Is 'A False Start' Worth Reading?

⚠️WARNING: This book contains explicit sexual content, possessive and toxic male leads, manipulation, emotional abuse, and disturbing themes that may be triggering to some readers. This is nothing like healthy love. ¥¥¥¥ I loved Tyler Beaumont for twelve years. Years of hoping and waiting, believing that one day, he would finally choose me. So when my parents told me I was being arranged to marry into his family… I thought it was fate. I thought I had won. But I was wrong, because the man waiting for me at the altar isn’t Tyler. It’s his brother, Grayson Beaumont. The one I never heard of—the one with cold eyes, a cruel mouth, and a hatred for me sharp enough to bleed. I don’t know what I did to deserve it. I don’t even remember. But he does. He remembers everything. He didn’t marry me for love, because from the moment I became his wife, he made one thing clear—I would pay for a past I don’t even remember. “I tried to forget you,” he tilted my chin, staring directly into my soul. “But watching you love him? That was the first time I understood what hatred really feels like.” And Tyler? The man I spent twelve years loving? He won’t let me go. “I don’t need you to choose me,” he whispered. “I just need you to understand… no matter whose name you take, you will always be mine.” Two brothers. One filled with hatred. The other with obsession. And me? Caught between a past I can’t remember…and a truth that could destroy us all. Because somewhere between lies, desire, and betrayal, I realize the most dangerous thing of all: I was never meant to love the right brother.

My fiancé fell in love with his secretarial intern and insisted on calling off our engagement. I tried to persuade him against it out of goodwill. “She doesn't come from a powerful family. She can’t help you become the Grant family’s heir. You should keep her aside for now." Humiliated, the secretary jumped to her death in public. Five years later, the first thing he did after becoming the heir was divorce me, destroying my family and leaving us ruined. “I'm clearing your debt with Nessa." When I opened my eyes again, it was my twenty-second birthday banquet. My fiancé’s grandfather asked what my birthday wish was. “I hope Harry and Miss White can share a lifetime of happiness and grow old together.” I bowed slightly. “Please, Old Master Grant, allow Harry and me to end our engagement.”

On my very first day studying abroad, my mom brought her real son back home. Within two years, he had won over every single person in the family. By the time I came back, she tossed a signed disownment agreement in my face. "To be honest, I've always thought you were pretty selfish. All you care about is money. You refuse to hand over control of the company, and you never show any real concern for us as parents. Thank God my real son isn't that cold-blooded. So do the right thing—hand over your shares and walk away from this family on your own." She stood there waiting for me to break down, to beg her to let me stay. But I just let out a quiet sigh and pulled out a DNA test linking me to my grandfather—her father. "Mom, I'm not your biological son—that much is true. But I am the biological grandson of the man who actually runs the Harrison family. The one who should be leaving the Harrison family isn't me—it's you."

After a century of wandering and sealed away in seclusion, I came home to the Ashveil Order. The one who received me was the youngest apprentice of the current generation. Taking me for a fresh recruit, he put me through a so-called pre-training inspection and helped himself to my travel pack. "You're carrying this many rare reagents and relics? For someone just starting out, that's nothing but a burden. I'll go to the trouble of taking some off your hands." "Why do you have so many elixirs and warding sigils? Did you rob someone? That's dangerous. I'll keep them safe for you, so no one comes hunting you for them." Then he laid a hand on my soul-bound blade and said, "This sword carries far too much killing edge. It clashes with your gift and will tear at your soul if you wield it. Lucky for you, it suits mine perfectly. I'll take care of it for you." I'd had enough. I backhanded him across the face. Did he have any idea that the Ashveil in Ashveil Order came from me—Rowan Ashveil?

To Lara, love meant spending forty years with your partner, wading through a mountain of problems and coming out of it unscathed, together. To Tristan, love was weakness, a mere tool to exploit one's vulnerability. When Lara formed an unlikely alliance with Tristan, she could never imagine the possibilty of loving somebody like Tristan; a grumpy, arrogant jerk. But somewhere down the road, she found herself falling for a man whom she knew could never love her back.

For the eighteenth time, Samson brought home his new lover and enjoyed their intimacy right in front of me. Knowing he was doing this to get back at me, I just quietly picked up their scattered clothes. Five years ago, Samson was nearly killed in a kidnapping. Ignoring all his desperate pleas, I broke up with him and left the country. Five years later, he became the CEO of a major corporation and used his wealth to keep me at his side as his personal assistant. Every so often, he would bring home a different woman and flaunt their affection in front of me just to humiliate me. Samson never knew that I had saved him from those kidnappers five years ago—and that I was the one who couldn't let go of him. Things went on this way until he brought Judy back. My cousin, someone I had financially supported for years. When Judy proudly stroked her belly and told me she was pregnant with Samson’s baby, I just congratulated her calmly. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Hello, about that Medical Support Project we discussed? I’ve decided—I’m ready to join.”