Why We Are Reading

A town with a strange past. A group of teenagers with secrets to hide. A world inside a box and a man who should no longer exist. Will they ever find out where they truly belong?

When Valentina met Matteo in 2019, they both felt as if they’d known each other before. Everybody knows Matteo Giudice is the first son of a billionaire who is probably, but not surely, the head of the Sicilian mafia. Everything he does seems to be for his own pleasure even though there’s a certain darkness to him that seems to follow him everywhere he goes. Burnt-out from a young age due to his generational wealth, being bored is his biggest problem in life. Valentina is the daughter of a successful Russian businessman and has always flown under the radar at school but now seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There’s something a bout her, as if she has something nobody else possesses, that stirs up Matteo’s interest in the first place. Somewhere along the way of trying to figure each other out they unintentionally fall in love. When buried secrets come out, their lives turn into a deadly game of power, in which love and war have no choice but to co-exist. A slow-burn coming of age mafia romance novel, in which the only thing the protagonists know for sure is that fate doesn't care if you're ready for the love of your life. Part 1 of the Games We Play works.

Almira Sekarayu, seorang perempuan muda dengan predikat The Most Eligible Bachelorette in Indonesia, punya standar tinggi mengenai pasangan hidupnya. Yang pasti lelaki itu harus lebih dari dia; lebih pintar, lebih kaya, dan lebih tua. Almi paling benci dengan laki-laki yang (menurutnya) sok kegantengan seperti Kalandra, seorang penyanyi terkenal dengan predikat Genious Musician, yang juga artis kebanggaan stasiun TV-nya. Namun, sebuah kejadian tidak terduga membuat keduanya harus berdua selama beberapa hari di tengah lautan bebas.

Natasha Hale only want to do one thing. Drink and forget the world after going through a rough break up halfway through the world Somehow she end up meeting the mysterious James Campbell

Lumatannya terasa manis. Pelukannya seakan melindungi. Laura bergidik dalam pelukan laki-laki yang bahkan baru dikenalnya dalam hitungan bulan. Seakan ia telah terjebak dalam permainannya sendiri. "Kenapa kamu menciumku?" tanya laki-laki itu. "Entahlah," jawab Laura lirih. "Dan kenapa kamu malah membalas ciumanku itu?” Laki-laki itu berpikir sejenak sembari menatap manik mata di depannya. "Aku hanya mengikuti naluri, La. Dan naluriku menginginkannya lebih.” Tidak ada yang tahu skenario apa yang sebenarnya Laura dan Abraham persiapkan. Awalnya mereka menolak dijodohkan, tapi endingnya mereka berdua malah menyepakatinya. Mereka akhirnya menikah. Tanpa debat. Juga tanpa paksaan. Tapi bagaimana jika perbedaan mencolok keduanya malah membuat mereka tanpa sadar saling bergantung satu sama lain? Ketika masa lalu Abraham hadir kembali dan membutuhkan sebuah pertanggungjawaban, Laura dihadapkan pada suatu pilihan yang sulit. Mempertahankan atau melepaskan?

Fate. What is fate? According to my research, it is to be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way. Iyon na ang dapat na mangyari e—nangyari na e. May magagawa pa ba? It is what it is kaya tatanggapin na lang? Para bang kahit anong mangyari sa buhay mo, wala ka nang magagawa. Iyon ang nakatadhana, iyon ang dapat na mangyari, iyon ang nakasulat sa libro ng buhay mo kaya wala na. Tanggapin mo na lang. I was born rich. Nakukuha ko ang lahat ng gusto ko—kailangan ko man o hindi. My attitude and personality was already rotten that nobody can tame me except for the man who introduced himself as my fiancee. If my parents were both heartless for me, he isn't. Ako lagi. Ako muna bago ang iba—bago siya. But, the story of my life isn't favor of me. From being proud and arrogant to pathetic life. Good thing that I have him. He is always the shoulder that I always have to lean on. He is like my guardian angel for taking care of me. Siya lang talaga ang may kayang umunawa sa akin. Siya lang talaga ang nag-iisang umiintindi sa akin. That's why I kept on asking him, why — why does he love me so much?

Kisah cinta Ana seperti roller coaster.... Secara mengejutkan, keluarga Ana tidak menyetujui hubungannya dengan Beni, padahal keduanya sudah berpacaran selama tujuh tahun. Tak kalah mengagetkan, Ana tiba-tiba dijodohkan dengan musuhnya dari masa lalu. Lalu bagaimana dengan kehidupan Ana selanjutnya? Siapakah jodoh yang akan menemaninya pada akhirnya?

Gabriella's life has always been complicated. Her father, the Don of the mafia, kept his business life separate from his family life. But Gabriella knew; the late night meetings, hushed conversations, his rivals ending up dead, and the occasional "business trips" that would leave her mother worried sick. Because of this, Gabriella chose to distance herself from her father's world. She attended college far from home, and even started a different life far from her father's shadows. But there's only so much you can do when you're seen as a weakness. Her worst fears finally become a reality, and her parents are killed in their living room, while she's on the verge of death. Someone's does save Gabriella, and she survives, but loses her sight in the process. Gabriella is grateful for this guardian angel, and years down the line, they get married, start a family, and love in perfect peace. But even the devil itself can disguise himself as an angel….. Gabriella has a shot to get her eyesight back, but that shot opens up a can of secrets that will ruin her perfect reality forever.

“True love stories never have endings.” Dean said softly. “Richard Bach.” I nodded. “You taught me that quote the night I kissed you for the first time.” He continued, his fingers weaving through loose hair around my face. “And I held on to that every day since.”

Layla Reyes wasn’t looking to be noticed. New to Maple Hill High, she only wanted to keep her head down, finish senior year, and forget the mess she left behind in Chicago. But then she meets Jayden Carter—a quiet artist with soulful eyes and a sketchpad full of secrets. What starts as a simple school project soon becomes something deeper, richer, and more complicated than either of them expected. Just as they begin to open up, Layla’s past crashes into her present, threatening to undo everything she and Jayden were building. Can two people still healing learn to trust each other with more than just paint and poetry? Or will they stay stuck in the space between what almost was… and what could be?