Jessica Hawkins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Jessica Hawkins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com Sat, 17 Oct 2020 19:48:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.books2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Jessica Hawkins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com 32 32 Falling for the Forbidden Read Online Pam Godwin, Jessica Hawkins, Anna Zaires, Renee Rose, Charmaine Pauls, Julia Sykes http://www.books2020.com/falling-for-the-forbidden-read-online-pam-godwin-jessica-hawkins-anna-zaires-renee-rose-charmaine-pauls-julia-sykes Sat, 17 Oct 2020 19:33:00 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/falling-for-the-forbidden-read-online-pam-godwin-jessica-hawkins-anna-zaires-renee-rose-charmaine-pauls-julia-sykes Genre: Dark, Romance Authors: Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls, Jessica Hawkins, Julia Sykes, Pam Godwin, Renee Rose Advertisement

Total pages in book: 767
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Falling for the Forbidden
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Pam Godwin, Jessica Hawkins, Anna Zaires, Renee Rose, Charmaine Pauls, Julia Sykes
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B08KWBSJDS
Book Information:
Why does forbidden fruit taste so sweet? TEN scorching hot books from bestselling authors have the answer! Enemies to lovers. Taboo romance. Dark and dangerous suspense. You'll find that and more inside these pages. BOOKS INCLUDED: Dark Notes by Pam Godwin Tormentor Mine by Anna Zaires Violent Delights by Jessica Hawkins Overture by Skye Warren Sweet Captivity by Julia Sykes Mountain Darkness by Vanessa Vale Dubious by Charmaine Pauls Sexiest Billionaire by Sierra Cartwright Jack of Spades by Renee Rose Vienna Betrayal by Lila Dubois FALLING FOR THE FORBIDDEN is a limited-time boxed set as a gift to our readers and to introduce you to new series to love.
Books by Author:	Pam Godwin, Jessica Hawkins, Anna Zaires, Renee Rose, Charmaine Pauls, Julia Sykes

Dark Notes

By

Pam Godwin

Ivory

Poverty.

It used to be easier.

Maybe because I don’t remember it much as a child. Because I was happy.

Now all that’s left is grief and yelling and unpaid bills.

At seventeen, I don’t know a lot about the world, but I find that being unwanted and unhappy is harder to endure than having nothing to eat.

The knot in my stomach tightens. Maybe if I puke before I leave the house, it will loosen my nerves and clear my head. Except I can’t afford to lose the calories.

A deep breath confirms the buttons on my nicest shirt are holding together, my considerable cleavage still conservatively hidden. The knee-length skirt fits better this morning than it did in the thrift store, and the ballet flats… Forget it. There’s nothing I can do about the cracked soles and rips in the toes. They’re the only shoes I own.

I step out of the bathroom and tiptoe through the kitchen, combing shaky fingers through my hair. The wet strands fall against my back and soak my shirt. Shit, is my bra showing through the damp fabric? I should’ve worn my hair up or dried it, but I’m out of time, which further hardens my stomach.

Jesus, I shouldn’t be this anxious. It’s only the first day of school. I’ve done this numerous times.

But it’s my senior year.

The year that will determine the rest of my life.

One mistake, a less-than-perfect GPA, a violation of dress code, the tiniest infraction will steer the spotlight away from my talent and shine it on the poor girl from Treme. Every step I take in the judgmental, marble halls of Le Moyne Academy is an endeavor to prove I’m more than just that girl.

Le Moyne is one of the most recognized, elite, and expensive performing arts high schools in the nation. It’s intimidating. Fucking terrifying. Doesn’t matter if I’m the best pianist in New Orleans. Since my freshman year, the academy has been looking for a reason to expel me, to fill my competitive spot with a student who brings talent and financial endowments.

The stench of stale smoke roots me in the reality of my life. I flick the kitchen wall switch, illuminating piles of crushed beer cans and empty pizza boxes. Crusty dishes fill the sink, cigarette butts litter the floor, and what the hell is that? I lean over the counter and squint at the burnt residue in the bowl of a spoon.

Motherfucker. My brother used our best utensils to cook coke? I toss it in the trash with a surge of anger.

Shane claims he can’t pay the bills, but the jobless bastard always has money to party. Not only that, the kitchen was spotless when I fell asleep, notwithstanding the mold blooming on the walls and the laminate flaking away from the countertops. This is our home, goddammit. The only thing we have left. He and Mom have no idea what I’ve endured to keep us current on the mortgage payments. For their sake, I hope they never find out.

Soft fur brushes my ankle, drawing my attention to the floor. Huge golden eyes stare up out of an orange tabby face, and my shoulders loosen instantly.

Schubert tilts his scruffy chin and rubs his whiskers against my leg, his tail twitching in the air. He always knows when I need affection. Sometimes I think he’s the only love left in this house.

“I have to go, sweet boy,” I whisper, stretching down to scratch his ears. “Be a good kitty, okay?”

I remove the last slice of banana bread from its hiding spot in the back of the pantry, relieved Shane hadn’t found it. I wrap it in a paper towel and attempt to make a quiet-as-possible escape to the front door.

Our crumbling house is one room wide and five rooms long. No hallways. With the rooms set up one in front of the other and all the doors lined up, I could stand on the back stoop, shoot a shotgun at the front door, and not hit any walls.

But I could hit Shane. Deliberately. Because he’s a fucking burden and a waste of life. He’s also nine-years older, a hundred-and-fifty-pounds bigger, and the only sibling I have.

The hundred-year-old wood planks groan beneath my feet, and I suck in a breath, waiting for Shane’s drunken roar.

Silence. Thank you, Jesus.

Holding the wrapped bread against my chest, I pass through Mom’s room first. I walked through thirty minutes ago, half-asleep and shuffling for the bathroom in the dark. But with the kitchen light shining through the doorway, the lump in her bed looks unmistakably human.

I stumble with surprise, trying to remember the last time I saw her. Two…three weeks ago?

A flutter stirs behind my breastbone. Maybe she came home to wish me luck on my first day?

Three quiet strides carry me to the bed. The rectangular rooms are cramped and narrow, but the ceilings soar twelve feet or taller. Daddy used to say the pitched roof and long front-to-back layout was a ventilation design to ensure all his love could flow through.

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Advertisement Violent Triumphs Read online Jessica Hawkins (White Monarch #3) http://www.books2020.com/violent-triumphs-3-read-online-jessica-hawkins Wed, 12 Sep 2018 01:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/violent-triumphs-3-read-online-jessica-hawkins Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, Contemporary, Romance Authors: Jessica Hawkins Series: White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
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Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	(White Monarch #3) Violent Triumphs
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Jessica Hawkins
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B07P14TMSX
Book Information:
The highly anticipated conclusion to the “emotional, steamy, and dangerous” USA Today bestselling White Monarch series. I’ve become a queen to the forsaken, a leader to thieves, and the wife of a man who instills fear in all who cross his path. He was the husband I didn’t want. Now, I can’t fathom life without my king. I should’ve been ready for anything. Like the caterpillar that feeds on poison during metamorphosis, I was raised in the dangerous world of cartel crime. But nothing could’ve prepared me for Cristiano de la Rosa, his brother’s poison, or the Calavera cartel. This is still a story about a love strong enough to topple households, unite enemies, and divide brothers. Resilient enough to bring down those who would try to destroy it . . . and selfless enough to make the ultimate sacrifice. But I was warned, and so were you. Death’s day always comes. This time, it will find what was once a caterpillar is now a butterfly—and hell hath no fury like the White Monarch.
Books in Series:	White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
Books by Author:	Jessica Hawkins Books

1

Natalia

I suspect you might even like the feeling of surrender.

Cristiano’s distant words echoed through the darkness falling over my mind. He hadn’t meant submitting to death, but the hands around my neck demanded that.

The back of my skull throbbed where it’d been slammed against the tile floor. One moment, I’d been trying to tell Cristiano something important over the phone. The next, dragged through our bedroom and pinned on my back by an immovable weight.

Now, pinpricks of white light pierced the black. Stars in the night sky, promising peace. It wouldn’t be difficult to walk toward them. The dark had always been a fierce presence within me. Unknown. Ever-inviting.

Surrender would be simple. My body and my training had failed me—I hadn’t even fought back. Or maybe nothing up to this point had been real. Maybe this had all been a dream, and I was being torn from sleep.

As my windpipe closed under the grip around it, my screams relented. The shrill house alarm faded into a peaceful buzz. My fear ebbed, an ocean of tranquility rising in its place.

Heaven.

Mamá waited with open arms.

Go to her. Be with her again. Submit.

I wasn’t waking up; I was dying. Cristiano was the last person I expected to see at the gates of Heaven, but there he was, waiting in his suit and tie. Thank God. Wherever I was going, Cristiano was there, and he wouldn’t let anything hurt me.

He and my mother would be the light, the serenity, the prize for giving in to death.

All I had to do now was succumb. Go to him . . .

Cristiano.

“Cristiano is dead.” A scratchy male voice took hold of me the way strong hands locked around my throat. “You have nothing to fight for,” he said. “Go to sleep.”

The word scraped through the dregs of my consciousness. Dead.

That was why Cristiano waited for me at the gates to eternity.

But he could not die. He was untouchable.

What was a world without Cristiano de la Rosa? Grief flooded me, but just as quickly, it ebbed. And in its place, fury swelled. Someone had killed Cristiano.

The voice above me thought I had nothing to fight for, but it’d just given me a reason.

Nobody—nobody—would get away with murdering my husband.

Fight, Natalia. Surrender is not an option.

Reality flickered. Carotid arteries. No oxygen. I forced myself out of the encroaching darkness. Clawed at the tightening fingers around my neck. I arched my back until I was looking upside-down in the bedroom mirror propped against one wall. My first night here, we’d stood in front of it—Cristiano wrapping his arms around me from behind, demanding my submission. I hadn’t given in then. And over time, I’d grown stronger. Mentally, emotionally—and physically. Under Cristiano’s guidance.

I wanted those moments with him back. For him to survive so I could look him in the eye and tell him I’d resisted, and I’d won.

Because he’d taught me how. He’d taught me strength.

With a clicking noise, I struggled to turn my head and see where it was coming from, but my vision blurred. Moonlight glinted off metal. A knife? Fuck. I began to thrash under him.

“Shh,” he said. “This won’t hurt.”

I had no defenses against a knife. No weapon. Nothing on me but flimsy satin pajamas and plenty of exposed skin. But my breath . . . it was coming back.

Change your mindset, Cristiano had told me. You’re in control . . . you can take down an attacker . . . you can fight for your life and escape.

That was all I had to do. Escape. Run. I wasn’t at the level I needed to be to win, but I had the will to survive on my side—and the fact that he’d removed a hand from my neck to pick up the blade. I only needed to incapacitate him long enough to outrun him and get to the panic room.

My first self-defense lesson on the lawn had taught me more than hand-to-hand combat. There was the art of diversion. The magic of distraction.

Have you ever been to Disneyland? I’d asked Cristiano as his bar of a forearm had locked around my neck from behind.

The sound of Cristiano’s answering laughter heartened me.

Words scraped from my throat. “Cristiano . . . isn’t . . . dead.”

The attacker’s face bent toward mine, giving me my first close-up glimpse of him in the dark. Crooked nose, foul breath, beady eyes. “What?”

“He’s not dead. I can”—I let my voice falter—“take you to h-him.”

He leaned closer. “¿Qué?”

I rammed my forehead into his mouth, and blood burst from his lip. “¡Cabrona!” he cursed.

The butt of my palm slammed into his trachea. Plastic clattered to the ground. I only had enough strength to shock him, but it was all I needed. He loosened his other hand around my neck, and I punched him in the same spot, harder this time.

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Advertisement Violent Ends Read online Jessica Hawkins (White Monarch #2) http://www.books2020.com/violent-ends-2-read-online-jessica-hawkins Wed, 04 Apr 2018 13:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/violent-ends-2-read-online-jessica-hawkins Genre: Contemporary, Dark, Romance Authors: Jessica Hawkins Series: White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
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Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Violent Ends (White Monarch #2)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Jessica Hawkins
Language:	English
ISBN/ ASIN:	B07NYT25Z5
Book Information:
I had a life, love, and future to give. Until my enemy took a wife. The devil has a name, and it’s Cristiano de la Rosa. On my wedding day, he was the last man I expected to see standing at the altar. He wants to make me his queen. His brother wants to rescue his princess. Getting Cristiano to lose control becomes the name of the game, and the stakes are life and death. But as truth and lies blur, loyalty is tested, and our chemistry threatens to reach the melting point, the prize grows less clear. Either freedom no longer means what I think it does, or Cristiano is as devious as everyone says, and he’s mastered the art of playing my mind. All I know for certain is that nothing is certain. And all you need to know? This is a love story. But even love stories have to end.
Books in Series:	White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
Books by Author:	Jessica Hawkins Books

1

Natalia

The devil had a name—Cristiano de la Rosa—but from this day forward, I would call him husband.

The cozy church where I’d spent Sunday mornings over a prayer book with my parents stood still and quiet except for the echo of broken promises and ripped lace. Mid-day, sunlight flooded the pews around us, but only candlelight touched the darkened aisle.

In a sharp, tailored suit, my new husband stood before me, waiting for me to finish stripping off my wedding gown so he could thoroughly claim ownership before we’d even left the church.

Cristiano had forced my hand in marriage, and the man I’d envisioned spending my life with had agreed to it. Had tricked me into it.

“My new bride is shy.” Cristiano smiled tightly, finding pleasure in the designation, likely just because he’d imposed it on me. “But I only required my brother meet two terms to validate this arrangement, and you’ve already broken one.”

Cristiano had expected me to come to him a virgin, but Diego hadn’t delivered me that way. The implication was clear—would I break the second term, too? I couldn’t. Cristiano had already invited me to walk away from all of this, but there would be a price for that, and the people I loved would pay it.

Consummate the marriage, or the Maldonado cartel would obliterate all of us.

“I’d hoped our first time might be different,” I said, grasping for a way to change an inevitable outcome. He’d asked me to marry him when he could’ve dragged me down the aisle. He’d respected the ceremony, lassoing us in a show for our few onlookers. If there was a shred of humanity within him, I had to try to tap into it.

“As had I.” He tilted his head, his eyes scanning my front, as if I was a puzzle to be solved. “But you chose to give your virginity to another. I was prepared to take you to bed and handle you gently, but it seems I no longer have a need for that.” He stepped toward me, six-foot-five inches of suited muscle and dark beauty with a clean, masculine scent. “You have been thoroughly broken in . . . haven’t you?”

I shivered as I slipped one arm through the wedding dress, mourning the beautiful, ruined lace my mother had worn to wed my father. “No,” I whispered.

One thick eyebrow arched. “I’m sorry?”

“I haven’t,” I insisted. “Diego and I did it once. He was gentle. I’m not . . .”

“Broken?” he suggested. “Like a wild horse.”

I turned away from his penetrating gaze as his black eyes danced. To sully the wedding altar, to slap God in the face, to force Diego to endure my ruination from the other side of the door—it was what I’d sold Cristiano in exchange for our lives. Not just mine, but my father’s, Diego’s, and anyone else close to the Cruz cartel. Men who’d protected my family, who’d raised families under my father, and who’d helped raise me after my mother’s death.

I drew my other arm through its sleeve and pushed my dress down until it pooled at my feet.

Cristiano wet his lips, his eyes drifting to the ivory lingerie I’d worn for a wedding night I’d planned to share with Diego. Diego and I had made love, but tonight, I’d been ready to give in to the passion we’d been forced to bridle for years. How naïve.

Cristiano dipped his head. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought it was in reverence. “Beautiful.”

I shifted from one heel to the other. “You’ve seen me in my bra and underwear before.”

“In your bathroom, after the warehouse fire.” He nodded, his angular jaw firming. “But I didn’t let myself look at you this way. All I’d have seen was what I couldn’t have.” His broad chest expanded with an inhale as he raised his chin. “Now, all I see is everything I own. Every last inch of you, my darling.”

My heart skipped. We’d been married mere minutes, yet he acted as if I was his possession. “Just because we’re married doesn’t make this consensual.”

“As I’ve said before, you always have a choice. You can walk out of this church now and into my brother’s arms. I’d ask you to stay, but I wouldn’t force you.”

A flicker of irritation for his word play made me retort. “But you would allow a rival cartel to exact revenge for the money Diego lost them.”

“It cost me a great deal to call them off. More than Diego can ever repay.” Cristiano shook out his wrist and adjusted his substantial watch without breaking eye contact. “But as long as I have you, his debt is forgiven, and they won’t lay a finger on you or anyone you love.”

His solid footsteps resounded through the pews as he circled me and stopped at my back. Perhaps he’d rip off my underwear the way he had my dress. I didn’t care—unlike my mother’s gown, they were worth nothing.

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Advertisement Violent Delights Read online Jessica Hawkins (White Monarch #1) http://www.books2020.com/violent-delights-1-read-online-jessica-hawkins Thu, 28 Dec 2017 01:57:33 +0000 http://www.test123.demo2.xyz/violent-delights-1-read-online-jessica-hawkins Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Dark, Romance Authors: Jessica Hawkins Series: White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
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Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)

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Read Online Books/Novels:	Violent Delights (White Monarch #1)
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Jessica Hawkins
Language:	English
Book Information:
In the de la Rosa family, old grudges run deeper than loyalty, and betrayal is a three-letter word: war. But this feud isn’t between enemies. It’s between brothers. And I’m the prize. I was born a princess among criminals. An untouchable among thieves. Heiress to a life others have killed for, and one I'm prepared to trade for my freedom. I vowed not to leave without Diego, my first love and best friend, but if his ruthless brother has his way, I won’t leave at all. Cristiano de la Rosa is a man as big and bold as his legend. Once upon a time, he was our cartel’s best soldier . . . until he became my family’s worst enemy. A man like Cristiano will bend fate to his will to get what he wants. Even if it means dragging me to hell—and tearing me from his brother's arms. “She is mine.” Three words from two different men. A life, future, and love I don’t get to choose.
Books in Series:	White Monarch Series by Jessica Hawkins
Books by Author:	Jessica Hawkins Books

Prologue

From my bedroom balcony, I danced to the upbeat mariachi music coming from the parade in town. Street fireworks popped and crackled to a soundtrack of trumpets and violins. I couldn’t see much beyond the fortress of olive trees surrounding the compound. They’d been planted after my first birthday party, when my father had been shot at in the backyard while holding me. The sicario had hit an inflatable bouncy castle instead, trapping kids inside and inciting a mob of screaming parents. That was what my best friend had told me, anyway, and Diego would know, since his parents had ordered the hit.

I waved to one of the guards, who tipped his AK-47 to me. I was supposed to be at the Day of the Dead parade now, honoring the deceased. Diego had promised me two slices of sugar skull cake if I went early and got a good spot, but since Papá was out of town with half his security, my mother didn’t want me leaving the premises without her. And as important as every man around here acted, she was the neck that turned the head of the Cruz cartel.

I went back inside to see why she was taking so long, twirling through the maze of hallways so the colorful, floral embroidery of my floor-length skirt ran together. Almost an hour ago, my mother had been nearly ready in an off-the-shoulder, white, green, and yellow dress with a red ruffle along the bottom. She’d pulled her hair back with silk, orange marigolds, and I’d stood on a stepstool to clasp her necklace, a starburst with gilded chains heavy enough to sink a small ship.

“We’re missing the parade,” I called as I skipped down the corridor, my woven leather sandals clicking on the tile. I rounded the corner into my parents’ sunny bedroom, tripped, and landed in a puddle.

A pair of combat boots stopped in front of me. I raised my eyes to meet the cold, distant gaze of a man dressed in all black—Cristiano de la Rosa, a high-level member of my father’s security team.

“Get out of here,” he ordered. “Now.”

Cristiano was all brawn, beast, and towering height with opaque eyes to match his hair. Based on the stories Diego had told me, people feared his older brother, but I had no real reason to. Though their parents had been enemies of ours once, Cristiano and Diego had been on our side for eight of the nine years I’d been alive.

Plus, Mamá had always told me—go to Cristiano in an emergency. He would protect me.

But something was off. He didn’t like me being here.

In one of his large, powerful hands, he held an army-green duffel bag. In the other, a solid black gun. Then, there was the blood—on his pants, splattered on his shoes and hands.

And on mine. Warm and sticky between my fingers, soaking through my fancy skirt. Not even its metallic smell could mask my mother’s signature perfume.

I looked over my shoulder. I hadn’t tripped over my own two feet, but hers. Mamá was lying on her back. Sunlight glinted off the large, gold necklace she’d bought for the parade. Her gleaming black hair was coming loose from its bun after she’d spent all that time pinning flowers in it. She shouldn’t be on the ground in her expensive new dress—it was already ripped at the neckline. The vibrant design almost hid what seeped through its fabric, pooling on the terracotta tile underneath her body.

Blood.

Goose bumps started at my scalp and spread to my fingers and toes. No.

Gasping for air, I scrambled to her side. “Mamá.”

Her lids eased open as she struggled to focus. “Natalia,” she managed.

My chin wobbled as I fought back tears and grasped her still-warm hand. A bruise formed on her cheek.

“Mija.” She fought to keep her eyes open, but they went glassy as her gaze shifted over my head. “Please, Cristiano,” she begged, her voice strangled. “Please don’t . . .” She shuddered with the effort. “My daughter . . .”

“I’m here,” I whispered, but she wasn’t talking to me.

I looked up at Cristiano. His jaw sharpened as he clenched it and turned his face away. “Sueña con los angelitos.”

Dream with little angels. When I turned back, she’d gone still.

“No,” I whispered.

Cristiano tossed the bag and gun onto the cloud-like comforter and reached for me. On instinct, I dove under the bed, knowing he’d be too big to follow—and came face to face with la Monarca Blanca. I wrapped my hand around the cold, hard metal of my father’s two-tone silver-and-gold-plated 9mm. Time slowed as I ran my thumb over the pearl grip where the name was engraved into the side.

White Monarch.

I choked back a sob. This was the kind of emergency I was supposed to go to Cristiano for, but he was the one standing over my mother’s dead body as she begged him for mercy.

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Read Online Books/Novels:

Falling for the Forbidden

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

English

B08KWBSJDS

Read Online Books/Novels:

(White Monarch #3) Violent Triumphs

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

English

B07P14TMSX

Read Online Books/Novels:

Violent Ends (White Monarch #2)

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

English

B07NYT25Z5

Read Online Books/Novels:

Violent Delights (White Monarch #1)

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

English