Sidekicks. The sad, ever-suffering excuses of heroes - a title you tack onto someone who's trying, just not hard enough. Few can shed this sad label and pave their own path. I intend to be one of them. The heroes are crowding enough of the spotlight, in my opinion. It's time for me to step up. I just know I can do it - I'll be the undoing of sidekicks. ≈ standalone extension to the undoing of heroes' universe. ✎ completed cover: @narwhelly

Let's get the facts straight. I am no heroine and I will never bring pride to my family. I am what you could call a failure. My grades? Average. My social life? Average. Talents? Hmm... well, I think I have none. I'm not exceptional in any way and I know I'm a disappointment for my father. And in this day and age there's no way I could just take my father's place to save him from a horrible fate.  There is a huge weight on my shoulders but I can't carry it no matter how hard I try. I have no idea what I can do, I only know what I can't do. Yet I still would try anything to make my father proud, even just once. Oh right, I forgot to tell you whom I was name after. Yes, I was named after Mulan, that bright heroine who saved China and brought pride to her family. Talk about big expectations. But Mulan doesn't suit me, so it's just Ann. -:-:- BOOK #4 in the Aware Princess Series flower: Peony, it symbolises "Prosperity, honor (in China)."

❝I think you're more of a goddamn female than I am, James.❞ | ❝Pfft, don't you know? The only thing straighter than me is my parking, Janice.❞ | Copyright © 2015 Sarena Akhter. All Rights Reserved.

Her entire life, Iliana has heard that those affected by the hands of the gods will live harsh, grand lives. Unfortunately for her, over the past month she has learned exactly how true those stories are. For Kain, that means learning how to deal with what it means to be a hero. Selflessness and bravery are required in equal measure, as well as the will to step into a role he has never wanted to play. As those around him begin to recognize the string of fate at play, unexpected allies arise, and take actions that will shake the world as he knows it. For Iliana, it means navigating life among the Reotakian peerage. Given to the emperor as a plaything, she must learn to hold her tongue, or suffer at the madman's hands. Unfortunately for both of them, games played by the gods are never easy. The measure of life in the eyes of an immortal will always be different than that of a human. And the death of a hero, necessary for the betterment of the world. **Cover by ItalyChick**

[Wattpad Featured Story: Fantasy Hidden Gems] When we were children they whispered about beasts that hid amongst the shifting dunes, dark things with sharp teeth and loud howls and an insatiable thirst. Animals that gutted their prey and left intestines rotting in the sun and bones sprawled out across dried riverbeds. We listened with rapt attention and shivered despite the searing desert heat. But I'm not a child anymore, and I know better. The sand-dusted coyotes, the sleepy vipers-they're just animals, dumb and slow. I've met the real beast of the dunes, and he's nothing like they say. He wears the skin of a man, and the silks of a noble, and spins lies with a silver tongue sharp enough to make the earth bleed... And he holds my life in his blood-stained hands.

They're worlds apart, and this isn't high school, so how the hell did a homeless female writer end up renting a billionaire's mansion? And - hold your breath - becoming his fake girlfriend? ➳ full blurb inside ➳ first reached #1 in humor on july 6, 2015 ➳ first reached #1 in business on august 29, 2023 ➳ winner of best humor book in the fiction awards 2016 ➳ featured by cadbury (marvellous creations) and secret lives of the americans (pivot) P.S. This is a SATIRICAL BILDUNGSROMAN. Proceed with caution. (cover by @glueeater)