the study of vanitas

Betrayed by the man she loved and sacrificed everything for, Isabella Laurent is left shattered when her long-time boyfriend, Ryan, tosses her aside for a wealthier, more connected fiancée. Once the devoted partner who tries to help him build his empire, Isabella is now branded a gold digger and humiliated in front of everyone she once trusted. But Isabella is not a victim. Returning to the Laurent estate, Isabella embraces the powerful heiress she was meant to be. With her sharp mind, unparalleled ambition, and unyielding determination, she vows to reclaim everything Ryan stole from her and make him regret ever crossing her. When a mysterious letter from Alexander Blackwood, her estranged fiance, and a ruthless billionaire, lands in her hands, Isabella finds her hands, and Isabella finds herself at the crossroads of revenge and redemption. Alexander, with his icy demeanor and untouchable empire, offers her a partnership that could change the game. Together, they form an alliance to take down their enemies, but their simmering chemistry threatens to ignite a fire that neither can control. As Isabella rises from the ashes of betrayal, she discovers that revenge is more than a dish best served cold; it's an art. And she intends to be its master. But in the game of power, betrayal, and love, who will emerge victorious? But in the game of power, betrayal, and love, who will emerge victorious?

Maggie Blankenship is a hot mess - broke, unemployed, and down on her luck. So when she’s offered the chance to be in a movie, she wonders if her luck is changing. At the very least, she sees it as an opportunity to inject some excitement into her oh-so-dull life, if only for a day.She has no idea how much her life is about to change.It turns out that the movie is being directed by Orlando Fontaine - the intense and mysterious youngest brother of the famous Fontaine family. Sparks (and underwear) fly between the pair of them from the start, but Orlando has a strict no-fraternizing policy on his sets.He wants her, but he won’t touch her.She wants him, but she can’t have him.Can the two of them resist temptation?Due to explicit scenes, this romantic comedy is rated 18+.The Thrill of Temptation is created by Ember Casey, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

"I agree to this but that's as long as you do not poke your nose in what I do." "You have the deal!" The man chuckled in his husky voice while raising his hands in a surrender gesture. "But You need to agree to my side of conditions too." He stepped forward and whispered in her ears, his hot breath tickling them, yet she did not waver one bit from where she was. "I did say I will agree, didn't I?" Sherry maintained a calm and composed look on her face as she confronted him head on. She placed her hands on his collar and pulled him forward until they were at the same eye level. "Mr. Smith!" She whispered in a low voice like how he had done before. 'Hah...This woman is really good at driving me nuts...' Levian knew this was going to be a challenge for him. ................................................................... Sherry was a bright child that everyone loved. Her foster parents her step siblings and her friends. Everyone loved her and spoilt her. But she dies on the day of her marriage just as she was about to get her makeup done. A disease?? No?? On that very day her fiance is at hospital but not for her but because he is about to be daddy...... Sherry unknown to all this except the fact she was poisoned by her bridesmaid rebirths a day before her marriage. In this life she takes different options but then ugly truth about everything starts to surface. What would she do when she realizes everything was fake?? And a mysterious man appears out of nowhere and says as long as she marries him he would even wipe out whole of the city that made a fool out of her.

She had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. She was also deaf in one ear.

My husband's adopted sister invited me out to dinner, and while we were eating, disaster struck—a violent earthquake shook the ground beneath us. My husband, a firefighter, rushed to the scene as quickly as he could. But fate had a cruel plan for us. We were trapped beneath a massive boulder, unable to move, and the rescuers could only save one of us. He made his choice. He chose her—the adopted sister who had always been frail and sickly—over me, his wife, who was five months pregnant with his child. I begged him, pleaded with him to save me. But he turned his back on me. The boulder pressed harder, and I felt the sickening crack of my arm breaking. He didn't even flinch. "Alice has always been weak," he said coldly. "If I leave her here, she'll die." But when I died, he lost his mind.

Two years pass from their battle with Chancellor Thorne, the Ominous soon find themselves given the task to protect a new hybrid from an evil group of hybrids seeking human extinction, In this second chronicle of the Ominous, Maddie and the rest of the team must confront the all powerful Lord Ethos, a hybrid who seeks to remake the world for the hybrid race by eliminating all other existing life. To aid him, he has recruited a legion of evil hybrids to over throw the world's governments known as The Alligence. Along with protecting a new hybrid from Ethos, the team must overcome their own personal and external difficulties to safe the world yet again! They are dangerous They are threatening The are The Ominous

He paused and kissed her neck, turning the pale skin to red before retracting his move to fix his eyes on her, and leisurely replied. "Unfortunately, you cant wear the dress over there." He chuckled and passed a box over to her hand. "And the fortunate news is I prepared a dress for you." Ariana was a cursed little girl who could see ghosts. Her family hated her and threw her from one adoptive family to another. However, misfortune didn't act alone. When she was brought up by her aunt, she was sold as a slave. When she had thought she would become nothing but a sacrifice to the sorcerer, she was saved by a man whose identity was far different than a normal mythical being, but never knew that the man who saved her will indeed be her worst nightmare.

Book Three of The Luminary Quartet The bears were currently considered enemy number one, right alongside the elders of my species. The problem was, I didn't know them as that. To me, they were simply friends, family even. My mother's mate had been a bear shifter, and I had ultimately found my own other half within the Ursidae family, as well. Everything had been perfect for a single moment in time, and then I was fleeing my home, right after rejecting the bastard who thought he could put his hands on me. I vowed two things then: to never return and to never give a male that much power over me again. Yet, Luna apparently had some twisted plan laid out for my life because circumstances seemed to keep arising, bringing me ever closer to Reese in spite of my best intentions. The wolves' rapidly declining numbers sent us careening across the county in a race to prevent the destruction of our species by the bears, though I struggled with picking sides. New and old faces appear along the way as rogues and other heretofore unknown foes emerge to stop us, making it difficult to know who to trust during these tumultuous times. Will Scarlett hold fast to her deep-rooted beliefs during the journey, or will her perceptions shift as much as the reality she returns home to? *Note: While the main characters in each book will receive their HEA, I wouldn't recommend reading them out of order due to the overarching storyline that continues throughout them all. ***Warning*** This book is intended for adults 18+. It contains mature themes and adult language. Please read at your own discretion.

Sian Cynthia Anderson who is one of daughters of Peter Anderson, a multi billionaire of Constructional Industry in United States, is a 23 year old young beautiful girl who owns a fair milky skin followed by dark chocolate brown wavy curls that enhanced her beauty more along with her sea blue eyes. Just like a normal being she too found her first love at the age of fifteen in which she verily found her home, Her true LOVE.. Her heart couldn't be happier as she held so much love for her only love Max which set her over illuminating hopes high on her marriage with her ever since lover; the childhood sweetheart Aaron Maximillian, the one and only child of Jonathan Maximillian, another multi billionaire and a famous football player in United States... Will they be able to get married? Emrys Parker, who is also a son of another multi billionaire is the Hero of young generation who worships him as a Greek God; to the outter world he is the most outsmart personality among young businessmen, but inside he had the heart of rock which could never be molten as there was no other man who could be equalized to his brutality he himself had grown hard. In brief, Emrys was another synonym for the epitome of arrogance and no one could beat him up as this bumptious beast who thinks everything can be done in a flick of his fingers by getting the people around on to their knees had his own powers to tame the world..... But, when the fate brutally makes these two collide incidentally, what will their future be holding in store to embrace by them? Is it only the Pure Hatred or the Unintentional Love?

Collen McDermott.A nobody. Someone you could walk past without ever blinking an eye. Most of the people who know of his existence see him as the bottom of society.Reality? Reality is always significantly different. Everything you've ever dreamed of, everything you've wished for, all lay in the palm of his hand. A man who has it all yet one could say has nothing. A man who could give you everything, and has the power to take it all away.After a lifetime of mistreatment and bad luck. He stepped forward striving to fulfil a promise to a departed loved one.Little by little each character's past and secrets will be revealed as Collen does his best to support those close to him.A story revealing a darker side of life and love. "Everyone has a secret."Hello just want to say thank you for reading my book and I truly hope you enjoy it. If you have the spare time please leave a review whether you wish to bash the book or say how much you love it, I'll take what constructive criticism I can get =)