Heat of the Dark Night [Marriage Before Love]

The next novel will be Harbor Island Romance, about a female student and a powerful Hong Kong Island tycoon, with a sponsorship trope.

Novel blurb:

[Love After Marriage / Both Leads Have No Prior Experience / From Strangers to Falling in Love / Powerful, Fatherly Beijing-Circle Tycoon]

1.

Until she was twenty-seven, Tang Yun had lived an utterly ordinary life, until she met He Lin'an.

The first time, she was on a blind date at a restaurant. Her date looked average but was bursting with confidence, making all kinds of snide remarks. At the next table, a man of unmistakable refinement finally couldn't take it anymore and let out a meaningful, mocking laugh.

Tang Yun glanced sideways and met He Lin'an's long, alluring eyes.

The second time, Tang Yun stood alone at the end of a corridor, facing an endless stream of calls pressuring her to marry. She could no longer stand it and finally fought back. Her mother scolded her coldly over the phone, leaving Tang Yun utterly disheartened.

Suddenly, a tall figure emerged through a side door. Sunlight streamed through a half-open window and enveloped him. Standing against the light, He Lin'an held out his hand. "Do you want to run away?"

2.

The third time, the man deliberately waited along the route she always took home from work. His alluring eyes were deep as he said, "The old man is pressuring me to marry, too. We're in the same boat. How about we try getting married?"

As if bewitched, Tang Yun actually nodded.

Soon afterward, two bright red marriage certificates appeared on He Lin'an's social media feed.

Tang Yun was stunned. She really had married in a whirlwind, and to someone she'd barely met.

Still, nobody in He Lin'an's circle had any faith in their marriage. After all, most rich young heirs married just to appease their families.

Besides, why would He Lin'an, a prominent business heir in Beijing whose fortune was a mystery, let himself be tied down by a marriage?

A little scene:

One day, a group of people gathered at He Lin'an's house for dinner. They were having the time of their lives in the living room, but He Lin'an was nowhere to be seen. As everyone went looking for him, they happened to pass the kitchen and all stopped in their tracks.

On the little balcony, He Lin'an's tie was loose, desire written across his face as his solid chest pressed against Tang Yun's. He pleaded pitifully, "Honey, don't sleep in the dorm tonight. I'm scared all by myself at home."

Tang Yun: "..."

Everyone: Ugh!

Damn, He Lin'an is serious about this!

Content warnings:

1. The heroine struggles with her family of origin early on and eventually fights back. She needs time to grow!

2. The heroine is twenty-seven, the hero is thirty, and the hero helps her heal.

3. The heroine has an independent career-growth storyline.

~

Coming soon: Harbor Island Romance:

[Female Student x Powerful Hong Kong Circle Tycoon]

[Eleven-Year Age Gap / Old Flames Rekindled / One-on-One Romance / Both Leads Have No Prior Experience]

1.

When Ming Yang was sixteen, Huo Zhaolin took over sponsoring her.

At the insistence of her uncle and aunt, who pushed her forward with obsequious enthusiasm, the slight girl lowered her eyes and stood before Huo Zhaolin.

She wore a blue dress washed pale with age. Her shoulder blades jutted out, the hem fell far too short, and her thin calves showed scabs that had yet to heal. Dry, yellowish hair concealed most of her face.

Huo Zhaolin gazed at the crown of the girl's head. "Would you like to come with me?"

Ming Yang looked up, her beautiful black eyes startlingly bright. "Mr. Huo, I would."

Later, he taught her Cantonese and manners, sent her to an elite school, and nurtured her from a dusty pearl into the brightest flower in Hong Kong's social scene.

2.

At her graduation ceremony at twenty-three, she wore the custom couture dress Huo Zhaolin had given her and stood on the stage before thousands.

But as she clutched her diploma and ran toward Huo Zhaolin, she saw with her own eyes his Rolls-Royce pull up at the Peninsula Hotel and pick up his fiancee, who had returned from America.

At Lan Kwai Fong, slightly tipsy, the girl smiled brightly at a man trying to hit on her. Huo Zhaolin rushed over and yanked her into his arms, gripping her so hard her wrist hurt.

Taking advantage of her drunkenness, the girl pressed her damp lips to his burning Adam's apple. "Mr. Huo, could you not get married?"

The man's hand, resting at her lower back, stiffened. After a moment, he said, "Yangyang, we're not right for each other."

She was a jacaranda in full bloom, while he was already over thirty. The age gap was impossible to overcome.

3.

After that, Ming Yang disappeared from his world completely.

Huo Zhaolin appeared composed on the surface, but one rainy night he tore apart the photo his subordinate handed him.

In the picture, the girl he had personally raised and cherished was holding hands with a blond young man.

His private jet cut through the Sydney night. At dawn, Huo Zhaolin knocked on the apartment door.

The moment it opened, he pinned her against the wall and kissed her with scorching breath. His kiss was devastatingly possessive.

"Break up with him," the man rasped, his forehead against hers, his pride crumbling into dust. "Yangyang, I regret it."

Theme: Meeting the right person can heal your whole world.