K.A. Linde – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

K.A. Linde – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Sun, 12 Oct 2025 20:51:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png K.A. Linde – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 House of Embers – Royal Houses Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/house-of-embers-royal-houses-read-online-k-a-linde Sun, 12 Oct 2025 20:51:28 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/house-of-embers-royal-houses-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)

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New York Times bestselling author K.A. Linde returns with House of Embers, the finale to the Royal Houses series that Booktok called "Fourth Wing meets Throne of Glass."

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter One

The Throne

This was the wrong dress to take down an empire.

But it would have to do.

Kerrigan’s emerald eyes were haunted as she stared at her wan expression in the trifold mirror. She was under a mountain again. Inside the House of Shadows. Safe. For now. She should have felt confident, ready, anything other than the melancholy that had descended as she stepped inside Ravinia Mountain in preparation for Fordham Ollivier to reclaim his throne.

“You look like you’re going to your death,” Darby said as she stuck another pin in Kerrigan’s bright red hair in an attempt to control the unruly waves.

Kerrigan forced a smile for her oldest friend in the world. “It’s been a long day.”

Darby met her eyes in the mirror. “A long year.”

She looked like she wanted to say more. Like she wanted more than the barest explanation of what had happened to Kerrigan in the land of the gods, but Kerrigan didn’t feel ready for that. Her mission was most important. She’d deal with everything else later.

“This is step one,” Darby reminded her. She reached for another pin on the vanity, her onyx skin highlighted in the flickering candlelight. “You just have to survive today, and then you can go back to beating people up.”

That earned a real laugh from Kerrigan. “I don’t want to just beat people up.”

“Don’t you?”

Kerrigan grinned. “Maybe a little.”

She had turned to politics to fight for the humans and half-Fae who didn’t have anyone to fight for them. But she was not a natural at it. She had always preferred to let her fists and magic talk for her. It would be better to leave the rest of that to Fordham.

Soon she’d be on her dragon’s back again, flying into battle. Soon, but not yet.

“I think that’s it,” Darby said as she shoved in a final pin.

Kerrigan twirled in a circle, feeling the black-and-silver silk slide around her legs. The dress had been prepared for her the last time she was in the House of Shadows. Since there had been no forewarning about their arrival, she’d had to make do with what was available. Namely an out-of-date dress with a corset that pushed her breasts up nearly to her chin and poofy layers that extended past her hips. It wouldn’t have been her choice, and she definitely couldn’t fight in it.

“You look ridiculous.” Clover appeared from the balcony, dressed down in pants and a fitted tunic. She took a draw on her cigarette as she eyed Kerrigan’s dress with skepticism.

Kerrigan turned to her friend. “Tell me about it.”

“Don’t smoke that in here!” Darby said as she headed for her girlfriend.

“Loch isn’t even illegal here,” Clover said as she puffed a circle of it into Darby’s face.

Darby waved her hand in front of her face. “But we’re in short supply.”

Clover frowned at that. She had a chronic illness with debilitating pain, and the only thing that had ever helped had been the illicit substance. Now that they were out of the city, it was going to be hard to get more.

“Don’t fight,” Hadrian called from the balcony.

“She’s decent,” Clover said on a relieved exhale. “You can come in.”

Hadrian appeared then. His light brown skin was nearly the same color as Clover’s, but it was the blue of his hair that made him stand out. He wrinkled his nose at Kerrigan when he walked in.

Hadrian shrugged. “You look…” His hands widened. “Uh…classy?”

“I know. I know,” she said to the trio. “It’s not the best dress.”

“They’ll like it though,” Darby said, folding into Clover’s arm. Hadrian wrapped an arm around Clover’s shoulders.

The trio still baffled Kerrigan at times. In some ways, it made perfect sense. Darby and Clover had always had a thing for each other. Hadrian and Clover had always been at each other’s throats. The fact that it worked for them to be together was amazing, and Kerrigan was happy for them.

“Let’s hope a fight doesn’t break out,” she grumbled.

“The only time I’ll ever hear you say that,” Clover said.

“Well, wish me luck.”

Hadrian chuckled. “You won’t need it.”

With that vote of confidence, Kerrigan headed for the door. It swung open on a breath, and there stood Delle. Her mother, Adelaide, was Fordham’s chief attendant under the mountain, and Delle was to be his attendant while he was at Draco Mountain for the Society. Since that wasn’t happening any time soon, she had been reassigned to Kerrigan.

“Mistress Kerrigan,” Delle said with a short bow, “don’t you look lovely?”

“Thank you, Delle. Is Fordham ready?”

Delle stiffened at the informal use of Fordham’s name, but Kerrigan didn’t care about formalities anymore. Not after all they had endured together to get to this point. Delle should be glad Kerrigan wasn’t calling him by his shortened nickname, Ford—or worse, princeling.

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The Robin on the Oak Throne (The Oak and Holly Cycle #2) Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/the-robin-on-the-oak-throne-the-oak-and-holly-cycle-2-read-online-k-a-linde Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:08:23 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/the-robin-on-the-oak-throne-the-oak-and-holly-cycle-2-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: K.A. Linde Series: The Oak and Holly Cycle Series by K.A. Linde
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Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >194

Can you trust the dark when you know that it lies?

Kierse McKenna just shattered the Monster Treaty. Again.

It wasn’t entirely her fault. The job was supposed to be simple: steal a goblin-made bracelet off of the Queen of the Nymphs in her own palace. Trade the bracelet for a way to uncover the truth about her past. Except everything goes sideways.

And then he shows up to save her.

Graves—the warlock who ensnared her, betrayed her, and left her to fend for herself. He’s a villain. A monster draped in charm and shadows. And gods help her, he always knows exactly what she wants.

But Graves never does anything for free. He has a job for his favorite little thief. One that will pit her against the most powerful monsters in existence, including his mortal enemy, the Oak King.

An ancient artifact has been located, and only together can they hope to steal it. She just has to let him in.

But once she lets a monster in, he’s impossible to forget… and even harder to resist

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

The Robin on the Oak Throne is a tale of monsters, mystery, and romance. However, the story includes elements that may not be suitable for all readers. Combat, violence, sex, drug and alcohol use, sex work, and gang violence are depicted. Abuse, genocide, colonization, infertility, and assault that is physical and sexual in nature are discussed. Readers who may be sensitive to these elements, please take note, practice your magic, and prepare to take the Oak Throne…

Part I

BELTANE

Chapter One

Tromping through wet pastureland in high heels was a crime against humanity—unlike the crime Kierse was about to commit. She stepped out of the squelchy green grass and onto the ancient, graveled walkway with a sigh of relief. New York City hadn’t prepared her for acres of empty farmland on the outskirts of Paris or otherwise.

She lifted her dark eyes to what lay at the end of her trek: the magnificent Versailles gardens. The greenery was bracketed by twin towering fountains boasting statues of the gods mounted on gilded horses. A long grass promenade cut between the fountains with bonfires igniting the night and revealing the entrances that led deeper into the wooded grounds. On the top of the hill, in all its splendor, was the Palace of Versailles.

Kierse could only imagine what it looked like at the height of King Louis XIV’s reign. Tonight, it was teeming with both humans and monsters for the annual Beltane festival. A party to which Kierse hadn’t exactly been invited.

Not that that had ever stopped her. There were always entrances and exits for a clever little thief. And having multiple exits was thieving rule number one.

But for now, she was just a girl blending in with the crowd in a pink satin slip dress with a thigh-high slit, her dark hair piled on the top of her head and her makeup light like spring. No one paid her any mind as she snagged a glass of champagne off of a human waiter’s tray and navigated the grounds.

Kierse had one mission today—steal a bracelet from the Queen of the Nymphs.

Step one: get an invitation into the palace.

Well, that was the easy part.

She’d already picked her mark as she ascended the stairs to the promenade. A group of female nymphs traipsed around a bonfire in nothing but tiny scraps of dresses, little purses at their hips, and flower crowns. They were almost all shorter than Kierse with a kaleidoscope of hair color and wide, slightly unnatural eyes. The few horned male nymphs lounged on the other side of the fire, shirtless in white linen trousers.

Kierse bumped into a nymph with vibrant magenta hair as she passed, sloshing champagne everywhere.

“Oh! Pardon,” Kierse said by way of apology.

The nymph spit rapid French in Kierse’s direction, and while the girl was distracted, Kierse slipped the crisp card out of her bag. She discreetly moved the invite to her purse, waving her other hand to indicate she didn’t understand.

The nymph laughed at her lack of comprehension and returned to the festivities. A similar interaction back home could have ended in disaster. But the rest of the world hadn’t suffered the way that New York had during the Monster War. Back home they were four years past the war and just coming to the other side of things. Here, when the monsters had stepped into the light, the humans had made deals with them before it devolved so drastically.

Tonight, phoenixes controlled the flames of the bonfires that nymphs deftly jumped over, performing their fertility rites. Mer lounged in fountains, and shifters jumped in and out of their animal forms at will over the hedges and into the tree line. Humans drank champagne and mingled with vampires and werewolves and an incubus/succubus pair.

Laughter rang out.

Lips locked.

Revelry ensued.

All excellent cover for Kierse’s plan. She ditched her champagne flute on a table, thankful it had helped her with thieving rules three and four: distraction and sleight of hand.

She palmed the heavy cardstock invitation gilded with the sun king’s symbol, granting access into the palace proper. Step one complete.

Step two: get inside the palace.

Kierse filed into the line behind a shuffling goblin. He passed off his invitation. The troll bouncer scanned it and then nodded, allowing him access. He repeated the process with Kierse’s stolen invite. Then she was breezing through the doors and inside.

Her breath caught at the sheer magnitude of the place. It didn’t matter how much time she’d spent memorizing the original blueprints or the hours engaged on a tour earlier in the week. She would never get used to the display of wealth. There was money, and then there was the magnitude of this place in all its extravagance.

Kierse turned off the part of her brain that calculated the cost of everything. The answer was unfathomable. She wasn’t here to steal just anything. From here, she needed to get into the queen’s chambers. Despite modern adjustments to the over seven-hundred-thousand-square-foot palace, the rooms that the current queen resided in had been the same for hundreds of years.

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The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak and Holly Cycle #1) Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/the-wren-in-the-holly-library-the-oak-and-holly-cycle-1-read-online-k-a-linde Thu, 13 Jun 2024 07:54:14 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/the-wren-in-the-holly-library-the-oak-and-holly-cycle-1-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: K.A. Linde Series: The Oak and Holly Cycle Series by K.A. Linde
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Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)

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Loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast, this dark, spicy romantasy will appeal to fans of V.E. Schwab and Leigh Bardugo.

"What are you?”

Street thief Kierse should have known something wasn’t right. Now she’s trapped in the library of an old Brownstone . . . with a monster. His powers aren’t supposed to exist. She can’t run. She can’t hide. And this man - this being, filled with terrible power and darkness — is well within his rights to kill her.

Thirteen years ago, the monsters came into the light and brutalized the world. The Monster Treaty invoked a kind of peace — one that isn’t always honoured. Now Kierse has broken the treaty. But instead of killing her, Graves does the he offers her a job . . . a glimpse into who she really is. Kierse has always known she’s different. That she can do things a little better, a little faster. And there’s that sense she has when danger is only a breath away. But if the old tales are true, there are worse things in the world than monsters.

Like a threat more ancient than legend. Like Graves. Or like Kierse herself . . .

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PART I

THE HOLLY LIBRARY

Chapter One

It’s now or never.

Kierse crouched low, pressing her back against the stone in the shadows.

Across the street was the largest Upper West Side brownstone she had ever seen. Every detail looked original to the Victorian house, from the wrought iron banisters to the holly bushes lining the walk and clinging to upstairs balconies. Even the intricate door knocker and the bronze sconces looked original.

Kierse slowed her breathing and crossed through the slushy brown mess that was New York City after a snowfall. Fresh powder was coming down again, and she obscured her footprints before peering through the first-floor window into an enormous shadowed study. Nothing was out of place—as if it were staged. Only a sliver of light bloomed through the crack under the door.

Her job was simple: steal a diamond ring, get paid.

“Please try to be careful,” Ethan’s voice said into her earpiece, which attached to the radio at her hip. A cell phone would have been better, but she’d never been able to afford one.

A smile hit Kierse’s features. “I’m always careful.”

“Since when?”

Never. She glanced up to Ethan on the neighboring rooftop where her lookout had binoculars trained on her. She gave him a double-finger salute and got to work. She whipped out a set of tools, flicked the lock on the window, and slid it up soundlessly. She’d investigated the nonexistent security system on one of her first reconnaissance missions, and she still didn’t understand how no alarms were present and nothing tripped. She checked her surroundings, then slipped into the study, closing the window behind her.

This was the part she had programmed in her mind. After constructing a mock interior layout of the house, she’d run through her plan again and again. She was prepared, but she’d broken into enough places to know that nothing ever went exactly to plan. Her benefactor, Gregory Amberdash, had given her all the information he had, which admittedly wasn’t much. The ring was kept in a locked box in the library. A library seemed an unusual place to keep a ring with a diamond the size of a robin’s egg. But what did she know about rich people? This guy didn’t even have a security system. A library probably made perfect sense to him.

Kierse steeled herself for what could be the first sign of trouble, but everything was as it should be. She maneuvered around a mahogany desk with a gilded lamp and sleek black leather insert, between a pair of couches, and to the silent grandfather clock that showed the time was nearly midnight. With a breath, she eased the door open and peered down the hallway illuminated by soft, bracketed light. Her eyes darted everywhere at once—taking in the sitting room at the end of the hallway that she’d only ever seen through binoculars, the grand staircase to her right, the polished wood floors, the lush, filthy-rich interior. On silent feet, she crept down the smooth hardwood floors and flipped the front door lock.

The first rule of thieving: always have an exit strategy.

“So far, so good,” she whispered to Ethan as she stood in the empty house.

“Monster?” he asked.

She shook her head even knowing he couldn’t see her. “Not yet.”

Ethan’s investigation into the owner had been fruitless. John Smith was clearly a fake name, and it linked to a business that didn’t exist. The house was enormous and had two regular staff who showed up rain or shine. Yet not a single look at the owner. In her line of work, that meant one of two things: a wealthy human who was out of town or a monster.

A monster would be a big problem. If she was caught in a monster’s house, she’d be subject to the Monster Treaty just like anyone else. And the consequences of breaking the Treaty were typically life-threatening. Which meant she couldn’t get caught. She’d keep her fingers crossed for an out-of-town billionaire.

“Keep me updated,” Ethan said. “Gen would kill me if something happened to you.”

“Gen knows me better than that.”

Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and adrenaline fired through her veins as she snuck through the empty house. A smile lit her face. It was a wrong smile. She’d been told that too many times—because she wasn’t supposed to think that this was the fun part. Sneaking, thieving, and most of all, getting away with it.

Her devious smile grew as she hurried up the staircase and stopped before giant wooden doors. A bronze sign hung over the doorway that read THE HOLLY LIBRARY. Intricate whorls and swirls were carved into the frame. She could make out a string of holly vines and berries in the design, and then something almost shifted as she stared at it. It felt like a familiar language that tugged at the recesses of her memory, but she had never seen anything like it. She shook the cobwebs out of her mind and reached for the cold iron knob. She was prepared for it to be locked, but to her surprise, the handle turned.

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Wright Kind of Love – Wright Vineyard Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/wright-kind-of-love-wright-vineyard-read-online-k-a-linde Sat, 27 Apr 2024 17:49:26 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wright-kind-of-love-wright-vineyard-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Forbidden Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >61

The conclusion to the Wright duet age gap romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde.

Chase Sinclair should be my enemy.

Wrights and Sinclairs don’t mix. Not with years of history and turmoil between our families. A rivalry that only seems to fester and corrode with time.

Except I’m done denying what I want.

We both are.

Just when we think we have it figured out, it all blows up in our faces.

But we’re determined to make this work. Even knowing that the road ahead is uncertain. And everyone wants us to fail. At least we’re doing this together.

Everything is on the line. Our friends, our families, our careers. And we’d give it all up.

He may be from the wrong family, but he’s my Wright person.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PART I

UH-OH

1

HARLEY

My brothers were going to kill him.

I had not spent the last three years pining over Chase Sinclair for it to all go up in flames this fast. We’d sent an end date—graduation. Now that I had graduated and everything was finally falling into place, my brothers were trying to ruin it all.

It didn’t matter that they’d shown up because they were concerned for me. My plan had always been law school. I was going to change the world. I’d even made a deal with the devil—my father, Owen Wright—to pay for the whole thing in exchange for his silence. Then, somehow, he’d found out that I’d withdrawn from Harvard Law and outed me to my four brothers.

Wrights and Sinclairs didn’t mix.

Not after everything the Sinclairs had done to try to sabotage us.

And yet Chase and I worked.

We had from day one. But it had been our ten-year age gap, my nineteen years to his twenty-nine, that had scared him off more than anything my brothers would do. And now that I was a little older, I appreciated that he’d given me the time and space I needed to make my own decision.

And I’d chosen him.

I had chosen him.

So maybe it was me who was going to kill my brothers if they didn’t back the fuck off.

“Stop!” I shouted.

Of course, no one stopped.

Chase was stuck in the doorframe of my bedroom with a bloody nose. Whitton and Julian held back Jordan as Weston fought to climb over the lot of them to get to Chase. They were like feral beasts. Fucking hell.

“I said, fucking stop!” I said, barreling into my brothers.

We were a fucked up lot. My twin brothers, Whitt and West, had grown up in Seattle, not knowing that we were the secret family to our father. Definitely not that he had another family, Jordan and Julian, across the border in Vancouver. It was the best part about all of us moving to Lubbock, Texas, where the Wright Construction headquarters were. Now, we were a proper family.

Unfortunately, we were acting like a proper family.

All fucked up. All the time.

One of the benefits of having older brothers was that I could fight with the best of them. When I lowered my shoulder and popped them out of the way, Julian released an oof, and they shifted just enough for me to get through.

“I love her!” Chase shouted over the din of my brothers’ rage. He straightened, dropping his hand that was now covered in blood. “I love her, all right?”

My heart stopped at those words. Those three little words. We hadn’t used them earlier when we made our declaration. He had said that he was mine, that it had always been me, that I was his girlfriend. All things I’d wanted to hear for so long. But not the L-word.

I wasn’t sure he’d even meant to say it here, but I couldn’t keep the smile from breaking out on my face. He hadn’t just claimed me in front of all of my brothers; he’d said he loved me. It was still unbelievable that those words had come out of his mouth. And to hear them as a declaration was indescribable.

When I reached him across the divide, he held his arm out, and I slid into the space against his chest. A unit. Together. Where we had always been apart. Now, it was us against the world. Just like I’d always wanted it to be.

“You don’t even know her,” Jordan argued.

“Love?” Whitt scoffed at the same time.

“The fuck?” West said.

Julian’s jaw just dropped.

“Nothing you say is going to change how I feel,” Chase said.

“And somehow, none of that is your business,” I snapped.

“You have to be kidding me,” Whitt began.

I cut him off. “I don’t have to be doing anything. You all are absolutely out of fucking line. You came here because you were worried about me and devolved into this? You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

My brothers looked among themselves. As if they couldn’t believe that I was going against them. As if, somehow, they’d thought I’d want them to punch Chase.

“He’s just using you,” Jordan added.

“He is not using me,” I snapped.

“For the last time, Wright,” Chase growled, “this has nothing to do with you.”

“It is suspicious,” Julian pointed out.

“It’s not suspicious,” I said, glaring at him.

He held his hands up and took a step back. “I was just saying,” he muttered.

“Please, would everyone stop talking? Because I am so over every single thing about this already.”

“Just explain what the fuck is going on,” West said.

“I don’t have to explain anything. In fact, you all should leave.” I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at them. “Now.”

“We’re not leaving you alone with him,” Jordan argued.

“Oh yes, you fucking are. You ruined my perfectly good evening. My graduation night at that. I could be out at the bars, screwing around, and none of you would care about that.”

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Wright Kind of Trouble Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/wright-kind-of-trouble-read-online-k-a-linde Fri, 15 Mar 2024 06:57:20 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wright-kind-of-trouble-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, Billionaire, Contemporary, Forbidden Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >62

An age gap, enemy’s little sister romance set in the Wright world about Harley Wright & Chase Sinclair from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde.

He didn’t know I was ten years younger.
I didn’t know he was a Sinclair.

He didn’t care that I was a Wright.
I knew exactly what I wanted.

Yet, I know none of this when I fall into his bed.

Touching him is like finally waking after a long sleep and the thought of being without him is like driving a knife through my chest. But it's worse—he was almost engaged to my brother's wife—which makes him public enemy number one.

Our families hate each other.
No one can know what we did.
If any of my four older brothers find out, they will run him out of town.

And still…I want him.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Part I

Wedding

1

Harley

March

“You look like you’re going to a funeral.”

I blinked at my brother and then gestured to my black lace dress. “Excuse me?”

Whitton shook his head as he squared off his perfectly knotted silk tie. “I know you wanted to be Winona Ryder, growing up, but don’t you think this is taking it a little too far? You look like that girl from Beetlejuice.”

“Should I be insulted or flattered that you think I look like Lydia?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

He laughed. “Only you, Harley.”

“Black is fine for a wedding. It’s a neutral color. You’re going in a black suit!”

“I could wear charcoal,” he said with a shrug.

I turned back to the living room mirror to check out the waves I’d put into my long blonde hair. “Don’t be pedantic.”

“Oh no, Harley is using her advanced vocabulary. You must have upset her,” Whitton’s twin, Weston, said as he strode out of the kitchen with a coffee in hand.

My brothers couldn’t be more opposites. If they didn’t look exactly alike, no one would guess they were related. West was a laid-back musician with a go-with-the-flow vibe, and Whitt was all five-year plans, business suits, and strict schedules. The one thing they always agreed on was ganging up on me. But I could give as good as I could take.

“You’re not even wearing a suit coat,” I said then pointed at his feet. “And you’re in Chucks.”

Whitt winced as he looked at West’s attire. “She has a point.”

West raised his coffee to us. “Still wearing them.”

“We could put you in a suit.”

I grinned, having sufficiently distracted Whitt. And he was wrong anyway. I looked nothing like Lydia, as much as it dismayed me. I’d even forgone my normal Doc Martens for a pair of black heels that made my already-long legs look miles long. I’d contemplated a pair of white sneakers, but no way would Whitt have let me out of the house. Boy didn’t understand fashion.

I slung my black bag over my shoulder and dug out my phone. I shot off a text to Mom.

Wedding bound. Make the boys stop arguing.

A second later, in lieu of a return text, Mom’s face appeared on my screen. I clicked open on the video call.

“Hey, Mom.”

Both of my brothers stopped talking and looked over at me. Well, mission accomplished.

“Hey, sweetie. Are you excited for Jordan’s wedding?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

My mom shot me a quintessential mom look, her short blonde hair falling into her round face—which was my mirror, plus twenty-five years. “So eloquent, my little scholar.”

“You should have come in for it.”

It was her turn to be dismissive. “I don’t know what your brother would have thought about that.”

Which was fair.

Our family was…complicated.

To say the least.

See, our dad was a cheating bastard. In fact, he’d had a whole other family in Vancouver for years before he ever found our mom on a business trip in Seattle for Wright Construction, our family’s namesake. Jordan and his younger brother, Julian, were his kids from his “real” family, and Whitt, West, and I were his dirty little secret. We’d all discovered it a few years ago and confronted Dad about it. I never wanted to talk to his lying face ever again. The boys were more conflicted. Though I didn’t see what was conflicting about it. I’d never let someone treat me the way Owen Wright had treated my mom.

As luck would have it, Jordan and Julian had moved out of Vancouver to dry, dusty Lubbock, Texas, where the headquarters for the family business were located. West followed while pursuing his music. Then, I got a full-ride scholarship to Texas Tech University, and with the prospect of me leaving, Whitt had agreed to come too.

I’d felt bad leaving Mom behind in Seattle. We’d even tried to convince her to come with, but her job and friends and aging parents still lived in town. She’d spent her whole life there. Even if she wanted to move for us, she couldn’t. Not yet at least.

“Hey, Mom!” West said, veering into the picture and waving.

Her eyes lit up. “West. I heard that you and your brother were bickering.”

Whitt leaned over. “We were doing no such thing.”

“Correct,” West agreed. “Whitt was trying to dictate what I should wear.”

Our mom’s eyes raked his tie-less button-up. “Are you wearing Converse?”

Whitt and I both cracked up and said, “Yes,” at the same time.

West shot us a dirty look.

“It’s fine, Mom,” he grumbled.

“I want you to dress appropriate for your brother’s wedding,” she said.

“You should have come,” I told her. “Bonus mom!”

She laughed at that addition. “I’ll come back down eventually. Just couldn’t get away from work and Grandma.”

I exchanged a look with my brothers. Grandma and Grandpa’s health had been in decline for years. It was running Mom ragged. We all worried and missed her. The only time she’d come to visit was to move me into my dorm.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >62

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Wright Together – Wright Vineyard Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/wright-together-wright-vineyard-read-online-k-a-linde Thu, 07 Dec 2023 05:55:32 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wright-together-wright-vineyard-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire, Contemporary Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >88

A sexy opposites attract romance set in the Wright world about Whitton & Eve from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde.

Whitton Wright is too good to be true.

And I learned long ago that things that are too good to be true…usually are.

When he danced into my life, I accepted that this wasn’t going anywhere. He’s tall as sin with a tailored suit on his immaculate body, and full of charm, saying just the right thing to get me to melt. There’s no way that he could be real.

Not for a girl like me.

In Lubbock, Texas, Wrights are royalty. Even the illegitimate son of an exiled Wright is treated like a king. Especially when Whitt falls right into place in a job he was born for.

The only thing I was born into was a double wide and a life of good-byes.

Which is how I know he’ll be the same as all the others.

Until he isn’t.
Until he saves me.
And I start to wonder if maybe too good to be true isn’t a lie.
But my downfall nonetheless…

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Part I

Peonies

1

Whitton

My hand flattened on the surface of my new desk. Perhaps it was egotistical to have always wanted this dream to become a reality so that I could bring a woman up here and fuck her against the glass panes. Brown hair so dark that it streamed through my fingers like an oil stain. I curled my hand into a fist, picturing the curve of her neck as I tugged the strands backward. The pant from her pert red lips as her back arched and ass pressed against me.

I exhaled and released the image.

Eve.

I’d been imagining Eve again. The enigma of a woman still confounded me, wrapping around my subconscious and burrowing down into my daydreams. I’d gone home for the summer, and those inscrutable emerald eyes still haunted me.

Now, I was back in dry, dusty Lubbock with a promotion in hand and my dream corner office. It had the massive mahogany desk, stocked bookshelves against one wall, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the local university. Who knew all I had to do to land the dream job was move to middle of nowhere, Texas?

Lubbock had never been on my radar, and somehow, it felt more like home than Seattle ever had. The only thing that misty, shadowed city had going for it was Mom still lived there. But after visiting with Harley this summer, I was glad to be back in Lubbock. The promotion sure didn’t hurt.

The only thing it was missing was the girl bent over the desk.

A throat cleared behind me. “Well, what do you think?”

Jordan leaned against the doorframe. He was dressed impeccably in a black tailored suit, his hair sleek, and his command, as ever, unparalleled. Sometimes, it still made me falter when I thought about him being my brother. Half-brother technically, but my siblings and I had dropped the half part. Our father had had an affair, and we were the result—me, Weston, and Harley. We’d only found out a few years back that he had another family and two sons—Jordan and Julian. It was West’s crazy scheme that had gotten us all to move here to get to know them. I’d gotten a job at Wright Construction, the company of our namesake, and now, here I was, hitting every milestone I’d set for myself before thirty.

Sometimes, life threw you on a crash course to get you to where you belonged.

“It’s even better than I imagined,” I confessed, straightening and buttoning the top button of my charcoal suit.

“You earned it.”

“Thank you,” I said with all sincerity. The last job I’d had felt like banging my head against a wall repeatedly. Every ounce that I put into it was given credit to my superior, and still, I’d wavered about whether or not to make the jump and work at Wright. Best decision of my life.

“Morgan wants to throw a promotion party,” Jordan said.

I barely managed to hide my cringe. “If that’s what she wants. She’s the CEO.”

Jordan laughed. “Good save. I can nix it.”

I could schmooze with the best of them, but I’d never been one to want to draw attention to myself. I had a five- and ten-year plan. My upward trajectory was finally moving on the slope I’d always envisioned. Still, every small achievement felt just that…small. I’d celebrate when I reached the top.

“Appreciate that.”

Jordan dropped some paperwork on my desk. “I know it’s your first day back, but this is your new assignment.”

“I never stopped working, Jor,” I said, reaching for the documents. “I was remote while I was gone.”

“I know. I know. But this one will be more hands on.”

I flipped through the pages with a furrowed brow. “Midland?”

“It’s only two hours south of here.”

“I’ve never been.”

Jordan shrugged. He’d moved here a few years before me from Vancouver. That was how our dad had been able to have two families. The cities were just close enough to fool everyone. Jordan had adapted to Texas even easier than I had. It probably helped that he’d gotten married this spring to his spitfire doctor, Annie.

“Well, read through the assignment so you can fill in the new real estate agent when she gets here. You’re going to be working closely with her over the next month to get this off the ground.”

I snapped the paperwork shut. “What? I have a partner?”

“We wanted someone who was familiar with the area. You did just say that you’d never been there.”

He had me there.

“I see. And when will I meet this agent?”

Jordan checked the Rolex on his wrist and pursed his lips. “Hmm. She’s late. Should have been here already actually.”

It was my turn to be affronted. “It’s fifteen past. Was she supposed to be here top of the hour?”

He nodded. “Yes. Let me check in to see if something happened.”

“How unprofessional.”

Jordan shot me an amused look as he pulled his phone out and started typing away.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >88

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House of Gods – Royal Houses Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/house-of-gods-royal-houses-read-online-k-a-linde Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:31:29 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/house-of-gods-royal-houses-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi, Myth/Mythology, Paranormal Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >138

USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde returns to the Royal Houses series with House of Gods: the story of Kerrigan Argon, a half-Fae, half-human as she seeks her place in an unforgiving world filled with magic, mayhem, and romance. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and V.E. Schwab.

On the other side of a portal, Kerrigan Argon lands in the home of the gods--alone.

She's lost everything: Her family. Her magic. Her world.

Even her dark Fae prince, Fordham Ollivier, has disappeared. She has no where to turn, and no idea how to survive in this new world.

The first kind face in the crowd gives Kerrigan hope. Until her would-be helpers, kidnap and deliver her into a new kind of hell and the only chance to get home--the gladiator ring.

Win the gladiator tournament and receive a gift from the gods.

Kerrigan is determined to gain that boon to save her people.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

The New Land

The grass under Kerrigan’s cheek was soft and springy. As if she were waking up back in her mountain home with the feather down mattress beneath her. Any second now, Benton and Bayton would sweep in and busy her out of the comfort of her Society accommodations and off to work. Her eyes would flutter open, and everything would be well.

But that wasn’t right at all.

Her head buzzed. Bees zipped in and out of her skull, and the noise was only getting louder as she drew closer to consciousness.

* * *

“Do you think she’s alive?”

* * *

Kerrigan shuddered at the sound of the voice. Her whole body trying, yet failing, to break out of whatever web she was snagged in.

* * *

“She looks a trifle dead to me, Matron.”

“She’s still breathing.”

“Barely.”

* * *

She needed to wake up. She needed to face what was on the other side of this mossy grass. There was something out there she needed to do.

But all of it felt so … distant.

It would be easier if she just lay here and did nothing. She had lost. That much bypassed the buzzing in her ears. She had lost, and she had traveled here—wherever here was—and giving up felt so much easier than fighting.

Surrender.

A voice like honey soothed her, silencing the bees and letting her know that it would be all right. Everything would work out. If she lay here and slept and forgot what she was after, then she could go on. And on sounded so much nicer than the alternative.

* * *

“Should I run for a healer?”

“Can’t afford one, can we? It’d be more than she’s worth.”

* * *

No.

She pushed the honey tongue away from her. Memories floated past it as Kerrigan forced her way through the viscous substance coating her memories and dragging her to the deep beyond. Her mission was important. It was the only way to save her friends and family back home. A home she might never return to if she didn’t push forward.

What was she supposed to be doing?

* * *

“I don’t know. That pink skin and red hair …”

* * *

Gentle like a lullaby, the answer returned to her.

Her mother.

Her mother was alive.

For eighteen years, she’d believed that her mother had died in childbirth. Most human women didn’t survive birthing a Fae child. Even a half-Fae, like Kerrigan, who had too much magic by most people’s standards, the mother rarely survived. It was something in the amount of magic that was incompatible with the human.

Except her mother had survived.

In fact, she’d left the land of the gods to drop Kerrigan off with her father to keep her safe. As scandalous as it was, her mother had already been married, and her husband would stop at nothing to remove an illegitimate child.

Now, she was Kerrigan’s only hope.

Alandria needed her. The city of Kinkadia needed her. The Society and all the dragons and all the people it had sworn to protect needed her.

And Kerrigan had to find her.

* * *

“Her eyes are moving. I think she’s waking up!”

* * *

Kerrigan coughed, spitting up blood onto the mossy blanket. She hacked until there was nothing left in her stomach.

The sun shone like a beacon overhead. She dug her fingers into the mossy grass, and it was not half as soft as she’d imagined. The blades scratched against her fingers, her eyes felt like she had sand in them, and there was an empty pit at the bottom of her stomach.

Her magic.

Oh, right.

Her magic was gone.

She retched again. Retched until she was dry-heaving and thought she might bring up her insides.

The rest of the problem came back to her in a hurry. The Red Masks, a terrorist group set on eradicating half-Fae and humans alike, had taken control of the Society at the induction of the new council. Kerrigan’s mentor, Bastian, revealed himself as the leader and slaughtered her surrogate mother, Helly. A circle of thirteen drained the magic from Kerrigan’s body. She and Fordham had escaped only to fall through a portal to Domara, the land of the gods. Her mother’s homeland.

One of those things was too much to handle.

All of them was a punch to the gut.

She couldn’t survive without magic. People went insane from a temporary loss. But this emptiness felt endless. If she thought about it for more than a second, her world went black at the edges.

No.

She pushed that thought away. She hadn’t died from it yet, and she wouldn’t die before she saved her people. There was no other option.

She needed Fordham.

She needed to find her mother.

And she needed to get home.

“Girl, are you well?” a female voice asked urgently.

It was one of the voices that Kerrigan had thought was lost in her mind. She finally peeled her eyes open long enough to discover there were in fact two people huddled over her. A pale, freckled older woman in a brown dress robe with her blonde hair up in curls and a much younger man who was shirtless, in nothing but dark brown pants. His skin was tan in comparison to the woman’s, and he had dark hair and eyes and a muscular torso and arms.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >138

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Cruel King – Cruel Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/cruel-king-cruel-read-online-k-a-linde Thu, 06 Apr 2023 07:50:29 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/cruel-king-cruel-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire, Contemporary, Erotic, Romance Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >88

A new stand alone fake relationship romance set in the glitz and glamour of the Cruel world from bestselling author K.A. Linde…

The most eligible bachelor in New York City just asked me to be his fake fiancé.
Gavin King is six and a half feet of delectable billionaire with a devil’s smile that says he knows exactly what he’s going to do to me later. Because he has.
Three years ago, I caught him in the shower and promptly fell into his bed. But neither of us were relationship material. Not to mention I’d just broken up with his best friend.
Now, I’m back in the city and he has a plan:
Go to his cousin’s wedding.
Convince his family that he’s not an eternal bachelor.
Post a huge elaborate break up later.
With those big puppy dog eyes begging me to agree, claiming I’m the only one who can pull it off, I say yes. What could go wrong? Other than pulling it off so successfully that the line between real and fake blurs.
When my family flips the whole script, I can’t see a way out. And I’m starting to wonder if I even want one.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PART I

THE GIRL WITH THE LAVENDER HAIR

1

WHITLEY

I negotiated lavender hair into my contract.

Well, not just lavender. All the colors of the rainbow. I’d gotten used to wearing my hair however I wanted in California. I intended to continue to do so now that I was coming back to New York City.

If I was honest, I might have been looking for a way to get out of the contract. Something that would make my boss roll his eyes and tell me I’d gone too far. This hadn’t been the reason. Even if he hated agreeing to it. I was one of the best practicing plastic surgeons in the country. He was paying me a small fortune to move back to the city after I made an even bigger name for myself in LA.

But I’d left New York for a damn good reason.

And I had to face that reason tonight.

I was swabbing more mascara onto my already-long lashes when my phone rang on the bathroom counter. I pressed the video button, and my best friend, Anna English, appeared on the screen.

“Where the hell are you?” English asked.

She looked frantic, and my friend never looked frantic. She was a celebrity publicist and could handle drugged-out rockstars like it was her job, which admittedly it was. It was another thing to have to manage her future mother-in-law.

“Leaving now.”

“Oh my god, are you still at the hotel?”

I grabbed my overflowing Chanel bag and headed toward the exit. “I’m like three blocks away from The Plaza.”

“You’re still living on California time,” English grumbled. “In New York, three blocks will make you late.”

“You’re actually from California, girlfriend.” I snatched up a fuzzy white fur coat and exited my suite to the elevator. “Take a Xanax or something. I can handle monster-in-law when I get there.”

“Wait, what the fuck is that in your hand?”

“A coat?” I deadpanned.

English huffed, but I saw a smile creep out. “I told you to wear something sensible.”

“Oh, I heard you. Loud and clear.”

“You’re going to show up in something outrageous, aren’t you?”

“No one will be worried about you when I walk in looking like a train wreck, now will they?”

English laughed this time. It was a beautiful sound. “Fuck, I missed you. You’re going to be the best worst maid of honor there ever was.”

“At your service,” I said, stepping onto the elevator. I blew her a kiss. “See you in ten.”

“Fine. Hurry. I love you.”

I hung up and dropped the phone into my bag. Then, I slid the over-the-top fur coat on top of the slinky silver dress that I’d worn clubbing with my ex-girlfriend back in LA. She’d said it was the sluttiest thing in my closet, but I really thought that was underselling it. I’d paired it with strappy silver high heels that one of my clients had gifted to me as a thank-you for a nose job well done.

As I exited the elevator, I slipped on a pair of shiny aviators and sauntered through the overly bright lobby of Percy Tower.

A group of businessmen was laughing outside of the restaurant off to my left. Every single one of them turned to gape at me. A smile hit my lips. I still had it. Three years in California had made my pale skin a perfect sun-kissed tan. I’d had a personal trainer since I abjectly refused to work out unless someone forced me, and my body was toned in all the best ways. I liked a little appreciation from the peanut gallery to prove it had all been worth it.

Then, my smile slipped as I recognized one of the men.

In fact, the very man I’d been hoping to avoid for as long as possible.

Gavin King.

His look of interest turned to shock when he realized that the girl in the fur coat and lavender hair was me.

It had been three years since I’d laid eyes on Gavin King. Memory did not do him justice. His suit was black as night and tailored to his powerful build. He was somewhere in the six-and-a-half-feet range with burnished red-brown hair, styled with gel to stay out of those emerald-green eyes. He held himself like the wealthy Upper East Sider he was. Old oil money, mixed with a Harvard education, made him practically drip with arrogance.

But when our eyes met, I saw, underneath the charismatic playboy, he was haunted at the sight of me. I’d cracked the veneer of his mask, and he wasn’t fast enough to get it together.

I wanted to scurry away. To pack up my shit and leave, like I had three years ago when things got too complicated. But I was back. I was back, which meant I was going to have to face Gavin one way or another. I’d just wanted to do it on my terms.

Oh well.

When life gave you lemons, add a little vodka and soda.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >88

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Cruel Kiss – Cruel King Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/cruel-kiss-cruel-king-read-online-k-a-linde Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:25:38 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/cruel-kiss-cruel-king-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Novella, Romance Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 19796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 99(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 >20

A sexy one-night stand romance set in the glitz and glamorous Cruel world by USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde…

Gavin King is not boyfriend material.
And neither am I.
That’s how our friendship works. We flirt and tease and joke, but at the end of the day, playing wingman is preferable to risking my heart.
Until I break up with my boyfriend the day that I leave for a two-week Caribbean vacation. And Gavin and I are the only single people on the island.
But remember that boyfriend I dumped?
Yeah, it’s his best friend.
The last thing I want to do is come between friends. And I swore the green eyes, wicked dimple, and chiseled body weren’t enough to convince me. But then I caught him in the shower…and he said he was thinking about me.
Now, I can’t stop picturing what I saw.
Maybe my ex doesn’t ever have to know.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

WHITLEY

“I’m going to miss you.”

I closed my eyes on a sigh as I stared out across the Manhattan skyline. Robert stood somewhere on the other side of his enormous penthouse, watching me. He’d been doing a lot of that over the last ten days. After he told me that he wasn’t going on our planned holiday vacation and I’d have to spend the next two weeks on a private island without him.

He thought I was upset.

And I was.

Just … not at him.

I was mad that I wasn’t upset. I should have been. We’d been dating long enough that I should have felt something when he told me he couldn’t get the time off work. I should have felt something at all about him even. But I didn’t.

Robert Dawson was classic Upper East Side good looks with tailored suits, a European haircut, and a boarding school pedigree. He hosted Gatsby-level parties, and he was in love with me. Like so in love with me. All of that combined should have been enough for me to fall in love with him too … right?

“Whit,” Robert said. He stepped up to the window and leaned against the glass. He had on a navy-blue pin-striped suit and a furrow formed between his brows. “Talk to me.”

“What is there to say?”

“You’re mad that I’m not going.”

“No,” I whispered.

He sighed. “I did try to get the time off.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’ve been off since I told you. It’s not fine.”

I shrugged and searched for my classic Whitley bravado. To all of my friends, I was the bubbly, flirtatious pixie, who always had a comeback and a wild dating story. But right now, I felt resigned to another relationship that wasn’t working out. One that I’d thought might actually happen.

Robert grabbed my arm and spun me to look at him. There was fire in his eyes now. He held in everything he felt so succinctly that I rarely ever saw fire from him. It was a nice change.

“You can talk to me.”

“I know.”

“Is this because all of our friends are coupled up? You can hang out with Gavin and—”

“No,” I said sharply. I didn’t want to talk about Gavin King. “No, it’s not that.”

Robert slid his hands into his suit pockets. “Then, what? Because I’ve apologized a thousand times for this. I don’t know how much more groveling you want from me. I’ve been perfectly accommodating with everything you’ve wanted out of this relationship. Relationships aren’t normal for you, but it’s been a learning curve for me too. So, if you have something to say, just spit it out.”

I finally met his gaze and arched an eyebrow. Well, that was new and different. Robert had always been a nice guy. I hadn’t expected him to push me here.

If he wanted the truth, then I owed him the truth.

“We should break up.”

His jaw set as he froze to stone. “What?”

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

He pushed away from the window. He didn’t plead with me. I’d definitely thought that he would beg. Instead, he looked ready to rip his apartment apart. He picked up a glass and threw it against the wall. I jumped as it shattered into a million pieces.

“Robert!”

“All because I can’t go on this trip?”

“No,” I gasped.

“I thought our relationship was going great. I’ve done everything you asked, Whitley. I … I fell in love with you. This is self-sabotaging. You’re running at the first sign of feelings.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then, what is it? Because from where I’m standing, you look scared out of your mind that you feel anything at all. When we first got together, I understood that you were a perpetual flirt and believed you were this broken girlfriend. You have a fraught history with relationships, but it doesn’t have to be this way.”

All of that was true. Except how I felt about him. Because if anything, I felt numb, empty. The first time he’d ever pushed me about anything was this moment. It was too little, too late.

“Thank you for psychoanalyzing me,” I quipped.

“Don’t do that. Don’t belittle this situation.”

“You’re the one who has it all figured out,” I shot back. “Did you ever think that it’s maybe just because I don’t feel the same?”

“No, you’re running scared, like normal.”

“I don’t love you,” I whispered, the wind dropping out of my sails.

He staggered back a step but said nothing.

I shook my head with a sigh. I didn’t feel anything at all. I wanted to. It would make a lot more sense if I did feel something for him. But it wasn’t there, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t make myself love someone that I didn’t. If that made me flighty and a broken girlfriend, then fine. Paint me as the villain.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go like this,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.

Then, I grabbed my suitcase, purse, and winter jacket and exited his apartment. I leaned my back against the door when it shut behind me. My stomach twisted in knots as I heard something shatter on the other side. Fuck.

<<<<1 2 3 11 >20

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Wait for Always – Coastal Chronicles Read Online K.A. Linde http://www.ilovenovels.com/wait-for-always-coastal-chronicles-read-online-k-a-linde Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:15:20 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wait-for-always-coastal-chronicles-read-online-k-a-linde Genre: Billionaire, Contemporary, Romance Authors: K.A. Linde Advertisement

Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >72

Ash Talmadge is everything I shouldn’t want.

My brother’s best friend. A too charismatic, too attractive Southern gentleman. And obsessed with someone else.

But she’s finally out of the picture. I put two years between their break up just to be sure. This is finally my chance.

His focus is all on me. Exactly where I wanted it to be since high school when he saved me from humiliation. And after college when he finally realized I was more than just his best friend’s little sister.

There’s only one person who could ruin this for me.

I’ve waited this long.

I’m willing to wait for always.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Part I

1

Savannah

Present

The only available parking spot was in front of the fire hydrant.

I narrowed my eyes in exasperation. Of course, on the day that I had to deal with this, there wasn’t going to be a single spot in downtown Savannah. This morning was an uncharacteristic eighty degrees and ninety percent humidity in March, and I had a meeting to get to after this.

But no … my dick ex needed me to get my shit out of his house today, or he was going to—quote—“chuck it out the window.” It didn’t matter that I’d been asking to come over to get my stuff for weeks. He’d refused at every turn. So, while I knew jumping at the first chance he gave me was playing exactly into his hand, I might never get my favorite cardigan back if I didn’t.

“Bastard,” I muttered under my breath.

I parallel parked in front of the fire hydrant, prayed that I wouldn’t get a ticket, then popped the door on my BMW, and rushed to the sidewalk. My heels clicked noisily as I stormed up the front walk of the dilapidated house. Mark had inherited it from his great uncle and didn’t have the liquid assets to keep it in adequate shape despite or because of his flagrant use of daddy’s money in everything else in his life. The number of red flags I’d ignored climbed ever higher.

I rang the doorbell and tapped my foot. Mark had always hated that. So now, I did it with relish while I waited.

No one came to the door though, and my long, straight brown hair was beginning to curl at the end. I rang again, knowing Mark hated that too.

“Christ, Amelia,” Mark snapped as he wrenched the door open. “So impatient.”

Seven months, nine days, and about fourteen hours—that was exactly how long I’d wasted my time with Mark Armstrong.

“Can I have my stuff?” I asked, not keeping the irritation out of my voice.

I couldn’t even reach for my pageant smile. With the snarl I could barely contain on my lips, no one would ever know that I’d won Miss Georgia

“Don’t want to come in and have a drink?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

He was exactly my type—tall, dark, and handsome with daddy’s money and an old Savannah surname that matched mine. I’d excused a lot of behavior for how well we should have fit together.

“I just want my stuff. Let’s not do this today.”

His smile lit up at my rude behavior. “Come on, pageant queen. Give me a smile.”

I couldn’t manage it. I just crossed my arms. “Mark.”

“Fine, fine,” he grumbled. “Jesus, never could take a joke.”

A joke. Right.

He kicked a box across the threshold. Actually kicked it.

I reached down and looked through the contents. Of course, my cardigan wasn’t in there. “Where’s my cardigan? The Taylor Swift one.”

“Fuck if I know.”

The same old panic took over me at the anger in his voice. Who knew how close he was to letting out that anger on me? I could never quite tell. Still, I refused to back down.

“You know that’s my favorite. I came, just like you wanted me to, so I could get it back.”

“It’s not my fault that you leave your shit everywhere.”

“Fine. I’ll look for it myself.” I took a half-step toward the house, ready to barrel him down and find that damn cardigan when he burst into laughter.

“Oh, your face. Man, Amelia, you should see yourself. Here’s your fucking cardigan.”

He reached into the room and tossed it at me. It hit me in the face, and I caught it, trying to suppress my revulsion that I’d ever dated someone this mercilessly cruel. It had taken me a long time to see this in him. Everyone who knew him liked him. No one suspected that how he was in public wasn’t who he was in private. And I’d finally gotten tired of it all. Tired of no one believing me and everyone thinking I was crazy for leaving him. At least I knew well enough not to provoke him any further.

“Thanks, Mark,” I said, dropping the cardi into the box and hefting it into my arms.

“You sure you don’t want to come in?” He shot me a licentious smile.

“I’m quite sure,” I forced out, taking a step back.

His smile fell, and irritation flared in his eyes. “I’m over here, doing you a huge favor. I got all of your stuff together. I made myself available for you. And you can’t even do me the decency of coming inside?”

I was never going into that house again if I could help it.

“What? Too good for me now? Who else are you going to find that’s going to want you?”

I said nothing. Nothing that I wanted to say would be productive. I’d heard that from him before. I’d heard it enough to not know up from down. But even if no one else ever wanted me again, I didn’t want him.

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