Where The Crawdads Sing Setting Novels & Stories

"You little tease, spreading your legs like that… Trying to seduce me?" Deep in the night, inside a bar's women's restroom, I deliberately exposed myself. Through the one-way glass, I parted my legs, revealing that hidden part of me. But then a man accidentally walked into the wrong restroom. Every bit of my wanton display fell right under his gaze. Shame washed over me, and I felt my cheeks burning. I wanted nothing more than to flee. But he blocked my way, and without a word, flipped up my skirt. I had nothing on underneath. "You like showing off, don't you? Show me more." With that, he exposed his own fierce arousal and pressed himself between my thighs.

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.

What was even more humiliating than discovering her fiancé’s affair was hearing him claim he’d lost interest in her, and that he had gotten another woman pregnant. In the world of adults, it’s never about right or wrong—only about leverage. Heather Jenner couldn’t afford to lose the status she was so close to achieving as a wealthy wife. Let him have his fun, she thought. If he could stray, why shouldn’t she find another man to father her child? And so, she set her sights on his younger brother—the one who outshone him in every way.

Amelia was arranged to marry the son of her parent's friend in order to tighten the bond of the family. She goes on with the plan and even falls for him, James. Amelia began to notice that James begins to complain about every slight thing Amelia does. He doesn’t appreciate her and he begins to think she’s a liability to him shortly after their marriage, like a few years after. She finds out that her husband was actually having an affair with his ex-girlfriend and instantly she understood why James had been acting up. Isabel goes on with her schemes which were carefully executed, slowly turning James against Amelia. Isabel is very crafty and tricky and has always wanted everything Amelia had but acts like a saint. She always pretends to be sick or something and always wants attention especially when James is around. To Amelia's surprise Isabel takes her scheme to another level by framing her making everybody believe that Amelia tried to hurt her out of jealousy.

On the night of her 18th birthday, Elara is publicly rejected by her fated mate, Alpha Kael, for being "wolfless." Instead of begging, she accepts the rejection with a smile, cuts her ties, and disappears. Five years later, she returns—not as a weak Omega, but as the wealthy CEO of a rival empire and the mother of a powerful pup Kael doesn't know exists. Now, Kael needs her help to save his failing pack, and Elara is ready to make him pay.

During a family gathering, my mother produces a few photos of different men. She asks me which one I want to get into an arranged marriage with. I don't choose Bradley Garvin again in this lifetime. Instead, I pull out a photo of my own and give it to my mother. It's of Terrence Garvin, the Garvin family's true leader. My mother is surprised. I've pursued Bradley for many years, after all. What she doesn't know is that I married him in my past life. However, he rarely came home. I always thought it was because he was too busy. Whenever anyone asked me about it, I took all the blame. I only discovered the truth on our 20th wedding anniversary after accidentally breaking a box he kept locked in his closet. It turned out my sister was the one he'd always loved. He never returned home because he didn't want to see me. Unexpectedly, Bradley loses his mind when I'm about to put a diamond ring on Terrence's finger on our wedding day.

Lily: I'm a nanny for the sexiest man alive. For years I've kept my crush a secret, even through our surrogate pregnancy, but now it’s reached a fever. I've seen how Wyatt looks at me. Undeniable tension. Spent restless nights in bed, dreaming about that hard body of his. Wondering if he ever wonders what I’d do to him. For him. Every day I see a strong, loving father to a young girl who needs a mother. I see a gorgeous, damaged man who needs me. And I'm so ready. Ready to be his wife. Ready to be a stepmom. Most of all, ready for a baby of my own. ***** Wyatt: All I ever wanted was to be a father. But raising a baby alone wasn't part of the plan. So when the woman who carried my little girl into this world comes back into my life, of course I take the help. But the longer I'm around her, the more I notice how much she has changed. She's all woman now. A body begging for my touch. Those curves are driving me wild, and I find that I need her as much as my daughter does. Falling in love with my nanny means risking losing everything all over again, but I'm willing to do it if she can give me what I've always desired. A family.

BLURB: "Breeder? It means I bought you for a fee. I own you. You'll warm my bed and bear me a child. You'll obey my every command and I'll do with you as I please." *** Irish, betrayed by her father and sold to the cruel Alpha Adrian as a Breeder, must provide an heir for the Alpha and his wife, Ashley. Her fate worsens when he turns out to be her fated mate. Locked up and abused by their hands, she must keep herself safe and her unborn baby when Ashley gets clouded by jealousy and seeks to ruin her. But things get even more complicated when Irish doesn't have the Alpha by her side. He would rather eat out of his wife's palm due to a secret she holds against him and as a result, he swears to do away with her once she has the baby. Dejected and hurt, Irish runs away for her dear life but the chase begins. Alpha Adrian is hot on her tail. He won't let her go, he won't let her breathe. He's desperate to have her back or does he just want his baby and then her head on a golden platter for his wife? When fate finally makes their paths cross, will he kill her or dote on her?

Brianna has held it together on the outside. Claiming her seat on the council of witches in New Orleans and rocking the political world of the witches of North America. She is a force no witch wants to be against and weeding out the allies from the foes is no easy task. On the inside however, she is falling apart at the seems for the choices she's made and the war within her forces her to face the pain she's caused to those she loves most in this world. Wyatt and Beau haven't taken her absence well, as they attempt to move on in life, both struggle to maintain their brotherhood as they each drown in their heartache and own vices. That is until a lone figure on a dock changes everything. The Rouge Bayou Pack is about to change forever. They won't be keeping their heads down anymore. How will they juggle the turmoil the witches bring them and the pack they have such a long history of conflict with. Are their friends really their friends and what new enemies lie ahead. As hearts heal ,love is tested. Storms come and the aftermath bubbles over into both worlds. They are surrounded but together their hearts are stronger to weather it all together. More monsters are born of the Bayou's ancient power. An old enemy harbors a truth, one unfathomable. The news they have brought elicits Wyatt's rage. As the High Priestess rises so does the Rougarou Enemies beware.

"Oops, I did it again. I played with your heart, got lost in the game.” I close my eyes; I am enjoying the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. The sound of my voice echoing across the fields. Then I open my eyes; I am scared out of my mind by someone standing over me. "Where did you come from?! You should not creep up on people!" "I can ask you the same thing, what the hell are you doing out here?" His eyes run over my body, and I can see amusement build in his smile. "I never thought I would see the day that I find a clearly lost woman in a wedding dress in the back seat of a car singing to Britney Spears." Tyler Moore is the Sheriff of a small town far out from the city. With a body that is carved to perfection, this soft-spoken man should not be underestimated. Even though he is elegant and yet powerful, there is far more than lives underneath the façade that he brings. Jenna Davis, a girl that decides to leave her husband at the altar, runs away to the small little town where Tyler lives. She gets stuck on the side of the road in nothing but an empty tank, a wedding dress, and singing to Britney Spears. Tyler is the one that finds the poor damsel on the side of the road. Even though he finds her situation amusing, he is immediately captivated by her. She pushes him to his limits and brings the danger that he craves, that he desires. The two soon send off on a whirlwind relationship, but there is one thing that Tyler refuses to give…his heart. Will Jenna ultimately win his heart?