Tug-at-your-heartstrings new adult first love story. What starts as a bet to avoid cleanup duties at her minimum wage cashier job, wins Amelie D'Amico more than she's ever hoped for. When Ben, a cute customer who always checkouts at her register, finally speaks to her, his interest in cooking make her only more curious. Amelie's always been terrible at recipes and trust, but with each passing day, Ben proves that when the right person comes along to show the way, it's easy. As their friendship grows, he confesses that he's never dated before and asks Amelie to be his relationship coach. Flattered as she is, she should say no. Her love life is a disaster, and she's hardly the best person to assist him, yet she can't resist his smile or his searching blue eyes. Preparing Ben for his first ever date with a woman who clearly likes him seems simple enough, until helping him score his first kiss becomes the last thing Amelie wants to do for her...friend. How could she begin something she's unable to finish? Telling Ben she wants to be more than his buddy wouldn't be a problem if leaving the US at the end of the semester to pursue a PhD in France wasn't her focus. And what will happen to their friends-with-benefits arrangement if what actually stands in their way is not her plan but her heart? NORMAL PEOPLE x LOVE QUOTIENT Tropes: Friends to lovers, matchmaker, fake dating, opposites attract, secrets, first love, ticking time-bomb BOOK 1 IN LOVE IN CHICAGO SERIES OF STANDALONES.

Li Xiang is the Priestess of the Moon, she can see read the stars and fortune as well as misfortune to her people. However, the life of a Priestess consists of nothing but loneliness: she can neither leave the palace nor meet with anyone but the Emperor and his advisors. One day a mysterious servant boy named Rui sneaks into her room, daring her to go outside if he wins against her in a game. Upon meeting him, she also befriends a female warrior and a scholar, and realizes life is much more than the palace. When the day comes she can either choose to go down the road her heart truly desires but bring ruin to the kingdom, or ignore the one chance she will ever have to leave this life? *** "My fate has been decided for me." "There's no such thing as that," he said. "We all make our own fate." "But the stars tell me--" I stopped talking when he holds my face in his hands, warm hands cupping my cheeks, brown eyes looking into my eyes. "Then stop looking at the stars. Look at me." A love story about fate, finding one's identity, stepping out of your comfort zone, and, most of all, choosing between your happiness or the happiness of others... [[Word Count: 80,000-90,000]] Wattys Fantasy Winner 2021

Goat sucker. Overgrown lizard. Monster. Miguel is all too familiar with the many names humans have for chupacabras. As a member of a struggling pack, he knows how unfair the world can be to his kind. With their scaly bodies, sharp claws, and flesh-melting venom, it's no wonder humans fear them. After Miguel protects a human from his pack leader at the only restaurant that caters to chupacabras, his life takes a turn for the strange when he is offered a job as a chef. Adapting to the culinary chaos soon becomes the least of Miguel's worries as he finds himself falling for Alejandro, an outspoken chef who treats him with more compassion than even his own kind. But what human would ever love a chupacabra? With the restaurant struggling to stay afloat, inter-species tensions flaring, and Alejandro's ex serving as a constant reminder of what he can never be, will Miguel be able to take the heat, or will he be forced out of the kitchen? Cover by @ShyGuySamurai