Times Magazine 100 Best Novels Novels & Stories

For eight years in a marriage devoid of light, I had abortions five times. Every time, Sam would grip my hand when I woke up, his eyes red, and promise to find the best doctors to help me recover. After the third miscarriage, he finally hired a team of top-tier nutritionists, ensuring that every single meal was planned perfectly. He always comforted me, "Don't worry, Penny. We're still young, so we can have another baby!" When I found out I was pregnant again, snowflakes were dancing outside my window. I wrapped my fur coat tightly around my body and rushed to the company, only to hear Wren's furious voice outside the VIP suite, "Are you insane? Those five babies were your own flesh and

Once upon a time, Leonard truly loved me. In order to establish a Mate Bond with me, he confessed 99 times. On the 99th time, I was finally moved. On the day of our Marking Ceremony, I gave him 99 forgiveness coupons. I promised him that I would forgive him 99 times. As long as he still had coupons left over, I would forgive him and stay with him no matter what he did. We were bonded for six years. In the first five years of our Mate Bond, I rarely ever used the forgiveness coupons. Since his childhood friend Judy returned, however, I started burning through the coupons. When I tore up the 98th coupon, Leonard noticed that I had changed. I no longer made a fuss or fought him over Judy.

I've planned seven wedding ceremonies in total, and not once has my fiance, Zachary Gardner, ever shown up for it. The first time, his adopted younger sister, Louise Foster, bursts into tears because she lost her passport at the airport. It was the dead of winter, but he dumped me by the side of the road and left me. The second time, Louise's dog sprained its ankle. Zachary stuffed the ring back into its box and rushed to the animal hospital to accompany her. Every time I argue with him about it, he declares nonchalantly, "We can get married anytime, but I can't let Louise be upset." Everyone around us agrees with him, saying that we're all family anyway, so I shouldn't be so petty. None

Avery's Seventeenth year on earth, was by far the worst. It was like a year of bad luck and it chose her to pick on. After her parents divorce, she had lived with her mother but she passed on. Her boyfriend cheated on her not long after her birthday and her best friend betrayed her. If she could re-do the whole year she would be ecstatic. With her life turned upside down at age seventeen, Avery transfers to a far away school hidden in the woods, little does she know it's a school full of monsters. Trapped as the only human in the school, Avery tries to lay low and avoid becoming prey for the predators. But her goal is impossible as four alpha males of different species have their ey

We’d been together for seven years, but during that entire time, my fiancée rejected the idea of getting married ninety-nine times, all because of a male intern. The first time, she canceled our vacation at the last minute, saying the intern was stuck on a night shift and afraid of the dark. She got on a flight that very night and rushed back to the hospital. The second time, we were already halfway through the doors of the courthouse to get our marriage registered. But just then, she got word that the intern had collapsed from exhaustion. Without a second thought, she left me standing alone in the snow for the entire day. After that, it became a pattern. Every time we were together, the

At my own wedding, the groom switched—Malcolm Lowell bailed, and the best man stepped in. Lumi, the Irving's real daughter, latched onto Malcolm's arm and smirked from the crowd. "I was just feeling a little low," she said. "Didn't think Malcolm would go this far for me." Malcolm raised a brow. "I just wanted to make her happy. You took her spot for years. Time to pay it back. This is for your own good." That's when it hit me—this whole wedding was a setup, a twisted show just to entertain Lumi. All because I was the adopted one. I'd lived in her place for over two decades. I didn't cry. Didn't freak out. I just took the new groom's hand, faced the priest, and said, "Keep going."

I dated my lawyer boyfriend for five years. He canceled our wedding. Fifty-two times. First time? His intern messed up some paperwork. He ditched me at the beach to fix it. I waited all day. Alone. Second time, we were mid-ceremony when he bolted. Heard that intern was getting heat from another lawyer and left me to face the guests and their stares. After that, every time we tried again, there was always some "emergency" with her. Always. I finally hit my limit. I was done. Packed up and broke it off. But the day I left Ainsley? He totally lost it trying to find me.

My Alpha mate has canceled our carefully planned honeymoon trips fourteen times for his Omega secretary. The first time, because of the secretary's phone call about "lost territorial maps," he didn't hesitate to abandon me at a strange Nordic airport. The second time, because of the secretary's plea for help, he drove back alone to the pack's core territory, leaving me alone in the dangerous hunting grounds. For four years, I carefully planned fourteen honeymoon trips, but each time my mate would abandon me to choose to accompany his Omega secretary. Finally, I stopped insisting and decided to give up this mating relationship that was never firmly chosen. But when I joined the Alpha Cou

"Sign the divorce papers, Nora." I didn't cry. I simply looked at the billionaire husband who had ignored me for three years and made one final demand. "One hundred days, Silas. Move back into my bedroom. Touch me like a man obsessed with his wife. On Day 101, I will sign the papers and walk away." Arrogant and certain, he agreed, assuming it was a desperate plea to use my body to win his heart back. He had no idea what he was walking into. By Day 20, the cold, untouchable CEO is rushing home just to pin me against our bedroom door. By Day 50, he’s pulling me into his lap, whispering breathless, desperate promises in the dark. He is addicted to the friction, using every sea

"Show me exactly how much you crave this, especially when it’s someone you’re supposed to loathe." One hundred nights. One hundred different men who know exactly how to push you to your absolute limit. This isn’t romance. This isn’t love. This is the dark, intrusive obsession that keeps you up at night, the kind of heat that floods your mind when you think you’re finally alone. Stepbrothers who corner you in the steam of a shower. Priests who hold you captive at the altar. Mafia dons who command your attention and leave you desperate for more. The coach who swore he’d never cross that line—until he shattered it. Every forbidden, unspoken scenario you’ve ever entertained, brought to life in r