Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com Mon, 27 Jun 2022 15:51:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.books2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com 32 32 Imperfect Affections (Beauty in Imperfection #2) Read Online Charmaine Pauls http://www.books2020.com/imperfect-affections-beauty-in-imperfection-2-read-online-charmaine-pauls Mon, 27 Jun 2022 15:18:07 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/imperfect-affections-beauty-in-imperfection-2-read-online-charmaine-pauls Categories Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Dark, Mafia, Romance, Suspense Tags Authors: Series: Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls
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Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
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Read Online Books/Novels:

Imperfect Affections (Beauty in Imperfection #2)

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

Charmaine Pauls
Language:
English
ISBN/ ASIN:
9782491833169
Book Information:

When Leon tries to force Violet into marriage, it's war for both of them. The battle is hot and dirty, and no one walks away without scars.
A DARK ROMANCE
Love is for people who don’t mind getting hurt. I vowed to never fall into that trap. I entered into war with my beautiful, corrupted, and dangerous husband. He warned me he always won. He told me I’d lose, but I didn’t want to believe him because there was too much at stake. What he didn’t tell me was that the battlefield is messy and bloody, and that no one walks away without scars.
Note: Imperfect Affections is the second book in the Beauty in Imperfection duology and concludes Violet and Leon’s story.
Beauty in Imperfection is part of the Diamond Magnate Collection. You don’t have to read the other books to follow this story. Other books in the collection include:

Beauty in the Broken (A standalone novel)
Diamonds are Forever (A trilogy)
Beauty in the Stolen (A trilogy)
Books in Series:

Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls
Books by Author:

Charmaine Pauls


CHAPTER 1

Violet

A commotion sounds downstairs. It’s only eight in the morning, but I’m already dressed in my standard jeans and T-shirt. After Elliot presented Leon’s program and claimed it as his own work at the office party, I haven’t slept all night. The guilt wouldn’t let me.

I’m the one who stole the software for Elliot.

I’m the one who betrayed Leon.

I did it to protect my mother, not that it justifies what I’ve done. I simply didn’t have a choice, not when my stepdad would’ve killed my mom in the most painful way imaginable if Elliot showed him the evidence of her adultery.

The flowers Leon brought last night when he picked me up for the party sit like a colorful accusation in the vase where my mom placed it on my desk. Like the coward I am, I’ve been hiding in my room until Elliot left for the office. I can’t face him. Or Gus. I can’t face my mom and her well-intended questions. I can’t even face myself.

Voices come from downstairs. My mom says something in a high-pitched tone. A female replies in a voice I don’t recognize. Going to the window, I pull the curtain aside. A moving truck is parked in the driveway. A woman in overalls wheels boxes piled on a trolley down a ramp from the back of the truck.

“Violet,” my mom calls, following it up with a knock on my door.

I smooth down my hair and open the door.

“There you are,” she says with a smile. “Did you have a sleep-in after your late night?” Hesitantly, she adds, “You didn’t tell me about the move.”

My pulse jumps. “What move?”

“There are two women downstairs.” My mom studies me with a frown. “They say Leon sent them to move your clothes.”

Blood pumps through my veins and gushes in my ears. Why would he still want me to move in with him after last night?

Not wanting to alarm my mom, I try not to sound as shocked as I am. “He mentioned something along those lines, but he said not before the end of the month.”

She relaxes somewhat. “Well, someone is in a hurry.”

“I’ll go talk to them.”

“Don’t bother,” my mom says, laying a hand on my arm. “I’ll send them up.”

Meaning she wants to spare me the trip downstairs. I wish she wouldn’t be so overprotective. Just for once, I want her to treat me like I’m normal.

“Wait,” I say when she heads for the stairs.

She pauses, her expression expectant as she faces me again.

“Did you talk to Gus or Elliot this morning?”

Her cheeks turn pink. “I was tired. I didn’t wake up until after they’d gone.”

It’s not her blushing that gives away the lie. It’s the uneasiness with which she tells it, trying to shelter me from the truth. She can’t stomach her husband. If she can avoid it, she’ll rather not face him. Why can’t she just admit it? Pretending is so exhausting.

“Why?” she asks, concern creeping into her features.

“Gus introduced the new partner last night.”

“He did?” She blinks. “I thought he was planning on doing it in March.”

“It’s Elliot.”

She gives a start. “What?”

“He made Elliot a partner.”

Her eyebrows pinch together. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Oh, but it does. Perfectly. I just can’t tell her. The lies are piling up, spinning tighter around us. We’ve long since crossed the line of coming clean. There’s no backdoor, no other way out of the reality we created for ourselves. The only way is forward, continuing with the charade until I’ll never be able to dig myself out from under the mountain of untruths that define our lives.

“I guess Gus had a change of heart,” I say.

Her voice holds a note of panic. “What about your wedding?”

“I guess that’s down the drain too.”

She glances toward the stairs. “Then why did Leon send a moving company to collect your things?”

“I have no idea.” Stepping from my room, I push past her. “I’ll go find out.”

The tightness of my stomach hasn’t eased since last night. My tension only grows as I walk down the stairs with my mom following on my heels.

Two women wait stoically at the entrance.

“Good morning, ma’am,” the blond one says, checking the clipboard in her hand. “Miss Starley?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Susan from Peters International. We’re here to pack up your clothes and personal belongings.”

“There’s been a mistake,” I say.

The women glance at each other.

Susan takes a phone from her pocket. “I’m sure we’ll sort it out.” She swipes a finger across the screen and lifts the phone to her ear. “Let me dial Mr. Hart.”

“That’s okay,” I say quickly. “I’ll call him myself.”

The woman is undeterred. Turning her back on me, she says, “Yes, Mr. Hart? It’s Susan from Peters International on the line. There seems to be confusion with regards to the move you booked for this morning.”

She falls quiet, shooting me a look from over her shoulder as she listens to his reply.


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Imperfect Intentions (Beauty in Imperfection #1) Read Online Charmaine Pauls http://www.books2020.com/imperfect-intentions-beauty-in-imperfection-1-read-online-charmaine-pauls Tue, 07 Jun 2022 11:09:51 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/imperfect-intentions-beauty-in-imperfection-1-read-online-charmaine-pauls Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Dark, Romance, Suspense Tags Authors: Series: Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls
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Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
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Read Online Books/Novels:

(Beauty in Imperfection #1) Imperfect Intentions

Author/Writer of Book/Novel:

Charmaine Pauls
Language:
English
ISBN/ ASIN:
9782491833152
Book Information:

A DARK ROMANCE
I never dreamed of getting married. I dreamed about freedom.
When my stepfather promised Leon Hart a partnership in his clandestine software company, he offered me as part of the package deal. It’s a win-win situation for both men. My stepfather gets rid of his damaged stepdaughter, and Leon becomes second-in-command of the biggest underground IT operation in the country. I’ll do what I must to escape my fate.
Even if it means turning my powerful and dangerous betrothed into my worst enemy.
Note: Imperfect Intentions is Book 1 of the Beauty in Imperfection duology. Violet and Leon’s story concludes in Imperfect Affections (Book 2), which releases on 21 June 2022.
Beauty in Imperfection is part of the Diamond Magnate Collection. You don’t have to read the other books to follow this story.
Books in Series:

Beauty in Imperfection Series by Charmaine Pauls
Books by Author:

Charmaine Pauls


CHAPTER 1

Leon

Nobody looks up from their computer screens as the young woman wheels a trolley with cleaning products through the swing doors into the basement. To them, she may as well be invisible, but to me, the clack of the doors that announces her arrival is like a blaring alarm.

She comes on at six every weekday and leaves after midnight. The nightshift allows her to clean when the employees clock out for the day. After six, the desks are supposed to be vacant, and she can make noise with the vacuum cleaner without disturbing the programmers and breaking their concentration. The only people left at this hour are the workaholics, which is just about the entire floor.

She strains under the weight of the trolley, leaning her slender frame into it and weaving with a slight limp around the desks in the open plan space. Today, she wears ripped jeans and a pink T-shirt. The denim hugs her shapely ass, and the cotton of the T-shirt molds snugly over her breasts. The curves of her feminine shape are neither big nor small. Her body is perfectly proportioned, except for her right leg that’s a few centimeters shorter than her left. If not for that unique characteristic, she would’ve been a doll, and dolls are plastic. Reality has flaws, but that’s what makes it real. Real in all its raw, authentic beauty is much more attractive.

With every movement, her muscles shift under her clothes. Each pose is flawless from every angle. She’s not skinny, but there’s not an ounce of fat on her body. Like the rest of her, her smooth, honey-colored skin begs to be touched. Her oval-shaped face gives her a soft, delicate look while the determined set of her full lips hints at self-assurance. Her eyes are the most unusual color of blue, a deep violet that reminds me of lavender. Long brown hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun. A few tendrils that escaped stick to her temples and nape despite the AC that works on full blast down here. Perspiration shines on her forehead. That means she’s already been cleaning upstairs. Her father—my boss—sometimes makes her come in early to clean the kitchen and meeting room on the ground floor.

The trolley creaks under the burden of a bucket filled with water. Drops slosh over the sides as she pulls on the handlebar to stop the momentum of the wheels. She leaves the trolley in the corner and walks with an uneven gait through the doors. A moment later, she returns with a vacuum cleaner. She pops in ear pods, takes her phone from her back pocket, and swipes a finger over the screen. Not sparing any of the twelve men in the room a glance, she switches on the vacuum cleaner and steers the power nozzle over the varnished concrete floor.

My coworkers continue with their work. We’re all on a deadline. More accurately, we’re all chasing a promotion, and even in a clandestine software company like Gus Starley’s, a pay raise and private office must be earned.

Taking my empty mug, I push to my feet and head toward the coffee maker. I go the long way around, passing by her so closely I can smell the faint scent of caramel and clean, female sweat on her skin. She hums to herself, her husky voice making my scalp tingle in a pleasurable way, like when my hairdresser cuts my hair. It’s not a tune I know. I memorize it as I fill my mug with burnt coffee from the glass flask on the hot plate. After adding creamer, which doesn’t change the color of the coffee much, I stall by taking a sip while watching her through my lashes.

Done with the vacuuming, she kills the noise and carries the vacuum cleaner away. By the time I’m back at my desk, she reappears through the doors and makes her way with some difficulty but no less determination to the trolley. Her actions are as fluid and natural as those of someone who doesn’t realize she’s being observed.

She needs to be more careful.

When she lifts the bucket to the floor, the effort sketches her arm muscles in a stunning portrait of human perfection. After dunking the mop in the bucket, she squeezes out the excess water and starts to wash the floor. The dance of her body is rhythmic as she paints the concrete with wet brushstrokes of soapy water. It’s hypnotic.

I must be staring for too long, the usual clacking of my keyboard silent, because I’m attracting attention. My nape pricks with awareness of being watched. I feel my neighbor’s eyes on me before I turn my head and catch him looking.

Elliot Starley’s lips curve into a smile as he slides his gaze from me to Violet. The boss’s son or not, I feel like punching that smirk off his face.


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