louise penny a world of curiosities

Rejected and dark-bonded by her mate after her wolf refuses to submit, Ophelia Hawkins is banished from the pack. Forced to flee alongside her abusive mother and younger sister, they return to their hometown of Lunar Isle. It's there, at the birthplace of magic, where Ophelia discovers the truth about her heritage and the purpose of the dark bond now branded onto her flesh. Trapped on an island of wild beasts and magic, she believes her life can get no worse. That is, until she meets her second chance mates: Jude Romero, enforcer to the Alpha, and a Lycan with magic as brutal and wild as the man himself, and Alpha Ryker Romero, cold-hearted, sharp-tongued, and the boyfriend of Ophelia's older sister. Plagued with the agony of a broken mate-bond and two second chance mates she cannot have; Ophelia falls into a darkness unlike any other. Little does she know, there are forces at work in Lunar Isle. Something is hunting her, something big. Something she isn't sure she can survive. Will her second-chance mates step up to the plate when she needs them most? Or will they fail her like everyone else in her life?

STEAMY MYSTERY ROMANCE *** # Billionare fake Identity wife # Fake marraige Elaine Rivera's world shatters when a heated argument with her husband, Ethan Rivera, ends with her returning home to find him murdered. Before she can grieve or process the horror, she's framed and thrown into prison by the powerful Rivera family, who take everything from her—including her beloved daughter, Autumn. Desperate and broken, Elaine stages a daring escape, vowing to unearth the truth about Ethan's death and reclaim her daughter. But on the run from the FBI, she finds herself at the mercy of Lucas Grayson, a cunning detective with his own agenda. Lucas offers her a lifeline: a contract marriage to protect her identity and gain access to the high-stakes world she needs to infiltrate. Under a new identity and armed with relentless determination, Elaine dives into a web of deceit, danger, and betrayal. The deeper she digs, the more she questions everyone around her—including Lucas. As sparks ignite between them, Elaine must navigate a minefield of lies and emotions. When love blurs the line between ally and enemy, and betrayal threatens to derail her mission, Elaine faces impossible choices. Can she trust Lucas with her heart and the truth? Or will her quest for justice destroy them both?

After dying miserably, Ling suddenly finds himself reborn in the body of a chimera between a Vampire and a Dragon created by an insane Elder Lich who claims to be his father. Thrown into a an universe filled with darkness, monsters, dungeons, and gods, he finds himself born as the calamity of the entire galaxy, the primordial evil, an entity that shouldn't exist! Packed 100 Million Mana, a cold-headed mind, a calm demeanor, and the power of both Vampires and Dragons developing within his chimeric body, Ling will awaken his Ling Magic, and gain Skills from the monsters that he eats, bringing forth the end of all those that dare come to take his life! This is the tale of the Devourer of Worlds, the Living Calamity, the Primordial Evil, Ling! But was he all of this? Or was Ling misunderstood? Watch as Ling discovers the truth about his origins, and finds a purpose in his new life, and the fate that awaits him!

VOLUME 1 TRILOGIA ILHA DO CORVO — Eu não amo você. — murmurei. Ele deixou seu vinho de lado e se levantou, devagar ele diminuiu a distância entre nós, e com a ponta dos dedos tocou meu queixo, seu olhar vagou para minha boca e depois permaneceu em meus olhos. — Eu também não a amo princesa, e nem pretendo. Ele disse essas palavras com total frieza e se afastou se sentando novamente e isso me enfureceu. — Por que lutar em um torneio pela minha mão então? tudo isso porque sou uma princesa? —disparei. — Você é uma princesa Lancaster e eu preciso de um herdeiro digno. — Eu desejo que meu ventre seja seco como as areias do deserto, comandante. Ele me encarou e vi um lampejo de raiva em seus olhos negros, mas no mesmo instante ele o escondeu e colocou seu sorriso cínico no lugar. — Então nesse caso teríamos que tentar muitas vezes querida, até que seu ventre se torne menos seco, eu tentaria pelo resto da vida até. — rebateu maliciosamente. Em um torneio pela mão da princesa Helena Lancaster ela vê seu destino se cruzar com John Chase, um comandante e guerreiro temível, com uma personalidade peculiar ele era tudo que ela detestava, possessivo, audacioso, autoritário, e dominante ao extremo, e ele era o que mais tinha chances de ganhar o torneio por sua mão. Mas John Chase era muito mais que um comandante da ilha do Corvo, ele escondia um segredo sombrio, que mudaria sua vida para sempre. Uma Ilha repleta de homens misteriosos, com seus próprios segredos e conflitos, e ela seria senhora deles, logo Helena descobriria que um grande perigo a ronda na ilha, poderia ela confiar no marido para protegê-la?

I spend a decade as the woman behind Corey Larson. I help him save his company from the brink of bankruptcy and turn it into a public-listed company. He's on the cusp of success, and I'm about to propose to him. That's when he brings his childhood sweetheart into the picture to take my place. He thanks me for my decade of hard work. Then, he tells me I'm no longer a good fit for the company as it's about to embark on a new journey. I stare at him. I've loved him for ten years and given him my everything, but he brushes me off with a bank card. My blood turns to ice. The decade I've spent with him has ultimately gone down the drain. He doesn't seem to realize the consequences, though. Once I quit and leave, his company will cease to exist… just like my love for him.

"It makes me happy when you scream my name because it convinces me that no one will bring you pleasure like I do. I was your first and I'll be your last.." ****** After a heart-shattering discovery of my boyfriend's infidelity, my world fell apart. Now I wasn't one to drown my sorrows in but that night was an exception. Shot after shot and what did I get? A devastating notice that I had somehow ended up in the bed of a very handsome stranger. But that wasn't all, with a marriage proposal slapped on my face and not much of a choice, one could say my life was about to become a lot more than I bargained for.

Shayla Sengupta is the type of woman who has that razor-sharp smile, a devil-may-care attitude and has the type of beauty that poets write sonnets about. She knows it and also knows just how to use all of it to get what she wants.But after a handful of most unfortunate incidents where she almost ends up drowning in the dangerous waters she tried to tread on ; Shayla faces the danger of dying due to thirst. Does a certain blue eyed boy with the voice of a nightingale prove to be the water for Shayla when she is stuck in the desert?

My husband Bill and his beautiful assistant Doris are laughing and eating like they're on a first date. But the joke is on me... I'm here, Bill's wife, watching them from across the room, tending to my flat belly where a little life is now living. Of course, Bill doesn’t know about the baby yet. The news is still fresh in my mind, barely a few hours old. It is supposed to be a family dinner gathering, but I'm never the welcome one but an outsider. Watching Bill take the steak cut and handed over by Doris, his young age best friend who knows him the best, I guess I'm spoiling their fun by telling them now that I'm having a baby. Three years of marriage, and his frequent absences from the family left me feeling overwhelmed and alone. I've even forgotten the reason we got married. Maybe it was a mistake to begin with. Finally, I made a decision. Divorce. But a man came along and shifted things dramatically. And it didn't occur to me that this man was still deeply connected to bill's family. He was Bill's uncle.

Everly Pattis was sentenced to ten years in jail for murder. Carson Baxter, the man whom Everly loved for the past six years, was the one who had sent her there. She used to be a jewel in his eyes, but now she is nothing more than a rat that anyone can walk over however they please. He points to the nameless urn in the funeral parlor and says to her, “That should have been you instead.”Years later, he holds her in his arms and whispers, “I can't live without you…”

In the bustling heart of the city, Aaliyah Winston's life is a whirlwind of bright lights and endless possibilities. But when she crosses paths with Nicholas Walsh, the notorious mafia boss with a heart shrouded in darkness, her world takes an unexpected turn. As passion ignites and danger lurks in every shadow, Aaliyah and Nicholas find themselves caught in a web of intrigue and desire. With rival gangs closing in and secrets threatening to tear them apart, will their love survive the ultimate test?