This Life Novel

Lucy lives with a killer. Kidnapped and to be wed to a mafia assassin, Lucy's hopes for a free and pure love were crushed. All she wanted was to be loved and be able to love whomever she wanted. Freely and without demands. Sounds simple enough, right? Not to Dante Romano. Brutal and commanding, he will awaken a darkness in her that she never knew existed. Will she succumb or will she be betrayed? Especially when Lucy wasn't the first choice to begin with. Lucy can't walk away now. Not when Dante not only holds the key to her heart but also to her soul.

On her birthday, Chloe’s world falls apart when her boyfriend abandons her. Seeking comfort, she makes the worst mistake of her life—or maybe the best one. In a moment of weakness, she ends up in the arms of Ruan, her half-sister Megan’s rejected fiancé. That single night changes everything. When Megan disappears and Chloe’s family turns against her, she is forced into an unthinkable role: the substitute bride. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she faces a ruthless father, a cruel stepmother, and a husband who belongs to someone else. Two years later, after her father’s death and Megan’s shocking return, the fragile balance shatters. Ruan, torn between the past and the present, demands a divorce. But as the papers are drawn, he realizes something he never expected—Chloe has taken root in his heart in ways he cannot deny. Now, he must face the one question that could rewrite their fate: What if the love he spent years searching for has always been with the woman he swore he would never love?

Connor’s life came crashing down eight years ago and he vowed to never return home, but that all changed when his mother died and he had to return home to settle everything. He hadn’t planned on running into the first person he ever loved and the first one that ever broke his heart. He didn’t plan on getting a stalker that made his life miserable and would not let him find peace.

My son has an aortic dissection and needs surgery. My husband is a cardiac expert, but I don't bother calling him. Instead, I take a cab straight to the hospital. In my past life, upon begging my husband, he came home with the ambulance to pick our son up. He also arranged for our son to be admitted. But because he forgot to bring his phone, his childhood sweetheart died of a heart attack when she couldn't reach him. He went missing for three months and suddenly returned one day, looking perfectly normal. He even volunteered to prepare the meal on our son's birthday. It turned out he only wanted to poison the food. He strangled me and cut my neck open. "You forced me to come home to pick our son up. Ciara wouldnt' have died if I'd answered her call that day. You and your son are murderers—you have to pay with your lives!" When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day my son has an aortic dissection. This time, my husband manages to answer his childhood sweetheart's phone. But why is he on his knees before me and begging for forgiveness?

How do you turn your life interesting overnight? No idea, but it probably doesn't involve falling through a mirror into another world after popping a pimple... Maisie was your average introvert, looking for a bit of spice in her life. That's probably why she ignored the warning signs that the mirror was more than it seemed. The $5 price tag on a full-length mirror probably should have been a hint, too.

At the awards for the Global Jewelry Design Competition, my stepsister Sandra took the grand prize. She used the designs she stole from me. What she didn’t know was the show’s biggest sponsor: Jude Moretti. Godfather of the Moretti family. A bloodthirsty monster scarred in an explosion, a man they say can never have children. And the grand prize? Becoming the Godfather’s bride. That night, Moretti’s men, all in black, delivered a gold-trimmed marriage contract. They were here for the “genius designer.” My fiancé, Marco, panicked. He whisked Sandra off to Vegas to save her. They got married that night. With the deed done, Sandra strutted back in, wearing my silk robe. She flashed the ring on her finger and the hickies all over her neck. “Marco’s mine now,” she purred. “What are you going to do, Odessa? The Godfather’s only giving you a day. If you don’t marry him, the Family will have to appease him. That means sending you to the red-light district. Selling you to the kind of sicko who gets off on broken things.” She was wrong. I had another choice. I found my father and stepmother, both scrambling to deal with the contract. “I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll marry the Godfather.”

After my husband topped the wealth rankings, he hired his first love as his personal housekeeper at a high salary. “Quincy, you hail from humble beginnings. I don’t want you embarrassing me in high society, so I specifically brought in Vivian to teach you the rules. From now on, everything you do must be reported to her for approval.” From that moment on, in public, I was the glamorous Mrs. Lane. However, behind closed doors, to even enjoy simple marital moments with my husband I had to write a thousand-word application seeking Vivian’s approval. Then, my adoptive father had a heart attack. I dropped to my knees, begging her to transfer me five hundred thousand dollars. She laughed coldly. “What kind of surgery costs half a million? Stop making excuses to pad your family’s finances.” “This isn’t a small sum. Write a 10,000-word application, and this time it’s denied.” Rage coursed through me, my body trembling uncontrollably as I spun toward Tyler and fell to my knees, begging him to save my father’s life. There wasn’t even a flicker of emotion on his face. “Vivian did nothing wrong. I know you’re still clinging to your old poor habits even after getting rich, but my money doesn’t grow on trees.” “This time, your father’s medical treatment will be put on hold as a lesson. Next time, don’t blame me if he’s kicked out of the VIP ward.” In the end, my adoptive father died on the operating table due to the delay in treatment. Completely disheartened, I finally asked Tyler for a divorce.

I stood between both of them masking my son from his gorgeous daddy but my stubborn son cocked his head and gave his dad a very beautiful sunburnt smile. I couldn't help but chuckle my baby is too cute. "Mommy, is this Daddy?" Oh my God! I looked behind us at Jale who was only a few steps away from us. I bet he clearly heard what my son had just asked me. The was he was looking at me with curiousty, I knew he wanted an answer to that question too. Who am I even kidding from his viking gold hair, brown chocolate eyes, his fair skin, to proud attitude. Everything he was was the same thing my boy was. Chase was a true young version of his daddy but I would never let him know that. I crouched down in front of my angel and kissed his forehead before answering his question. My eyes shot up at Jale again who pretended like he was looking at something on his phone yet his phone's screen was blank then. After making sure he had his attention to us, I cupped my baby's cheeks and made him look into my eyes. "No honey, this man is not your daddy but uncle. He is uncle Jale." I could see Jale's face fall from the sides of my face. Suck a jerk! What did he expect that I was going to say Chase is his son. That is something I would never do in my life. I would never let Jale into my son's life. I will never let him know he is my baby's daddy because he doesn't deserve my little boy at all. He doesn't deserve us after all the horrible things he did to me five years ago.

Ashley, the want to be alone outsider, can't believe what hit him when he met Austin, the goodlooking, nice soccerstar. Which leads to a marathon of emotions and some secrets from the past.

I loved Stella for five years, and we were even engaged. However, she never helped when my grandfather was dying, all because the adopted son of my family suggested that she should use the opportunity to put me through adversity—so that I would toughen up. After my grandfather died helplessly, I toughened up just as she hoped for, no longer relying on her for everything. Naturally, I no longer loved her anymore either.