Best Modern Novels

HOLY SHIT! My father's best friend had his face buried in between my legs. I threw my head back against the headrest, fisting his hair in my palms but it only urged him to go faster. His breath was warm against my clit and just when I thought I couldn't get enough, he hummed, the vibration sending intense waves of pleasure through me. "Oh my God," this was so wrong yet my body betrayed me, leaning closer into his touch. ~~ Diane Ashford thought four years in Paris had killed the forbidden feelings she had for Damon Pierce. But returning to New York brings the past rushing back. Damon is her father's best friend, her protector, and the man who makes every part of her body ache for him. Now working as his assistant, Diane must face desire, secrets, and family lies that could destroy them. Damon is powerful, possessive, and impossible to resist. Can their forbidden love survive the truth or will it ruin them both?

My husband watched as my skin melted, scalded by boiling soup, yet his hands were busy comforting my attacker. Five years of marriage, built on a foundation of my family's power, crumbled with a single, brutal act of betrayal. He bought me off with a penthouse and a trust fund, but I tore out my IV and threw his charity back in his face. It was our fifth anniversary, but my husband, Ethan, remained distant, avoiding any talk of Chicago or the mafia protection my family once offered him. He then pushed a black velvet box across the table. Inside was a Separation and Property Division Agreement, not a diamond. He told me to sign for Ilene's security, offering millions. When I refused, Ilene hurled boiling soup. Ethan shielded her, not me, as the scalding liquid melted my dress. With second-degree burns, he blamed me, ordering me from our home for Ilene’s comfort. My family saved him, yet he sacrificed my body and marriage for another woman. The love I felt turned to ash. What kind of debt demanded my flesh and marriage? I ripped the IV from my arm, hurling his "charity" keys back. My diamond ring placed on the agreement, I walked away. From today on, Ethan, you and I are dead to each other.

Seventeen years after going missing, Brooklyn was finally brought back to her ultra-wealthy biological family. But instead of a tearful reunion, her parents and sisters treated her like infectious garbage, mocking her cheap clothes and calling her a country bumpkin. They dumped her into a remedial class to hide her away, cut off her allowance, and threatened to lock down her trust fund to force her into absolute submission. One night, Brooklyn stood in the shadows of the estate and overheard a conversation that shattered everything. She hadn't wandered off as a child. Her parents had deliberately thrown her away because a fake fortune teller claimed her birth chart was a jinx to the family's wealth. They felt zero remorse, only plotting to banish her again the moment she turned eighteen. Her biological father thought he was putting a leash on a helpless, uneducated girl by cutting off her pocket change. He had no idea that Brooklyn was the anonymous VIP who casually dropped sixty million dollars on an emerald at the city's most exclusive auction. He didn't know she was the elusive medical genius that the world's most powerful billionaires were currently tearing the city apart to find. The last microscopic shred of hope for a family withered into cold ash in her chest. "Lock down my trust fund?" She pulled out her encrypted phone and activated her shadow networks, severing herself entirely from their pathetic surveillance. Since they believed she was a jinx, she was going to show them exactly what a real curse looked like.

I attended a high-stakes tech gala in a rented designer gown, desperate to secure a marketing contract to save myself from bankruptcy. But the new billionaire CEO turned out to be Carlisle, the penniless ex-boyfriend I had brutally dumped four years ago. He still thought I left him because he was poor, completely unaware I did it to protect him from my family's sudden ruin. Terrified of his revenge, I stayed up all night writing a business pitch. But my old laptop froze, and I accidentally emailed him my secret, highly explicit NSFW fan-fiction about him instead. He summoned me to his penthouse and accused me of prostituting myself for the contract. When I slipped and fell into his indoor pool, he violently shoved me away. "Save your cheap tricks. My bed isn't for women like you." Soon after, I received a formal sexual harassment warning from HR. He threatened to publicly bankrupt and blacklist me if I didn't present a flawless pitch at the executive dinner. I was crushed by the absolute humiliation. I packed my bags, ready to resign and run away just like I did four years ago. But then he sent one last email, mocking me. "Lumina doesn't need a coward who only knows how to pawn bags and run." That insult set my blood on fire. I wasn't a coward. I deleted my resignation, brewed black coffee, and started typing. Tomorrow night, I was going to shove the most brilliant marketing pitch straight down his arrogant throat.

It was her hair that fascinated him. The reddish-brown mass was parted high to one side, windswept almost. And then there was her make-up, neutral save for the liner around her eyes and the bold lip colour... was that purple? His gaze narrowed over it and she must have sensed his attention, her eyes flickering in his direction. "You know, it's rude to stare." Her voice was husky, a crisp edge that rasped along his spine and sealed her appeal. Derek was hooked. Her eyes were back on the doors, her lack of interest obvious. He should've taken it as a sign, but since when had he backed off from anything he fancied?

The mangled car teetered on the cliff's edge, my leg crushed, gasoline fumes thick in the air. My husband, Holden, stood safe on the highway, directing the rescue – but not for me. He was saving her, the woman in the passenger seat, leaving me and our unborn child to the ocean below. I woke trapped in the crushed Maybach, leg pinned. The cliff loomed; the driver's seat was empty. Holden, safe outside, directed paramedics past me to Giana, his "most valuable asset," ordering her rescue first. I watched him comfort Giana, oblivious, as the car slid. My baby barely viable. Holden offered a black card for silence; Giana gloated. Ten years of devotion, a cruel lie. Rage fueled me: how could he abandon his wife and child? I swore a venomous oath: never again an accessory. I flicked his card away, shielded my pregnancy, and promised my baby escape.