The Long Shadow Review

After catching her fiancé buried between her sister’s thighs, Maria ran. Straight into the arms of the last man she should’ve fallen for—his father. ~~~~ MARIA: The future I imagined went to shit the night before my wedding. Being betrayed by those closest to me nearly fucked me up, leaving me broken and in need of an escape. When I fled, I did it with zero plans—nothing but rage in my heart and my suitcase in hand. But then fate threw me into Declan: older, dangerously compelling, but also equally scarred. He took me in when I was stranded—no questions asked. It was the last thing I expected, but he continued to care for me, keep me safe and... warm me up. In more ways than one. As days pass, ignoring the heat, chemistry, and.. persistent feelings between us becomes... tough. I feel his eyes on me all the time, and my heart rate triples without permission whenever I bump into him in the house. He clearly wants me. I want him too, but I can't allow it to happen. Because he's the father of the man I now despise the most in the world. DECLAN: I took her in because I wanted to help. Who am I kidding, it's more than that. I couldn't help myself. From the moment I laid eyes on her, she had my heart in a choke hold. And as the days went by, resisting her became the sweetest torture. It became like hell to keep my hands to myself, or my mind from imagining obscene things whenever I see her. But we’re not free to give into this. She’s only 23, and I’m... nearly twice her age. And what's worse, I'm the father of the man who broke her heart.

River Lockhart, the son of an infamous billionaire, gets a speeding ticket from the new police officer of the city, Officer Damian Reid. "Trust me, officer. You don't want to do that." "Why? Are you the Prime Minister's son?" "What if I am?" "It doesn't matter." River is to follow his father, Mr Lockhart's footsteps in the future. It has been his dream to copy his father's image one day. But the timing is so wrong. He's interested in a guardian of the law, yet he is to become a devil against the law. Can illegal shadows and emergency sirens mingle together? Is it a good match?

Houston Legacies Series Book 1 Angel's life has never been easy. Growing up in poverty with her mother had made it even harder than most. But she was a fighter, in so many ways… How could the truth so totally alter someone's life as they knew it? How did she adjust to this life? All she knew was she had family now, and she was going to make them proud. This was just the beginning she was going to change the world. At least her small part of it. It was time to change some lives… Life was all about change…

Angela Graham's husband abandons her twice on her birthday for the sake of his true love. She's devastated and dejected when she learns a secret—it turns out that every celebration and anniversary that she and her husband have had over the past five years was planned by his true love. Angela's heart and love have been stomped on far too many times. It's been five years, and she's tired. She doesn't want to stick it out anymore. But her ex-husband comes running when she leaves him and allows another man to stand by her side. "You can't fall in love with anyone else without my permission, Angela!" Angela laughs. "You think too highly of yourself, ex-husband."

In the heart of a modern metropolis lies Elysium, an exclusive BDSM club where the wealthy and powerful shed their masks and surrender to forbidden desires. By night, behind velvet curtains and gilded cages, Dominants and submissives dance in a dangerous symphony of pleasure and pain. Shadows of Desire follows a cast of lost souls drawn into Elysium’s seductive orbit: a newcomer aching to submit, a jaded Master with a dark past, a cunning Dominatrix guarding her secrets, a switch torn between roles, and a voyeur hungry for more than just watching. As decadent play turns to emotional entanglement, bonds of trust deepen – until whispers of betrayal begin to echo through the opulent chambers. In this world of consensual extremes, where ecstasy and agony blur, one hidden traitor threatens to destroy the sanctuary that binds them all. Secrets, obsessions, and power collide in a fast-paced, darkly seductive romance. Will love and loyalty survive when the truth comes to light, or will the betrayal lurking in the shadows shatter the fragile trust that holds Elysium together?

Note: This is Book 2. Do not flip the pages of this book if you haven’t read Book 1, which is My Dark Past. “Can true love mend all the heartaches brought by the painful past?” The story follows the life of Diane after knowing the truth behind her forgotten past. How will she opt to continue living her life if the man whom she has gotten rid of—chooses to stay beside her?

She planned perfect weddings for a living. Too bad her own marriage was a lie. Dahlia Miller was the secret wife of Sebastian Hawthorne—billionaire, CEO, and a man who treated love like a business contract. She endured his cold indifference, his ruthless family, and the loneliness of a marriage that only existed on paper. Until the night she discovered the truth. Sebastian wasn’t just distant. He belonged to someone else. So Dahlia did the one thing no one expected from the obedient Mrs. Hawthorne. She left. Now she’s rebuilding her life on a forgotten farm, turning broken land into beautiful beginnings for other people’s love stories. But Sebastian Hawthorne doesn’t lose what belongs to him. He refuses to sign the divorce papers. And the longer he stays, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Because Dahlia isn’t just hiding a broken heart. She’s hiding his child. And the problem with walking away from a man like Sebastian Hawthorne… is that he always comes back to claim what’s his.

In my previous life, I was born at the stroke of a cold, pitch-black midnight on New Year's Day, an omen the old town whispered about. They called me a Deathbringer's child, destined to guide the souls of the stillborn to rest. From the age of six, I carried small coffins alone to the graveyard by the church, burying them in silence. Each time, when I reached into the velvet shroud that wrapped the tiny casket, I would find a golden coin resting inside. My mother sold those coins for money, buying my brother a grand mansion, while leaving me behind in the crumbling family house to keep doing the work. No one expected the world of Haunts to descend. However, those coins turned out to be tokens of command, keys that bound the Haunts of the apocalypse to my will. With them, I became the Empress of the End, feared by all, ruling with every resource at my command.

Suamiku menyewa seorang pengasuh pria untukku, tapi entah kenapa aku selalu merasa dia diam-diam mengintipku. Aku terus waspada padanya, tapi sebagai ibu menyusui yang sedang bengkak ASI, aku terpaksa memintanya membantu. Aku gugup, takut dia akan berlaku tak senonoh padaku. Namun dia terlihat sangat sopan dan profesional. Sampai perlahan, semuanya mulai terasa tidak beres. Awalnya dia hanya menggunakan tangan, lalu mulai dengan mulutnya, dan akhirnya, tanpa peringatan, dia menyibakkan gaun tidurku...

On the day Winter Everhart suffers a miscarriage, her husband, Joshua Stroud, and their son, Terence, are out with his beloved Jessica Lynch. They watch the very performance Winter has always loved. "You're just so unreasonable. What's the point of all this?" "Dad, can you get me a new mom? She's so annoying!" On Winter's birthday, she returns from the hospital only to find Joshua celebrating Jessica's instead. Even Terence, the child she nearly gave her life to bring into the world, pledges to protect the woman who has stolen everything from her. Tears glisten in Winter's eyes as she smiles. Then, with quiet resolve, she walks away from the cage of a marriage that has bound her for five years. Joshua and Terence believe she won't survive without the Stroud family. What they don't expect is that she rises so high that they can no longer reach her. "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud's car design is now number one nationwide—Stroud Group has been completely outshone!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has just won the World Championship in Artificial Intelligence Design!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has been invited by a foreign president to attend a state banquet!" Regret tears Joshua apart. Dragging Terence with him, he kneels before Winter and pleads, "Honey, please give me another chance! If being your servant is what it takes, I'll do it!" But just beyond the door, a strikingly handsome man kneels on one knee, a leather collar fastened around his neck. Twining a diamond leash around Winter's palm, he vows with his gaze burning with feverish devotion, "My master, from this moment on, I bow to no one but you. Please, take me in."