insidious villain

Forced to take her sister's place as bride to the ruthless Lycan King Sebastian, Eleanor faces a marriage filled with cruelty and humiliation. Though she is his destined mate, Sebastian remains blind to their connection, his hatred for her ruining what should have been an unbreakable bond. When her powers emerge on her twentieth birthday, Eleanor finally gains the strength to defy her tormentor. But her bid for freedom ends in tragedy—captured, violated, and left for dead. In her final moments, she makes a desperate plea to the Moon Goddess for a second chance at life. Her wish is granted, sending her back in time with her memories intact and vengeance burning in her heart. But as Eleanor plots her revenge against the Lycan King, she stumbles upon dark secrets that change everything she thought she knew. The web of lies and betrayal runs deeper than she could have imagined, and the true villain may be hiding in plain sight.

On our first wedding anniversary, my husband came home with a woman who was six months pregnant. He introduced her as his cousin, someone who had fallen on hard times, and asked me to take care of her. I was just about to agree when fragments of imaginary commentary floated through my mind: [She's just my 'cousin'. Uh-uh, that's a cliche.] [Poor supporting female character! A maid by day, the husband's bedwarmer by night.] [But she totally deserved it! If she hadn't broken up the main couple, they'd have a whole soccer team of kids by now!] Wait—what? Supporting female character? Me? And what's this about breaking them up? So now these two get to cheat under my roof, and somehow I'm the villain? Before I could process it all, my husband was already dragging her luggage inside. "Alice doesn't like fried food," he said matter-of-factly. "And nothing too salty or spicy. Make sure you keep that in mind when you're cooking. "Oh, and pregnant women love sweets. Go out now and buy a cherry cake. The one from that bakery in the suburbs."