116 Book(s) Related to hand covering mouth drawing

Ashes in Her Mouth

The fire took more than walls. It took names. Faces. Pieces of me I’ll never get back.

Now it’s back. Different street, same smoke. Same teeth in the dark.

The brass call it arson. I call it unfinished business.

Every blaze leaves a mark a body, a whisper, a threat carved in soot. Someone wants me chasing. Someone wants me choking on the past.

I should walk away. Let the flames eat the city clean. But the next fire is already lit. And I know where it’s burning.

Not a matter of if I get there in time. Just what I’ll lose when I do.

In a city owned by the Four Families, Constable Paix Hanger has advanced as high as he can. A hard-working twenty-year veteran relegated to walking a beat in the worst neighborhood of the worst precinct of the city, he resents the crime family which rules his quadrant, chafing at the restrictions placed on him by his superiors "for his own good". A boy who's a reminder of the son he might never have disappears and those who look for him begin dying. When the incompetent and corrupt detectives assigned to the case are unable or unwilling to act, Constable Hanger takes matters into his own hands. This companion story takes place during the same time frame as The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy.

Addison Campbell’s glittering life is turned upside down when her father is sent to jail and her family loses everything. In midst of the chaos, she lands an unexpected scholarship to finish the last year of high school at the prestigious Brighton Academy.

Her plan is simple: keep her head down and stay out of trouble.

But that plan goes up in flames the moment an accident sends her crashing—literally—into Shepherd Conrad, the unfairly gorgeous billionaire bad boy and unofficial king of Brighton.

Shepherd is every girl’s dream, but he’s already made his choice—Addison. She’s the one girl his family will never accept, yet the one he can’t seem to stay away from.

When tension turns to something dangerously real, will their spark ignite something beautiful… or burn them both to the ground?

"Nayeli, so what if you're the McCarthy family's precious daughter?"

"Your brothers hate you!"

Nayeli McCarthy was chained to a rusted iron bed, her wrists and ankles raw and festering. The air reeked of blood and decay.

Lucia Montes stood beside the bed, gripping a scalpel. The blade caught the light as she smiled coldly.

"Carlos said if we harvest all your organs and sell them, we should make a decent profit!"

Nayeli's pupils contracted sharply. Her body thrashed violently.

The iron bed rattled and clanged. The chains dug deeper into her wounds, blood streaming down her wrists.

"Hold her down!"

At Lucia's command, two figures in white coats stepped forward—one pinning Nayeli's shoulders, the other her legs.

Lucia raised the scalpel and drove it hard into Nayeli's side.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from Nayeli's throat.

But Lucia wasn't finished. She grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured it directly onto Nayeli's exposed abdomen.

"Ahhh!"

The alcohol seared her wounds. Nayeli's nails dug into her palms as hoarse, ragged screams clawed out of her throat.

"Stop screaming. I'm just disinfecting you."

The smell of antiseptic, the sharp sting of restraints biting into my flesh, and the pitying look on Silas's face as he stood by my hospital bed.
"Maeve, you're so sick. The baby is just a hallucination."
In my last life, consumed by despair and self-doubt, I threw myself off the roof of the psychiatric hospital.
But now, my eyes snapped open, my hands instinctively flying to protect my stomach.
My baby is still here!
I'm back—exactly one week before my child disappeared.

Hello, My name is Spare, yes as in a spare tire kinda thing. I'm not allowed to interact with the family unless they want to teach me a lesson. I know all the secrets of this pack.I don't think they are going to let me just leave either, I don't want to go missing like a lot of girls have been lately. It doesn't matter though because I have a plan to get out of here. That is until one night at work, I found a naked man lying on the floor in the room I was about to clean.
You know what they say about making plans?
"You make plans and God laughs."

Carina is the Soul, one of the last members of a perishing race chased across space in search of a refuge.
Ishaan is a planetary councilor, tasked with the examination of the new species.
But when sparks fly between them and the evil finds them, what choice will they make to save everything?
Love in an Open Hand is created by Mia Davis, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

"Victor, stop. I came here for therapy—not to ruin my marriage."

Arthur had assured me his college buddy Victor—a single personal rehab therapist built like a gladiator—would cure my chronic back pain. But then Victor straddled me on the therapy table, his thick, hard cock scorching through thin fabric as it ground against my soaked pussy. All the while, Arthur's voice echoed from the speakerphone:

"Do whatever it takes to fix her. I trust you."

I accompanied my husband, Kieran, down to the Antarctic station’s underground quarantine zone to rescue an ice-bacteria sample at negative forty degrees. Halfway there, he asked me to fetch some data. I was gone for exactly three minutes. When I came back, he had vanished.
The institute staff told me I had gone insane, wandering the halls searching for a husband who had been dead for three years.
They called Kieran’s mentor, Dr. Reiner. Through the phone, the old man wept, swearing that Kieran had fallen into the deepest ice rift in Antarctica three years ago. Not even his bones were recovered.
Branded a lunatic, I was thrown into a sealed bio-containment pod twenty miles away. I became a human guinea pig. Under endless rounds of experimental drugs, my organs failed one by one until I died on that cold metal table.
Then, I blinked. Kieran was standing right in front of me, rushing me to the lab...

Before the wedding, my fiancé, Alpha Kendrick, stood in front of me. Hesitation flickered in his eyes, but so did hope.
“Can you give me a month?” he asked, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it.
A month. Time to see if he could patch things up with Elena Manwaring—his ex-girlfriend. His fated mate.
“If it works out,” he continued, the words deliberate, like he was convincing himself as much as me, “then it’s the Moon Goddess’s blessing. But if it doesn’t… I’ll come back. I’ll marry you. And I’ll leave her behind—forever.”
He meant it. He truly believed this was the honorable thing to do.
I didn’t argue. I didn’t cry. Instead, I let a small, knowing smile tug at my lips.
“Go ahead,” I said, my voice calm and steady. “Give it a try. Life’s too short for regrets, right?”
Relief broke over his face like a wave, as though I’d just untangled him from a chain he hadn’t known how to break. That night, he drove off, lighter than I’d seen him in months.
Meanwhile, I packed my bags in silence.

My husband fell in love with another woman and wanted a divorce. I agreed.
Getting divorced was easy, but getting back together won't be so simple.
After the divorce, my ex-husband discovered that I am the daughter of a wealthy family. He fell in love with me again and even knelt down to beg me to remarry him.
To this, I had only one word: "Get lost!"
（I highly recommend a captivating book that I couldn't put down for three days and nights. It's incredibly engaging and a must-read. The title of the book is "Dad, Mom's Love Faded" You can find it by searching for it in the search bar.）

I took time out of my busy schedule to come back and celebrate my husband's birthday, only to accidentally learn from my daughter that my husband had been maintaining intimate contact with his first love.

My husband still loved his first love and had been secretly involved with her behind my back.

Even though I had given him an adorable daughter, his heart was never with me!

What's the point of continuing a marriage without love?

I chose to leave!

But after I left, he seemed like a completely different person, starting to care about me in every way and wanting to win me back!

It's too late!

Kai Zang only plays trash games. So when an old forgotten game asks him to pick a difficulty, of course he chooses Hard Mode.

Now he's trapped in Veridia with a floating system screen and a smelly, talking beast that won't shut up.

The system says he can go home—but first, he must tame 34 beasts of increasing rarity.

It didn't say how hard.

It didn't say how long.

And it definitely didn't say the beasts would fight back.

I've been married to my husband Jake for three years. In that time, I've been pregnant twice.

But each time, I lost the baby.

What took my children wasn't a medical condition, but a painting.

A black bird, painted by Jake's ten-year-old blind brother, Billy.

My in-laws claimed he had the gift—a psychic born with sight beyond sight. And the black bird was an omen. It marked my baby as cursed, a threat to the family.

To save my second child, I got the best amniocentesis report money could buy, proving the baby had no genetic defects.

It happened again anyway.

At three in the morning, I woke to the agony of another miscarriage and stumbled to the studio door.

That's when I found out the truth.

I was reborn. My younger brother stole the woman who had lost her leg and was blind, thinking he had seized the throne of the apocalypse.
He didn't know that her power in her past life stemmed from the pendant on my chest—which contained a fountain of life.
This time, I'm not a savior. I'm handing the spring over to the nation.
The Pentagon has given me a new designation: National Assets.
While the younger brother was being beaten up by his neighbor for a half-empty can of cola, the National Guard's superhumans had already begun clearing out the infected.
He called, his voice hoarse: "Her superpower is only enough to chill a glass of cola... You tricked me?"
I hung up the phone and went into the lab.
"What's the extraction rate of the spiritual spring water today?"

Evie, a college student known for her daring spirit, accepts a wild challenge from her friends: kiss a stranger at a club. Her chosen target, the mysterious and intensely alluring Kayden, ignites a passion she never anticipated.
Their electrifying encounter leaves them both craving more, but fate has a shocking twist in store.
When Evie walks into her first literature class, she discovers her new professor is none other than the man she shared a forbidden night with.
Now, caught in a steamy dance between raw desire and professional boundaries, Evie and Professor Kayden must navigate a dangerous attraction that threatens to consume them both.
Will they succumb to the irresistible pull, or will the rules of their world tear them apart?"

Marrying the man whom My sister was supposed to marry was not My plan but fortunately I ended up marrying the billionaire whom My sister left to pursue her modelling career.. And the most unexpected thing happened when he told me he loves me on our wedding night.. I don't know why he fell for a plain girl like me but all I know is that he loves me and I am lucky to have him. But is that all? What if she returns? Can a man be trusted? Why everything he says, feels like a lie?

I was nine months pregnant, soaking in the tub, when an anonymous email popped up.
The first attachment was my husband’s medical report. [Severe Azoospermia. 100% Sterile.]
I touched my swollen belly. If Arthur was sterile, whose baby was this?
The second attachment was a news article. [Billionaire's Pregnant Wife Drowns in Master Bath.]
The publication date was tomorrow morning. I thought it was a sick prank.
Then, the bathroom door opened. My husband stood there, loosening his tie.
"You look beautiful tonight," he murmured.

In the captivating tale of "Doll of His Hands," Amara's world is forever altered when she unexpectedly finds love in the arms of the person who once kidnapped her.

Filled with spine-tingling suspense and heart-melting romance, this unique story unravels the complexities of their relationship, testing the boundaries of trust, redemption, and the power of the human heart.

Amara, a young woman plagued by the trauma of her past, stumbles upon an unlikely connection with her captor, whose name is shrouded in mystery. As their paths intertwine once more, a magnetic attraction draws them closer, defying the logic of conventional love stories.

Will Amara succumb to the haunting memories and fear that still haunt her, or will she dare to embark on an emotional journey that challenges everything she thought she knew about herself?

As secrets unfold and the tangled web of their shared past is gradually revealed, Amara must navigate a treacherous landscape of emotions, torn between the forbidden desire she feels for her captor and the need for self-preservation. With every twist and turn, danger lurks in the shadows, threatening to extinguish the fragile flame of their forbidden love.

"Doll of His Hands" takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of conflicting emotions, where suspense intertwines with the undeniable allure of romance. It explores the transformative power of love, forgiveness, and the extraordinary capacity for the human spirit to heal and find solace in the most unexpected of places.

Brace yourself for a gripping narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, as Amara's journey of self-discovery reaches its startling climax.

Torn from her home, ripped from the arms of her mate, and dragged across the border by soldiers who see omegas as spoils of war—Lyanna learns quickly that survival in the enemy kingdom demands silence. So she becomes deaf and mute, or so they believe. It’s the only shield she has.

But captivity brings two terrifying revelations:
She’s pregnant…
And she’s overheard a plot to assassinate her own king—an act that would end the war in the enemy’s favor and doom her people forever.

When the conspirators realize their “helpless captive” knows too much, the hunt begins.

Desperate to return home and warn her kingdom before it’s too late, Lyanna flees into the wilderness—only to collide headfirst with Elias, a sharp-eyed enemy alpha whose loyalty to his crown runs bone-deep.

Elias should turn her in.
Elias should question her story.
Elias should not—under any circumstances—offer protection, companionship, or the warmth of his cloak on cold nights.

But the longer they travel together, the more lines blur: duty, desire, loyalty… and the impossible pull neither of them can ignore.

Two kingdoms at war.
A secret that can reshape the world.
And an omega whose unborn child might just be the spark that lights every fuse.

She ran to save her kingdom—
but somewhere along the road… she found someone who makes her want to stay.

"I will take everything from you," my half-sister whispered as my husband, Colton, drove a blade into my chest. "Your love, your life, everything."

I died in a pool of my own blood, betrayed by the only family I had left. But instead of eternal darkness, light burned into my eyes.

I woke up standing in a luxury restaurant, looking down at Colton kneeling before me with a velvet ring box.

It was the exact day he proposed.

Armed with a second chance and burning for vengeance, I smirked and looked past him. "I'd love to marry," I announced to the stunned crowd, "but not you. You don't mind me being your aunt, do you?"

With those words, I walked straight into the arms of Colton’s powerful, enigmatic billionaire uncle—Richard Asher.

Amelia Hartley never planned to be someone’s headline, especially not his.

She prefers facts, deadlines, and stories with proof. Fake dating a campus heartbreaker? Not a chance. Especially not Nathan Miller, Fairview University’s hockey captain, notorious bad boy, and constant tabloid favorite.

But when a journalism assignment throws them together, one impulsive public claim turns Amelia into Nathan’s fake girlfriend and drags her into a world of cameras, jealous exes, and rumors powerful enough to end his shot at going pro. The deal is simple: pretend, redeem his broken image, and make her ex regret everything.

The problem? Nathan took things too far, he forgot the rules and fell in love first.

He shows up at her dorm and classes, walks and defends her without hesitation. Looks at her like she’s the only thing that matters. And when a devastating accusation threatens his career, Amelia starts digging, only to uncover truths that change how she sees Nathan, and how deeply she’s already fallen.

Because fake dating was never meant to feel real.
And love was never supposed to hurt like this.

Valeria Whitmore had it all—perfect grades, a flawless reputation, and a boyfriend the school admired. Until one night ruined everything.

A humiliating video of her spreads across the entire school, turning her into their favorite scandal. Betrayed by the two people she trusted most, Valeria refuses to break in front of them. Instead, she flips the narrative and does something reckless.

She kisses Zayne Hayes. The quiet, brooding scholarship student everyone whispers about—the boy who hides behind hoodies and keeps his distance. What begins as a desperate act soon turns into a fake dating deal.

Just when fake starts to feel dangerously real, a new transfer student enters the picture. Rowan Ashford, the son of the school’s owner, who has had his eyes on her long before he transferred. And unlike Zayne, he has no intention of watching from the sidelines.

As secrets resurface and feelings become impossible to ignore, Valeria finds herself trapped between two rivals with a history of their own—both willing to break rules, start wars, and risk everything for her.
In a game that started as revenge, Valeria must decide who she can trust before her heart becomes the next thing shattered.

Daphne had always known that it’ll be hard to be in a relationship with Griffin Reyes,the future brother-in-law of her ex.She didn’t want to be connected to her ex in any way. But Griffin is madly attracted to her and she soon falls under his charms.She let herself believe that she has finally found the one until his first love returns and he ditches her without a second thought. When their past crosses again and she has someone else by her side now,it’s only then Griffin realizes that he doesn’t want her to be with anyone but him. Winning her back wouldn’t be as easy as he anticipated.

"You know my relationship with him," Jason growls, "You know how much he hates me and yet you decide to sleep with him?"
"Sleep with him?" I echo, incredulous. "Jason, we have been together for three years. And the first thing you think about my connection with your brother is not my work, it is my vagina."
Alex's eyes narrow, a dangerous glint appearing. "She is my woman," he whispers, pulling me close and slamming me against his chest.
Sara Jane thought she had escaped her past. After Jason's betrayal, she only wanted to disappear, take her boss's offer, dive into work, and leave heartbreak behind.
But fate has other plans. Her next big client is none other than Jason's cold and ruthless elder brother, Alex Ford, the dangerous heir to the Ford empire and a man feared for his power and cruelty.
He is icy. He is unforgiving. And for reasons Sara cannot understand, he seems determined to claim her attention, no matter how impossible she thinks it is.
Thrown into a family feud she never asked for, with a cold boss and a selfish ex-husband, Sara must navigate desire, revenge, and a game of power she did not volunteer for.
Can she survive the heat, the heartbreak, and the temptation or will this forbidden attraction consume them both?

Our deal was strictly professional: his hands on me for the cameras, my lips on him for revenge.
I'm Olivia Carter, the twin my ex left to marry my sister. He chose perfection. So for his wedding, I'm choosing Rowan Parker—the NHL's most notorious ice captain. He gets a temporary shield from puck bunnies until playoffs. I get a living, breathing weapon to ruin the reception.
The contract is clear: no feelings, and no forgetting the love letters he once wrote her.
Our performance is flawless. Every public touch is a calculated strike. Every late-night strategy session blurs the lines we swore to keep. He's looking at me like I'm real, and I'm starting to forget the word pretend.
This was supposed to be a transaction. A masterpiece of revenge.
Now the only thing at risk of shattering is me.

Men have babies and women have fun.

In this alternate reality world, it is the men bear the responsibilities of unprotected sex while women spread their seed carelessly as they enjoy the ability of washing their hands of any consequential offspring.

(Warning: Mature Content)

The world isn't as populated and there's more whining and complaining about the aches and pains of the "nesting" process.

Kenzie didn't know that she was a descendant of Dracula. Her parents were killed, and she was hidden with a human family that was supposed to be loyal to her family. She will find love along the way of discovering who she is and why she was hidden away. She will learn new secrets about her friends. Face an enemy that she didn't know she had. Do all this while running her business that she loves.
Why is it that I long to be something that I am not? I know I’m young with just some average looks, but I’m not ugly either. I feel a connection with the night more than I do the day. I don’t feel like I fit in with the people around me, I don’t understand why. My childhood wasn’t too great. I didn’t get along with my sister or my brothers growing up, but I guess that is not so unusual. My parents never really had time for me, and they let things happen that they should have stop, but didn’t.

In this era of universal awakening, I've drawn the most tragic "BOSS" route.

For the sake of my fiancée Celine's guild, I signed an exclusive binding agreement. For four whole years, I was treated like an ATM for loot drops, and was mercilessly killed 2173 times.

When Celine led 137 elite members of her guild, armed with a permanent kill item, to stab me in the heart, preparing to dig out my core to pave the way for her new love, she thought she was about to usher in the supreme glory of being the first to kill me on the entire server.

But what she didn't know was that the hidden max-level reward for the BOSS route was "system administrator privileges".

The sword tip stopped at my chest, freezing time across the entire server. I looked at the greedy traitor before me, smiled, and pressed the "Level Reset" button.
"Sorry, this game is now in my hands."

Strip away god-tier equipment and wipe out max-level accounts. This time, I will bring down the reigning number one in the entire server, making him start from level 1 in the newbie village and personally pay the price for those two thousand bloody battles!

My fiancée Chloe dumped me, a veteran, for Seth's multi-million dollar fortune. As she left, she threw $100,000 at me with contempt in her eyes.
Little did I know that while I was using the money to stockpile weapons and food and upgrade the steel fortress, she and Seth were squandering it all in their luxurious villa.
Seven days later, the zombie outbreak occurred. I was enjoying steak and red wine in the fortress, while that despicable couple was slapping each other over a mouthful of dirty water in the ruins.
Thanks to my ex-girlfriend's generous sponsorship, I lived like a king in the apocalypse.

"Stop—Daniel, the fk are you doing! I came here to learn to swim, not get fked!"
In the pool, because my kicks were all wrong, Daniel—my husband's cousin—told me to wrap my legs around his waist to "feel the rhythm."
Except I was wearing that scarlet bikini Vincent shoved me into—practically nothing. Even worse, Daniel's rk-hard ck in those thin trunks was jammed right up against my py.
Every time he kicked, that thing dragged right over my ct, like it was about to shove straight inside.

The floodwaters rushed into the basement, trapping my sister Isabella and me in the surging currents.

My brother, a former Navy SEAL, smashed through the window. Without a second of hesitation, he secured the rescue rope around Isabella.

"You're a good swimmer, figure your own way up! Isabella can't take the cold, I have to get her out first!"

He abandoned me and turned to hoist the rope, accidentally kicking away the only wooden crate keeping me afloat.

Once Isabella was pulled up, she reached down and slid the outer latch, deadlocking the only vent grate.

The floodwaters instantly swallowed me whole. Mud and debris violently surged into my mouth and nose. I was drowned alive.

Landon Rhodes and I grew up together, both dreaming of becoming top chefs. But I knew he was the one with a palate kissed by God.

So when Rowan Stone, this street-rat punk, got her claws into him, I took the drinks, the smoke, the slaps for him. When he wanted to skip the National Young Chefs Competition to stay with her drunk ass, I dragged him back to the culinary lab.

He won the championship, got recruited by a three-star Michelin restaurant, graduated and made millions. I became the most invisible prep cook in his kitchen.

Until Rowan wrapped her car around a pole during one of her episodes, and he lured me into a basement.

"This is all your fault! If you'd minded your own damn business, she'd still be alive!"

His foot came down on my right hand. Bones cracking. My fingers ground to pulp.

All those 5 AM trips to the fish market for him. All those nights watching stock simmer for forty-eight hours straight. All the praise he soaked up at final practicals. My sacrifices, and all I got in return was his hatred.

"These worthless hands that can only cut vegetables deserve to rot in the ground with her."

The pain swallowed me whole.

When I wake up again, I'm back to that afternoon when he said he was going to the bar to find her.

This time, I won't stop him.

When your ex, a hockey player, begged for your forgiveness in front of everyone, making a scene,
You were both awkward and angry as the team erupted into a chorus of gossip.
Just when you were speechless and didn’t know what to do,
The famous hockey captain raised his voice and said,
“Enough. She is mine.”

The first thing you should know about me? I’m technically a witch. But if you ask my family, that means I’m supposed to be the perfect little spell-slinger: dutifully attend their weird rituals, work at the family business, marry some pre-approved magical dude, and crank out a few adorable witch babies to keep the bloodline alive. Spoiler alert: that’s not happening.

Instead, I’ve mastered the art of avoiding the magical world. My strategy? Hide behind my computer screens and steer clear of all the drama. It mostly works—until the office jerk, who also happens to be a mind reader, decides to nose his way into my carefully constructed peace. Then he turns up half-dead at work, and suddenly, I’m knee-deep in magical messes I never signed up for.

Now, the annoying mind-reading jackass is convinced his problems are my problems, missing bodies are piling up, and both our families are tangled in this supernatural disaster. All I wanted was to play video games, hang out with my cat, and pretend the magical world didn’t exist. Instead, I’m stuck playing amateur detective, dealing with meddling relatives, and navigating way too much forced time with a man who’s equal parts aggravating and…okay, maybe slightly intriguing.

This? This is why I don’t date.

After dying in the crash of a flight to Berlin, what Joana didn't expect was to be reincarnated in the 16th century as the wheelchair-bound mistress of a Spanish marquis.
While she tries to adapt to her new life with its physical limitations, a marriage contract with the callous Duke of Barcelona will be her only chance of getting rid of her tormentor.
But what does Joana have to offer Fernando Casanova to make him accept the marriage for three months?
In this journey of redemption and second chances, when Joana remembers who she really is, she will know that feelings of pain and love are the guiding threads of her very existence.

"It's not compensating. It's lagging," I said, my grease-stained hands resting on my hips as I corrected the most arrogant, untouchable F1 racer on my very first day.
Silence fell over the elite mechanical training facility. Every perfectly polished student turned to stare at me—the charity case from the slums. But Carlos Santiago didn't just stare. His sharp, assessing gaze landed on me like a physical weight. "And who are you to correct me?" he demanded, stepping closer until the scent of expensive cologne and burning rubber surrounded me.

I didn't back down. I knew engines better than I knew people. "I wasn't correcting you. I was fixing the problem," I shot back. He was perfect—ash brown hair, thick lashes, and a jawline that belonged on a billboard. But he was also completely wrong about the calibration. I reached past him, my knuckles brushing his pristine racing suit, and adjusted the valve. The engine instantly purred to life. Flawless.

His eyes darkened. He hated losing control. He stepped into my space, trapping me against the workstation. "You've got good instincts," he murmured, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "But instincts don't win races." Before I could push him away, someone bumped into him from behind. He stumbled forward, and suddenly, his lips crashed hard against mine. My mind went completely blank. It was an accident. It had to be. But when he pulled back, his eyes weren't steady, and his breathing was ragged. "Stay out of my way," he warned.

But the way he looked at my lips? It didn't feel like a warning at all. It felt like a promise.

If you'd asked Kenzie Anderson who she'd least want to spend her senior year with, Jace Ryder would have been the easiest answer.

He came back from military school taller, colder, and carrying the kind of reputation that makes people step out of his way. She has enough on her plate already, trying to keep her life together and protect the people who matter most. The last thing she needs is a fake relationship with the boy who seems determined to drive her crazy.

But somewhere between pretending to be in love and learning who Jace really is, Kenzie realizes there's more to him than the arrogant football captain everyone sees. And Jace begins to see the girl behind the bright smile—the one who's been carrying far more than anyone knows.

Falling for each other was never part of the deal. But when old secrets and painful mistakes come back to haunt them, they'll have to decide if what they've found is strong enough to survive the truth.

When I confessed to Montgomery in my red evening gown at his engagement party, everyone thought I was just a spoiled little girl throwing a tantrum. I had no idea that this man who raised me was the one who indirectly killed my father.

And no one knew that later that night in his luxury car, we crossed every moral boundary.

Then Dorian appeared at the bar—a mysterious bartender who looked just like Montgomery. When I kissed him as Montgomery's substitute, when I discovered he was actually the heir to a hotel empire, when I realized he'd known the truth all along...

“You've got to be kidding me...”
Rolling his eyes he scoffed “just say yes. I know you need the money.”
He wasn't wrong there, but I had a feeling I was going to regret this.


Deidra wanted to have a normal college experience just like everyone else, but the last thing she had anticipated was her fourth grade bully to come running back into her life asking her for help. Inheritance clauses, last-minute wills, and a free ticket for her undergrad years to be paid in full?
What more was there to say, except that Wes wasn’t someone easy to work with.
He was more likely going to be more trouble than the money is worth.

It Had To Be You is created by Scarlett Rossi, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

"Pretend to be my girlfriend."
Gabriella Walker came to Saint Joseph High to study, not to fall for the school's arrogant hockey captain.
With a university scholarship on the line and her family's ruined reputation to restore, the last thing Gabriella needs is Ethan Carter. But when she's assigned to tutor the failing hockey captain, a fake dating deal throws them into the spotlight.
The more they pretend, the harder it becomes to remember what's fake.
Then anonymous threats begin appearing.
Old secrets refuse to stay buried.
And Gabriella discovers that the boy stealing her heart may be connected to the very family that destroyed hers.
She came looking for the truth...
But what if the truth costs her the only person she's ever learned to love?

When you, a nerd, get stood up by your ex and wait all night in a bar on New Year's Eve
That's when you meet the hottest hockey team captain who asked you to pretend to be his date so he could dump his latest girlfriend.
When you're being pestered by your ex to get back together, he shows up and tells your ex to fuck off.
Your ex says, I know this is just a deal and you can't possibly like her.
He (kisses you in front of everyone): Deal, Like this?

My new neighbor is a jerk. A grumpy, arrogant bastard with the kind of looks that melt panties from ten feet away. At first, I was dazzled by him—tall, broad-shouldered, stupidly hot. Then he opened his mouth, and I realized I hated him. He's smug, rude, and way too good at getting under my skin.
I wanted him gone—until the night he saved me from getting abducted.
Now the photos are everywhere, and the internet thinks we're dating.
"To spice up Rhett's image and shift the negativity," his agent says, "you both need to run with the story. The world needs to keep believing you're dating—for a while."
I lean back on the couch. "What's in it for me?"
Rhett scowls. "I'm not going to let you paint me naked."
I roll my eyes. "Who says I'm even interested in doing that?"
I smile. "Rhett's going to accompany me to my cousin's wedding."
Fake dating with my infuriating, too-hot neighbor? Great.
Except Rhett Lawson isn't just an NHL hockey star—he's a powerful Alpha hiding his real identity. His parents were murdered when he was a boy, leaving him and his pack cursed. The Moon Goddess once whispered: "You'll find your greatest enemy and your fated mate in the human world. She holds the key to your redemption."
He came here to find his enemy. Not to fall for me.
But fate doesn't care about his plans—or mine.

Sandra Williams has never been one to walk on the wild side, at least not until she meets Jake Smith, a cocky and sexy wrestler at her father's gym.

Being dumped by my mate, Ethan, on my dream New Year cruise tour was bad enough. Watching him swap spit with Vanessa? Absolute hell.
Enter Lucas—the cocky, sinfully hot hockey Alpha—who claims I’m his mate. But he doesn’t want love; he wants revenge, proposing a fake relationship to rile Ethan. Now I’m stuck sharing a suite with the guy who has secrets of his own. Christmas and New Year on a luxury ship was supposed to be magical…not a steamy, chaotic mess. What could go wrong?

“Kai,” she warned, voice shaky.

He didn’t stop. His fingers slid lower, brushing against her through the thin fabric of her panties. 

 “You’re wet,” he murmured, almost surprised. “Even when you’re pissed at me.”

Mia's life turned upside down when she signed to fake date Kai the undefeated golden boy charismatic, ridiculously handsome, and the face of Apex Motorsports Academy.  

Until a vicious blog post erupts, grainy photos of him leaving an exclusive gay club surface overnight, sparking scandal and costing him multi-million-dollar contracts. Desperate to save his career and silence the rumors, Kai’s management forces him into a fake dating contract with the one person who despises everything he stands for. And the very person who was behind the blog post Mia Thompson.

When Kai threatens to destroy her future, scholarship, and dreams if she refuses, Mia signs the contract out of desperation trading six months of her life for a quarter million dollars and a chance to secure her mother’s future.

Thrown into a series of red carpet appearances, staged kisses, Mia and Kai are forced to play the perfect couple while secretly hating each other. But as explosive arguments turn into heated tension, fake touches ignite real sparks.And the undeniable attraction burning between two people who were never supposed to fall.

“You chose them over me,” Jules whispered, her voice breaking as Adrian walked away, “and now I’m paying for both our choices.”
The bro code was simple: teammates don't touch each other's sisters.

Jules Rowan broke it anyway. Adrian Cross was supposed to be her brother's best friend, not hers. The brooding transfer student with eyes and secrets carved into his skin. He was off-limits in every way that mattered.

But Jules was tired of being the perfect coach's daughter, so she pursued him. Seduced him and made him break every rule for her.

One stolen kiss in the equipment room changed everything.

Now her father won't speak her name, her brother wants Adrian's blood, and the entire campus treats her like a disease. She's broke, homeless, and friendless—the girl who destroyed a championship team for selfish love.

But the cruelest cut isn't the public humiliation or family abandonment. It's watching Adrian look at her like she's his biggest regret.

They say she's getting what she deserves for breaking the bro code.

Maybe they're right.

But some hearts are worth burning down the world for—even if you're the only one left standing in the ashes.