Van Wyck Branch Library Novels & Stories

Yselle Morel is watching her family's glassworks collapse—unpaid wages, angry suppliers, a bank ready to shut the gates. When Renaud Valois, a feared billionaire financier, offers a rescue, it comes with a cruel condition: marriage. He says it’s business. His eyes say it’s revenge. In Valois’s riverside estate outside Paris, Yselle plays the obedient wife—smiling, thanking staff, acting harmless. She calls it "wife camouflage." Then she finds a locked room behind the library wall: a war room filled with files, photos, and timelines about her father’s life… and a folder stamped with Yselle’s name. Renaud didn’t choose her. He planned her. As “accidents” start closing in—tampered brakes, poisoned tea, a near fall on a dark stairwell—Yselle realizes the marriage isn’t only punishment. It’s protection. Someone wants her silent before the Day 30 board vote that will decide her family’s future. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more she fears the man who raised her. On the eve of the vote, Yselle opens the last drawer in the war room and finds an envelope addressed to her—in her mother’s handwriting. The ink looks fresh. Then the lights go out, and a voice behind her whispers, “Don’t trust your husband.”

#DarkRomance #Steamy #CEO #Possessive #ContractMarriage #Revenge #Betrayal #ContractMarriage #FamilySecrets #Dominant Twenty-four hours. That's how long Grace Vance has before her father's empire collapses. With bankruptcy looming and scandal threatening to destroy everything her family built, she has only one option: sign a marriage contract with Elias Thorne—the ruthless billionaire who owns half the city. The terms are simple. Two years of marriage. Perfect devotion in public. Separate lives behind closed doors. And one rule she must never break: Never enter the East Wing library after midnight. But when Grace discovers a hidden wall filled with photographs of herself taken long before they ever met, she realizes her husband isn't the man he claims to be. Because Elias Thorne didn't choose her by accident. He's been watching her for years. And the deeper Grace digs into the secrets surrounding her mother's death, the more she begins to suspect that the man she married isn't her savior. He's the reason she was trapped in the first place. Now she's bound to a billionaire who will do anything to keep his secrets hidden—even if it means destroying the woman he can't let go.

Someone pushes me off a cliff when I'm eight months pregnant before taking their life on the spot. Meanwhile, blood pools underneath me as I'm rushed to the hospital. As despair washes over me, I hear Jacob Langley's voice come from outside my hospital ward. "Are you sure it'll work this time?" "Yes, Mr. Langley. Mrs. Langley has taken good care of herself during her pregnancy, but the branch pierced her belly. There's no chance of the baby surviving this, and she won't ever be able to conceive again." "Good. Make sure the culprit's family has been sent away. I won't let anything go wrong before the Adkins agree to adopt Clara." "Yes, sir. Still… why did you need to push Mrs. Langley off a cliff if you wanted to adopt Ms. Jennings' daughter? Mrs. Langley is kind; I'm sure she would've treated the child well." Jacob snorts. "What do you know? Why would Selene agree to adopt Clara if she had her own child? She'll only treat Clara as her own once she can't have children and leave everything she has to Clara. I couldn't marry Kaia back then; this is all I can do to make it up to her." The voices slowly fade away, but they reverberate loud and clear in my mind. I've spent six years by Jacob's side, yet all I've gotten in return are lies and betrayal. His so-called love for me is nothing but a trick to steal my inheritance for someone else. Since this is what he wants, I'll make his wish come true.

A comedy of errors, that offers second chances for first love in this BDSM Mafia, Reverse Harem Romance. In that moment of embarrassment, fear and dread, I do the unthinkable…….. I jump into the black clad stranger's arms, and kiss him with all the drama of a soap opera. Yes, I meant it to be for show to avoid my stalker, but .....Let’s just say it’s not all fake when I practically swoon like the well-to-do British lady I’m impersonating. “Renfield tricked me,” I pant, pointing my shaking finger at the obnoxious blonde man, literally crying, this is all so hysterical to him. “Dracula's spell is too powerful. I can't fight it, go! Go find Van Helsing!" How did this happen? Nicky! That’s right, this is all my orphan brother, Roman Nikolai Cross’ fault! Ever since that tweedle twap jerk named me after the bad luck stray cat outside our orphanage, there is no end to the comedy of errors that is my life. I was hoping to avoid the so tragic it’s funny or so funny it’s tragic stigma with my second chance on life, but no such luck with his latest shenanigans.

Blurb: When the university’s golden-boy hockey captain needs to pass Advanced Statistics or kiss his NHL dreams goodbye, the last person he expects to hold his future in his hands is Nathan Tanner. Brilliant, uptight, and utterly unimpressed by Maverick Rockwell’s charm. Nathan wants one thing: his glowing recommendation letter for the elite SiporaTech internship. Instead, he’s blackmailed into tutoring the arrogant, distractingly hot jock who represents everything he despises. But as their private sessions move from the library to Nathan’s couch, Maverick’s casual touches linger too long, his teasing grins turn wicked, and his “straight” confidence starts cracking under the heat of Nathan’s icy control. Maverick thought seducing the nerd would be easy revenge. He never expected the quiet intensity in Nathan’s glare to set his blood on fire… or how addictive it would feel to make the perfect tutor lose his composure. With only two weeks until finals, the stakes couldn’t be higher. One wrong move could destroy both their futures. But the forbidden tension simmering between them might just burn everything down first. Starting with their clothes. A deliciously steamy MM romance full of power plays, reluctant desire, and the kind of slow, scorching surrender that leaves you breathless.

Warning!! This book drips with heat, desire, and forbidden pleasure. Explicit content. Strictly for 18+ readers only. One reckless night. One irresistible stranger. One taste of sin that changes everything. They thought it was just lust, raw, intoxicating, and unforgettable. They thought they could walk away when morning came. But desire wouldn't fade that easily…not when the man they gave their body to turns out to be the very one they couldn't have. Her mother’s soon-to-be husband. Her Husband's Therapist. Her Soon-to-be Father-in-law. Her own student, young and untamed. Her Husband's nephew Her dangerously powerful new boss. The forbidden fruit was never meant to be touched, yet once tasted, it leaves them aching for more. Passion deepens, secrets twist tighter, and temptation refuses to let go. A collection of dangerously addictive series: Book 1: One-Night Stand With My Stepfather. Book 2: One-Night Stand With My Husband's Therapist Book 3: One-Night Stand With My Father-in-law Book 4: One-Night Stand with My Student. Book 5: One-Night Stand With My New Boss. Book 6: One-Night Stand With My Husband's Nephew. If you crave stories that are sultry, scandalous, and impossible to put down, slip this into your library and surrender to the heat.

Selena Collins leads an unremarkable life or so she believes. As an overworked and underpaid secretary at Vermillion Cyberspace, she’s long accepted the monotony of her days and the brooding presence of her enigmatic boss, Theo van Gogh. But everything changes the moment she collapses from exhaustion and hits her head on his desk. Upon waking up in the hospital, she begins seeing things that shouldn’t exist... ghosts, demons, angels, and creatures that seem far too aware of her presence. Then comes the impossible. Theo visits her with a revelation that completely made her brain reboot. Theo isn’t just her boss now. He’s her familiar. And Selena—confused, concussed, and utterly unprepared—is the next chosen successor of a forgotten land god. Theo bows 90 degrees, coldly defiant. "I do not acknowledge you as my master. So if you die in the process of completing your missions, it would bring me joy." Now thrust into a world where mythology bleeds into modernity and ancient contracts awaken from dormancy, Selena must uncover why she was chosen and survive long enough to earn her own name in a realm that remembers everything.

Natalie Taylor has one goal when she signs up as a companion at Dreams: to make a shit ton of money and get out fast. She's not looking for adventure or hoping for love and romance. But days into her moonlighting job, her quiet determination is shaken when she confronts her biggest problem yet—Levi Van Holt, heir to a mega-billion hotel chain and CEO of a gaming startup. Levi is everything she wants in a man. Gorgeous, wealthy and generous to boot. There's just one problem. He's her new boss... Harbouring a dark secret and nursing wounds from his past, Levi has one rule and one rule only for his companion: no falling in love. But with his desires continually tested, the more time he spends with Natalie, it doesn't take long for both their lives, real and secret, to converge, the lines between illusion and reality begin to blur, and the temptation to break his only rule becomes harder to resist. © 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

​In the neon-soaked heart of Las Vegas, two worlds are destined to collide: one built on absolute power, and the other on desperate survival. Lucien Thorne is a 1.8-meter-tall predator who owns the very air of the Strip, ruling a global empire from the shadowed VIP lounge of his premier club with a heart of stone and a mind for cold calculation. He is the devil who never negotiates and never forgets. Stepping into his line of sight is Aurelia Van Guard, a woman who should have been a college graduate but is instead a daughter drowning in her father’s gambling debts and her mother’s terminal illness. Forced to take her mother’s place on the stage of the city’s most elite club, Aurelia is a girl with everything to lose, hiding her double life behind a veil of glamour. She is a survivor looking for a way out; he is a hunter who never lets go. When the "Devil" turns his eyes toward the new girl in the spotlight, the game changes. In a city where everything has a price, Aurelia is about to find out if she can escape the grasp of a man who feels no remorse, or if she will become the one thing the devil finally refuses to let go.

The day I went to the Shifter Mating Registry, I discovered my wolf-shifter boyfriend, Liam, hadn't registered me as his mate. He wrote Maya’s—his sister-in-law. Seeing me freeze in disbelief, he just chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Don't overthink it. Maya is pregnant with my dead brother's pup. The pup needs a legal guardian for the bloodline records." "It's just a temporary mating contract. In three months, once the pup's lineage is certified, I'll break the bond and marry you." He assumed a powerless human girl like me had no choice but to wait for him. But he was wrong. In the system, his highest compatibility match was indeed me. But my highest match wasn't him. That very night, I accepted a mating request from a Dragon shifter with a 100% match rate, and I left the city for good. Three years later, my mother fell ill, forcing me back to North City. My mate—Kaelan, the Supreme Dragon Chancellor—was delayed by a meeting. He contacted the local Shifter Guards to pick me up first. I didn't expect to run into Liam. He took one look at the crystal key in my hand and scoffed. "I heard the Dragon Chancellor gave his mate the key to his treasure vault. There's only one in the world. Yours is a convincing fake, I'll give you that." "Alright, three years of throwing a tantrum is enough. Maya's health is failing, and the pup is a handful. You're just in time to come back and help her." I looked down at the crystal key in my palm. A fake? This key? It only unlocked the North City branch—the smallest of Kaelan's many private vaults.