8142 Book(s) Related to the one within the villianess

In the Dragon Empire, bloodline determined everything. Only a female capable of hatching royal-grade golden dragons could wear the crown.
In my past life, I was nothing but a Red Drake—bottom of the food chain, not even blessed with wings. Yet after marrying into the royal family, I miraculously hatched a pureblooded Golden Hatchling.
But when my husband Valerius ascended to the Dragon Throne, his first act as king was to rip out my dragon crystal with his bare claws.
My own son Draken then ordered my body hacked to pieces and fed to the Abyssal Carrion Wolf-Lions in the depths below.
All of this because my half-sister had faked a bloodline awakening, transforming herself overnight into a so-called "Sacred Crystal Dragon."
My cruel husband had looked down at me with utter contempt: "Without my noble genes, how could something like you possibly birth such a gifted golden pureblood? Your filthy swamp bloodline has no right to the Queen's throne."
My son's disgust cut even deeper: "I don't want a flightless cripple for a mother. You make me sick. Only someone as noble and beautiful as Seraphina deserves to be my mother—she'd never force me to practice boring magic like you did."
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back at the Empire's quinquennial Bonding Ceremony.
My husband wasted no time choosing my sister as his mate. My son, Draken, eagerly dove his soul into her womb, ready to be reborn.
But this time, what crawled out of that egg was a Blind Mud Runt.

When my own family and fated mate forced me to leap into the abyss, I did not hesitate.
"You wicked woman, why don't you just die?" My brother Carl pointed at the cliff and roared. "Jump into the Abyss of Sin and atone before the Moon Goddess!"
My fated mate, Enzo, looked at me coldly. "You owe Lilith this."
They expected me to kneel and beg as I had so many times before, insisting that I had never harmed my adopted sister.
Instead, I simply nodded.
Under their horrified gazes, I threw myself over the edge. My body vanished into the silver flames below and turned to ash in an instant.
They did not know this was the seventh obedience contract I had made with the Moon Goddess.
Once I completed seven acts of absolute obedience, I could sever my old bonds and be reborn.
Goodbye, my family—the people I once would have died for.

The more I cry, the hornier my sister gets.

Not a metaphor. Stone cold reality. Me and pop superstar Melody share a sick "emotional link" — the worse I suffer, the more she glows on stage.

My husband Christian discovered this secret.

Then he chose to betray me and crawl into bed with Melody.

Now every time Melody has a big show, Christian locks me in the basement, force-feeds me depression pills, and blasts horror movies 24/7 until I'm totally broken.

My despair gets fed straight into Melody's energy, making her perform like she's possessed.

Tonight they're fucking to celebrate her win. Tomorrow's concert means draining me dry again.

Enough!

If my pain is your sex drug, I'm cutting off the supply completely.

I'm going to the medical center to freeze myself for one full year.

Let you two horny bastards screw each other to death!

Dale was a famous playboy at Huntsville High School. He was tall, handsome, and rich. More importantly, he was a playboy with excellent sex skills and a huge cock. He had a long list of girls he'd dated, and every one of them was completely captivated by him. However, I wasn't on that list, and he even mocked me, calling me "Chris Shit."

But the moment I saw him, I was completely captivated. I desperately wanted to enjoy his big cock and his superb sex skills. I was completely captivated, willing to do anything for him, just hoping he'd look at me more.

However, when I finally had the chance to have a passionate fuck with him, I was shocked to discover that he was my stepbrother. Oh, damn, what a joke! So, should I continue having sex with him? And make him my big-cock boyfriend?! I was going crazy!!!

He thinks I'm a stuck-up, prudish bitch and I think he is an arrogant, stubborn man whore. I don't like him and he certainly doesn't have many nice things to say about me but I need to make this work. After it's all done I can cut ties with him and never have to see him again.

I never thought I would have to give up my dreams to make up for my father's mistakes but here I am working three jobs to get my family out of the hole he dug and now he fucks up royally one final time. Because of his mess, I am given an ultimatum to watch my grandmother's home be sold out from under her or help Ryder Masters, the NBA's wild child, clean up his act by pretending to be his girlfriend for the next twelve years months so he can secure his new contract.

The question is can we both get over our dislike for each other to make everyone believe that we are a real couple? Or will everyone see through the images we project and see this for what it really was?

When Kristine Iglesias discovers about her boyfriend’s cheating, she chooses the ultimate weapon for her revenge: A one night stand with his enemy.
The irresistible, dominating, heartless billionaire, Zayne Nightwood.
One night all it took to change the flow of her life. An irresistible desire sparked between them. Both of them began to crave each other badly.
One night. One opportunity.
The news of their one night stand and her pregnancy spread like fire caught on silk. A scandal was created, risking both hers and his image,
But there was a catch. Everyone thought Zayne got her pregnant but the child was not Zayne’s but Edric’s.
In her one drunken mistake, she saw an opportunity, a dark path to annihilate all the obstacles, to make all her enemies pay.
Subsequently, Kristine and Zayne decide to marry, to fool the public and avoid allegations.
All on the demand that she will be all Zayne’s. From her soul to every inch of her pretty skin. From her life to that unborn child’s life– all shall belong to him.
Because according to him, she was his leash, his tamer, she ‘should’ be his.
When both of them had secretive motives behind this marriage, trusting each other or falling in love was going to be hard.
But how can they resist each other when both of them got addicted to each other?

His green eyes lengthened as he pulled me close, "Where else did he touch you?" His voice hardened and I shivered.
“Stop, He..”
He pressed his lips against mine before I could finish my statement.
“You're soaking wet for me baby. Do you feel this way about him too? Does his touch make you this wet?" He growled I could feel the anger in his voice.
“Listen to me little mouse.” His voice was cold, his green eyes pierced into mine with an intensity that made me shudder.
“You are mine alone.” He nipped on my earlobe, his breath hot against my skin. “You don't let anyone else touch you okay?”
We shouldn't be doing this. He didn't love me and I was just one of many girls caught in his web. Worse still, he was my Stepbrother.


Love is anything but expected...

Ryan Jenkins is the school's ultimate heartthrob and captain of the basketball team with a charm that leaves girls swooning. Haunted by a tragedy from his past, he views love as a game- one where hearts are mere toys to be tossed with. He’s spent his life steering clear of anything resembling love. But when his father remarries, he's suddenly faced with a new challenge—his stepsister. Being in close proximity to her ignites something he’s never felt, a dangerous spark that threatens to consume the world he’s built.

Violet Blake is your typical good girl—a straight-A student, a shy bookworm, and utterly inexperienced when it comes to love. Moving in with her mom and new stepfamily was supposed to be a fresh start. She never expected her stepbrother to be Ryan Jenkins, the most popular and alluring guy at school. With every interaction, Ryan keeps her on edge, leaving her struggling to protect her heart. The more she tries to stay away, the deeper she falls for the one person she knows she shouldn't desire...

Haven Brandon, a successful but cold-hearted businessman, is forced to cancel his engagement after a scandal shakes up his life. In an attempt to please his overbearing mother, he lies and tells her he's married. When she demands to meet his wife, Haven scrambles to come up with a plan and turns to his best friend, Matt, for help.
Enter Alexis Pierce, a tough young woman who dropped out of college to support her family. Struggling to make ends meet, Alexis agrees to a fake marriage with Haven in exchange for the money she needs to free her wrongfully imprisoned father. What starts as a business arrangement soon turns into something more complicated as they both begin to develop real feelings for each other.
As Alexis and Haven navigate their fake marriage, they discover new sides to each other. Haven begins to soften, revealing his hidden tenderness, while Alexis sparks something in him with her fiery spirit. But their growing relationship is tested when Alexis learns that Haven's brother, Cain, may be involved in her father's wrongful imprisonment.
As the two work together to uncover the truth and free her father, their fake marriage turns into a genuine and passionate bond. But with secrets from the past threatening to tear them apart, they must decide if their love is worth fighting for.
Will Haven and Alexis overcome the challenges in their way and turn their fake marriage into something real? Or will the past destroy everything they've built?

"Truth or dare," he said, and I scowled. I hate backing down from his silly games so easily. No, not this time. Not ever! This is when I get to show just how much I hate him.

"Dare," I replied, locking eyes with him. Let's see what he has up his sleeve.

"I dare you to kiss me."


Two weeks ago, I thought I'd escaped Mr. Perfect's grasp when I resigned from his company. No more mindless Truth and Dare games, no more toxic dynamics. Or so I thought...

Now, reality slaps me in the face: I'm carrying his child.

Will Mr. Perfect accept this unexpected twist? Or will my happy ever after remain a distant dream?

Aria’s story begins in silence.

On the night her child is born beneath a bleeding moon, the world does the unthinkable, the moon answers a power older than mercy and takes her baby from her arms. No prophecy offers comfort. No god explains why. There is only absence, a wound carved so deeply into Aria that something inside her hardens into resolve.

She was never meant to be a vessel.

In a world ruled by ancient God's, sacred pacts, and power that demands obedience, Aria uncovers a truth far more dangerous than destiny, magic does not always need to be stolen, inherited, or bargained for. Sometimes, it listens. Sometimes, it can be refused.

Bound by fate to Kael, a warrior forged for war and sacrifice, Aria is drawn into a conflict far older than the kingdoms trembling in its shadow. Alongside Azrael, Matteo, and Ren, the men shaped by loyalty, loss, and violence, she stands at the center of a prophecy written to break her.

The Devourer, an ancient god of control and corruption, seeks to claim Aria as its final vessel and crown her queen. It promises salvation. Restoration. Even the impossible return of what she lost.

Aria refuses.

At the Hollow Crown, she denies divinity itself, shattering prophecy and forcing a god to retreat. But refusal leaves echoes. Fragments of corrupted power bleed into the world, and greater eyes turn toward her defiance.

As stars realign and lost sanctums awaken, forces older than Gods, the Architects, shapers of fate itself, begin to watch.

Aria is no ascended queen.

She is a reckoning.

And the world is no longer prepared for a woman who has already lost everything, and learned how to say no.

Zoey Afar has had a long-held affection for her boss. However, she was unwilling to confess this since, first and foremost, they were different in level of life. The second reason she feels "abnormal" is that even a light touch from her stimulates her desire. She has obsessive sexual behavior, sometimes known as hypersexuality condition or sexual addiction.

Things become worse when the hot CEO makes her personal BDSM partner.

When your bf cheated, you slept with his best friend for revenge.
It's an ONS. You never expect to run into him again.
Yet, he became your stepbrother.
"Hello Sister. Behavior yourself. Or your moan will be heard. "
He smirked and caged you against the wall, kissing your neck.
Door's open. Parents downstairs.

It all started in middle school, Dorian Klient was my worst enemy.

He was the popular hockey captain who made my life hell. I was the girl he bullied for my looks. Then one fight ruined both our lives. He left town. I swore I’d never think about him again.

Years later, he’s back. Same jawline. Same arrogance. Same Dorian.

But this time I’m not that scared kid anymore. I’m Bella McCain. And I refuse to let him ruin me twice.

Except… why does my heart race every time he looks at me? Why does the boy I hated most feel dangerously close to becoming the one I want?

It's shitty when you start falling for the hockey captain who broke you. Well I'm offside with you, captain annoying.

"I've taken the time to read it, in fact, you are the real legitimate daughter of the Lincoln family. The current madam Dawn in the Lincoln now actually used to be your mother's bride servant girl and your younger sister is the illegitimate daughter of your father and the bride servant girl right? Unfortunately, your brother died tragically ten years ago and your mother took you to America in distress. Hence, the bride servant girl, and the illegitimate daughter became legitimate members of your family, nobody could take this aggravation, if this happened to them, huh?" Richard whispered in her ears.

She clenched her fist tightly but kept a straight face, she must not fall into this shameless man's scheme.

The first time they met, she caught him murdering the woman beside him, He kidnapped her and tied her hand with a cuff and tied his hand with a cuff.

The second time was when he crashed into a ball happening in her family.

He lies to a receptionist that she is his wife.

Shameless bastard."

Eline, a philosophy major, and a secret werecat, is caught off guard when Draken Gallagher, the campus playboy and her self-proclaimed nemesis, suddenly takes a keen interest in her. The twist? Draken is a werewolf.

—

"I'm interested in you, Eline," his straightforwardness caught me off guard, and I felt my heart stop beating. It felt like I had been knocked out of breath. "I like you and my wolf and I want to get to know you better…"

I was speechless.

He paused, studying my reaction, and then spoke again, his tone carrying a hint of vulnerability. "Eline, there's something about you that I can't quite explain. You stir something in me, something my wolf doesn't understand."

"I also can't quite explain why the campus playboy is interested in me all of a sudden? Besides, Draken, aren't wolves supposed to be natural predators of cats? So why's your wolf interested in me? I don't get it at all."

"That's what I don't understand also, Eline. I don't understand why my wolf has taken a sudden interest in a cat."

"Try questioning it," I said.

Draken laughed, stepping even more closer to me. He was invading my personal space and for some reason, I didn't seem to mind it. He brushed a bit of my hair from my eyes, lowering his voice to a whisper as he spoke. "As a werecat, does your cat exist as a mind of its own?"

"No. Why do you ask?" I was forced to hold my breath with how close he was. I knew inhaling his scent would do things to me…to my body.

Draken smiled softly, his eyes reflecting a hint of mischief. "As for werewolves, their wolves exist as another entity. My wolf being attracted to you is what makes this so intriguing. My wolf, Grey, can't figure it out either. He just knows that he wants to mark you as his own, to claim you as his mate."

Arthur Basalan is a ruthless werewolf who has a job as the CEO of his own company. It doesn't matter if it's with his own family, or with other people. Especially this beautiful girl named Livy Angela, who is very much below him in age, is also his prisoner. She was already entangled in Arthur's love, but he didn't seem to care after doing something one night that meant a lot to Livy, but not to Arthur. Punished in a very dark room. Only a faint light illuminated the room.
“Please, get me out of here.”
“It's not that easy to get away from me, Livy! Once you are my prisoner, you will be under my control forever, understand?”
And every day Livy had to think of a way to get out of Arthur's mansion, which was heavily guarded by large bodyguards. How does Livy get out of Alpha's cruel clutches?

Note: Explicit, erotic content. Not for readers younger than 18 please.

    “Take it off Abby” he demanded looking so fierce but sexy.
      “As you wish master” I returned . I placed my hand on my white shirt and pulled it off through my head slowly.
     “Don’t rush things Abby” he would always warn.
     I took my hands slowly to my back as I tried so hard to reach for my bra hook. I got it. I thought to myself.
    I was about unhooking it but then he interfered.
    “Stop Abby, don’t move” He said to me while he sat down on his seat gazing at me.
      “Imagine me walking round where you are standing this minute. Imagine my hands on your body as you take off your bra hook” He tried creating an invincible scene in my head.
     My hands unhooked my bra unknowingly and I felt the urge to grab him immediately, but no… that wasn’t how it was done with Alex.

️ ⚠️ Warning: This is not just a sweet fake dating romance, it contains extremely grey characters that’ll have you questioning your sanity and wanting more, strong languages/actions not suitable for minors.

“You’re not going to turn me on and leave me fvckn hanging, Kade.”

Fck. I’ve never really fancied dominant women, but that fire blazing in her eyes flips something inside me. For tonight, I want to be her toy. Her sx doll.

Her slick, hot p*ssy presses directly against the hard bulge in my jeans as she settles on top of me.

“Sora…” My hands grip her thighs, fingers digging in as she rocks harder, coating the front of my pants with her arosl.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to fcvk me?” she breathes against my mouth... “Since the garden, watching you flex your back and biceps as we walked was pure torture.”

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but after tonight we’ll put an end to it.”
——————————————————————————
Sora believed that if she stayed loyal long enough, she would finally be enough for Cameron. But a year later, he’s still hopelessly in love with Daisy McQueen—the girl who made Sora’s high school years a living hell. When Sora exposes Daisy’s cheating on the night of Cameron’s proposal, she expects the truth to set him free. Instead, she’s painted as the jealous, bitter girl trying to ruin his happiness.To save her pride, she claims she has a boyfriend—and Kade Black is the only man close enough to make the lie stick. Although cold, arrogant, and completely off-limits, Kade surprisingly agrees to fake date her.

A story full of lust and forbidden desires.

Amanda Hank is a twenty-two-year-old girl and a virgin looking for a job as a secretary in one of the most prestigious companies in the city. She wasn't interested in men or losing her virginity while working, or so she thought.

Until she meets her boss and he is in charge of changing everything that Amanda likes her world.

John Smith is a sexy, rich and successful forty two year old tycoon. That he falls surrendered to his darkest desires when he meets Amanda. He refused her wishes knowing that she was his friend's daughter, but it was impossible for him not to fall for Amanda. Amanda was perfect for him, especially when he could be her teacher to help all her darkest desires.

A deal arises between the two of them. They both trusted him that sex would not harm them, however, little by little they realize that they really want each other.

Both know that it is a forbidden love, but neither can deny their darkest desires.

In their quest to confront their feelings. They get caught up in trouble with John's Ex.

What will happen to these lovers of sin? Will they be able to love each other and fuck without problems?

But everything with love, desire and sex can be solved. And they did not escape being the exception.

"See what you do to me?" I said, taking her hand and guiding it to wrap around my length. "This is what wanting you looks like, Elle. This is what you make me feel."

Elle bit her lip, her hand tightening experimentally around me, and I had to close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

"Can I—" she started, then stopped, uncertain.

"You can do whatever you want," I told her, opening my eyes to find her watching my face with fascination. "Touch me. Explore. Learn what I like."

After being betrayed by her boyfriend, Elle agreed to Adrian, the brother of her ex, to enter into a one-year contractual marriage. She initially thought that this was just a temporary solution proposed by Adrian to deal with the family pressure. But gradually, she found herself completely lost in Adrian's tenderness and unable to extricate herself......

Have you ever heard of magic? Get to know in the Kingdom of Amelia. The Kingdom where magic strongly lives in every single soul dwelling there.
Amara, the princess of Amelia, often dreams of stepping her feet out of her Kingdom. Fortunately, she got the opportunity to leave her Kingdom for a mission.
Based on her mission, her destiny is to marry a wealthy but arrogant billionaire, Collins Edward living in New York City.
Will she fulfill her destiny?. Or are there more to be fulfilled? What will happen if the magic world encounters modern romance?
Find out in Amara!.

Alpha Blake exterminated her pack. She was taken to the Ralton pack as a trophy and punching bag.
Upon shifting, she finds that his son is her mate.
He rejected her because she was a weak rubbish- an Omega!
Heartbroken, she left the pack and was hunted by the Alpha's son who shot her.
But she didn't die, nor did she reject him.
Years later, a kick-ass female whom every Alpha wants as Luna, returns to the Ralton pack. Her aim? To crush the pack and make the Alpha bow!
Pretty cool right?

Add to your libraries. More updates are coming soon. Lest I forget, accept my kisses! :)

My downstairs neighbor tagged me in the building group chat at ten p.m.
His wife just had a pup, he said. Pups need moonlight, he said. So starting tonight, my private moon terrace belongs to his family.
He'd even pay me rent. Ten dollars a month.
For the terrace of a three-million-dollar penthouse.
When I said no, he reminded me he wasn't just my neighbor. He's my supervisor at the Calloway Group, and my probation review sits in his hands. Hand over the door code, or I'd never survive at that company.
He kept saying it. I can crush you at the Calloway Group.
Funny.
My mother owns the Calloway Group.
I was going to let him dig his own grave quietly. Then his family broke into my home, walked up to the one thing on that terrace worth half a million dollars—
And smashed it.

Six years ago, Evelyn White caught her husband Arthur Collins cheating, then left his mansion—pregnant and unseen. Now she’s back as Eve, a top artist, with two genius twins. At her exhibition, the kids yell “Mommy”… and Arthur’s world breaks. He’s obsessed with dragging her (and the kids he never knew) back. She just wants to paint and protect her family. But as their past’s lies unravel, escaping him means fighting for more than just freedom.

I am a hero. The saint's husband.
A country boy chosen by the temple.
I fight, I fight, I fight.
All for the saint, for the temple.
But it wasn't until I was drained of blood and dying on the altar that I finally heard clearly what the saint and her childhood sweetheart were saying:
"If you become a hero and marry the saint, you'll have to surrender your soul to the temple. I don't want you to lose your soul."
"Then let's just find some country boy to be the hero. It won't matter if he dies."
Oh, so that's how it is.
You should have said so earlier.
I can defeat the Demon Lord just fine without the saint.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the wedding ceremony.
This time, someone else should be on the altar.

The chieftainess returned from the poisonous fog with a swollen belly.
She announced that she carried the child of a god—a child who would bring hope to the entire base.
Only I knew that what she bore was no divine offspring, but a demon that would devour every soul in the base.
Because in my previous life, I was the one it had gnawed to death, alive...

BLURB

My breath hitched, my chest heaving as Salvatore's finger thrust into my pussy. I clenched my teeth, my fingers squeezing the bedsheets as I shamelessly parted my legs even wider.

“Do you want me to stop?” His voice was a low growl.

“No,” I breathed. “Faster…please,” I moaned loudly.

I knew Salvatore's and my attraction to each other was forbidden; he was the heir to a wealthy family, and I was just a maid in his house. But I have had an attraction to him since I met him and couldn't control it.

We both couldn't.


Lyra Whitman is from a poor home and has faced constant bullying in school. She and her mother finally moved away to a new city, where they her mother works as a maid for the Sinclair's, one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the county.

Lyra cannot help but fall for their son, and she is surprised to see that he feels the same. Knowing the dangers of being together due to their different backgrounds, they are forced to navigate their relationship in secret.

Silver poisoning struck, and my mother's life hung by a thread.
I knelt and begged my partner Selene to use the 100,000 gold coins from our war spoils to purchase Moonlight Holy Water, but she coldly refused with a sneer: "An ordinary silver poison patient isn't worth wasting resources on." She then turned and spent 80,000 coins on a necklace for her male lover.
My mother died in my arms as I ground my teeth and swallowed my tears of blood.
But when the patrol came to collect the body, she finally discovered—the one sent to be buried deep in the mass grave wasn't my mother at all, but her own biological mother.
She had personally buried her own mom!

Fate chose her.
Power made him refuse.
Ruby was never the Luna Troy wanted.
The girl with silver eyes and no wolf the pack whispered about behind her back. The girl he rejected publicly on the day that was supposed to be their wedding and mating ceremony, choosing pride and power over the bond that tied them together.
Humiliated before the entire pack, Ruby walked away from the man destined to love her.
And when Troy realized too late that rejecting her had been the biggest mistake of his life, Ruby refused to come back.
So on the day Ruby was supposed to marry another and finally start over, he stole her from her own wedding and forced her back into his world—back into a marriage she never wanted.
Now trapped beside the man who broke her heart, Ruby is no longer the weak girl Troy remembers. The years apart changed her. Hardened her. And the power inside her has grown into something the entire werewolf world fears.
A power strong enough to stop wars.
Strong enough to make kings kneel.
Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of her.
The council sees her as a weapon. Rival Alphas see her as a prize. Enemies lurking in the shadows want her power for themselves. And Troy, the man who once shattered her, will burn down the world before he lets anyone take her again.
But forced proximity only reopens old wounds.
Because beneath Ruby’s anger still lingers the bond neither of them escaped. Beneath Troy’s cruelty hides obsession, regret, and a dangerous love that has only grown more possessive with time.
Now caught between revenge and desire, freedom and fate, Ruby must decide if Troy deserves a second chance…
—or if the Alpha who ruined her should finally lose everything.

A short contemporary domestic-drama romance. Clean to sweet. Happily ever after.

My husband's family slid the folder across the table — sign here, family helps family, it's just a signature.

What they didn't know: I had almost three million dollars in an account none of them could find. I silenced the alert before the number could glow.

They think we're the broke ones. For four years they've bled the kindest man I know dry, dressing every demand up as love and cashing it. So I let them keep believing it — and I built a wall they will never see.

They're about to find out what happens when you spend a lifetime underestimating the quiet one.

And this time, I'm not the one who pays.

The day he proposed, Atticus knelt before me, holding the Hale family's heirloom necklace.
I thought I had finally survived the ordeal.
After eight years of unrequited love, being humiliated by his sister, nitpicked by his mother, and mocked by the city's socialites for being unworthy of the Hales... Until this very moment, when he personally fastened the heirloom around my neck. Everyone saw it. I, Clara, was finally accepted by the Hale family.
Tears in my eyes, I said yes, thinking it was the happiest moment of my life.
But just days after putting on that necklace, bizarre red rashes crawled up my neck. My pale skin rotted away piece by piece, and my internal organs went into irreversible failure.
The most absurd part? The exact same day I started rotting, his dying mother miraculously cured her terminal illness, and his sister's half-destroyed face was restored to flawless perfection.
Disfigured and barely looking human, I threw myself off the Harbour Bridge—
I opened my eyes, and I was back on the day of the proposal.

In a sleek design world split between polished appearances and buried cruelty, Mara Ellison has spent years trapped behind a voice no one wanted to hear. While her family rewrites her illness and her fiancé speaks over her in the name of love, stolen records, public humiliation, and old betrayals force her to reclaim her life. Quiet but cutting, this is a story of emotional abuse, identity theft, and hard-won selfhood—framed by rain-soaked streets, hospital corridors, cold glass conference rooms, and a woman finally stepping into the light with her own voice.

The day college decisions came out, my parents bought my twin sister a Porsche.
It was my eighteenth birthday too. Nobody brought it up. I stood in the doorway in my diner uniform while the whole room sang her name.
That night the four of them went out to dinner to celebrate her. The car only sat four, so my father handed me a hundred dollars and told me to order myself something at home.
Four days later, six thousand four hundred dollars vanished from my account. Two years of washing dishes, gone to her sorority dues. My mother's name was on the account, so it wasn't even illegal.
I didn't scream and I didn't beg. I went upstairs and clicked Accept on the full ride to MIT that had been sitting in my inbox for three days.
Nobody in that house ever wanted me. So I booked a one-way ticket, cut myself out of the family photo, and left my key on the shoe rack.
I wasn't coming back. Not for graduation. Not for any of them.

Five years into living with my stepbrother Gideon, the scholarship girl he sponsored moved into our house.
To repay his "generosity," she made a habit of slipping into his bed at night. By day, she took it upon herself to "fix" my antisocial, withdrawn personality.
Three days before St. George Prep's graduation ceremony, she brought me a glass of juice wearing that nauseating sugar-sweet smile.
"You know, Charlotte, your peanut allergy is probably psychosomatic. You just need some exposure therapy. Let me help you get over it."
That night, my throat closed completely. She'd deliberately laced my drink with concentrated peanut extract.
I convulsed on the cold hardwood floor, vision tunneling as oxygen fled my lungs.
In the last second before darkness swallowed me whole, I clawed desperately toward the half-open door.
Standing in the hallway were my boyfriend Dylan and my stepbrother Gideon.
They simply watched me suffocate. Then Gideon calmly reached out and shut the door.
I died from anaphylactic shock.
Three months later, as a ghost tethered to this world, I watched her stride onto Stanford's campus. Wearing my clothes. Carrying my acceptance letter. Burning through my trust fund.
Through the crowd, I saw Gideon—my ice-cold, unreachable stepbrother—gently cradle her face and press his lips to hers.
Then I gasped awake.
I was back. Three days before graduation.

A horrific car crash left me paralyzed.
The doctors said I'd never walk again. With no family left, my Aunt Martha and Uncle Thomas took me to their isolated farmhouse.
They cared for me, promising their treatments would help me walk again. After everything I'd been through, I thought I'd finally found safety.
Until today, when the feeling in my legs suddenly came back—but something told me not to tell them.

“Dad… please… help me…” I pleaded, my shattered ribs piercing my lungs, blood soaking the stretcher.
But Richard, the hospital's top surgeon and my biological father, didn't even glance at me. Instead, he rushed to the next bed.
“Don't be afraid, Chloe. I'm here,” he cooed to his stepdaughter, who merely had a tiny scratch on her arm. “Get the best equipment over here now!” he roared.
As the heart monitor flatlined and my soul left my broken body, I realized the chilling truth: in the choice between life and death, my father gladly let me die.

I once believed that if I was obedient enough, my birth family would finally love me. Instead, they gave everything to Anna, the fake heiress—my competition spot, my reputation, even my kidney.
Then I opened my eyes and returned to the year it all began.
This time, I won’t beg. I won’t yield. My achievements, my dignity, and my life belong to me.
When everyone called me vicious, Damian Sterling draped his jacket over my shoulders and asked in a low voice, “Am I an outsider?”
I leaned into him and smiled. “Of course not.”
But soon I discovered he was being slowly poisoned—and the culprit might be someone closest to him. Worse, the truth behind my death in my previous life may be darker than I ever imagined…

1

At 17, I saved William from the black market.
At 22, he crossed half the globe to marry me with two million dollars.
I built his empire for him, turning him into the biggest arms dealer in the Americas.
Then Karen appeared, and our seven years turned to ashes.
I finally saw the truth:
The roses he gave me were the ones Karen had rejected.
His so-called love was nothing but a hypocritical act for money.
To him, I was just a prop for show, a tool for his business, and a machine for sex.

Three torturous years hauling bodies on the mortuary night shift, and I'd finally scraped together the cash for my brother Charles's heart transplant.
He just waved it off.
"My heart is fine. Mom and Dad didn't die in that gang war, either. I orchestrated the hit. You were the only casualty."
Nearby, my husband, Gerald, casually lit a cigar to deliver his own confession. "I never went bankrupt. 'Laying low' was just my excuse to avoid squeezing into that dingy funeral home dorm with you. I've been at the Long Island estate."
"I was going to punish you for another three years," Charles added, "but the stench of formaldehyde on you is nauseating. We couldn't take it anymore."
I froze, still clutching the credit card. Charles plucked the plastic from my numb fingers and shoved his phone screen in my face. A banking app stared back at me.
Balance: exactly zero.
"My name is still on the joint account," he sneered, tossing the card into the trash. "I drained it this morning. That blood money you made bagging stiffs is being handed out to street junkies as we speak. We'd never touch that filth."
Before the sheer absurdity of it could suffocate me, my parents walked in. Flanked by bodyguards, they kept their distance, eyeing me like a plague rat.
"You thought being the biological daughter gave you the right to ruthlessly bully Violet. We simply wanted to put you in your place."
"Swear you'll never cross Violet again, and you can remain a Falcone," my mother added coolly. "Otherwise, you're dead to us."
In the stifling silence that followed, my phone buzzed. A text from my oncologist.
[Mrs. Castello, the results are back. It's terminal. Do you consent to initiating the hospice and DNR protocols we discussed?]

The day my mother succumbed to complications during childbirth, her younger sister, Vanessa, wed my father.

Fifteen years later, I beheld my husband accompanying Vanessa as she tried on seductive lingerie.

In that moment, I understood—what she truly coveted was never my father, but rather all that my mother and I shared.

My mother perished during childbirth, a casualty of an illicit affair.

I vowed not to repeat that tragic cycle.

Then I returned home, removed my wedding ring, and left behind the divorce papers.

I used to be the most envied female on the continent. Three mates: werewolf Alpha Kael, vampire lord Dorian, elven ranger Seth. All of them mine.
Then a half-elf drifter named Ayla showed up, and everything I had started belonging to her instead, one piece at a time.
Kael once pulled a fang from his own mouth to make me a necklace. The day it broke, he was too busy licking another female's cut finger to notice.
Dorian spent two weeks brewing me blood wine. Then he handed the cup straight to her, because apparently I "looked healthy enough to go without."
Seth carved me a charm from sacred elven wood. I watched her face take shape under his knife instead of mine.
They kept telling me I needed to grow up. So when a beast's poison was spreading through my body, and I blew the whistle they swore would bring them running no matter what—
No one came.
Three years later, I walked back into their world on a Siren prince's arm.
This time, they're the ones begging for my forgiveness.

I was dead, and the whole world was celebrating for my sister.

For twenty-two years, I had been the hardest-working but most invisible daughter in the Sterling family, forever living in the shadow of my gymnastics prodigy sister.

Running a high fever, I begged my family to take me to the hospital, only to hear: "Don't you DARE ruin Bella's award ceremony!"

When I was tricked into the abandoned equipment room and used my last breath to call my boyfriend while lying in a pool of blood, all I heard was: "Grace, quit the drama! Bella's accepting her award on stage!"

On stage, thunderous applause erupted as Bella lifted the "Young Gymnast of the Year" trophy.

And I drew my final breath.

When they returned home triumphant, thinking I had run away in a tantrum, they had no idea I was already dead right under their noses.

They left me to freeze to death in our basement freezer.

The night before prom, my foster sister Leila came crying that I'd burned her Ivy League recommendation letter. My birth parents didn't even listen to one word of explanation—they threw me into that frozen hell in forty-five below.

I beat on that door until my fingers were shredded, screamed until my throat tore apart, but all I could hear from upstairs was their laughter celebrating Leila. Even Justin—the boy I'd loved since we were kids—texted calling me a fucking psycho.

As I drew my last breath, I heard Leila's soft voice outside the door: "Rest in peace, sister."

Now I'm a ghost, watching them lose their minds when the truth comes out.

When I was rushed to the ER with food poisoning, I heard the doctor shout, "We need to pump her stomach, now!"
But my mother, Catherine, calmly stopped the doctor's hand.
"No hurry," she said coldly. "Give her a sedative first."
My brother Austin panicked. "Mom! If you don't detox her, she could die!"
But my mother's voice was ruthless, low and sharp:
"If she dies, she dies. As long as her uterus is still warm, that's all that matters."
"Did you forget our plan? Sarah's transplant surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. If Elena wakes up now, what if she runs away?"
"Our priority is keeping her uterus safe for Sarah—not saving her life."
In that moment, the burn in my stomach was nothing compared to the chill in my heart.
I forced my eyes open and saw my brother—the one who'd always protected me—hesitate for a moment, then slowly let go of my hand.
"...Okay. You're right, Mom. Saving Sarah comes first."
The moment I closed my eyes, I made a decision: If I survived, this life would never belong to this family again.

I hate Beckett Hayes.
I hate his stupidly perfect face.
I hate the arrogant smirk that has sold millions of jerseys.
I hate that half of Chicago seems to worship the ground his skates touch.
But mostly? I hate what he did to my brother.
Eight years ago, Beckett Hayes destroyed my family. I haven't spoken to him since.
So naturally, on the first morning of my dream job with Chicago's hottest professional hockey team, I find him leaning against my office door.
Older. Bigger. Hotter. And wearing the same infuriating smile I remember.
My new job should have nothing to do with Beck. Until another one of the captain's scandals lands him in trouble and management decides I'm exactly the person he needs.
Now I'm traveling with him. Managing him. Arguing with him. Trying very hard not to notice what years of professional hockey have done to his body.
Then a photograph of us nearly kissing goes viral.
Suddenly everyone wants Beckett Hayes and Sloane Mercer together. The team. The sponsors. The fans. Everyone except me.
Because I know exactly who Beck is. At least, I thought I did.
But the closer I get to him, the more the story I've believed for eight years starts falling apart.
Beck didn't destroy my brother. He protected him.
And the man I've spent almost a decade hating? He's spent every one of those years wanting me.

“The perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (For Now and Forever)THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS: MURDER AND BREAKFAST is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by bestselling author Sophie Love, author of The Inn at Sunset Harbor series, a #1 Bestseller with over 200 five-star reviews.Marie Fortune, 39, a successful dog groomer in Boston, has had enough of catering to the wealthy and their pampered dogs. Realizing it is time to make a change, she quits and heads to a small coastal town in Maine where she remembers fond summers as a kid. Marie expects to go for a brief getaway—and is shocked to learn that her great-aunt left her an inheritance: a dilapidated, historic house high up on a hill overlooking the harbor. Marie feels an instant connection. Although the locals tell her it would be folly, Marie decides to renovate and give it a second life as a B&B.But there is one thing she couldn’t have planned for: the house is haunted.Two things, actually: her great-aunt also left her a dog—and he is far from a typical dog.When an unexpected death occurs soon thereafter, solving the crime will be more than just a matter of curiosity for Marie—her very future may depend on it.A page-turning cozy, packed with mystery, love, hauntings, travel, pets and food—anchored around a small town and a B&B in need of renovation that will capture your heart—THE GHOSTLY GROUNDS is an un-putdownable cozy that will keep you turning pages (and laughing out loud) late into the night.“The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”--Books and Movies Reviews (For Now and Forever)Books #2 and #3 in the series—DEATH AND BRUNCH and MALICE AND LUNCH—are now also available!