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

***2016 WATTY AWARD WINNER - VORACIOUS READS*** WINNER OF THE FICTION AWARDS 2016 - HISTORICAL FICTION Against all odds, Libby Marks-Whelan is back at court - and no longer confined to the service corridors as a lady-in-waiting. With the start of the new Winter Season, however, the competition for a crown just got a lot fiercer. Now that there are two princes searching for wives, Libby struggles not just against the other debutantes but also against the monotony of court life in her new position. With the queen's disapproval aimed squarely in her direction, will she weather the storm to win her prince? ***Please note that this story is the sequel to The Season. Since there are many characters, backstories, and subplots that I won't be able to fully explain in the first few chapters, I strongly recommend you read The Season first!***

As Lord Adam Beresford left Ashwood, Hertfordshire for the training and education of a gentleman, he promised to return and marry his childhood best friend, and the only girl he could see himself marrying, Grace Denham. Neither of them foresaw that it would be twelve years until they would meet again. A lot has changed in that time, and their lives are vastly different. Adam became a gentleman, and everything that the heir to a Dukedom ought to be. Grace remained in Ashwood and became a housemaid to support her family. But as their lives intertwine once more, their childhood promise bubbles to the surface, throwing their lives, the lives of their families, and the village of Ashwood into chaos.

The words graceful, proper, ladylike and elegant could never be used to describe Perrie Beresford, the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ashwood. Perrie has always had a little too much fire in her to ever be classified as a beautiful young debutante, which is what she will inevitably become in her first Season. But romance, courting, and marriage are the last things on Perrie's mind. Especially when her nemesis, who was once an annoying classmate, suddenly appears in her home as her father's protégé. As Perrie is pushed towards the life of an adult by those around her, she can't help but be pulled into a game of wars within the walls of her very home. But Perrie is about to learn that the line between love and hate are very fine ... and perhaps might not even exist at all.

Katy Fairchild is an orphan and knows that no respectable man will marry her. But when a storm throws her into the arms of a mysterious stranger, will she fight society's opinion of her low status to pursue a forbidden romance? ***** At the age of nine, Katy Fairchild was brought to the small village of Wilshire to live with her distant relations, the Banes family. Brought up as a companion to their daughter, Eliza, Katy has lived a life according to her low rank and limited opportunities, and without complaint. But one day when she is nineteen, she gets caught in a dangerous storm with a handsome man who is unlike anyone she's met before. The encounter throws Katy into a world she never knew. For the first time, a better life may be just around the corner, but is she prepared to fight for it? [[word count: 70,000 - 80,000]] Cover designed by Cil Ojumo

Confident, independent, and beautiful, Lady Cecelia is the envy of every woman in London. Nothing ever breaks her composure, not even the handsome rake Major Godfrey being in love with her. Then her childhood sweetheart Sebastian Price returns to London, and everything falls apart. 21,000 words, completed.

Kit Kensington was a boy born with nothing. Olivia Pendleton was a girl born with everything. While Kit was fortunate enough to be taken in and raised by a loving family, revolutionary Olivia was cast out and left to fight for her beliefs alone. After meeting as children, Kit and Olivia are reunited as adults, and are thrust into the world of politics, social justice, and royalty. But along the way, both find in each other was the other was lacking, and a forbidden romance begins to bloom.

James Alcott has always had a talent for charming women right into his bed, a talent that he has enjoyed, along with his status of being heir to the Earldom of Ethridge. A chance encounter, however, with a woman who does not see worth in wealth of status will change his life forever. Alice Devereaux has been hiding for three years. She fought and survived the 1832 French Revolution and is hiding in England under a pseudonym. Her family and friends all died as criminals and if she ever returned to her native Paris then she would be slaughtered too. Her family's hatred of aristocracy has been instilled in her and she carries around the burden of both her and her people's failure to create equality. And then, as if God is testing her, she meets a man who holds all the qualities she was born to hate - wealth, status and arrogance. But that man is determined to succeed in winning her. So what is she to do? Succumb to his charms? Or hold true to the beliefs of her French comrades?

**Only the bonus chapter is paid, the rest of the story is (and will stay) free!!** Libby Marks-Whelan is decidedly not a lady. Kicked out of nearly every finishing school in the country, she's shocked when her demure, straight-laced cousin Ella invites her to the royal court as attendant during her debutante season. What Ella fails to realize, however, is that Libby's brand of mischief is exactly the kind of distraction Prince Andrew is looking for during his inaugural season as an eligible bachelor. Cover designed by Adam Budny