Picaresque Novel Example Novels & Stories

During a team-bonding dinner, my colleagues decide to start a challenge. They want to see whose wife will pick up the call the fastest and transfer the biggest amount of money into her husband's account. As expected, I'm the loser who comes in last. "Don't take it to heart, Evan. Ms. Sinclair might be cold and aloof, but she's still rich!" Everyone laughs as they ease the situation with chatter and jokes. They have collectively decided to avoid mentioning the past. For example, they neglect to bring up the fact that my girlfriend, Audrey Sinclair, never talks about marriage despite me having spent the last seven years establishing the company with her. Another example will be the time that I'm the last one to find out about Audrey's decision to give away the shares to all the higher-ups in the company. Even when I get diagnosed with stomach cancer, my best friend, Grant Hadley, is the one accompanying me in the hospital while we wait for the report. I just smile faintly without showing any reaction. That's when my gaze falls onto Micah Brennan, a new intern, who grips his phone tightly with a conflicted look on his face. "I'll pass. She's on a business trip right now, so she's incredibly busy." Sensing that the atmosphere is a little stiff, I just smile and lean over to tap the dial button that comes with a loudspeaker function in order to save him from embarrassment. At first, we think that the phone call will go unanswered. Surprisingly enough, Micah's partner immediately answers the call. The atmosphere in the private room falls eerily silent. After all, the gentle voice drifting out of the loudspeaker belongs to none other than my supposedly cold and aloof girlfriend. "Babe, have you received the surprise gift for your employment anniversary?"

Following the success of her two novels, Cela receives an offer for the TV adaptation of her stories but a third story has to be written soon to complete a three-story special. She is not in to the project until she rediscovers the paper bearing the address of the meeting place of her supposed first date with Nate. Now that her mother is no longer around to interfere, she becomes inspired to reunite with him after many years and hopefully write the third novel based on their new story. Unfortunately, he is now about to get married in two months. Disappointed with the turn of events, she decides not to meet him again. She visits their old meeting place and finds it a good place to write but unexpectedly meets him there. They agree not to talk to each other if they meet there again but fate leads them to meet again under different circumstances leaving them no choice but to speak to each other. Suddenly, Nate’s fiancée starts acting weird and suggests that he spend the weekend with Cela while she is away. Although it confuses him, he figures that it is her way of helping him get closure. The two spend one Sunday reminiscing the past expecting a closure in the end but the wonderful moment they share this time only makes it harder to achieve that closure so Cela has to put a stop to it saying, “Please don't think even for a second that there is still something left or something new to explore after everything that happened or did not happen. This is not a novel. This is reality. We don't get sequels or spin-offs in real life. We just continue. We move forward and that's how we get to the ending."

Five years after we broke up, my ex bought the company I worked for and suddenly became my direct boss. The project plan I'd stayed up nights working on—nearly killing myself to finish—was handed to someone else without a word. My teammates were split apart, and I became his go-to example when he wanted to tear someone down. I was the laughingstock of the office. Shawn Lubbard said it was the price I had to pay for betraying him. Finally, I asked him what it would take for him to leave me alone. His reply? "Only if you die." Feeling crushed, I drove a knife into my chest right in front of him. Maybe this terrible life should have ended long ago.

Mia Sherin, a girl who doesn't care about anything other than her life and her dream. She doesn't care about what others say about her nor what others think about her. She's often known as odd and a girl without feelings; an exact example of an introvert. Her normal life is interrupted by an idol ghost from far away. She's forced to accept his companionship, SSB Lee Jimin's companionship. A girl who doesn't even know the meaning of the word idol gets an idol companion. But what will when fate decides to meddle in their lives and make it a little complicated? What will happen when the laws of soulmates bind them together? Will they accept each other to survive...or will they break apart forever? Dive in to find out!

“Marry me… or your family dies.” To save her father’s life, Rachel Owens signs the one contract no woman survives: becoming the wife of Damien Montrel, the city’s most feared mafia king. His rules are simple: Obey. Stay inside. Don’t ask questions. But behind the mansion’s locked doors, Rachel discovers a softer truth meant to stay hidden— Leo. A small boy who calls her “Mama,” and the only weakness Damien has ever had. Damien is ruthless to his enemies and merciless to traitors… yet for Rachel, his control begins to crack. Her kindness disarms him. Her silence wounds him. Her fear destroys him. Just as they begin to trust each other, a new enemy rises — The Raven, a shadow who knows Damien’s secrets, his past… and Rachel’s value. War is coming. In a world ruled by blood and vengeance, Rachel must decide: Is the real danger the man she married… or the one coming for them both?

"Your body is mine Kate... Every bit of it... I am going to make you feel the butterfly no one ever has." ** Kate Walter sought out to seek justice for her parents' death, and Dante Romano, who ran a club during the day and led a mafia at night, was a suspect. To dig into the truth, she took a job as a nanny for Dante's daughter. Little did she know that Dante was more than just a boss; he was known for his pleasurable lifestyle. The merciless mafia boss whose aura neither sized nor decreased. Now, Kate faces the challenge of staying focused on her mission without getting caught up in Dante's enticing world. Can Kate fulfill her mission without succumbing to the allure of the seductive mafia boss?

Lyana Dela Merced grew up with nothing but grit and determination. Life had never been kind to her. From abandoned by her lover, and later losing her only child to illness, she learned the hard way that pain doesn’t pause for anyone. But even when the world kept breaking her heart, she refused to stay down. Her younger brother, who battled mental illness, depended on her strength, and that was enough reason for Lyana to keep fighting. From one side job to another, Lyana took on every decent work she could find just to survive. Cleaning houses, waiting tables, running errands—name it, she’s done it. So when her doctor friend one night offered her a stable job with the wealthy Tejada family, she didn’t think twice. But what she didn’t expect was that the job came with a shocking twist. Instead of being hired as a simple housekeeper, the Tejadas wanted her to be their surrogate mother. They couldn’t have a child of their own, and they wanted Lyana to carry the baby for them. Torn between desperation and morality, she faced an impossible choice: become the billionaire’s baby maker, or walk away from the one chance that could change her family’s life forever. Years later, fate plays its hand again. The widowed Preston Tejada crosses paths with Lyana Dela Merced, the woman who once carried his child. Old secrets resurface, hearts begin to stir, and both must confront a past that refuses to stay buried. Can Lyana right the wrongs she once made with the Tejada family? Or will she find herself falling for the very man she was never meant to love?

Penelope Lorenzo, a woman who’d just lost everything and in utter shambles. She had never imagined that life would bring her to this point. Brayden Giovanni, the big, masked mafia who shouldn’t be trifled with. Billionaire by day and Don by night. Thrust in each other’s worlds by circumstances beyond their control and some that seemed to be in his control. But with danger lurking from their forgotten pasts, including a serial killer on the loose, choices must be made or consequences abound. What happens when their cocoon is threatened by forces they can’t seem to identify? What happens when she leaves after unraveling his secrets and almost gets trafficked? Will she embrace he who would raze the underworld for her or will she leave with the fruit of their passion?

WARNING: SSPG | R- 🔞 Marimar Oquendo crosses paths with the hot son of a deceased famous actress, who appears to be suffering from a mental illness but understands her pain and desires. She works as his personal nanny, babysits him, and gradually falls for him. She then realizes that he is far more dangerous than she believed, especially since he has suddenly returned to his genuine and normal personality. He was totally out of her league when she discover that he was Lev Dmitri Romanov, the Romanov Mafia's grim reaper—a murderer and mafia billionaire. What will happen to her after she runaway from the man while being pregnant of their child? Will she be able to forget that she had once been the Mafia's nanny?

I married the wrong man for all the right reasons. When my brother is framed for murder, my twin sister Leyla makes a desperate deal: marry Lucien Vale, the dead man's son, for two years in exchange for our brother's freedom. But I know something Leyla doesn't: Lucien Vale was my first love. The man who destroyed me at seventeen and moved on with his life. So when Leyla takes the deal, I make a choice. I'll take my sister's place. Lucien wants a wife to stabilize his empire? He'll get one. Just not the one he expected. The only problem? Somehow, Lucien already knows its not Leyla. And everything, the contract, the murder, the manipulation—was designed to trap ME. Some vows are made in desperation. Others are made in revenge. And the most dangerous ones? Are built on lies.