** @TheWattys 2025 Shortlister in Romance ** **A spicy enemies-to-lovers romance with a fake marriage contract trope.** To rescue her missing best friend, a lawyer must marry her arrogant boss, only to realize her entire life has been built on lies. Can be read as a Standalone. || Book 1 of Fatal Alliances Series ************ Sofia Reyes has fought her way to the top of New York's legal scene, hiding scars she can't fully remember. But just as she's about to claim the promotion for Junior Partner she's worked so hard for, her best friend, and her boss's fiancée, Kiara, disappears. This forces Sofia into a marriage she never asked for; an alliance bound by secrets, contracts, and survival. Xavier Kingston is everything she loathes: ruthless, cunning, and impossibly arrogant. Yet behind his cold, calculating exterior lies a hunger for something real, something neither of them dares to admit. As Sofia navigates their fake marriage, the line between duty and desire blurs dangerously. Their chemistry ignites, but the truths Sofia uncovers: about the law firm, Kiara's disappearance, and her own hidden past, threaten to destroy everything. In a world of billion-dollar deals, betrayals, and forbidden glances, love might just be the deadliest game of all. **Cover image by Freepik**

Nolan, an unapproachable guy who ignores the existence of all his schoolmates, sleeps in all of his classes. Normally, this wouldn't be Chelsea Arnold's problem-she does her best to pay attention in class and attends gym like a good, normal student. Unfortunately, she just so happens to be his assigned desk partner in many classes. She's frequently forced to wake him in English class and ends up earning the unofficial title of Nolan's Wake-up Alarm-a title that nobody in the entire school covets. The last thing she wants is to interact with him more than she absolutely has to. One day, their gym teacher sends her to bring him back to class, which he always skips for some reason. When she accidentally shines her flashlight in his sleeping face, it triggers a chain of events that gradually intertwines their lives together. It's hard to be a normal student when you start befriending the school oddball. It doesn't help that he has more secrets than the Big Ben has stairs. ----- Complete. (first person, past tense, slowburn) ----- 1st place in Humor Category of Psychological Novel Reads Contest 2020 (29 Sep 2020) ----- Started: April 28, 2020 Completed: July 23, 2021 Word Count: 160K+ ----- The sequel, The Tortoise and His Sunrise, is up on my profile now!

1985. The City of dreams. Red double decker buses, kaali-peeli taxis, radios, Doordarshan, video cassettes and rotary dial phones. DCP Amarnath arrives in Bombay with a mission, straight and clear: To tackle the notorious Crime Syndicates. As the city unravels itself, he learns that alongside the battle against organised crime, it is a full-fledged war against his uncooperative heart as it trips over relentlessly at the sight of the headstrong Gauri, who contrasts him in every possible way, beginning with her profession: Law. Before cellphones, before swipes-there was a Bombay kind of love.... Visit the BLURB chapter for a detailed trailer!

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭. . . . . . . . . . . Living in The Colony was all Josie knew. To the outside world it was a cult of brainwashed victims all under the spell of Kade Rogers, but to her it was home. That was up until a series of events that led up to her escape. If only fate wasn't so cruel as to lead her away from one monster and put her directly into the hands of another. Now, with a new sense of determination, Josie explores the world outside of The Colony and learns the hard way that trust is a dangerous weapon of destruction. Trying to lead a normal life starting college proves to be impossible after meeting Nico Blaine. He was everything she was suppose to stay away from. But when Josie lay's eyes on the tattooed beauty, she can't help it. What starts out as a innocent infatuation turns into a twisted tale of betrayal. .. . . . . . . . . . - Dark romance - Explicit sexual content - Mature themes - Criminal - Villain - Anti-hero #1 goodgirlxbadboy #1 darklove

[Wattys Shortlist - 2025] Hiral Kashyap is a homemaker - conventional and burning, fragile yet unflinching, just another woman smiling through the burns and life. Riddhan Nanda is a dangerous man, a widower - the prime suspect in his wife's murder. A lawyer by profession, he has always straddled the blurred line between power and lies. Bitter by nature and trapped in the chains of patriarchy, he speaks louder than his beliefs. When destiny strikes, secrets unfold, hope shatters, and hearts wither. Twisted and unhinged, Riddhan desires her for a motive, and he won't stop until she gives in. Timid and scared, Hiral picks up the battle, for she is done being treated as dirt and a burden. Passion sparks while enmity intensifies, as they are forced to wrestle for control over their lives, future, past, and present. Join Hiral as she embarks on her journey to find peace and discovers that courage is beyond defeat and love is beyond heart. Flowers are beyond fragrance while life is nothing without a start.

Some say getting out of The Friend Zone is hard. Well, try getting out of The Sister Zone. Vanessa Hayes-Wong has been best friends with Oliver Morrison for five years, one month, and fourteen days. Just as she starts to realize her feelings for him, he gives her the worst Christmas gift she could've ever received. A mug that says World's Greatest Little Sister. Desperate to get out of The Sister Zone, Vanessa enlists the help of her fashion-stylist cousin, Sophia Wilde, personal development influencer, Mackenzie Goode, and the legendary Love Guru, Ryan Lovejoy. Of course, nothing goes as planned and the mismatched trio seems to do more harm than good. But who knows? With their help, she might stand a chance to get out of The Sister Zone. ~♡~♡~♡~ ❤ The Ambys 2024 Grand Favorite - Romance ❤ The Wattys 2021 Shortlist ❤ Editor's Picks - October 2020

He's 44. She's 25. They say age is just a number. Is it really? ••••• They were never supposed to fall in love, but they did. As their hearts converged, against their will. He was a man defined by his rigid persona, an entity wronged by the past. His sole purpose was to survive in the world where everyone's existence is nothing less than detrimental to your own. Except when it comes to his son, a flicker of hope in his diminished life. The only one whom he loved and lived for. Until it changed when he crosses path with a woman, carrying calmness in her eyes and promises in her words. He wanted to keep her to himself, desired the love which she had immense. The only problem? She was young, way too young.

Aurora has been neighbours with Arlo since she was just eight years old, yet the two of them could not be further apart. The one thing that brings the two together is the treehouse at the bottom of their yards, a place where their heaviest secrets lie, a place that is never spoken of yet is the most evident thing in their lives. She thought that he despised her, that he ignored her in school because her existence infuriated him. But what she didn't know, was that Arlo had been madly in love with her from the very moment he laid eyes on her. What will happen when Aurora is forced to move in with his family? How will they be able to keep their hidden love hidden? And how long will it take her to realise that it was not at all hidden in the first place? - Aurora Taylor had sought for the comfort of Arlo Scott's embrace ever since her eight-year-old self found herself living next door to him. Their love for one another was buried beneath the heaviness of their lives, the events which led them to one another seemingly never-ending. - Join Aurora in her journey of discovering Arlo's secret love for her, a love that had been kept hidden for nine years. #BOOK 01 of the Scott Family series (can be read as a standalone)

❝Our love douses us in flames. It's terrible and deep and wingless, but I'll burn here if you burn here too.❞ ───※ ·❆· ※─── Kabir and Meher Two polar opposites; or that's what they think they are. They are both burning in the pain of love. Where one is aware of the other's pain, the other absolutely has no idea what the former has been through. Both are opaque as a thick mist, nobody can ever figure out what is going on in their mind. It is their favourite hobby to avoid each other. Because if they are together, there will be nothing but ashes. But when they're thrown into a marriage of convenience, it takes every fibre of their souls to hold back the new emotions that they feel towards each other. With a killer on the loose, their dangling relationship takes a test of time as the past rises up from the dead. Well, the results are just as similar to their dynamics- intense and full of heartbreaks. Will the flames burn what they already have or give rise to something new? Copyright © akiimarvelous 2022 This amazing cover is made by @NattKuznetsov Featured on Romance - Fake and Arranged Relations Trigger/Content Warning: Elements of violence, abuse, graphic descriptions of death, mental health issues, mention of sexual abuse and rape, mature scenes and other triggering issues. Please read only if you're comfortable and the story is marked to be MATURE.

Student × Professor Romance Roohi and Nishaan cherish an epic Bollywood love story until Maan Singh enter their lives. A game of Junoon (obsession) begins. Roohi is an introvert, bookworm girl who gets attracted to her grumpy professor Nishaan on the first day of college. Their attachment, passion, desires and a series of event lead to a forbidden relationship. However, things take a horrific turn when Nishaan's enemy Maan Singh enter their lives.