Times Magazine 100 Best Novels Novels & Stories

“Make me stop, Kyra… please… because once I cross this line, I won’t come back. I’ve spent years fighting this, telling myself it’s wrong, but every time you look at me like that, I forget who I’m supposed to be. You were never meant to be mine… but I don’t think I can survive pretending you’re not.” •••••••••• Kyra Callis has loved Toren Grace her entire life but Toren is her father’s best friend, the man who helped raise her, and the one person she can never have. Toren Grace is dark, broken, and fiercely protective, battling his growing desire for the one girl he should never touch. When Kyra becomes an adult, their undeniable connection ignites into something dangerous, passionate, and forbidden. As secrets unravel and loyalties are tested, love threatens to destroy everything they’ve built. With emotional depth, raw chemistry, and intense moral conflict, this story explores love that defies rules and time. Will love be enough to survive judgment? Or will their past tear them apart forever?

“You’ve been a very bad girl, Ley…” He whispered, his eyes dark with hunger, closing the distance between them until her back hit the cool glass wall. Her breath caught, but she didn’t flinch. “You’re arrogant…” “You’re wet.” He wrapped his hand around her waist and leans in… She should walk away, he was her father’s best friend, arrogant, wickedly charming, and knows exactly how to ruin her resolve, but his fingers traced her wrist, slow, possessive, and she knew she would let him ruin her again. He was supposed to be off-limits… but forbidden taste the sweetest.

Aidan, a billionaire and CEO of Empire is known for the title 'Top 5 Hottest Bachelor' for two reasons. His extremely good-looks and for not wanting to get married, at least until he reaches forty but his mother keeps on setting him with unwanted dates, leaving him frustrated. Kenna, Aidan's best friend, is a doctor who has never found the right time for love. She has always been busy with work to an extent that she forgets about her own personal life. Both of them has always been close ever since they were kids, after a single incident that happened, instantly making them inseparable. As they grew older, things began to change yet best friends are forever . . . no matter the circumstances. What happens when Aidan sets up a contract and wants Kenna to be a part of it?

"This is wrong, Collen," I breathed out as Collen's s lips claimed mine. "Shhhh and let's think about the consequences later," he said in a husky voice before spreading my legs open and trailing his lips down to the juncture of my thighs before burying his face between my legs. Here's a rewritten version of the text, with a more engaging tone and language: When Allison transferred to the prestigious Ivy League college, she thought she'd left her small-town life behind. But fate had other plans. With the help of her best friend Hannah, she settled into her new life, only to discover that her one-night stand was none other than Hannah's boyfriend - her fated mate! Torn between loyalty and desire, Allison must navigate this forbidden attraction, all while keeping her secret from her friend. Will she confess her transgression, or will fate and passion prevail in this sizzling werewolf romance?

The news came that Raymond had been shot. I was seven months pregnant, but I flew straight across the country to the family's East Coast compound—and got detained the moment I stepped inside. “Never heard of the Don having a fiancée, and pregnant no less. You've got some nerve running a con on Carraso turf.” The barrel of a gun pressed cold against my temple. My heart was clawing its way up my throat when I caught sight of a familiar figure across the room. “Raffina,” I shouted, “tell them I'm your brother-in-law's fiancée.” Raffina gave a small wave of her hand, and the man holding the gun immediately bent at the waist. “Donna, I didn't know she was a friend of yours. My mistake.” I stared with wide eyes, unable to make sense of what I was seeing. Inside the compound, the same man crossed to where Raymond sat on the couch without a scratch on him, and gave a formal nod. “Don, she claims she's your fiancée.” Raymond took a slow sip of his whiskey and shook his head, just barely. They dragged me out, and on the way the man slapped me across the face, warning me not to try my con act anywhere near the family again. I pulled the engagement ring off my finger and went straight to International Financial Tower.

Overnight, my best friend became the long-lost principessa of the Toscano family. After returning to her family, she transferred all her villas and luxury cars under my name. Even on her deathbed, she made sure to hand over control of the family's dockside trade operations to me. However, I never once visited her grave. Three years after her death, I took her place as the true heiress of the Toscano family and married her former fiancé, Gaspare Volpe, the young heir to the rising mafia family in Damerelli, the Volpes. Everyone called me a social climber and an ungrateful traitor, but I did not care. I obeyed the womanizing Gaspare without question. When he called me to bring condoms for his hookups, I moved like my life depended on it. I became the laughingstock of Damerelli, someone everyone looked down on. Five years later, on the anniversary of my best friend's death, I slit Gaspare's throat at her grave. "From the very beginning, I came for revenge."

"I don't want a child." The color drains from Jodie’s face the moment those words leave her husband’s mouth. She thinks she misheard, until her sister Enid's words confirmed it. Her fated mate, Alpha Calden Ballard, the man she has loved for ten years and married for five, would do anything for Enid… and nothing for her. For years, Jodie has been forced to give her blood to the sickly sister everyone adores. Until life itself began to drain from her and weaken her Wolf. And in a marriage where she is barely acknowledged, she finally chooses the only thing she still has control over: Divorce. But on the very day she prepares to finalize it, she discovers she’s pregnant. Calden doesn’t care. He makes that clear. Enid’s well-being matters more to him than his own unborn pup. Jodie plans to leave the pack for good, but Calden refuses to let her go. Why would he? She’s the only match for Enid. The perfect tool her family wants. Jodie must escape before her life disappears entirely. But how do you outplay a powerful Alpha who has already decided your fate?

Cindy Chase always claims that we're the best of friends, but she lies and says she's out shopping with me when she's actually on a date with someone. She takes her husband's money to help her family but tells him she's lending me the money so I can buy luxury items. She cheats on her husband with her first love because she can't resist him and contracts an STD. Then, she throws me under the bus and says that she only got it because I made her wear clothes that carried the infection. Later, her in-laws come knocking on my door. They break my ribs and watch as I die from the pain!

My entrepreneur boyfriend and I had been living in a tiny rental, eating bread every day. Then one day, I saw his name on the Young Entrepreneurs List. Not only was he the CEO of my company's biggest competitor, but he was also worth over 100 million.

Mom and I board a flight to Fangoria to visit Alicia Carter, my wife. She's a special forces soldier who's here on a peacekeeping mission in this foreign country. But the moment we walk out of the airport, we're ambushed by a group of kidnappers. One of them holds a gun to Mom's head and says, "If you don't give us the ransom in three days, we'll blow her head off!" In a panic, I make a video call to Alicia, my hands shaking as I beg her to help me. "Calm down, honey. I'll put in a request to lead a rescue mission. We'll save her within 24 hours!" But the next day, I keep failing to get in touch with Alicia. After I blow up her phone with multiple calls, one finally connects. Amid her rushed panting, she tells me, "Sorry, honey. I just got assigned to an urgent escort mission. You guys just hang in there. I've arranged for the local authorities to—" Her voice is abruptly cut off by a familiar male voice. "Alicia! Thank goodness you came over just to pick me up. I didn't have to spend 100 dollars on a cab after all! That cab driver didn't even have a license, and I can't believe he tried to ask for more money…" The three-day deadline passes, and the kidnappers keep their word, letting me hear the gunshot myself. As I clutch Mom's cold, dead body, Alicia calls me out of nowhere. "Hey, honey. I just completed the escort mission. How are things on your end? Have the kidnappers released her?" I look down at Mom. Her eyes will never open again. I gently wipe the blood off her face as I reply to Alicia in an eerily calm voice, "Yeah. They have."