Magic – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Magic – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:55:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.2 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Magic – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 Magical Midlife Conclave – Leveling Up Read Online K.F. Breene http://www.ilovenovels.com/magical-midlife-conclave-leveling-up-read-online-k-f-breene Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:55:59 +0000 https://www.ilovenovels.com/magical-midlife-conclave-leveling-up-read-online-k-f-breene Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal Authors: K.F. Breene Advertisement

Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)

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Austin is done chasing shifters across the country, trying to prove his worth. This time, he’s bringing them to him.

Together with Jessie, he’s hosting a shifter conclave—the first gathering of its kind in years. The last one in recorded history ended in bloodshed.
This time, however, they aren’t just inviting shifters into their territory. Gargoyles and basajaunak have been called in as well.
With decades of grudges, rivalries, and power struggles converging in one place, the conclave is a disaster waiting to happen. And that’s before the enemies determined to crush Austin and Jessie’s growing alliance make their move.
Keeping the peace may be impossible. Surviving the gathering might be even harder.

But if the conclave succeeds, it could reshape the future of the supernatural world forever. If it fails, history won’t just repeat itself—it will be remembered as the day everything fell apart

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

1

Kingsley

His phone vibrated within the center console as he pulled up to his house. He glanced at the screen, finding a number he didn’t recognize. The area code was in Austin’s area.

He grabbed the phone, his bag, and the bundle of flowers he’d bought as he climbed from the car, fatigue dragging at him. They’d been training hard since Austin had told him about the conclave. There would be rules similar to a gargoyle meeting, apparently, defining the number of pack members that could be brought inside territory limits, but that didn’t give them any assurances. The amount of power amassed would make some shifters spiral. They’d act out, push for dominance, and, possibly, mindlessly rage. There was no telling. Kingsley wanted his people ready to help Austin at a moment’s notice. They had seven months to do so.

Despite the danger and uncertainty, Austin was on the verge of making a name for himself in a major way. He wouldn’t be “Black Sheep Barazza” anymore, Kingsley was sure of it. Austin’s ingenuity in how he planned to structure the conclave was incredible. He’d opened his mind to the different magical types of the world, and he and Jessie were fusing the best each species had to offer.

With a little smile and warmth in his soul, Kingsley slung his bag over his shoulder, balanced the flowers in the crook of his elbow, and made his way up the walk. He slid the bar on the screen to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Kingsley Barazza.”

Kingsley didn’t recognize the deep, growling voice, heavily laced with command.

Caught off guard, his hackles rising, he pulled the phone from his ear to check the screen. Definitely an unknown. Who the hell had his private number?

“Yes,” he replied, the question implied in his tone.

“Hello. I got your number from Austin.” The man paused, then added, “Steele,” as though it were an afterthought.

That was…odd. Usually, Austin would give Kingsley a heads-up if he gave his number out.

If this was a game or joke of some kind, Kingsley was too tired to play.

He silently waited for the unknown caller to go on as he opened the front door. The soft, spicy smell of home greeted him.

He dropped his pack beside the little table by the door, readjusted the flowers in his free hand, and continued on toward the kitchen.

“My name is Aljoe,” the man on the phone said, “given to me by the Ivy House crew. You’d know me by my former name, Yazanth.” Again, he paused. “Golden Fang.”

A jolt of adrenaline made Kingsley freeze just inside the archway of the great room. His hand involuntarily squeezed, crushing the flower stems and crinkling the paper.

Earnessa looked up from the kitchen counter in concern.

A game or joke, indeed. Austin was going to get hell for this. Of all the people to let blindside Kingsley, that bastard.

“Alpha,” Kingsley said, trying to keep his cool.

It was not easy. Yazanth Golden Fang was a legend in the shifter community, only a teen when he was forced to take over his large, powerful, sprawling pack. The very people who’d worked with his father and had helped raise him turned on him in the name of greed. He’d fought tooth and nail to keep that pack whole. To protect it against glory seekers and challengers from outside and within.

Despite all that, he’d made that territory blossom. He had an incredible amount of knowledge and had always demonstrated the exemplary application of it. There was a reason his name was said with reverence.

Then, in his final act as alpha, he’d turned the pack over to his sisters and walked away. He’d sacrificed his own future to protect theirs.

There was no more upstanding alpha in the world. Not in Kingsley’s eyes, anyway.

And that legendary alpha had just called Kingsley on his private line…like a friend.

He forced himself to loosen the hold on the flowers. With a deep breath, he kept walking, shaking his head to ward off Earnessa’s alarm.

“Austin mentioned he told you of my plans to join his and Jessie’s convocation,” the alpha went on.

I didn’t tell a soul outside of my household, I promise, he nearly rushed to say. Loose lips sink ships—I know how it goes.

He tempered his urgency. “He did. The knowledge has been kept in the family.”

This alpha wasn’t much older than Kingsley, but Kingsley still felt like a child being allowed at the holiday party adult table. Most alphas would. A planet being compared to the sun. A Honda parked next to a Ferrari.

“Thank you,” Yazanth said.

Kingsley tried to give his mate a smile as he presented her with the flowers, but his expression was still frozen in shock. Or maybe reverence?

Thank God he was at home. This would be very embarrassing if he’d still been training or walking into the office.

“What can I do for you, Alpha?” Kingsley asked.

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Bound (A Faery Story #1) Read Online Lexi Blake http://www.ilovenovels.com/bound-a-faery-story-1-read-online-lexi-blake Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:28:36 +0000 https://www.ilovenovels.com/bound-a-faery-story-1-read-online-lexi-blake Genre: Alpha Male, BDSM, Erotic, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal, Vampires Authors: Lexi Blake Series: A Faery Story Series by Lexi Blake
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Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)

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Megan Starke has never been special to anyone. With an unrewarding job and a failed marriage, no one would confuse her life with a fairy tale. So when she is kidnapped and taken to a magical world to be the grand prize in a fierce and bloody tournament, she isn't sure if she is in a dream or a nightmare.

Beckett Finn was supposed to be Prince Charming. He and his brother, Cian, were to inherit the throne of the Seelie Fae and rule over a fantasy kingdom. But the thrust of a traitor's blade stole that future. Now the brothers are fading, cursed by their royal blood unless they find a mate who can restore them.

When Beck sees Meg, her body calls to him and he knows she is the key to their salvation. Bound by passion and fate, it's time for Meg to find her happily ever after.

** A Siren Erotic Romance - [#390 Siren Menage Everlasting: Erotic Fantasy Menage a Trois Romance, M/F/M, BDSM, spanking]

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

Chapter One

Meg

Once upon a time, in a land closer than you would think…

I’m having the weirdest dream. I try to take in the scene around me. I call it a scene because this isn’t real. This can’t be real. I wasn’t taken by some guy—demon—and transported to…

I’m in some sort of luxurious tent. There’s lush carpet on the floor, but on the outer edges of the space I see grass and patches of loamy earth. Odd lanterns illuminate the space. I call them odd because there doesn’t seem to be a flame. The light is strong, but it’s almost like it’s moving inside the opaque glass.

Like fireflies flickering.

“Are you okay?”

I turn to the sound of a feminine voice, looking through the metal bars of the cage I find myself in. Bile rises. Cage. I’m in a cage. What is my fucked up brain trying to tell me? I mean, honestly the cage totally makes sense. I’m feeling trapped by work and the place in life I find myself, so I understand the setting of this dream. The gorgeous, slender blonde chick in the cage across from me I don’t understand at all.

“I get the cage,” I explain to the blonde. She’s naked, but then everyone in the cages are naked, including myself. “I even get the nudity. I’ve got a meeting with my regional manager next week, and I’m not ready for it. Nudity is a sure sign of anxiety. The cage is because I hate my job and my life, and I can’t seem to find a way out. Hence the luxury of the cage, though I think my subconscious is wrong about that. I mean my paycheck is good enough to keep a roof over my head, but nothing like this.”

The bed I’d “woken” on is the most comfortable I’ve ever been on. The silk sheets are soft and lush. It’s why I thought at first this was going to be some sort of erotic dream, or maybe I’m so tired my dream is being kept in a cage like a beloved pet. I might need therapy because at first I was cool with all of it. Some short chick had brought me lunch, and it was delicious. It was when I requested coffee and the small serving lady asked me what coffee was that I realized I was dreaming.

And it might be a nightmare.

I can still see his face. It had been too long, too skeletal. Something inside me had known. Something had feared that thing in the alley.

The blonde’s head turns as though seeing me from a different angle might help her understand. “You speak too fast. I understand some of your plane’s words, but not all. I am fresh from the old plane.”

Yeah, a gorgeous blonde who doesn’t speak my language and flies on old planes. I have no idea how to interpret that one.

A withered hand reached out to me and when that hand touched my arm, the world had gone cold.

What a find you are, my dear. I think I know just where to take you.

I shake my head, forcing the vision back. That had been a dream, too. A prelude to whatever this nighttime vision is supposed to teach me. It hits me suddenly what all of this is about. I decided a few weeks ago I’m going to take a step that could change my life.

“I’m going to a munch,” I explain to the only woman in the tent who seems interested in me. “That’s a safe way to meet people in the lifestyle. I’m going to see if this is for me, and no anxiety dream is going to make me change my mind. That’s why you’re here. You’re the inner symbol of my insecurity. I’m fairly certain I’ll be the worst-looking potential sub at that munch. Yeah, that’s what this is about.”

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Beast (A Faery Story #2) Read Online Lexi Blake http://www.ilovenovels.com/beast-a-faery-story-2-read-online-lexi-blake Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:28:34 +0000 https://www.ilovenovels.com/beast-a-faery-story-2-read-online-lexi-blake Genre: Alpha Male, BDSM, Erotic, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal, Vampires Authors: Lexi Blake Series: A Faery Story Series by Lexi Blake
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Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)

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I am a werewolf without a home.

My life was never easy. I grew up in a frozen tundra, but at least it was familiar. Then one cold day, my pack exiled me. I was thrown from the only home I’ve ever known and forced to find a new one.
Now I’m in a strange new world, surrounded by bright lights, loud noises, and far too many people. I’m frightened and trust no one. I wake up in a cell with no one who speaks my language. I’m sure death will come for me.
Instead, I get a vampire.
Dante Dellacourt has been given an ultimatum. Either he takes a consort and settles down, or his very wealthy, powerful family will disown him. Unwilling to lose the life he’s accustomed to, he reluctantly agrees to find a wife.
He chooses me.
He’s unlike any man I’ve ever known. We can’t be more different, but I still find him irresistible.
But I know that inside him hides a ferocious beast waiting to be unleashed. I only need to find the key to unleash him or we might both be lost to betrayal and war

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

Prologue

Kaja

The Werewolf Plane

I look up into the eyes of the woman who raised me, seeking any kind of understanding there. Helga is not a kind mother. The older wolf isn’t my mother at all. She was designated by the First as my keeper when I was orphaned. But Helga was the one to ensure I survived. Helga gives me food and grudging shelter when the weather is too cold for any wolf to stand. Helga only beats me when there is no other option. I’m aware I’m far too thin for a she-wolf of four and twenty, but it’s only to be expected. I have no mate, and Helga must think of her own children first.

But she owes me answers.

“What does it mean?” I ask.

I don’t understand what just happened. It makes no sense. My hands tremble as I pull the thin shawl around my shoulders. I think about changing. I always change when I feel this anxious. Fur and fangs and four strong paws seem more solid than my two-legged body. I hold fast to my human form since I need to understand how my life has changed following the wisewoman’s pronouncement.

Mere moments before, the wisewoman, a large, sturdy wolf, stood up in the middle of the evening meal and spoke. I was at the edge of the dining hall, as is customary. I’m not allowed to eat until the rest of the pack is done. Though I couldn’t hear everything that was said, I felt the eyes of the pack turn, seeking me out. They stared, some with open sympathy, most with sneers.

I do not understand why.

Helga’s eyes are anything but kind as she looks at me. “It means you are outcast. Do you understand the word, girl? You are no longer welcome in the pack. I risk the First’s anger by even speaking with you, but you are too stupid to be expected to understand on your own.”

“Why?” My voice sounds as small as I feel.

I ignore the insults. They are as ordinary to my life as breathing. I was never particularly welcome in the pack, but it’s the only home I know. The world is a cold place. How will I survive on my own? It’s winter, and there is barely enough food to feed the pack. I can’t compete with the warriors on my own. If I am outcast and they catch me hunting in their territory, they will kill me.

Sven will kill me.

Tears pool in my eyes as I think of the handsome Second. He is every inch his father’s son. He will be First someday. I fought him, but he doesn’t take no for an answer. I hated the mating, but somewhere in the back of my mind I wonder if Sven will help me. He desires me. That has to mean he cares about me. I have always known that Sven will not ask me to be his permanent mate. He will select a much more suitable she-wolf for that honor. But he has promised me the role of concubine. It is not without its benefits. I will be respected as the Second’s mistress. I will be the she-wolf who holds his heart. Even if he never holds mine, I will be fed and have a place of honor.

“Sven will not allow it.” He called me beautiful. He won’t allow me to be thrown out of the pack. He can’t. He was the one to pursue me. The truth is I loathe him, but I don’t see another way.

Helga sighs. “He’s done with you, idiot child. He’s going to permanently mate with the wisewoman’s daughter. Did you think she would allow her daughter’s future husband to keep you as a concubine? That is an embarrassment she can not endure. You should never have given yourself to the chief’s son.”

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Beauty (A Faery Story #3) Read Online Lexi Blake http://www.ilovenovels.com/beauty-a-faery-story-3-read-online-lexi-blake Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:28:32 +0000 https://www.ilovenovels.com/beauty-a-faery-story-3-read-online-lexi-blake Genre: Alpha Male, BDSM, Erotic, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal, Vampires Authors: Lexi Blake Series: A Faery Story Series by Lexi Blake
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Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)

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In one horrifying night, I lost my family, my kingdom, and my Dark Ones, the princes who haunted my dreams for years. Left alone, I fight for survival and crave revenge against the uncle who took everything from me.

But I’ve never forgotten my Dark Ones.
I hide along with my guardian, but a war is raging across two lands. Lives are being lost. I want to fight but everyone around me tries to hold me down. They want me to lay low and keep quiet because they see me as a figurehead, but I know I can be more.
And then my Dark Ones find me. Lach and Shim McIver are the future kings of the Unseelie Fae. They believe that I am the bondmate that will connect the halves of their shared soul. They want to take me back to their kingdom and keep me safe.

But my brothers, the true Seelie kings, are taking back their throne, and I plan to be by their side when they do

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

Prologue

Bronwyn

The Seelie Plane

Thirteen years before

I look down at the hole in MY stomach and wonder how long it will take to die. I stumble into my mother’s room, pushing back the ornate double doors. I hold my hand to my gut, trying desperately to stem the tide. Smoke and tears seem to be all I can see now, obliterating the familiarity of my home. I grew up in the White Palace, the marbled floors always beneath my feet. My father’s room was off-limits to all but Beck, but my mother’s room was a sanctuary.

It is why I ran here when the world exploded around me.

But Mother is nowhere to be found.

My hands shake. I am losing control.

Of course you are, Bron. You took a knife to the gut. Not much coming back from that.

My uncle’s men. Torin turned on us all. I make it to my mother’s big bed, pushing past the filmy curtains and collapsing on the mattress. As a child, I pulled them closed and pretended I was in a whole other world. A world where the friends from my dreams were real. Tears blur my eyes. My Dark Ones. They were with me for as long as I can remember, but I stopped speaking of them years ago. My father called me crazy when I told him of their nightly visitations. My mother called in healers. Only Cian listened without prejudice. Beck couldn’t listen. He didn’t have time, and he was almost never allowed out of our father’s sight. Still, he would catch my eyes and wink or ruffle my hair as he walked past. He is going to be a king.

I cry out. Is Beckett even alive? Has Torin killed all of my family?

When I die, will I see them? My Dark Ones?

“You ain’t dead yet, girl.” A menacing voice pulls me from my misery.

I look up and see the soldier who attacked me. He’s dressed in my uncle’s colors, black and gold, with the Finn family crest upon his breast. My crest. My kingdom. But it doesn’t matter. It’s Uncle Torin’s world now.

I try to move, to force myself to run. There’s a nasty gleam in the soldier’s eye telling me he’s happy I’m not dead yet. He wants to play. I shake my head, horror suffusing me. I’m dying and yet, in the moment, the thought of his bloodied hands on my body is more repugnant than death itself.

But I have no choice. None. So much of my life has been thus. Do your hair just so, Bronwyn. Stand up straight. A princess shouldn’t be friends with her servants. Don’t speak so freely to the brownies. Put that book down. A princess doesn’t need to know such things.

A princess didn’t need to know how to protect herself. A princess didn’t need to understand politics.

A princess dies as easily as her sweet brownie friend did.

His hand snakes out, grabbing my ankle and pulling me down the bed. I can see I soaked my mother’s pristine white sheets with bright red blood. My blood.

My mother gave birth to me in this bed. I will die here.

“Don’t,” I beg. I want to close my eyes. Goddess, I want to see them one last time. I’m shocked to find that in my last moments, all I want to do is sleep and be with them again. My Dark Ones. My friends. The shadow men who hold my heart. I want their arms around me, their voices whispering. The dreams changed recently, becoming more physical. I kissed them the night before, a soft touch of the lips, moving from one to the other because I can’t favor either. I love them both.

No more phantom kisses. Only pain and humiliation and death.

I try to kick out, but I’m weak, so weak. My legs won’t move. It doesn’t matter. The soldier can move them. He spreads them wide, shoving my skirt up. Stupid skirt. I tripped over it. It’s how he caught me in the first place, but a princess doesn’t wear anything practical.

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Sky’s Edge (The Four Realms #2) Read Online Kristen Ashley http://www.ilovenovels.com/skys-edge-the-four-realms-2-read-online-kristen-ashley Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:27:49 +0000 https://www.ilovenovels.com/skys-edge-the-four-realms-2-read-online-kristen-ashley Genre: Alpha Male, Billionaire, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal Authors: Kristen Ashley Series: The Four Realms Series by Kristen Ashley
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Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)

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Peace has been shattered in the Four Realms…

But Catla Truelock has bigger concerns.

Her father’s done what he’d been threatening to do. He’s arranged her marriage to a man not of Catla’s choice.

It’s the demon way, but Catla knows her new betrothed, and she doesn’t like him. He’s aloof. He’s arrogant. And he’s both in spades.

Tanyn, the new king of Sky’s Edge, feels differently about the half-demon beauty from Night’s Fall. He’s made his decision on who he wants to be his queen.

She’s perfect.

He simply has to convince her.

Tanyn sets about doing that, but he’s interrupted when his fiancée receives a death threat.

It’s then all the royals of the Four Realms understand that the danger is not over. For reasons unknown, there’s a sinister faction in their lands who’s targeting them, and the women who will rule at their sides.

Now, Tanyn has to keep his Catla safe, at the same time convincing her to wear his crown.

And Catla has to decide if she can leave everything she knows to be the bride of the handsome king in a land that is not her own

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

Prologue

CURSE

Tanyn

Three Days after the Midnight Masque in Night’s Fall…

King Tanyn alighted from the craft.

He heard the hiss of the door closing behind him, but he paid no mind to it.

His mind was on the ice steps in front of him.

He allowed those steps to lead his gaze and his attention up to the castle that rose high above him, a riot of snowy turrets with golden warmth flooding from lit windows.

The whole thing was a fancy, a folly, a magician’s trick.

And a not-so-inside joke.

But underneath, it was a witch’s curse.

Berg Castle, the royal residence of the monarchs of Sky’s Edge for the last six hundred years, was coated in snow.

This, while the inhabitants of that realm, if lore could be believed (and Tanyn knew it could), were delivered direct from the pits of the fiery levels of the hells.

It had not been built to resemble the fairytale castle it appeared to be now.

It had been built to convey power. To intimidate.

Pain, betrayal and loss were what caused it to be packed with snow.

Tanyn ascended steps he had not ever taken in his life, for he’d been born to sit on the throne but was banished from that castle when he was barely able to walk.

He stood at the top landing in front of golden doors that shone so brightly, not only from their color, but also from the eternal gilded fire blazing from the large lantern that hung above him.

He turned and stared at the lights spread before him, demarcating the capital city of Sky’s Edge, Abyssinia.

His city.

His realm.

His.

He turned back to the doors.

For this, his first visit since he was a year old, he had dismissed all the staff who worked there.

It was his first visit as king.

Therefore, he had to push through the doors himself.

He did not wander the chambers.

He did not marvel at the centuries-old magic that had created the snow walls and ice marble floors, ice crystal chandeliers and frost-edged windows.

He did what he promised his mother he would do when this day arrived.

He descended three levels under the castle.

He went to the dungeons.

Once there, he took the skeleton key he’d demanded, and received, and used it on the antique lock to an area of the castle he’d been told hadn’t been used in four hundred years.

He threw open the old wooden door fortified by iron and instantly recoiled.

Centuries of torment, misery, torture and lost hope had a feel that endured time.

It also, he just discovered, had a smell.

He allowed himself to adjust to it, and after he entered, instead of voicing his command, he turned to the bank of switches at his side which had been installed when electricity had been harnessed for a variety of uses.

Tanyn hit the switches.

The space illuminated.

He’d been told, due to the fact it had not been in use for a very long time, this area had not been updated at all since the early 1900s, and the meagre light fixtures proved it.

He moved through the shadowy first room, which could be considered a form of reception area, though not a welcoming one, if the chains affixed to walls, walls not made of glinting snow but of glittering black stone, told the tale.

Next up was a sort of lounge, with rickety tables and chairs left to disintegrate, plus an old iron stove that had provided warmth back in the day for the guards.

It wasn’t providing warmth now, and this area was certainly not included in the temperate seventy-three degrees that the rest of the castle rested at, regardless of its wintry walls.

More magic.

But no magic down there. It was as cold as the Borea Sea.

He moved through the guards’ lounge, down the long hall made of stone punctuated by wood doors, also fortified by iron, that had small, barred windows to look through to see the prisoners and slit doors at the bottom to shove food inside the cells.

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One Shattered Crown – Grimm Bargains Read Online Rebecca Zanetti http://www.ilovenovels.com/one-shattered-crown-grimm-bargains-read-online-rebecca-zanetti Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:24:33 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/one-shattered-crown-grimm-bargains-read-online-rebecca-zanetti Genre: Alpha Male, Dark, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal Authors: Rebecca Zanetti Advertisement

Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)

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Set in a steamy, neon-lit, high-tech world of magic, money, and explosive desire, this sultry, dark fairytale retelling offers a dystopian romantasy twist on Cinderella.

ELLA
It’s the wedding of the year—a lavish union of two powerhouses. But I’m only here for vengeance against the woman who stole my position as sole heir to my late father’s company, TimeGem Moments, and shipped me off to boarding school. I’ve only made more enemies since. Tonight is my chance to reclaim control. Tonight, TimeGem’s diamond-powered servers are this girl’s best friend. Unless he ruins everything. Justice Beathach, the groom’s unbearably hot brother, with hands built for war and a mouth that spells destruction. He’s lethal, unyielding, and now has me in his crosshairs . . .

JUSTICE
Ella Rendale almost killed my brother once. Now, at his own wedding, she’s almost done it again. I don’t care if he’s forgiven her or if she’s been wronged. I care about one thing: the locked flash drive she leaves behind, spelling my destruction. She can run, she can hide, but when I find her, she’ll give me what I want. But someone else wants her even more than I do—they want her dead. When our enemies close in, I’m forced to protect her, turning the fire between us into an uncontrollable weapon. Now, she’s not just my quarry—she’s my obsession. And I’ll kill anyone who even thinks of taking her from me . . .

*** DELUXE SPECIAL EDITION HARDCOVER with stenciled edges, reversible dust jacket, foil stamping, and designed endpapers! ***

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

ONE

Ella

Justice … yeah, he looks dangerous. Jet-black hair, broad shoulders stretching the seams of his suit, gaze constantly scanning the room. I feel a little sorry that I tried to kill his brother not too long ago. Thorn survived—barely—and the only reason I’m still breathing is because he’d bend reality to keep Alana safe, and she loves me. My death would hurt her, so I get to stay alive.

Which is a good thing, because there are more guns in this opulent pavilion than actual people.

I tear my gaze away from Justice and take a sip of champagne. The expensive brew is a crisp, floral, bubbly delight that tickles the roof of my mouth as I try to count how many bodyguards are lurking around the place. I give up after twenty. This is ridiculous.

Then I purposefully avoid looking at Justice and glance over at Alana. My best friend. The newly crowned Mrs. Thorn Beathach.

Her beauty practically fills the whole room, like light refracting off a diamond. She has sparkling eyes, thick, dark hair cascading down her back, and cheekbones that are sharp yet feminine. She’s glowing. Literally. Maybe it’s the chandeliers catching her earrings, or the champagne catching up to me. Could go either way.

Her man is danger in a suit with a scar across his face that’s a clear warning sign.

They’re a striking couple: beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. Like a rose with steel thorns and a body count.

She holds up her phone and makes a post, probably on her family’s social media platform, Aquarius Social. She’s the biggest influencer in the country, with a platform that allows people to share emotions. Considering she’s radiating happiness, she’s spreading a lot of love right now.

Soft music winds through the air that sounds like delicate and expensive strings. My shoulders roll back, irritated by a persistent, uncomfortable itch down my spine. My quite bitchy stepmother must be nearby. And, bingo. There she is with the stepsisters, loitering near the buffet where most of the bachelors are filling their plates. My stepmother and sisters are just pretending to pick at things. Performance dining.

I shake my head.

“You really could smile a little,” Rosalie says beside me, her voice warm and dry with amusement.

I half turn to take her in. Rosalie wears a deep sapphire gown that hugs her like it was sewn on by angels. The color makes the impossible blue of her eyes even more shocking. Ethereal, but in a way that says she could still stab you with a heel if it came to it.

“I am smiling,” I tell her.

We match tonight in the same gown, same shade. Except I’m many inches shorter, and mine doesn’t quite flow as gracefully. But my blonde hair is curled just right around my shoulders, and my makeup’s on point. I feel acceptable. Like I might belong here. If I squint. “I can’t believe you’re here talking to me all by yourself.”

Rosalie rolls her eyes. “Don’t be silly.”

I scan the room again. Glittering gowns brush the marble floors, and tuxedos prowl past like sleek predators. Laughter hums just under the music. I catch sight of Alexei Sokolov by the bar. He’s partially turned, but his gaze flicks in our direction. Direct. Calculating. Possessive.

“Oh, there he is,” I murmur. “I’m surprised he let you out of his sight for long.”

Rosalie laughs, soft but rich. “He is a mite overprotective.” Right. Like the leader of the Russian mob is just a bit protective.

“How many guns does he have on him, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” she says.

I glance toward the exits, from doorway to doorway, cataloging shadows and broad shoulders. I count at least two mafia guys at each exit. The Russian half are Alexei’s, and the Irish ones are Thorn’s. Then a few more are scattered throughout.

Yeah. Glitter, music, silk, and enough firepower to start a small war. Just another Saturday night.

Alexei and Thorn own two of the most powerful social media companies in the world and also run mafia-like organizations with enough reach to make FBI agents cry into their keyboards. Charming, really. Alana’s family owns the third out of four major companies.

Technically, I should own the fourth. Should. But my stepmother’s still clinging to it with her clawed fingers and Botox-smoothed smugness. That’s temporary, though. The clock’s ticking, and she doesn’t even hear it. Unless she finally succeeds in getting me killed, and then she wins.

I can’t let that happen.

A couple dances past us, the woman’s golden gown billowing out and catching innocent ankles like a weaponized fabric storm. Strings hum from somewhere above like music’s just floating down from the cosmos, or a luxury sound system pretending to be heaven.

I’m ready to get out of the gown and into my yoga pants. Even though I grew up an heiress in one of the wealthiest families of all time, my stepmother shipped me off to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, with no fancy celebrations or even cake. I’m more comfortable by myself in comfy clothes with a computer in front of me. But I know my role, so I smile for anybody looking or filming. “I’m still surprised Thorn agreed to have the wedding reception on Alana’s father’s property.” The pavilion’s gorgeous, sure, but Thorn doesn’t exactly scream let’s compromise. The man radiates control-freak energy in his sleep.

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Found Objects Read Online Mary Calmes http://www.ilovenovels.com/found-objects-read-online-mary-calmes Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:11:30 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/found-objects-read-online-mary-calmes Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi, M-M Romance, Magic, Paranormal Authors: Mary Calmes Advertisement

Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)

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Merritt Baker is older than he looks. Quite a bit older, in fact. He knows all about the woods and where one should never wander at night, but the fact of the matter is, sometimes men are the scariest creatures of all, and Merritt makes it his business to protect the innocents caught in their wake. In the small town of Coille, West Virgina, where he makes his home, he takes care of quite a few people, and that’s always been enough. Or has been. Lately though, he’s felt a bit lost, as though he’s forgotten what it means to really live rather than simply exist.

Change arrives when a pack of shifters buys the land that borders his. He doesn’t think twice about them until his simple rules are ignored, and suddenly there’s conflict. One of the wolves, Cole Swann, is very interested in him, and surprisingly, Merritt can’t seem to get the man out of his head. But things aren’t what they seem, and between other packs, ghosts, and worst of all, love, Merritt might be in over his head. That’s the thing about being lost—it can be wonderful when you’re finally found, but is it worth the risk of losing yourself?

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

EARLY…

Iwasn’t sleeping. I hadn’t been lately. And really, I didn’t much anymore, not like I used to when the world was quieter. But I missed it, noticed it, and could say with absolute conviction that usually, not being able to rest signaled a change. Normally, there were small shifts, nothing seismic, not anymore. But because my restlessness could either be good or bad, I was anxious. My roommate, Ondine, was gone, so there was no one at home for me to talk to, and another friend who occasionally haunted my sunroom when it got colder, wasn’t around either, so I was out, alone, first checking the edges of my property before moving farther toward town.

It was early in the morning, somewhere between one and two, so the screaming caught my attention immediately. It was easily half a mile away, but sounds traveled strangely in the woods, especially when most in our small town were sleeping.

When I reached the trailer, which was a mile down the road from my property, I saw that all the lights were on. I headed around the side to the window and saw Missy Harrington, who worked days at the local market while her daughter was in school, sitting in the front room, hair mussed, lip split, nose bleeding, eye bruised, rocking her daughter and a small black-and-white puppy in the chair with her. The way she was clutching them tight told me that either the child, the puppy, or both could be the target of the man who was pacing back and forth in front of her, yelling.

The little girl—her daughter, Katey, who I knew from all the times she’d bounced into my restaurant for a cinnamon roll after school—was trembling and crying. The puppy was watching the man, shivering, but not making a sound.

“What did I tell you I was gonna do to that dog if he pissed in the house again?” James Harrington growled at his wife.

“He’s just a puppy,” she whispered. “He has to be trained.”

He charged toward her, and he would have hit his wife, but Katey cried out in terror.

“You want something to cry about?” he roared at his daughter. “How about I give you somethin’ to cry about.”

Missy put her hand over her daughter’s head and turned her face toward her. “Just me, Jimmy,” she begged. “Please.”

He clenched his fist, and I moved to the porch and knocked.

“What the hell?” he yelled, charging across the floor. I couldn’t see him from my angle, of course, but I could hear every step. The man had a distinct sound to his gait when he was drunk—his work boots on the wooden floor made a scratching noise—and he was very drunk. I could hear it in the slur of his words, but more importantly, unless he was at work on the road crew, picking up dead animals struck by cars or clearing debris, he was nearly always drunk. Many a time I had covered groceries for Missy when beer or whiskey had been purchased instead of milk or cheese or hamburger meat.

The door flew open, and it took him a second to process me standing there.

“Merritt?”

“James,” I said flatly before I grabbed him by his jacket, yanked him off his feet and out the door, then shoved him over the railing of the porch.

The fall wasn’t far, but he was winded even from hitting the sliver of grass around the trailer. Farther down the hill they lived on were various cars and cages that used to have dogs in them before the state police came and shut down his backyard breeding operation six months ago. That had been me as well. Other people were afraid of James, as he had a mean temper and more than a few equally mean friends, but no one in their right mind was messing with me, so the duty to protect the dogs had fallen to me. I had not failed them.

“Merritt, you son of a whore!” he yelled. Or tried to yell. It came out raspy, all the air having left his lungs.

“Hey,” I greeted the woman, the little girl, and the puppy. “You have bags packed, yes?”

Missy just stared at me.

I crossed the room and crouched down in front of her. “Dear, do we have bags packed?”

She nodded quickly.

“Let’s grab them, and I’ll help you put them in the car.”

“I… Merritt, what are you doing here?”

I never understood the need to clarify the why of something in the middle of emergency situations. Why was it important why I was there?

“I wanna go with Mere,” Katey said shakily, on the verge of tears. We were old friends with how many times she’d been in my restaurant. “Daddy’s gonna kill Lucky.”

“No, he’s not,” I murmured to the little girl, who turned and dove into my arms. “But we do need to go.”

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