Clean Reads Novels & Stories

For ten years, Autumn Lewis and Julian Carter were childhood sweethearts. After three years of marriage, all she got in return were injuries, neglect from her brothers, and betrayal from her husband. When Autumn found out she had stage-two stomach cancer, something in her finally let go. She picked herself up and rose from an unnoticed employee to a powerhouse in the tech world. As soon as the divorce cooling-off period ended, she tricked Julian into signing the papers and made a clean break. The next time they met, the ever-calculating Julian’s eyes turned red as he tore up the divorce certificate. “Autumn, I was wrong. We’re not getting divorced. If I could give you my stomach, I would—just please don’t leave me.” Her once-proud brothers now pleaded, “Autumn, forgive us. Your sister-in-law is filing for divorce. Could you spare us some money?” Just then, a man stepped out from behind her, lifted his shirt slightly, and sneered. “Autumn, why waste your time on these jerks? Look at me instead.” Indeed, affection that came too late was worth less than dirt. She didn’t care for it anymore.

I've just received a text from my CEO wife, Cara Lavigne. Apparently, she's gone on another last-minute business trip again, so she can't accompany me to the funeral home. But soon, I see Cara's silhouette being captured in a photo, where she celebrates her assistant, Warren Stone's birthday with him in a work-related post he has just uploaded. The caption reads, "Thank you for the amazing cake, boss! I feel so happy to be able to celebrate my birthday!" I just smile calmly before leaving a like and a comment. "Happy birthday." My colleagues, on the other hand, start betting pools like mad to see what kind of tricks I'm going to pull this time in order to kick up a ruckus. Cara calls me immediately just to scold me. "Warren is just celebrating his birthday, so what's with the comment? He's a very sensitive person, you know! How is he going to survive in this company now that you've passive-aggressively humiliated him in that public post? "It's been barely two years since Warren joined this company, not to mention he doesn't have any friends! What's wrong with me celebrating his birthday with him, huh? People like you, who are born with silver spoons in their mouths, will never understand Warren's plight! "I want you to delete your comment right now! We'll talk more about this once I'm home! Your dad is already dead anyway, so you can just wait for a few more days before claiming his body!" I can only clench my fists tightly as I listen to Cara's heartless and nonchalant words. "No need for that." Once she is back, the divorce procedures will be done.

My fiance, Victor Blackwood, is a mafia boss who rules the country's underworld with an iron fist. To the rest of the world, he is the epitome of power. Yet to me, he is the embodiment of love. But I do not realize the cost of loving a man like him. On Valentine's Day, I cook his favorite dishes and wait for him to come home. However, time passes, and his chair stays empty. Uneasy, I go to Queenie Stone's social media page. She is Victor's foster sister. She posts, "All I said was that I felt lonely, and he came right away. "Even when I accidentally spilled wine on him, he didn't mind. Victor is still someone who puts family first, even if it means neglecting his lover. "He never lets me down. I hope things stay that way." In the photo, Victor's shirt is soaked at the waist. Queenie's handkerchief lingers near his most private parts, but he doesn't pull away. He merely looks at her affectionately. I do not make a fuss and give Queenie's post a like. Then, I send Victor a message that reads, "Let's break up." Victor ignores it as always. Later, I discover that when my breakup message popped up, he had said offhandedly, "Vivienne can't live without me. She's just acting out. "If I ignore her for a few days, she'll come crawling back by herself. She's easy to please." What he doesn't know is that I was easy to handle only because I once loved him. But now that I have decided to leave, he cannot make me turn back, no matter how he tries to win me over.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Honor student by day, Camgirl by night. Iris Williams has it all on the surface: brains, beauty, a scholarship and a clean respectable reputation in Hawthorne College. But by night, she is the Masked Muse, a Camgirl who streams to a mystery patron whose generous payments keep her afloat…and stir a dangerous longing in her heart. When Caleb, the golden-boy playboy of Hawthorne, makes his way into her life, she contemplates leaving the past behind until she overhears his cruel wager to date her and all of her feelings crumble.  She didn't expect to run into Dmitri, his uncle and the cold captivating professor on campus. Her phone slips from her hand, revealing her identity. Mortified, she flees, yet that moment changes everything. Because she soon discovers that the cold, enigmatic Professor before her was the very benefactor she had been fantasizing about. And as their eyes lock across a classroom, she knows, he knows. Torn between shame and desire, she tries to escape him at every turn, but Dmitri, after meeting the woman he has been obsessed with, has no plans on letting her go. When giving into her desires threatens everything she's worked hard for, it's up to her to decide whether to risk everything for a chance at the passion that now threatens to consume them both.

“Say my name, baby. Tell me who this pus sy belongs to.” “Damian…” she moaned softly as I curled my fingers, hitting her just right. “Louder.” “DAMIAN!” Inside the bathroom, Henry let out a wrecked sob, as if her screaming my name had just carved his heart out all over again. Perfect. I pulled my fingers out, brought them to my mouth, and licked them clean while she watched over her shoulder, her eyes glazed. Then I dropped to my knees like a man ready to worship his god. Because yes, I would worship this pus sy like it was my god. **** After sacrificing her legs and her freedom to save a stranger, Cindy Hart becomes the crippled wife of a man who only loved her out of guilt. When he brings his ex into their home and throws Cindy aside, she decides she is done being the victim. With her billionaire identity hidden and her brother’s dangerously hot best friend pretending to be her lover, Cindy begins her revenge. But when the lines between fake and real blur with the playboy she once rejected, Cindy finds herself fighting not just for power but for a love she never saw coming.

BOOK BLURB: She was betrayed by the man she loved so he offered her a marriage of convenience. But some lies are harder to maintain than others Zendaya Morrison lost everything the night of the accident—her ability to walk, her position as heir to a billion-dollar empire, and three years of her life devoted to a man who only wanted her money. When she finally overhears her fiancé plotting to leave her for her best friend, she makes a choice: reclaim what's hers. But taking back her position as CEO comes with an impossible condition—she needs a husband. Enter Malachi Hayes: her brother's best friend, the man she's spent years avoiding, and the only person who knows the truth about the night that changed everything between them. His solution? A fake engagement that will fool the board and secure her position. The rules are simple: three months of pretending, a wedding for show, one year of marriage, then a clean divorce. But when her brother moves the wedding to five days away, and Malachi's carefully controlled distance starts to crack, Zendaya realizes the hardest part isn't convincing the world they're in love. It's pretending they're not. A fake engagement. A forced marriage. And a secret that could destroy them both.

POWERS SERIES (BOOK TWO) ”I’m only here until my father’s debt is paid. I’m not your property,” I said, though my voice faltered under his piercing gaze. Owen smirked, stepping closer, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “Funny, because the moment you stepped into my territory, you became my property, mia cara, and I do not let go of what’s mine until I’ve taken everything I’m owed—and more.” Mae has spent her entire life trying to clean up her father’s messes. But when his largest debt lands her in the hands of Owen, the most feared Mafia Don in the country, her life takes a maddening turn. Owen built his empire on blood, power, and his unwavering belief that family is nothing but a weakness. Mae’s fierce loyalty and willingness to risk everything to protect her deadbeat father—and track down the mother who abandoned her—makes her more interesting than she already is. Trapped in a web of danger, desire, and impossible choices, Mae has to decide: How far will she go to save the people who’ve already let her down? And how long can she resist the pull of the man who claims to own her?

“I-I’m near, Zamir. Something is about to… come.” Claudia pierced a soft moan ahead of time. The man’s lips twitched into a curve. “For the next thirty days, I won’t let my maids clean the bathroom.” Claudia’s softest voice warmth Zamir’s heart. “Why?” “Your fingerprints are all over the place. I want to keep all your traces because thinking about you is making me feel aroused real good, Claudia.” *** Claudia Woods was a third year pre-med student. She wanted to be a Doctor due to her grandmother who was sick yet she has no control on the situations and casualties entering their lives. Unfortunately, her grandmother was diagnosed with a terminal disease and Claudia was forced to stop studying and just focused on working. Not until an unfortunate event occured, her grandmother died and the loan sharks were running after her. Yet destiny was a playful one. Claudia met the handsome Greek God-looking Zamir Trian Cassano, a person who will be a huge instrument that will change her life entirely. She thought that Zamir was just a normal person who had a lot of securities in his mansion yet as time goes by, Claudia soon found out the vicious man’s identity, leaving her a lot of doubts, horrific experiences along with his dark past and scars buried six-feet below the ground.

When the new intern, Felix Madden, hears that I'm going back to my hometown for the Thanksgiving weekend and won't be home in my fully paid-off luxury lakeview apartment, he goes out of his way to cozy up to me. "Come on, Carl. Your place is going to be empty anyway. Why not let my parents stay there for a few days during the holiday? It'll save them the cost of paying for a hotel," Felix says. Worried that my belongings might be tampered with, I politely turn him down. His expression darkens slightly, and he mutters under his breath, "Fine. If you won't lend it to me, I'll find my own way." I don't think much of it at the time. Then, on the first day of the holiday, the property management company sends me a message. They inform me that a group of strangers has entered my building using my access code and appear to be heading to my unit. My heart sinks to my stomach. Something is very wrong. I've only ever shared my access code with my closest family members. There is no way an outsider could know it. The next thing I see is Felix's social media post. The photo shows him and his entire family relaxing in my apartment. The caption reads, "Spending Thanksgiving in a luxury lakeview apartment. Life is good. If you work hard enough, you can enjoy this kind of lifestyle too." Not once does he mention that the apartment belongs to me. Instead, he deliberately makes it look like he owns the property himself. Quietly, I save every piece of evidence. I save the security camera footage and make screenshots of his social media posts. I don't throw them out, nor do I expose them—I simply wait. By the final day of the holiday, they've thoroughly enjoyed themselves and start packing up without a care in the world. As they prepare to leave, they are dumbfounded.