209 Book(s) Related to c.j. primer

(The McKay Brothers - Book 2)
With Peter Ramsey gone and Marcus focused on healing and touring Europe with Anna, Damian McKay steps fully into leadership at McKay Enterprises. He’s always been the strategist. The controlled one. The calm storm. But leading an empire means enemies rise. And the one person who refuses to be managed, protected, or sidelined?
Courtney.
She’s not the quiet supportive girlfriend. She’s fire. And she has ambitions of her own.

What do you get when you mix a snowstorm, secrets, and two people with a shared past who desperately need a second chance at love? Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this sweet, second-chance Christmas romance. All Lindsay MacAllister wants it to make it home to Rivers End in time for her Uncle Isaac’s Christmas wedding. But the universe has other ideas. Lindsay is convinced that she’s on the naughty list this year, and that getting snowed in—with the one guy who managed to completely break her heart—is her punishment for the secrets she’s been keeping from her family. Noah Burke is happy to hop a plane to Hawaii with his foster brothers and avoid the holiday season altogether. But a snow storm brings the airport to a grinding halt, and throws the girl-next-door he’s never been able to forget directly into his path. Now Noah’s faced with a choice. Will he risk telling Lindsay he’s never gotten over her and try to convince her he deserves a second chance? Or will his troubled past come between them… again? *** Note from the author: This is a small town, second-chance, sweet holiday romance with a HEA and no cheating. There is the occasional use of strong language and while most of the ‘action’ takes place off screen, if you’re looking for ‘clean and wholesome’ this might not be for you. It can be read as a standalone, or you can enjoy it with the rest of the MacAllisters of Rivers End romance series. 1. Silver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings) 2. Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas) 3. Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli) 4. Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA) 5. Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)

I never expected to find a man tied to a chair, bloody and barely breathing, in my billionaire husband’s forbidden basement—so I did the only logical thing: I stole my husband's money, untied the gorgeous stranger, and ran for our lives.

For six years, I thought my husband Augustus was perfect. I was his princess. But my curiosity got the best of me. When I opened that heavy wooden door to the east wing, the illusion shattered. I didn't just find a torture chamber; I found Brad.

Since that night, it's been a blur of cheap motels, fake names, and colored contacts. I traded my designer dresses for a pocket knife I clutch in my fist every time I close my eyes. I sewed up his brutal stab wounds with my own shaking hands. We are bound by trauma, running from a mafia boss who will slaughter us both if he ever finds us.

Brad is broken, scarred, and terrified of the dark. But as his wounds healed, the terrified stranger turned into my fierce protector. The nights of holding him through his night terrors slowly turned into nights of tangled limbs and breathless moans. He became my entire world.

We finally found a crappy apartment in Arkansas. A place to breathe. But yesterday, the coil wire on our car was deliberately ripped off. And last night, when I woke up in the pitch black, the front door I swore I locked was standing wide open...

When Selina Peterman arrives in Rivers End one stormy night, it’s disorienting enough to discover she’s inherited a house. But when she learns that the house is filled to the rafters with junk—and uncomfortable family secrets—all she wants is to clean it, sell it, and get the heck out. No problem, except that she’s about to meet the biggest complication of all: the gorgeous caretaker who’s living there.Connor O’Donnell knows he shouldn’t get involved with the sexy granddaughter of the man he’d looked up to for so long. He’s not sure he’s even ready for a relationship, and getting involved with someone he knows isn’t going to stick around is risky—if not outright stupid. But with the snow falling outside and Christmas on the way, it’s all too easy for the two of them to stay inside and play house. It’s only for a few days, right? Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this sweet, contemporary, small town, holiday romance.   A note from author CJ HuntWelcome to Rivers End! All my stories take place in the same small town and there is no right or wrong way to explore the stories. You can read them in chronological order, by miniseries (family or theme), or just jump in with any book, novella or story that interests you.A Touch of Magic in Rivers EndMerry (Merry+Dillon)Oona (Oona+Sam)The MacAllisters of Rivers EndSilver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings)Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas)Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli)Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA)Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)The O'DonnellsThe List (Selina+Connor)The Martinez FamilyMaybe (Lucie+Daniel)

"Rivers End may be a small town—but the romance is big. This series has everything for readers: humour, romance and the occasional touch of magic." ~Eileen Cook, author of Unpredictable OONA WALSH learned early on that being honest about her gifts only leads to heartbreak and abandonment. But now she’s made a place for herself in Rivers End as the owner of Indulgence, a thriving bakery. There, she can use her powers to help people while flying well under the radar. But when sexy architect Sam Walker throws her carefully constructed world into chaos, she’s faced with a choice that will change her life forever—no matter what she decides. Will revealing her secret cost her the only place that has ever really felt like home?SAM WALKER is finally ready to move on from his messy divorce and start dating again. When he finally gets a shot with Oona, it’s everything he’s been fantasizing about—and then some. Sam’s learned the hard way that a relationship without a foundation of honesty is doomed. But Oona is hiding something from him.Will she come clean and give them a chance? Or has Sam bitten off more that he can chew when it comes to Oona? Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this ‘sweet with a dash of heat and magic’ small town, contemporary romance. A note from author CJ HuntWelcome to Rivers End! All my stories take place in the same small town and there is no right or wrong way to explore the stories. You can read them in chronological order, by miniseries (family or theme), or just jump in with any book, novella or story that interests you.A Touch of Magic in Rivers EndMerry (Merry+Dillon)Oona (Oona+Sam)The MacAllisters of Rivers EndSilver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings)Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas)Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli)Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA)Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)The O'DonnellsThe List (Selina+Connor)The Martinez FamilyMaybe (Lucie+Daniel)

"Delete my number and forget I exist."

That was the last thing I texted Keaton after I found out he played me. He thought he could kiss me, make me fall for him, and then tell my brother I wasn't "his type" because of my size? Screw him.

I went to my best friend, Christian. He held me while I cried. He told me I was beautiful. And then... he asked me to be his girlfriend.

For the first time, I felt wanted. Christian isn't ashamed of me. He kisses me in front of everyone.

But Keaton isn't taking it well.

Unknown Number: So you and Christian are dating now? When did that happen?

Me: Yes. He asked me, and I said yes.

Unknown Number: Did you tell him he is your second choice?

Me: Screw you, Keaton. Christian is the only person I need.

Unknown Number: Erin, can I please come to your room? I need to explain. I can't stop thinking about you.

He made his choice. He chose his reputation and his cheerleader girlfriend over me. Now he has to watch me be happy with someone else. And it's driving him insane.

Adalina lives with her very protective older brother Zarakai and his four best friends, they helped raise her after their parents died. Now she is eighteen and she doesn't know how to turn her feelings off. After being rejected by Austin, she turned to Jace who loves her more than he should considering the age gap. Now Austin is back in town and Jace doesn't like sharing. Adalina wants Jace and Austin. Maybe even Tyler and Spencer too. Will the four men learn to share her, or will she end up heartbroken?

"I'm an omega. I have no inner wolf, so there's a very high chance that I have no fated mate. I mean, how could I?"

Elena Reed lived a simple life. She had a warm home with loving parents and friends she cherished more than anything in the world. But Elena had one dark cloud hovering over her happy, simple life. She didn't have a wolf. For years she waited, hoping that one day, that inner voice of her soul companion would speak out to her. But that voice never came. And she accepted that.

Now the Alpha has decreed that all unmated female wolves are to attend The Choosing ceremony. A ceremony that is held every year to give unmated wolves the opportunity to find their soulmate. Elena's world is turned upside down when she attends the ceremony and her path crosses with the Alpha's son Alec Storm, the next in line to lead the Blood Moon Pack.

As Elena and Alec keep finding themselves drawn to each other, Alec declares that she is his mate, while Elena is forced to reveal why that could never be true; a wolfless omega could never be anyone's fated mate. Alec makes it his mission to uncover the mystery that shrouds Elena and her missing wolf as outside forces plot against them for reasons none of them were ever aware of. Elena is the key to a deeply kept secret. One that could upturn their lives as they know it.

"CJ Hunt delivers everything I love in small town romance—sexy heroes, sparky heroines and a warm, vibrant community you want to settle into." ~Dani Collins, USA Today Bestselling AuthorGinger Lewis knows from personal experience that the world is full of dangerous people. She’s been lucky enough to escape her rough past and cherishes her stable work family and lovable bulldog, Max. And she knows better than to try to rescue a stranger in a snowstorm. Especially one with a chiselled jaw, perfect stubble, and 1001 secrets behind those icy blue eyes.Eli Murphy, on the run and temporarily homeless, should be glad to spend the holidays stuck in the woods with no cell reception and no one who knows him. The isolation will allow him to regroup and plan his next move. But between the festive atmosphere, cozy cabin, and tempting fake girlfriend, Eli finds himself fantasizing about a future he doesn’t deserve. As the Reindeer Games draw to a close, he will have to come to terms with his mistakes or risk losing Ginger—and the chance to make a real home in Rivers End.Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this sweet, small town, fake-relationship holiday romance. While all the Rivers End stories can be read as standalones, you may want to read this series in order to preserve any plot surprises and get the full picture of how the characters lives weave together! The following is the suggested reading order:The MacAllisters of Rivers End#1 - Silver Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Beginnings) available for FREE!#2 - Tipsy (Shannon + Lucas)#3 - Reindeer Games (Ginger + Eli)#4 - Wedding Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Happily Ever After)#5 - Elfed (Lindsay + Noah)

"Island settings have a special kind of nostalgic magic, and CJ Hunt has imbued River's End with a mix of small town charm and sexy fun that pulls readers in and makes them want to stay for more." ~Laurel Greer, author of From Exes to Expecting" Isaac MacAllister’s life revolves around building his business and doing his best to give his daughter Sara a strong sense of family. Over the years he’s had to learn how to keep their little family together on his own, but this Christmas Isaac is going to have some unexpected help.Christmas blogger Jenna Murphy has one goal for the holidays this year: to get far away from anything to do with Christmas. Her website sale is done, and after 1,825 posts about the big C, it’s one “season” she never wants to celebrate again. She’s ready to start a new life, and the Big River Lodge seems like the perfect place for her to figure out the details. The lodge is isolated, she has her own private cabin, and no one in her family will know where she is.But she didn’t plan on the highly distracting presence of Isaac MacAllister. Is Jenna going to let one sexy dad and his sweet kindergartener derail her plans for her holiday … and her life? Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this heartwarming, small town, sweet holiday romance. While all the Rivers End stories can be read as standalones, you may want to read this series in order to preserve any plot surprises and get the full picture of how the characters lives weave together! The following is the suggested reading order:The MacAllisters of Rivers End#1 - Silver Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Beginnings)#2 - Tipsy (Shannon + Lucas)#3 - Reindeer Games (Ginger + Eli)#4 - Wedding Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Happily Ever After)#5 – Elfed (Lindsay + Noah)

LUCAS HEYES is a man with a plan. Move back to Rivers End. Fix his broken relationship with his ex-brother-in-law Isaac Macallister, and be a good uncle to his niece Sara. Oh, and open Higher Ground – the coffee shop he’s been dreaming about for years. There’s only one hitch. Shannon MacAllister – Isaac’s younger sister – is back in town too, and living across the hall from him. Apparently he wasn’t gone long enough for his feelings for her to fade. After what happened five years ago, he’s sworn he’ll never keep secrets from the MacAllisters again. But is he willing to break that oath for Shannon? SHANNON MACALLISTER has one wish, to get kissed at New Year’s by a man as unlike her fiancee – make that EX-fiancee – as possible before she settles into substitute teaching in her hometown and figures out what she wants to do with herself. She gets her wish. But along with it comes a whole whack of complicated. Her body wants Lucas, but her mind can’t help pointing out that while he’s sexy as hell, he lied to her before, and she’s not about to go back to that place. Bad enough that apparently they’re neighbours, but they share a family too. They’d all been through hell once before because of the Heyes family. Will Shannon trust enough to open up her heart and risk trying again? Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this second chance, sweet-with-a-dash-of-heat small town romance with a HEA and no cheating. While the stories can be enjoyed in any order, they are all interconnected. The suggested reading order for this series is below if you want to avoid spoilers! The MacAllisters of Rivers End Silver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings) Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas) Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli) Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA) Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)

"I want to move to Rivers End. I feel like I already have friends there." Dani Collins, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Blue Spruce Lodge series The MacAllisters of Rivers End boxed set includes books #1–4If you love heartwarming, sweet and sexy contemporary small town romance, then come home to Rivers End and fall in love with the MacAllisters and the Murphys. They just want to settle down and lead normal lives in their small Vancouver Island town, but romance blossoms in the unlikeliest places. And trouble has a way of finding them...Silver Bells (Isaac MacAllister + Jenna Murphy, Beginnings)Big River Lodge owner Isaac MacAllister has no time for romance. He’s got enough on his plate with a spritely kindergartener to raise and a business to run. But he doesn’t bargain on the appearance of the irresistible Jenna Murphy. Jenna just wants to escape work and family for a while. In Silver Bells, will she let one sexy dad and his sweet daughter Sara derail her plans for her holiday… and her life?Tipsy (Shannon MacAllister + Lucas Heyes)Shannon MacAllister wants to ring in the new year with someone who is nothing like her ex. She gets her wish. Too bad Lucas Heyes, world-class kisser, is a family traitor who lost her trust five years ago. Lucas wants to mend fences with the MacAllisters and start afresh in Rivers End. In Tipsy, will this dark horse convince Shannon to open her heart and risk trying again?Reindeer Games (Eli Murphy + Ginger Lewis)If wandering homeless in a snowstorm on Christmas Eve isn’t rock bottom, it sure feels like it to Jenna’s estranged brother Eli Murphy. So when Ginger Lewis rescues him, he finds himself fantasizing about a future he doesn’t deserve. But the last thing Ginger needs is a mysterious bad boy with a criminal jawline. Before the Reindeer Games are over, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be spilled.Wedding Bells (Isaac MacAllister + Jenna Murphy, Happily Ever After)In Wedding Bells, Isaac MacAllister is this close to making Jenna Murphy his, forever. Then his ex—Sara’s mother—rolls into town, bringing unfinished business with her. Sidelined by the drama, Jenna knows she should strike out on her own. But how can she, when she already sees Isaac and Sara as family? While all the Rivers End stories can be read as standalones, you may want to read this series in order to preserve any plot surprises and get the full picture of how the characters lives weave together! The following is the suggested reading order:The MacAllisters of Rivers End#1 - Silver Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Beginnings)#2 - Tipsy (Shannon + Lucas)#3 - Reindeer Games (Ginger + Eli)#4 - Wedding Bells (Isaac + Jenna, Happily Ever After)#5 – Elfed (Lindsay + Noah)

Leilani is an eighteen-year-old werewolf. She has always had a crush on her father's best friend and beta Malakai. On her eighteenth birthday she finds out that Malakai is her mate, but she shouldn't be able to find her mate until she turns twenty-one. Her eighteenth birthday should have been the first time she shifted but it wasn't. She shifted for the first time when she was sixteen which has never happened. Nobody knows why things are happening so fast for her, not even the pack doctor. Once her father gets sick with cancer, Leilani is forced to take over as the Crimson Lilly's Pack alpha years before she is supposed to. Leilani is the first ever female alpha. Malakai helps train her for the alpha position. During training Leilani finds out she is more special than she thought. She has powers that no one has seen in years, making her extra special.

A WOMAN IN DESPERATE NEED OF RESCUE
A deserted stretch of highway, a young woman stranded in a fancy car, and the sound of motorcycles in the black night....Tessa Monroe's cross-country trip ends all too suddenly when Dane Hayes finds her. From his sexy bedroom eyes to his black leather jacket and dusty jeans, he spells trouble, but so does the nasty-looking biker gang that surrounds them. Within minutes, Tessa is on the back of Dane's Harley, and at the mercy of a man who breaks through all of her defenses and makes her want him--good or bad, right or wrong.

AN UNLIKELY SAVIOR IN LEATHER AND JEANS
Dane's mission doesn't need another complication, yet from the moment he sees her he wants her with a rough, hungry passion that can hurt them both. Claiming her and abducting her is the only way to protect her from the gang. Then all hell breaks loose, and Dane and Tessa are on the run with no place to hide--except in each other's arms.

Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this heartwarming, contemporary small town romance novella. When Jenna Murphy escaped to Isaac MacAllister’s Big River Lodge last winter, she was the Christmas gift he didn’t know he needed. Now, she’s moved to Rivers End for good, and he and his six-year-old daughter, Sara, couldn’t be happier. Isaac knows what he wants. But he can’t seem to find the perfect moment to pop the question.Jenna has been in Rivers End for several months, and her web design business is thriving. But she’s been too wrapped up in Isaac to even unpack her apartment. When his ex rolls into town after five years, she brings a sports carload of unfinished business with her. Sidelined by the drama, Jenna knows she should strike out on her own. But how can she, when all she wants is to be a part of Isaac and Sara’s life? ***  Author’s note: This is the Happily-Ever-After for Jenna and Isaac who are introduced in SILVER BELLS (you can grab that one for free!). It can be read as a standalone, or you can enjoy it with the rest of the MacAllisters of Rivers End romance series. Silver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings) Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas) Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli) Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA) Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)

"Island settings have a special kind of nostalgic magic, and CJ Hunt has imbued River's End with a mix of small town charm and sexy fun that pulls readers in and makes them want to stay for more." ~Laurel Greer, author of From Exes to Expecting" Merry Tremayne loves Christmas in Rivers End. Festivals, food, and family make the holiday magical—which is fantastic, as long as she’s not the one making the magic. The last time she used her Gift to improve someone’s Christmas spirit, it ended in catastrophe. So when she accidentally casts a spell on a grumpy, gorgeous Grinch, she thinks she’s ruined everything. That is, until he kisses her with enough heat to melt a snowman.For Dillon Clarke, nothing good has ever come from Christmas. But things start looking up when he meets perky, sexy Merry, who’s determined to put the tinsel on his tree and the jingle in his... bells. Together, they might just be able to conquer their fears and begin some new Christmas traditions of their own.When a Christmas witch meets a gorgeous grinch, sparks fly... literally! Come home to Rivers End and fall in love with this ‘sweet with a dash of heat and magic’ small town, holiday romance. A note from author CJ HuntWelcome to Rivers End! All my stories take place in the same small town and there is no right or wrong way to explore the stories. You can read them in chronological order, by miniseries (family or theme), or just jump in with any book, novella or story that interests you.A Touch of Magic in Rivers EndMerry (Merry+Dillon)Oona (Oona+Sam)The MacAllisters of Rivers EndSilver Bells (Jenna+Isaac, Beginnings)Tipsy (Shannon+Lucas)Reindeer Games (Ginger+Eli)Wedding Bells (Jenna+Isaac, HEA)Elfed (Lindsay+Noah)The O'DonnellsThe List (Selina+Connor)The Martinez FamilyMaybe (Lucie+Daniel)

I inhale his scent, and then I bite, shocked to find that my teeth are sharper, it doesn’t take much effort at all, and the moment his blood hits my tongue, I feel it, I feel the bond snap into place.
And it feels amazing.
I pull back, licking the wound as they did for me, and then I am turned around and placed into Dylan’s arms. He smiles down at me before guiding me to the same spot, and before he can even speak, I bite down as hard as I can.
We have sealed our fates, and we are bound to one another.
Now and until the end of time.


Sarah leaves her home with her younger brother Jacob, she will do anything to protect him, including allowing herself to get beaten by their father. They run.
Drake and Dylan are the alpha’s of one of the largest packs in the south, and they long for their mate.
When their worlds collide, they find out things that they never knew possible, and Sarah falls into a world she wanted to stay far away from. Her mother warned her about the shifters before she died. They’ll all want her for the power inside of her.

For centuries, witches like me were born to belong to vampires—owned, controlled, and broken when we resisted. I knew my life would end in chains.

I just didn’t expect it to begin with him. Prince Silas Bancroft ripped me from my bed and killed my mother for my father’s crime. He claimed me as his property and dragged me beneath the streets of Paris, into a city where witches exist to serve and survive in silence. I learned quickly how to obey. How not to tremble when he came too close. Until my magic awakened—and I did the impossible. When I entered Silas’s mind, I felt his hunger, his control… and something dangerously intimate beneath it. The bond makes him powerful.

I was born his slave. But now, I’m the one inside his head.

The kingdom Sanctus grew up in is under attack, her father’s armies growing weaker against the unnerving forces of the vampire army. Now that they have been forced from their home.
Mortem encroaches into a new kingdom, searching for a new home for his people as he moves to take Sanctus’ home, planning to overthrow her father, the king.
With the city quickly falling and all hope for her people fading into the darkness, can Sanctus find the will to fight, the strength to use her deadly ability against all those who threaten her home, her family?
When everything and everyone that she loves is ripped away in the blink of an eye, can Sanctus plan her future? Escape the deadly clutches of her deadly clutches of her perusers?
With no where left to turn and the hope for a peaceful future destroyed, can the young princess find a new will to survive; to fight when all else is lost? Or will she perish along with all those she held dear, leaving her father’s kingdom at the mercy of a dangerous and bloodthirsty creature?

In a world where war is eternal, can Elijah ever hope to escape her fate?
The fiendish war had raged on since long before Elika was born, neither side showing compassion. The battles raged on through the centuries untamed and savage, no side allowing quarter. The deaths were heinous and unprincipled; those who died would not rest silently. Their sinful battle would continue onward, the souls forever locked in limbo where they would endure the tortures of death lingering on their monstrous souls
Darkous hates them all, except for Hades, and soon, Elika would know first hand the pain he can inflict

Road to Joy
Join the members of the Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club as they prepare for their Christmas Celebration. Revisit your favorite characters during the most festive holiday of the year.
Unwrapped
Christmas is approaching for the Dogs of Fire and Burning Saints Motorcycle Clubs, but rather than the usual holiday cheer, the air is filled with the tension of a brewing civil war.
The Gresham Spiders, a local 1% MC, is hellbent on expansion and both clubs lie directly in their path. Will assistance from an outside ally help diffuse the situation long enough to keep the peace during the holiday season?
Join Hatch and Minus, along with these two beloved MCs, as they celebrate the holidays and try to keep their clubs from splintering under the pressure.
Rocky Mountain Christmas
Mouse
There's only one gift I want this Christmas, but the closer I get to Kennedy, the more she pushes me away. I'll do whatever it takes to get onto her nice list, even if it means riding my bike all the way to the North Pole and strong-arming Santa myself.
Kennedy
I have two choices. Open myself up to a man who has the power to shatter me. Or run and protect my heart once and for all. The problem is, a murderous Douglas Fir gets in the way of my perfectly planned escape.
Is it a sign, or merely a roadblock on the path to finding true love?
And does a scrooge like me, even deserve to find herself under the mistletoe this Christmas?

“You are certainly handsome, for a bloodthirsty vampire.” I blurted, unable to stop the words as they slipped from my lips.
“Funny, no one has ever complimented my looks in the thousands of years I have walked these halls.” He smiled, his elongated fangs almost piercing his lips.
I took a sharp breath, forcing myself not to stare at his mouth. “Then you are clearly surrounding yourself with the wrong people.”

*******When Ariel finds her sister just and she is murdered and thrust into the same world her parents died in, how would she even begin to survive? She becomes the king's most valued and most hated asset, a weapon for the vampires.

Ariel is the last Ariss witch, her bloodline is well sought after. Once the news of her marriage to Calen spreads, it isn't only The Chosen who come after them. Its other clans also, demand that Ariel submits to them and help them get what they want.

They come to a deal that Ariel would meet with the princes of the other two main clans as well as some of the lesser clans to see if she would find any of them a worthy partner.

She picks two suitors, Tristan and Samuel. One from a lesser clan and the other from one of the two bigger clans.

When Stephanie is Captured by the Mafia boss Alexi, all hell breaks loose, and she must keep her silence to protect those that she loves, but as the days tick by, she’s not sure what she feels, and she isn’t sure she wants to keep the secrets she guards close to her heart anymore.
She’s ready to let it all out.
And he’s ready to devour her whole.
She belongs to him now. Everything she is, everything she wanted, all of it belongs to Alexi. Even her death.
If he can ever choose to let her go.

Everyone thinks I'm the wild child of the family, the one who won't fall in line.

Blake's the young king of the business world—rational, cold, always in those perfectly cut suits.

But every night, he's got me pinned underneath him, breathing my name.

He said I was his, but never let me see daylight. Until she came back—my father's mistress's daughter, in her white dress, smiling like an angel.

On my birthday, he went to pick her up from the airport. When the chandelier crashed down, he carried her to the hospital and left me bleeding on the floor. When she smashed my mother's heirloom, he made me apologize on my knees. He said she was fragile, needed care; said I was strong enough to understand.

Then I heard them on my bed, her moaning his name.

So I left. Married a man who truly loved me. And he went insane.

He kidnapped me, forced a wedding, announced to the world I was his wife.

But this time, I just smiled and shook my head.

"Let go. It's too late."

I used to be the Blackwells' best killer. For him, I walked away from that life and became his wife. I even gave him a daughter.

I thought it was redemption. Turns out, it was the start of something worse.

Three years ago, during that shootout at the docks, his first love showed up with his bastard son. When the rival family put guns to both kids' heads, he didn't hesitate. He chose to save her son.

My daughter burned in the explosion.

That was the day the man I loved for ten years died. What's left is just my sworn enemy.

At the Met Gala, I heard my husband tell his friends in French that I'm "boring." That his 22-year-old girlfriend is "so much more exciting in bed."

He laughed when they asked if I knew. "Elle ne comprend même pas 'bonjour'." (She doesn't even understand 'bonjour'.)

What Marcus doesn't know: I spent two years at the Sorbonne.

Je comprends tout, Marcus. I understand everything.

The diamond necklace he gave me after my miscarriage suddenly feels too tight. I smile at him across the champagne and candlelight.

He has no idea what's coming.

Everyone says he loved me more than anything. So I chose to answer that love with death.

Forbes cover stories, tearful speeches at charity galas, shutting down Fifth Avenue every Valentine's Day just to watch fireworks with me. They said he ruled a business empire but would kneel in front of the entire world and call me his reason to live.

I used to believe it.

Until I discovered my perfect husband had built another home with another woman. A warm one, filled with laughter and his child.

So I chose to disappear the night the storm swallowed everything.

They say he spent three days on his knees at the cliff's edge, screaming my name into the black ocean. The man worth billions couldn't even find his wife's body.

When the rescue team recovered that burned-out car, he finally opened the safe I'd left for him. Inside was a positive pregnancy test and a divorce agreement that would never be signed.

By then, nothing mattered anymore.

At the bar, I watched Ethan get publicly dumped and made a crazy proposal fueled by liquid courage—a three-month fake dating contract.

I thought this was my only chance after twenty years of secret crushing. Until his ex showed me the text: "With Mia? Pretty convenient. She's been following me around since we were kids."

So I was just a tool.

The day we broke up, he shouted with red eyes: "I've been crazy about you for twenty years!" I thought he was acting, until his mom handed me a worn journal—

That careless comment I made at thirteen, "I'm never marrying Ethan," he'd remembered for twenty whole years.

Every page of that diary was filled with my name...

Every time my husband wants to make me give in, he slaps divorce papers on the table. Every time my parents want me to cave, they threaten to disown me.

What they want is simple: give everything to my twin sister.

I used to fight back. I cried. I demanded to know why it always had to be me.

But when the doctor slides the test results across his desk and tells me in that pitying voice, "Stage four brain cancer. You have a month, maybe less," something in me just... stops caring.

I'm dying anyway. They can do whatever the hell they want.

I was an orphan, and a rare heart condition ate away at me for twenty years. The night I died in that cold hospital room, a reaper in a black robe came for me.

He told me if I crossed into a world of werewolves, into the Moonheart Pack, and made Estelle's family genuinely love me — Estelle being the real daughter who'd died a horrible death there — and if I rewrote the ending where they all went mad and tore each other apart, I'd get my health back for good. A second life.

For twenty years in that body, I loved every single one of them with everything I had.

My husband Rhett was the youngest Alpha the pack had ever had. I mentioned once that I wanted Alaskan wild berries, and he drove a thousand miles overnight to get them. My mother Sylvia, the pack's head healer, made me tonics herself every single day. My father Everett and my brother Callum spoiled me so much the whole pack envied me for it.

I thought I'd actually rewritten my fate. I thought I was the happiest person alive.

Until that night.

I'm carrying a berry pie I baked myself toward the council hall when I hear my mother's voice, flat and cold.

"Estelle's heart is finally in perfect condition. Now's the best time to take it."

"Her heart buys Lila's life. She should be grateful for it." Rhett says it like it's nothing. "Once we take the heart, I'll dissolve the mate bond myself."

So this is it. All that kindness was just to grow a healthy heart for their adopted girl.

Three years. I've spent three years trying to love them, to thaw them out, to change things.

Then let it end here.

Three years after returning to the Duke's estate, I finally admit the truth: the phoenix I poured my heart into raising doesn't love me. He only spreads his brilliant tail feathers for the replacement.

I was six when traffickers took me, stuck in the slums for twenty years. A year after losing me, the Duke and Duchess adopted an infant from the church.

That girl became the new daughter, enjoying everything that should have been mine.

When they found me at twenty-six, my parents looked at me with guilt, yes, but mostly like I was a stranger. They loved the daughter they raised more.

I don't blame them.

Twenty years in the slums taught me: don't count on anyone's love. Only power and gold won't betray you.

So when he refused me for the third time, I went to the black market auction and bought a battered wolf slave.

The phoenix finally panicked, feathers flaring, voice shaking:

"Master, you promised you'd only keep one magical beast..."

I live twenty-four honest years, and fate hands me a terminal stomach cancer diagnosis as a reward. Less than a month left on the clock.

Right when I'm ready to flip off this godawful fate, the floor under me goes black, and I drop straight into an SSS-rank horror game.

The Midnight Bloodred Theater. Dried-out eyeballs for chandeliers, crusted blood for decoration.

The boss is some deranged silver-haired god with blood-red eyes, and he blows people into a bloody mist the second something doesn't go his way.

Everyone else is crying, begging for their lives.

Not me. I'm dying either way.

I walk right up onto that stage, plant my hand on his abs, and grin up at him.

"Hey, gorgeous. Before you kill me, how about a kiss?"

Ethan and I grew up together. We were supposed to exchange rings at the altar, make our vows. But on our wedding day, he left me standing there to go save his so-called suicidal ex. Almost killed my parents from the shame.

Four years later, I'm back in Portland with my husband. The city isn't that big, and of course fate decides to throw him in my path again.

He has the nerve to ask me to be his mistress.

I hold up my left hand, the ring catching the light. "Are you blind?"

Seven years ago I gave up my inheritance and went door to door with Nolan—a broke director shooting street documentaries—my belly out to here, begging investors to take a chance on him.

Everyone said I'd thrown my life away on him.

Seven years later he's a name everyone knows. And Emily, the first love who walked out when he had nothing, is back in Chicago with her daughter.

That afternoon I came home early and heard him pull five-year-old Ivy into his arms: "You can't ever tell Mom that Daddy and Emily are having a fake wedding."

"But Daddy, Mom will be so sad..."

"Say one word and Daddy won't love you anymore. Got it?"

Her little shoulders shook as she nodded, and nodded.

Out in the hallway, I couldn't even be bothered to cry.

I dialed the number I'd kept blocked for seven years. "Dad—can the family plane still come get me and Ivy?"

Nolan, what you lost wasn't a housewife you could push around. You threw away the only person who ever made you her whole world.

The day I get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, I can finally stop selling plasma.

For five years, I thought I was paying for the fire that killed my parents and son, left my brother disabled. Selling plasma, joining drug trials, doing the worst jobs imaginable, all to pay back a debt that wasn't even real.

The doctor says I have a few weeks left. I clutch the diagnosis report and head home to tell them.

The moment I push open the door, I see my parents in the kitchen, the ones who supposedly died in the fire. My brother, who was supposed to be in a wheelchair, stands there raising a glass, laughing with my husband.

My brother shrugs like it's nothing. "The broken leg was fake the whole time. You were the only one hurt in the fire. We just wanted to teach you a lesson, make you appreciate things."

"We were going to tell you eventually." My husband pats my shoulder. "Go apologize to Vanessa. Stop giving her a hard time."

"All the money you gave us went to Vanessa," Dad says. "That's what you get for throwing your bio-daughter status in her face."

I touch the diagnosis in my pocket. Everything was a lie. The only truth is that I'm dying.

The first thing I do with my second chance is sell off my perfect fiancé for ten million dollars.

The first time around, I became someone else for Julian Whitmore.

He likes nude-toned dresses. Hates when I wear anything with color. He won't let me have more than one glass of champagne in public. Won't let me laugh too loud. Won't let me initiate anything in bed.

His voice is always so calm, like he's correcting a disobedient pet.

I spend three years turning myself into what he wants: docile, proper, flawless. Until depression drags me under. Until that night I lay in the bathtub and watched the water turn red.

When I die, he's still downstairs in his study, editing my speech for tomorrow's charity gala.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in the Winters' living room with that unsigned arrangement in front of me.

This time? Fuck perfect.

But when he lifts that veil at the wedding and realizes the bride isn't me, this man who's spent his whole life in control completely loses it.

It's supposed to be our last class trip before graduation. The bus loses control on a mountain road and goes over the edge.

I think we're all going to die.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in a classroom that looks like it's been rotting for decades.

A system alert blares through my skull:

【Welcome to Ravenwood High. Unnameable creatures roam the campus. Survive 7 days. Uncover the truth behind the campus Boss's death. Every player who dies adds $800,000 to the prize pool. Make it out, and the money is yours.】

Everyone loses it. Screaming, crying, total chaos. The first thing Brett does is shove me toward the door to check the hallway. Because of course he does. I'm the class punching bag. The girl nobody would miss.

Everyone assumes I'll be the first to die.

What nobody sees is the smile pulling at the corner of my mouth as I stand at that door, staring at whatever is writhing in the shadows of the hallway.

The club is planning a team retreat, and sophomore Ashley suddenly raises her hand at the meeting.

"Doesn't Clara's family own a hotel? Cresthaven, right?"

"Since it's your family's place, we could each just chip in fifty bucks for the venue, like you're supporting your own business or something."

Cresthaven is the hotel my grandfather gave me on my eighteenth birthday.

Because it never advertises, outsiders assume it's just some bed and breakfast out in the countryside. In reality, the basic suites run eighty-eight hundred dollars a night, private dining rooms have a hundred-thousand-dollar minimum, and the ingredients get flown in fresh from around the world every single day.

She wants to hand me fifty dollars and get a free two-day retreat for fifty people.

I turn her down on the spot. Next week is already fully booked.

But that night at ten, Ashley posts in the group chat anyway:

[Good news! Thanks to Clara's generous support, the whole club is heading to Cresthaven next week for a two-day retreat, completely free!]

The replies underneath are wall-to-wall flattery.

She wants to use my hotel to buy herself goodwill and build her own reputation.

But that's up to me, not her.

The night the team wins again, the roar inside the arena could raise the roof.

On the ice, the captain has his arm around the new cheer captain, spinning her under the lights. His skates cut clean lines across the ice. Teammates whistle and shout, someone yells "ask her out!", someone else films on their phone. Everyone waits for me to show up and make a scene. Cry, stumble onto the ice, drop to my knees and beg him to come back. Pathetic, like every time before.

But no one knows I'm in the back of the locker room right now, pressed against a cold metal locker.

The quiet backup player has his hand on the back of my neck, his voice barely steady. "You sure about this?"

I push up on my toes and kiss him first.

Three months ago, I was kidnapped. When Alexander rescued me, I woke up in a hospital bed with my clothes disheveled and bruises covering my body. What happened during those hours? I don't remember any of it.

A week ago, I found out I was pregnant. He held me as I shook and told me that it wasn't my fault. That he failed to protect me. Even if the baby wasn't his, he'd raise it. He'd still give me the perfect wedding.

But the guilt ate me alive until depression took hold.

Every night, sleep stays out of reach. Nightmares find me the moment I close my eyes. I've tried to end it. Three times now. Each time, someone found me just in time.

After the third failed attempt, I make tea and head toward his study to apologize. Voices drift through the door before I reach it.

"Are you out of your mind? Evelyn's your fiancée!" His friend sounds disbelieving. "You actually hired someone to kidnap her? Made her think she was assaulted? Just so Lily could take her place? Do you know how messed up that is? What that does to someone?"

Alexander's voice comes out calm. "Lily got sick because of me. Her dying wish is to marry me once before she goes. If I didn't push Evelyn out of the picture, her father would never let Lily take her place."

All those nights. All those nightmares. All those times I scrubbed my hands raw until they bled. It was all a lie. A setup.

For another woman.

I pull out my phone and call my father.

"Dad. I'll agree to the arrangement."

I'm two months pregnant with Tristan's baby when Brielle, the woman he'd do anything for, shoves me down the stairs.

She calls it an accident. I lose the baby.

I beg my husband to do something about it. Instead, he shields her and turns it around on me.

"Brielle saved my life in that fire. The whole Merrick family owes her. So drop it."

That debt. Always that debt.

Three years. No matter how many times Brielle humiliates me, degrades me, Tristan only ever has one answer: "I owe her my life."

But the truth about that fire? I'm the only one in the world who knows it.

I tried to tell him once. He laughed in my face. "Adeline, you're so desperate for attention you'd make up something like that?"

So I shut my mouth. Buried the truth. Buried whatever was left of my heart along with it.

The man I trusted with my life just handed my child to the woman who killed them, and called it loyalty.

I'm done.

I pull up the number I blocked three years ago and hit call.

"Dad. I'll take over the company. I'll go through with the engagement to Everett. But I have one condition. I want Tristan and Brielle ruined beyond recovery. Nothing and no one left."

Three years ago, I took a bullet for Damon Kingsley. It came within half an inch of my heart.

He looked me in the eyes, his own red, and swore he'd love me for the rest of his life. So I married into this century-old Italian-American Mafia dynasty.

But on our wedding night, the moment he touched me, he convulsed, coughed up blood, and collapsed.

The second time, an old condition flared up and kept him flat on his back for a month.

The third time, he nearly bled out.

Every time after that, the same thing.

The whole family called me a curse. Marked. Bad luck. The kind of woman who brings death to whoever gets close.

The Godmother gave me an ultimatum: get pregnant within a month, or sign the divorce papers and be shipped off to Chicago to marry the devil himself.

I was carrying a fertility tonic to his study, ready to beg him one more time, when I heard voices through the door.

"Mr. Kingsley, please, you gotta stop. Every time you don't wanna go near her, you shoot yourself up with that stuff. You're gonna kill yourself."

Damon was quiet for a long moment. Then, calm and flat: "Aurora is the only woman I love. I'd take the pain any day over touching her."

All this time, while the whole family called me a curse, the one who actually put it on me was the man I almost died for.

Damon Kingsley. After today, we're done. In this life or the next, don't ever cross my path again.

A hundred years ago, I was the strongest Delta the Silver Moon Pack had ever produced.

Born with the God Bone, unmatched in power, I had Royal Guard recruiters showing up at my door three times, waiting for me to say yes. The whole pack assumed I'd lead them to glory.

Then came that night. My own family dragged me to the altar in the frozen vault.

My mother cried and said, "Lacey was born broken. Without the God Bone, she'll die."

"You're the older sister. You're strong. You'll survive without it."

I refused.

Grant, my fiancé, pulled the knife on me. Brandon, my brother, pinned down my arms and legs. My parents watched from the shadows, saying nothing.

"Don't be so selfish."

They carved the God Bone out of my body, drained every drop of my heart's blood, and threw me into a vault fifty degrees below zero.

My sister took everything that was mine and became the golden girl everyone adored.

A hundred years passed. I became the Supreme Commander of the Royal Guard.

This year, during recruitment, my adjutant handed me the candidate list. I saw a familiar name and smiled. I picked up my pen and crossed it out.

"Doesn't meet the requirements. Denied."

Being born a Moretti daughter means one thing: the family owns you.

In my past life, Vivian thought she had what it took. She promised Dad she could handle it, swore up and down she'd make him proud. Six months later, she'd burned through three generations of work and left us with nothing but an empty shell. Our enemies found her eventually. Broke both her legs.

And me? I married Marco Rossi.

Everyone envied me for marrying into one of the most powerful families in the city. What they didn't know was that I was his prisoner. He used me, turned my family's connections into stepping stones for himself, spent my money on his mistresses, used my body as a bargaining chip at his deals.

In the end, Vivian killed me. Jealous of my "perfect life," she dragged herself over on those broken legs and put a bullet in me.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in Dad's study.

The door slams open. Vivian bursts in, cutting me off before I can speak. "Dad! I'm marrying Marco Rossi! Give the family to Sienna!"

I look at her and smile.

This time, I'm going to survive. And I'm going to do a hell of a lot better than just survive.

Everyone says I'm the woman Jasper loves most.

But only I know that in his heart, I've always come second to Sadie.

Seven years ago, I shoved him out from under a collapsing rig and shattered my right ankle. I never skated competitively again.

He held me and swore that the day he won the Grand Slam, he'd marry me in front of the whole world.

I believed him. So I learned to be his support crew. I sharpened his blades, hand-sewed his costumes, dragged my bad leg around everywhere he went. I turned myself into the shadow that followed him.

Then Sadie came along. Young, healthy, able to do things I could never do again.

Tonight, Jasper wins the Grand Slam. The cameras circle him, the whole arena chanting for him to propose.

But he looks down at Sadie in his arms and smiles.

"Out of everyone, she's the one I want to thank most for this medal. I wouldn't have made it here without her."

That's the moment I stop wanting to stay.

In my past life, we were camping in the wilderness area of a state park when my best friend handed out "lucky charms" to the whole group. Charms she'd secretly packed full of wildlife attractant.

A wild boar knocked me to the ground outside the cabin door. Its tusks tore into my stomach. I pounded on the wood with both fists, screaming. "Help! Open the door!"

Inside were my boyfriend of two years and the best friend I'd been quietly supporting for just as long. Autumn Warren.

"I'm so sorry, Brynn." Autumn's voice broke into sobs, but her weight stayed pressed hard against the door. "There are boars everywhere. We open that door, we're all dead."

"Just hold on! I'm calling 911!" Wyatt Fletcher's voice rang out with the kind of conviction that cost him absolutely nothing.

I paid for that trip. I'd fallen behind because I'd stopped to pull Autumn along.

And they stood on the other side of that door, my blood soaking into the dirt, and locked me out.

I open my eyes. I'm back. It's the day we left.

I spent seven years being Preston Maddox's personal errand girl.

Did his homework, took his father's belt for him, cut off every friend I had because he said he didn't like me talking to other guys.

I told myself that if I was good enough, patient enough, he'd eventually see me.

Then came the school's centennial gala. In front of everyone, he locked me, a girl with severe aquaphobia, inside a water tank filled to the brim with ice-cold water, so Vanessa Sinclair could have a pretty backdrop for her ballet number.

The audience roared. He watched Vanessa take her bow with this soft, adoring smile on his face. The only time he glanced at me was when he noticed I'd made a mess, and all he did was wrinkle his nose.

The water rose over my head, and something in me finally understood.

To Preston Maddox, I wasn't even worth as much as a dog.

If a dog was drowning, its owner would at least care.

Me? I just disgusted him.

The club is dragging everyone out to a tomb Blair Whitmore's family dug up in Egypt, and nobody asked if this was a good idea.

She even brings some so-called expert along. Everyone crowds around the dark opening, practically shaking with excitement.

I'm the only one who tries to stop it.

"There's a mechanism in there. It's dangerous. We shouldn't go in. We need to report it to the antiquities authority first."

They just laugh at me.

"God, Blair, you're unbelievable. Untouched site like this and you just land it."

"Right, and some people never say two words all semester and now they want in on the action."

My palms are sweating. They don't know I come from a family of manuscript conservators. I grew up surrounded by dead languages and schematics for ancient mechanisms. What nobody else can read, I read clearly.

The stele at the entrance is carved with Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the warning is not subtle:

Whoever enters here will lose their soul to the void, and their bones will turn to dust.

For the top university in the North American wolf packs, transfer students aren't exactly breaking news. But this one sets the entire forum on fire.

It starts with a photo. A girl standing next to a tall, imposing man. Both faces are deliberately blurred, but that build, that presence... every wolf in North America recognizes it. The Alpha King. The caption reads: "Dad why'd you send me this 😭 I'm not ready to go public yet."

Minutes later, the post vanishes. But screenshots flood the forum.

"Moon Goddess above! Is that really the Alpha King?"

"The girl in the photo... could she be the royal princess no one's ever seen?"

The comments explode. Compliments flood in. Even my aloof boyfriend joins in.

Something feels off. I type out a comment: "The Alpha King keeps a low profile. His daughter should do the same. Posting photos like this... doesn't seem right."

Less than a minute later, the replies come.

"Who do you think you are to question her?"

"Can't stand seeing someone else do well, huh?"

My boyfriend chimes in too: "Quit it. You're embarrassing yourself."

I pick up my phone and dial a number. "Dad, since when do you have another daughter?"

Beau and I have been together for three years. I paid for the entire yacht charter out of my own pocket, and he shows up with his childhood best friend Sadie in tow, then goes around telling everyone it was his idea, his grand gesture.

Out on the water, Sadie spots a small octopus drifting near the surface and decides she has to have it. The thing pulses with glowing blue rings.

I'm a certified expert diver. I know exactly what it is the second I see it. I try to stop her.

She bursts into tears and tells Beau I'm going after her.

So Beau, ever the hero where Sadie's concerned, jumps in himself and fishes the thing out.

Sadie plays with it. It bites her. She's on the deck before she even knows what hit her.

Beau grabs me, screaming at me to suck out the venom. I refuse. He calls me a cold, heartless bitch, and in the chaos, shoves me overboard into shark-infested water.

I die out there. Nothing left of me.

They use my phone to fake a suicide note. Depression, they say. Jumped on her own. Then they take my company, my assets, everything.

They post online hinting I tried to push Sadie in and slipped.

My parents, worn down by the online harassment and the grief of losing me, both die of heart attacks.

Then I open my eyes. And I'm back. The morning of the trip.