Octavia has only ever known pain. Locked away in her parents' basement her whole life, fed scraps, and forced to endure constant physical abuse, survival was her only goal. But when she's thrown into a secret boarding school and crosses paths with the mysterious Barlow brothers, Octavia's world begins to shift. Her curiosity might finally bring her freedom... or cost her far more than heartbreak. ⚠️ Trigger warning: This story contains themes of abuse, self-harm, and suicide.

Ever so slowly, I lowered my mouth to the lime. As I did so, I felt the brush of her lips on mine. Just a touch. Just a breath, and it ignited fire in my veins. And at that moment, I forgot a lot. My heart stopped, my breathing quit, my thoughts ceased. But I knew one thing, and it was screaming in the hollows of my brain. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. - an academic rivals to lovers romance - Emilia Laurent, top of her class. Augustus Casen, top of his class. What happens when the school sends both to a competition in California? One month. One competition. One hotel room. Two rivals. What could go wrong? - book one in the erudite trilogy - rankings: #1 in compete (sep 12 2023) #1 in competition (oct 16 2023) #1 in academicrivalstolovers (nov 28 2023) #1 in rivalstolovers (jul 27 2024)

✧ ೃ༄*ੈ✩ 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. ..⃗. ☁️ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "Why are you always looking down? My face is right up here." He gently held my chin in between his fingers, tilting my head up so that our eyes could lock in on each other. "You're so pretty, you make nervous," I quietly confessed. A blush made its way on both of our faces, making laughter fly past my lips. He's so cute. He shook his head and brought the blunt in his hand to his lips, taking a long drag. I curiously looked up at him through my lashes, secretly wanting to try it. As if he knew what was going through my mind, he gripped my face in his hand and bent down, pulling us closer together. My heart thumped against my chest, begging to be let free. "Uh-" He cut me off by placing his lips on mine, making my eyes widen when I felt him allowing the smoke to blow into my mouth. "Inhale," he instructed. ೃ⁀➷ 𝐀 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲; 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫. ..⃗. ☁️ 𝐀 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

"You are mine!" He roars. "I will do whatever it takes to make you know that. Whether it means I lock you up in a prison and throw away the key." Footsteps come rushing into the dining room, and I turn to see multiple men--guards I suppose, flanking one another. Each of their hands rest on things within their jackets. Which i can only guess are guns. What else would they be? He waves them off and stalks towards me, standing behind my chair. I try to turn my head to look behind me, at him, but his hands move to the sides of my face, stopping me. "I can give you the world Mia. I am no fool. I know that love takes time, and I will give you as much as it takes. But you are mine." He says so calmly. -------------------------- When Mia Jones, a College student from Australia with a mysterious past is offered the opportunity to work as a translator for a man she had never heard of in New York City, she had assumed it would be a normal job, little did she know it would be the end of her freedom. Matteo Giovanni is the most feared Mafia leader in New York, and the whole country, heir to the Italian Mafia, he is used to getting what he wants. And when he sees Mia walk into his office for a job interview, he knows he wants her. She is his light, and he is her darkness. Will Mia ever be able to escape Matteo and the Mafia, or will she fall in love before she can stop herself? WARNING: Within this story there is coarse language, themes and violence. ______________________ #1 in Romance 29/10/2020 ----------------------------------- Began: 21/08/2020 Completed: 13/01/2021

Avery's senior year is turned upside down when a kiss with her older brothers' best friend ignites a forbidden relationship tangled in danger, heartbreak, and family secrets that could destroy everything. *** "Aiden..." I shake my head, eyes fixed anywhere but the gorgeous man next to me. His hand grips my chin tightly, just enough to make me avert my eyes to his. "You know you want this as much as I fucking do. I want you to be mine. I want to be the one to hold you and kiss you the one you go to whenever you're happy or fucking sad. But let it be me, let me fucking show you that it should be me." He glares, jaw tensing. ...... ©hessaherophinelove

Kingston Ash has been obsessed with Sienna Abelli for over a decade. Ever since he laid his eyes on her when they were 5, the sociopath has known he wanted Sienna to be his. Leaving her notes, flowers, and sneaking into her room repeatedly for the past 17 years has caused Sienna to hate him. Kingston comes from an elite mafia family. He is known for his sociopathic ways, resulting in him being one of the most feared and cruel men alive. When his family wants him to settle down and marry somebody, he knows the only hand he will accept is Siennas. Forced against her will, Sienna's family hands her over to Kingston in an agreement for money. After he agrees to fight to the death for her hand in marriage, Sienna soon realizes just how much Kingston is willing to do for her. Once Kingston gets his hands on his precious Sienna, he knows he will never let her go.

𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ★ 𝑩𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑰𝑰 "𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆." -𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎 ★𝑼𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚 ★