{2022 WATTY SHORTLISTER} {18+ COMPLETED} England, 1842 Lady Hutton, otherwise known as Penelope Chapman, cares not that her husband has a wandering eye. That is, until he wanders away completely--all the way to the continent with his mistress, where he's been for the last five years. Abandoned, Penelope decides she shall not spend her life living without the occasional night of casual companionship. But then Penelope meets British naval officer Beckett Ash, and she realizes that there isn't anything casual about him. The man who has been assigned to protect her whilst uncovering a smuggling operation at her summer house party is strikingly handsome, and their connection is increasingly difficult to ignore. There are only two problems. Firstly, Beckett hasn't a clue that Penelope already has a husband. And secondly, his best friend and fellow naval officer is Penelope's protective half-brother. What happens when Beckett decides to marry an already married woman?

{18 + COMPLETE | FREE STORY w/ Paid Bonus Content • COLLEGE SPORTS ROMANCE} Wednesday Elez's father immigrated to America so he could be with her mother, and it has taught her one thing: love has no bounds. The only thing that Wednesday-or Nessa-wants is to find a love like her parents have. But she's also pretty sure she's never going to find it. She isn't the type of girl who guys fall in love with. She's the type of girl who guys think they can just fall into bed with after one too many beers. That's what college has taught her anyway. But then she meets Grayson Everett, and he's hell bent on changing her mind. Nessa can't quite figure Grayson out. As a member of the Oakland State football team, he instantly gets put on Nessa's no-way list. But then she learns that despite his hard exterior-his very hard, muscled exterior-he's a music education major with a soft spot for kids and a few heartbreaking secrets. It's only a matter of time before he starts breaking her down, too. She just hopes it isn't her heart that gets broken. **Book 3 in the Wildfire Series but can be read as a standalone**

☆☆ Watty Award Winner 2020 ☆☆ Cooper Daniels lives next door to a psychopath. He just can't prove it...yet. When the most popular girl in high school is murdered at a Halloween party, Cooper's suspicions become a reality. He knows exactly who did it. But how is he supposed to prove his charming neighbor is a killer? Meanwhile, Calla Parker is waking up with blood under her nails, and she has no idea why. Unable to remember the night before, Calla begins to suspect herself of murder. She's relieved to find out the police have zero evidence to go on. Yet she can't help but shake the feeling she's being watched - very closely. And she knows why. Cooper Daniels knows her secret. ☆ Cover by @CarKann ☆

For Eloise Park, the lines of glittering love and golden jupiter always seem to blurred. Maybe Jonah Kim can help find what's missing before it's too late.

They were a perfect storm; equal amounts of passion and ignorance ignited as one.

Determined to stay blissfully unmarried, Lady Angela Worthington hires club owner and secret matchmaker Gerard Stark to find a match for her best friend who plans on proposing to her. Love was always in the cards, she just never imagined it could be for her... ***** Angela Worthington has no intentions of finding a love match this season-she's far too busy planning a secret mission involving the Ramsbury Circus. So when she discovers her promising life as a spinster is threatened by her best friend, Spencer's plans to propose, she knows drastic measures are called for. To ward off Spencer's advances, she hires club owner Gerard Stark, who happens to be the mastermind behind a very hush-hush matchmaking service. But Stark's agreement to find Spencer a match comes at a price, and Angela finds herself quickly slipping out of her comfort zone. Angela has never longed for marriage, but there's something about the charming Mr. Stark that may be simply too hard to resist. [[Word count: 100,000 - 150,000]] Cover designed by Morgan Sangster Content/trigger warning: Contains mentions of sexual assault

Alexander Langley wasn't looking for trouble but Charlotte Porter found him anyway. Only, this new partnership has them in over their heads and way before their time. 2020 WATTYS WINNER in MYSTERY The life of a poor merchant's daughter in Victorian Era London is quite boring. Charlotte Porter, it seems, is the exception. Desperate for a source of income once her father's gambling debts have drained their funds and placed them in the sights of some of London's most notorious criminals, Charlotte is in search of salvation. It comes in the form of handsome detective Alexander Langley, a curious gentleman with a strange connection to Scotland Yard and an even stranger connection to the American West. Charlotte soon finds herself swept into his world of investigation and intrigue. When a case of art theft turns into murder and she and Alexander are thrown into the seedy underbelly of the London elite, Charlotte realizes that the work isn't the only thing she's become attached to. But now, her father's powerful creditors are ready to close the books on them, and Charlotte must find a way to keep them out of the red because this time it won't be written in ink. Book 1 of the Langley & Porter Series *Featured on: The Wattpad Stars For Fans of Bridgerton List Wattpad's Strong Female Leads List @HistoricalFiction 's The Gothic List EDITOR'S PICK April 2021 Content warning: This story contains violence. **This is only the first five chapters. The rest of the book is available on Amazon for purchase and via KU.**

Powerful deity Isla Develler is cursed and goes to the other side of the world for a solution, where she encounters more trouble than she imagined, among them a human who ignites her darkest desires and a mischievous god who seems to enjoy her struggles. ***** Growing up in a powerful family of Opulents, beings with blood of both the gods and angels, Isla is the best candidate to be the next Opulent Empress. But being an Opulent means getting a Curse. Isla just got hers and it's a bad one. Before her ambitious cousin finds out and ruin her chance to the throne, Isla is forced to go to the other side of the world, live in a dilapidated colonial house in the middle of a mystical forest that hides many secrets, and lead the incompetent Department of Lost Things where the temporary solution to her Curse is kept. Things get a little tricky for Isla when she encounters a human teenage girl who lost her memories. But Jade is just one trouble Isla will face in East Isles: Across the forest, in a human village, lives Lucas, a powerless but famous human jazz singer with a flock of devout fangirls, and he fills Isla's nights with dark desires that may lead to her ruin. And within the forest is Avi, a mischievous and untrustworthy god, who seems to enjoy watching it. As Isla and the peculiar team of the Department of Lost Things reluctantly help Jade find her family, while working on a case for a major goddess with a major attitude, they struggle with everything human and powerless, and other things more sinister that lives very close to home. Content Warning: This story contains mature sexual content and themes of sexual assault and violence. Cover design by Kallmegaudier

Elyse, a trauma surgeon who owes a debt to the mafia, finds herself in an arranged marriage with infamous mafia don Alessandro and discovers unexpected love as they navigate his dangerous world together. ***** Dr. Elyse Romero is used to dangerous house calls. Ever since her father's debts to all the wrong people fell to her, she's been the doctor on call for the mafia, and at this point, she's lost count of how many criminals she's had to heal. But when a handsome stranger is brought to her apartment in the dead of night, Elyse knows this assignment won't be like the others. There's no doubt in her mind: if he dies, she dies too. But it turns out surviving the night is the least of her worries. Her new patient is none other than notorious mafia don Alessandro Vitale, and he's not done with Elyse just yet. Presented with an offer she truly can't refuse, Elyse is forced into a new kind of danger and it turns out she's only scratched the surface of this criminal world. After all, when an angel saves a devil's life, there will be hell to pay. Book One in the Devil's Playground Series. Content Warning: This story contains mature sexual content and themes of crime and violence.

After her best friend is found dead in a motel room with no clear answers, Sofia Wineheart is determined to uncover the truth--even if it shatters everything she thought she knew. ***** It's a quiet October morning in Palo Alto, California, when the news break out--June Beaumont was found dead in a motel room, and no one knows what happened, not even her family. Sofia Wineheart, confused and devastated, takes it upon herself to pick up everyone's pieces--her friends', June's brother Meridian, but not hers--and figure out exactly what happened that night for the sake of closure. The little leads she finds all connect to one place: San Francisco. There's no telling what it will bring, or if it will bring up any answers, let alone those she's hoping she'll get. [wattpad editor's choice] © 2019 caterina george // all rights reserved