This Time I Ll Be Sweeter

New York’s youngest bestselling author at just 19, India Seethal has taken the literary world by storm. Now 26, with countless awards and a spot among the highest-paid writers on top storytelling platforms, it seems like she has it all. But behind the fame and fierce heroines she pens, lies a woman too shy to chase her own happy ending. She writes steamy, swoon-worthy romances but has never lived one. She crafts perfect, flowing conversations for her characters but stumbles awkwardly through her own. She creates bold women who fight for what they want yet she’s never had the courage to do the same. Until she met him. One wild night. One reckless choice. In the backseat of a stranger’s car, India lets go for the first time in her life. Roman Alkali is danger wrapped in desire. He’s her undoing. The man determined to tear down her walls and awaken the fire she's buried for years. Her mind says stay away. Her body? It craves him. Now, India is caught between the rules she’s always lived by and the temptation of a man who makes her want to rewrite her story. She finds herself being drawn to him like a moth to a flame and fate manages to make them cross paths again. Will she follow her heart or let fear keep writing her life’s script?

Lucy lives with a killer. Kidnapped and to be wed to a mafia assassin, Lucy's hopes for a free and pure love were crushed. All she wanted was to be loved and be able to love whomever she wanted. Freely and without demands. Sounds simple enough, right? Not to Dante Romano. Brutal and commanding, he will awaken a darkness in her that she never knew existed. Will she succumb or will she be betrayed? Especially when Lucy wasn't the first choice to begin with. Lucy can't walk away now. Not when Dante not only holds the key to her heart but also to her soul.

Lahat tayo ay gagawin ang lahat para sa pag-ibig. Pero hanggang saan? Millicent Iris Escoleto is not supposed to be inlove with her bestfriend, Blake Nicolas Gandia but she is. And that feeling she has for him will put everything at stake.

Intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love.Among the characters explosed are Dray the owner of a firm who happens to be her neighbor who falls in love with a receptionist Lucinda who never believed in love her entire life but falls in love with him unexpected.

I waited for Alex for over five years. I endured the whispers of the clan, the mocking gazes, the judgment from his family who never thought I was good enough. Still, I waited—because I loved him. I believed in him. I trusted that he would choose me in the end. But the truth shattered me. One evening, I saw his laptop left open. And on the screen—countless photos of Elsa. His childhood sweetheart. His first love. It felt like a knife twisting in my chest. While I was drowning in problems, silently begging for his support, he was smiling by her side. All those years I gave him... all that waiting… I got nothing. So I left. Broken. Exhausted. Done pretending I was okay. I traveled far from our pack, seeking solitude under the excuse of pack relocation. But the truth was, I was trying to stitch myself back together—one breath, one step, one bitter tear at a time.But now… he’s gone mad looking for me. Why, Alex? Why do you search for me now, after crushing me so completely? When I stood by you, you looked past me. Now that I’ve finally let go… Why do you care?

I buried him myself. I stood at his grave with dirt on my hands and grief in my throat as I said goodbye to the only man I ever thought I would love. Kael was my betrothed, my mate, the boy who grew up beside me and became the person I built every future around. When the war took him it did not just take him — it took every version of myself that existed because of him. Years passed. The moon goddess, in her mercy, gave me something I never asked for — a second chance. Rowan was not supposed to happen. He was patient where I was resistant, steady where I was broken, and present in every way I had convinced myself no one would ever be again. I did not want to love him. And then I did not know how to stop. I was finally learning what it meant to choose life again. When Kael walked back through my door. Alive. Unchanged. And completely unable to explain where he had been. Now I am torn between a love that was written into my soul before I was old enough to understand what souls were, and a man who chose me quietly and completely when I had nothing left to offer. The elders say this is not a reverse harem blessing. There is no keeping both. I have to choose. But how do you bury someone you love twice?

Following a heartbreak from my betrothed and the man I have loved all of my life, I leave my home and family behind, seeking solace in the Realm of the Humans. Having no qualifications to live in a world bound by stupid rules has me jumping at an absurdly good offer to be the personal assistant to a top class business man. And my first assignment is delivering his forgotten wedding rings to the event. I found my mate. My boss, standing at the altar, exchanging vows with a puny human woman I could break in half if I wanted to. I flee, fingers clutching the damned ring boxes. He leaves his fiancée at the altar, chasing after me, but it makes no difference to me. I have had my fair share of rejections and I can't take anymore of it. So, I reject him, before he can do the same to me. But rather than cower in pain, he cracks a grin that makes my stony heart stumble, and leans forward, several feet taller than me. "And you're fired."

After finishing work for the day, I checked my phone and realized I had been added to a group chat called "Catch the Thief." The members were my parents, my brother, Brian Wise, and my sister-in-law, Paulene Wise. I typed a question mark. Paulene replied instantly. [My jewelry is missing. I didn't add you here to accuse you or anything. I just wanted to ask what you think. Honestly, there's no use for other people in our family to take my jewelry, so I've been wondering... I'm not saying you definitely stole it. But if you did, you don't have to deny it. I'm willing to give you a chance to make things right.] My mother said nothing. She just kept tagging me over and over. I let out a small laugh and typed back. [Maybe Brian took it and gave it to his side piece. I'm not saying he definitely has someone else. Just that men his age sometimes start looking around. I'm only guessing here. And if he really did mess up, you could give him a chance to make things right, too.]

Lucas Grey becomes the head of his family at sixteen. He realizes that his parents death wasn't an accident. His main goals are to take care of his two sisters and find his parents killer. Lucas finds his bonded half but she doesn't want him, a brutal attack makes her go into hiding and Lucas has to suffer her nightmares. By chance they meet again and the bond is as strong as ever. Lucas is stubborn, slow to forgive and Rylee is afraid of loving him. Follow their story as they get pulled together by their bond but pushed apart by their actions as Lucas tries to lead his lair and protect his family. “See how easy it is to excite you,” I said as my fingers pushed inside her. Her whole body stiffened as she looked at me. “I don't love you Rylee and I wouldn't fuck you even if you begged for it,” I said. Her hand made contact with my cheek as she slapped me as hard as she could and it stung a little as she pushed herself up and away from me. “I fucking hate you,” she said coldly and walked over to the bed. “You hate me? I hate you back!” I yelled at her. “You expect me to believe your story but you won't believe mine?” she said angrily. “You can't even remember what the fuck you did that night, I saw you coming out of that bathroom with him following you! Can you honestly tell me you remember what you did in there?” I yelled. “I know myself and I wouldn't sleep with some random stranger,” she said as she looked at me. “Except that you did."

A 19-year-old girl, Wendy Young, invites a 20-year-old-homeless man, Lucas Kim, into her life. Spending all their time with each other, Wendy couldn’t help but fall in love with him, but with everything going down, will it all go well?