2009 Book(s) Related to secrets in shadow and blood

"You wear her face, but you bleed differently. Tell me, pequeña mentirosa, who are you really?"
When Isabella Moreno identifies her twin sister Sofia's mutilated body in the San Isidro morgue, her world doesn't just shatter—it ignites.
Sofia wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the cartel underworld. She was the good twin—sweet, trusting, working as a trauma nurse, engaged to a respectable doctor. She was everything Isabella wasn't: innocent, hopeful, loved.
But someone put three bullets in Sofia's chest and dumped her body in the River Rojo like garbage.
The police call it gang violence. Case closed. Another statistic in a city that bleeds daily.
Isabella knows better.
She's spent five years as a DEA intelligence analyst, building cases against the very cartels that rule San Isidro. She's seen the patterns, knows the players, and recognizes the signature of a professional hit when she sees one. Sofia's murder wasn't random—it was an execution. And every trail of blood leads to one man:
Damián Flores, heir to the most powerful cartel in Mexico.
Devastatingly handsome, Princeton-educated, and colder than the blade he's rumored to wield personally, Damián took control of the Flores Cartel after his father's assassination three years ago. He's turned the organization into an empire—ruthless, efficient, untouchable. The DEA has tried for years to build a case against him and failed. He's too smart, too careful, too protected.
But Isabella has something the DEA doesn't: Sofia's face.
The twins were identical—same dark hair, same amber eyes, same delicate bone structure. When Isabella assumes Sofia's identity, no one questions it. Not Sofia's grieving fiancé. Not her hospital colleagues. And definitely not Damián Flores, who appears at Sofia's favorite café three days after the funeral with an expression that makes Isabella's blood run cold.

Set in a high-stakes corporate world, the story follows Mira Chen, a brilliant but financially burdened young woman who becomes entangled with two powerful brothers—Marcus and Daniel Reeves—after accepting a job at their consulting firm. What begins as a professional opportunity quickly spirals into a web of secrets, betrayal, and forbidden desire. As both Reeves brothers fall for Mira, they encounter numerous obstacles that lead to catastrophic issues with a AI protect gone completely wrong. Throughout every issue they come together as a family united to solve it.

Five yeas ago, we were hosting a family dinner when I walked into the study and found my father with his mistress.

He looked at me, voice flat and cold: "Alice Russo, you don't tell your mother about this. Trust me, you can't handle the fallout."

I didn't listen. Ran straight to my mother in tears and told her everything.

That night, Mother had her people remove the woman from the property.

The next morning, the woman's daughter Anya ran my mother down with her car at the docks.

That's when I realized, I was completely alone. Because my dad is taking his bastard daughter's side.

I called Victor Castro, my husband, 99 times. He never answered once.

I had a breakdown at the family tribunal. They physically removed me and had me committed to a psychiatric facility in Sicily, the worst kind of place you can imagine.

Five years later, Victor finally spoke to me.

The transport stopped outside the facility that day. Sunlight hit my eyes.

Two guards helped me to the car. My father stood there with a line of his men behind him.

In the crowd, I recognized Peter Thompson, one of my mother's most loyal people.

He gave me the smallest nod. Something flickered in his eyes.

I kept my expression neutral and got in the car.

The door closed. Victor sat across from me.

He lit a cigar and said it without any preamble:

"The day Anya ran your mother down at the docks? I paid for her legal team. I provided the witnesses. I signed the autopsy report myself."

I’m Sofia Bianchi, traded into marriage to pay off my family’s debt. My new husband, Marco De Santis, is a widowed underboss with a lethal reputation, a locked black door he won’t talk about, and a little girl who decides I’m her new favorite person over waffles.
On our wedding night, I lay down rules—no sex, no kids, I finish my degree, I keep my career—and he agrees. All of it.
He doesn’t try to break me. He gives me space, security, and just enough power to be dangerous.
I went into this marriage ready to fight him.
Now, I’m terrified I’ll lose my heart to the one man I was never supposed to love.

Freya has spent her life as an outcast—beaten, humiliated, and branded a disappointment. A servant in the house of the man who once called himself her father. But on the night of her eighteenth birthday, everything changes.

She awakens to a truth more dangerous than the chains that bound her. She is not just a disgraced wolf. She is something more—something both feared and hunted.

Prince Dorian Damon, ruthless heir to the throne, knows what she is.

She is his mate.

The one fate has bound to him in ways he never wanted. But to him, she is also a weapon—a pawn in the bloody war against the hunters. He takes her and keeps her not out of love, but control.

"You think I won’t reject you?" Dorian’s voice is low, edged with cruel amusement as he presses her against the cold stone wall of his chamber. "I will. The moment you become useless to me."

But there is another. Tiberius, the legendary hunter with emerald eyes that see too much and a touch that burns her differently, has searched for her his entire life. He was raised to despise wolves, to slaughter them without hesitation.

Yet when he looks at Freya, he does not see an enemy. He sees his mate.

Caught between two kings, two destinies, and two deadly temptations, Freya must decide who she truly is. A key to destruction, or a bridge to salvation? But what happens when the wolf prince refuses to let her go… and the hunter king refuses to let her fall?

A brutal prince. A vengeful hunter. A woman bound by fate. One will break her. One will save her. Or will she choose to save herself?

She married him to destroy his world.
He trusted her with his heart.
Forced into an arranged marriage to end a mafia war, Alessia Scarpetti plays the perfect crime princess—while secretly working undercover for the FBI. Liam O’Sullivan, heir to a ruthless Irish syndicate, believes their union is a necessary evil… until desire, loyalty, and shared scars blur the lines between enemy and ally.
But when Alessia’s mission threatens everything Liam has left to lose, love becomes the most dangerous lie of all.
When the truth comes out, will she choose justice—or the man she was sent to betray?

"I'm losing you," Rhett growled, his fingers digging possessively into my flesh. "What's so fascinating in that head of yours?"

I looked up at him, taking in the moonlight that carved shadows across his sculpted chest.

"Just imagining," I replied with deliberate provocation.

His eyebrow arched. "Imagining what exactly?"

I ran my fingertips down his chest, enjoying the way his muscles tensed under my touch. "Imagining a man more devoted and skilled than you."

His face darkened, jaw clenching. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I realized I'd pushed too far and fell silent, giving him a crooked smile before leaning up to kiss him. He responded hungrily, his anger transforming into something more primal.

He lowered his head, mouth replacing fingers as he parted my thighs wider. His tongue traced deliberate patterns, alternating between broad strokes and precise flicks that made my hips buck involuntarily.


When I married the notorious Rhett Hayes, I thought I'd found my forever. Instead, I discovered I was just another conquest in his collection. For two years, I watched him charm other women while keeping me as his wife in name only, my heart breaking with each betrayal.

The day I finally placed divorce papers in his hands, something changed. His eyes—always cold and calculating—suddenly burned with an intensity I'd never seen. "You're the only one I've ever loved," he whispered, his voice raw. "Everything else was a necessary deception. There are people who would hurt you to get to me."

I didn't believe him—until the attack came. As bullets shattered our windows and masked figures stormed our home, I glimpsed the truth behind his lies. Now, trapped between deadly enemies and the man I'm no longer sure I know, I'm discovering that Rhett's dangerous world is far more complex than I imagined, and the depth of his love more profound than I dared hope.

After she watched her mom die due to negligence from the very people she had worked tirelessly for, her only goal became to watch Vincent Crost crumble.

She did not care who she had to destroy to make that happen.

"Whoa. What the…"
Standing in the door frame was the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. 
"Oh, hell no," I yelled as I yanked my robe to cover up, nearly falling off the couch in my haste, "What the hell are you doing here? Get out!"I screamed, "This is my room!"
He raised an eyebrow, smirking, "Your room? Princess, I think you're confused. This is my room."


Lily Rose, a creative and independent artist who has faced numerous challenges in life, finds herself in a predicament where she is named the sole beneficiary of the vast empire of Richard Thompson, the great billionaire, who happens to be the only uncle to Alexander Thompson.
Alexander Thompson had longed for the CEO position in his uncle's empire and was both livid and dumbfounded when he found out his uncle had chosen an unfamiliar stranger over his own nephew.
Driven by the desire to understand this unexpected decision, he embarks on a mission to find Lily.
As they confront each other, intense emotions surface and they must face their true feelings.
Will this task prove easy for them or will they find it impossible to overcome the barriers created by wealth and privilege?

James Smith disappeared for five years and suddenly returned.

In the eyes of his fiancée Evelyn Thorne, James is just a scarred drifter.

At a charity gala in New York, just as Evelyn is about to announce the annulment of her engagement to James.

Suddenly, the Four Great Consortiums of New York, along with hundreds of billionaires present, all rise to their feet and bow respectfully toward the man standing behind Evelyn.

It turns out James, his true identity is...

David, an ordinary man leading a monotonous life in a 9-to-5 job, found solace in the escapism of webnovels. His mundane existence took an unexpected turn when, engrossed in a new title, 'Martial War: An Epic Saga,' he succumbed to a sudden brain aneurysm.

To his bewilderment, David awoke in the very world he had been reading about, reincarnated into the unfolding narrative. The catch? He had only read the prologue, leaving his knowledge of the future blank. His second chance at life took a dark turn when he was sold to a shadowy organization that subjected him to abuse, molding him into a lethal assassin.

His salvation came unexpectedly when he was rescued by the novel's protagonist, earning a place as the protagonist's right-hand man. As their alliance flourished, David found himself entangled in a tumultuous life, culminating in a heroic but tragic end on the battlefield. His dying wish for peace remained unfulfilled as, contrary to his expectations, death did not bring respite.

Instead, David experienced an unnerving regression, returning to the womb. Determined to embrace a serene existence in his next life, he vowed to rest peacefully. Yet, the relentless hand of fate had other plans for him. Will he find the tranquility he seeks, or is destiny bound to disrupt his quest for rest once again? The journey unfolds as David navigates the unpredictable twists of his reincarnated existence.

She entered his court as a servant of shadow. He will rule it on a throne of blood and scale.
For years, the Vampire Lord Kaelen’s cold reign has been absolute. For Elara, a hidden dragon shifter living as a lowly maid, it is a reign that must end in ash. Her vengeance for her slaughtered clan is a fire she has carefully banked, waiting for the moment to reduce his world to cinders. That moment comes on the night of the Blood Moon Masquerade, where a single, searing encounter with a masked stranger offers the perfect path to revenge.
It was only meant to be a weapon. A way to get closer to her enemy.
But one night of forbidden passion unravels everything.
Now, Elara carries an impossible secret—a child that is both fire and blood, a living symbol of the war between their kinds. Her destiny is no longer just vengeance, but survival. When her dragon nature can no longer be concealed, Kaelen discovers the truth: the woman he cannot forget is the same one he has never truly seen, and she holds the key to his destruction… or his legacy.
A night of passion. A lifetime of consequences. A war of bloodlines.
As ancient enemies close in and the truth of the past ignites a new war, Elara and Kaelen must choose: will they cling to the hatred that defined them, or seize a throne built from the one thing that can save or damn them both—their forbidden love?

She was a witch. He was a demon. Two species that loathed, hated, and despised one another. Luana has one mission: invade the Demon King's palace and wreak enough havoc to leave nothing standing. Only then can she join the "Sisters", the highest rank a witch can attain. But fate has other plans. Captured and forced to face the Demon King himself, Luana comes face-to-face with Riccardo Castellano—a ruthless, heartless ruler. She despises him. He wants nothing to do with her kind and initially decides to kill her. But after learning from an informant that Luana is a Golden Witch—a rarity that appears only once every hundred years a witch with rare magical abilities, The Demon King changes his mind. Instead of killing her, he binds her to himself. Cursed to use her magic to aid the very kingdom she hates, Luana is devastated, humiliated, and consumed by rage. More than anything, she wants to break the binding spell and end the king's life. But surviving in a kingdom full of demons is no easy task. Will she ever be free? Will she survive in a land lurking with dark secrets and deadly truths? Find out in Shadow Bound.

After I gained the ability to read minds, my senior, who had taken care of me for years, thought: "What a shame I didn't install a camera in her bathroom..."

My senior was handsome, wealthy, and had a gentle personality. I thought I must have misheard, but the next day, I found a tiny hidden camera in my bathroom.

In a panic, the innocent junior who had been pursuing me for half a year suddenly showed up at my door.

"If she doesn't agree today, I'll just drug her. I've wasted too much time already."

My mind went blank. Trembling, I forced a smile and let him in.

I died wearing his mark. A barren wife. A discarded toy. A fool who bled for a man who fucked my sister while I suffered the pain of being called infertile.

The day I caught my Alpha buried between her thighs—his fangs marking her where mine should’ve been. And when I uncovered a secret that could destroy him, they shot me dead.

But death didn’t stick.

The Moon Goddess sent me back—dripping with fury and vengeance—to the day he proposed. Back to when I should’ve laughed in his face and walked away.

This time? I’ll play the perfect Luna. Wear his ring. Moan his name. Let him fuck me raw, thinking I’m still his.

But every kiss is poison. Every sigh, a lie. Every time he cums inside me, I’ll pretend it’s him I’m coming for. While he’s lost in the heat of my body, I’ll smile—because his empire is already crumbling in my hands.

But my revenge doesn’t end with him. There’s the rival Alpha who’s always watched me with dark, possessive eyes. The one who wants to ruin my husband as much as I do.

So I’ll offer him a deal: Use me. Let me use you. Help me break him, and I’ll let you do much more. You can touch me. Claim me. Bite me where my husband’s mark once was.

I’ll ride him in the shadows, let him growl my name while we tear my husband’s world apart.

But here’s the truth, Alpha: You think I’m yours? Darling, I’m nobody’s.

And when the final strike comes—when my husband chokes on his own blood—I’ll be the one smiling down at him. Let him die loving me. Let him die hard.

Revenge so sweet, it’s filthy.

He left without a word.

Now he’s back — holding a gun and calling himself my bodyguard.

Silas Raveen was my father’s deadliest weapon.

Cold. Precise. Untouchable.

I loved him anyway.

Three years ago, he disappeared the same night my mother was murdered.

Now I’m engaged to a man I don’t love, trapped in a family falling apart.

And Silas? He’s been assigned to protect me.

He won’t say why I’m being hunted.

He won’t talk about the past.

But every time we’re alone, the air cracks — with tension, with questions, with the kiss we never got to finish.

I hate him for leaving.

I hate him more for still making my heart race.

And I hate that I’m starting to trust him again.

Because if there’s one thing I know for sure…

The man who saved my life is the same man who destroyed it.

In 1932 Paris, "half-breed" is a slur, but "unprecedented" is a target.

Celeste Moreau spent eighteen years believing her biggest mystery was why her Fae father walked out on her. She lived a quiet life in the 6th arrondissement, watching her mother use "small magic" to keep the winter pipes from bursting. But at her mother’s wedding to a Fae aristocrat, Celeste doesn't just catch the bouquet—she shatters the ancient binding stones with a power that shouldn't exist.

Now, she’s being hauled off to L'Academie des Courants, a hidden academy in the Loire Valley for "containment". Her escort? Lucien Vael—her new stepbrother, a man so beautiful he’s a threat, and the only person in the room who didn't look surprised when she broke the world.

At the academy, everyone has a plan for her:

The Mentor: A professor whose kindness feels like a trap.

The Rival: A cousin who prefers institutional ruin over open hostility.

The Regent: A nameless power who has been waiting for a girl with Celeste's blood for a very long time.

Lucien calls her "sister" in front of the nobility, but he’s been watching her since before they were family. Celeste needs to find out what he knows before the people "invested" in her future decide she's too dangerous to have one.

The stones are already cracked. If Celeste can’t control the light in her veins, she’ll be the next thing to break.

Paris is burning. The Academy is waiting. Discover the secret of the 6th Arrondissement.

WARNING🔞: A dark, sinful mafia and psychological thriller romance.

“Touch me again, Julian, and I’ll stop holding it all in.”
Seraphina’s voice trembled, shivers of raw need coursing through her veins.
Julian’s tone dropped low, rough and dangerous.
“Then stop holding it in, little heiress. You ran once- try it again, and I’ll chain you to my bed this time.”
~

After her father’s sudden death, Seraphina’s inheritance was stolen by her stepsister, and she was cast out into the cold.
Five years later, she’s back from the brink to reclaim her empire.
But fate has bound her to Julian—the man she swore to escape. A crucial diary, the key to everything, is in his hands.
Worse yet, Julian is the man who shared her one reckless night five years ago, the father of her hidden genius child...Or was it his twin brother she fell for?
A revenge and love story, gambled on marriage, unfolds amidst family secrets and power struggles.
And what Julian demands? Her complete, unguarded sincerity.

She wore black to her wedding.
He smiled when she defied him.
And together, they sealed a marriage in blood.

Lucia Moretti was meant to be a sacrifice, a bride bartered for peace. Dante Vitale was meant to be her cage, the ruthless Don feared across Italy.

But fire doesn’t bow to steel.
And when defiance meets obsession, vows become chains, and blood becomes the price of survival.

Twenty-one-year-old Iris Kane thought she was just another college student until gunmen stormed her campus. Now she's hiding in the last place the FBI would look—the mansion of Alessandro "Alex" Torrino, heir to Chicago's most dangerous crime family. At forty-two, Alex is everything she should fear: cold, ruthless, and powerful enough to make people disappear with a phone call. But when bullets start flying and enemies close in, the man twice her age becomes her only protection. What starts as a desperate lie for survival ignites into a passion that could destroy them both. Because Iris isn't just any girl seeking shelter—she's the secret daughter of FBI Director Robert Kane, the man who's been hunting Alex's family for twenty years. In a world where love is weakness and trust gets you killed, their forbidden romance is the deadliest secret of all.

Despite coming from different social classes, Aspen and Lexa were best friends... Inseparable... until that fateful day that changed everything. When Lexa shows up out of the blue again, years later, desperate for help to save her friends and her people, and Aspen refuses. Aspen has always been a good girl who never asked too many questions, but to ease her own mind, and her old friend's, she decides to go prove herself right. However, nothing is as it seems, and it sends her spiraling on a hunt to discover a truth that has been kept from her. But choosing between her family and what's right, is hardly an easy choice, and Lexa is nothing like the girl she once knew. But to save themselves, they have to risk everything. And nothing is more terrifying than that.

How often was it that two madly successful brothers wanted to sleep with a nobody like me? They worshipped my mom-bod when my own husband couldn't.
They fought with each other to make me theirs. And all of this unleashed passion that no couple nor even a pornstar could reach - over a Christmas getaway.
Sometimes, working as a tour guide comes with its own 'troubles', I guess!


My body was on fire. The young blood, who claimed to be a singer of some sort, had his hand on the small of my back.
Sex with Raphael was anything but exciting. No foreplay, no kissing and no cuddling after boring sex.
But with this young, charming man named DYLAN, I felt excitement even before I guided him to my room. I quickly realized he was right next door - Dylan was my tour neighbor.
Dylan looked at someone and winked at them before closing the door. That was weird. But I was too dazed to realize it.
Dylan turned back to me, his piercing eyes gazing down at me. My body was tingling.
One look and I could see the man's toned body under his soft, spandex white tee. I bit my lip, accidentally directing the hormonal male's attention to my plump, pink lips.
"Are those rose petals...?" Dylan asked, biting his own lip. The sound that he made immediately after made my thighs clench. It sounded like the sexiest groan of a frustrated man!
What was that?

I didn’t have the kind of body those women by the pool flaunted, but the way he looked at me, like I was the only thing he wanted, made me forget that.
“Exquisite,” he murmured, lowering his head, and before I could even draw breath, his mouth was on my nipple; hot, wet, consuming.
A louder moan escaped me....

Carrie Summers thought meeting Gavin Manning was just a typical bar encounter, and that they wouldn't cross paths again.
However, this mysterious and charming man kept appearing in her life, even at the grand opening of the hottest new venue in town—the Privé club.
She keeps reminding herself that a romantic relationship is the last thing she needs right now, but Gavin's unwavering attention, each flirtatious encounter and passionate sexual encounter, makeing her realize that she seems unable to stay away from him.
She may not know who Gavin truly is, but she knows how he makes her feel. Passion, longing, and unleashed desire—she was uncontrollably succumbing to them...

Get ready for the steamiest erotic romance.

Lana Danley lives her peaceful life in the small town of Rosecliff where she is a senior in high school. The mundane routine of her daily life is weighing on her as she can only dream of the day she graduates and moves to the big city.
One night, during her shift as a part time forest ranger she finds an unusually large and injured wolf. She decides to help it by bringing it home to treat it’s wounds. Later that night when she goes to check on the wolf, she finds instead her classmate, River Attwood, naked and glaring daggers at her. Soon, she is pulled into the mysteries of Rosecliff and its entanglement with the creatures of the night who rule over the forest, werewolves.

Marisol Torres had known hardship her entire life, but nothing could prepare her for the night her entire family was massacred. A ruthless gang stormed into their tiny home, slaughtering her parents and siblings while she lay helpless in a pool of blood. Left for dead but miraculously surviving, she emerged from the ashes with nothing but a scarred body and a heart consumed by vengeance.

 

Desperation led her into the hands of Rafael Montoya, a powerful and enigmatic mafia lord with a reputation as lethal as his charm. At his high-end nightclub, Marisol became more than just a dancer, she became his spy, his enforcer, and eventually his confidante. But beneath her obedience, she harbored a secret: every move she made was a step toward avenging her family.

 

Her world unravels when she spots one of her family’s killers in Rafael’s inner circle, a scarred man with a sinister grin. She’s certain he’s part of the gang that destroyed her life, but why is he so deeply connected to Rafael? As she digs deeper, shocking truths emerge: her father’s death wasn’t just a random act of violence. It was part of a calculated betrayal tied to her father’s hidden double life, and Rafael’s empire.

 

When Marisol confronts Rafael, his chilling confession shatters her: “Your father betrayed me, Marisol. His choices sealed your family’s fate.”

Now, with vengeance within reach, Marisol must decide: will she destroy the man who saved her but kept her in the dark? Or will uncovering the truth about her father lead her down an even darker path?

Can Marisol forgive the man who both saved her life and shattered it? Or will the weight of her revenge pull her into the very darkness she’s trying to escape?

Five years, a hundred betrayals, and one altar too many.
When Crown Prince Dorian Ashveil abandons Mira Vayne at the altar for the last time — rushing to her stepsister Vivienne’s side instead of staying for their vows — Mira does the one thing no one sees coming. She calls the wedding off, walks away from everything she built for a man who never truly chose her, and goes home to honour the arranged binding her father set in motion years ago.
A binding that delivers her to Caelum Draveth. The Ashen Dragon. Lord of the Draveth Ranges and the most feared creature in the known realm.
Their union is sealed in ancient fire and old law. It is political and necessary. That is, until fate and a rising war decide otherwise.
Now with a prince determined to reclaim what he carelessly threw away, the shadow armies of the Vreth massing at the northern borders, and a conspiracy of treason and dark magic woven by her own blood, Mira must choose between her heart, her duty and her survival.
Some choices, once made in fire, cannot be undone.

Leo Russo, a fiery young mafia lord and alpha werewolf, rules Seattle’s underworld with a bloody fist—until his rival, Marco Vitale, Seattle’s other alpha king, ignites a war that shatters their fragile truce. A forbidden spark flares between them, erupting when an ancient blood oath binds them as mates amid betrayal and chaos. Caught in a kill-or-be-killed mafia world, Leo fights the pull toward Marco—hate clashing with desire. As Marco’s sister Gia betrays her own to seize power, and new threats claw at their empires, Leo meets Ezra, a quiet werewolf stirring his heart. Torn between love, loyalty, and vengeance, can Leo break the oath—or will he find passion and strength in his sworn enemy?

I was but eighteen when I found myself captivated by my best friend’s brother.

At twenty-one, I mustered the courage to confess my feelings. He welcomed me into his bed but never once into his heart.

For three long years, I reassured myself: "Just a little while longer. He will see me in due time."

Then Stella returned—the girl he had always yearned for, even while his hands roamed my body in the shadows.

He greeted her return with champagne and candlelight, and then, locking his gaze upon me amidst a gathering, he coldly declared:

"You crawled into my bed and offered yourself. Don't you see how cheap and pitiable you appear?"

I raised my eyes, meeting his once more.

"I shall no longer trouble you."

I retrieved my phone, navigated to a contact I had seldom engaged—my betrothed by arrangement—and typed: "I consent to the marriage."

Humans aren't supposed to survive carrying a vampire's child. The immortal blood drains you dry.

Valentine was a pureblood vampire Duke. I was just a mortal. But I was stupid enough to think love was stronger than biology.

Four years ago, I tore myself apart on the birthing bed to bring a half-blood into this world, only to wake up staring at Valentine’s back.

His late father’s favorite concubine, Cecilia, had already snatched my baby from the cradle. And my husband acquiesced to it all.

"He looks just like me," Cecilia purred, tracing my newborn's cheek. "Thank you for giving birth to my son."

Then she tossed a blood jade onto my sheets, like I was some cheap baby-making machine.

I didn't take the payoff. I grabbed the heavy stone and hurled it straight at Valentine’s face.

For four agonizing years, I fought to get my baby back. I hired mercenaries, rogues, and shadow-smugglers, bleeding myself dry to breach the Duke’s estate. Every single attempt failed.

Until tonight. A terrified servant smuggled out a whisper that stopped my heart: Cecilia had fed my son "diluted holy water"—a twisted sacrament meant to literally burn the human half out of his organs.

I didn't hire anyone this time. I tore through the gates myself. I took a guard’s spear through the shoulder and let cursed brambles shred my arms to the bone, just to drag my dying boy out of a burning greenhouse.

But when the agonizing pain of the holy water woke him, Luke looked at me with pure, unadulterated disgust.

"It’s your fault! It’s your filthy human blood!" My four-year-old son spat the words like venom. "Mother Cecilia says if we just burn out this curse, I can be the true heir! If it weren't for you, Father would have claimed me by now! I hate you!"

I froze.

When I finally spoke, my voice was a raw, inhuman scrape. "Call me Mom one last time, and I'll walk out of your life forever."

The Wedding Variation plays the music of betrayal, the strange man's violation is like a nightmare, and the black hand of the table pushes her into the deep sea. Three years later, Evelyn Ross is reborn as a goddess of vengeance and joins forces with the mysterious Finn MacLeod to unravel the conspiracy of the past. Who set up this deadly deception? Who is the mastermind hiding in the dark? Each investigation makes the truth more confusing, and her relationship with Finn MacLeod will be full of suspense in this revenge journey to where?

Give me your throne and give me your woman."

Selene Marlowe always wanted to be a princess who lived a simple life. She wasn't expecting her heart become some battleground for a High kingdom at war.

She is torn between three royal brothers: the one who loved her first, the one who would protect her, and the one who would destroy everything in his way to have her. Therefore she has to make a choice between loyalty and desire, duty and destiny.

But when it comes to the matters of royalty, people and things are ruthless as they come and this love comes with a cost.

And the crown of Valenhart demands blood!

Anya Kozlov was never meant to matter. Youngest daughter of a once proud Bratva family, she was born to be dismissed and dominated. To be weak. To be broken. Told she would be safe in an arranged marriage to lawyer Marcus Webb, her last hope for security is stolen when she catches Marcus cheating with her sister, Elena. Elena, who has always had the power and respect Anya never did.

The night the jilted daughter gets her revenge with witnesses present, everyone she loves is destroyed. Elena's marriage implodes. Marcus's career is ruined. The Kozlov empire is burned to the ground. Blamed for the tragedy, Anya is tossed out with nothing and spends years struggling for the little scraps of freedom she can cobble together, working two jobs and sleeping in alleys, while every living part of her fights just to survive.

Until the night she decides to fight back.

When armed men walk into the art gallery where she's working and she refuses to give in, it catches the attention of the last person she expects. Viktor Petrov. Heir to one of the city's most violent Bratva dynasties. Ruthless and legendary at thirty-one, he's known as "the Devil" for good reason.
But when Viktor sees the quiet fire behind Anya's fierce stare and bloody bruises, he doesn't see weak. He sees an equal. The obsession that ignites between them is instant, volatile, and deadly.

Fueled by a dark love built in blood and violence, as Viktor drags Anya deeper into his world, she uncovers a truth her family kept from her for years: she was never meant to be weak. She was meant to be dangerous.

And now, she is his queen.

I was raised with the criminal underground’s most notorious crew turned government-sanctioned mercenaries in Texas and Colorado, known as the Death Kings. My uncle is one of them known as the Gator King. Now I walk in his footsteps, leading a crew of my own with his backing. To my family, my nickname is Seraphim, but in my kingdom, I’m the Viper King. Now the boys who left me, who swore they would stay by my side to protect me, are back in town. They are attempting to become like C.H.A.O.S. who run Palomino Bay, Texas. That will not happen because Grêle, Louisiana, is my stronghold. I have the backing of my father's MC and together along with my Serpents the city is ours. The person they need to protect is themselves because it isn’t me.
…They don’t know my secret, but I know theirs…

She traded her freedom for the chance to survive.

He never imagined that the one woman capable of bringing him to his knees would also be his ticket to power. A perilous contract binds them—but what if desire proves to be more dangerous than duty?

In a world dominated by merciless vampire royalty, Scarlett never expected to be tied to the most powerful—and frigid—prince of them all. What begins as a lifeline soon becomes a dangerous game filled with seduction, betrayal, and impossible decisions.

“You think you can live without me?” Derek’s voice was low, with a suggestion of something dark, something dangerous.

I should’ve backed away. I should’ve been scared. But instead heat curled in my stomach as he slammed me against the wall and pressed up against his body against mine.

“I don’t need you,” I whispered, even as my breath stuttered when his fingers dragged a slow, torturous line down my arm.

He grinned, eyes of gold pinning to mine as if taunting me to refuse we were shared the same very air. “Liar.”

His lips crushed against mine, stealing my air, stealing my resolve. He tasted like fire and fury, like a war I was already losing. My fingers hold his shirt, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer to me.

"You are mine, Claire," he growled against my throat, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. "Whether you run or not."

But I wasn’t the same weak I once was. I had fought for my freedom. And no matter how much my body betrayed me, I wasn’t sure I was ready to give it up again.

Not even for him.

Heizel Hill is a talented and elusive chef who works her magic in the kitchen of Blue Moon, a cozy, high-end restaurant that has quickly become the talk of Manhattan. Over the past three years, she has carefully curated an intimate dining experience for her patrons, delighting them with her culinary skills. But despite the acclaim, Heizel has chosen to stay behind the scenes, not wanting the spotlight or the attention that comes with it. She’s proud of her work, but uncomfortable with her identity.

When Matthew Scott walks into Blue Moon, Heizel can’t help but notice him. Tall, striking, and undeniably handsome, Matthew is the co-owner of EES Security, a global security firm that runs multiple subsidiaries. Heizel knows exactly who he is, but she’s not prepared for the way his presence makes her feel. Despite her attempts to keep a low profile, she’s pulled into a dangerous game with Matthew—one that will lead her down a path she never saw coming.

As their connection deepens, Matthew’s pursuit of Heizel takes an unexpected turn. What started as innocent flirtation quickly escalates into a high-stakes challenge, and soon Heizel finds herself torn between the safety of her secrets and the undeniable chemistry she shares with him. But as Matthew gets closer to the truth about who she really is, Heizel begins to wonder: will he still love her when he learns the whole story? And, more importantly, will they survive the dangerous forces that are about to collide in their lives?

Shadow of Love is a story of love, secrets, and survival, exploring the vulnerability that comes with opening up to someone while navigating the perilous consequences of a past that refuses to stay hidden.

Noah is broke, exhausted, and one bad decision away from losing everything.
Accidentally binding himself to a three-hundred-year-old demon wasn’t part of the plan.

Kael is ancient, sharp-tongued, and deeply unimpressed with modern life. Being tethered to a human is inconvenient. Being unable to break the pact is worse.
But when memories begin slipping and a silent presence starts watching from the shadows their uneasy partnership turns into a fight for survival.
With a tether binding them together and trauma's cold hand on their shoulder, these two see and survive situations they rather not repeat.

This is slow-burn BL urban fantasy with psychological thriller elements, supernatural tension, and morally gray choices.

Death has never been so carefully balanced.

When a prominent banker is found dead in an apparent suicide, Detective Mira Ellison expects another routine case—until she discovers a black book hidden beneath his chair. Inside are dozens of names: politicians, judges, journalists, even police officers. Some are already dead, their endings ruled accidents or natural causes. Others are still alive… for now.

The book is titled The Shadow Ledger.

As Mira digs deeper, she realizes the ledger is more than a record—it is a prophecy, a contract, a death sentence written in advance. Each name is a debt, and someone in the shadows is making sure those debts are paid in blood.

But then Mira finds her own name inside. Not crossed out. Not yet.

Now, hunted by a faceless syndicate that calls itself The Accountant’s Circle, Mira must race to expose a conspiracy older and darker than the city itself. Every step she takes uncovers another secret, every lead another body. The deeper she goes, the clearer one truth becomes:

Some debts can never be repaid.

And some names were never meant to be read.

The shadow ledger

Fiona,a hardworking and career oriented woman, swears off love or any romantic relationship, due to a severe heart break she faced back in college. One that left her traumatized, and paranoid, which she still struggles to heal from.

She couldn’t decline a three-week Christmas reunion set by her childhood friends, which required everyone to come with their partners. Not wanting to be the only one without a partner, she convinces Nicholas, a young intern at the company she manages, to pose as her boyfriend for the reunion. Only for her to come face to face with the one person she dreaded most, the man who broke her and abandoned her years ago, now her best friend’s husband. How does she survive under the same roof for three weeks with a man who was her first love and also left her shattered?

What should have been a simple reunion for three friends and their partners turns into something darker, bearing dirty secrets.

What happens when the secrets she thought she buried at the reunion comes back to bite her, just as she starts to find love again?

They called me Specter. The King of Assassins. The deadliest blade in the Viper Syndicate's history. I never knew fear until the day my own brother in blood put a knife in my heart and threw me off a cliff.
I should have died.
Instead, I woke up in the body of Liana Vex, the discarded, illegitimate daughter of the most powerful duke in the kingdom. A girl so broken by abuse and grief that her spirit had already faded. In her final moments, she left me one desperate wish: Make them pay.
So I made a pact with a ghost. Her pain would become my fuel. Her enemies would become my prey.
Now I walk among the nobility in a body everyone calls weak. They see a fragile girl who should have died in the gutter. They don't see the killer standing in her shadow.
My former organization thinks they buried their king. They're about to learn that dead things don't always stay dead.
My new family thinks I'm a ghost they can ignore. They're about to discover that ghosts make the worst enemies.
And then there's him, the rogue mercenary with the sharp smile and sharper blade. The only person who sees through my masks. My rival. My equal. The wolf who should know better than to chase a shadow.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. I intend to serve it frozen, bloody, and with interest.
The Viper Syndicate took my life. The Vex family took Liana's. I'm going to take everything they have.
And this time? I won't miss it.

“I don't want the cops.” Thompson resumed. “I want you. You're one of the very best detectives I know,"

A wave of silence passed, causing Thompson to grab his glass and finish whatever drink was left in it. He dropped the glass and turned into his friend one more time.

“I need you to help me find out who killed my wife and took my daughter.” The words poured out of him slowly. And dangerously.

Whoever it was, he was going to sniff them out.

And he was going to make them pay.


After five years of fighting for his country on the battlefield, Thompson Holbrook finally returns home, hoping to reunite with his family. But instead of warm embraces, he is met with tragedy.

His wife has been brutally murdered, and his daughter has vanished without a trace.

Grief nearly consumes him, but before he can process his loss, he is pulled into a larger fight. A deadly terrorist group, The Calvary, is on the verge of unleashing a powerful biochemical weapon that could wipe out the entire country and destroy the continent.

To stop them, National Security Adviser Jacob Russel recruits Thompson to lead an elite black-ops unit whose sole mission is to take down The Calvary before it's too late. But the deeper they go, the deadlier the mission becomes. Corruption runs deeper than they could ever imagine, and soon, Thompson begins to question who the real enemy is.

Can he dismantle The Calvary, uncover the truth behind his wife’s murder, and rescue his daughter from the shadows before it’s too late?

In a world where magic is norm, and a place where vampires rule, being a blood virgin- someone who has never been drank from- is a coveted thing. Humans are traded as slaves, and Blood Virgins in particular are sold to the highest bidder. So what happens when the daughter of the leader of the rebellion is captured and sold to the prince of vampires? What happens when everything you thought you knew about the world proves to be wrong?

Follow Esme as she discovers herself and her new benefactor. Sometimes things are deeper than they appear on surface level. Evil comes in many forms, and learning what those might be is the key to survival in this strange new world.

When Lucian Grimwood, Alpha of the Dark Howls pack, cruelly rejected Adriana Brown as his mate in the midst of his friends and pack members, Adriana's world shattered. She watched in despair, how her mate held her step-sister, Stella in his arms and continued kissing her like nothing happened.

For Adriana, life as a powerless omega without a wolf was an unrelenting trial, as she was subjected to cruelty by her stepfamily and the pack members.

Following rejection, Adriana sought solace in a bar, only to wake up the next morning in the embrace of a stranger. Fleeing from the bar, she returned home only to be coerced by her stepmother to become a substitute bride in place of her step-sister, Stella.

Left with no option, Adriana reluctantly agreed to wed the lycan king, unaware that fate has entwined her with the stranger from the bar.

As Adriana became the wife of the lycan king, she embarked on a quest to capture the heart of the Lycan king. However, her efforts became fruitless when the lycan king's long-lost fiancée came back.

“ What would be the fate of Adriana?”

Will she be able to win back the lycan king even though his long-lost love was back?

Trapped in a world where loyalty is as dangerous as betrayal, Grace finds herself caught in the crosshairs of Elio Domenico, a ruthless mafia leader with secrets of his own. When a slap across the face of one of his soldiers sparks a power play, Grace’s life takes a sharp turn. Elio isn’t just watching her—he’s testing her. But as their fiery exchanges intensify, the line between captor and protector begins to blur. In a house full of enemies, she may have just awakened the most dangerous one of all: desire. Will she resist him, or will Elio drag her deeper into his dark, seductive world?

Became a prisoner of an Alpha werewolf because of her lover's mistake? It was something that Calais never imagined.

Keenan, an Alpha from the Shadow pack. One of the strongest packs, with thousands of members. Expressionless, cruel, arrogant, and merciless, that's Keenan. Losing a valuable figure in his life makes Keenan lose his mind, the man decides to take revenge through Calais who is the lover of his enemy.

Calais is a beautiful and innocent girl who is trapped in Keenan's revenge. Trapped forever until love emerges between the two of them.

Will Keenan be able to avenge his revenge, or will he choose to continue to love his enemy's lover?

Can a love that begins with hate last a long time?

BLURB:

After getting caught up in a divorce plot by his in laws who accused him or rape just to get his wife to divorce him, Jacob's real identity gets revealed as no one else but Jacob Grey Hennessy; the son of the country's most dangerous and wealthiest mafia lord; Grey Hennessy. Following this, Jacob is forced to return to his old life of dirty mafia business, deciets, lies and secrets. With his wife; Amber by his side, his resentful in-laws who would do anything to break him and Amber apart, his power thirsty step mother and step brothers, and Jacob's thirst to uncover the secrets behind his mother and his grandparents' death, Jacob life is barely any safe and he knows that. Would he be ending his life by venturing into the lion's death or would this be a victory for him?

Emma, abused by her Alpha father, then sold to another pack. Finds herself rescued by a kind and gentle Alpha and Luna who take her as their own. But their is something different about Emma and her wolf.
TRIGGER: child abuse is mentioned in the first part of the book. what was done, not it being done. this is important to understand Emma and Dawn her wolf.

He is a vampire. She is a witch.
He has lived for thousands of years.
She is only thirty.
But her blood is both a cure for vampirism and a deadly poison.


‎A doctor cursed to die at thirty-two enters a contract with a 1,300 year-old vampire to break the curse and rewrite her fate. She discovers she isn't who she thinks she was. She's the most powerful witch, a Dagon, and she's the weapon that could kill him.

Under the shackles of a Mafia Family, there are two or more people who open their hearts to receive it. This is love amidst thorns, guns, and shackles, this is bloodshed, this is violence, and this is war!! A cold-hearted Mafia Boss and his hot-headed psycho captive. They say as poles repel, but what if that stipulation was wrong?

A fearless female reporter is determined to expose the criminal activities of one of the most dominant Mafia families in Italy, even at the cost of her own life. Things get even more complicated when a super cop determined to put an end to the Mafia family gets involved in their bittersweet love story, creating a love triangle that leads to deaths and regrets, tears and tragedy, wins and losses… a battle for Supremacy, Power and Dominance!! Find out!!

She was born cursed and silenced. He was born cursed and destined to lose everything.

Vanessa, the mute runt of a cursed litter, has only ever known cruelty and abuse. Her voice stolen by a witch’s spell, her freedom crushed by a brutal father, she’s been promised to a monster she doesn’t want. But fate intervenes when she’s left for dead—bleeding, broken, and bound—only to be rescued by Alpha Alfred of the Shadow Pack.
Alfred, fighting against a generational curse that has doomed his brothers to remain wolves forever, never expected his fated mate to be a fragile girl on the brink of death. But the moment he breathes in her scent, everything changes.
Together, they must confront the past, survive betrayal, and uncover the true key to breaking the curses that bind them. Will their bond be strong enough to save them both?