Novel & Cerita Hard Times Create Strong Men Book

Xena Xander returned to the past and found herself back in 1989. That year, she was thirty. Her husband, Julian Zane, was thirty-five. He had just become the youngest academician at the National Academy of Sciences. He was a national talent, and his future looked exceptionally promising. They had a pair of ten-year-old twins. Everyone said she was lucky. She was so lucky to have a good husband and sweet children. But the first thing she did after returning to the past was consult a lawyer and prepare two divorce agreements. She called Julian’s office. When the assistant realized it was her, the response was brief. “Xena, Professor Zane is busy. He doesn’t have time.” She went to the research institute to look for him, but the guard stopped her at the entrance. “Sorry, Professor Zane is unavailable right now.” After three days, she took the divorce agreement and went to see Julian’s first love. She placed the agreement in front of Moon Jensen and calmly said, “Please have Julian sign the divorce agreement. From now on, he and the two children belong to you.”

He kissed her over and over again, and she responded: she said yes. All female heat and need; so soft and curved against his muscle and hard planes. King kissed her like he owned her and she ached to just let him take her. Any way he wanted; as many times as she could take him. King shifted her again, held almost her whole weight on one massive forearm, freeing his other hand to move over her now. His fingers tightened on her cheek as he kissed her, the metal of his rings cool against her flushed skin, then he moved his hand down her body. She arched when he caressed her throat and stroked down slowly. **** Naomi Abbott had it all once: talent, success, momentum. Now she runs a nonprofit art program for autistic adults and counts her days sober instead of her sales. She’s smart, beautiful, and barely holding herself together. One year into recovery, Naomi knows the rules: no chaos, no temptation, and absolutely no romance. Especially not with him. Matt “King” Kingston is danger wrapped in muscle, a scowling ex-Marine with a garage, a shadowy side hustle, and a laser-focused obsession with Naomi. He wants her. All of her. And he’s never been good at walking away. But the closer he gets, the harder she resists... because letting King in means risking everything she’s fought to rebuild. As trust grows and walls crack, King becomes Naomi’s anchor. Until she spirals. When the past comes roaring back, Naomi must decide if she’s strong enough to survive it... and if King’s love can endure the wreckage.

In June of 1975, Ryan Baxter's mom moves him and his brother, Matt, to the small seaside town of Bayport, MA to escape their abusive father. For an eleven-year-old, spending lazy days hanging out at the beach and the arcades sounds like a dream.When he meets Leah and she agrees to be his girlfriend, Ryan is happier than he's been in his young life. Then the "Sea Monkeys" knock-off he bought from the back of a comic book starts to grow...and grow and grow.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

On the day my husband, Martin Clark, took wedding photos with his secretary, I didn't cause a massive scene like I used to. Instead, I personally went to help them pick out the best shots. I even had the photos framed and hung them right in the living room for every visiting guest to see. Rumors spread like wildfire among the families of Sicilana that I was the most powerless donna, allowing any mistress or side-chick to climb over my head. I simply smiled and said nothing. Half a month later, Martin explained to me, "The photos were just a birthday wish of hers." I nodded obediently. "Okay." In my past life, the moment I saw those photos, I rushed right in front of Martin and threw a huge fit, even posting all of his explicit cheating photos onto social media. To punish me, Martin deliberately sabotaged my father’s shipping lines, causing our family to suffer devastating losses. Using the excuse that I was mentally ill, he sent me to a psychiatric hospital, where I was controlled with drugs and died within a few years. Now that I have a second chance, I won't harbor a single shred of love for Martin. I only want money! Every single time he has an affair, I will divert another one of the Clark family's shipping lines away. Right now, there are only three lines left. One more mistress, and the Clark family will be turned into an empty shell.

BOOK ONE OF THE MAFIA MEN SERIES *** And the sweetest little angel couldn't keep her eyes off the devil. *** The strong, powerful, and ruthless Nikolai Costello ruled over the kingdom of the dark world he was born into, what he wasn’t supposed to do is to fall in love with someone so different from his world while he was betrothed to someone else. He was never supposed to fall in love with someone as sweet and innocent as Evangeline Bolton. Evangeline Bolton has spent her entire life in a single room locked away from the world. Her world was filled with books and movies as it was her window to the outside world. From a very young age, she was told that the world out there was filled with big bad wolves who were ready to tear her apart if she walked out. But what happens when one day, Evangeline's parents get brutally murdered leaving her alone at the mercy of Nikolai “The Devil” Costello, the most feared man in the entire country?

Betrayed on her wedding day, Agatha marries a mysterious stranger in desperation. As her family and ex-fiancé continue to sabotage her life, her new husband becomes her unexpected savior. But how far will his wealth and influence go, and can Agatha trust the man who's suddenly become her rock?"

The explosion wiped out my parents—and their company. All I had left was some insurance cash and a pile of patents nobody cared about. I begged their old partners to back me. Crickets. Then Alex Ross strolled in, played the hero no one asked for, and proposed. Five years deep into our marriage, after my 99th FDA rejection, I finally cracked. I was in the garage when I heard his phone on speaker. Mark's voice came through: "Dude, you're still handing Lily Emma's blueprints before she even files? How many times has she flopped now? Girl's relentless, huh?" Alex? Straight-up ice. "Ninety-nine. She'll quit soon." "You're really tanking your wife to boost Lily's brand? Worth it?" "Lily's launching her new product tomorrow at the Boston Medical Summit. Patent number 100. Watching her blow up from nothing... makes me proud." "But it's all Emma's stuff. Your dad made you marry her for her brain, didn't he?" "Don't bring up my father." His voice turned sharp. "He forced me to dump Lily. I just played along." I sank into the driver's seat, frozen. I wasn't a partner. Just a pawn—revenge bait for his dad and backup fuel for his ex.

Adam lifted her high into the air. “Hold onto the bar, baby.” Startled, she reached up and grasped the metal, her back against the wall. He stepped right under her, wrapped her legs around his neck and shoulders. His hands gripped her rounded ass and pulled her pussy right up against his mouth. She gasped and arched her back. Adam felt her incredible need. “I’m not going to make you wait, sweetheart.” “Please,” she whispered. “Please.” **** When Katie Lloyd learns her stepfather is dying, she’ll do anything to reach him. Stranded by bad weather and no transportation, she’s forced to accept help from the last man she wants to be trapped with: Adam Pierce. Big, brutal, arrogant... and the one person she’s argued with nonstop since the day they met. A five-day road trip with him sounds like hell. But Katie is out of options. Adam respects Katie’s talent as a photographer, even if her stubbornness drives him insane. Then an accident exposes the truth about her past... and everything changes. Adam shifts from adversary to protector, determined to get Katie home and face the man who destroyed her childhood. Along endless highways and dangerous truths, attraction ignites where anger once lived. And when the journey ends, Adam wants more than her survival – he wants to help her rebuild. In his arms, and in his bed, if she’ll let him.

This is my second month trying to win over Lucian Moonshadow, the Alpha. Lucian smiled softly as he said, "Do you really think I would want an inferior Omega?" Later on, he was furious to find me with another wolf. "Didn't you say you wanted to be my Luna? You're nothing but a hustler, aren't you?" I chuckled angrily. "I'll be the Luna of whoever spends the night with me." Lucian uncovered the Alpha from another pack in bed and sent him away. "Leave right now. Ilyra belongs to me."

My fated mate, Alpha Kaelen, rejected me seven times. The first time we bonded, he whispered against my ear, his breath hot. “From now on, my soul sings only for you.” But then his first love, the Omega Seraphina, came back for him. And just like that, he rejected me. They shared a mate’s mark from their past. It left her hopelessly addicted to his scent. “I’m sorry,” he’d said. “I have to be with Seraphina. The scent addiction is destroying her. She can’t even shift. Her wolf is weakening.” The first time he rejected me, I slashed a silver dagger across my wrist. I let the blood flow, hoping the pain would make him look at me. It worked. Kaelen was horrified. He left Seraphina for a moment and rushed to my side, holding me, comforting me. The third time, I disguised myself as an ordinary pack wolf. I got an internship at his pack headquarters, just to breathe in the air he breathed. But this time, he looked right through me, as if we were strangers. By the sixth rejection, I had learned how to calmly erase my scent from his suite. I left without a sound. My screams. My surrender. My begging. And what I got in return? Every time he was with her, the full moon would rise, and he’d call me back. Just to play the same sick game all over again. Until now. I heard Seraphina was coming back again. So I handed him the ceremonial dagger myself. He set the date for my return, just like always. He had no idea. This time, I'm the one severing the bond for good. And I am never coming back.