Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program Novels & Stories

Billionaire CEO Killian Blackwood was looking for the perfect genes. He offered a massive reward for a surrogate mother. Ten billion dollars for a baby. But the 77 women before me had all vanished. Drowning in debt, I had no choice. I gritted my teeth and became number 78. I carried his child for ten months. I gave birth. And I didn't disappear. But as I reached for my baby, ready for my ten billion dollars, I burst into tears of terror. My newborn wasn't human. It was a litter of three wolf pups.

What if an omega servant can hear the inner wolf of the ruthless Alpha King—when no one else can, not even the king himself? Will it be a secret that save her life… or destroy her?

Matthew Walsh, a young pickpocket, saves Arabella, a spirited young lady who's been kidnapped by the gang of thugs he's just joined and helps her escape. Soon they fall in love with each other, only to be too quickly separated by her aunt's wicked scheme. Being hunted by his former gang, Matthew flees to London, where he accidentally saves the life of Mr. Goddard, a notorious gaming club owner. The man recruits him to be his employee and bequeaths him an obscene amount of fortune. When Goddard draws his last breath, his final wish is for Matthew to marry his daughter Marguerite, who has been loving him from the first time they met. Unable to forget Arabella, Matthew is caught in a quandary. Just as he is ready to settle down with Marguerite, he comes across his long-lost love, Arabella, at a party. Obliged to marry a woman and desperately wants another, Matthew finds himself at a crossroads. Should he choose the woman he always dreamed of, or the one who's been there for him the whole time?

After three years of living with my wife’s family, everyone thought they could treat me like a pushover. Me? I’m just waiting for her to hold my hand before I can give her the world.

She was never supposed to fall for him. Ava thought spending one quiet summer in Pasadena with her brother would be safe, ordinary—forgettable. Then she met Christien. Cold. Silent. Dangerous in a way no one explained out loud. The kind of man people lowered their voices around… and warned her about without ever saying why. He was her brother’s best friend. And the worst mistake she could make. Because Christien wasn’t just rich—he was controlled. Raised in a world where love was weakness, and weakness didn’t survive. Behind his perfect, untouchable image was a life built on pressure, violence, and expectations that didn’t allow failure. He should have stayed away from her. She should have stayed afraid of him. But every stolen glance, every accidental touch, every moment they pretended didn’t matter… started breaking the rules. Until Ava uncovered what he really was hiding. And by then, it was already too late. In Christien’s world, love doesn’t save you. It destroys you.

Who killed Sunny Sweeney? During Sunny’s very LAST summer days, she experiences unusual paranormal happenings all around her as she indulges in desire, has adventures with her friends, and experiences forbidden love. Her angelic face once lit up the room now smothered in blood, desecrated, her beautiful life stolen! The ultimate betrayal!

I paid the ultimate price in my last life for being too polite to refuse others. During a summer vacation, four children ended my life. "Talia, we’re already on the way to your place. We should be there in about two hours. No need to prepare anything special. Just keep things the way you normally do. Don’t fuss." I stared blankly as the voice came through my phone. The agony of my skin being scalded raw by boiling-hot stew was still vivid in my mind. When I had struggled and begged for help, those children had dragged me back together. In the chaos, I had fallen from the seventh floor and died with my eyes wide open. I glanced at the calendar on the wall. I had been reborn. In my previous life, my sister-in-law, Vanessa Mercer, had dumped her four kids at my home for the summer and left. I was forced to care for six children alone and was pushed to the brink of collapse. Simply because I wouldn’t let my nephew, Jaxon Mercer, play on his tablet for hours on end, and because I told him not to wander around the house in nothing but his underwear, the conflict escalated until it led to that horrifying death. My whole body trembled at the memory. I rushed into the bedroom, grabbed my identification documents, and fled toward the high-speed rail station with my two daughters, Kaia and Nova Mercer. "Mom, where are we going?" "I'm taking you on a trip. We’re going to have as much fun as we want!"

A random transmigrator, Rosanna Lacewin, finally gets fed up after living as me, Roxanne Lovelace, for five years. She then ups and leaves this world with her system, leaving behind my extremely spoiled son, Theo Sterling, and my unusually cold husband, Austin Sterling. Before I can even process my thoughts, I suddenly see a barrage of comments flashing before my eyes. "What kind of a disastrous start to a story is this? This is the first time I've ever seen such a stupid transmigrator! She arrived five years earlier, made a huge mess, and now, the original owner has to clean up the mess she left behind!" "That's right. All she had to do was just correct Theo's ways, warm up to Austin, and stop her family from bothering the actual main characters of the story. But she did none of that and only spent all her time enjoying herself and avoiding death!" "Theo's all spoiled now, and Austin is very distant from her. I'm feeling so annoyed just by looking at this family. I wish they'd just die." So, as it turns out, I'm just the cannon fodder in this story plot who dies young, and both my husband and my son will be the main antagonists later on.

THIS FICTIONAL BOOK ENTAILS THE LIFE OF NIYOLA, SHE LOST HER PARENTS AT THE AGE OF TWO AND WAS RAISED BY HER NANNY. CIRCUMSTANCES LED HER TO MEET THE INTROVERT KING OF NIGHT LIFE.... FINDS OUT MORE.

Part One: I Dare YouShannon Gregory never thought she’d actually meet in person the man she connected with online, leading her step by step into the world of BDSM and the role of the submissive. Now he wanted to meet her in person, on a treasure hunt that he promised would end with the most erotic, sexually fulfilling night she could imagine. Did she dare take the challenge?Part Two: Journey to the PearlMiranda Fox’s latest loser one made off with a perfect pearl she bought and she wants it back. Then a Chinese fortune cookie tells her “Find the perfect pearl and you will find the perfect lover.” But was her hot, sexy friend BJ McNamara, a man she never took seriously, the one to show her where the perfect pearl is and what makes the perfect lover? Part Three: Hot to TrotBuying a ranch on eBay was the wildest thing Autumn Kelley had ever done. But then she discovers the ranch comes with a foreman who makes her pulse pound and could give her an orgasm just by looking at her. And then she meets his friend. But what happens when Autumn inevitably has to come down from the orgasmic high?Part Four: Take a Chance On MeZoe Fortunato is getting married. Tomorrow. But for her wedding gift from Brad she wants one forbidden night as part of a threesome. Will it help the wedding or call it off?Hot Summer Nights is created by Desiree Holt, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.