Western Libraries Hours Novels & Stories

I came home a day early from my business trip and hid in the closet to surprise Eric Carter. At seven, he told the housekeeper to cook several dishes. At nine, he told me hoarsely that he had taken a bath and changed the bedsheets in my room. He was sure that I would love it. I did not believe him because I had heard him moaning in bed with Willow Summers for three hours from the closet. Willow Summers was his childhood sweetheart and my sister. I clicked on a webpage from my cell without hesitation. "Miss Summers, your appointment for creating a fake death has been confirmed. Time of Death: One week later Location of Death: The wedding hall on the top floor of the Century Building Cause of Death: Suicide from jumping off a building!"

Three hours after burying her gay husband, Sophia is given an ultimatum: move into her father-in-law's bed or watch her mother die and be raped by the entire mafia. Desperate, she calls the one man dangerous enough to protect her; Cassian Devine, her dead husband's enemy. Cassian offers help with strings attached. He'll give her protection, and money for her mother's care. In exchange, she becomes his completely. His submissive, his pet, his weapon against the man who ruined Cassian’s own family What starts as a transaction becomes something neither expected. But loving a man who believes he's unworthy of love while fighting a crime lord who wants her dead might cost Sophia everything, including her heart.

At twenty-eight, I held the dubious honor of being the last unmarried socialite on New York's Upper East Side. Everyone around me was growing increasingly anxious about my single status. In my previous life, my mother arranged a matchmaking cocktail party, where I was told to choose a husband from ten handpicked elite bachelors. I bribed the event planner to place Mark West's profile at the very top—and as I had hoped, I chose him. After we married, Mark treated me with what seemed like tender affection. He even bought me an oceanfront villa in the Hamptons, making me believe I had finally found true love. But that illusion shattered the day I was nine months pregnant, just hours away from giving birth. Mark drove a scalpel straight into my abdomen—then, right in front of me, hurled our newborn onto the floor. "If you hadn't forced me into this marriage with your family's power, Sofia wouldn't have been heartbroken enough to go drinking and get drugged and assaulted. This… this is what you owe her!" He tossed the scalpel aside, then calmly let his private doctor pin down my blood-soaked body. I fought through excruciating pain for six agonizing hours, until I finally bled to death. Afterward, Mark dumped my corpse into the Hudson River. But for Sofia, he hosted a grand funeral—funded with my money, under my name—and paraded himself to the world as a grieving, devoted widower. Given a second chance at life, I refused to step foot in that cursed matchmaking event. Instead, I went straight to my mother with a demand: marry me to Robert Black—the most ruthless, cold-blooded titan of Wall Street, whose scarred face was feared by all. In the end, stripped of my financial backing, Mark's hedge fund collapsed. He became a disgraced fraudster, spat on by everyone on Wall Street.

I could see the countdown above a person’s head when they had already decided to leave their partner. The day my father’s countdown hit zero, he slapped a lawyer’s letter on the breakfast table and walked out on my mother and me. The day my best friend’s countdown hit zero, she finally threw her parasite of a boyfriend out of her apartment and changed the locks before sunset. That was why I’d always been terrified of seeing a countdown above my fiancé, Lucian Bellandi. Luckily, for seven years by his side, the space above his head had stayed clean. Lucian was the youngest Don the Bellandi family had ever seen. He owned the docks, the casinos, and half the South Side’s dirty money, yet he saved every soft part of himself for me. Until last month, when he picked me up after a family auction. I looked up and saw blood-red numbers stabbing into my eyes. [702 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes.] Less than two years. My heart tightened like a cold hand had closed around it. I started searching for an answer like a woman losing her mind. Had I done something wrong? Then, during a blizzard by the lake, we ran into Mia Crane at the back entrance of the Bellandi Hotel. Lucian had just brought her into his charity foundation as a new assistant. Snow clung to her hair and lashes. She was shivering from head to toe, but her smile was bright and painfully innocent. Lucian pulled a black silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and handed it to her. His face was calm. There was nothing openly improper in the gesture. But in that exact second, the countdown above his head jumped. [327 days, 4 hours, 47 minutes.] More than three hundred days, gone. And I knew I had found the reason.

He divorced her the morning after their wedding night,no warning,no mercy or a chance to explain. Overlooked and ridiculed for her size by her own family, Serenity Grayson never expected billionaire Jason Crane to be the one man who would make her feel seen. But within twenty-four hours of their marriage, he accused her of betrayal and threw her out. What Jason didn't know was that Serenity was carrying his child. Five years later, she returns with the son she raised alone and a truth powerful enough to shake the Crane Empire. Now, Jason wants her back, her sister is desperate to keep old secrets buried, and the family that once looked down on her is forced to face the woman she has become. Because Serenity Grayson is no longer the woman they destroyed. She's the storm they never saw coming.

Her downfall came hours after her birthday when she found out that she was the mate of the very monster she hunted.A father, tormented by the grief of the past, could do nothing until he found someone like-minded and formed the Alliance to fight those who took away the love of his life. He fought behind the screen while his daughter did what he never could - she killed the big bad wolf. The years passed, and she followed her father's vision until an ill-advised mission led her to imprisonment under the command of an Alpha. Little did Enya know that misfortune would reveal too many secrets. Will Enya ever find herself in a tangle of lies, or will she perish with those who led her astray?

Marriage, to me, was a sacred vow - not a business proposition. Yet, that's exactly what Hayes Caldwell, the enigmatic billionaire, offered: $200,000 to wear his ring. Just 24 hours prior, my world crashed down. Fired from my job after pouring years into a project, I sought solace in the bottom of a bottle. That's when our paths crossed, and the night blurred into reckless passion. But morning brought a harsh reality: our intimate encounter had gone viral. Hayes's solution? A contract marriage to salvage our reputations. I hesitated, but desperation won out. Agreeing to his terms, I sealed my fate. Little did I know, the line between pretense and reality would soon blur, threatening to consume us both. Hop into this ride with me… let’s see how the story unfolds.

When Michael reluctantly agrees to help the sultry and mysterious Miss Calvin tidy her garden, he expects nothing more than long hours under the scorching summer sun. But as the days heat up, so does the tension between them. Miss Calvin is confident, provocative, and uncomfortably alluring for Michael, who's barely coming into his own as a young adult. What begins as innocent neighborly favors soon spirals into a web of forbidden desire, blurred boundaries, and thrilling fantasies that Michael can’t escape. Navigating his feelings for the unattainable Lucy and the intoxicating Miss Calvin, Michael faces a scorching dilemma between the dreams of youth and the allure of experience. In this tale of seduction, secrets, and irresistible chemistry, every boundary is tested. But will giving in to temptation cost Michael more than just his innocence?

On my birthday, my eight-year-old stepson dumped the cake I spent twelve hours on straight into the trash. His face twisted. "Smells like cheap frosting." Then he turned and happily dug into the plain pasta my husband's secretary made. I was about to lose it when the familiar floating comments popped up again. [OMG Nico's doing this again. He literally LOVES Reyna's cake every year. Boy just too prideful to admit it LOL.] [Fr fr, he's just using his late mom to test Reyna. Kid's lowkey possessive and messy!] [Alex, HELLO? Your son's jealous af. You not gonna say anything? Oh wait... you jealous too huh? Watching Reyna dote on Nico got you pressed. lol.]

“Say my name,” he said. A shiver ran down my spine. “Jeremy…” I breathed, my voice barely steady. “Good girl.” The words sent a sharp wave through me, my knees weakening slightly as I grabbed onto the bed for support. My fingers curled against the sheets, my body arching without thinking. Stepbrothers who cross every line, best friends’ dads who take what they want, professors and students burning after hours, fake dates that turn dangerously real, rivals who hate-fuck their tension away, and strangers trapped together until control snaps. Slow-burn tension, raw power play, and irresistible cravings that refuse to stay hidden. If you love the thrill of breaking rules and giving in to what you shouldn’t, this collection will leave you wet and breathless.