Showing results for "Diamonds in the Dust Charmaine Pauls" in All Categories

Girls like me, we know how to survive. We each have our own little ways, but we acquire those skills at the same tender age. If you ask me how many times a person can die, I’ll tell you many times. As many times as a man stabs you in the stomach with betrayal and wrings out your heart with lies. Girls like me, we live. We don’t get a choice. We step over the cliff and fall. Eat, sleep, die, and repeat.

My love is wasted like gemstones in the dust, walked over by an oblivious shoe. It takes many suffering years and layers of mountains to squeeze carbon into a precious stone. Now that I’m polished and hard like a diamond, he doesn’t get to kick me back into the dirt. Men like him don’t love women like me. They don’t love. Period. But he made me. He’ll live with me. Because diamonds are forever.

Ian Hart is the most notorious criminal in the country. Like the thief he is, he came in the dark and stole a night of my life. He left me with souvenirs. Disaster and fear are my new realities. I’ll forever look over my shoulder, terrified he’d return, because when he took me, he stole more than just a few hours of my time. His crime has consequences neither of us could’ve imagined. If I’m to escape the nightmare of my life, I have to outsmart him.

Ian Hart stole a night of my life, but he took so much more. His obsession pinned a label on me. His lust put me in an impossible situation. Now I have to choose sides. I have to decide between right and wrong. Only, no matter what choice I make, each comes with dreadful consequences. There’s only one way this can end - how every tragedy ends.

Once upon a time, a thief stole me in the middle of the night. He took what he wanted, gave me an illusion, and ripped it all away to claim his ultimate trophy. My heart may be physically weak, but fighting to live made me stronger. I won’t perish as easily as that. I’m turning the tables on him. After all, I learned from the best. I’m robbing him of what he stole from me.

A deal sealed with a handshake promised she’d be mine. A broken vow ripped her from my future. I made unspeakable sacrifices to claim what rightfully belongs to me. After all the blood I shed in her name, the bond that ties us is hatred. The war cost us both dearly, but the price we paid won’t be in vain. I’ll never let her go.

My life depends on playing the role convincingly. I’ve been trained for that role since the age of 15. For 10 long years, I’ve been taught to be someone else, to respond to a different name, and to live in another woman’s shadow. Evie Warren is the most coveted mafia princess in the country, and I’m her double. I’m the decoy, her stunt girl, so to speak.

In my line of business, every day dawns with the smell of death in the air. But it’s not a bullet that’s going to slay me. It’s Sabella, the woman who was promised to me—the woman who betrayed me. We’re heading down a path of destruction, but there’s no turning back. At the first chance she gets, she’ll stab me in the back again. She’s a dangerous risk and a threat to my family. If I were wise, I’d eliminate that risk and leave her funeral to the sharks. I must be an idiot, because I’m going to finish what I started, no matter the cost.

Once upon a cold, dark night, a Russian killer stole me from an alley. I’m dangerous, but he is lethal. I escaped once. He won’t let me do it twice. The revenge is his. The betrayal is mine. But so are the lies to protect the ones I love. We’re cut from the same twisted cloth. Both merciless. Both damaged. In his embrace, I find hell and heaven, his cruelly tender touch destroying and uplifting me at once. They say a cat has nine lives, but an assassin has just one. And Yan Ivanov now owns mine.

Roman Rush is a bomb that has gone off in my life. Since meeting him, my entire world has been thrown off its axis. Our toxic love is all-consuming, and his dark obsession threatens to destroy us both. But I can't walk away. Not until I get the answers I deserve…

This town has become my nightmare, and Roman Rush is both my tormentor and my salvation. I've been drawn into his dark world, caught in his snare, and the more I pull against his control, the tighter his grip. I'm desperate to break free, but I have to stay for Bree. There's a mystery shrouding her that I'm determined to uncover. As my relationship with Roman intensifies, I discover something that brings my entire world crashing down—a dark truth that makes me question everything I thought I knew about Roman and the Sacred Sons…

What happens in an alien sex club stays in an alien sex club, right? Well...not if you pen an exposé on the place. And certainly not if you omit the fact that the experiences in the article are your own. Or if the Krinar you’ve hooked up with is the club's owner, whose many kinks involve blackmail and mind games. For a young journalist out to prove herself, it's all about landing the next big story. Until it becomes all about landing in a possessive alien's penthouse bed.

The stunning conclusion to the critically acclaimed series that has won thousands of fans! When a ruthless enemy finally strikes, Mia and Korum will face the biggest test of their relationship yet. But it's Korum's own secrets that may ultimately tear them apart. From the beaches of Costa Rica to a planet in a distant galaxy, theirs is a love story that may change the world...

When Delia sees the naked man emerging from the stormy sea, she knows he must be more than human. Gorgeous and powerful, the god-like stranger saves her from certain death, but his rescue comes at a price: herself.

The highly anticipated sequel to Close Liaisons…In Lenkarda - the main Krinar colony on Earth - Mia is completely at Korum's mercy. With no way to leave and no idea how to operate even the most basic Krinar technology, she has no choice but to trust the K who brought her there - the lover whom she had betrayed. Will he keep his promise to bring her home, or is she destined to be his prisoner forever? Can a human become a part of Krinar society? Does Korum love her, or does he only wish to possess her? You must listen to find out…

A 2026 Audie Award Finalist for Fiction Over 1 Million Copies Sold A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK | A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is an unforgettable story of love, loss, and the choices that shape our lives…but it’s also a masterfully crafted mystery that...

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.

Braedyn Winslow never expected to return to Starlight Grove—the town that took everything from her. Not after her best friend, the one who’d sacrificed so much for her, vanished without a trace. But with a young son to raise and a past that won’t stay buried, Brae is back…and determined to uncover the truth.

A second dragon has awoken—her heart tainted and her power commandeered by two ruthless highbloods whose cruelty knows no bounds. My dearest friend teetered on the brink of death. A dragon saved her, but now she's tied to him in a way I can scarcely understand. What will this new bond do to the woman I've come to love as a sister? And then there's Blake. Once my relentless tormentor—he betrayed me again, nearly condemning Nyxaris to a cursed, stone-cold fate. Now, something has shifted in him. His gray eyes hide a secret he's desperate to keep.

Lee Child says it’s “stunning… certain to be a book of the year.” Kathy Reichs calls it “extraordinary… a major achievement.” Gillian Flynn says of Karin Slaughter: “I’d follow her anywhere.” Sisters. Strangers. Survivors. More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s...

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

This program includes extra audio-only material, including duet recordings of the podcast episodes, light sound design, tip-line recordings from guest narrators (including the author), and a bonus podcast episode! "Both a riveting mystery and a love story, This Story Might Save Your Life is one...

Barrington University is home of the Lords, a secret society that requires their blood in payment. They are above all—the most powerful men in the world. They devote their lives to violence in exchange for power. And during their senior year, they are offered a chosen one.

Men tremble at the sound of their names while women run, their lives flashing before their eyes. They’re the monsters under your bed, the boogeymen in your closet. Every living soul fears them. They’re relentless and they’re coming to play. They’re the sons of the most notorious mafia boss, the leader of the DeAngelis Family, and they’ve just set their twisted sights on me. They stalked me through my apartment, haunted my hallways, and crippled me with fear. They led me straight into their trap and captured me as though they had every right.

In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom. They shattered my world; now, I’ll bring down theirs. The problem? I have virtually no way to trace the puppet master. My only lead: The Vipers. An elite college hockey team that rules the ice—and the shadows beyond it. To infiltrate their secret society, I set my sights on their weakest link. Kane Davenport. The charismatic captain and the lone green flag in a nest of serpents. But too late, I realize I’ve enticed the most venomous snake.

Museum curator Amara Grant has big plans. Open a museum in Haiti plans. Return local artifacts to their country of origin plans. Getting fired from the prestigious museum she works at? Not part of the plan. But that’s exactly what happens when she discovers that a priceless set of bracelets on display are actually fake.

I’m a golden boy. A genius law student, the heir to the Carson empire, and the dutiful son. Or, at least, that's what it looks like from the outside. Deep inside, I have the urge to set the world on fire. I keep these impulses in check, rarely indulging in mayhem. Until one night of debauchery backfires, and I'm caught by a villain. I bury the entire ordeal with the rest of my skeletons. That is, until that night walks into my classroom in the form of my new professor. Kayden Lockwood.

If my childhood taught me anything, it was to survive. Now I have a deep-rooted mistrust of people and a wall of steel and ice surrounding my heart. So, when Reed Ryan steps into my life, I know I need to keep him far away. He’s everything I grew up hating. Fighting. Fleeing. Devastatingly handsome, he looks like a drunken regret and has heartbreak written over every inch of his body - literally. He’s the quintessential bad boy...and he’s a cop. But the man is my undoing.

Having been kidnapped by his mother at age ten and left to die in a fire, billionaire lawyer Ares Huxley trusts no one. But he needs a wife to get a critical promotion at his law firm, and wakes up the morning after a friend’s bachelor party to find that he’s somehow married to an eccentric blonde he doesn’t even remember meeting! He immediately plans to annul, but it turns out she needs a husband to receive her inheritance. They have nothing in common, but if he plays along, she promises to be his dream wife.

I should have known everything was going to change when she walked into my tattoo shop... Timid as hell and gorgeous to the extreme. I knew better than even thinking about touching a woman like that. My life is dangerous. My calling wicked. Willing to cross any line to protect the innocent. I thought I’d never see her again until my little boy tumbled and busted his lip, and I found her working at the doctor’s office. The woman who’d taken possession of my thoughts. When it becomes clear she’s in trouble, I offer up a deal.

In Fiasco, Kentucky, there is one rule: never fall for a Foxx brother. Any woman who did, ended up dead—or so the rumor goes. Townies call it a curse. But I’ve lived it, and I won’t survive it again. I’m not a cop anymore, but I’ve seen enough danger to know that Laney Young, the beautiful stranger who just showed up in my small town, is running from it. She’s lying about where she came from and what she’s doing here. I don’t want her near my family or the quiet life I’ve made for myself. But my brothers have other plans.

I died, briefly. Then I came back. Now I’m determined to make the most of every minute I have left. Only problem is I’ve been saddled with supervision. Kane Deveraux is handsome, smug, and cold as a tombstone. So why does he make me feel something more powerful than death?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A one-of-a-kind novel that grapples with the supernatural mysteries of life, death, and human connection—an unprecedented collaboration between the globally bestselling author of love stories like The Notebook and the renowned writer and director of blockbuster...

Who am I? I've forgotten the answer to that question long ago. Ever since I ran from that house, so desperate to escape, I left with only the clothes on my back and socks on my feet. After that day, I've only ever walked in stolen shoes.

The #1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts concludes her compelling Lost Bride trilogy as two women—one dead, one alive—prepare for a terrifying final showdown… Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean, in a Maine village that bore his name...

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver comes a wickedly delicious new series where dark romantic comedy meets thrilling suspense—and where falling in love can be a killer. Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever. You can hide in the farthest reaches of the deepest...