their community had no idea that their ancestors had these types of powers. All they could just read and listen about it in the stories of their ancestors. But one thing was still the same in both the eras. The Omegas used to get treated poorly by the Alphas and Betas wolf. Amber, a weak omega, was treated like by the Knight’s family all her life. But her whole world turned upside down when they broke the news that they sold her to Alexander Stone, a human, to settle their debt. At the same time, Alexander had no idea that he had PURCHASED A WEREWOLF, instead of human.

“Ms. Arnold, you really should sign this divorce agreement. Otherwise, I won’t be able to answer to Mr. Fisher.” Jeremy Fisher’s personal lawyer, Cole Stewart, stood in front of Hailey Arnold with an anxious expression. In his hands were a freshly printed divorce agreement, the pages still crisp. This was the thirty-third time Jeremy had asked to divorce her. The first time, Hailey climbed onto the rooftop and jumped. She survived but broke one of her legs. The second time, she slashed her wrist with a small knife, and blood flooded half the bathroom. The third time, she swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills and spent three days in the hospital having her stomach pumped. … Every single time, she had used death to force Jeremy to compromise, but this time, she was tired of it.

The year is 2134. The world has been under the command of The Alaina Sipreme Rule, alien race that has fused their bodies with that of computers and machines, making them semi-immortal. When they invaded they were unstoppable to the underprepared Human race. They took the planet, killing billions of people, and are using the last couple of millions to fill their ranks by forcing them to go through a process called Techmorphasis. But in every night there are stars to shine light on the earth. A resistance has risen up to take on the alien tyranny. They fight to free their people across the world. They hunt down soldier types and return stolen children to their families. They free those who are enslaved from their masters and give them a new home. They work under the stars, brings small bits of light and hope to those they save untill they take down the Alaina, ending the night that has plagued their world. They are The New Dawn.