Southern Literary Review

I have been hopelessly in love with Don Lorenzo Greco since the first time I saw him ten years ago. As the only daughter of the long-established Messina mafia family, I have set aside my pride and chased after him for a decade. On my 25th birthday, the way Lorenzo looks at me finally changed. He's not seeing a child anymore. He's looking at a woman. Lorenzo says yes to me, and I finally kiss the mouth I've been dreaming of all this while. The next day, Lorenzo announces to the world that he will hold the wedding of the century. 9,999 roses, fireworks all night, and a spectacle so grand it will shock every family in Northern Darvent. I stand there with tears in my eyes as the fireworks spell out another woman's name. Elena Lagioia. The assistant who has always been at Lorenzo's side, the girl I have never once taken seriously. I plan to confront Lorenzo with a gun in my hand. However, I stop outside the door when I hear him speaking to his consigliere. "Elena's parents are gambling addicts and owe a large debt. If I don't marry her, she'll be sold to a brothel in Malicuria tomorrow. Let's keep Cinzia in the dark for now. After this is over, I'll divorce Elena and marry Cinzia. After all, she loves me so dearly." On Lorenzo's wedding day, I'm wearing a wedding dress and resting in the arms of a far more powerful Don of the Argento family from Southern Darvent. I look at Lorenzo and smile. It drives him crazy. He swears to do whatever it takes to win me back.

It isn't normal for a student to have transfer to a completely different university on the opposite side of the country during their last year but Rianna had never been normal and neither her life. Staying at her old school meant putting herself into a scandalous position, forever staining her record while leaving meant she could start over. Choosing to leave, Rianna soon meets a sinfully attractive guy by the man of John who lives next door. However though he was devilishly handsome, there was something very mysterious and dark about him that Rianna couldn't put her finger on. She was desperate to know more about him and one evening of snooping around where she couldn't have been puts her in a very dangerous situation. She just hopes that their Sexual relationship would be enough for him not to kill her. He is dark and scaring. He was watching me as I rode his cock. With our eyes locked together, l began to feel it, it felt so fucking good. His eyes traveled from my eyes , down over my body and stopped at my southern parts. He watched me as I fucked him. It was such a turn on that l couldn't stop , no matter how hard I tried. "Touch yourself, show me how you like to be touched, Rianna....", His eyes came back to mine for a split second before l slid my hands up to my breasts. As l began to massage them and lightly pinch my nipples between my fingers, l watched John watch my every move. His thrusts became more intense as he watched me. "Yeah that's it", He growled. "Fucking hell, woman"

Nine-year-old Samara is the youngest of three Alpha children. When her parents and pack are attacked, Samara watches her brother murdered by someone that her family trusted. At her brother’s urgent request she runs, finding refuge in a southern pack and hiding her true identity. When she finds out that her family is gone, she begins planning her revenge. Roman is the Alpha heir to his father’s pack when his best friend, Theodore’s, pack is attacked. He finds Theodore dead, not knowing who murdered him. They search for Samara and not finding her, they assume that she is dead as well. Nine years later, Samara’s new Alpha has a party, inviting several Alphas to attend. Samara’s wolf senses one of the Alphas is her mate, but Samara recognizes him as one of the men who betrayed her brother. She attempts to reject him, but Roman has been waiting eight long years to find his mate. His curiosity is peaked when he realizes that this Alpha female has been hiding as an omega and he wants to know more. Having planned her revenge since her family’s murder, Samara is angry that Roman insists that she accept him, threatening to wage war against the kind Alpha who has raised her. She accepts her fate, agreeing to leave with Roman while still planning to take her revenge. What will happen when Roman realizes that his mate is the long-lost sister of his best friend? Will he be able to convince her that he wasn’t part of her brother’s betrayal? And when she finds out that another person close to her has betrayed her, will Samara turn to the only person who is willing to stand beside her and help her find the truth?

Tears were flowing through her cheeks from her blood shot eyes. Sniffing painfully she sat on the edge of bed. Her tears filled eyes were stuck on the shattered photo frame which she throw out of anger and pain. It was their marriage photo frame, the same photo which she used to admire once. But now, the same photo disgusts her whenever she looks at it.It sometimes the things which gives you happiness, the same things can give you pain too. Their whole room is a mess, just like her life. Wiping her tears Koushalya looked at those torn dairy pages along with few photo lying on floor , in which her husband was kissing another women. Love was visible in his eyes, sad thing is the love wasn't for her, it was for another women. Nothing can be more painful then, knowing your loved one loved Someone else more than you. She trusted him wholeheartedly, and now when she found out his secret , he lost the trust which she had on him. Koushalya, blankly stared the floor, her mind was telling her to leave him but her heart was begging her to stay. Somewhere, between her mind and heart she lost herself, her soul. Will she ever able to find her lost soul in that dark world of Sanjiv ? **** Meet Koushalya, Women with passion and broad thinking. Everything was perfect about her until she met Sanjiv, who showed her how does it feels to die slowly without letting anyone know. Somewhere between her husband Sanjiv and the fear of society she lost her own self. Will she find herself again ? -- I, Aarti Shankar welcoming you all in life of koushalya. To know further read the story and leave a review/feedback after reading it.

Sonia had a hard life after getting away from her parents. She lived a life of a princess but now she wasn't more than a slave. But her life changed even more dramatically when she was forced into a marriage by a billionaire who is known for his notorious image. A man who can make anyone shiver in fear. But her nightmare didn't end there. He found himself annoyingly attracted to her, too much to resist. Though he doesn't know the meaning of love, he wants her. All he wanted was to keep her with him whereas Sonia was determined to leave because of her hidden identity. She made a deal with him that he would let her go once she completed the task he gave her and he agreed reluctantly in a tricky manner. But will he ever let her go? What will happen if he gets to know that Sonia is the same girl he had been searching for, for four long years? Know more about the couple in the book and how their threatened story becomes an irresistible love story. *********** "It's done Mr. Arjun" Sonia walked into the room after successfully completing her task, but the man before him had a suspicious smirk tugged on his face. He tossed a file before her. "Just take a look" Sonia reached out for the file and opened it, her eyes widened in disbelief. "This is cheating...! I never agreed to this" she defended, Arjun lifted his gaze and looked at her. "Didn't you sign the contract consciously?" she nodded. "Then that's it" "But how could it be a forever contract...? You tricked me...!" *********** Please do leave a review and comment about the book to let me know how my work is going on. Thank you for reading. ❤️❤️

My future mother-in-law, Diane Grant, loved setting rules. On the day I proposed, she sat there with that smug, superior look and told me if I wanted to marry her daughter, Olivia Grant, I had to pass her so-called "son-in-law training", which was three months working as a food delivery driver. She said she wanted to test whether I could handle hardship. For my fiancee's sake, I kept my identity hidden. I was the heir to one of the most powerful families in Crestfall City, and I agreed without hesitation. For three months, I shed every trace of privilege. I worked from dawn to night, delivering orders across the city. My parents didn’t understand. My friends disapproved. Mrs. Grant watched me like a hawk, picking me apart every single day. "Three minutes late? That’s a $3,000 penalty. The wedding shall be delayed by a month!" "Wrong unit delivery, bad review? $8,000 penalty. You don’t get to see Olivia this week!" Even then, I never gave up. Until the final day. I received an urgent order with a massive tip. The note was in bold: "Lifesaving medication. Immediate delivery." I sped through the streets, pushing myself to the limit. Just as I was about to enter the residential compound, Mrs. Grant stepped in front of me, blocking my way, her face full of disdain. Her voice shot up sharply. "The wedding gift goes up to $200,000. Not a cent less." I looked at her look of absolute certainty and suddenly laughed. My finger slid across the screen. The recipient of that urgent order was her precious son, Christopher Grant. I slowly put away the unlimited card in my pocket, along with the check I had prepared for a million-dollar wedding gift. Originally, I had planned to reveal my identity that day to give her the surprise of a lifetime. It seemed there was no need.

The full moon hangs high in the night sky at 1:00 am. My mate, Alpha Chris Dalton of the Southern Gray Wolf pack has just returned from a patrol around the border. It has been three days since he last slept. He still smells of blood and rust from the times he had fought against packs of Rogues. When we're about to rest, Chris hears Emily Gibson's cries coming from his mind-link. "Alpha Chris, I think I smell a Rogue near my house. I'm so scared…" Chris shifts into a huge wolf and dashes out of our home without hesitation. He only returns the next day at dawnbreak, his exhaustion evident on his face. "Emily suffered from a fright last night, so I had to keep her company the whole night." When Chris notices the way I sit on the edge of the bed quietly without moving in to kiss him as usual, he approaches me in exasperation. Then, he wraps an arm around my shoulders before nuzzling his head against my neck affectionately, as though he were a huge dog who had made a mistake. "Emily is the mate of a Beta who has sacrificed himself for the pack, Selena. Not to mention, she's with pup at the moment. As the pack's Alpha, I'm obligated to take care of her. But I promise that I'll reduce the visitation times in the future, so please stop being unhappy with me, okay?" With red-rimmed eyes, I push Chris' arm away. "Alpha Chris, let's sever our mate bond."

Before our marking ceremony, my fiancé, Adrian Conner, insists on bringing his childhood sweetheart along on our trip—all because Flora Wooledge says she also wants to see the northern lights. He switches my first-class ticket to Flora's name. He says, "I'll fly first class with Flora. You can take connecting flights by land. The doctor said it's not good for a pregnant woman to stay at high altitude for too long." I don't cry or argue. Instead, I calmly push him toward Flora. He snorts. "You've finally learned to behave. You're not as clingy and troublesome as before." After he leaves, I quietly sign the abortion consent form at the hospital. Then, I book a ticket to the southern hemisphere. In my past life, I begged and clung to him, hoping to keep him with our pup. But on that trip, Flora was attacked by rogue wolves and torn apart in the snow. Adrian kept a calm facade. Yet on the night I was about to give birth, he dragged me back home and cut open my belly with his own hands. He stood there and listened as our pup's cries slowly faded away. He poured all his hatred onto me. He believed I caused Flora's death and that I ruined his chance to become the Conner family's heir. To him, I was nothing more than a sacrificial pawn. In this new life, when I step off the private jet, I see Adrian standing there with his eyes bloodshot. He stares at my belly and asks, "Where's the pup?" Before I can answer, his half-brother wraps an arm around my waist. "Adrian, show some respect to your sister-in-law."

I was the legitimate firstborn daughter of the King of the North. After my mother’s death, my aunt married the King of the South and became his Queen Consort. She brought me to her court, raising me beside her own sons. The Southern King adored me—He would seat me upon his knee and gesture toward the princes, laughing lightly: “When Hazel comes of age, whichever prince she chooses as her husband shall inherit this throne of the South.” “Stay here, child. The South could be your home.” In my previous life, I chose the Crown Prince—Ethan. I stood beside him during the War of Succession. I funded his armies with Northern gold. I silenced rival lords. I secured the throne for him. And when he was crowned king—He repaid me with imprisonment in the White Tower. And an order signed in his own hand. The North burned.The court was purged. Before I was forced to take my own life, he came to watch. “If not for you,” he said coldly, “Ava would still be alive.” “She died alone while I could not even mourn her. You will suffer tenfold.” “The Nouth falls because of you. Their blood is your dowry.” Then I died. When I opened my eyes again, I was seated once more in the Great Hall. The King was smiling. “Hazel, today you will choose your husband.” The princes stood before me. This time, I did not look at Ethan. I pointed instead to the Queen’s third son. “I will marry Alexander.” And this time—I would decide who burns.

A princess vanishes. A kingdom can't afford the truth. And the only person who can take her place is the brother who was never supposed to exist in the shadows she left behind. Prince Caelan Vayne is an Alpha with a secret that could shatter him — his strength is suppressed, his designation hidden, his entire identity a carefully maintained performance. When his sister disappears days before her royal wedding, his father makes the impossible ask: put on her dress, cross the border south, and become her. Just long enough to save the alliance. Just long enough to find her. He doesn't expect Crown Prince Damien Solaris. Cold. Commanding. The kind of man who fills a room without trying. Damien is everything a southern crown prince is supposed to be — except for one thing. Beneath the iron composure and the perfect Alpha facade, he's hiding a designation that would cost him his crown, his empire, and everything he's spent his life building. Two people. Two impossible secrets. One contract marriage that was supposed to keep them at arm's length. It doesn't. Because living under the same roof does something to carefully constructed walls. Shared suppressants become shared trust. Midnight investigations become something neither of them can name. And the cold, professional distance of a contract slowly, devastatingly becomes the one place either of them has ever felt safe. But someone arranged the princess's disappearance. Someone inside these very palace walls wants this alliance — and everything it protects — reduced to ash. They'll have to find the truth before it finds them first. The Alpha Wore a Crown and Secrets is a slow-burn ABO royalty romance about two people who agreed to a temporary arrangement — and discovered that the heart doesn't honor expiration dates.