Best City Stories & Novels Collection

After six years of marriage, Celia's name appeared only on a confidentiality agreement.
On the night of their anniversary, through the glass she saw her husband Arthur, their daughter Léonie, and Diana—the socialite with "only five months left"—dining together. She asked for a divorce, and got only one sentence in return: "Play your part as Mrs. Winston."
Every step after that was hard: her accoun...

My attempts to marry Ethan Ward had been derailed exactly seven times.
The first time, Peyton threw him a "surprise" party, and he was too hungover to make our City Hall appointment. 
The second time, she got into a minor fender bender and hysterically convinced him her neck was broken. He rode with her in the ambulance. 
The third time, right as we were signing the papers, she swallowed a bottle ...

For seven years, Elena Voss believed the boy she raised was her own — and that a loveless marriage was simply the price of motherhood.

She was wrong. Her real son didn't die at birth. He was taken, swapped for another woman's child, and now his blood is the only thing keeping the boy who replaced him alive.

When Elena demands the truth, her husband's family doesn't deny it. They silence her — a ...

When Detective Grace Beckett went undercover to investigate Javier Cruz, the feared crime boss of Del Sol City, by befriending his daughter, she expected a strict, by the book mission. What she didn't expect was to become actual friends with said crime boss' daughter...and then proceeding to fall for the very man she swore to put behind bars.

Grace has reason to believe Javier Cruz murdered her ...

I was Russia’s unstoppable champion, untouchable in the ring and the heir to my parents' billion-dollar company.

But in a single day, my whole world shattered. My career was ruined in front of hundreds of flashing cameras, my family's empire was torn down, and I was left holding my dying mother on the floor, betrayed by people I had trusted the most.

Then Dimitri Rossi walked into my life like t...

She died in an icy pit at the end of the world — and opened her eyes again with exactly three days left before the catastrophe.

In her last life, Chloe Wren was shoved into the freezing water by the best friend she trusted, Isabella. Her boyfriend Derek simply watched, then reached over and took the other woman's hand. The betrayal had been planned all along. As the bitter cold and a tide of hatr...

Evelyn only wants one thing, freedom from Mark’s obsessive madness. The new city is supposed to be her safe haven, a place to hide and a fresh lead in her search for her missing sister. But instead, her survival begins to depend on Julian, a man who always appears just as her life is on the line.

What Evelyn doesn’t realize is that every act of help from Julian is a tightening snare. Behind his c...

Three years ago, pro-wrestler Valerie Ruiz was framed for a failed drug test right before her championship match...a setup orchestrated by her ruthless teammate, Roxanne. When Valerie's sister, Sofia, stepped into the ring to defend their family name, Roxanne delivered a dirty hit that ended Sofia's career forever.

Now, with her father’s gym facing foreclosure, Valerie has one final chance to sav...

Five years ago, Lucia Delgado told her idol exactly how much she admired him, but Jeremiah Scherbatsky, the tennis champion she'd worshipped for years, looked straight through her and walked away.

She was humiliated and she never forgot that day.

Now Lucia is one of the country's best professional players, and she's going to the Olympics. Then the committee adds one more thing to her preparation...

I fell in love with Adrian Hale when I was fifteen.

I loved him in secret for six years. The purest year of my life was the one I spent at his grandmother's bedside—a volunteer no one knew about, asking for nothing in return. When a fire swallowed his car in Aspen, I pulled him out. It cost me every color in my world.

He proposed in my hospital room. "Marry me. I'll take care of you for the rest...

Two months before the cataclysm, Olivia Sterling wakes up from three years into the apocalypse.

Last time around, she clawed her way through an Echo-infested Manhattan for three years — from a nobody no one gave a second look, up to second-in-command of a survivor stronghold — and then she woke up again on the night the boss dropped dead. This time is different. She remembers the day the ash rain...

She was made into a weapon before she was old enough to understand what that meant. Estella Alveris—witch, demon hunter, survivor—has spent years building a life on her own terms, hiding her power behind a bookstore counter and a carefully maintained mask. But when her past arrives at her door in the form of the sister who was complicit in her childhood nightmare, Estella's careful world begins to...

She came to prove he was a murderer. She never planned to want him.

Three wives have died inside the Ashford house. One drown and two fall from the stairs. Nobody in town has ever asked why.

Ivy Calloway knows better because her cousin was wife number two.

So she takes a housekeeper's job under the roof of billionaire Dominic Ashford, with a false name, a hidden recorder, and one mission: get...

He married her for her name. His first love fell for his wife.

Seraphina Ashbourne was born into one of London's most respected old-money families. But when the Ashbourne fortune collapses, all she has left is a powerful name, a talent for painting, and her grandfather's beloved exhibition hall, now days away from auction.

Then billionaire Cillian Laurent offers her a way out.

Three years of ma...

"You don't mention this to Crystal,” Kyle murmured between my heaving boobs, his nose nuzzling my stiff tits as he drove his thick length into my drenched, clenching womanhood.

I dug my fingers into his shoulders, trying to shove him back. "Lying to my sister that her mate is f*cking the wrong one?"

He seized my wrists and pinned them above my head on the bed, then thrust deeper until my tight ...

Ninety-nine. That's how many times my family chose my sister over my life. The final time was three hours ago, on the exact day I was supposed to step out of the shadows and be inducted as the syndicate's first female Consigliere.

I was locked in our underground vault, choking on my own blood, while they hosted a lavish graduation party for Camilla upstairs. Out of everyone, only Julian—my fian...

Being Westbridge University’s first female quarterback is already hard enough without having to live with Kieran Vale, my brother’s arrogant best friend.
We can barely survive being roommates, so pretending to date should be easy, right?
Except somewhere between fake kisses, late-night arguments, and jealous glances, our fake relationship starts feeling dangerously real. Then a scandal threatens m...

“Stay away from the team, Mira.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.”
Mira Delgado was supposed to be a basketball player.
Until one humiliating fall during her first tournament earned her the cruel nickname “Whale Girl” and destroyed the dream she had worked so hard for. Now she hides behind her glasses, her notebook, and the cheerleading squad, determined to stay invisible.
But Mira has nev...

At the quarterly all-hands, during the raffle, my boyfriend won the company's two-person trip to Santorini.
The whole room was hooting, asking who he'd take.
I stood in the crowd, heart hammering.
The night before, in bed, I'd told him I was so tired, that I wanted to see the sea. He said once this busy stretch was over, he'd take me.
The old employee handbook said anyone dating someone from their...

Ethan Hayes was supposed to be Hargrove Academy's next star goalie. Full ride. NHL pipeline. The golden boy.

Three days before pre-season, a car accident puts him in a coma.

If he doesn't report, Hargrove pulls the scholarship his family can't afford to lose. So his fraternal twin does the only thing she can.

Emery Hayes quit hockey two years ago after they told her she was too small, too fragi...

Aria is a fearless detective with one mission: bring the ruthless Mafia King, Damien Voss, to justice.

Damien is cold, powerful, and feared by everyone who crosses his path. When Aria becomes his most dangerous enemy, their lives collide in a deadly game of revenge, secrets, and forbidden attraction.

She wants to put him behind bars.

He wants to make her pay for a death she never truly caused.
...

Genius scientist Ruby Anderson needs a divorce from billionaire Owen Knight—a husband who doesn’t even know she exists. But when Ruby secretly enters his world under a hidden identity, family betrayal, stolen identities, and dangerous attraction turn their cold paper marriage into something far more complicated.

She was born to run. He was born to rule. Their bond was never supposed to exist.
Luna Vale has one goal: win the Moon Games.
Five years ago, the Games took her brother, Victor, in front of fifty thousand silent spectators. They called it an accident. Luna has never believed it.
Now she's fast enough to win and stubborn enough to try. She'll burn the whole world down for the truth.
Then she meets ...

Three days before her wedding, Wren Delacroix discovers that the powerful family she is about to marry into has built its empire on lies, bribery, and blood. With evidence that could destroy them tucked inside her bag, she runs, leaving behind her perfect life and a fiancé who will do anything to keep her silent.

Her escape leads her straight into the arms of Cage Malone, the dangerously attracti...

One murder. Two dangerous secrets. One detective she should never fall for.

The man died at the table beside mine. His last words were meant for me.

I witnessed his murder in a quiet tea shop, and before the police arrived, I made one mistake that could cost me everything: I lied.

Detective Adrian Cole is determined to uncover the truth, but he doesn't know that the dead man and I share a past ...

Maya Carter spent years being mocked and underestimated for being a woman in college football, but after fighting her way onto an elite team and becoming the one player capable of challenging her brother’s arrogant best friend and star cornerback, Jace Williams, she finally proves she belongs,until she is framed for destroying the team’s prized trophy, and Jace unexpectedly protects her, drawing t...

A year ago, elite figure skater Elena Vance was the crown jewel of national athletics. Then came the terrifying jump, that ended with a surgical steel holding her right ankle together. Now, battling chronic pain and terrifying anxiety, she’s returning for one last shot at the World Championship qualifiers. She has zero room for error and zero patience for distractions.

Julian Cruz: star center an...

Charity Southwell, a world-class figure skater obsessed with control, meets Cole Ramsey, a reckless hockey captain destined for the NHL. Their rivalry turns into attraction, and eventually love, but their relationship is tested by betrayal, mental struggles, career pressure, illness, grief, and devastating family losses.
As Charity learns to let go of her need for perfection and Cole learns what i...

"In my defence, I thought he was someone else. In my further defence, have you met Reid Callahan?" Willow's boyfriend Mark cancels on our anniversary… again, and calls her deadwood in bed over the phone in earshot of others. Now she has something to prove. So, she let herself into his apartment. Dark room, no lights, she strips naked crawls over his naked body whispering “Hello Lover” She will sho...

My sister's killer was buried three years ago. So why did I find a photograph of him standing outside my apartment last night?

I'm Vanessa Cole, an investigative journalist who has spent three years trying to uncover the truth about my sister's unsolved murder. The police called it a dead end. I refused to believe them.

Then a stranger broke into my apartment, left a warning on my desk, and dis...

Once, I was a gymnast who knew exactly what it felt like to fly.
Until one mistake sent me crashing down and cost me everything.
For years, I stayed away from the arena. Until an opportunity came along and brought me onto the ice.
The problem?
I could not even skate.
To make matters worse, I was paired with Joseph Morgan, a figure skater known for being cold, perfectionistic, and completely unwill...

Six months ago, a deadly dose of ricin was secretly dropped into my drink. The toxic substance has been relentlessly destroying my body ever since, and my time is nearly up.

Today, my physical strength has completely faded, leaving me with only seventy-two hours to draw breath.

On the brink of my impending death, I gave in and consented to give my remaining kidney to my sister. Overflowing with ...

The night before the West Coast League Championship, Logan's childhood sweetheart Maddie tried to dump a packet of cold medicine into his water bottle.

I snatched it away and warned her it contained a banned substance. He was a pro player heading into the draft. One positive test, and it's a lifetime ban.

She just smiled, sweet as sugar, and said I was only jealous of what she and Logan had.

Sh...

My boss was mid-meltdown when I started texting my online boyfriend to complain about him.

"Does anyone here actually use their brain before they submit something? This proposal is a joke. Pull this kind of crap again next week and the whole team loses their bonus — and honestly? Start updating your résumés."

Adrian's eyes moved slowly around the table. People stopped breathing.

Mine dropped to...

She is Europe's most beloved innocent star

He is the world's most hated football god.

One desperate kiss changes everything.

ZIZO

They call me an arrogance-fueled nightmare. A reckless Brazilian star who races Ferraris and breaks the rules. They don't know about the quiet graveside promises, the hospital visits, or the grief that seems to have made my mind it's home. I don't care what the Br...

When a desperate bride is traded away as "collateral" at the altar by her bankrupt fiancé, she is forced into a high-stakes, twelve-month fake marriage with the cold billionaire who put her father in prison.
$5 million. 12 months. One rule: play the perfect wife.
Adrian Cole is cold, ruthless, and heir to the empire that destroyed everything I loved. I am supposed to hate him. I am supposed to de...

Wanting someone so badly has never felt this forbidden, yet I'm dying to be buried in that sin.

I've never craved someone the way I crave him.

I have seen the way he looks at me, caught somewhere between hate and disgust—or perhaps something more than either. Maybe I'm only fooling myself into believing there's something hidden beneath his anger.

He loathes me. He curses me, says I'm the reason...

Diana was only four when her family was brutally wiped out, leaving her with nothing but fragmented memories of that night. Raised by a secret biker club, she was trained to become a human weapon, beautiful enough to lure powerful men into traps and deadly enough to finish the job.

When Diana fought for the freedom she was promised, the club marked her for death. Wounded and running for her life,...

You know you're getting cheated on when your strictly private husband accidentally goes live on Instagram at midnight.

The camera showed Chloe—the newest streamer signed to his company—wearing cute fluffy ears, blushing under the neon lights of a late-night gastro-pub. Ethan's voice boomed in the background, laughing softly: "Look at this cute little foodie."

In five years of marriage, I had nev...

I was the proudest kept woman in Chicago, and Adrian Sterling, the most powerful heir in the city, treated me like a queen.
Then a broke college girl with a sob story walked into his life.
He brought her to his grandfather's birthday dinner and ordered me to apologize to her in front of everyone.
I took off the nine-figure pink diamond he'd given me and handed it to her.
He froze my cards. He took...

The housekeeper’s daughter just locked me out of my own Bentley.

"Bob, drive," Ella Brooks—the school's untouchable Queen Bee—ordered my chauffeur. She leaned into her boyfriend, Ryan Harrington, shooting me a look of fake pity. "My family already pays her tuition. Charity cases don't get free rides."

A bunch of kids nearby laughed, always eager to kiss up to the fake heiress. Ryan glared at me ...

I stopped letting people get close to me a long time ago. It was cleaner that way. I would not hurt anyone, and no one would get the chance to hurt me.

Ryder Kane never got that memo.

I am not here for his smile, his charm, or the way half the city seems to be in love with him. I am here because guarding him pays well. One contract covers two years of tuition. I protect him, finish the job, get ...

“Hunters don’t fall in love with vampires. They kill them.”

Sadie Mercer left her Hunter clan behind years ago, determined to build a normal life instead of inheriting a war that was never hers. Working multiple jobs while helping solve supernatural crimes, she’s finally found her place… until she discovers an unconscious man bleeding on her doorstep.

Vasiliy Dobrev is the last Pureblood Count, ...

I spent five years loving a man I secretly built from nothing—pulling strings, clearing obstacles, lifting him higher than he ever knew. Then one night, outside a private room, I heard him plan my future without me: a mistress's role, a generous allowance, and a smile to soften the blow. I walked away, burned every gift he'd ever given me to ash, and disappeared into three years of silence and pur...

Some houses don’t have exits. Just doors that look like them.

Roxy never wanted her mother’s new life.

She certainly never expected to find herself living under the same roof as Dorian Sinclair—the powerful billionaire who now calls himself her stepfather.

Calm. Controlled. Unreadable.

Dorian sees everything, including the secret Roxy wishes she could erase.

After he catches her witnessing so...

"I yield." Two words that cost Sienna everything and bought back the only man who ever made her want a future worth staying for.
Sienna has spent months running from the Yosemite pack, hiding the one secret that could get her killed: she's an unclaimed female Alpha. When West-Slope's Alpha, Henry, catches her mid-rescue during a vampire attack, captivity turns into an attraction neither of them ca...

I was born an Alpha.

Unfortunately, everyone seems to think that means I should act like a lady.

My father wants me in dresses, behaving politely, studying harder, and staying out of fights. The racing world wants me to prove that a woman can survive on a track built for men.

And I’m tired of proving myself to people who already decided I can’t.

Then my father gives me an ultimatum: raise my g...

My sister's husband showed up on the gossip pages with his first love, so Claire decided to divorce him. Then she asked whether I was leaving too.

"Of course," I said.

I had been my sister's shadow since we were kids. Claire was smart, capable, and brave enough for both of us. She married billionaire CEO Grant Whitaker, and I married his younger brother, Cole. Following her had given me a home, ...

When I woke up, an entire year of my memories was gone.

My fiancé, Kai, told me the car accident had stolen my memories, but not the love we shared. He was gentle, attentive, and seemed like the one person in the world I could trust.

Until his younger brother, Jasper, came back.

The way he looked at me was nothing like the way a man looks at a stranger.

He said Kai had been lying to me all alo...

Writing

Three years into my marriage, I discovered the devastating truth: I had never been married at all.

Damian, the man I had loved for eight years, had secretly married another woman while letting me believe I was his wife. For three years, I had willingly played the role of his secret mistress, never suspecting the truth.

The cruelest part? I had endured countless painful rounds of IVF jus...