Smooth-talking

I loved my foster brother, Cayden, for five years—five years of hiding, lying, and choking on the shame that came with every kiss, every touch, every lie. I should have hated myself for it, but I loved him too much for that to matter. I thought we had a future, until his first love, the one who had once shattered him, returned without warning. Suddenly, I was nothing more than a dirty secret. While he smiled at his engagement party, I was lying in a hospital bed, waiting for death, worn down by my heart condition and his cold neglect. I was as good as gone. Until Miles, who would later become my fiancé, saved me. A year later, I came back—with a loving fiancé, a healthy body, and a new life. Cayden seemed broken by my “death,” but all I felt was bitter irony. We were foster siblings, never meant to be together. He was just a mistake from my past, a mistake I swore I’d never repeat. But life didn’t turn out as smooth as I imagined. Miles carried secrets, and Cayden… he wasn’t ready to let me go.

In a world slowly being erased, the quiet is the killer. Ethan Ashworth’s life ended the day the Silence touched him, leaving a smooth, numb patch on his skin and a ghost where his memories used to be. He is one of the Marked—doomed to be hollowed out, unless the hunters of Die Jägerfind him first. His only hope is the Library, a secret sanctuary for those the Silence hasn’t yet consumed. There, he meets Lorenzo Cavalli, a former soldier marked not by emptiness, but by a rage that refuses to be silenced. Their connection is immediate, volatile, and unwanted—a psychic bond forged in shared terror that screams against the quiet. It’s also the one thing the all-consuming Silence cannot stomach. Their bond isn't just a link; it’s a weapon. A wrong note in a world demanding perfect silence. On the run from relentless hunters and a creeping nothingness that eats sound, memory, and soul, Ethan and Lorenzo discover a terrible truth: the Silence isn't random. It's a hunger. And it’s gathering, preparing to swallow the world whole. Their only chance is to turn their unwanted connection into a blade, and walk into the heart of the consuming quiet. To kill a god of silence, you don’t fight with a shout. You fight with a scream that is also a love song.

Alyanna Samantha Anderson, as one of Anderson's princesses, used to get what she wanted. She thought her life was close to perfection since she could get everything she wanted. She never had a boyfriend, and that's why when she met someone who really intrigued her interest, she ignored all the red flags and still fell for him. Enrico Lorenzo De Guzman, Enzo, to his close friends, was never the type of a person that you will see socializing outside their circle. He's fine being alone, actually. He can last a day without talking to anyone... but not with her. He kept his feelings longer than he could remember because he knew he's not her type. But can they really ignore the feelings they're both keeping? Can they let this once in a lifetime chance slip because they think they should not be together?

Ambrose Miller forgets about me after an accident. He mistakes the perpetrator for me. He calls me a maid and forces our daughter to call the perpetrator "Mom". The doctor tells me it'll be beneficial for his recovery to go along with him. Later, I overhear him laughing while talking to someone. "I never would've expected to run into Maryanne again. Pretending to be an amnesiac is just a way to make up for lost time. I'll use a month to make up for the five years we've been without each other. I'll die without regrets." I look down at my maid uniform as tears stream silently down my face. I choose to leave so he and his true love can be together. However, Ambrose loses his mind that night and tearfully begs me to return.

Eri Sunville, an intelligent and hardworking female who needs to earn enough for her sister's surgery. She needs any job she can get at any moment and so when she gets the job as a secretary to famous and arrogant multi billionaire, Don Jones, she finds herself having to keep up with his behavior to earn for the surgery. Don Jones, an arrogant yet strikingly handsome CEO who cares about nothing else but the success of his company and will be getting married to his fiancee who has been kept anonymous to stir up the media. --- "Why are you late?" A deep and cold voice called. I had not even noticed the man sitting on the chair in front of the table that lay close to the wall. I stared at him and my goodness, was this how handsome Don Jones was. Nobody told me he was this hot. He had well defined jawlines, a prominent nose and high cheekbones that made me wonder how on earth a man could been so damn gorgeous. He had smooth and straight black hair that fell on his forehead. I only realized I had been staring at his full and perfectly shaped black eyebrows when they furrowed to form a frown. I stared at his eyes and he held my gaze with those devilish dark blue eyes.

"Marley!" He jerked off of his seat, "I forbid you from uttering that name henceforth. I can't believe this!" he grabbed his hair tightly.  "Mar-" "Don't!" he cut her off before flinging the piece of paper toward her which only flew a little distance from him to the carpeted floor.  "Nine weeks?" ****** The night; Liza, a nineteen years old stripper, Sacrifices her school to sponsor her sisters to college, Pays the bills, and wins bread. Things get worse when dean fires her after discovering she bares a customer's offspring. Wealth; Marley Woods, twenty-three with enough to be called a billionaire is the CEO of a known automotive manufacturing company.But a night's misbehavior engulfs him into a brain wrecking dilemma. Love and disaster; Zaphrina and Marley started on a rocky path with the help of his perspective on women. Sparks begin to build up between these two immiscible humans as Zaphrina becomes her worst nightmare's employee and fate being the perfect ribbon-wrapped gift it is, both find themselves in a situation neither can do without the other. Liza shows up just in time to ruin the smooth union with the help of someone who seeks Marley's grief more than she seeks his happiness.

I messed up—big time. Blurting out at a family dinner that my boss, neighbor, and best friend’s brother, Arnold, asked me to be his wedding date was not my finest moment. Mortified, I’m ready to apologize and smooth things over with his family, but Arnold? He’s not having it. Instead, he doubles down, proposing a wild plan: a fake relationship that suits us both.The deal? Three months of playing the perfect couple while my toddler and I live in his house, rent-free. In return, Arnold shields me from my toxic ex, and I help him dodge the town’s relentless matchmaking efforts. It’s the perfect arrangement—until the lines between fake and real start to blur.Arnold’s not just playing a role. He’s reading bedtime stories to my son, cooking us meals, and kissing me like the world might end if he stops. With every tender touch and stolen glance, he makes me feel seen, desired, in a way I’ve never known. The guestroom feels colder each night when his strong, tattooed arms are just down the hall, calling to me.As our forbidden kisses deepen, so does the risk. Are we crafting a love that could break us? Or are we building something breathtakingly real?

When an unexpected attack headed by Seraphine Wildfrost's best friend resulted to her mate's death and the destruction of Silvercrest Pack, Seraphine was left utterly devastated. Overwhelmed by the betrayal, hatred, grief and loss of her other half, she was driven to her own demise. But when she awoke, it wasn't the afterlife she saw. The Moon Goddess offered her a chance to alter the future events, to prevent the destruction caused by Maximus' dangerous obsession with her. The only rule she must remember is to never let anyone know she's from the future, or things might get worse if the knowledge fell into the wrong hands. Seraphine set out to devise a plan, recalling the root of the future destruction and trying her best to alter it. It seemed easy at first. Yet, just like what happened most of the time, things didn't go as planned. How will Seraphine cope with the consequences of her decisions? How will she face the man who betrayed her from the future? And how could she have forgotten how utterly annoying her mate and future husband was when they first met, just because he was the perfect husband to her in her future? Seraphine soon realizes that a thorough plan didn't guarantee a smooth sailing.

lunch went by pretty quickly, and we were back to classes soon enough. I'd like to forget to get a book out of my locker, so I went to go quickly and went to get it. I was leaning against the locker next to mine as I quickly scanned my schedule on my locker door. When warm air fanned the side of my face. "Move" being the excellent human being I am, I jumped out of fright, flinging the heavy calculus textbook in my hands backward. I hear a grunt and turn to find the person hunched over as they hold part of their face "Oh God! I'm so sorry!" I panicked. and then he looked up. the first thing I noticed was his short, dark hair. it looked so smooth, and 1 almost reached out to play with it. My eyes trailed down to his strong jaw line, down to his broad shoulders. I didn't even realize that I was biting my lip as I further inspected the Adonis before me. His arm flexed, bringing my attention to the amber eye he was now covering It was him. Six. He is the most popular and dangerous guy in school. And I'd managed to injure him with my calculus textbook.

After helping my husband build his business from the ground up, I settled into life as a full-time housewife. When our daughter's tenth birthday approached, I planned to host a grand celebration for her. I booked a party that cost 2 thousand dollars per table. But when I swiped my card at the hotel, the staff gave me a strange look. "Mrs. Richmond, this card doesn't even have fifty dollars in it to charge." Flushed with embarrassment, I went home to confront my husband. He wore an apologetic expression. "Lately, the company's been competing for contracts. The new government official is insatiably greedy, and I've had to spend a lot under the table to smooth things over. Once the funds turn around, I'll make sure our daughter gets the grand birthday she deserves." I gave him a gentle, understanding smile—but as soon as I turned away, I began tallying our assets. Because that so-called "new government official" was none other than my father. And in his office, there hadn't been any bids or contracts at all. Now I intended to find out exactly where my husband had spent all our money.