The Space Merchants

She gave up the stars for him. And he threw her away. When Aria Carter discovers her husband’s betrayal, the dream she buried years ago reignites. NASA calls with an opportunity of a lifetime: a mission to space in just one week. She takes hold of the opportunity to escape her broken marriage and reclaim the future she thought she had lost forever. But training comes with one complication, Commander Adrian Vega. Arrogant, infuriating, and devastatingly handsome, He makes it his mission to remind Aria she’s the only female in a world built for men. Their rivalry sparks in every simulation until launch day throws them together, alone among the stars. In the silence of space, teasing turns into tension, and tension into something, neither of them can fight. Yet Earth is waiting, and so is the man who once held her heart. Will Aria fall back into old gravity? Or will she choose the dangerous pull of a man who makes her feel weightless?

War. War is all we know. War for peace, war to take, war to protect. War for resources. It is impossible to avoid war because your neighbors won’t. If you are perceived as weak, you will be targeted. Your land and wealth stolen, your people killed, sons enslaved and daughters raped. To survive in this world, more important than oxygen; is strength and a cold heart. The only source of strength are mana veins. He who owns mana veins has the right to live and the right to rule. He who owns mana veins better have the strength to keep it or long life is but a pipe dream. Xasha hated war. War had taken everything from him and gave nothing in return. He hated that all wars were over petty things like pride and pocket change. He always looked to the vast wilderness with longing. He wondered why all the warmongers hadn’t turned their spears there. Where vast lands and untapped wealth were. Once he became a father. Xasha, the naïve, knowledge-loving merchant, decided he did not want his child growing up in the same world he did. He decided to change the world, end all war and unite the abandoned region. How will he do it? By starting a war, a war that will end all wars. Not a war with his neighbors over pride or a few mana veins. No. He will rage against the wilderness and the world beyond.

She wasn't supposed to be mine. She had her man wrapped around her arms the night I stormed into her world. But she owed the family a hefty debt; one that she couldn't pay because she didn't have the money. I should have ended her life for it—that was how it usually went. No one owed the family and lived to tell the tale. They’d end you once your time was up and you couldn't deliver. And the man they always sent out for the job? Me. I had no business collecting nothing more than their debt; in blood or in cash.  That's why I definitely had no business offering her a way out but in exchange for her body and the world that laid between her thighs. One look at her and I wanted her. I craved her. One taste of her was all it took. I became obsessed. But I had to let her go after our deal had ended. She was never meant to be mine. She didn't belong in my world and she had no business stepping into it. But she did. She stumbled in and crashed everything in her path, including my restraint. My need to possess her nearly drove me insane. I should have pushed her away. I was only a tool in the hands of my master. The odds were highly against us. And I would only bring her pain. But it was too late now. I had a taste of her again and I was lost… completely. She was mine and I was keeping her. And if I had to burn the whole damn world just for her, then I would fucking gladly set it ablaze.

At twenty-four, Maisse’s world collapses. Laid off from her job, she learns her ther workplace has been bought by Bronton, a ruthless, billionaire who rules the corporate world with an iron fist. To make matters worse, her debt-ridden father has sold her to a dangerous underground loan shark. If Maisse doesn’t marry the cruel stranger, the loan shark will take her helpless twin sisters as collateral. Desperate to protect them, Maisse is trapped. Then, Bronton steps in with a cold, calculating proposition. Heds a wife within two weeks to fulfill his grandfather’s dying wish and secure his multi-billion-dollar inheritance before his birthday. If he fails, his scheming cousin will ruin the family legacy. Seeing her desperation, Bronton buys out Maisse’s debt, effectively purchasing her with cash. He offers her a strict, legal contract: play the doting wife for one year, and he will fund her sisters' expensive medical treatments and elite schooling. Maisse has no choice but to sign her freedom away to a powerful man ten years her senior. Moving into his mansion, she expects a monster. Instead, she finds a fiercely protective man who makes her blood run hot. Bronton vows never to love, and Maisse vows never to trust the man who bought her. But as forced proximity blurs the lines of their contract, a dangerous obsession sparks between them. When Bronton makes a ruthless executive decision that threatens the safety of her sisters, Maisse does the unthinkable; she breaks the contract and flees. But a billionaire like Bronton doesn't let his property go easily. He will hunt her to the ends of the earth to claim what is his.

25-year old Taoyama Naruki has nothing going for him, no plans for the present or the future, his life consist of working part time at a convenience store and spending every extra penny at a small Ramen place. However, one night, life finds a purpose for him in the form of sad and lonely Akari. Follow the story of this cosmonaut, traveling aimlessly among the stars.

Todd Vandenberg was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. After his parents died in an accident when he was very young, his Grandfather took him in. Grooming him to one day take over the family company, Vandenberg Pharmaceuticals. Now in his late twenties, he spends his time at clubs and in the bed of a different woman every night. In an attempt to make his wayward grandson change his promiscuous ways, he offers him a deal. Marry within six months’ time; if not, you will be cut off. His friend tells him about a site on the dark web where women auction themselves as brides to the highest bidder. Is this the easy way out he was looking for, or could it lead to something more? Amelia McLeary is a struggling college student, determined to break into the tech industry. As a woman, the odds are already stacked against her, but add to that her ever-growing medical debt because of her diabetes and the ailing health of her aunt, and she finds herself having to choose between giving up her dream or letting her only family die. Knowing there has to be another way, she overhears some fellow students talking about a site on the dark web. Having never had luck with relationships , why not have a contract one instead? What she never expected was for the man that won her bid to be the infamous playboy and the heir to the very company that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Why not make him pay? Or could fate be trying to change both their lives forever?