Swimming Lessons Manila

"Since you have already agreed to the deal you must know that being my personal killer would mean that you have to listen to everything that I tell you to do. There will be punishments if you fail to follow this," he said mirth swimming in his eyes taking Vevina by surprise. She wasn't prepared for this new twist and glaring at him she wretched her hand out of his hold and shouted, "You never said anything about that! And why the fuck would you kiss me with your filthy lips?" ~ Vevina Yaretzi doesn't believe in love. Why would she when all her life she had only been abused by every person that she had ever met including her parents. She is so suffocated by the torture that when her brain finally snaps she decides to fuck it and just kill her parents. She doesn't have a will to live and doesn't care what happens to her future. Sinking deep in her madness, alone, she finds her hand being gripped by another man who is pulling her out of the darkest parts of her mind...towards love? ~ Alastor Tynen is a ruthless Alpha famous for his cruelty when he finds out that he has been mated to an abused weak human or so everyone believes. She is unstable, chaotic and although human she has the potential to scare away werewolves like him only if she was honed right. He knows that the only way to make this crazy woman his is to clash against her craziness. The problem was his pack wouldn't accept a 'weak human' as their Luna and neither did Vevina seem in a state where she would love him or accept them. But Alastor is set on making her his. Would this love be possible?

CATALEYA DOMINGO, nakasumpong ng pagpapanibagong buhay sa mala-paraisong bayan ng El Nido sa Palawan. May stable job siya bilang isang secretary at isang lihim na online romance writer. Kinalimutan na niya ang mga hindi magandang nangyari sa buhay niya noong nasa Manila pa siya. Kung may isang bagay siyang hinihiling sa kasalukuyan, iyon ay magkaroon ng mapagmahal na asawa at sariling pamilya. LUKAS ADRIATICO, isang mayamang binata na galing sa prominenteng pamilya. May nakatanim na galit sa puso niya dahil nahuli niya ang asawa na pinagtataksilan siya bago namatay sa isang car accident. Naging woman hater siya at ang tingin niya sa mga kalahi ni Eva ay isang laruan lang. Takot siyang magmahal muli dahil baka lolokohin na naman siya. Tanging pangarap niya ang mapamahalaan ang kanilang malaking kompanya. Walang kamalay-malay si Lukas na siya ang ginawang character peg ni Cataleya sa sinusulat nitong romance novel. Parang naglalaro ang tadhana, na sa pagkamatay ng boss niya, ang binata naman ang magiging boss ng dalagang secretary. Sa kabila ng pagiging hostile na boss ni Lukas kay Cataleya, magkakalapit pa rin ang mga loob nila. Ngunit may isang malaking kasinungalingan sa nakaraan ang nag-uugnay pala sa kanilang dalawa.

TRIGGER WARNING: THIS BOOK HAS VIOLENCE AND S. EXUAL THEME. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. In the twilight's embrace, where shadows blend with moonlit secrets, an extraordinary love unfolds. Two worlds collide as a human and a lycan find themselves captivated by a forbidden connection. Bound by the threads of destiny, they navigate the delicate balance between their humanity and the untamed essence within. Their love ignites like a wildfire, defies the barriers of species and the norms of their world, unravels its own complexities and transcends the boundaries of the ordinary. Considered not worthy of the Luna title by everyone, Mackenzie Cortez was rejected by the future Main Alpha to become his bride. Heartbroken, but wanted to prove her worth to him and to their entire pack, she embarked on a mission to annihilate an entire mafia gang that managed to get a hold of proofs about the lycans’ existence, which the gang intended to use to become the wealthiest and the most powerful in the world. -“I don’t need a maid. I want a slave, who will keep me entertained whenever I want to.”- Mackenzie left her pack to look for The Manila Mafia gang. Once she set foot on their den, she pretended to be looking for a job as a maid, but the mafia boss’ son, Davide Ocampo, offered her a job that she couldn't get out of. -“My mission is to prey, not to be feasted upon. What will he do if he finds out that I’m a lycan whom he and his gang are so desperate to experiment? I know that the cliff I’m treading is too dangerous, and one misstep is fatal. Still, I choose to fall.”-

Samantha Samina Samuel is a 24-year-old girl, a sweet, understanding, generous, softhearted woman, and the beauty she had was a bonus. After her grandmother, who took care of her until she grew up, died, her uncle Arjo sent her to Manila for some reason, and she will meet her Lola Facita's best friend named Anghelita Chuena. And there she will meet kaizer, the old grandchild of Lola Anghelita. The first time they saw each other, they already hated each other. Until Kaizer got drunk one night and he mistook Samantha for someone else, her first love, who he thought had already passed away. And suddenly the girl showed up, and Kaizer was being cold toward Samantha until he kicked her out of their house, and he didn't know that Samantha was pregnant with their child. Samantha's parents know about the cruelty and did Kaizer to their daughter. They get forced together to get revenge on Kaizer by bankrupting the company he manages. Until he knew about Samantha's pregnancy, and he also felt missing pieces on him and a craving for Samantha's presence. He begged Samantha's parents to tell about where she is, but her parents were not just simple people but the biggest and most powerful mafia, and they wanted to test how serious Kaizer is about wanting to have Samantha back. Will he still take the risk and give up everything he owns just to find samantha's and take her back?

What if you’re a fallen angel of death and God calls you for reconciliation? Isaac Jacob is a heartbroken and broke businessman. When his wife Maria; the woman that he trusted and love most cheated on him and stole his money as well as ruined his life that makes him miserable and hopeless. Which makes him want to shoot her and her lover but unexpected things happened that worsen his situation. He moved to a slum area somewhere in Manila when he sold everything that he possessed because of bankruptcy. He doesn’t have a choice but to start from scratch with his blind father. Until he met Michael; the archangel who disguised as a teenage girl to gather all the fallen angels on earth and he is one of the fallen angels who need a reconciliation. Michael promised him wealth after he passed the challenge that he need to face. He needs to enter a game that will put him between life and death before he achieves the wealth that he is dreaming of. The game that he needs to find the murderers and help the victims take their stolen lives back. Once he won, the victims will come back to life and live like nothing’s happened but he will be forgotten, but once he loses. The murderers will live and the victims will vanish forever like they never existed. While he is on a game. He starts discovering some things that will connect to his past life. That makes him interested in why her wife cheated on her? Who is her lover? Is it just a simple reconciliation or it is the past that he can’t forget that gives him trauma and breakdown?

Jaxton Ricafrente came from a rich family and 'cursed' family. In able for them to inherit what rightfully is for them, they have to bear a child before they reach the age of 25. Pero hindi ganoon kadali ang lahat ng iyon dahil karamihan sa pamilya nila ay baog, na minana pa nila sa mga ninuno nila. They have to do everything; professionally, medically, traditionally. Lahat gagawin nila upang maging posible ito. And there is Cindy Gamboa. His long-time friend, who fell in love with him unexpectedly. She's aware of their family's background and don't want to be involved regardless on how much she loves Jaxton. Until one night came, they're both dr*gged and drunk. The unexpected thing happened. Hindi tanggap ng pamilya ni Cindy ang nangyari at gusto ng mga ito ipalaglag ang batang dinadala niya. Wala ring alam si Jaxton tungkol dito at wala siyang balak ipaalam sa binata. Just like the other girls he's been with, she'll be thrown out once he finds out that she's bearing his child. At ayaw niyang mangyari 'yon, so, she left Manila for good. Nandoon ang pangamba ni Cindy na kapag nalaman ni Jaxton na anak niya ang dalawang bata ay ilayo niya ang mga ito sa kanya at maiwan siya. Hanggang kailan maitatago ni Cindy ang katotohanan? Ngayong nakita niya muli si Jaxton, nanaiisin kaya nito na maging parte ito ng kanilang tahimik na pamumuhay?

The carnivorous ways of the Aswang leave little room for love - much less a forbidden one between a queen and human girl. Little did Aswang Queen Catarina know, soon, her life would be changed by a plucky American biologist. A blue eyed, blonde adventurer, Rose Smith from California, who would make Catarina question all she knew, and want to make a human Her Aswang Woman King. ___ Catarina Rosales Marquez, 26, is the Aswang Queen of the Domminga Mountains, but she abhors eating humans. She has genetically engineered the fruits of her goddess Ikapati to produce human proteins in order to bring peace to Mindanao - but the Aswang do not trust this revolutionary, peaceful Queen - and are wary of the American biologist she has taken under her wing. Rose Smith is a German-American biologist doing her dissertation on the elusive, endangered Phillippines Eagle. Having studied the Tarsier in her undergraduate semester abroad in Manila, she fell in love with chicken adobo, pandesal - and Filipina women. Eager to be the first American biologist to do a longitudinal study of the Phillipines Eagle, she sets out into the Domminga Mountains on a bus with a one-way ticket - not afraid of the local's warnings of the rabid Iktapati Aswang Clan that eats humans, and roving bands of Tikbalang werehorses that stampede trespassers to death. When Catarina and Rose collide, it is oil and flame. Catarina, expected to marry a King, finds herself questioning the very cosmos of relationships - can she take a Queen, and a feisty American grad student at that? And can Rose come to terms with the elusive, seductive courts of the Vampiric Aswang? When the Iktapati clan rebels, the Tikbalang war, and the wind spirits coquette, Rose and Catarina must team up to save the humans of Mindanao - and the Phillipines eagle!

She was the good girl, the kind who went to church, held onto hope, and believed love was patient, kind, and safe. He was the golden boy, a charming athlete with a dangerous edge and a past full of secrets. When their worlds collided, it wasn’t gentle. It was wild. All-consuming. Addictive. From the very beginning, he swept her off her feet , with compliments, promises, and intense affection. She fell hard. He changed her, slowly pulling her away from her values, her friends, and herself. But behind the sweet messages and stolen kisses was something darker: cheating, manipulation, and obsession. When she made one mistake, one moment of weakness, he unraveled. Possessive. Cold. Punishing. Their love turned into a battleground of blame, silence, and control. She finally found the strength to walk away. Two months of no contact. Healing. Distance. She went overseas to find space from the chaos. But just as she began to breathe again, he messaged her. They reunited. Briefly. Just long enough for her to realize the truth: he hadn’t changed. But she had. This is the story of a girl who lost herself in someone else’s world, and slowly, powerfully, found her way back. It’s about love bombing, heartbreak, emotional survival, and becoming your own safe place. She meets other men, learns new lessons, and begins to understand that what she really wants isn’t chaos disguised as passion… It’s peace. Wholeness. Companionship built on truth. He was never her forever. But he was the lesson she needed to meet the love she deserved.

Szarina Kim Orpesa, Labing dalawampung taon gulang. Lumaki sa pagmamahal ng isang pamilya na isang mahirap lamang. Dahil sa kagustuhang makapagtapos ng pag aaral para makatulong sa pamilya na kumupkop sa kanya ay ginawa niya ang kanyang makakaya makapasa lamang sa scholarship ng isang exclusive school sa Manila. Akala ni Szarina kapag lumuwas s'ya ng Manila ay magiging maganda at maayos ang kanyang pag-aaral, akala lang pala niya iyon. Dahil sa isang nag ngangalang Jeran Zeus Underthesaya ang Presidente ng Pilipinas ay biglang magbabago ang kanyang kapalaran. “Pumayag ka lang sa gusto ko Szarina. Ang lupang nakasanla saiyong tiyahin ay pwede mo ng mabawi, hindi kana mag-iisip pa kung paano mo mababawi ang lupa ng mga magulang mo. Isang buwan lang ang binigay na palugit ng iyong tiyahin sa iyong ina, hindi mo mababayaran iyon sa loob lang ng isang buwan na sweldo mo bilang isang sekretarya ko. Mag-isip isip ka Szarina. Ano nga ba ang magiging desisyon ni Szarina? Tatanggapin ba ni Szarina ang inaalok ni Jeran sa kanya? o hahayaan na lang nito na may mawala pang isa sa mahal niya sa buhay? Atin pon basahin ang kwento ng dalawa sa pinamagatang Mr.President Secret Affair ni J.C.E Cleopatra.

CLAIMING HER A wrong hotel room. A stranger’s arms. A secret she swore to bury. For years, Fiona Mendez endured a loveless marriage built on betrayal and empty promises. She clung to the hope that Aries—the man she once loved—would finally choose her. But fate had other plans. One mistake. One night. One moment of weakness. A wrong hotel room led her to Nagi Fujiwara—a stranger whose touch made her forget her pain. But when morning came, so did the horrifying truth. The man she thought was her husband was someone else. Before she could even process what happened, Aries shattered what was left of their marriage—not because he found out, but because he had someone else. Discarded and humiliated, Fiona fled to Cebu. She was ready to start over—until two pink lines changed everything. She was pregnant. And the father? A man she barely remembered. For two years, she raised her daughter Lizha alone, determined to leave the past behind. But peace never lasts forever. Forced to return to Manila for work, Fiona braces herself for the ghosts of her past. What she doesn’t expect is to come face-to-face with the man she swore she’d never see again. Nagi Fujiwara The father of her child. Her new boss. The ruthless, powerful, and dangerously possessive. A man who always gets what he wants. And this time, he wants her. Fiona may have run from him once, but now that fate has brought her back into his world, there’s no escaping him. And Nagi will stop at nothing to claim what’s rightfully his.