141 Book(s) Related to harry potter first page

"Ames, darling, you worry me." Linc Tanner, my billionaire stepfather breathes into the phone, and heat rises to my face at that damn nickname. That nickname coming out from his forbidden lips, capable of making my toes curl, my knees bent before him, taking all of him deep into my throat.

♠︎ ♠︎ ♠︎

The first day she came in contact with her stepfather, Amelia felt something shift in the air. Linc exudes menace. There's something about him that overwhelmed her.

As the years passed—she found this magnetism toward him. It drew her in so deeply that despite knowing how wrong it was to find her stepfather attractive and lust after him, she couldn’t talk herself out of it.

It was every shade of wrong. She should’ve been disgusted.

Her pussy still clenched every time she thought about him, the way he looks at her, those dark eyes filled with a ring of lust and primal hunger. It melted her, it soaked her. It drenched her.

When Amelia received a call to intern in her billionaire stepfather's company throughout the summer break, Amelia is terrified of what awaits her back in his New York City mansion where just three years ago after her mother's death and till now, she had been fighting against her treacherous feelings for him.

He's been the only object of her wildest fantasies. Oh, the things she had thought about him doing to her, they were illicit. Filthy. Completely taboo.

But Amelia is determined not to let her secret attraction override her judgments. Only if Linc would share the same resolve. She got the shock of her life when he didn't, and that is where the lines get blurrier for them.

Hypothetically speaking, can an Army Ranger war games strategist and an environmental scientist bent on saving the planet fall in love at first sight? Romey Capulano knows that marrying Jordan Spinelli is the most logical, expedient, and practical way to save the farm commune she’s lived on her whole life. But when the pragmatic-minded, hydroponic gardener says I do, she’s surprised to find her heart speeding up when he makes his vows, her hands tingling when he slides the diamond on her finger, and her breath quickening as he leans in for the kiss. Succumbing to the notion of love was not a part of her plan, and she’s sure it will ruin the platonic relationship that she and the genius Army Ranger have planned out for themselves. Jordan Spinelli is certain he’s coming down with something the day of his arranged marriage to Romey. Why else would his blood run hot, his palms sweat, and his heart keep skipping beats? Better he catch an illness than feelings for the level-headed soil scientist. Because falling in love was not a part of their carefully constructed, peer-researched marital agreement. As the two try to navigate a loveless marriage, unknown forces keep pushing them into each other's arms. Divine acts keep pushing their lips within kissing range. Unspoken desires keep causing their hearts to face the inexplicable truth; the unquantifiable math that all adds up to the obvious. But will Jordan and Romey be able to admit to themselves, and each other, that their platonic vows are a shame because they just might have fallen in love at first sight?

I got paid to test-sleep an heiress's fiancé.
One problem: he's my boss.
Bigger problem: I've been catfishing him online for six months—as his fiancée.
Now I'm pregnant. And he just called my real name.

When her father fled with his mistress, leaving crushing debts behind, Freya Gilbert had nowhere to turn. Crashing Alpha Jonas's welcome ceremony in desperation, she never expected to find her fated mate there. But it wasn't gentle Jonas who made her wolf howl "mate." It was the dangerous, devastatingly powerful Niklaus Lockwood.
One scorching night of passion sealed her fate.
Niklaus already had his perfect chosen mate, the elegant Rebekah. Unwilling to abandon his plans, he offered Freya a cold business deal: be his contract Luna for three years, play the perfect wife in public, and he'd clear her debts. When their arrangement expired, she'd accept his rejection and disappear quietly.
Freya thought she could survive a loveless marriage. She was wrong.
Three years later, she's fallen hopelessly for the Alpha who sees her as nothing more than a gold-digging Omega. On their anniversary night, the very day their contract expires, Niklaus chooses Rebekah.
The message couldn't be clearer.
But when Freya files for divorce and moves out first, Niklaus's carefully controlled world shatters. The mate bond he's suppressed for years, and he never expected his obedient, compliant wife to actually leave him.
"I, Freya Gilbert, reject you, Niklaus Lockwood."
The words that should have set them both free only ignite a fire that threatens to consume them both.
Can a love born from a business contract survive the flames of pride and betrayal? Or will the most powerful Alpha in the territory lose his true mate because he was too blind to see what was right in front of him?
When the contract ends, the real battle for love begins.

They say some secrets are meant to stay buried.

I used to believe that too—until Roman Aldridge walked back into my life fifteen years later, no longer the broken thirteen-year-old boy I once held through his darkest nights, but a devastatingly handsome man who looked at me like I was his salvation and his damnation all at once.

"I've never stopped loving you, Vivian."

Those seven words shattered the carefully constructed walls I'd built around my heart. Because the truth? I'd never stopped loving him either.

Fifteen years ago, I was his dead mother's replacement—a twenty-three-year-old political advisor tasked with caring for a grieving child. I held him when he cried, watched him grow, and somewhere along the way, developed feelings that terrified me so much I fled Seattle like my life depended on it.

Now I'm back. Divorced, desperate, and apparently still weak enough to melt under those same dark eyes that once looked at me with innocent adoration but now burn with a man's desire.

The scandal writes itself: Governor Candidate's Son Seduces Former Caregiver. Or is it the other way around? Does it matter when the entire world thinks you're a predator who groomed the boy you were supposed to protect?

Roman doesn't care about the headlines. He doesn't care that loving me could destroy his political future, his relationship with his father, everything he's worked for. He says he'd rather burn the whole world down than live without me.

The problem is, I believe him.

And God help me, I think I might let him.

Because sometimes, the most forbidden love is the only one worth fighting for.

Even if it means that a woman falls in love with the child she once nurtured.

Twenty-two years old Paige Moretti is struggling with her son and her very demanding job with low salary,she lives her life full with regret and sadness as to why she made the mistake that changed her whole life but things take a huge turn when her boss had a meeting with someone she never wanted to see again in life…Jace Russo….read and find out what life has in stall for them after 6 years.

"I want you to fuck yourself. Long… deep and slow. Because I know it will be my face that you will see when you come." These were the words Elias Miles whispered into Chloe Bennett's ear, shattering her professional composure and reminding her that the man who owned the company also owned her every desire.

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Chloe Bennett thought she had found the perfect escape when she spent a wild, anonymous night in Boston with a handsome stranger named Lio. Twelve months later, she lands her dream job in New York City, only to discover that her "Lio" is actually Elias Miles the notoriously cold, arrogant, and breathtakingly powerful CEO of Miles Media.

As Chloe navigates the treacherous waters of corporate espionage and high-stakes media wars, she must decide if she can handle the "all-or-nothing" intensity of a man who refuses to be second to anyone. With a rival media mogul breathing down their necks and a past that refuses to stay buried, their connection is tested by secrets, scandals, and a deep-seated fear of commitment.

Can Chloe Bennett break through the ice around Elias’s heart, or will this high-powered world of luxury and lies tear them apart for good? Does Elias Miles truly have a heart, or was Chloe just another stopover in his life?

On the eve of the apocalypse, magical beasts appeared in our world.
They possessed extraordinary abilities, and humans could master these powers by forming a contract with them.
In my previous life, my adopted brother chose a top-tier Wolf King pup.
But shortly after, the extreme heat apocalypse descended. The low-tier water snake I had contracted possessed the ability to conjure water and lower temperatures, inadvertently making me the envy of everyone.
Meanwhile, my brother’s Wolf King was universally despised for its excruciatingly slow growth and lack of immediate combat power.

Now, I have been reborn to the very day we chose our contracted beasts.
This time, my brother rushed ahead and snatched the water snake.
I know why.
He has been reborn, too.
But this apocalypse is not nearly as simple as he thinks!

I gave him three years of silent devotion behind a mask I never wanted to wear. I made a wager for our bond—he paid me off like a mistress.
"Chloe's back," Zane said coldly. "It's over."
I laughed, poured wine on his face, and walked away from the only love I'd ever known.
"What now?" my best friend asked.
I smiled. "The real me returns."
But fate wasn't finished yet.
That same night, Caesar Conrad—the Alpha every wolf feared—opened his car door and whispered, "Get in."
Our gazes collided. The bond awakened. No games. No pretending. Just raw, unstoppable power.
"Don't regret this," he warned, lips brushing mine.
But I didn't.
Because the mate I'd been chasing never saw me.
And the one who did?
He's ready to burn the world for me.

A group of young teenage rich heiress which is led by Tessha Marie Gavelan, wanted to have a spooky Halloween vacation.
They are bored and want some adventure.
They wanted to make a Halloween documentary just for fun and uploaded it to their webpage.

They search for the most haunted and spooky hometown.
And found four places then raffled them.
Villa del Bungo wins!

A haunted villa in the City of Infierno...

A sudden wrong turn of events happened.
The moment they enter Villa del Bungo is the day that they are trapped and the game of life and death begins!

Unfolding the truth about herself that shocks her...

Who is the mastermind?
Is there any hope for them?
or will they be buried in the City of Infierno?

Lucia Moretti spent her entire life loving Matteo De Luca — the future Don of New York’s most powerful mafia family.

He was her first love, her greatest weakness, and the only man she ever trusted completely.

Until the night he chose power over her.

At a glamorous mafia gala, Lucia believes Matteo will finally claim her after years of secret love and stolen moments. Instead, he announces his engagement to Bianca Valenti, heiress to a rival mafia empire.

Humiliated and heartbroken, Lucia disappears to Chicago, determined to forget the man who shattered her heart.

But Matteo refuses to let her go.

When dangerous alliances begin collapsing and old enemies rise from the shadows, Lucia is dragged back into the brutal mafia world she tried to escape. And the closer Matteo gets, the harder it becomes to ignore the feelings still burning between them.

Because some loves never die.

They only turn into obsession.

A dark mafia romance filled with betrayal, revenge, emotional tension, obsession, and slow-burning passion.

"Kiera Scott is a 21 years old single lady, she Lives alone since she graduated from high school. Sometimes her friends come around to visit her. Luckily enough for her, she's the only daughter of her family and very pampered. She's pretty... The perfect definition of beauty can be told alone by looking at her. She's loved by everyone in her neighborhood, works in a very good company and paying one loved by her colleagues. But! The only problem is her Boss.

He's Tibby Wilf. He is a sex freak, crazy, mean, extra arrogant. He hates being corrected. But Kiera keeps crushing on him.

He was a sex addict. He'd always scold her when she's wrong and not...till she got used to it.

Now she accidentally found him in the shower.

"you!!" he called as she turned back shocked to see her boss half naked.

"argh!" she screamed and shut her eyes closed

"what you doing here?"" she asked

"I should ask you that!" he fired back as she opened her eyes

'gosh...so hot' she gasped in her thoughts

"I'm hiding... please" she whispered as she walked closer to him

"hey... stay back" he hurriedly said as she staggered back

"argh!" she screamed as he pushed her back but unfortunately... his towels fell off his waist."

Alana is a beautiful girl, kind, cheerful, innocent and sociable. Due to a slander Quenza Alana was kicked out of the house by her parents. Even his family members no longer considered him and removed his name from the family register.

Alana decided to go abroad, namely Germany. While living there, Alana managed to build a company and found a new family who loved her very much.

There, Alana also met a handsome young man whom she had once helped. The young man’s name was Devan Alexander.

I closed my eyes as a dying, ugly servant, but I woke up in the bed of the Alpha King's son, pregnant with his heir!

The tropical storm raged outside, but inside this silk-draped room, I was safe. My scarred, pathetic body was gone, replaced by flawless skin and the voluptuous curves of Luna Rosie. I touched the protruding belly—I am carrying Alpha Gideon’s baby, the man I secretly loved for years! But the twist of fate is cruel. The real Luna Rosie didn't die; her soul is now trapped in my old, ugly body.

She stands in the corner as a maid, forced to serve me tea while I live the life she took for granted. She glares at me with hatred, but I don't care. I finally have everything I ever wanted.

But when Alpha Gideon returns and looks into my eyes, will he recognize the soul of the servant girl who used to wash his clothes?

I used to believe Lawrence Ashcroft must love me.

He was the football captain, the golden boy everyone adored, and he chose me—the girl who spent her life chasing perfection on the ice. But love shouldn’t feel like waiting outside a rink in the cold, refreshing my phone, wondering why he forgot me again.

Seven times.

Each excuse sounded softer than the last. Florence needed help. Florence was sick. Florence had no one else. And somehow, I was always supposed to understand.

Then I met Gavin Ashcroft.

Lawrence’s older brother was nothing like him. Gavin was cold, blunt, and intimidating. The first night I met him, he criticized me for being late. I thought he hated me. But when Lawrence abandoned me at the Ashcroft mansion, Gavin was the one who worried about my safety. When I got hurt, Gavin noticed. When I competed, Gavin came. When I tried to be strong, Gavin saw the pain I hid.

Now Lawrence says he wants to change. He waits outside my dorm, brings me medicine, asks for another chance.

But the more he reaches for me, the more I realize something terrifying:

My heart no longer races for the boy I once loved.

It races for his brother.

My fiancée accused me of not caring about family.
To make it up to her, I planned a luxury vacation for all of us.
But the night before we left, she told me she'd given my first-class seat to her childhood best friend.
Instead, she booked me a seat in economy—on a flight with a recent terror threat advisory.
The whole family thought I should just go along with it.
That's when I finally woke up.
I tore up the itinerary and rerouted to Hawaii instead.
I turned off my phone, leaving them to deal with the $20,000 bill.
It wasn't until their hotel reservations got canceled that they started to panic.

The first time they met, Jace looked her in the eye and said, "I don't sleep with virgins. Too much trouble. No satisfaction."
The second time, desire betrayed his rules. "Walk away, Nerissa. Or I'll stop pretending I can resist you."
The 99th time, everything changed. "I don't want to be your lover anymore. I want to be your husband."

To save her father's life, Nerissa offered the only thing she had left — her first night. The buyer? Dr. Jace Whitmore. Cold, powerful, and dangerously untouchable.

For Nerissa, it was supposed to end when the debt was paid.
For Jace, it was just lust. He thought once he tired of Nerissa's body, letting her go would be easy.
But neither of them expected to fall — hard.

As desire deepens into something dangerously close to love, their fragile bond is tested by ruthless enemies, haunting secrets, and the brutal reality of their worlds: hers, humble and struggling; his, ruthless and elite.

Can a relationship born of desperation and desire survive the storm — and turn into something real?

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.

She is the only daughter of a notorious mafia boss, but she is forced by her father to marry a hateful bastard in a contract marriage. To avenge her father, she has a one-night stand with a charming man, but unexpectedly falls into the trap of another terrible man, who is her father's enemy and another mafia boss. His mission is to make her father disappear.
She regards him as her only salvation, but he regards her as a pawn for revenge. When two enemies dance on the sharp knife, what will be the final outcome?

She is an ordinary high schooler girl with an ordinary life, her daily activity is something that she always does and repeat everyday that makes she slowly feel bored with her life. She want to find something new in her life and her wish come true when someday she find an unique crystal near the big tree in the middle of creepy empty garden. Her life was completely change when the crystal lead her entering the other world, other planet in the other dimension, but she never knew that she has a big fate when she meets the prince with his knights. She never knew that her ordinary life will completely change from the start she decide to take the crystal. How could an ordinary high schooler play a role as a heroine to save a whole planet??

The Koch family is the oldest family in the Blue Star Kingdom. As the new generation heir, Chad Koch has encountered many women—some attracted to his wealth, others to his looks, but none genuinely cared for him as a person. Consequently, Chad Koch has perpetually upheld a demeanor of aloofness towards the fairer sex.
Amidst a twist of fate, Daphne emerges as the savior of Chad Koch's venerable grandfather.
Thus unfolds the tale of emotional intricacies between a haughty scion of royalty and a humble maiden of the farmlands.

I got dragged online by one of my lead devs.

He claimed my "Incubation Project" was a gilded cage—a trap to exploit the team and steal their personal IPs.

The truth?

I funded it out of my own pocket.

Selected candidates would get a $50,000 no-strings-attached seed fund, plus full Ivy League tuition reimbursement. It was 100% voluntary, with zero penalties for opting out.

Since the internet decided I was a toxic capitalist monopolizing their creativity, I gave him exactly what he wanted. I fired off a company-wide memo:

[To protect your creative freedom from capitalist exploitation, the $50,000 Incubation Fund is permanently abolished, effective immediately.]

[As an alternative, the monthly education allowance for all employees is now a $15 reimbursement for basic coding courses.]

The moment the memo dropped, the employees who were counting on that $50k to pay off student loans or change their lives completely lost it.

Now, they're swarming right outside my glass office door, eyes red, begging me to reinstate the program.

“A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go.”--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)Women are turning up dead in the rural outskirts of Virginia, killed in grotesque ways, and when the FBI is called in, they are stumped. A serial killer is out there, his frequency increasing, and they know there is only one agent good enough to crack this case: Special Agent Riley Paige.Riley is on paid leave herself, recovering from her encounter with her last serial killer, and, fragile as she is, the FBI is reluctant to tap her brilliant mind. Yet Riley, needing to battle her own demons, comes on board, and her hunt leads her through the disturbing subculture of doll collectors, into the homes of broken families, and into the darkest canals of the killer’s mind. As Riley peels back the layers, she realizes she is up against a killer more twisted than she could have imagined. In a frantic race against time, she finds herself pushed to her limit, her job on the line, her own family in danger, and her fragile psyche collapsing.Yet once Riley Paige takes on a case, she will not quit. It obsesses her, leading her to the darkest corners of her own mind, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted. After a series of unexpected twists, her instincts lead her to a shocking climax that even Riley could not have imagined.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE GONE marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.Book #2 in the Riley Paige series is now available!

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book One) is book #1 in a new psychological thriller series by #1 bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose free bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. 22 year old psychology major—and aspiring FBI agent—Riley Paige finds herself in a battle for her life as her closest friends on campus are abducted and killed by a serial killer. She senses that she, too, is being targeted—and that if she is to survive, she must apply her brilliant mind to stop the killer herself.When the FBI hits a dead end, they are impressed enough by Riley’s keen insight into the killer’s mind to allow her to help. Yet the killer’s mind is a dark, twisted place, one too diabolical to make sense of, and one that threatens to bring Riley’s fragile psyche crashing down. In this deadly game of cat and mouse, can Riley survive unscarred?An action-packed thriller with heart-pounding suspense, WATCHING is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night. It takes readers back 20 plus years—to how Riley’s career began—and is the perfect complement to the ONCE GONE series (A Riley Paige Mystery), which includes 13 books and counting.Book #2 in THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE series is also now available!

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)Women are being murdered in upstate New York, their bodies found mysteriously hanging in chains. With the FBI called in, given the bizarre nature of the murders—and the lack of any clues—there is only one agent they can turn to: Special Agent Riley Paige.Riley, reeling from her last case, is reluctant to take on a new one, since she is still convinced a former serial killer is out there, stalking her. She knows, though, that her ability to enter a serial killer’s mind and her obsessive nature is what will be needed to crack this case, and she just can’t refuse—even if it will push her over the edge.Riley’s search takes her deep into a killer’s deluded mind as it leads her to orphanages, mental hospitals, prisons, all in an effort to understand the depth of his psychosis. Realizing she is up against a true psychopath, she knows time is short before he strikes again. But with her own job on the line and her own family a target, and with her fragile psyche collapsing, it may all be too much for her—and too late.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE TAKEN is book #2 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.Book #3 in the Riley Paige series is also now available!

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE FORSAKEN is book #7 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 700 five star reviews! When Special Agent Riley Paige finally decides to take a well-needed rest from the FBI, a request for help comes from the most unlikely source: her own daughter. April’s best friend is devastated by the death of her sister, a freshman at Georgetown. Worse, she is convinced that the suicide was staged, and that her sister was murdered at the hands of a serial killer.Riley reluctantly looks into the case, only to discover that two other freshman girls at Georgetown recently killed themselves in the same grotesque way—by hanging. As she realizes foul play may be afoot, she brings in the FBI. The case takes Riley deep into the privileged campus of one of the world’s most esteemed universities, into the unsettling world of the wealthy and driven families that pushed their children to succeed. In time she discovers that this case is far more twisted than it seems—and that she just may be up against the most psychotic killer of her career. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE FORSAKEN is book #7 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #8 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

On my son's seventh birthday, he hid behind my husband's first love and shouted at me, "You're a bad woman! She's my real mom!"
My husband was even crueler. He threw me out of the house without a second thought.
"To me, you were nothing but a surrogate."
Heartbroken, I walked away—and later adopted an abandoned little boy.
Years passed, when my husband finally learned the truth about the woman he had always protected, he came to me with our biological son, both of them kneeling before me in tears, begging for forgiveness.
Holding my adopted son's hand, I smiled calmly.
"Sorry. I only have one son."

The day manager Gregg shoved me into the freight elevator shaft, the nuclear winter outside had only just begun. As he slammed the gate shut, he said, "No one will find you dead down there; the insurance payout is enough to cover the shortfall." I died in the darkness at thirty degrees below zero. Then, I woke up. I was back on the afternoon he threw the contract in my face. This time, I didn't sign. I shoved the contract into the paper shredder, snatched the brass key ring from Supervisor Miller, locked every exit of the warehouse, and re-routed the entire building's heating system into my own command bunker. As Gregg licked ice off the frozen floor on the security monitor, I was sitting in the guard room, heating up a can of pork. Outside, the first snowflake fell. And this time, the ones who would be freezing to death were them.

My first love was adopted by our family, and he promised he would always be there for me.
But after my dad passed away in a car accident, I found him with another woman in our bedroom.
He told everyone Caroline was his true love—that he only saw me as a sister—and claimed I was the one who was pestering him.
I was shamed by everyone. The stress gave my mother a stroke, and Caroline even had someone run me over, costing me an eye.
Seven years later, holding flowers, I ran into them outside a convenience store.
Arthur's son looked at me pityingly. "Dad, this lady lost an eye… Is she selling flowers? Should we buy some?"

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)ONCE CRAVED is book #3 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download!When prostitutes turn up dead in Phoenix, not much attention is paid. But when a pattern of disturbing murders is discovered, the local police soon realize a serial killer is on a rampage and they are in way over their heads. Given the unique nature of the crimes, the FBI, called in, knows they will need their most brilliant mind to crack the case: Special Agent Riley Paige.Riley, recovering from her last case and trying to pick up the pieces of her life, is at first reluctant. But when she learns of the grievous nature of the crimes and realizes the killer will soon strike again, she is compelled. She begins her hunt for the elusive killer and her obsessive nature takes her too far—perhaps too far, this time, to pull herself back from the brink. Riley’s search leads her into the unsettling world of prostitutes, of broken homes, and shattered dreams. She learns that, even amongst these women, there are glimpses of hope, hope being robbed by a violent psychopath. When a teenage girl is abducted, Riley, in a frantic race against time, struggles to probe the depths of the killer’s mind. But what she discovers leads her to a twist that is too shocking for even her to imagine.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE CRAVED is book #3 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.Book #4 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)ONCE LURED is book #4 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download, with over 500 five star reviews!Women are turning up dead on a lone stretch of highway in Delaware. Some go missing for an inexplicable length of time, while others are turning up dead, their bodies left out for display in bizarre and mysterious ways. When a pattern is discovered, it becomes clear to the FBI that a twisted serial killer is on the hunt—luring girls in devious schemes—and that he won’t stop killing, ever.The FBI, desperate to crack the case, urges Special Agent Riley Paige to take it on. But the brilliant Riley, still reeling from past cases, has finally found peace in her home life, and is determined to help her daughter April get back on her feet. Yet when the murders become too disturbing, too urgent—and when her former partner Bill implores her—Riley finally realizes she can’t say no.Riley’s hunt leads her deep into the unsettling world of hitchhikers, of drifters, of women that no one else cares for. When she discovers that several women are being kept alive and that there is still time to save them, she realizes she will stop at nothing, obsessing over the case and driving herself to the brink. Yet Riley realizes her own life is falling apart, and her own fragile psyche can barely handle the strain. In a frantic race against time, she will have to plunge deep into the killer’s mind to save these women—and to save herself—from collapse.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE LURED is book #4 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.Book #5 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE STALKED is book #9 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 900 five star reviews! When two soldiers are found dead on a huge military base in California, apparently killed by gunshot, military investigators are stumped. Who is killing its soldiers, inside the secure confines of its own base?And why?The FBI is called in, and Riley Paige is summoned to take the lead. As Riley finds herself immersed in the military culture, she is amazed to realize that serial killers can strike even here, in the midst of the most secure location on earth.She finds herself in a frantic cat and mouse chase, racing to decode the killer’s psychology. Yet she soon discovers she is up against a highly-trained killer, one that may, even for her, be too deadly an opponent.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE STALKED is book #9 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #10 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE COLD is book #8 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 900 five star reviews! There is one cold case that has plagued Special Agent Riley Paige for her entire career, dwelling at the corners of her consciousness, forcing her to return to it again and again. The only case she has never solved, she has finally put it out of her mind.Until she gets a call from the murdered victim’s mother.It spurs Riley to face the case once again, and to not give up until she has found answers.Yet Riley barely has time to catch her breath when she receives a lead for another cold case, one which, if possible, strikes an even deeper note within her. It is a lead that promises to solve the case of her own mother’s killer.And it comes from Shane Hatcher.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE COLD is book #8 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #9 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE PINED is book #6 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 700 five star reviews! Men and women are turning up dead in the outskirts of Seattle, poisoned by a mysterious chemical. When a pattern is discovered and it becomes clear that a twisted serial killer is on the hunt, the FBI calls in their best asset: Special Agent Riley Paige. Riley is urged to return to the line of duty—but Riley, still reeling from the attacks on her family, is loath to return. Yet as bodies mount, and the murders become more inexplicable, Riley knows she has no choice.The case takes Riley deep into the unsettling world of nursing homes, of hospitals, of drifting caretakers and psychotic patients. As Riley delves deeper into the mind of the murderer, she realizes she is hunting the most terrifying killer of all: one whose madness knows no depths—and yet who may just appear shockingly ordinary.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE PINED is book #6 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #7 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE HUNTED is book #5 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 600 five star reviews! A prison break from a maximum security prison. Frantic calls from the FBI. Special Agent Riley Paige’s worst nightmare has come true: a serial killer she put away years ago is loose. And his main target is her.Riley is used to being the one hunting, but for the first time, she finds herself—and her family—to be the ones being hunted. As the killer stalks her, he also begins a new rampage of kills, and Riley must stop him before it is too late—for the other victims, and for herself.But this is no ordinary killer. He is too smart, and their game of cat-and-mouse too twisted, and he somehow manages to elude her and always stay one step ahead. Desperate to stop him, Riley realizes there is only one way: she must delve back into the past, into this killer’s twisted mind, his old cases, and re-learn what drives him. The only way to stop him, she realizes, is to face the darkness she thought she had left behind.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE HUNTED is book #5 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #6 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

“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 WITCHING PLACE: A PERILOUS PAGE is book #3 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.When Alexis Blair, 29, is fired from her book publishing job and breaks up with her boyfriend on the same day, she wonders if life is urging her to make a fresh start. She decides it’s time to pursue her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore of her own—even if that means leaving Boston and accepting a job in a curious bookstore in a small seaside town an hour away.A cryptic visitor comes into town, looking for a rare book, and willing to pay anything.But when he ends up dead, Alexis wonders: was the price too high?And did Alexis’s mysterious store owner have anything to do with it?A page-turning cozy, rife with the supernatural, mystery, secrets and love—and centered around a small town as odd and endearing as its shop—A PERILOUS PAGE will make you fall in love and keep you laughing out loud as you turn pages 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)

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.” --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE LOST is book #10 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 900 five star reviews! Still reeling from her former partner Lucy’s death and from her partner Bill’s PTSD, FBI Special Agent Riley Paige does her best to try to keep herself stable and to patch together her family life. She has to decide what to about April’s boyfriend, recovering from his abusive father, and about Blaine, who is ready for their relationship to move ahead.But before she can work it out, Riley is summoned for a new case. In an idyllic suburban town in the Midwest, teenage girls are going missing—and a body has already turned up. The police are stumped, and Riley is called in to catch the killer before another girl goes missing.Making things worse is that Riley is assigned a partner she does not want—her nemesis, Special agent Roston—who had been interrogating her in Shane’s case.Even worse: Shane is on the loose, he wants revenge—and he has Riley’s family in his sights.A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE LOST is book #10 in a riveting new series—with a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #11 in the Riley Paige series will be available soon.

On her way to her father's funeral, Elaine Foster was nearly killed by a hitman hired by her stepmother. But when she woke up, she had somehow become Audrey Parker, the wife of a powerful business tycoon. "Hahaha! Now I can cling to my CEO husband and crush those scumbags!" she thought gleefully.
Before she could even celebrate, her so-called husband coldly tossed a divorce agreement in front of her. "Audrey Parker, sign this. It's your last chance."
Divorce? Not a chance! She’d rather lose her life than her marriage.
"My love for you is as boundless as the rushing river, as unstoppable as the Yellow River in flood! How could you bear to leave me?"
The CEO’s lips twitched, and after a long pause, he managed only one word: "Leave."
Elaine took a step closer, batting her eyelashes as she playfully poked his chest. "Leave... and roll right into your arms?"
"Shameless."
She clasped her hands together in mock courtesy. "You flatter me."
From that day on, she embarked on a fearless journey—backed by the mighty CEO, no ghost or demon could touch her.

When Bella and Dylan meet in an unusual way, they immediately fall in love and experience a hot and intense romance. However, the powerful Alexander Kicher discovers that his son is involved with the daughter of his arch-rival Anthony Hahn and forces him to stay away at the risk of killing her. Dylan then, to protect his beloved, abruptly moves away, thus awakening anger and Bella's resentment, especially after she discovers her pregnancy and is forced to marry someone she doesn't love.
A few years later, by coincidence of fate the two meet again and Bella will have the chance to take revenge on her great love from the past who betrayed and abandoned her. But will she succeed or the love that was until then forgotten as a Will the sad and bitter memory have another chance or will the power struggle between their families prevail, defying all expectations?
Don't miss this Epic Journey! Thrill with passion, challenges and crucial choices. Embark now on this intense story that transcends time, a saga of love and power that will captivate you from start to finish!

To give my twelve-year-old daughter a peaceful and ordinary childhood, I sealed away the "Eagle" badge that represented the highest military authority in the Federation, willingly becoming a repairman with an oily phone in a remote town.
I suppressed my murderous intent, swallowed my humiliation, and even remained silent about the injustice of the referee.
But my concessions to the powerful and wealthy resulted in the richest man leading a group of professional thugs to smash my home to ruins.
to fight in front of my daughter , until his reckless son smashed my "Eagle Badge," hidden deep inside.
They had no idea that the instant the badge broke—
the SSS-level emergency beacon hidden at its core—had been triggered !

Kira Grey was supposed to be the "rejected mate," a disposable Omega meant to be broken by the cruel Alpha of Silverpine. She was never meant to survive the wedding night, let alone command the throne.
But when a mysterious pendant awakens a dormant power within her, the servant girl begins to fight back—not with brute strength, but with intellect, organizational strategy, and the uncovering of ancient, dangerous secrets.
As she dismantles the pack's hierarchy from within, she realizes she is the last heir of the legendary Moonridge line, possessing the rightful bloodline to claim the throne Ethan currently occupies. She craves not just survival, but total sovereignty.
Caught between a mate who wants to cage her and rivals who want to destroy her, Kira must embrace her hidden heritage. Will she succumb to the shackles of her past, or will she burn the throne to the ground to claim her true destiny as the Luna Queen?

On the eve of the apocalypse, I awakened a survival system: send me $5,000, and the sender can unlock a safehouse and awaken a life-saving ability.
The first person I told was Chloe, my girlfriend of three years. In return, she humiliated me in public and cheated on me without a shred of remorse.
That was the moment I finally gave up. The "nice guy" she had drained dry was dead for good.
One month later, the zombie horde arrived right on schedule. For old times' sake, I saved her one last time. And she repaid me by shoving me straight into the jaws of the mutated dead so she could save herself.
What she didn't know... was that I wasn't the only one who had awakened powers.

In his eyes, I had always been "understanding." Understanding enough not to fight, not to make scenes, not to ask for status.

He said we couldn't go public now, but it was for our future.

Only later did I realize that his "future" never included me.

He chose power, chose arranged marriage, chose to keep me hidden. When I finally left, he started having regrets, started saying he loved me.

But by then I understood—he wasn't regretting losing me. He panicked because I was no longer obedient, no longer his.

So I never gave him another chance. I turned and walked away.

But that was only the first step.

I chose to let the truth surface at his moment of greatest triumph, to let him taste what it feels like to lose everything.

My name is Ethan, and it wasn't until the apocalypse arrived that I realized just how cruel fate could be.

Ability awakening became the new normal. Most survivors gained some kind of supernatural power, ranging from F-rank to the legendary S-rank.

F-rank abilities were barely better than being ordinary, while S-rank ability users possessed the power to face a hundred enemies alone.

My childhood friend Davis awakened a B-rank ability [Thermal Perception], allowing him to sense the heat distribution of all living beings within a hundred-meter radius.

And me? I got the F-rank ability that everyone mocked—[Refresh].

"Hahaha! Refresh? What can that do? Refresh your life?" People at the camp always laughed at me like that.

But I didn't care. I only wanted to protect my sister Leia.

Leia is eighteen this year, one of the few ordinary people in this camp who haven't awakened an ability.

I swore to protect her, no matter the cost.

That evening at dusk, Davis came to find me, but he had already betrayed me and become a lackey of the Gray Mark Gang.

A zombie outbreak occurred, and my brother and I were both reborn ten minutes before the disaster struck.
This time, he seized the initiative, stealing the two high-level god-tier abilities, [Flame] and [Hardening], and casually pushed me out of the security door, locking me in the zombie-infested corridor.
Through the security door, he arrogantly declared, "In my past life, you always stood in front of me; in this life, I'll take the mark of survival."
In his eyes, the [Tracking] and [Preset] abilities the system assigned me were nothing but useless pieces of paper.
He thought I would die a horde of zombies.
But he didn't know that in the hands of a top hunter, seemingly useless skills could weave a hellish web that made life unbearable and death unthinkable.

Meet Cameron Ezekiel MacMillan, all six feet, two inches tall. Ice blue eyes that can melt off your panties, and make you fall head over heels in love with him, with a sinfully gorgeous body.
Cameron lost his wife five years ago, left alone with two kids; Summer and Spring, five and seven years respectively. All he wanted was a good nanny who wouldn't quit after a month or few weeks, not a purple-eyed woman who would make his heart race like never before.
He hated the way she made him feel because he knew that feeling came with a weakness, one he couldn't afford while being the CEO of a multinational company.
Meet Ruby Miller, all five foot five tall, with a very sexy figure, even though she wasn't really aware of her shape that way. Rare purple eyes that feel like they are looking into your soul, with kissable lips.
Aside from that, losing people and things were her specialty. Five years ago, she had lost her parents, and now, her job, and her boyfriend just broke up with her.
Finding a new job to tide over before going to law school was the plan, not falling for her boss.
It is a billionaire-nanny story. Enjoy!

"If I touch you right now," Landon said quietly, "I won't stop."
"Then… maybe don't stop." I said, unable to stop the words from escaping my mouth.
Lana married young. She believed in love, in loyalty, and in the man she built a family with. Logan was her husband, her partner, and the father of her twin sons—until his sudden death left her a widow at twenty-six. For four years, Lana focused on survival. She raised her children alone and built a career as a chef, keeping her grief locked away and her desires buried.
Then a man who looked exactly like her dead husband walked into her restaurant.
He wasn't Logan.
He was Landon, Logan's identical twin brother—a man Lana never knew existed, because her husband never told her the truth.
Landon's arrival forces buried secrets to surface. Lana discovers that her marriage was built on lies, and the man she loved had a past far darker than she ever imagined. As the truth unfolds, Landon becomes the one person who knows everything—and the one person she should stay far away from.
But distance becomes impossible. Landon is not just a reminder of Logan. He is different. Dangerous. Fully aware of the line between right and wrong—and how easily it can be crossed. The attraction between them is immediate, unwanted, and deeply forbidden.
He is her late husband's brother. She is the mother of his nieces. And every step toward him feels like betrayal.
Yet the closer Lana gets to the truth, the harder it becomes to walk away—from the secrets, from the desire, and from the man who sees her not as a widow, but as a woman.
Now Lana must face the truth: Is Landon the man who will finally help her heal Or the one who will destroy what's left of her heart?

Raina MacNamara has made a career out of digging up skeletons; preferably the kind hidden in powerful boardrooms and political back rooms. Her latest target was RavenTech: a tech empire with a squeaky-clean reputation… and a suspicious connection to a string of so-called suicides.
When someone tries to kill her, Raina knows she’s getting close. Too close.
And that was when Tyler Paxton came in. Brooding. Ex-military. And hired to keep her safe.
He’s everything Raina doesn’t trust; mysterious, unreadable, frustratingly good-looking. But Tyler has his own agenda. His brother was one of the “suicides,” and he’ll do whatever it takes to find out why. Even if it means protecting the one woman who could blow his cover, and the entire operation wide open.

When the apocalypse struck, my brother Leo didn't hesitate to choose the offshore sanctuary.
In our past life, faced with a choice between a powerful inland warlord commanding a massive army and a leader clinging to a solitary island, Leo snatched up the first option.
But when a zombie horde overran the mainland and defenses collapsed, he fled to my island for refuge.
Jealous of how well I was surviving the end of the world, he and our parents knocked me unconscious in the dead of night and threw me into the ocean to drown.
Now that I've been reborn, Leo immediately took our parents to the maritime base, leaving the "dangerous" mainland to me.
He thinks the ocean is a natural barrier that guarantees his safety, that he can sit back and relax while the world burns.
But there's one thing he doesn't know.
Zombies aren't just static, mindless walking dead—they evolve.
And when they do, that offshore sanctuary will become a floating hell with no way out.

In my past life, my brother-in-law predicted the coming of an extreme cold apocalypse and claimed he would awaken a spatial ability on the day it arrived.
I didn't believe him, but under pressure from my wife's family, I purchased supplies anyway. Then the frozen apocalypse actually came.
I thought we'd survive together as a family, but my brother-in-law had bragged about his spatial ability and massive supplies before awakening. When his ability manifested, the space was pitifully small, and everyone he'd told came to rob us.
When food ran out, my wife's family turned on me, killing and eating me.
Reborn, I've decided to take revenge on my wife's entire family. And it all starts with secretly building my own shelter.