these summer storms sarah maclean

Gabriel Reeds returns home a war hero, the general who shattered the southern enemy and unified the nation. The homecoming lasts about five minutes. His sister has been violated, his mother left gravely wounded, and the men responsible have powerful friends in very high places. Armed with an imperial gold medallion and a fury that doesn't cool, Gabriel storms the local courthouse and keeps going, pulling at a thread that unravels a conspiracy stretching from corrupt county officials all the way to the capital,where pension funds meant for fallen soldiers have been quietly stolen. The Emperor's brother-in-law hits back hard. Gabriel hits harder.With the Empress's backing, he dismantles the rot from the bottom up, for his family, for the dead, and for every soldier who bled for a country that then abandoned their kin.

Three days before my marking ceremony, someone set fire to the bridal shop while I was inside trying on my ceremonial dress. Alpha Marcus threw the arsonist into the pack prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the hospital bed, my body covered in third-degree burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Marcus speaking with the pack's healing witch. "Alpha, we can still heal her completely with the ancient magic. If we wait any longer, Sarah will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Rachel to be your Luna at the marking ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the marking ceremony." "I promised Rachel that her pup would be welcomed into the pack with full honors. Only when Sarah is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Rachel's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the pup." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The marking ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The mate bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.

Shane Lloyd is dumped by his fiancée. However, he unexpectedly obtains a rise-to-power system and activates an SSS-level weapon—the Changable Rod! From that moment on, he rises fiercely against all odds, crushing every opponent who dares to defy him. He acquires legendary abilities such as the 72 Transforming Skills and All-seeing Eyes. He battles bear demons, claims the Golden Ranking, tames the Vermilion Bird, slays demonic generals, and brings peace to the realm of White Jade Academy. Afterward, he even tears through the ancestral lands of the Divine Temple, single-handedly repelling millions of demonic forces. He executes the false crown prince, storms the imperial palace, ends a national crisis, and subdues the Dark Lord. What drives his former fiancée, Helen, to utter despair is that the man she once admired—the so-called Crown Prince—turns out to be a fake. And the true crown prince, the one destined for greatness, was the very fiancé she had discarded.