Thomas Crane Library Hours

“You've been there for me through the best and the worst, shared my happiness and my sadness, you're the person I want to argue with and wake up next to every day of my life. I can go on for hours about how much you mean to me and how much I love you, but I always believed that actions speak louder than words, so I'll knee before you and ask; Will you marry me, will you give me a lifetime to show you how much I love you?” Aria's body was covered in goosebumps, her whole body felt like it had frozen over. She heard every word he uttered like a siren in the night, but her brain wouldn't function. This wasn't supposed to happen. “I can't..." She didn't realise that the words were out of her mouth till she saw his face fall and the crowd gasped. “What do you mean you can't?” Deagan stood up and took a step towards her, but she stepped back before he could touch her. “I- I just can't, I'm sorry.” Tears welled in her eyes and her heart burned with pain, she knew she was hurting him and that made her heart break even more. ### Aria and Deagan face the test of time as two people from opposing social standings trying to navigate a relationship, standing strong when their families try to tear them apart until the secrets they keep from each other are revealed. Will Deagan win back his girl or is his past too heavy a burden to face? There's a fine line between secrets and lies, until keeping a secret means having to tell a lie...

Trigger Warning ⚠️ ‼️ This book contains explicit sexual content, feral dominance, psychological obsession, sadistic control, graphic violence, degradation, and a brutal breeding kink. For mature readers only. Read at your own risk…or give in to the madness. She was just coming off a night shift. Scrubs still on. Exhausted. Bone-deep tired from another fourteen hours in the ER. She wanted food. A hot shower. Silence. What she got was blood. And him. Isadora Bell, twenty..three, top of her med school class and two years into her residency, made one mistake..she took the alley behind the hospital after her shift to avoid the rain. There, under flickering streetlights and the shadow of a gun, she watched a man get executed at close range. And the monster holding the gun? Dominic. Valenzo Head of the Valenzo crime family. Cold. Untouchable. Ruthless. He kills without flinching and fucks like it’s war. No one sees him and lives. No one touches him and breathes. But something about her made him stop. She should’ve screamed. Begged. Run. She just stared. He saw it in her eyes..curiosity. Fear. Heat. So he made a decision. “You’re mine now, little doctor. And the only thing you’ll be saving… is your breath when I’m done with you.” Now she’s trapped in a world of blood, diamonds, and depravity. Torn between what’s right and the man who ruins her every time. Because Dominic doesn’t make love. He claims. He destroys. He fucks until you forget who you were. And every time she swears she’s done, He makes her beg. This isn’t a love story. This is obsession. This is power. This is the kind of dark you don’t come back from.

Book One: "Eight years ago Julius DaLair, New York's most eligible bachelor, married childhood friend Macey Grayson. Six years ago he made the biggest mistake of his life and she disappeared. Unbeknownst to him she has been living in Paris raising their twins and under the protection of his father who helped her leave New York and supported her while she returned to her studies. Julius is about to learn there is more to the woman he married and their children than meets the eye. Can he win back her heart? Does he have secret helpers hoping to bring them all together?” Book Two: For ten years Lynn has dedicated her life to her triplets working long hours as a waitress she manages to eke out a living providing for two growing boys and a daughter struggling with a degenerative eye disease. When she was younger she had a crush on Silas Prescott the son of her father's biggest business rival. Lynn was content to let her feelings go unvoiced and herself unnoticed. Then one morning she finds herself in bed with the very man she has always loved but he could not be more disgusted. Throwing a blank check at her he orders her to disappear and never show herself in front of him again. While she was raising their children Silas has been desperately searching for her. For ten years he assumed the woman he found in his room was a maid, not the woman of his dreams. Somehow he has to find away to win her back and earn the trust of his children who have been quietly plotting their revenge on anyone who hurt their mother. Silas learns very quickly there is more to them than meets the eye.

Run, Run, RUN. Don’t stop. The night was falling and like the creatures of the day, I needed to hide. My heart is thundering in my chest, echoing the sounds of the war that rage from the fields of my once loved home. That was before the coven came. Surprising us and taking my home and pack. The attack happened so quickly that no one was ready. We had no warning and after hours of waiting I was found. I had to run. Don't stop running. “CRACK” the current of magic shoots by and hits the tree to my left, my bare feet crunching the earth hard and fast. My small heart fluttering faster than a hummingbird's wings, my once sparkling beautiful dress is no more. It’s tattered, dirty, and torn. The edges burnt to a crisp and coated in blood from bodies of the battlefield that I raced away from. “Come here little wolfie,” a harsh raspy voice calls out cutting through the trees I hide quickly behind a tree to take cover to breathe, “I just want a little chat!” He calls singsong like, taunting me. He wants to find me to kill me. Ducking further behind my tree I hold my breath, my young body shaking with so much force my bones ache. Holding my breath and closing my eyes hoping for safety that surely won’t come. At only 11 years of age, I can’t fight this grown warlock... he will surely kill me like he did my parents... “Wolfie princess, where are you?” He mimics the rhythm of a child’s tune, as if I’d listen. Closing my eyes tighter I don’t want to die. I’m too young. My mind is racing, and my hearts bound t....

My name is Mia, and I am the middle child of Don and Donna Costa. I am also the black sheep of the family. Or the ugly duckling, as my mother would call me. My shift ended a few hours ago, but it takes me long to get home as I do not have a car like my brother, Leonardo, the oldest, or my sister, Amara, the beautiful one and youngest in the family. As you may gather from my story so far, my parents do not care about me. I walk into the house with a sigh. I have seen the cars in front of our home, and I know my family has friends over. "You have nothing I want! You stole from us, and today I will kill your whole family," I hear an angry voice. I wonder what my father has done this time to piss someone off. "Godfather, give me another chance. You can have my beautiful daughter as your wife," My father begs. Holy shit! My father stole from the godfather? I know the godfather is about thirty, and his name is Riccardo Marina. The Marina family is the most powerful in the American mafia. "I do not like blond blue-eyed sluts. I prefer women with dark hair. Besides, Everyone in town knows Amara Costa! She has been around the block," Riccardo says with disgust. I do not know what to do. Shall I hide? Not many people know my parents have another daughter. I am never invited to their parties as my family is ashamed of me. I do not care for my family, and they can die for all I care. "I have another daughter with dark hair. Maybe you will fancy her," My father begs again. I sigh. Typical!

At Manatee high, where wealth whispers through the marble halls and last names open doors, Emma Carter stands out for all the wrong reasons. She’s there on a scholarship — smart, quiet, and completely out of place among the designer uniforms and polished smiles. Her father works long hours as a construction worker, and her mother’s absence still echoes through every choice she makes. All Emma wants is to survive senior year unnoticed. Connor Hayes Charming, confident, and born into old money, he moves through school like he owns it — because, in a way, he does. But behind the perfect image lies someone quietly restless, bored of the shallow routines and expectations his family forces on him. When a class project throws Emma and Connor together, their worlds collide. What starts as polite conversation turns into stolen glances, late-night talks, and moments that make Emma question everything she’s been taught about people like him. For the first time, Connor finds someone who doesn’t care about his last name — someone who sees him. But no everyone is happy about it ,The whispers start. And soon, Emma isn’t sure if she’s part of Connor’s world — or just an experiment in rebellion. As emotions deepen, the line between love and heartbreak blurs. Emma learns that privilege comes with its own cages, and Connor realizes that sincerity can’t be bought. Together, they must decide whether what they have can survive the pressure of judgment, jealousy, and fear — or if love alone isn’t enough to bridge two very different worlds. “Emma and Connor” is a coming-of-age romance about class, courage, and finding where you belong — even when the world tells you that you don’t.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

The doctor told me I had 72 hours left, unless I got access to the newest experimental treatment. However, there was only one slot available, and my husband Bowen Liddell gave it to my sister Yvonne Lawson instead. "Her kidney failure is more critical," he said. I nodded and swallowed the white pills that would only speed up my death. In the time I had left, I got a lot done. The lawyer's hand trembled as he passed me the documents. "Are you sure you want to transfer the two billion dollars in shares?" I replied, "Yes. Give them to Yvonne." My daughter, Candice Liddell, was giggling in Yvonne's arms. "Mommy Yvonne bought me a new dress!" I said, "It looks beautiful. Make sure you always listen to Mommy Yvonne, okay?" The art gallery I built from the ground up now had Yvonne's name on the sign. "You're too kind, Kathy," she said, crying. I told her, "You'll run it even better than I ever did." I even signed all my parents' trust fund away. That was when Bowen finally gave me his first genuine smile in years. "Kathleen, you've changed. You're not so aggressive anymore... You're beautiful like this." Indeed. This dying version of me finally became the 'perfect Kathleen Sullivan' in their eyes—obedient, generous, and no longer argumentative. The 72-hour countdown had already begun, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would remember when my heart stopped for good. The good wife who 'finally learned to let go', or the woman who completed her revenge by dying?

Madison Davis, a name that whispered secrets of love, jealousy, obsession, desperation, and separation… A woman every man desired, but only two men would go to war for her. *** Julian's life takes a dramatic turn when his father presents him with a difficult choice: pursue his dreams or remain committed to his beloved girlfriend, Adi, whom he had kept a secret from everyone. Suddenly, Julian came up with a plan to balance his dreams and love, and in two hours, he was on a flight to Scotland. However, his world shattered when his plan failed, and his girlfriend, Adi, vanished without a trace. Despite asking his cousin, Liam who was back at home to help look for Adi, she was still nowhere to be found. Julian's heartbreak was irreparable, as he knew there was no coming back. Liam Anderson, one of the youngest billionaires, with a net worth that can make even kings blush, found love while on his quest to help his cousin, Julian, find a strange girl, Adi. Liam fell helplessly in love with his newfound woman, Madison, a woman he could kill for. As the clock ticked on, fate's cruel hand reached out to them, gradually unlocking the gates of hell upon them. Julian, fresh off the plane from Scotland, heard about his cousin’s engagement party and decides to surprise Liam with his presence. As soon as Julian sets his eyes on Liam’s fiancé, time froze, his heart stopped, and the air around him seized at once. Madison gets entangled with two brothers who would stop at nothing to get her, even if it means taking a life. The game of power, influence, betrayal, and obsession is about to begin, with a touch of steamy romance. Who is willing to back down? Let's find out.

He left me there, naked and clamped my body exposed and vulnerable. The cold, dimly lit room terrified me; when I struggled against restraints, the metal biting into my wrists. The minutes stretched into hours, each passing moment filled with a mix of fear and anticipation. Where I was now? Where was my savior, my father? I did all this for him, I deceived Aris, let him suffer but now I was suffering. After what felt like an eternity, the heavy door creaked open once again, revealing his imposing figure. He entered the room, his eyes fixed on me, a mix of dominance and control emanating from his every move. His presence alone sent shivers down my spine, a reminder of my helpless state. He approached me slowly, a wicked smile playing on his lips. His intention was clear - to punish me and assert his authority. With each step, he exuded power, his confidence unwavering. He strode forward and grabbed me by the face, his grip like iron. “Don’t you know when master enters what should a slave to do?” He demanded an answer. I could see the rage in his eyes and I felt my own anger rising. As he tightened his grip, I spat in his face. This was sudden and unintentionally. His color changed in rage. I knew I did a mistake, a horrible mistake. - Lord Aris, a ruthless and cruel Mafia king, he just want one thing in his life, that was revenge. Emma William, a beautiful girl, is sold by her fiancé to cruel Mafia king ‘Aris Johnson’, who actually wants to take revenge on her by enslaving her. But what will happen when his revenge turns into his obsession? Will he fall for her? Will he able to keep her?