the backseat of the jaguar

En el polvoriento pueblo de San Juan, Alejandro es nadie. Es el "mantenido". La vergüenza de la familia. Un hombre que vive de las sobras de la cruel matriarca, Doña Carmen, y que solo ve a su hermosa y exitosa esposa, Valeria, una vez al año. Todo el pueblo se burla de él. Carlos, el matón local, lo humilla a diario. Rosa, la chismosa, envenena su nombre. Alejandro aguanta en silencio. Pero su sangre esconde un secreto ancestral. Un accidente en una cueva sagrada despierta la Reliquia de Obsidiana. El espíritu del último gran Chamán Balam del antiguo imperio azteca lo elige como heredero. De repente, el "inútil" posee conocimientos prohibidos: la curación milagrosa, la Meditación del Sueño Profundo y la letal Técnica de Combate Rompehuesos. El cordero se ha transformado en jaguar. ¿Qué pasará cuando el hombre más despreciado tenga el poder de un dios en sus manos? Los que lo pisotearon están a punto de conocer el verdadero terror. Alejandro protegerá a Valeria y reclamará su lugar en el mundo, cueste lo que cueste. Prepárate para una saga de venganza, misticismo precolombino y pasión desenfrenada. El patrón ha despertado.

Dollar Viscos, a pyromaniac college student, has a huge crush on Rion Flaviegjo, the SSC President of their University. While she was doing everything to make her presence known to him, Rion was also doing everything to avoid her for many reasons including his traumatic past and secret night job...

Di Haneul Prestige High School—sekolah elit yang melahirkan petarung dan pemimpin masa depan—kekuatan adalah segalanya. Ranking menentukan harga diri. Hierarki menentukan hidup mati sosial siswa. Di tempat inilah Kang Jae-Hyun, siswa pindahan misterius, ditempatkan… di Kelas C—kelas buangan yang dipenuhi berandalan dan pecundang. Dengan sikap santai, lelucon receh, dan kebiasaan tidur di bangku belakang, tak ada yang menganggapnya serius. Sampai hari ketika ia menjatuhkan seorang ranker… tanpa ekspresi. Di balik kepribadiannya yang kocak, tersembunyi insting bertarung mematikan dan otak jenius yang mampu membaca lawan hanya dalam sekali lihat. Saat hierarki kekerasan sekolah mulai runtuh, satu per satu ranker terkuat bangkit untuk menghentikannya. Namun di tengah pertarungan brutal dan perebutan kekuasaan… Hadirlah Han Seo-Rin—siswi teladan Kelas A yang dingin dan sempurna—satu-satunya orang yang melihat sisi lain dari dirinya. Di sekolah tempat monster diciptakan… Seorang“raja bangku belakang” perlahan bangkit menguasai takhta. Dan ketika masa lalunya terungkap— Seluruh Haneul Prestige High akan menyadari… Mereka bukan sedang melawan siswa pindahan. Mereka sedang melawan badai.

In the flourishing world of the 18th century, a new power stirs within the rustic charm of the Republic of Coslevia. The son of a humble cobbler, Ilkin Xekhai, steps into the bustling marketplace armed only with a pair of his father's finely crafted shoes and an unyielding spirit of determination. "The Iron Jaguar: A Tale Of Coslevia" embarks on the extraordinary journey of the Xekhai family. From their modest beginnings to the pinnacles of influence and prosperity, Ilkin, the pioneer becomes a masterful navigator amidst the choppy seas of commerce, turning adversity into opportunity, and laying the foundations of a formidable trading empire destined to be the cornerstone of Coslevia's economic prowess. His legacy is carried on by his equally capable son, Maksim, who further fortifies the Xekhai stronghold in both the business and political landscapes. Maksim's reign heralds an era of stability and expansion, preparing the stage for the advent of a new era. This era arrives with the rise of Maksim's son, Ser Xekhai, a charismatic leader shrouded in intrigue. He masterfully manages the challenges of the digital age and the sweeping societal changes, solidifying the Xekhai family's position as the twin pillars of Coslevia - economically and politically. However, with power comes envy, and the Xekhai family soon finds itself ensnared in a tangled web of political intrigue, betrayal, and hidden animosities. As Coslevia teeters on a precarious edge, straddling the line between immense prosperity and uncontrollable chaos, the Xekhais must confront unseen enemies and internal strife to safeguard their legacy. This is a story of raw ambition, unyielding resilience, and the inescapable forces of destiny. As Coslevia's revered national animal, the Jaguar, verges on the brink of extinction, the Xekhai family too faces a similar threat of survival. Will they rise above these relentless tides of change, or will they drown in the storm of their own making? "The Iron Jaguar: A Tale Of Coslevia" is a sprawling historical saga blending intense political intrigue, intricate world-building, and deeply human characters. It invites readers to immerse themselves in the vivid portrayal of a nation's metamorphosis and the extraordinary individuals whose lives are interwoven with its destiny.

Sweet, innocent and nerdy otaku girl Harley and tough, cool, alpha chad male Chadwick cross paths one day, changing both their lives forever. She runs a cafe with her mother, catering to a dead father's band of gnarly men who revv up Harleys and ride for fun. He's the son of a one percenter biker gang trying to live up to his dead father's brutal criminal legacy. A motorcycle accident one day, brings them both together, but their conflicting backgrounds is bound to split them apart. After all, she usually hung out with the gang, having fun and drinking coke. He, on the other hand, usually hung out with the 'club', having 'fun' and taking 'coke'. The both of them were simply from different worlds! Oh, and then there's that biking contest where the winner would win $100,000 as a cash prize... Harley's mom and the Cafe needs it to stay afloat, while Chad's club needs it to bail out a few dozen members. No teams, no mercy, no rules. Only miles of asphalt and the most talented of motorcyclists. On both sides of the same coin, would they both be able to toss their hearts into the backseat and step on the throttle, reviving up the engine until the longing is drowned out? Or would they sink in the depths of their forbidden desires and choose each other against all odds...

The year is 2020 (No Covid). A fifteen year old kid faces more than just high school. The challenges his family history places down on him will completely change his future turning him into a superhuman with the DNA of a powerful predator. A dangerous gang of criminals threaten his hometown of New York City. He must Master his newly found abilities while keeping his identity a secret in order to eliminate this threat before it grows too large.

El Jaguar Platina. The Platinum Jaguar. In another time, in another place, he was one of the greatest luchadores in history. A proper baby-face both in and out of a ring, it appeared he had no limits when it came to rising up the ranks and into stardom. However, tragedy struck. Tensions between rival cartels finally exploded and his hometown was the battlefield. Sickened by the violence, he made it his duty to wipe them both out by himself. Day by day, bit by bit, he had managed to slowly drive out the two forces. Knowing that this couldn't go on, the cartels combined forces to end him. No one knows what happened on that fateful day, but what was known was this, both those cartels and El Jaguar Platina died that day. But...the good don't die young, they're just given another go around the bend.

Princess Anneliese harus menemukan keturunan terakhir dari bangsa Siluman Agung dan memenuhi ramalan untuk menyelamatkan keluarganya dan rakyat Southern Kingdom. Southern Kingdom jatuh ke tangan Northern Imperial. Northern Imperial menyandera kakak laki-laki Princess Anneliese dan menuntut pertunangan Princess Anneliese dengan Putra Mahkota Northern Imperial sebagai tanda persekutuan. Meskipun terpojok, Princess Anneliese percaya pada ramalan para tetua di masa lampau yang mengatakan bahwa dirinya adalah titisan dari Penyihir Suci, pelindung Southern Kingdom. Masalahnya ramalan itu juga mengatakan bahwa kunci kemenangan Southern Kingdom adalah penyatuan kekuatan Penyihir Suci dan keturunan Siluman Agung. Princess Anneliese bertekad mencari keturunan Siluman Agung yang tersisa meskipun selama ini mereka diyakini telah punah. Ketika kereta kuda Princess Anneliese diserang oleh kelompok pemberontak, Princess Anneliese diselamatkan oleh seekor jaguar. Jaguar penyelamat Princess Anneliese bukan jaguar biasa, melainkan Siluman Jaguar bermata ungu. Sayangnya Princess Anneliese kehilangan jejak Siluman Jaguar akibat kedatangan pasukan Northern Imperial yang membawanya ke istana tunangannya, Prince Ivorein. Ivorein yang ditemui Anneliese bersikap kasar, dingin, dan angkuh seperti kabar yang sudah sering didengar Anneliese. Namun yang paling mengganggu bagi Anneliese adalah tatapan aneh dari mata ungu Prince Ivorein. Satu rahasia yang tidak diketahui Anneliese adalah setiap malam Ivorein berubah wujud menjadi seekor jaguar.

Suzy Su is forty years old, single, and has spent the last twelve years in the same Silver Lake apartment, building a life that looks stable from the outside. She's an immigration attorney at a small firm — good at her job, respected by her colleagues, and invisible to everyone who matters. She has a mother in Pasadena who knows she's gay but never talks about it. She has a set of rituals — coffee, work, a run she never enjoys, a plant she keeps forgetting to water — that she calls a life. She is not prepared for what comes next. Routine bloodwork reveals she is HIV-positive. The viral load and CD4 count suggest she's been infected for three to seven years. In that window, she's had four sexual contacts: Shelly, the older woman who taught her how to be a lesbian in a world that didn't want her; Claire, the high-powered corporate attorney who mirrored Suzy's own ambition so perfectly they became each other's walls; Kevin, her oldest friend, the only man she's ever trusted, and one night she's never talked about; and Kate, the auto mechanic who showed her that happiness could be easy — and then left her because she couldn't figure out how to be happy back. The novel follows Suzy over the course of one month as she contacts each of them, telling them they may have been exposed. But the investigation into the virus becomes an investigation into her own life. She realizes she's been building a case not against a person, but against a way of living — a life built on avoidance, on never wanting anything too much, on keeping people at a distance where they can't hurt her. Each former partner forces her to confront a version of herself she's tried to outrun: with Shelly, she's the frightened twenty-three-year-old who didn't know how to be loved; with Claire, she's the thirty-year-old who was too proud to be vulnerable; with Kevin, she's the woman who uses intimacy as anesthesia; and with Kate, she's the person who let the best thing in her life walk away because she didn't believe she deserved to keep it. The suspense structure follows a classic Agatha Christie trajectory: the suspects are introduced, red herrings are planted, and the reader — along with Suzy — is led toward a conclusion that seems inevitable in retrospect. But the novel subverts the whodunit form. There is no villain. The person who gave Suzy the virus did not know they had it. And the question Suzy has to answer is not "who?" but "what now?" TRACE BACK is a literary suspense novel set in contemporary Los Angeles — a city of highways and hidden lives, where people reinvent themselves for a living and the past is always just a few exits away. It explores the gap between the stories we tell ourselves and the truths we refuse to see, the particular loneliness of the Asian-American experience in queer spaces, and the strange, quiet grace of learning to live with something you can't undo. Told in present tense with a propulsive, emotionally precise voice, the novel moves between Suzy's present-day investigation and extended flashbacks that form complete narrative arcs. Each relationship is a novella folded inside the larger story, and each one redefines what the reader — and Suzy — thinks they know about love, trust, and the difference between being hurt and being harmed. At its heart, this is not a story about a virus. It's a story about a woman who has spent forty years building walls, and who finally — through an accident of biology and a series of difficult phone calls — learns to let them down.

Jim Menetti had a life at Indiscreet, the Gay BDSM club owned by Bear Drummond and Reed Davis. His life revolves around Reed, his Master, and his position as manager of the Club.<br><br>On Jim and Reed's third anniversary, Jack Leary, Reed's on and off flame comes back and Jim's relationship with Reed unravels.<br><br>He picks himself up and makes a life for himself apart from his job, buys a home, makes it into a cozy retreat, and gets a cat he names Waltzing Matilda. He even has a new love interest, the mysterious Professor Caleb Brickner, an expert in the Spanish Inquisition and medieval torture.<br><br>Then Reed changes his mind.