Truth And Other Lies

Valentina Moretti has survived by her wits, her beauty, and her lies. A conwoman with no family and no loyalties, she trusts only herself—until a scheme gone wrong puts her in the hands of Dante Romano, heir to one of the most feared crime families in New York. Dante should have ended her. Instead, he gives her a choice: work for him… or be destroyed. What begins as a dangerous game of control and defiance soon twists into something neither of them can resist. Dante is ruthless, magnetic, impossible to escape—and Valentina discovers that the closer she gets to him, the more she craves the very danger he embodies. But the city is a kingdom of liars, and Valentina is about to uncover a secret buried in blood and shadows—one that will shatter everything she thought she knew about herself. Love and betrayal collide as Dante and Valentina are drawn into a war that could destroy them both. And in a world ruled by wolves, crowns are forged not in gold… but in lies.

“Are you married?” I bit my tongue at the question that I have been dreading since I saw him in the boardroom. “Answer me!” His angry yell startled me. I couldn’t fault him for being mad. How do I begin to explain it? If I tell him the truth, we will lose the deal and if I continue with the lies, he will see me as a cheating woman. Either way, I am going to lose so I picked the better choice for me and for my company. “Yes, I am married.” ***** For Maeve Fitzgerald her night with Alessandro Marchesi was pure passion and the best night of her life that can only be one night. For Alessandro, it was so much more. Maeve was sure they will never cross paths again but fate has a different plan and it’s about to change her life forever.

Vivian Young becomes involved in an enticing romantic relationship with Louis Morris, the seductive billionaire. Their relationship swiftly develops into something much more than a passionate one-night fling, revealing the startling reality that Louis is not just a mysterious stranger but also her boss. Though their love grows quickly, they are ensnared in a forbidden relationship and stand on the precipice of power and danger. Vivian has to make her way down this perilous path where passion and danger converge. Will Vivian discover that her relationship with Louis is part of his revenge plan?

The night I have my bonding ceremony with the Alpha, Walter Zimmer, he gets drunk even though he usually never touches any alcohol. Just as I'm at a loss for what to do, my best friend, Rose Larson, sends me a message detailing how to take care of a drunken werewolf. Despite feeling doubtful, I do as she suggests, and Walter truly does fall asleep peacefully. Just as I'm about to thank Rose, Walter suddenly hugs me from behind. His hot breath brushes against my neck as he murmurs a sentence that utterly breaks my heart. "Rose, you're the one I wanted to mark…" My world crumbles around me, but that's not all. His shirt slips down his shoulder when he moves, revealing the rose tattooed right over his heart. My mind goes blank, and all I can do is stare at the tattoo. I refuse to believe what I'm seeing. I've known Rose for 20 years, and she's my closest friend. As it turns out, Walter didn't get drunk because he was overjoyed about becoming my mate. He simply used the alcohol to drown his sorrows over not being able to take the she-wolf he wanted as his Luna. In that moment, our newly formed mate bond seems like nothing but a joke. Since that's the case, I decide to give up my position as the Luna and let them be together. However, after I leave, Walter loses control and shifts into his wolf. He then claws the rose tattoo to shreds. "Lily, I was mistaken. You're the Luna I truly love. Please, give me another chance to love you again…"

I am the sole heir to the Alpha King of Northaria, but I'm an Omega. All of Northaria awaits the day I come of age, hoping I'll awaken the kind of Alpha bloodline strong enough to claim the throne. But when the day finally comes, I'm still just a low-rank Omega. So, they say that the true heir must be one of the three "pledged Alphas" my father adopted from the major tribes. Whichever one of them marks me becomes the ruler of all Northaria packs. But none of them have ever truly looked at me. The one I like most is Quin Lawson. When I fainted on the snowy plains as a child, it was he who carried me back to the pack. I've tried countless times to get close to him, only to be met with nothing but cold, contemptuous stares. I used to think he was just emotionally distant—until the Moon Goddess Festival. That night, I saw him kneel before Silvia Anderson, the daughter of my father's second-in-command. His voice is soft, and his gaze is tender. "I'm marrying Evelyn only to repay the Alpha King's kindness. Once I get the inheritance, I'll make you my Luna. As long as she doesn't harm you, I'll even grant her a piece of land to live out her life in peace. You're my true mate." The night before the marking ceremony, my father asks me who I choose. I think of the way all three of the pledged Alphas look away whenever our eyes meet. I smile and say, "I'm the rightful heir of Northaria. My mate should be someone who brings the greatest strength to our pack. And so, I choose Alpha Heath of the Pyraxis pack." The air goes still. My father frowns. "Him? Are you sure? Every one of his mates has died under mysterious circumstances. His wolf is known to be vicious—no one dares get close to him. You truly want to be his mate?"

My roommate beamed with pride as she told me a horrifying secret: she had allowed a wealthy businessman to "remove" her unborn child, claiming he absorbed the baby’s fortune in exchange for a hefty payout. Chills ran down my spine. I urged her to stop meddling with such dark dealings before it destroyed her, but she wouldn’t listen. Instead, she threw herself into it, addicted to helping people "transfer luck" for money. Her luck ran out when she contracted a mysterious disease. When her boyfriend found out, she turned on me, tearfully accusing me of tying her to another man’s bed. Before I could even defend myself, an enraged man ran me down with his car. The next thing I knew, I woke up to find myself back in time. My roommate was leaning in close, her eyes glinting with excitement as she whispered, asking if I wanted to join her "luck transfer" schemes. This time, I wasn’t taking any chances. I noticed the slight swell of her belly and immediately sent a text to her boyfriend: "Congrats! You’re going to be a dad!"

On Couples' Day, I received a last-minute urgent request from a client to help feed her dog at her residence. The client's home is located in the same residential area as Zachary Yandon's and my marital home. Even the passcode to her home is very similar to ours, with the last four digits being Zachary's birthday. When I open the door, it feels as though I've walked into my own home. The furnishings in my client's home are surprisingly the same as the furnishings in my own home. Even the Itorian men's loafers placed at the doorway are the exact same pair as I bought for Zachary last month. I stand at the doorway hesitantly without entering the home. It's then that a golden retriever dashes out of one of the rooms and runs into my arms. The force is so strong that I stumble backward, hitting my back on the door. I know I'm not imagining things at all. It turns out the client's dog is Bingo, my furbaby who went missing three years ago!

Isabella always believed in fairytale love– the kind that was selfless, the kind that made vows sacred. When she tied the knot with Martin Lancaster, she believed she had found her true love. But reality shattered her illusions Martin never loved her – It had been a cruel game all along – a bet he made with his friends. Every moment of affection with her was just a lie. He betrayed her with other women. She endured it all; the belittling and loneliness of being married to a man who never valued her—until she couldn't. Just when she was about to break, that was when Adrian Blackwood, a powerful businessman and Martin's greatest rival, decided to give her an escape–he wanted her for himself.

Meet Esmerelda Sleuth. Sleuth is her name and investigating is her game. (Paranormal Investigating, that is.) Esmerelda makes a good living as an investigator in a rather progressive firm. She lives a stable and sensible life until she meets Lance; an old money "hottie" who works for a real estate firm next to her building. After accepting an invitation for a weekend getaway party, she quickly discovers that Lance has a secret. He is wealthy. That part is true. And, yes, he's procured a job as a realtor in the building next door. His secret is that he belongs to an underground society of humans who didn't abandon their connection to magic centuries ago when religion declared it evil and he has traveled through time specifically to find her and bring her back to his time to marry him. If that isn't enough of a far fetched tale to absorb, he informs her that she was born in his time to a family belonging to that same secret society and was promised in marriage to him as an infant. When enemies who didn't want to see the union of families take place made attempts on her life, her parents sent her into the future and erased her memories of them as a precaution. Possessing virtually no belief in magic, ghosts, psychics, time travel, etc., it takes some doing on Lance's part to convince her to believe his story and go back with him. When she does, the lies, deceit and attempts on her life start all over again. Will she escape emotionally and physically unscathed? "The Other Side Of the Mirror" is a steamy-paranormal-romance- mystery-thriller and book one of the Esmerelda Sleuth series.

To the outside world, Xavier Sullivan and I are a loving couple. In truth, my father sold me to him to repay the debt he owes the Sullivan family. When the five-year contract expires, Xavier's parents want me to extend it. They threaten me and tell me I'm heading for certain death if I refuse. I have no choice but to fake my death and leave everything behind, taking only the child in my belly with me.