Samantha's world has always been quiet-just her, her books, and the hope of surviving college without drawing too much attention. She's the girl who prefers libraries over parties, essays over gossip, and invisibility over chaos. Nick, on the other hand, is chaos in human form-the star quarterback, campus golden boy, and the last person anyone would expect to notice her. But when one late-night encounter turns into stolen moments, secrets, and whispers that spread faster than wildfire, Samantha finds herself in the spotlight for the first time in her life-because the quarterback has his eyes on the bookworm. Now the whole school is watching. She's fighting to stay grounded. He's fighting to prove he's not just a cliché. And together? They might just rewrite the playbook.

Best friends. Strangers. Lovers? Some hearts never forget... even when the mind tries to." Starting a new life in college is everyone's dream. Turn over a new leaf. Forget everything that happened in the past. That's what I did or at least that's what I thought. He was my everything once. Now he's a stranger and every glance reminds me why I never forgot him. ************************* This is a contemporary romance Tropes Childhood Best friends to strangers to lovers. College romance Second chance Angst/yearning/Grovelling She falls first, he falls harder Friendship ***********************""

I was never a woman who believed in promises. They always felt like wishes, soft things people made when they didn't know how else to hold on. Judas Mercer made them anyway. And somehow, he kept every single one. He waited for me when the world didn't. Built a life while I was still learning how to belong to one. Loved me in a way that I could finally trust. What I didn't realize was how much of our life already existed beyond me. How some bonds didn't begin with us but were already settled and familiar. She was a presence that had always been there. The woman from our past and our present woven into the spaces I thought were ours alone, standing there with us all along. Because Judas kept his promises. He just kept his secrets too. ~S~S~R~A~Y~N~E 🦋Perceived cheating 🦋Possessive MMC 🦋Dark romance themes 🦋high spice content

*PREVIEW ONLY* AVAILABLE ON AMAZON, KU, AND PAPERBACK US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GJFKTCGK UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GJFKTCGK CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0GJFKTCGK AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GJFKTCGK cor·ner·stone /ˈkôrnərˌstōn/ noun an important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based. Wendy has loved her husband, Atlas, since she was twelve years old. He was her first kiss. Her first love. Her forever. Together, they built what everyone else called a perfect life. They married young, raised two beautiful boys, and were still deeply in love. Until Atlas pulled away. Wendy does everything she can to save their marriage, carrying the weight of the house, the kids, and all the invisible labor no one ever sees. But when Atlas doesn't show up to their final resort, marriage counseling, Wendy makes a choice that breaks her heart. She stops waiting for him. As Wendy rebuilds her life and rediscovers the woman she was before she became a wife and mother, Atlas begins to unravel. Watching his sons look at him like a stranger, and the woman he's loved his entire life slip through his fingers, forces him to confront the truth he's been running from. But to heal their fractured marriage, Atlas will have to face the real reason he pulled away. And what does it have to do with his brother's late wife, Carrie? A deeply emotional, marriage-in-trouble second chance romance about the damage silence can do, mental health, forgiveness, and finding your way back to the person who has always been home.

Sam needed a wife. I needed a stable for my horses. We agreed to a marriage of convenience, but it seemed to be more. For a while. Until my distant cousin, who was Sam's ex, showed up on our doorstep. And I was no longer convenient.

She thought leaving her village would set her free. College life, independence, and the city lights - it was everything she dreamed of. Until he showed up. Cold. Rich. Powerful. And watching her like she already belonged to him. She's not ready for his world. He's not used to being challenged. 💋 A slow-burn romance full of tension, angst , pinning , yearning , and secrets waiting to explode. She came to the city to become a doctor - not to fall in love with a storm. Raven never believed in fairytales. But when she crossed paths with Zayn Blackthorn, the arrogant billionaire with eyes like midnight and words that burned, her world shifted. He wasn't supposed to mean anything. Yet he became everything - her gravity, her chaos, her undoing. But love with Zayn was never soft. It was angst and yearning, power and surrender, a constant pull between wanting him and needing to breathe. Every time she tried to escape, he pulled her closer - until she could no longer tell where the hate ended and the love began. Now, with secrets unraveling, pasts colliding, and a world watching their every move, Raven must decide: Is he her salvation or her ruin? And how many times can a heart break before it stops believing in love? Because Zayn Blackthorn will do anything to win her back - even if it means groveling for the love he once tried to own. (Mature content later in the story)

Prologue When honey turns bitter, even sweetness scars the tongue. Revenge that was the fire keeping Arjun Rathore Mehra alive. An orphan turned billionaire, he learned that love was a lie and trust a blade. Power wasn't enough. For his enemy Raj Malhotra sharma, Arjun needed something crueler: Raj's daughter, Aarohi. Twenty years old. Blue eyes like oceans. A fragile girl who believed in fairytales. Arjun gave her soft words, tender smiles, and promises under the stars. She surrendered her trust, her laughter, her innocence. For her, it was love. For him, it was a weapon. Then her world shattered. "I never loved you, Aarohi. You were just my game. My bed. My weapon." Her father's slap burned her skin, her mother's silence sealed her fate. Alone and disgraced, she left behind two trembling words: "Forgive me." Arjun didn't look back. In his mind, she would heal. Arjun thought nothing of it. The project was his. Revenge complete. Until fate punished him. On a crowded street, he saw her again wearied, rough-handed, whispers trailing her: "Carrying a bastard... no better than a whore." Tears fell. And then he saw her belly seven months heavy. Every insult she suffered, every tear she shed was because of him. His revenge had left her alone with a burden she never deserved: a child without a father's name or protection. And in that moment, his triumph turned to ash. That was when honey turned bitter. The project was his. But the price was her. Some wounds never fade. Some sins never find redemption. Some loves cannot survive the moment when honey turns bitter. Because the cruelest truth is this: once honey turns bitter, it can never be sweet again. ❝Has Arjun already lost her forever? Is he too late to mend what he destroyed? Or is fate already written in poison? Can even the bitterest honey still hold a trace of sweetness... if only she lets him in?❞ ✨ When Honey Turns Bitter a tale of love, betrayal, and a revenge that cost more than it ever

Atharva ran, his heart pounding, the station looming closer. She was just ahead, a shadow against the dimming light. He called out, desperation thick in his voice, but before he could reach her, Ansh stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "Move, Ansh!" Atharva's voice trembled with urgency. She stood there, still, her back to him, but he could see the sorrow in her posture. She turned slightly, her eyes meeting his-full of pain, full of things left unsaid. Then she turned away, heading toward the station. "No, please!" Atharva's voice broke, but Ansh's grip was firm. "Ansh, I messed up. I should've talked to you first, but if my father knew about her, about me and her , he would've-" Ansh's hand shot out, grabbing Atharva by the collar. "He would've ruined her, right? Or is it you you're worried about? Your career, your image?" Ansh's eyes were cold, cutting through Atharva's defenses. Atharva's breath caught. "I know I was selfish, but I love her, Ansh. She's pregnant-I need to tell her I'm here, that I'll leave everything behind for her and the baby." Ansh's face hardened, his grip tightening. "Too late, Atharva. She didn't want the child." The words hit Atharva like a punch to the gut. "No," he whispered, his voice cracking. "She wouldn't..." Ansh's gaze didn't waver. "She did. Now let her go. Let her live, and you do the same." He released Atharva, who staggered back, his world crumbling around him. Ansh walked away, leaving Atharva in the suffocating silence of his own making. © 2024 [Oly V99]. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means.

Marianna was never meant to be a pawn. When Kade enters her life, he does so with intention. A lie. Disowned by his powerful rival family, he uses Marianna to secure what he's been denied: access, protection, and her family's connections. Their marriage is supposed to be a strategy. A means to an end. Except Kade doesn't expect to fall in love with her. What begins as careful manipulation turns into something dangerously real. Stolen glances linger too long. Arguments end in confessions neither of them are ready to make. Every quiet moment chips away at the wall Kade built between who he is and who he's pretending to be. And threaded through it all is a bond that refuses to behave: distant, muted, wrong. Like it's waiting. Watching. Holding its breath. When Marianna finally learns who Kade really is, and why he chose her, the fallout is brutal. The truth detonates everything: her love, her trust, the future she thought she was choosing. She walks away shattered, furious, done. Whatever fragile thing existed between them is ashes in her hands. And that's when it happens. When Marianna has nothing left to give him. When she's chosen herself. When she's finally, truly through- The bond snaps into place. Sudden. Violent. Unmistakable. The universe doesn't reward patience. It doesn't care about timing or forgiveness. It simply claims what it's owed, binding her to the man who betrayed her at the exact moment she no longer wants him. Betrayal was always part of the plan. Falling in love was not. And the bond? The bond has the worst sense of humor of all.

Zaya Khurana had learned to be content-or at least to pretend. She was the wife of a millionaire, the mother of three, and the quiet shadow that held their world together. Somewhere between school runs, business dinners, and keeping a home that never seemed to rest, she had stopped noticing herself. There was no joy anymore. No hope. Not even the echo of the marriage she once believed in. Aadhrit Dev Khurana, her husband, no longer looked at her the way he used to-no hunger, no warmth, not even the cold intensity he once wielded so fiercely. He loved control, loved their children, loved his empire... but her? She wasn't sure anymore. He was always busy, always somewhere else. Office. Meetings. The children. Everyone got pieces of him except her. Years of distance had turned their marriage into a silent battlefield-no fights, no words, just a slow, suffocating erosion. He had once been obsessed with her; now he barely noticed she was drowning. And maybe she was no longer the woman he had chosen... but perhaps the cruel truth was that he was no longer the man she had loved.