She was never supposed to be the bride. Avalene Whitmore was adopted at three years old and spent nineteen years learning exactly where she ranked in her own family: last. So when a marriage contract with the most feared man in the city threatens to destroy her golden sister, Avalene’s parents don’t hesitate — they send the daughter who was never really theirs to lose. Killian Voss is a name whispered in fear. Cold. Ruthless. Rumored to be broken in ways no one dares ask about. Marrying him is supposed to be a punishment. But the moment Avalene lifts her veil, Killian realizes the bride beneath it isn’t the woman he agreed to marry — and he says nothing at all. Because he’s wanted her for three years, ever since a red dress and a spilled glass of wine convinced him she was the one person in the world he could never have. Now she’s his wife. His to protect. His to claim. And the “monster” everyone warned her about turns out to be soft only for her — devastatingly, dangerously soft. But a stolen bride comes with a price. Enemies are already circling, a jealous sister wants what was never meant to be Avalene’s, and the truth about her real family is buried far deeper than anyone knows. She was sent to be sacrificed. He decided to keep her. And nothing — not family, not rivals, not the secrets neither of them saw coming will be enough to tear them apart.

“Selene Ashworth gave up her fortune, her family, and herself to become the perfect wife. Six months of being shut out of her husband’s life ends the day she walks into his office with his favorite meal in hand, and finds him in the arms of her childhood best friend. Stripped of the only identity she’s known for two years, Selene returns to the father she abandoned and the sister she left everything to, determined never to disappear again. But her husband won’t let her go easily, his family’s fortune depends on the Ashworth name, and the woman he betrayed her for has plans of her own. As old alliances return and new ones form, Selene must decide who she’s willing to become, and who she’s finally ready to fight for.”