All works

The Parisians, Book 12. by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

(18+ content!) "No matter how many times I've rejected you with my words and in my heart, it doesn't stop this–this thing..." He cut off with a sharp exhale, brows furrowed like he was in pain, "...it's like I'm losing my fucking mind, it's maddening and I–" I crushed my lips against his, cutting him off. *** Selene Kanellis was born wolfless to one of the most powerful packs in the realm, a curse and abomination to her pack. As a result, she had to endure years of abuse and cruelty from her family and her pack. Even her mate, the mysterious Rogue Bloodhound, Apollo Lycanthorne, sees her as a weakling and rejects her on the spot. During the Dead Moon festival, when Selene is offered up as a sacrifice to appease the goddess, she unlocks powers she never had before. Now she has the chance to take her revenge against her evil pack and rule over all as the one true Queen of Wolves. But can she overcome the many obstacles on her road to love and acceptance? *** Apollo Lycanthorne is a Bloodhound, one of the last of his kind. As the leader of the Rogue Sanctuary, he hates weakness in any form. When he finds out that a wolfless omega is the Moon's gift to him, he rejects her immediately. But beyond his harsh and cold exterior, is there an Alpha worth dying for? Can he look past his deeply entrenched prejudices and fully accept Selene as his mate despite whatever obstacles they may face?

Mia, an orphan, has to struggle to make ends meet. She is a talented singer and she sings on the streets for money. But her life is set to change when the billionaire music mogul, Anthony sees her on the roadside on a fateful day. She didn't capture his interest in her career alone. She also captured his heart. Anthony makes Mia a contract marriage offer which she accepts as her key to escape poverty. However, she doesn't know that she will end up falling in love with Ethan. Olivia, Anthony's ex-girlfriend, comes to the picture with a pregnancy which she claims is Anthony's unborn child. Mia found out about a shocking revelation about her dead parents, and Anthony's involvement. Mia is bruised and bullied. What would happen to Mia? Would she be able to scale past her challenges?

A series of murders occurred. People die after receiving a call from an unknown number. When the authorities are left with no choice, Cameron Caiseus Lee – a cold but talented detective together with an infamous police officer named Devius Wayne Chad – is given the task to investigate and capture the culprit. Not having been used to working with anyone, Cameron refused at first but in the end, for the sake of justice and to save people from further damage, the two parties agreed to work together. As they uncovered the truth behind the case they called later on Killer Caller Murder, more secrets resurfaced. One by one, they found the killer’s trophies, red objects. When the culprit turned to call Cameron and Chad, more secrets started to unfold. The true motive behind all the killings was actually Cameron himself. A scene from a long time ago when a kid died in a fire where he lost his memories. They also found out that the culprit behind the Killer Caller’s Murder was no other than the boy who had always been beside them – Gong Seuk Tae. After all the investigations and everything, Cameron and Chad managed to take the killer behind bars.

Peculiarities of American Cities by Willard Glazier

Maia Beaufort has lived her 17 years on Earth as Han Ma Ri, until the day her mother puts her on a plane and her past is taken away from her by her estranged father, with the promise that she would be able to return home someday. As an already struggling artist, Maia sees no other choice but to take advantage of this opportunity to secure herself the best future she can, until the day she can finally leave her horrid new life behind. Reign Ferrante has tried his best to live a normal life, away from the daunting secrets that plague his every waking hour. Setting up an art shop was his only saving grace of holding onto the one true part of himself and the hopes of leaving his unwanted life behind. But the arrival of a striking girl with a headstrong attitude and a talent too gorgeous to be hidden away might just change his outlook on life. What will happen when these lost souls find each other?

To the Last Man is the story of Arizona's Pleasant Valley War, one of the most legendary conflicts of the Old West. A venomous feud between cattle ranchers, the Isbels, and sheepherders, the Jorths, plunges both families into a deadly cycle of vengeance. Yet, even as their families spiral into annihilation, Ellen Jorth and Jean Isabel struggle to keep their fateful romance alive.

For several years, Charlie spent a lot of effort looking for a girl. When he learned that the girl broke up with her boyfriend, he thought of many ways for her to marry him. From then on, at wine parties, going to bars, nightlife, meeting partners outside of work, they all changed into going home to their wives, washing clothes, sweeping the house, cleaning the house...

When Missionary Travels was first published in 1857, reviewers noted that the existing ideas about south central Africa would have to undergo a radical transformation. Land thought to be dry and mountainous was discovered to be fertile grassland with a wide variety of animal life, and the peoples that lived there, while sometimes suspicious, were often welcoming to an outsider. And great rivers existed as well; the Zambesi River was unknown to Europeans until Livingstone's visit. Dr. David Livingstone had lived in Africa for a number of years when he undertook the journey he writes about in this book. It is a remarkable story, told without self-aggrandizement. Livingstone walked over 4,000 miles, from Cape Town, South Africa through the Kalahari Desert to the coastal town of Loanda (now Luanda, Angola), and back along the Zambesi River to the east coast of Mozambique. Only members of the Makololo tribe, with whom he had established a firm friendship, accompanied him. His mission was to stop the slave trade. Livingstone begins the book with a brief overview of his personal life that reveals a fierce determination: he learned Latin, Greek, medicine and theology while still employed as a cotton-spinner in a Scottish mill. He had hoped to go to China as a missionary but went to Africa instead, and he describes some of his early experiences there. Livingstone pushed through the Kalahari Desert and the savannas and travelled along the Zambesi river. Eventually he came to the falls known by the natives as "Mosi oa tunya" ("smoke does sound there") and which he named "Victoria": "After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor appropriately called "smoke", rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees; the tops of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful; the banks and islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees were spangled over with blossoms…It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." He encountered a variety of peoples including both the nomadic Bushmen and the Bakalahari with their enormous herds, and he includes numerous descriptions of terrain and animal life. Sensitive descriptions of indigenous religious practices and customs also abound, and Livingstone assesses people and situations without romanticizing them. This is an important book, and reading it helps us to understand not only the Africa of the past but of the present.

Briana Clooney wakes up in a house on the outskirts of the woods with some of her memories missing. Sean Brosnan, a cold foreign man, rescued her from a near-fatal accident. He told Briana nothing about how she could have traveled hundreds of kilometers and ended up in that strange place. Briana's fading memories would always return as nightmares. The fire incident left Briana gasping for air and feeling guilty. However, she was surprised when she overheard Sean's conversation with a doctor who treated her, revealing that he had purposefully hidden her in a house by the forest. So, how can Briana leave Sean's house and reunite with her family?

18+, strong mature, and sexual content. Sneak peek: "W-what are you doing?" I asked, my breathing getting heavier as his warm fingers inched towards my bikini bottom. "You called me a coward earlier, remember?" He asked, his other hand wrapped around my throat and lips torturingly brushing over mine "So let's see how much you can handle if I break the boundaries." "I haven't said anything wrong," I breathed out, the collision of the heat of our bodies made the wetness between my thighs build more "Oh really?" He hooked my legs around his waist leaving me surprised I opened my mouth to say something but before any sentence could leave my mouth, sliding past my bikini bottom his fingers were there on my bare clit and the next second they thrust inside the very tight hole of mine leaving me to scream. But everything went silent as he pressed his hot lips upon mine just as I had been wanting since the first day I had ever seen him. **** I always knew the things I felt for Jacob Adriano were wrong in so many ways. He was my dad's best friend, totally out of bounds but I couldn't stop wanting him. And once in the event of my dad's destination wedding, I came across him after years...I lost every one of the boundaries I had and surely I planned to make him lose his ones too. After all Jacob Adriano, the sinfully attractive Italian was not unaware of my obsession with him. But little did know that forbidden relationships always bring havoc and demolition.....

Walter Harland / Or, Memories of the Past by Harriet S. Caswell

I stood at my mating ceremony, about to be joined with my pack's Beta, Brendan, under the watchful eye of the powerful Alpha King. But just as the rites began, Brendan abandoned me at the altar. He ran off into the woods for another woman—a fragile rogue named Marina he had taken in. He left me to face the humiliation alone. Then, a message came through the public leadership channel for all to hear. It was Brendan, announcing that Marina had attempted suicide and he couldn't leave her. He then had the audacity to command me to apologize to the Alpha King on his behalf for the "disruption." The man I had loved for six years, who had promised me forever just the night before, had traded my honor for a lie. He made me a laughingstock in front of the entire continent. That night, drowning my sorrow in a human bar, I ran into the Alpha King himself. Fueled by whiskey and heartbreak, I made a reckless offer. "He doesn't want me anymore," I slurred. "Alpha, do you want me tonight?" To my shock, he accepted. And in his arms, I discovered a stunning truth: the Alpha King, my ex-fiancé's uncle, was my true fated Mate. My revenge had just begun.

My SAT prep book felt heavy as I approached Jake Peterson' s front porch for our usual Tuesday session. Tutoring was my reliable income, essential for my college fund. The front door stood ajar, and a muffled thumping from upstairs hinted at something unexpected. Suddenly, my vision warped, inundated with glowing, intrusive text: `[Live-Chat Commentary]`. Remarks like `User_DramaQueen77: OMG, is the nerdy girl gonna bust in on them?!` and `User_JashleyFan01: Nooo, don' t ruin the Jashley moment! They' re endgame!` flashed across my sight. My life, apparently, was now a live broadcast for anonymous strangers on the internet. Moments later, Jake emerged, flustered, followed by a smirking blonde I immediately recognized as 'Ashley' , while the chat exploded with comments labeling me 'side character energy' . A chilling 'prophecy' soon appeared: `User_OracleGamer: Bet Jake dumps the tutor for Ashley. Sarah' s gonna lose him AND her cash cow. Sad.` What was this surreal nightmare, and why was my quiet, strategic existence suddenly the subject of relentless, bizarre public judgment from unseen trolls? I wasn' t a character in their made-up drama, yet every practical decision I made, from valuing my paid time to demanding payment for a stolen item, was twisted into a display of 'Ice Queen' or 'Money Grubber' behavior. But through the chaos, a different kind of insight emerged: this invasive commentary, while humiliating, also contained invaluable intel, revealing their malicious schemes before they even started. If my life was now a game show for their entertainment, I decided to become the player who knew all the cheats, turning every snarky comment into my strategic advantage.

The first sign was a text message glowing on Liam' s phone screen. "I miss you. When can I see you again?" it read, from a woman named Sarah. I was sitting on the edge of our bed, waiting for him, clutching the phone that held a history of his secret intimacy. When he walked out of the shower, naked save for the towel around his hips, I didn' t scream. I just held up the phone and said, "Her or me, Liam." He chose me, deleted her number, and swore it was a mistake. But the silence in our penthouse grew louder, his touch became a habit, and his eyes looked through me, not at me. I felt myself disappearing, desperate and pathetic, despite being the heiress to a real estate empire. So, I proposed to him, clutching at a phantom hope at a charity gala, only for his forced "Okay, Ava. Let' s get married" to ring hollow. The wedding preparations were a blur of my efforts, conspicuously absent of him. My friends and family saw the pity in my eyes, but I pushed on, convinced the vows would banish Sarah' s ghost. Then, on our painfully beautiful wedding day, as the officiant prepared to pronounce us, a small voice cut through the air. "Daddy?" A little girl, no more than five, stood at the aisle's entrance, huge tearful eyes fixed on Liam. His face went ashen. He dropped my hands as if burned, turned, and ran-away from me, our vows, everything-scooping the little girl into his arms. Sarah stood behind her, a triumphant, sorrowful look on her face. He abandoned me at the altar, humiliating me for the world to see. Deep down, a cold clarity told me this was always a possibility, and I was not unprepared. Taking the microphone, I announced, "The groom has a prior commitment. Enjoy the food. Consider it a celebration of my newfound freedom." I ordered security and called my lawyer. They had robbed me of my dignity, but I wouldn't let them rewrite my story. It was time to fight back.

On my twenty-first birthday, I was just a broke orphan sitting in a dark apartment, staring at an overdue rent notice. A freak lightning strike suddenly shattered my reality, tearing me from Earth and dropping me into a primal alien jungle, where I was cornered by a massive white tiger. I thought I was dead, but I woke up in a high-tech hospital surrounded by people with animal ears, scales, and tails. The doctor looked at me with pity and delivered the crushing truth. "Earth is a lost world, Anya. To us, you are a purebred human relic." In this Varden Empire ruled by genetically superior Beastkin, I was painfully fragile, physically weak, and treated like a delicate museum exhibit. Worse, I learned that the monstrous tiger from the jungle was actually Marshal Jaxon Kensington, the ruthless and overwhelmingly powerful commander of the Imperial Army. I felt completely helpless and suffocated. I was trapped in an alien world where I was inferior to everyone, terrified of the military monster who had brought me here. Why was I dragged into this brutal universe just to be a weak specimen? What I didn't know was that the Empire's registry had just paired my DNA with the Marshal's, flashing an impossible 99% compatibility match. By Imperial Law, the cold, untouchable commander was now permanently bound to me, and his terrifying, primal obsession had just been awakened.

Freya Williams has always thought she could handle life surprises....Until her father's death leaves her with a choice she never wanted. She was forced into a marriage agreement she never signed for, she is going to face the future with a man she doesn't know. Someone who changed everything. Freddie Ethan, the heir to a powerful royal family is everything she's never ready for. Freddie is every woman's dream, unknowingly the man she met once in a café, a fleeting moment that always takes sleep off her eyes whenever she thinks about it. But there's a secret unknown to her and Freddie, the rules were against them. They were bound by promise, and also manipulated by powerful forces which hide under the mask. Freya and Freddie must stand strong to accept love, betrayal and duty before it is too late. Will they fight for each other, or will the powerful force tear them apart? Let's find out

South! The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917; Includes both text and audio files by Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

“ Dad, why would you suddenly want us to park out of our house?” Sassy cried out. “ You have no idea what's going on, Sassy! You had better listen to me or allow yourself get caught!” Xoxo snapped at her as he was tired of coaxing her. “ Get caught by who Dad? I've asked you the type of job you do and you still haven't told me. What's actually going on?” Sassy asked with tears rolling down her cheeks. “ You would understand why I'm doing this, Sassy ” Xoxo uttered as he picked her up into his shoulders, takes her to the car and drove off in a crazy speed.

A misunderstanding started the beginning of their story. On her way to find her sister, Joyce bumped into Arvin and spent a wild night together. Obsessed with her sweetness, he wanted to keep her to be his side, always. After drafting a contract, she agreed to be his lover for one month. By the time the contract expired, she had stolen her heart. His limitless adoration, however, brought her nothing jealousy which led to danger. Overwhelmed with endless conspiracies, betrayal, and desperation, she left with strong resentment. Years later, she came back to avenge herself. Little did she know that she had already stepped into his trap.