Astrid is running from a monster, the man who kidnapped her and forced her to breed his heirs. But she's escaped his clutches. Finding herself fleeing across countries with heavy baggage she finds her self dropped on the compound of the Viking Warriors by a glorious stroke of fate. Vidar has always dreamed of finding his Goddess, his other half. But what will he do when he finds out his destined other half has more than he ever bargained for. Will the great Vidar finally find love, or will Astrid fail in finding him? Read to find out... I can't move swiftly enough as I drop down to my knees to pick her up. Gazing at her face, I loop one arm under her knees, the other over her back. She's as cold as death, and barely conscious. Her pale grey eyes gaze at my with a strange combination of trust and terror. I gently pull her closer to me. "Shhh love, I got you now." "L-Liam..." Her voice shudders and her lips tremble, the cold has seeped through into her bones, and she's so tiny anyway she must be permanently cold. Walking towards the car for the baby I pull her closer to my chest. She's now flitting in and out of consciousness, but, as I hold her closer- hoping my body can give her some warmth- I feel the bump, small and distinct. Panic grips me. She's pregnant? But that baby can't be more than 9 months? In her white T-shirt I can see the bruises and cigarette burns littering her pale skin. Whatever has happened to her is beyond awful. But I'm here now. I've got her.

We know a lot about the American Civil War. We know about the battle at Gettysburg and how Sherman burned Atlanta but do you know many individual stories? Follow Oliver and Naomi from their arranged marriage through the war. It will be quite a journey as Naomi faces the war home alone and Oliver fights battle after battle. She will face one of the cruelest band of the southern militia army as she tries to protect the people she loves most. This is a story about the ones left home during the war. The one's who earned no great merit or place in history. The forgotten heroes of a bloody war that stood for freedom and equality for all Americans. I based some of facts in the story on writings left behind by my family that lived here in Indiana in the 1860s. My ancestors were Quaker and they were abolitionists in Indiana. We still have their homes used in the underground railroad in our family. My other side was endangered servants from Ireland and my great-great-grandfather was, unfortunately, one of the soldiers that came to Indiana while serving under John Hunt Morgan. He was the rest of my family's enemy. https://www.wattpad.com/646167251-the-forgotten-ones-a-completed-steamy-historical Please keep in mind this story is based in America during the 1860s and it was a different time. Copyright © 2020 by Grace Madden All Rights Reserved.

When Rosalie Winthrop, an earl's daughter, writes letters to her future husband, she doesn't expect him to be a penniless orphan. *** Sheltered by her father, Lord Samuel Winthrop, in Grenledge Manor all her life, twelve-year-old Rosalie longs to travel the world or at least go to London more than once a year. But when she finally leaves England for a trip to colonial Hong Kong with her father, she meets and befriends Maximilian Walker, a street urchin who's on the run from a troubled past. The two become fast friends, but they are torn away from each other by cruel fate. Soon, they learn that more than an ocean voyage has drawn them together--it's also their intertwined family histories. Neither of their backgrounds is what they appear. Will Rosalie ever meet Maximilian again--or her future husband? And what happens if the two are one and the same? Content warning: This story contains themes of child abuse, racism, implied sexual harassment, and mentions of drug use. This story is now available on YONDER, your next-generation reading app from the Wattpad family. Join me on YONDER today! Find it now in your app store. 2021 WATTYS WINNER 1ST PLACE WINNER OF WALK BY FAITH AWARDS 2021 Check out the lovely trailer made by @kirstyt97

Avery Green grew up next door to Luke Hart. He was always there. Choosing her. Loving her. He wasn't subtle about it. She just didn't process it the way she should have. Avery had a habit of misreading things. So she laughed when she shouldn't have. Pulled away when she shouldn't have. And somehow turned something real into something she couldn't make sense of. Luke didn't stop choosing her. Until one day, he had to. When Avery finally started to understand what had been right in front of her the whole time... it wasn't as simple as it used to be. Some things take too long to say.

#Wattys2025 Shortlist Crimson Veil The wedding was just the beginning. When her kingdom falls and her cousins are slaughtered, Meira of Ink and Bone is spared - not out of mercy, but as a weapon. Ryul, the ruthless general turned Emperor, sees in her both a threat to his power and the perfect key to seal his rule. But Meira refuses to kneel. Dragged into a forced engagement, she becomes a pawn in a court of veils, ancient prophecies, and burning secrets. Haunted by visions of a future she cannot escape - one where her body yields to the very man who conquered her world - Meira must decide if she will break... or remake the empire from within. He wants her loyalty. She wants his blood. And the Veil watches them both. A dark, gothic fantasy laced with sensual tension, power plays, and spiritual warfare - Crimson Veil is a slow-burn psychological battle between a cursed bride and the man determined to own her soul.

When the Hemmingway's go into debt, their only hope out of their dilemma is their daughter, Rhea. Rhea realizes the situation and immediately agrees to help her parents. But marriage? Not what she hoped for, especially when she had become known to the ton as a Wallflower. When it comes time for Rhea to meet her future beloved, she's shocked at how intense their bond is. Although Hadrian Vale abruptly refuses to marry the girl, he immediately has a change of heart when he meets her. But somebody has held a grudge against the Vale's, and soon Hadrian finds that his wife is being victimized for it. Can he protect the woman that he promised to cherish, in sickness and health? And maybe even the woman he's come to love?

Despite the unshakable attraction between them, Maeve and Lucian are uninterested in love and marriage; especially since they hate one another and couldn't think of a worse match. • • • London, 1815 Maeve Langston's aversion to the opposite sex has given her the reputation of being an insufferable wench, so men have learned to stay away from her. Lucian Thorne, Baron Worthington, has become somewhat of a cynical hermit since his return from the Napoleonic wars, injured and disgruntled. When the two meet, they rapidly learn to despise each other. She appears to be a narcissistic brat, and he keeps acting like a pompous arse. Lucian wants nothing more than to stay away from Maeve, but his best friend has his eyes set on her for marriage. He has no choice but to show him the dreadful harpy that lies beneath the lovely facade. However, the more time they spend in each other's presence, the clearer it becomes that first impressions can be wrong. Between their unexpected similarities and the sparks that fly every time they meet, what started as hatred slowly shifts into something different. Something both of them will find much more dangerous. • • • This is the second installment of the Langston Series. Although I advise you to read the first one first (The Prince and the Spitfire), it can be read as a standalone.

They had been the best of friends since childhood. She knew that he secretly wore spectacles. He knew that she had once stolen all the wine for the Eucharist from the parish church and blamed it on the town drunkard. There was very little that Amy Griffiths did not know about Lord Oliver Hollingsworth, the only friend she had ever had growing up in a tiny village where everybody knew everything about anybody. She was quite happy to rush headlong into spinsterhood while she tended to her mother and worked the small bookshop, and Lord Hollingsworth did not seem inclined to wed anytime soon having ensured no mother in her right mind would allow her daughter to consort with the likes of him after the whole debacle with his once intended, Miss Augusta Fleetwood, a few seasons ago. When Amy is convinced to visit London, little did the both of them realise how meddling some of his friends would be, and how adept at matchmaking the troublesome lot are. Soon, the delicate line between friendship and true love become harder to distinguish. Bit of a slow burn, sweet romance with MATURE content and a lot of humour.

[2021 WATTYS Winner] Giovanna joins a handsome nobleman to save a friend from an arranged marriage, but they discover a plot that may have victims of Venice's Black Death rising from their graves. * * * As a child, Giovanna Visconti learned the arts of bloodletting and elixir brewing from her father with an intent to simply support his work, not take it over. But when he falls ill from the pestilence that's been ravaging Venice for months, she reluctantly dons the beaked mask of the plague doctor. Vowing to protect her father however she can, Giovanna hides him away and sees her first patient--the handsome, but alarmingly feverish Matteo Barozzi. Although she successfully treats this son of a high-ranking official, in a careless moment Giovanna fails to properly conceal her identity. The only reason she isn't tossed into a dank jail cell is thanks to the young man's honor and feelings of indebtedness. The association between the charming aristocrat and the clever commoner should end there, but when Giovanna's dearest friend goes missing right after her betrothal to the Doge's son and amid strange reports of nighttime attacks, violent commotions, and inexplicable behaviors in the community, the only person Giovanna can turn to for help is Matteo. Together, they must carefully navigate Venice's increasingly deadly canals to uncover a sect peddling false cures and a smuggling plot involving the highest levels of government or risk the entire Republic falling victim to something even worse than the plague: the risen dead. Historical Fiction with Fantasy Elements THE BORGIAS X FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH * * * WATTYS 2021 winner for Historical Fiction and special HQ prize for "Catchiest Hook" AMBYS 2022 winner for Best Zombie story Content Warning for adult situations including assault and death.

Two years after Nathaniel Swift left for America to forget the woman he loved, he learns she's engaged to another man -- and returns to England to win her back. ***** Lord Nathaniel 'Nate' Swift is hopelessly in love with his best friend's younger sister, Charlotte Wilde. However, Nate's rakish ways, their ten-year age difference, and his best friend's objections soon make it very clear that a marriage could never take place. So Nate does the only thing he could: he travels to America and tries to forget about the woman he loves. But after two years in the New World, forgetting Charlotte proves to be impossible, and he's quickly pulled back to England after hearing of her engagement to another man. Determined to make up for past mistakes, Nate swears to stop the impending wedding and win back Charlotte's heart at any cost. But is he too late to show her the truth he's known all along -- that they're meant to be together, forever? [[Word count: 70,000-80,000 words]] Cover designed by Ashley Bandy