Tag: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday: January 28th, 2026

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, what I recently finished, and what I plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Where is Kiro?
He’s the lost Dragusha brother, heir to a vast mafia empire — brilliant, violent, and utterly savage… and he’s been missing for years.

Ann
I’m supposed to be doing simple undercover research at the Fancher Institute for the Mentally Ill & Dangerous, but I can’t keep my mind off Patient 34. He’s startlingly young and gorgeous, but it’s not just that. He’s strapped way too tightly to that bed. And there’s no name or criminal history on his chart. What are these people hiding? My reporter’s instincts are screaming.

Here’s the other thing: the staffers here believe he’s so sedated that there’s not a thought in his head, but I catch him watching me when nobody’s looking. Our connection sizzles when I enter the room. When our eyes meet, I know he understands me in a way nobody else ever has.

I’m supposed to follow my editor’s orders — I have secrets, too — but everything about Patient 34 is suspicious. How can I not investigate?

What I recently finished reading:

“My brothers think I’m obsessed. Imagining ghosts. But I’ll always know you.” ~Viktor

Who is the nun who never shows her face?

Ever since killing the love of his life, the beautiful and fierce mafia assassin named Tanechka, Viktor has lived in utter torment.

Now, years later, he comes upon a nun who will never show her face.

Viktor is sure this is Tanechka herself — that she has improbably, impossibly survived. Is it obsession? A figment of a guilty conscience? Or is this their second chance?

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

What would you give to live forever? Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is.

The Legacy Human is the first in a philosophical HopePunk sci-fi series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.

Ever since Agnes’ car accident, things have changed drastically for her. When she wakes up in the hospital, not only is her son Stuart there, who she hasn’t seen in years, but a ghostly apparition! Instead of getting ready for the loony bin, Agnes and Eleanor help ready the Butler Mansion for a grand opening as a bed and breakfast on Halloween, except they find the body of Katherine Clark. It’s game on, as usual, for Agnes, except she now has a new partner, one who has remained silent and is—well—a ghost. Agnes now struggles to keep her wits, keeping her ghostly companion a secret from Eleanor, not such an easy feat since Eleanor is sharp as a tack. Not only that, but where has Stuart been all of these years and what is he up to?

Driving up Highway 50 through Nevada, said to be the loneliest road in America, sure would make a body nervous. Unless, of course, you’re Agnes Barton, who welcomes the challenge and the chance to check out a real ghost town. But before she even arrives in Silver, Nevada, a mystery has unfolded in the form of a lost little girl, Rebecca, who has become separated from her family who are searching for the elusive Leister’s gold. The real kicker is that Agnes saw it all in a dream, but when they arrive at the Goldberg Hotel & Saloon, she realizes so many things about her dream are real, like the details of the inside of the hotel. It isn’t long before she learns that the hotel is haunted by various spirits from the past, further making for an interesting vacation. Agnes is determined to find the missing family, insisting that it simply wasn’t just a dream as she learns that a family with a young daughter had indeed disappeared in the middle of the night just before they had arrived. Will Agnes and Eleanor find the missing family before they perish from the elements, or will the knife-wielding spirit called “The Cutter,” shorten their chances?

It’s December in the neighboring cities of Tawas City and East Tawas, and they have one thing in common—Christmas is drawing nearer. The only problem is that homes are being broken into in alarming numbers, with guns stolen. Even local militia members Curt and Curtis Hill are victims. That is, until Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason are on the case, launching an investigation even after the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) comes to town, taking an interest in the recent thefts. Agnes’s own son, Stuart, who works for the FBI, tells her to back off, but Agnes isn’t about to stand down. It’s not something she does, even after a threat of arrest. Life for Agnes and Eleanor is good, they’re planning their weddings to their respective fiancés, Andrew and Mr. Wilson, who still refuses to tell anyone his first name. With their hearts set on having their wedding at the lighthouse at the point, Agnes yet again is up to her elbows with ghost sightings, but that’s something that she’s grown accustomed to since her paranormal gift appeared. As Agnes tries to figure out who the female ghost at the lighthouse is, she finally acquaints herself with the ghosts that live in the attic of the Butler Mansion. The deeper she gets, the more she learns about not only who they are, but the dark history of the Tawas area. It gets down to the wire. Will Agnes be able to figure out who is stealing guns in the area, stop the ghosts from causing havoc at the mansion, and actually make their wedding plans before they land in jail or worse?

WWW Wednesday: January 21st, 2026

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, what I recently finished, and what I plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Paige sees her fiancé murder his associate. And he knows she saw. Paige Carmichael must’ve had a premonition that her life was about to take a turn for the worse.One of the books she read was How to Change your Identity and Hide from Anyone.Then she saw her fiancé murder his best friend and associate. And call in one of his flunkies to remove the body. This wasn’t what she signed up for when she agreed to marry Stefano Santangelo. Sure, she knew he was in the mob, but he’d sworn it was numbers running and things like that.Not about to leave the four-year relationship without something to show for it, Paige takes one of his precious antique coins and $750K from his safe, and runs. She changes her hair, her walk, the kinds of foods she eats. Yet, he keeps finding her.One day she meets Christian Charles Beauchamps. Her savior. He’s driving a truck to make money to open a landscaping business. He’s handsome and charming, and eventually convinces her to confide in him.But when she sees him whispering to a suspicious bearded guy, she takes off again–with all of them hot on her tail.Can Paige finally escape Stefano’s grasp and have a normal life?She doesn’t want to be next, so she runs, taking $750K from his safe.

What I recently finished reading:

Every Sunday afternoon for almost a year she strolls into the parking lot where you work and drives away in a car share. Every Sunday evening she brings it back. Until one day, when the car comes back, but she doesn’t. A stranger wearing cargo pants and an attitude shows up in her place. After he leaves, you find her bag and all her possessions in the trunk. You realize that wherever she is, she has nothing but the clothes on her back.

What do you do? You don’t know her well, but you know she disappeared. You’re afraid she’s been harmed, but no-one believes you. You think you know who’s responsible, but then that guy turns up dead. And when the cops open an investigation, you are their prime suspect in the murder.

Erstwhile taxi driver Alex Ryan is the guy in the parking lot. Sexy bank executive Chantal Dorval is the mystery woman. Who kidnapped her? Is she alive or dead? Who killed Cargo Pants? And why? Ryan sets out to answer these questions, to find Chantal and exonerate himself. But the more he learns about her life, the more disturbing secrets he discovers, and the more suspects he turns up. And the more the police are convinced he’s guilty.

Flash Drive is action-packed and sexually-charged. It deals with contemporary themes such as substance abuse, alternate lifestyles, and social media privacy issues. It will appeal to readers of the work of Gillian Flynn, Robert Galbraith (JKR), or Harlan Coben.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

When Amanda bumps into a strange man, she thinks nothing of it until she sees him again. And again. Wherever she goes, even at home – he’s there.

She tries to ignore him. But he doesn’t like to be ignored.

Amanda doesn’t know who to turn to. She’s just met Lucas, a man her friends believe is perfect. While she can’t deny her attraction to him, demons from her past and present continue to haunt her. And she’s not the only one with secrets.

What follows is a desperate escape from the city, where she’s forced to confront her past, deal with her growing feelings for Lucas, and fight for a future she’s just beginning to believe in.

Is she strong enough to survive?

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree and National Indie Excellence Award Winner!
Naomi sees her first corpse in a Colorado Springs grocery store, but it won’t be her last. With devastating speed, a plague sweeps first the city, then the state, then the world, leaving less than 1% of the population to go on. Naomi, a gentle and sheltered housewife, finds herself fighting for survival in a world populated by desperate people, where might-makes-right, and mercy and compassion are in short supply. Fellow survivors Jack, a youth minister from Woodland Park; Grace, a 17-year-old high school student from Limon; and Naomi’s daughter Piper, a student at the University of Northern Colorado, all find themselves searching for a safe path forward…because it’s not just the world that has changed.

The plague that decimates the human race also pushes mankind into evolutionary change. Those who survive are different, profoundly so, in ways they are just beginning to comprehend. As Naomi struggles to protect and reunite what’s left of her family, she must also learn to understand and accept the changes in herself. In this strange new world, her survival, and the survival of those she loves, depends on it.

Alessandra is Struggling at the End of the World Along with the rest of a North Georgia town that survived a deadly worldwide plague, Michael’s forced to wear a steel ring around his waist wherever he goes to enforce strict social distancing. He’s seen cohabitation banned. Marriages dissolved. Families torn apart. But he’s a good soldier, supporting the leader’s draconian policies — until he learns an explosive secret about her that threatens to destroy the delicate balance they’ve achieved between safety and order. Now, Michael must enlist help to confront the awful truth about the town of Alessandra, and the fate of what may be the last human colony on Earth before he’s silenced by the people who don’t want anyone to know what they’ve done. Written in 2016 but seemingly ripped from the COVID-19 headlines of today, the story looks at the psychology of pandemic-forced isolation and the corruption of ultimate power. The Solitary Apocalypse is a fast-paced thriller that examines what happens when the world shrinks and power consolidates into the hands of the few, with a vast, empty, uncaring world the only alternative to submission. Buy it today.

Democracy dies in isolation

With Audrey gone, Stephanie and Michael are left to lead Alessandra, and the transition has been a rocky one. While many accept their brand of democracy, there’s a contingent that’s skeptical that democracy can work in a post-virus world. Zac begins to lead his group of skeptics to generate chaos in order to sow disillusionment among the townspeople, Stephanie is faced with the biggest challenge yet to her leadership. And when a familiar face shows up at the gate with another set of motivations, death and political turmoil threaten to send Alessandra spiraling out of control without anyone reliable in command.

Book 2 of The Alessandra Chronicles presents a picture of a town beset by conflict on all sides. Perhaps the only human colony left on Earth, their survival depends on finding a way forward out of the abyss.

WWW Wednesday: January 14th, 2026

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

A great or distinguished figure in any sphere. Grim The personification of death. Combine these two and place them in the small mountain town of Cold Hollow. Sit back and watch the mayhem unfold as sinister dealings are in the air again. There are new arrivals, job placements, and housing to arrange, but with Mayor Myrna Bradbury busy with wedding planning and her fiancé’s family arriving in town, will she be able to keep up with the machinations? When a young girl goes missing, Myrna begins to strategize again, only to be stopped by “The Maestro.” Heads on a pike, inventive uses for nail files, garrotes, and twisted nursery rhymes all play a part in book three of the tooth-rattling Cold Hollow series. Grab your copy today!

What I recently finished reading:

“The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and people are dying.” Life is not always perfect in the town of Cold Hollow, but with Mayor Myrna Bradbury at the helm, it might be someday. When a batch of newly paroled convicts arrives to take up residence in the small town, disappearances of longtime townsfolk begin, gruesome human remains are found, and a government inspection is looming on the horizon. Time is of the essence as Myrna and the new chief of police are thrust into an investigation the likes of which they had never imagined. Welcome to Cold Hollow, the place where the fun never ends. Grab your copy today and enjoy!

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

Deadly Delilah is back and there’s hell to pay.

When the mayor of Cold Hollow and her husband are kidnapped and held for ransom, two families join forces to rescue them. Will they survive a treacherous hike to the mountain range caves in the midst of a nor’easter? Delilah returns in this installment and her dark side is teetering on the edge. What will happen to the Gillette’s and their extended family? Will the unknown enemy lurking in town be the Maestro’s downfall, or will he emerge victorious and hold his family within his grasp in time for the holidays? Find out about the tug of war in Book Four of the Cold Hollow Mystery series today.

A Butcher, a Baker, and a Cadaver Maker walk into a bar…who comes out alive? You never know in the twisted town of Cold Hollow, but you know it’s not going to be an ordinary day when you receive half a human face in the mail. Mayor Myrna Gillette and Chief Hanover are at it again when an unwanted visitor, bent on revenge, refuses to leave their town. With arsonists, the Mafia, and murderers to keep in check, Myrna is determined to keep her pleasant town intact while protecting its citizens. Grab your copy of The Butcher, the fifth and final book of the Cold Hollow Mysteries, today!

“I’m coming for you. You will never escape me.” She’s the most dangerous inmate in the hospital for the criminally insane…and she just broke out. When Trey Campbell takes his family to Catalina Island, his escaped patient leaves a trail of bodies behind as she hunts for her one true love – from a previous life.

Every Sunday afternoon for almost a year she strolls into the parking lot where you work and drives away in a car share. Every Sunday evening she brings it back. Until one day, when the car comes back, but she doesn’t. A stranger wearing cargo pants and an attitude shows up in her place. After he leaves, you find her bag and all her possessions in the trunk. You realize that wherever she is, she has nothing but the clothes on her back.

What do you do? You don’t know her well, but you know she disappeared. You’re afraid she’s been harmed, but no-one believes you. You think you know who’s responsible, but then that guy turns up dead. And when the cops open an investigation, you are their prime suspect in the murder.

Erstwhile taxi driver Alex Ryan is the guy in the parking lot. Sexy bank executive Chantal Dorval is the mystery woman. Who kidnapped her? Is she alive or dead? Who killed Cargo Pants? And why? Ryan sets out to answer these questions, to find Chantal and exonerate himself. But the more he learns about her life, the more disturbing secrets he discovers, and the more suspects he turns up. And the more the police are convinced he’s guilty.

Flash Drive is action-packed and sexually-charged. It deals with contemporary themes such as substance abuse, alternate lifestyles, and social media privacy issues. It will appeal to readers of the work of Gillian Flynn, Robert Galbraith (JKR), or Harlan Coben.

WWW Wednesday: January 7th, 2026

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

The continuing saga of a band of military survivors trying to survive in a world destroyed by unknown creatures.

Abbey goes to her home city looking for answers, while others are transported to a place strangely familiar.

What I recently finished reading:

The continuing saga of a band of military survivors trying to survive in a world destroyed by unknown creatures.

With the battle for the camp behind them, Zach and Abbey set out on their journey to Boston, but quickly run into a world dealing with the Cascade in its own unique way.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

The continuing saga of a band of military survivors trying to survive in a world destroyed by unknown creatures.

As the beings from another world try to correct their mistake, the humans must do what they can to survive while also battling their own kind.

It happens every year. A select few disappear, never to return.

From The Falkland Islands to the Himalayas, Puerto Rico to England – people are vanishing without trace or explanation. A young man who’s lost everything stumbles across an ancient secret.

Can he unlock the mystery? Will he find those who need him?

…can he escape the Unknown?

Would you survive?

The Barner family relocates to Cold Hollow, a small town nestled in a Vermont mountain range. They find it to be quite charming and the inhabitants endearing, except for a few residents. Odd laws are enforced, confrontations begin, and insanity reigns as a madman sits upon his imaginary throne, trying to keep the threads of his dream from unraveling. Will Sophia and Angus Barner be able to protect their children from the malevolence that lurks within the small township? With a corrupt police force in place, will vigilante justice come into play? How many disturbing murders have to happen for things to change? This the story of Cold Hollow, a place you’ll never want to visit.

“The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and people are dying.” Life is not always perfect in the town of Cold Hollow, but with Mayor Myrna Bradbury at the helm, it might be someday. When a batch of newly paroled convicts arrives to take up residence in the small town, disappearances of longtime townsfolk begin, gruesome human remains are found, and a government inspection is looming on the horizon. Time is of the essence as Myrna and the new chief of police are thrust into an investigation the likes of which they had never imagined. Welcome to Cold Hollow, the place where the fun never ends. Grab your copy today and enjoy!

WWW Wednesday: December 31st, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Possessed villains. Intriguing guardians. Multiple words.
Ava Davenport is in the midst of her wedding preparations when her world is thrown upside down by a night visitor. He has a mind blowing message and Ava can’t keep her mind off it and… off him.

˃˃˃ The Contact
When she can no longer tell the difference between dreams and reality, she visits a shrink and a shaman. But when neither of them truly understand her, Ava gets closer with her visitor who explains why she is the most sought after person in all the worlds.

˃˃˃ The Descendant
Ava is not a regular human. She possesses abilities no other being in any world can imagine. She is the key to the evil Xemlix plan of enslaving Earth.

After being almost captured by the cruel villains, she is rescued by Meldrick Richglow, her night visitor, and she crosses the portal to the Lapo civilization, the land of milk and honey, where she is safe, but not for long.

The evil Xemlix are terrorizing Earth and can only be defeated with Ava’s supernatural abilities, which haven’t yet awakened.

What I recently finished reading:

While serving in the army in Afghanistan, Michael Cooper is informed that his wife and child are dead, killed in a store robbery in Modesto, California.The police have no leads, and while Mike finishes his tour and his enlistment, the case goes cold.Eight months after his families death, he returns to Modesto determined to hunt for justice.It’s up to Michael and his friends to track down the elusive killers and bring them to justice. If they can.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

From the author of Breaking the Beast, the award-winning thriller, Erebus, and The New Homefront Series comes The Shepherd: Society Lost, Volume One, the first installment of the four-book Society Lost Series.

The Shepherd is the first installment of the post-apocalyptic and dystopian thrill ride of the Society Lost Series! If you like SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, vigilante justice, prepper, dystopian, post-apocalyptic tales filled with action, adventure, tragedy, and triumph, join Jessie Townsend as he and his family struggle in a collapsing and uncertain world.

The Shepherd: Society Lost, is an action-packed post-apocalyptic thrill ride detailing the struggles of former Sheriff Jessie Townsend as he and his family seek shelter from a crumbling world with a self-sufficient life on a homestead deep in the Rocky Mountains.

Sanctuary soon becomes what he meant to escape, peaceful bliss slipping into desperation and despair in the aftermath of events that shook the foundations that shaped our world to the core.

An unholy alliance of conspirators had sought the collapse of our civilization in order to rebuild and reclaim it as their own. Never truly intending to coexist, the unlikely allies found their courses diverging, leading to a struggle that dealt the final death blows to our society. In the absence of the order and structure of our modern civilization, evil, suffering, and chaos were unleashed throughout the world.

As the post-collapse struggles of the outside world begin to threaten Jessie’s mountain hideaway, a return to the world he left behind becomes a chance for redemption and survival in—a society lost.

Betrayal is the second installment of the post-apocalyptic and dystopian thrill ride of the Society Lost Series! If you like SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, vigilante justice, prepper, dystopian, post-apocalyptic tales filled with action, adventure, tragedy, and triumph, join Jessie Townsend as the struggles in his collapsing world continue.

After leaving Spence and the rescued girls with Jӧrgen and the remainder of his group, former Sheriff Jessie Townsend traveled the new and unforgiving world alone and on foot, continuing his quest to find his sister.

Still suffering tremendously from his tragic loss, Jessie walked the Earth as a prisoner of his own thoughts. Armed with his trusty old Colt Single Action Army pistol and an AR-10 platform rifle, Jessie was ready for whatever violence that may come his way. Although each of his days had a purpose, continuing on his quest that may or may not end before his death, Jessie felt a certain level of emotional numbness that only being alone could provide him.

Jessie found solitude in his empty heart—solitude that he felt he desperately needed—but not a day went by when he didn’t think back to those whom he had encountered along the way. In this mad and twisted world, devoid of law, order, and the civility that people around the world had come to expect as the norm prior to the great collapse, Jessie knew that there were still good people out there. Good people who would have to face the evil that this lawless and dangerous new world had spawned once the walls of society came crumbling down around them.

As his travels took him east past the Rocky Mountains and through the desert southwest, Jessie encountered the scene of a recent ambush near Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Appearing to him that children may have been involved, he could not simply pass on by without investigating further. Putting his former tactical and law-enforcement skills to use, he soon became both the hunter and the hunted as he resolved to impose justice on those who would betray others in their own quest for power. What his enemies would soon come to realize, however, is that you should never underestimate a man with nothing to lose—especially a man with an unquenched thirst for vengeance—in a society lost.

A cocoon of naiveté shatters on Rita Warren’s thirtieth wedding anniversary, when a terrorist murders her ex-Marine husband Jared and thirteen other movie goers.

Ensnarled in a cover-up that puts her in an assassin’s crosshairs, Rita must unravel a web of lies and connections that date back to Jared’s service in the Iraq war – before a mysterious kidnapper returns Rita’s daughter Zoe one body part at a time.

This fast-paced thriller is one you won’t want to put down from beginning to end.

When Tim, Maria and Bob’s fourteen year old apparently model son goes missing, they are baffled and distraught. A police investigation reveals Tim wasn’t quite the son they thought he was. Frantic attempts to find him fail, and when their quest becomes an obsession this causes problems between them. But they never give up, and are determined to find him DEAD OR ALIVE, even though it may cost them dear.

WWW Wednesday: December 24th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

The night we met, she was just another one-night stand.

We were never meant to see each other again, and my best friend certainly wasn’t supposed to go and fall in love with her best friend.

Collateral damage… she’s already broken my biggest rule when we hooked up for a second, third, fourth, and maybe a few more times.

She’s everywhere I turn. I can’t escape her or the things she makes me feel.

Thanks to my best friend wanting to do anything to make his girl happy, she’s the newest teacher at Knight’s Ridge College.

If I needed to stay away before, now I have no choice. Not only is she an obsession I don’t need… she’s forbidden.

But I’ve never been as good at following the rules, so much as breaking them. I need to be careful before she gets too close to break me.

The consuming darkness inside threatens to take over following my father’s death, and I find myself craving her light even more than ever.

The only problem is, I don’t want her to rescue me. I want to drag her down… corrupt her.

We’re a match made in hell that first night we met, so why stop now when playing with fire is so much fun.

What I recently finished reading:

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I’m horny and I need you.
I’ll be in room sixty-nine waiting on the bed.
I hope you’re in the mood for giving h…
If you’re up for a game.
I promise to scream your name.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

I learned from a very young age that the only person I could count on was myself.

For years I’ve been content with meaningless one-night stands and zero promises for tomorrow.

I had a good thing going, until he crashed his way into my life… and heart, and wrecked them both.

Nico Cirillo.

The bad boy mafia prince and the one man who’s ever left me craving more. Not that I’ll admit that.

And now, he’s not only a mistake I’ve made time and time again, he’s everywhere I turn.

Taunting me.
Tempting me.

Doing everything in his power to screw up my life, tarnish my reputation, and corrupt the only dream I’ve ever had.

But while I’m pushing as hard as I can to keep him away, his reckless decisions and hot-headed behaviour have forced him to reconsider.

His U-turn is enough to give me whiplash, but it’s nowhere near enough for me to lower my walls and let him in.

To give him a chance he doesn’t deserve.

It’s going to take more than a bit of grovelling after all the ways he’s hurt me, even if it is on his knees.

I found everything I didn’t know I needed.
Accepted forgiveness I didn’t deserve.

She fought for us.
Killed for us.
She was one of us.
And there was no way I was letting her go… again.

But I’m not the only one with wicked intentions for my siren. With her missing, we turn our blame to an obvious enemy. But our path of destruction could be leading us right into another trap.

We’ve been so consumed trying to win this war, that we’re losing the battle. We’ve been oblivious to what’s right in front of us.

Those kind of mistakes could destroy us. If we let them.

Individually, we’re strong.
But together, we’re invincible.
And we’re about to show the world just what we’re capable of.

The last thing I wanted to do with my evening was get all dressed up just to allow old rich dudes to undress me with their leering eyes while I pretended to laugh at their crass jokes.

The only funny thing about this situation is that it shouldn’t be me. My sister is the experienced dancer. I’m the innocent one. But with her down and our desperation at an all-time high, I didn’t have much choice.

I even argued to get myself here, thanks to my guilt. How bad could it really be?

Bad… worse than I expected.

Eyes everywhere, hands itching to follow.

Angry and irritated with the men’s audacity, I escape from the action only to find myself trapped in a man’s bedroom. A very wealthy man judging by the collection of watches I find.

I know I shouldn’t be here, touching what doesn’t belong to me. But they have everything… and we have nothing.

Time freezes the moment I’m caught, and a thrill runs through me. Because it’s not one of the older men from downstairs that finds me. It’s him. The guy I thought could save me from this living hell.

Only now, his kindness has vanished, replaced with the same hunger… but something in his eyes lets me know he’s not afraid to take what he wants.

And I’m not sure I can stop him… or if I want to.

The night we met, she left behind a lot more than just her shoes on my bedroom floor.

She left an impression.
A lasting memory burned into my brain. It teases me… tortures me.

Months have passed since that night. I’ve tried a million and one ways to get her out of my head.

But she’s always there. Haunting me. Stealing my sinful thoughts. Fuelling my darkest desires.

I warned her to stay away. But I didn’t mean it— not really.

Before I can make her mine, I’ll have to find her. With nothing more than her red heels, it’s impossible.

Until I stumble across her in the exact same place I found her the first time… and the last place I expected her to be.

She didn’t heed my warning.

And she’s about to learn to take my threats more seriously.

I want to claim her, but she’s not mine to keep. So I’ll take what I can get, and be the one to walk away this time.

My mistake was thinking I would always know where to find her. I just hope this time I’m not too late.

WWW Wednesday: December 17th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

The moment I discovered the dark truth, it descended on my life and threatened to swallow me whole.

It tore at my soul, piece by piece. But I refused to go down alone.

My need for vengeance pours out like a gaping wound… directed at the man I thought was my father. The one who trained me to become the monster I am.

I will not rest until he’s hurt the way he’s made us hurt.

I will not stop until he’s bled like those I love.

Until he’s paid the price, I’ll never truly be free.

An eye for an eye— he once told me.

And I’ve found the perfect target.

Someone he thought he could keep safe. Tucked away from the depraved world I barely survived.

But I’ve found her.

The innocent pawn in my twisted game.

The seductive demon who’s going to help settle the score once and for all.

All’s fair in love and war… checkmate.

What I recently finished reading:

I wanted to drown. I wanted the world to swallow me up whole and take me back to a time when everything was okay. A time when I hadn’t just buried the only father I’ve ever known. One where I’m not watching as my mother loses herself to her grief. One where the pain isn’t so insufferable. Everything in my world is a dull muted grey. I crave colour. Excitement. Recklessness. And that’s when he walks into my life. Tall, dark, handsome, and able to drag me from my own head for just a few hours of wild abandon. He’s the perfect one-night stand. But is everything as simple as that?

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

The moment I discovered his lie, everything I thought I knew about him was destroyed in an instant.

I thought I knew pain.
I thought I knew grief.
I knew nothing.

And nothing could compare to the moment Toby ripped my heart right out of my chest. Confirming all my worst fears.
Shattering the very foundation my life has been built on.

It was all an act.
A sick and twisted game.
He’s nothing more than a monster.
Deception is his weapon.
And now I’m his victim.

Rock bottom is a familiar place, and once again I’m trying to drag myself out of the pits of despair.
But fate is an evil master, and before long I find myself with no other place to turn… but him.

He might be cruel.
Reckless.
Dangerous.
But I also know that he’ll do anything to right his wrongs.

Despite my tattered heart, and my better judgment, I know he’s still trying to prove to me that he’s not all bad. That the sweet guy I fell so hard for really does exists.

But will it be enough?

My life has been full of half-truths tangled in lies—I’d been to hell and back more times than I could count.

But nothing could have prepared me for the fear in her voice, and then the sight of that building going up in flames.

After the way I treated her, the way I hurt her, I’d earned that pain back tenfold. I deserved to lose the only bit of light in my dark, twisted life.

Neither of us have survived the suffering only to have it end this way and I refuse to believe that our time is done. It can’t be. Because she was made for me—the only good thing that came out of my past.

And the first chance I get, I’m going to make sure she knows exactly what she means to me.

No more lies.
No more pretending.
Just the raw, honest truth.

I can’t live without her and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to her that she belongs with me.
That the life we were born into might have left us damaged, but it made us stronger.

And when she claims her rightful place amongst us, I’ll be by her side and together we will rule this reckless dynasty.

But first we have to survive…

I’ve lived my entire life in the shadows…

Sheltered yet painfully aware of the haunting reality of who my family really is.

I’m tired of being the good girl— of doing everything I’m told. Halloween seems like the perfect time to explore my hidden desires.

And that’s exactly how I end up in the arms of a masked mystery guy.

He doesn’t handle me like glass. He takes exactly what he wants and gives me everything I didn’t know I needed— until he vanishes into the darkness leaving me with one burning question…

Who was my mysterious knight that introduced me to the dark side?

She’s the mafia princess he was meant to stay away from.

And he did.

Until that one night when he was able to hide his identity and his darkness under a different kind of mask.

But one taste wasn’t enough.

Only the next time their paths cross, his inner demon is truly exposed.

Can she handle it, or will his darkness send her running back to her castle and smothered life?

WWW Wednesday: December 9th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her new dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

She didn’t want to believe me.

She wanted to believe the threat wasn’t really there.

But as the sirens ring out in the distance and she stares down into my eyes, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her.

I’m not going to go down without a fight.

And I’m sure as hell not going to lose her now.

Even as our stubbornness tries to force us apart, severing everything we’ve built thus far.

With our nerves frayed and tempers close to breaking point, our fractured family sets about discovering the truth.

But we soon uncover more corruption and betrayal that only causes more pain to those I love.

Our entire empire is at risk, and it’s time to put the past behind us and carve out the future we deserve.

Dear Readers,

Wicked Empire is the third and final in Stella and Sebastian’s trilogy and the first couples story in my Knight’s Ridge Empire series. This book is a dark bully romance that contains mature content and demanding alphaholes that some readers may find disturbing. You have been warned.

What I recently finished reading:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her new dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

My entire life has been a lie.

The one person I’ve trusted despite all his secrets has shattered my faith, and the men around me have proved just how unworthy they really are.

As my reality becomes clear, I discover that I’m right in the middle of something far more dangerous than I ever could have imagined.

I’ve always been a fighter. I’ve been trained that way.

But this time, all I can do is run.

Only, it isn’t that easy. Because there’s one person I’ve left behind who won’t allow me to.

But he’s going to get a shock, because he seems to have forgotten who he’s dealing with.

I’m Stella Doukas, mafia princess, and I will not bend for any man.

Even the one who’s stolen my heart.

Dear Readers,

Wicked Princess is the second book in Stella and Sebastian’s trilogy and the first couples story in my Knight’s Ridge Empire series. This book is a dark bully romance that contains mature content and demanding alphaholes that some readers may find disturbing. You have been warned.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you more in her dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

Whoever said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer… was right.

Being around her is the worst kind of torture.

Emmie is an obligation I can’t avoid… an oath I can’t break.

And having her in my life is the last thing I want or need. But thanks to my father, I have no choice.

This Family—this life, is my future, and I’m sure as hell not going to let some spitfire from the wrong side of town get under my skin and in my way.

When the time comes, I will take what I need and walk away. I’ll finally be free from her shadow and she will know the truth, even if it leaves her broken.

The only problem… she might not be the only one left in pieces.

Dear Reader

Deviant Knight is the fourth book in my angst-filled new adult mafia Knight’s Ridge Empire series. It’s the first book in Emmie and Theo’s trilogy. It’s a dark bully romance with themes that might make you squirm in all the right ways!

I should have known better than to play with fire…

I’d been burned by Theo Cirillo enough to know that I should have seen this coming.

He loved to show me his merciless side, but I couldn’t stay away from the deviant even if I wanted to.

A prisoner of my own making, playing a game without knowing all the rules. Until the lies he’d been telling, the secrets he’d been keeping began to unravel around us.

He’s the only person I trusted with the truth about my past, but my confession was all for nothing.

He never cared. He already knew.

He was only manipulating me.

Using me.

I was nothing more than a job. A nut he had to crack.

And he split me right open, but he’s about to get a shock because I’m not the kind of girl to roll over and take it.

I’m Emmie Ramsey.

And I’m about to make him pay for ever trying to play me.

Watching her walk away for a second time… nearly destroyed me.

But it was nothing less than I deserved from the things I put her through.

I should have let her go. I’d already caused Emmie enough pain to last a lifetime. But I’m a masochist.

Her pain is my pain.
And she’s mine.

Whether she likes it or not.

She’s my wife.

And the sooner she understands that she belongs by my side, the better.

Till death do us part…
I’m not letting her go.

Nothing she can do will convince me that we’re not made for one another.

We might be toxic. Combustible. A match made in hell.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And together.

I wanted to drown. I wanted the world to swallow me up whole and take me back to a time when everything was okay. A time when I hadn’t just buried the only father I’ve ever known. One where I’m not watching as my mother loses herself to her grief. One where the pain isn’t so insufferable. Everything in my world is a dull muted grey. I crave colour. Excitement. Recklessness. And that’s when he walks into my life. Tall, dark, handsome, and able to drag me from my own head for just a few hours of wild abandon. He’s the perfect one-night stand. But is everything as simple as that?

WWW Wednesday: December 2nd, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Sofia
One night.
No cuddling.
No sleepovers.
These are the rules I live my love life by. Running a business as a bar owner leaves no time for relationships—or their drama. But when I meet international rock star Brenner Reindhart, he makes me want to break all the rules . . .

Bren
Keeping Industrial November at the top of the best-selling charts for over eight years has taken a toll on me, and I’m ready to slow down.
I’ve been burned by love before, and I’m finally ready to try again. I think Sofia Ocampo might just be the one. Only, she has no plans to ever be in a relationship.
Aware she has no interest in it, I still give her my heart.
I can only hold my breath and hope she won’t break it.

***This high-steam, contemporary rock star romance contains adult content with some taboo elements not suitable for all readers. Read responsibly. All novels in the Industrial November on Tour series can be read in any order.***

What I recently finished reading:

Rival florists. Spite bouquets. A Monster Romance enemies-to-lovers YOU’VE GOT MAIL in the Discord age
— this flower shop has everything.

Sumi is on top of the world.

Well, as on top as one can be after learning a relative one never met has died, leaving one a small fortune.

Deciding the unexpected windfall is a sign she needs to follow her dreams, quitting her job, moving to aspirational Cambric Creek and opening a flower shop is the obvious move. Definitely not just a midlife crisis. Applying for franchise ownership with a giant flower conglomerate seems like a piece of cake — they provide the equipment, the distribution contracts, and all she needs to do is front the money and live happily ever after.

There’s only one catch . . . she didn’t realize chasing after her dream might cause someone else to lose hold of their own.

Ranar never wanted to inherit the family business.

There’s an enormous pressure to keep his family business going — started by his grandfather, passed to his father, and now to him. Pressure as a non-human business, pressure as the grandson of an immigrant, pressure as the eldest son . . . but as it is, brick and mortar flower shops are a notion of a bygone era in this digital world.

When Bloomerang, an online flower conglomerate, opens one of their soulless flower factories in Cambric Creek, Ranar knows it’s only a matter of time before he’s forced to close the door on his family’s business for good. It doesn’t matter how pretty the sylvan owner is or how friendly she seems — she represents everything wrong in the industry, in his world. She’s bound to put him out of business eventually . . . but he can make her regret it first.

Sumi is positive there is room for two flower shops in Cambric Creek, if only the owner of The Perfect Petal wasn’t such a rude, condescending, infuriatingly handsome jerk. Despite being non-human herself, Cambric Creek is a learning curve she wasn’t anticipating, and she knows she has a lot to learn about multi-species living — starting with the conundrum of her naga rival’s junk, because where is it? She’d love to discover the mechanics, if only he wasn’t so terrible.

When she joins an online server for local business owners, discovering The Perfect Petal’s owner is chatting there as well, she decides it’s the perfect opportunity to discover his weaknesses and take him down . . . if she doesn’t wind up falling for him first.

He Loves Me Not is a high heat standalone monster romance in the Cambric Creek universe. One does not need prior knowledge of the world to enjoy.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

She voiced one of Disney’s most infamous villainesses. With her husky timbre and most unforgettable cackle, Betty Lou Gerson terrified an entire generation as Disney’s original “Cruella de Vil” in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). Betty used her whiskey-soaked voice to give us an innovative portrait of elegant villainy beyond entertainment’s stereotypical “old hag” antagonists in radio, film, and television. She had a prolific radio career in both Chicago and Hollywood before the silver screen and was featured in many popular television series in the 1950s and 1960s such as Perry Mason, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Hazel. Though “Cruella” is perhaps her most recognized role, she also performed in other beloved film classics including Cinderella (1950), Mary Poppins (1964), and Cats Don’t Dance (1997).

The great irony of Betty’s story is that while her voice frightened audiences through nearly all mediums, off mic, she was in fact no villainess at all. Betty traversed through some of the most volatile eras in American history, while overcoming many personal tragedies of her own. She was among twentieth century entertainment pioneers and an iconic voice of feminism.
Learn the compelling story of Betty Lou Gerson as the “voice of villainy.”

In 1842, the gunpowder might of China’s Qing Dynasty fell to Britain’s steam engines. Furious, the Emperor ordered the death of his engineers, eliminating China’s best chance of fighting back. Since her father’s execution eight years ago, Jin Soling has kept her family from falling apart. With her mother addicted to opium and her younger brother in danger of being sent off to the factories, Soling has no choice but to sell off the last of her father’s possessions. Unwittingly, her actions bring her to the attention of the imperial court—the same court that betrayed her father. The Crown Prince has launched a secret mission to bring together the remnants of the former Ministry of Science. To restore her family’s name, Soling must track down the rebel alchemist who holds the key to powering the imperial fleet. Her only ally is a man she’s just met—the engineer with a mysterious past who was once meant to be her husband…

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you another couple in her dark mafia, high school bully romance Knight’s Ridge Empire series.

I’ve lived my entire life in the shadows…

Sheltered yet painfully aware of the haunting reality of who my family really is.

I’m tired of being the good girl— of doing everything I’m told. Halloween seems like the perfect time to explore my hidden desires.

And that’s exactly how I end up in the arms of a masked mystery guy.

He doesn’t handle me like glass. He takes exactly what he wants and gives me everything I didn’t know I needed— until he vanishes into the darkness leaving me with one burning question…

Who was my mysterious knight that introduced me to the dark side?

Dear Readers,
Dark Halloween Knight is a prequel to Dark Knight trilogy. The events of this prequel coincide with the end of Wicked Princess.

After a devastating breakup, instead of drowning in her tears, Amelia Day starts a new business. For a hefty fee, she uses the methods for training foster dogs to transform men into suitable marriage material. Her track record is impeccable until she meets perpetual bachelor Phin Baxtor. From the start, she’s confused as to why this guitar-playing hunk would even want to hire her, but she needs the money, so she takes him on. Phin is content with working in his food truck all day and playing the field at night. But his business partner, Jay, offers him a bet he can’t refuse. If Phin can complete Amelia’s program without changing his ways, he will win Jay’s rare guitar. Certain his task will be easier than playing “Hound Dog,” he agrees to enter the program. With Phin and Amelia spending all their time together, her techniques begin to slip past his defenses. He might become her biggest success, but falling for a client isn’t supposed to be part of the deal.