8678 Book(s) Related to a kiss before the betrayal

My husband, Arthur, forced me to take private training sessions with his buddy Marcus, saying my body wasn’t good enough for him to really enjoy himself in bed. But on the very first day, Marcus started getting handsy with me.

“Coach, stop. I’m here to work out, not have an affair,” I bit back a moan, trying to push away the “help” he was giving me with my squats.

What I didn’t expect was for him to start rubbing his thing against my pussy.

I'm a half-blood succubus who's spent years burying my instincts under endless work.

Until the day my sister sent me a housekeeper.

He slipped on a collar without hesitation and pressed the leash into my palm.

"Master."

"I belong to you."

And just like that, everything I'd fought to suppress came roaring back.

She was hired to teach a genius. She didn't expect to tame a monster.
He’s cold, untouchable, and notoriously dangerous. She’s pragmatic, sharp, and the only person who doesn't tremble at his name.
The deal was strictly professional. But between late-night lessons and high-stakes protection, the city’s most feared predator is starting to melt. No one expected the cold-blooded King to become a man who can't let her out of his sight.
The After-Dark Reality:
“Wife...”
“You’re the King of Seattle, Clifton. What are you afraid of?”
“A nightmare. Stay with me.”

I am engaged to the cold, arrogant CEO of the Rolston empire. But the man currently pinning me to the wall, his eyes flashing with a luminous, inhuman amber? That’s his twin brother.

By day, I play the role of the dowdy, submissive corporate assistant to survive my fake engagement and appease my greedy family. By night, I shed my disguise to become "Dark Rose," the undisputed queen of the underground street racing circuit. My plan was simple: secure my inheritance, break the engagement, and run.

But I made one fatal mistake. I caught the eye of the wrong Rolston.

Neil Rolston is known to the public as the family’s useless, lazy playboy. But beneath that harmless smile lies an actual, literal predator—a feral, bloodthirsty underworld alpha who operates by the laws of the pack. He doesn’t just know my secrets. His heightened senses can smell the adrenaline in my blood. And he is entirely, psychopathically obsessed with me.

Tim demands my corporate obedience. But Neil? Neil will sabotage his brother's empire, crash million-dollar hypercars into my enemies, and stain his hands with blood just to keep me locked in his territory.

Neil Rolston never loses. And he’s decided I am his mate.

She was cursed to fall into an eternal slumber.
Then four princes arrived.
Each wanted the cursed princess as his queen, each offering her something different—a kingdom, a crown, a rose, or a promise.
But Iserine had no intention of waiting for a prince to decide her fate.
She would choose her own crown.
Even if she had to fight fate itself to claim it.

Luna has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle.
Ollie, Xen's son is neglected by his father for a very long time and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force.
When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city.
Ollie dies and Luna follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son.
Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day Sophia and Riley show up.
But this time around, Luna is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone even her mate if he steps in her way to save her son.

Isabella’s world shatters when her longtime boyfriend, Damon Sanchez, publicly proposes to her best friend. Humiliated and heartbroken, she drowns her sorrows in a bar—only to wake up on the bed of Matteo Moretti, the city’s most powerful billionaire.
Their one-night stand should have been the end of it.
But when her brother Alan's illness and Damon's vengeance leave her jobless, fate delivers Isabella straight into the jaws of her most dangerous mistake—Matteo Moretti, now her ruthless new boss.
Caught between Damon’s vindictive games and Moretti’s dangerous allure, Isabella must decide—is survival worth the cost of her heart?
Especially when Matteo’s seven-year-old son, Noah, starts calling her "Mom."

"Love doesn't hurt, Adrian. You did. I'm leaving to become someone you can't destroy. And when I return, you will learn what it means to lose everything."

Five years ago, Arabella Sterling vanished without a trace, disgraced, heartbroken, and branded her billionaire benefactor’s dirty secret.

What the world never knew was that she’d also been his wife.
Or that the man she loved—and the son she gave everything for—chose another woman over her.

Now, she’s back as The Reformer, a world-renowned business strategist celebrated for resurrecting dying empires.
Her newest client? The Sterling Group.
Her ex-husband’s empire.

Adrian Sterling has spent years trying to atone for the lies that destroyed them both.
But when Arabella walks into his boardroom, colder, sharper, untouchable...he realizes redemption may come at a cost he can’t pay.

Because this time, she’s not here to save him.

She’s here to ruin him.

Wale never expected the world he built to crumble. One drunken night with his staff, Maya, led to a scandal that forced him into a marriage he never wanted. Behind closed doors, he promised his true love, Kate, “I’ll get rid of her in a year.”
For a year, Maya tried to win Wale’s love, enduring his coldness and distance, but he remained emotionally locked away. Just as he was about to hand her divorce papers, she revealed a shocking secret—she was pregnant. Wale, torn but still set on leaving her, abandoned Maya on the day she went into labor to be with Kate. In a cruel twist, a devastating accident claimed their baby’s life.
Devastated and broken, Maya confronts Wale with a chilling finality, “Congratulations, Mr. Wale. My baby’s gone. I want a divorce. You’ve taken the last reason I had to stay.”
For the first time, Wale feels something he’s never experienced—fear. Fear of losing the woman he dismissed for so long. But now, as Maya walks away, he’s faced with the hardest question of all; is it too late to win back the woman he pushed away? And even if he tries, can Maya ever forgive him for the pain he’s caused?

Eilidh MacLeod thought she had escaped. Seven years after walking away from a cold marriage and a ruthless man, she has built a life of quiet stability with her son, Finlay.
But ghosts don’t stay buried forever. When Ruaridh MacKinnon—her powerful ex-husband—suddenly steps back into her world, her worst nightmare comes true. As the new owner of her company, he is now in control of her professional fate. And if he looks too closely, he may uncover the one secret she swore to protect.

Stacy was a brilliant and beautiful girl in her days in Hillary High School, Everyone want to be friend with her.

She is one of the hottest girl in the School. She was indeed the Queen in the Hillary High.

Her Parents were business Tycoons. So they were super dopey Rich.

They were not always home and not always available though they provided her with more than enough money.

She sometimes lack parental care and this has always sadden her, she never got the love and attention she needed. She was a genius, always taking the First position.

She had a lot of admirers, boys always trying to woo her but she declines them and hates to be pestered. But Luckily that's gonna change as a matter of time.

It was a new day in Hillary High School. This day was the day of Resumption. Stacy was now in Grade 11 {SS2}, she had done well asusal in collecting most Prices at the Price giving day Emerging as the Overall Best Student, but she is ignorant of a New Rivalry.

As Stacy been the goddess of Hillary High.

One day, came a god

His name is.

“Thriller writing at its best. Thriller enthusiasts who relish the precise execution of an international thriller, but who seek the psychological depth and believability of a protagonist who simultaneously fields professional and personal life challenges, will find this a gripping story that's hard to put down.”--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Any Means Necessary)“One of the best thrillers I have read this year. The plot is intelligent and will keep you hooked from the beginning. The author did a superb job creating a set of characters who are fully developed and very much enjoyable. I can hardly wait for the sequel.”--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Any Means Necessary)When nuclear waste is stolen by jihadists in the middle of the night from an unguarded New York City hospital, the police, in a frantic race against time, call in the FBI. Luke Stone, head of an elite, secretive, department within the FBI, is the only man they can turn to. Luke realizes right away that the terrorists’ aim is to create a dirty bomb, that they seek a high-value target, and that they will hit it within 48 hours.A cat and mouse chase follows, pitting the world’s most savvy government agents versus its most sophisticated terrorists. As Agent Stone peels back layer after layer, he soon realizes he is up against a vast conspiracy, and that the target is even more high value than he could have imagined—leading all the way to the President of the United States. With Luke framed for the crime, his team threatened and his own family in danger, the stakes could not be higher. But as a former special forces commando, Luke has been in tough positions before, and he will not give up until he finds a way to stop them—using any means necessary.Twist follows twist as one man finds himself up against an army of obstacles and conspiracies, pushing even the limits of what he can handle, and culminating in a shocking climax.A political thriller with heart-pounding action, dramatic international settings, and non-stop suspense, ANY MEANS NECESSARY marks the debut of an explosive new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.Book #2 in the Luke Stone series is also now available!

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. 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) IF SHE KNEW (A Kate Wise Mystery) is book #1 in a new psychological thriller series by bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. 55 year old empty nester—and freshly retired FBI agent—Kate Wise finds herself drawn out of her quiet suburban life when her friend’s daughter is murdered in a home invasion—and she is implored to help.Kate thought she left the FBI behind after 30 years as their top agent, respected for her brilliant mind, tough street skills and her uncanny ability to hunt down serial killers. Yet Kate, bored with the quiet town, at a crossroads in life, is summoned by a friend she can’t turn down.As Kate hunts the killer, she soon finds herself at the forefront of a manhunt, as more bodies turn up—all suburban moms in perfect marriages—and it becomes apparent there is a serial killer stalking this quiet town. She unearths secrets from her neighbors she wishes she never knew, discovering that all is not what it seems in this picture of model streets and neighbors. Affairs and lying are rampant, and Kate must sift through the town’s underbelly if she will stop the killer from striking again.But this killer is one step ahead of her, and it may end up being Kate who is in danger.An action-packed thriller with heart-pounding suspense, IF SHE KNEW is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #2 in the KATE WISE MYSTERY series is coming soon!

Luna Chen wanted a quiet life. Instead, she got a 1940s architect in a tailored suit who appeared in her bedroom at 3 a.m. and calmly announced:

“You’re my wife now.”

Rhen Blackwood has been trapped in her grandmother’s apartment for eighty years, bound by a supernatural contract.

The final condition? Fall in love for real… or the Spirit Broker drags his soul into eternal nothingness.

Luna doesn’t believe in ghosts. She definitely doesn’t believe in love. But Ren is infuriatingly perceptive, dryly funny, and the only person who sees straight through her walls.

As the deadline closes in, the lines between annoyance and aching want begin to blur. Lights flicker. Secrets surface.

And every time Ren’s form starts to fade, Luna realizes she might lose the one man who finally makes her feel alive.

She was supposed to fix his unfinished business.
She never expected him to become hers.

A slow-burn paranormal romance full of dark humor, haunted hearts, and one very stubborn ghost who refuses to stay dead.

Woke up with the power to command endless zombies. I guarded the fortress for my sister, only to find her tortured, drained of blood, and used as live bait. A fake hologram fooled me for two years. Now I unleash my million undead army to burn all traitors to ashes.

To win a smile from my icy wife, I stood for four hours in a London blizzard, only to be greeted by her returning hand-in-hand with her childhood sweetheart, who had just returned from abroad.

For three years of marriage, I had concealed all my sharp edges, solely to warm her heart.
Until company secrets were leaked, and she unquestioningly believed her childhood sweetheart's framing, locking me, who suffered from severe claustrophobia, in a dark, abandoned wine cellar for a full forty-eight hours.

Watching her arrogantly slam the "Clean Break Agreement" onto my bleeding face, I smiled.
The moment I signed my name, the humble Arthur who loved her died utterly in the abyss.

That night, my yacht ran aground and exploded.
And the first heir of the Vance conglomerate, missing for three years, officially took control of the global technology lifeline.

Six months later, betrayed and facing bankruptcy, she clung to my trousers like a dead dog on the red carpet of a top-tier banquet, weeping and begging me to start over.
I was arm in arm with a true socialite, and I didn't even lift an eyelid as I looked at the woman covered in mud on the floor:
"Security, throw this crazy woman who's dirtied the carpet away. Don't spoil my fun."

For four years, I tolerated Grayson’s blatant favoritism. He spoiled my roommate Mia with exquisite breakfasts every day, while leaving me with plain biscuits and bitter black coffee. I swallowed every unfair slight, hoping for true love. Yet he finally humiliated me thoroughly by choosing Mia over me for the elite corporate event, sneering that I was unworthy of high society. Hiding my identity as the university’s secret heiress, I stopped my father from ruining his career on impulse. I will let them attend the glamorous party—not out of mercy, but to deliver my quiet, devastating revenge. Now I only need time to decide my next move, and whether to accept my arranged engagement.

In my previous life, I ran a barbecue restaurant to support my family for ten years, but my parents secretly sold the restaurant to a gang because of my younger brother's vanity in wanting him to study abroad.
An hour later, the apocalypse began, and my little shop became a god-level safe house—
Those with superpowers who enter the store have their abilities automatically copied to the store owner; the store is absolutely safe; the store owner decides who enters and who leaves.
My family ruined my amazing little shop, and they scolded me, saying, "Who told you to be unable to keep the shop?"
I was heartbroken and torn to pieces in the mouth of a zombie.
In this life, I was reborn back to an hour before the shop was taken away.
I must protect my shop!
As for those so-called family members—let them fend for themselves in the apocalypse!

I thought I'd signed up for an immersive dating show.

Turns out it was a 99.9% death rate, globally livestreamed horror game.

And me? Half-blind without my contacts, desperate to go viral, I somehow talk my way through a death game like it's a romance.

I mistook blood for ketchup, human eyeballs for sashimi, a murderous child ghost for a kid who just needed some love.

Worst part? I fell for the guy running the place, the one who could kill you without blinking, and tried to get his number within the hour.

My teammate hissed at me, shaking. "You wanna die, fine, just don't take us with you!"

I just waved him off. It's a dating show. Relax.

I pursued Kaelzen, Alpha of the Frostfang Tribe, for four years and was about to marry him, only to expose his deception shortly before the wedding. A serious head injury erased all my memories of him. My family arranged a new marriage with the Duskthorn Tribe heir, and I agreed, planning to leave once the Ash Gate opens in seven days. Unaware of my memory loss, Kaelzen still treats me arrogantly, yet he is just a stranger to me now.

Three years since I married into the Hawthorne family, I had already lost two children.
And the one who decided whether my babies lived or died wasn't a doctor—it was a potted plant in the manor's living room: the Crimson Orchid.
In this family, if the petals withered and reeked after drinking the pregnancy blood, it was an unbreakable rule: the child had to go.
The first two times, all I could do was lose my children in despair under the anesthetic mask at some underground clinic.
To save my third pregnancy, I secretly went to a top medical center out of state for an amniocentesis.
The diagnosis, there in black and white, proved it: my baby was perfectly healthy and carried the purest family bloodline.
I thought I was safe this time. But when my finger blood dripped into the black soil again, the orchid once more oozed foul-smelling black water.
My in-laws crushed my medical report underfoot without mercy and had their people drag me toward the operating table.
I couldn't understand it: the scientific evidence clearly confirmed my child was healthy and pure-blooded.
Why did they insist on trusting a mutated, stinking flower and killing their own grandchildren over and over again?

The extreme cold apocalypse descended, with global temperatures plummeting to minus 70 degrees Celsius. Cities were reduced to frozen wastelands overrun by frozen corpses.

On the eve of the crisis, I awakened the Berserk Zombie Horde System. Facing exploitation from a ruthless agency and betrayal by my gold-digging girlfriend, I directly used a system backdoor to hack into the agency's accounts, siphoning a massive 7 million dollars!

I purchased heavy-duty generators, hoarded hundreds of tons of supplies, and transformed an abandoned mine into an underground steel fortress with fully automated climate control.

The apocalypse arrived exactly on schedule, plunging the entire city into a total blackout. While my enemies turned purple from the cold, kneeling outside my blast doors and begging for mercy, I sat in my 25-degree Celsius climate-controlled room, sipping whiskey. With a casual flick of a switch, I activated the traps, sending them out to feed the monsters in the blizzard.

In this white wasteland, I am the only rule!

To end two years of a long-distance marriage with my husband, Sutton Brennan, I quit my job and moved halfway across the state to join his top-tier medical center.
But from the moment I clocked in on day one, a nightmare awaited me.
IV pain pumps violently popped open in my hands, medication cabinets rejected my fingerprints, coffee machines sprayed me with boiling water, microwaves exploded in public, and the employee lockers locked me out entirely.
My colleagues laughed at me, calling me a walking disaster. The head nurse publicly berated me for being incompetent. And my husband, the man I trusted most, simply smiled his gentle smile and said, "You're just tense. Give it a few more days."
In my past life, I believed him. I gritted my teeth and held on until the bitter end—and ultimately died inside this very hospital.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on my first day of work.

She begged her mother for $50,000 to save her daughter's life.
Her mother had it—but chose to spend $300,000 on her younger sister's wedding instead.
That was the day Evelyn walked out. No more pleading. No more coming back.
Her husband sold his father's last heirloom. Their neighbors emptied their wallets. They saved her daughter and left for a new life.
A year later, her mother's money was gone. The fraud was exposed. The mansion was seized. The calls started coming—calls begging for help, for money, for forgiveness.
Evelyn listened, then hung up.
She is not going back. Not for guilt, not for blood. The family that let her daughter die does not get to ask her for anything.

She never wanted to be a Breeder--but her parents sold her anyway.

The Alpha King is looking for an heir in the most unorthodox way. Whoever can impregnate the Breeder first will get to be king, which means Rose finds herself in a castle where she must submit to four men or disappoint her entire pack. Though she's nervous at first, it's easier than she would've thought once she meets the four Alphas.
Mark is intelligent.
Eli is sweet.
Reece is debonair.
And Tristan is a horny goofball.
Rose wants to stay with all four Alphas forever, and they seem to love her, too. But things aren't always what they seem, especially when the king's cousin, Emily, announces she will be the next Luna.
Will Rose and her men have a chance at true love?

"Stay with me, Luna. Please. I can't lose you both."
Her eyes were on mine and I could see the resolution and gratefulness in her eyes despite the pain.
"You never deserved us. We were too good for you. If I had another chance," she whispered slowly pausing to breathe, "I would never stay with you. I would save my son from your indifference. I would spare us both the pain of loving someone who never loved us back."
"I did love you," I insisted, tears rolling down my face. "I do love Ollie. Please, Luna."
"Next time," she promised, a smile on her lips and tears running down freely her side of her eyes, "we'll be free."


Luna has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle.
Ollie, Xen's son, is neglected by his father for a very long time, and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force.
When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia, and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city.
Ollie dies, and Luna follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands, cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son.
Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day, Sophia and Riley show up.
But this time around, Luna is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone, even her mate, if he steps in her way to save her son.

Blood pooled beneath Eloise's head just moments after she discovered the truth about her husband. The man she built her world around wanted nothing more than to destroy her. He stole everything, her company, her pride, her future, and left her to die. But as the darkness closed in on her, fate offered a second chance.

**

Now she is back, with bloodstained memories and a thirst for revenge. Desperate and broken, she made a deal with the devil, a man powerful enough to hand her the weapons.

But his help comes at a price.

To be owned by him. For four months. A strict deal with no strings or feelings attached. But nothing about him is simple. He's infuriating, intoxicating, and every second with him chips away at her control.

What starts as business quickly spirals into a dangerous game of possession, secrets, and desire. And when hearts get involved, the real cost becomes something more than she bargained for.

He’s the last man she should trust… and the only one who makes her lose control.

"Love doesn't hurt, Adrian. You did. I'm leaving to become someone you can't destroy. And when I return, you will learn what it means to lose everything."
Five years ago, Arabella Sterling disappeared without a trace, carrying disgrace, heartbreak, and the label of a billionaire's hidden scandal. What no one knew was that she was also his wife. The woman he once claimed to love. The one he abandoned when it mattered most.
Now she is back.
No longer the fragile woman he betrayed, Arabella has reinvented herself as The Reformer, a world-renowned business strategist known for reviving collapsing empires. Powerful, untouchable, and unstoppable.
Her next target is The Sterling Group. His empire.
Adrian Sterling has spent years trying to bury his past mistakes, but nothing prepares him for the moment Arabella walks into his boardroom. Colder. Stronger. Completely out of reach.
He wants redemption. She wants revenge.
Because this time, Arabella is not here to save him.
She is here to make him lose everything.

AN AGE GAP, FORCED PROXIMITY, BLACK FLAG ROMANCE

Vincenzo Valentini is a man who sees the world as a business counter and human beings as merchandise.

The owner of an empire built upon corpses and submission, he is the reflection of pure perversity.

When fate places Andrew Thompson, the son of his greatest rival, into his hands, the plan was simple: use him, break him, and discard him like a toy that has lost its appeal.

What Vincenzo did not expect was that, beneath the youthful skin and the appearance of innocence, Andrew hid the same abyss as he did.

Vincenzo never wanted redemption. He never wanted someone to save him from his own darkness. He was seeking a mirror. And in Andrew, he found the partner who, upon seeing his blood-stained hands, does not recoil in terror, but trembles with desire.

In this perverse game, the "little toy" proves to be the perfect executioner. The mafia leader found someone who not only accepts his cruel side but cultivates it, feeding the monster Vincenzo has always been.

Where there should have been fear, lust emerged. Where there should have been hatred, a perverse loyalty was born. Andrew Thompson is the dark reflection of Vincenzo, the soldier the underworld did not see coming, and the man who proved that, for some, paradise only makes sense if it is in the middle of chaos.

Vincenzo opened the doors to his empire, but Andrew was the only one capable of invading his heart.

They are not heroes. They are hell on earth.

Five years ago, Elena overheard the ambiguous whispers between her husband Arthur and his first love. In that split second, all her love for him crumbled to dust. She left the country with her pregnant belly, vowing never to have any connection with this man again.​
Five years later, Elena returns to her home country with her twins Liam and Luna—now a world-renowned top doctor. Unexpectedly, she finds herself entangled with Arthur once more. His eyes reddening with emotion, he grabs her abruptly and pleads, "Elena, I was truly wrong. This time, I will never let you get hurt again."

"Marry me," my billionaire CEO demanded, trapping me in his office, completely unaware that my father was the man who murdered his parents.

I stared at John Alexander Blackwood, a man who evaluated people like stock options. He was cold, calculated, and terrifying. "A contract marriage," he said with dead eyes. "Three years. In exchange, your family's financial ruin disappears." I should have screamed no and ran out of that top-floor office. But I signed the papers, binding myself to a man I barely knew.

Moving into his sterile, expensive penthouse felt like walking into a beautiful prison. We lived like ghosts, avoiding each other in the hallways. But the ice between us started to crack. Late-night encounters in the kitchen turned into shared whiskey, and his dark, calculating eyes began tracking my every move with a burning intensity. Behind his cold armor, I found a broken man still grieving the parents he lost in a tragic car crash twenty-six years ago. I was falling for him. Hard.

But then, the anonymous envelope arrived.

My hands shook as I tore open the seal, staring at the faded contract inside. Fifty thousand dollars. That’s what my father was paid to sabotage the brakes on the Blackwood family car. The crash wasn't an accident. It was a cold-blooded assassination ordered by John's own grandfather, and my father pulled the trigger.

I was sleeping under the same roof as the man whose life my family had destroyed. If John found out, he wouldn't just divorce me—he would obliterate me.

Was I my father's daughter enough to pack my bags and run, or was I reckless enough to stay and let the truth burn us both to ashes?

Catherina Hanshaw Dalton has spent six years believing she lived a fairytale, married to billionaire Xavier Dalton, cherished by him, and building a life rooted in devotion, even amid one heartbreak she cannot control: their inability to have a child. Though Xavier assures her she is enough, Catherine senses his quiet disappointment, a wound deepened by the venomous hostility of his mother, Lydia Dalton. Lydia never misses a chance to insult Catherine’s infertility, idolize Xavier’s sister Mia and her children, or imply Xavier married beneath his status. Catherine endures it all, clinging to the one constant comfort, Xavier always defends her. Or so she believes.
This Christmas, however, Catherine’s dread of another humiliating Dalton family gathering turns into confusion. Lydia is gracious….kind, even. The manor is full of relatives, business partners, and esteemed guests, including Hunter Powell, Xavier’s ruthless business rival. The brief moment when Cathy’s eyes meet Hunter unsettles her, but nothing prepares her for Lydia’s “special Christmas gift.”
During the toast, Lydia presents Caroline Turner…a beautiful young woman who is allegedly four months pregnant through surrogacy…with Xavier’s child.

“A MASTERPIECE OF THRILLER AND MYSTERY. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. 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) FACE OF DEATH is book #1 in a new FBI thriller series by USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. FBI Special Agent Zoe Prime suffers from a rare condition which also gives her a unique talent—she views the world through a lens of numbers. The numbers torment her, make her unable to relate to people, and give her a failed romantic life—yet they also allow her to see patterns that no other FBI agent can see. Zoe keeps her condition a secret, ashamed, in fear her colleagues may find out.Yet when a serial killer strikes across the Midwest, strangling women in remote places and seemingly at random, Zoe, for the first time, is stumped. Is there a pattern? Can there be no pattern at all? Or is this killer as obsessed with numbers as she is?In a mad race against time, Zoe must enter the diabolical mind of a killer who always seems to be one step ahead of her, and stop him from claiming his next victim before it’s too late. At the same time, she must keep at bay her own demons, which may ultimately prove to be even more threatening.An action-packed thriller with heart-pounding suspense, FACE OF DEATH is book #1 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Books #2 and #3 in the series—FACE OF MURDER and FACE OF FEAR—are also available for pre-order.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. 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) HOMECOMING (A Chloe Fine Mystery) is book #5 in a new psychological suspense series by bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has over 1,000 five-star reviews. When two husbands, best friends, turn up dead in a wealthy suburban town, FBI VICAP Special Agent Chloe Fine, 27, is called in to unmask the lies in this small town and to find the killer. Chloe will have to penetrate this town’s perfect façade, to get past its public appearances to understand the truth of who these men were, and who may have wanted them dead. And in a town that thrives on its exclusivity, that won’t be easy to do.What secrets were these husbands hiding?An emotionally wrought psychological suspense with layered characters, small-town ambiance and heart-pounding suspense, HOMECOMING is book #5 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #6 in the Chloe Fine series will also be available soon.

A year after losing her father, Hailey moves with her mother, Camille, to the small town of Ashton Hollow, a place where everyone knows everyone, rumors travel faster than truth, and the boys’ basketball team is the closest thing the town has to royalty. Hailey isn’t running toward a new life. She’s running from an old one. But basketball, the one thing her father gave her, refuses to let her go, and neither does the past she thought she’d left behind.
Determined to disappear until graduation, Hailey joins the boys’ basketball team and finds herself facing Tristan Hale, her childhood bully and the town’s golden basketball star. Their rivalry is explosive, but beneath Tristan’s arrogance lies a boy haunted by a brutal past of his own. As competition turns into trust and trust into a dangerous romance, Hailey finally begins to feel at home.
Then a student is attacked, and all evidence points directly at Hailey.
Suspended, isolated, and fighting to clear her name, Hailey uncovers secrets surrounding her new family, Tristan’s past, and the charming stepfather her mother trusts. Someone has been manipulating events from the shadow, and Hailey may be the final obstacle standing between them and everything they want.
With her future, family, love, and basketball career at stake, Hailey must discover who is behind the lies before the next move costs her everything.

Seraphina Lancaster believed she was living a life that many women could only dream about. She believed she had married the man she loved, and built a successful future alongside him.

Damien Roth had saved her life at a crucial moment, and she did everything she could to support him and his business.

But what happens when her whole world comes crashing down with one painful truth?

On their sixth wedding anniversary, while preparing a gift for her beloved husband, she discovered that their wedding certificate was fake, and everyone she held dear had been deceiving her from the very beginning.
What she believed was a beautiful marriage was nothing but a calculated betrayal orchestrated by Damien, her best friend Camilla, and the Roth family—people who watched her sacrifice everything while quietly stealing the life she built.
Seraphina was beyond heartbroken, but she wouldn’t let her pain define her. Instead, it awakens something far more dangerous.

The burning desire to make them kneel at her feet.

Then comes Cassian Blackthorne.
A billionaire with his own scars, and a man the world calls cold and untouchable. But to Seraphina, he was her ticket to the ultimate revenge.
As Damien’s biggest rival, she offers him a proposal too sweet to ignore, one that pulls them both into a game neither of them can afford to lose.
Will Seraphina get everything that was stolen from her? Or will she find herself trapped between destruction and desire?

My name is Marlow Kane. I’m an orphan. I grew up in a lab—daily injections, pills, training—until I escaped and learned how to pass as “normal.”

No one knows what I used to be.

To my classmates, I’m the quiet nobody—the guy you forget is even there.

Then graduation trip hit. The boat went down, and I dragged seven classmates onto a deserted island.

At dawn I scouted the treeline and found a corpse—its wounds looked like someone had chewed the flesh right off.

I warned them not to go inland, not to wander. The school bully laughed in my face, said I was making up ghost stories because I wanted to play leader.

That night no one took watch. Everyone slept shoulder-to-shoulder by the fire—except me.

After midnight, one of us started shivering, shaking uncontrollably… then snapped upright and launched at the person next to her, teeth first.

The bully stumbled back. I was the only one who moved. I rushed in and drove a knife straight into her skull.

Firelight washed over her gray skin and bloodshot eyes. No one laughed anymore.

Blake sat in the sand staring at me, lips trembling, unable to say a word.

At my boss's mother's funeral, I couldn't hold back my laughter, and as a result, I was treated as a lunatic, stuffed into a garbage cannon, and launched naked into an apocalyptic forest full of zombies. Everyone thought I was doomed, but they didn't know—I had been reborn 1,001 times. Unarmed and surrounded by the zombie horde, about to be torn to shreds, in desperation I clung to the last clue... When I finally uncovered the truth that could overturn everything, I laughed from the bottom of my heart. This time, I would personally end this greatest lie.

I bought a handsome, aloof incubus from a clearance sale online to be my live-in maid.
For a week, he was perfect. Then he started fainting, his skin burning with a fever no amount of rest could fix. Panicked that I’d somehow overworked my best employee, I called the 24/7 Aphrodisiac (companyI bought him from) helpline.

Ma’am, our incubus models have a demonic lineage and you have got a high-output model. They have near-infinite stamina. They don't get 'feverish' from vacuuming. But... why did you have him doing 'housework'?"
"Because the house was dirty?"
The agent suddenly chuckled. "Ah, I see. Everyone has their own fantasies and kinks. Roleplay is very popular. But tell me, according to the log, when was the last time Xanthos received physical intimacy?"
"Huh?"
"Physical intimacy," the agent repeated. "Love, spoiling, skin-to-skin contact. If a male incubus doesn't get intimacy, his internal energy stagnates. They fall sick. Male models are much higher maintenance than females; they need constant affection to stay healthy."
My blood ran cold. "Affection? I bought him to mop the floors!"
"Ma'am," the agent's voice dropped. "You are on Aphrodisiac. We are the world's leading provider of supernatural escorts. Did you... did you not read the site description?"

Turns out, I hadn’t bought a demonic domestic servant.
I’d accidentally purchased a high-maintenance supernatural escort.
And apparently, if I didn’t start showing my “maid” some affection soon, he would die and I would be jailed for abusing my maid.

My mother-in-law was a spoiled and soft woman.
Fifty years old and she couldn't book a rideshare. Couldn't pick up a package. When the breaker tripped, she cried into a video call to her husband and her son.
The whole family agreed on it. Her only skills were clinging and being adorable.
Then I bled at nine weeks and took myself to the ER.
The OB who picked up my chart was my husband's best female friend. Sable.
She saw me, photographed my chart into their med-school group chat, and hit record.
"Come look, everybody. Dog's wife. Pregnant five minutes and already bleeding from bed."
"Twenty-eight and she's already a geriatric pregnancy. You've got to pace yourself, honey."
The whole room laughed and looked at my stomach.
My face burned white. My nails went numb in my palm.
Thirty minutes later the door hit the wall.
My mother-in-law, the woman who covered her ears in her husband's arms over a tripped fuse, walked in on four-inch heels.
Behind her: hospital administration, the compliance office, and the sitting Chief of Obstetrics.
She pulled the chart out of my hand without lifting her eyes.
"Twenty-eight is advanced maternal age? Normal physiologic fluid, and you called it too much sex?"
"Dr. Smith, is your mouth that filthy because your brain's been marinating in locker-room jokes, or did your ethics get eaten by a dog?"

The world knew my grandfather as Professor Guo Zhenghua—a man who spent fifty years lecturing about justice.
They knew his wife as Lin Wanyu, a celebrated artist admired for her integrity.
Both reputations were built on a stolen identity.
The real Lin Wanyu was my grandmother.
She died in a mountain village with no legal name, no recognized grave, and her eyes still open.
When their grandson demanded a place at my law firm, I gave him the answer no one had ever dared give his family.
“No.”
By morning, they had taken my job.
By noon, I was ready to take everything else.

He rejected me at the altar and called it mercy.
He lied.
Alpha Roland discarded me like I hadn't bled for his pack for three years. But he made one mistake. He didn't know what I was carrying when he exiled me.
Now I'm inside the territory of Kael, the Cursed King, a monster every pack fears. He says he wants my power. I think he wants something else entirely.
Roland wants me dead. Kael wants me caged. And my secret? It could destroy them both.

I’m in love with my sworn enemy.
My touch tames his inner beast.
… Until I find another woman’s bite mark on his neck.

As a holy witch, I shouldn't be sneaking out for Zuri—a cursed shape-shifter from a rival clan.
But our forbidden heat is intoxicating.
When his monstrous Primal breaks free, slaughtering everything in its path, even his fiercest warriors cower.
I don't.
I walk straight to the blood-soaked beast, press my body against his, and tame him with a single, desperate embrace.

There’s just one problem: his clan betrothed him to a Shaman’s daughter.

I tell myself it's purely political. I tell myself his heart is mine.
Until tonight.
He sneaks into the woods for me. We share a deep, hungry kiss under the moonlight.
But as I pull back, my blood runs cold.
Right there, on the neck of the man I just risked my soul to save...
Is a fresh, undeniable bite mark.

"I don’t love you," I murmured.
He set his wine aside and stood up. Slowly, he closed the distance between us, gently touching my chin with his fingertips. His gaze lingered on my lips before locking with my eyes.
"I don’t love you either, Princess, and I have no intention to."
He said these words with complete coldness and sat back down, which enraged me.
"Then why fight in a tournament for my hand? Is it just because I’m a princess?" I shot back.
"You are a Lancaster Princess, and I need a worthy heir."
"I hope my womb stays as dry as the desert sands, Commander."
He stared at me, and I caught a flicker of rage in his dark eyes, but he quickly hid it, replacing it with his cynical smile.
"In that case, we would have to try many times, my dear, until your womb is no longer so dry. I’d try for the rest of my life, even," he replied maliciously.

In a tournament for Princess Helena Lancaster’s hand, she finds her fate intertwined with John Chase, a fearsome commander and warrior. With a peculiar personality, he was everything she despised—possessive, audacious, authoritative, and overwhelmingly dominant. And he was the one most likely to win the tournament for her hand.
But John Chase was much more than just the commander of Crow Isle. He harbored a dark secret that would change her life forever.
An island full of mysterious men with their own secrets and conflicts, and she was destined to become their lady. Soon, Helena would discover that a great danger lurks on the island. Could she trust her husband to protect her?

He was an ex-convict. A beggar. The man her family was ashamed of.

But when they came for his daughter, generals took his calls. Billionaires begged for mercy. And private armies ran.

Sarah Quinn married a nobody.

She had no idea who she actually married.

"Lucien. Do you accept this St... sorry." The elder quickly apologized for his drunken slip up, "This 'woman' " his disdainful gaze darted towards Aria as he said that, "as your mate?"
"I, Lucien Vine, once alpha of this great Clawhold, take this...Woman." He started his vow, his pause deliberate as he glanced at Aria, "To be the Luna of my house. I vow no love, no care. Just duty and nothing else."
"And you, Aria Thorne?" he drawled, his speech coming out slurred, "Do you accept – "
"I do." Aria replied quickly. Too quickly.
Aria Thorne was born into a pack that treated her like dirt beneath their paws. Born as a StillBlood, she was mocked, beaten, and branded "broken."
Her only chance at escape? A forced marriage to a fallen Alpha whose scars ran deeper than flesh.
Lucien Vine was once a man of legend. A ruthless warrior. A king among Alphas. Now he's a shadow, crippled and discarded by the very pack he once led and bled for.
Lucien saw nothing but another chain when the new alpha forced him to wed a StillBlood. She was nothing more than one more curse.
However, fate has a perverse sense of humor. Because the Broken Luna possesses a hidden ability that she is unaware of, and the only person who might be able to awaken it is the Crippled Alpha.
Will they ruin one another? Or rise together and set the world on fire?

"I don’t bow to Kings. Especially not spoiled ones like you."
​At Northview High, Liam Vance is a god. As the star hockey captain and heir to a billionaire empire, he rules the hallways with an iron fist and a charming smirk. He’s never met a person he couldn't buy or a rule he couldn't break—until he meets Elena.
​Elena Vance is the "Scholarship Ghost." She lives in the shadows, working night shifts and studying until her eyes ache just to keep her future alive. When her family is evicted, she is forced into a deal that feels like a prison sentence: move into the guest cottage on the Vance estate and tutor the arrogant boy who once splashed her with his Porsche.
​Liam and his elite circle of friends want her gone. They think she’s a "charity case" they can humiliate for fun. They ruin her belongings and try to crush her spirit, but Elena doesn't flinch. She knows something Liam doesn't: without her, he loses his spot on the team and his father’s respect.
​Trapped in the same territory, the war begins. He tries to break her with wealth and status; she fights back with intelligence and ice-cold discipline. But as the late-night study sessions blur into something more, they both realize that the person they hate the most might be the only one who actually understands them.
​In a world where status is everything, can a girl who has nothing win the heart of the boy who has it all?

Echo never asked to be powerful. She never asked to be hunted. And she definitely never asked to be tethered to Nicholaus—the cold, controlled, terrifyingly gentle heir to a cursed vampire throne. But the day she unleashes her full elemental magic, the tether between them ignites… and so does everything fate has been waiting for.

An ancient seer reveals the truth witches have killed to hide:

“The last king was cursed for failing to love a witch.
Now the new king must love completely for the curse to break.
The lock shatters when the Last Elementi accepts her fate…
And binds, marks, and mates her king.”

Echo is the key.
Nicholaus is the lock.
And the witches would rather drag the world into darkness than let the prophecy unfold.
Now Echo must choose who she becomes—a weapon, a queen, or the girl who finally stops running.
But some truths cut deeper than any spell. Especially when Nicholaus holds her trembling body against his and whispers:

“If the cost of breaking the curse is your life…then I choose the curse.”
Nothing prepared her for the way he looks at her. And nothing can stop what’s coming.
Fate is awakening and so is she.

My body pressed against Raymond's, my kisses stretching from his lips to his chin and throat.

He suddenly rolled over and pinned me underneath him, gripping my chin tightly. "You asked for it!" He growled, grabbing my lips and kissing me furiously.

I let out a playful whistle and trailed my fingers down his chest before deftly undoing his belt.

Raymond's breath was coming in quicker and quicker, his eyes locked on mine. "Damn it, Amelia, I'm going to fuck you"

But I wasn't there to fuck, I was there to torture him. As he lunged at me, I quickly flipped him over and handcuffed him to the table. "Sorry, tonight is my time, not yours."
After that night of madness, I fled in a panic. Five years later, I returned with our child

After Raymond found out about my transgressions, I was convinced I wouldn't live to see the next dawn.

I distanced myself from him, feared him, even considered hurting him.

To my surprise, the aloof heir to the Adams family clasped my hand and pleaded, "Honey, when are you gonna fuck me again?"

In a world where shapeshifters live under rigid hierarchies, Maya learned early on to hide. Among a race considered inferior, she camouflages her true identity: a wolf descended from a powerful and ancient lineage. To protect herself, she maintains the lie that she cannot transform—a trick that keeps her away from prying eyes, but also isolates her from who she truly is.

Everything begins to spiral out of control when Conrad, the alpha king, arrives in her region. Cold, imposing, and respected, he is there to investigate a series of events linked to black magic—something that threatens to destabilize the fragile balance between the races. Upon meeting Maya, he immediately recognizes the rare and profound bond between souls linked by destiny: she is his mate. But Maya doesn't want to be found, nor claimed. Maya fears what Conrad will see when he truly looks at her.

With the dark threat intensifying and her past beginning to surface, Maya finds herself trapped between the instinct to flee and the need to protect herself. Conrad, torn between his duty as king and the bond that ties him to Maya, will have to decide whether to trust a woman who hides more than she reveals.

Because when the truth comes to light, nothing will be the same—and not everyone will survive what is to come.