Anchor Morningstar owns and operates the Resting Point, a hole-in-the-wall tavern sitting right on the border between life and the afterlife where travelers catch a brief respite before passing through a portal for judgment day. For years, Anchor has lend a kind ear to those desperate souls and has offered words of encouragement as he polishes glasses and serves drinks. All this changes the second Cass stumbles into the bar. Carrying with her a tremendous amount of guilt and remorse, she begs Anchor to let her stay, so he offers her a warm bed and some tender loving care for the night. The outcome is not as expected. In hell, they say that soulmates are real and dangerous. They hold the power to bring someone back from the brink of death or tear their soul in half. Only the devil has no heart, and he has already claimed Cass as his soulmate. Warnings: 🌶️ High Heat Level 🤬 Swearing ☠️ Touch Her & Die 🦸🏽‍♂️ Anti-Hero 💓 Dangerous Love 💋 Two domineering, broody love interests who are hot and larger than life (but might deserve love) 😈 Dark Humor Read with caution! ~~~~~ This is my entry for ONC 2024 based on the following prompts: Prompt #7: You are the barkeeper, the owner and operator of the resting point between life and the afterlife, being a kind ear to those who have passed on. Prompt #25: Soulmates are real and dangerous. They hold the power to bring you back from the brink of death or tear your soul in half. And a devil with no heart is the soulmate that awaits you. Prompt #32: A drunk dare and the biggest mistake of your life. A sin you can't wash off your hands. After all, blood leaves its traces and so does the taking of a soul. | Round Two AMBASSADORS' PICK | ~~~~ © Sal Mason/Fire Rose 2024

An eleven-year-old Mimi can see demons. She finds one feeding on a mafia boss, unconscious and bleeding out against her favorite breakfast dumpster. When she saves his life, he rewards her by forcibly taking her from the streets to adopt her. But Mimi doesn't want a dad. She just wants to go back to her parking garage, away from people and the demons that feed on them, which her new 'home' just happens to be full of. She's also not stupid enough to believe a guy who is practically a demon himself could make good parenting material, especially for an unwanted freak like her. And whatever happened to her childhood friend, the monster under her bed? Rated M for violence, some language, mentions of torture, killing people, uh, mature subjects...am I missing anything? The point is, it's not M for porn or inappropriate relationships. Just dark stuff.

They are born in the darkness, and they own it like no one else. Anna Johnson stays clear of vampires. She knows what they are capable of. As a witch of the air she is working for the Circle as a researcher, closing her eyes to that which lies in her past. Until one phone call changes everything.

An arranged mating. Two enemy Packs. A killer on the loose. Angelina Montgomery has lived the life of a lone wolf for more than five years. Exiled from her Pack, Angelina has created a life among the non-shifters- a people she considered more friend than foe. When she receives a call, Angelina must return to the place she once called home. Her baby sister is missing, and all clues point to the Silver Dawn Pack. Mason Ward has had his hands tied since he came into Authority as the Alpha of the Silver Dawn Pack. After serving in the Armed Legions for more than a decade, Mason has settled into a life more on the quiet side. He had known that his mating would be a cold arrangement, one not chosen by the hands of Fates. He had no choice but to surrender. His hands were tied, and there was nothing he could do about it. WARNING MATURE LANGUAGE SEXUAL CONTENT VIOLENCE

... for a moment I thought that everything was back to normal, that I was okay. But then it came crashing down on me. Blood was valuable. Blood was life. The loss of blood had a price. A high one.

Well, you could stare at a white wall until you were blue in the face, it would never be more than a white wall. The same was true for the master vampire. A vampire was a vampire was a vampire. Period. (Anna Johnson)

Meli is a beggar in 19th century London. Not just a beggar- a pickpocket. A thief. And a good one. ************* I didn't ask to be a beggar. It was just what becomes of orphans. I suppose I could have gone to work at a factory- but I was sure it wouldn't have paid as well as the pocketwatches and coins that the uppercrusts of England supplied me with. Besides, I had never been caught before. I didn't even worry myself over the possibility. Even if the theft had been noticed- as if!- I was the only girl among the group of young thieves. The last to be suspected. Me being caught was an impossibility! Until I made a mistake. Until my hand was seized as I reached into the pocket of a nobleman. I expected to be sent off to a prison or a workhouse. Perhaps to be whipped, or even hanged. Not to be sent to a reformatory school. Not for that same nobleman that I had stolen from to adopt me from that reformatory school. Not a life sentence to the strictness and rigidity and discipline of nobility. Not a governess who tells me when to sleep, eat, bathe, study, and speak. This was not the life of poverty and thievery that I had planned out for myself. And I didn't like it one bit. *Warning: Will contain outdated aspects of 19th-century life and childrearing. This includes but is not limited to corporal punishment, old-fashioned medical treatments, and strong references to social class and the struggles of the working class.*

It has been ten years since Amelia was adopted by Lord and Lady Baldwin, and publicly recognized as a member of the Nobility. Now it is time for her to step out into high society and be recognized as something completely different- a debutante. A young woman now eligible for marriage. Amelia has never quite fit into the world of high-society. Having been born into poverty and adopted as a child, it has always seemed to her that she is the black sheep of the bunch. 'Ladylike' has never been a word that she would use to describe herself. She has never viewed herself as the marriageable-type, and has never found herself to care much for the idea of courtships. And yet, in the tangles of 19th Century London, a young lady has no choice. After all, Amelia's elder sister- the perfect daughter, with golden curls and a flawless face- has already secured an Earl to court. The two of them do not care much for each other, but love is not what matters. It is all about status and tradition. But in a world where it is unheard of for a woman to marry for love, Amelia soon discovers that her own happily ever after may not be as impossible as she though. But why is it the Earl's eyes that keep drawing Amelia in? And what if the rules surrounding the strict and formal courtships are rules that Amelia simply does not want to follow? After all, she has never been much of a Lady. ***Stand-alone sequel to Pauper Princess- though suggested, you do not have to read the first book to understand this one***

Help him!? Help the prince of the kingdom that locked me up? Joining that man is the second last thing I want to do. The very last thing is to go back to the cell they've held me in for years. That's the deal the dark, intimidating prince offers me - use my curse to his benefit, and I'll be granted my freedom. What the prince doesn't know is that I made a vow - a vow to never harm anyone with my curse again. I agree to his bargain, but I must escape his grasp before I'm expected to fulfill my end. But escape isn't easy when the prince refuses to take his eyes off me. He's the first man to see beyond my curse, to see the girl beneath who just wants to belong. With time, I too learn to see past his frightening uniform and prestigious titles. My heart aches over the secrets I'm forced to keep from him, secrets that will bring his whole world crashing down.

Julia is on the run, fleeing for her life. An army of vampires ravage her country, plundering villages and enslaving their occupants. With the vampire horde closing in, Julia is forced to abandon her home and head south with the hope of reuniting with her brother. There they will build a new farm and live in safety. But one vampire lord has a different plan for her future. He tracks her down and takes her captive. No matter how hopeless her situation, she never gives up, risking her life to regain her freedom. He forces her down, punishing her when her defiant spirit hinders his mission. It soon becomes clear that she's nothing like the human soldiers he's used to dealing with. A sense a guilt begins to grow whenever he upsets the girl who both fears and leans into him for protection. Julia and the vampire lord are connected in ways they had never known. Their lives become entangled, bringing them to make decisions they would've never thought possible. Extract from Chapter 1: He unsheathes his blade, and I suddenly wish that he'd go back to poking me. He's going to cut me while I can't move? To torture me? I start to panic again. "No, no, no." I yank on the restraints, and the rope bites into my skin. I pull and pull and try to shuffle away from him. He presses the blade against my neck, and I freeze. "Fearful," he says. I catch a glimpse of his freakishly long canines. The edge of the blade presses on my skin, just enough not to draw blood.