cold cold heart tami hoag

The beastfolk are a powerful race, and to strengthen our family's power, Father arranges marriages for both me and my stepsister, Arya Hearthguard. In our past lives, Arya entered a high-profile marriage into the wealthy, powerful dragon clan, while I was forced to wed into the crumbling lion clan. The clan leader of the dragons—Draken Vorgath—was cold and detached. He cared more for gold than his bride, leaving Arya in a glided cage of loneliness. Overwhelmed by the desolation, she seduced the future leader of the fox clan, who was flirtatious.. And when the scandal exploded, Draken resolutely divorced her. Arya's scandal brought shame upon our family. Despite Father's favoritism, he was compelled by family honor to exile her in disgrace. Clan leader of the lions and King of the Jungle—Kael Hawthorne—was a man of unwavering devotion. Our marriage blossomed, and within a year, I bore him a golden lion cub blessed with the Aetheric Divinity. With the Aetherborn, Kael rose to rule all beastfolk as the chieftain, and I became their most revered chieftess. Consumed by envy, Arya sneaked into my son's first birthday feast and strangled the golden lion cub in his cradle. Then, she set the place ablaze and burned me alive along with it. When I wake up, I am back on the very day of our marriage. This time, Arya volunteers to marry into the lions and leaves me the chance to marry into the dragons. I accept everything meekly with only a tenth of her dowry and marry Draken. Later, she bleeds her dowry dry, propping up the lion clan, only to fail in conceiving a cub. When the elders demand she mate with other males, regret drowns her. As for me, all I want in his new life is an heir and a quiet life among the dragons. But no one warns me about the dragons, least of all that my supposedly cold-hearted husband will relentlessly demand me once awakened. Or that his members came in pairs and ridges!

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking.

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking.

To repay a single act of kindness, he spent ten years as an invisible husband, pouring his heart and strength into her success. When betrayal and humiliation drove him to the brink, he chose to "die," severing every tie to the past.Years later, he returned as a powerful figure standing high above the world. The debt of gratitude repaid and the old wounds cut clean, he faced his kneeling, repentant ex-wife with a heart already healed. Having found his own happiness, he rose from the ashes—reborn, untouchable, and no longer bound by the love that once defined him.

Dumped by her ex, Lena falls into bed with her irresistible CEO—but vanishes by morning. As the CEO searches for the mystery woman who stole his heart, Lena’s scheming ex-mother-in-law steals her identity… and takes her place as the CEO’s wife.

Erin Sanders finds herself entangled in a risky romance with her billionaire arch-rival, Nolan Duffy, who covertly becomes her house boy. But when his deceptions are exposed, threatening her heart and her company, Erin must choose between safeguarding her family legacy or embracing their unconventional love..

Before a chaotic and mesmerizing party night, Madeline never imagined she would truly end up with Jeremy. After their unexpected marriage, however, they drift further apart. In her most desperate moments, Madeline discovers that she has already captured Jeremy's heart without realizing it.

The discomfort in his heart only grew more intense when he saw someone being embraced inside the private room. Finding an excuse, he left the room and forcefully pulled the woman at the end of the corridor into his arms to fiercely kiss her. At this point, the only thing that occupied his mind was how to make her his.

Sold by her boyfriend to the mafia king Vincenzo as his contract bride, Violet plans her escape. Yet she discovers Vincenzo's heart of gold... that belongs to her. When danger strikes, Vincenzo saves Violet and suffers grave injuries, leading her to marry him out of duty and gratitude. But during their wedding ceremony, an assassination plot unfolds…

Molly was caught between three powerful suitors—the world's richest man, a genius doctor, and a mafia godfather—but her heart belonged to her rescuer, Dante. She planned to propose to him after her grandmother's birthday party, only to discover Dante had married her sister. As her family's abuse began, her three formidable admirers arrived just in time.

In a post-apocalyptic world, Ivy Reed awakens in the body of a notorious villainess—accused of colluding with a scumbag to harm children. Exiled with scarce supplies and a husband and child who distrust her completely, she refuses to succumb to fate. Along the perilous journey,she gradually turns the tables and reshapes everyone’s perception of her. Courage, cleverness, and heart prove that even a so-called villainess can rewrite her destiny.

Hedda awakens in the hospital after a car accident, only to find her husband cheating on her with her best friend. Her broken heart leads the goddess Hera, the guardian of all women, to bless Hedda with $50 Million. Hedda returns to her own life, determined to make her cheating ex-husband and his mistress pay, all while falling for the perfect man Hera blessed her with.

Heiress Adeline erased her identity to marry Chase, a man who repaid her devotion with betrayal, a mistress, and a miscarriage. Stripped of everything, she returns to her powerful family ready to burn Chase's world down. But when a mysterious bartender saves her one night, Adeline discovers he's been waiting eight years to find her again. Will she risk her heart one more time?

In her past life, Lady Alexia of House Hubbard had it all - until Prince Jaxon and her own sister Jazmin's betrayal left her corpse cooling in a deserted manor, her entire lineage extinguished. Reborn with vengeance in her heart, she makes a calculated alliance with the 'Crippled Prince' Yoric. But when assassins ambush her palanquin, the supposedly paralyzed prince does the unthinkable - he stands, for her...

The true heiress, Jane, was abandoned by the adopted daughter of the Thomas family, leading her to wander alone. Upon her return, Ruby felt jealous of the affection Jane received from their parents and deliberately targeted her. However, Jane revealed her many hidden identities, attracting the attention and adoration of three powerful brothers. Additionally, she captured the heart of Lucas, the rumored hot-tempered heir of the Gordon family, who cherished her a lot.

To stay close to her married best friend Jolly, Gia Corby decides to pursue Jolly's brother-in-law, the aloof doctor Connor Eriksson. While Gia pursues him aggressively, he watches coldly from the sidelines, occasionally lending a hand.Just as Gia is about to win his heart, Connor's first love returns. Gia gives up, but Connor begins forcefully pursuing her. Ultimately, the two end up sweetly together.

Wren Yale, born into an aristocratic family, is the picture of grace—elegant, refined, untouchable. Yet beneath the facade burns a spirit shaped by years of oppression, fierce and unyielding. Sent as her sister’s stand-in to a ruthless inspector, she twists the trap into her chance, ensnaring Phil Dunne, the formidable young marshal. What begins as survival and ambition soon blurs into perilous desire—she casts the bait, but he walks into her net, heart first.

I open my eyes to a twisted corridor, the air thick with rot and roses. I'm thrown into a deadly game with 99% mortality, forced by a system to court non-human beings—a crying stitched monster, a time-controlling puppeteer, an abyss lord who feeds on fear. While others flee, I read love poems to vengeful spirits and dance with skeletons. Fail, I die; succeed, I survive. But when romance meets horror, can I trust my heart?