**ONC SHORTLIST 2024** Heems is an energy vampire, a parasite draining xeir hosts' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets handsome thief Shiro, the only person immune to Heems's parasitism. ---- Working as a doctor on dwarf planet Eris, Heems drains the energy of xeir unknowing hosts -- Eris's sickly hospital patients -- to survive. Heems's rare parasitic condition doesn't seem to have a cure until xe attempts to make a host out of an injured smuggler. Heems's touch has no draining effect on the handsome vagrant, Shiro, possibly the only person in the Solar System immune to Heems's parasitism. Galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems is lured by Shiro into a world of criminality and obsession, setting them both on a collision course with powerful organisations desperate to keep hidden Eris's biggest secret: that parasites can be hosts too. ☉ Energy vampirism ☉ LGBT+ romance ☉ Non-binary main character ☉ Cyberpunk ~~☉~~ ☆ No sci fi knowledge is needed to understand this story. Basically Eris is cold, has no atmosphere (literally and figuratively), and everyone's broke. I will put some sci fi comments inline for those who are interested, or if you don't understand something, just ask me. I'm happy to help! ☆ Notes on gender: Heems uses xe/xeir/xem pronouns. This book is written in first person so don't worry if you're new to these pronouns since there aren't so many instances of them being used in the book. Content Warning: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illnesses, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs.

[ COMPLETED ] Elijah West and Aliyah Pryce have something in common: They have both been hurt before. Aliyah Pryce plans weddings. That's one thing she was absolutely sure about doing. She loved the idea of love so when she plans an amazingly beautiful wedding, she expected for it to go to plan. Except, the groom just so happens to be her ex-highschool sweetheart and the bride happens to be her highschool best friend. An orthopedic surgeon, Elijah West has gone through his life at one hundred miles per hour, no breaks and no time-outs. He's also recovering from a break up with his long-time girlfriend, Gianna Williamson. That's how he ends up at the bar down the street from his apartment, a glass of whiskey in hand and a beautiful woman sat beside him. They're both, immediately, thrust into a world of confusing emotions and complicated feelings. But you know what Jordin Sparks says, One Step At A Time. COPYRIGHT © MIDNXGHTSUN 2020

Hamilton Academy of the Arts. The school Sydney Acosta moved to all the way from Toronto, Ontario in a barely known city. After the divorce between her mother and father, she's stuck by her mother's side, following her to another city in Canada. Her emotions are expressed through the one thing she loves doing: dancing. Lucas Cahill is a quiet, almost outcast in the school. His twin brother, Joseph, better known as Joey, is the best known guy in school. He's considered popular, cooler and better looking than his brother despite the two having the same face. At school, Joey doesn't acknowledge his brother, at home and in the past they are inseparable with the excuses from Joey tolling up over time. His isolation and other emotions are expressed through his art. The two seventeen year olds are connected in their different forms of art in a teenage story filled with drama, sarcasm and loads of creativity. "My drawings are like stick figures compared to anything you draw. You could draw the world's ugliest frog and it will still turn out beautiful. Lucas you're an amazing artist." "So are you." He said quietly, looking up at me with his soft, heartwarming eyes. "How?"I couldn't draw for shit. "Because you are a dancer. Dancing is an art. And you are an amazing dancer." Cover~ xThePineappleGirlx #15 Teen Fiction (11/12/16)

Book 2 of The Accident Series. Can be read as a stand-alone. cover by @/fleanr on instagram Have you ever accidentally swung a racquet straight through someone's fist? The fist of someone you have always felt something for even when you shouldn't have? Larine Olsen can relate. Larine is attempting to finish her final year of undergrad at Herringway University in peace when she takes the opportunity to do what she once told herself she wouldn't: play for her university's squash team. As Larine takes on squash on a whole new level, she finds herself spending more time with one man she's actively avoided for two years: Nikko Zhou, a smiley kinesiology student with a heart of gold.

Book 1 of The Accident Series. cover by @/fleanr on instagram [PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS THERE SHE GOES] Have you ever accidentally liked an Instagram photo of the captain of your university's varsity volleyball team? From three years ago? A guy you have never spoken to in your life? Jaiyesimi 'Jaime' Okusanya can relate. As a second-year biophysics student at Herringway university, Jaime is trying to do what every person at university is as well: survive. Especially as she tries to fulfill the requirements to obtain a research position at Dalhousie Laboratory. But when she accidentally likes Aven Montaque's Instagram picture after noticing him twice over a few days, she attempts to survive her fascination with the hot and cold fourth-year criminology student who's aspiring to go to law school. In a coming-of-age story of romance, friendships, drama and mottos, Jaime discovers that her priorities are about to shift. And Aven Montaque might become one of them.

Ruth Marjorie Semple has a past she wishes she could forget. Her life in the present isn't so terrible, and yet, she finds herself struggling to enjoy the person who loves her most and even refuses to take pride in the job she's excelling in. How can she appreciate any of that, when her mind is still stuck on a lover from her college days three years prior? Go back in time as Ruth tries to sort through her feelings, drawing her memory all the way back to the day she, quite literally, ran into Raffo Leflore in good ol' Oklahoma, and explore the life of an Afro-Indigenous woman. He doesn't talk about himself much, but he constantly seems to show up for her anyway and she wants to figure out why. What about the two of them is written in the stars? Or are they even written up there at all? And most of all, how do you know which stars are worth chasing? Follow along as Ruth learns to grapple with her sorrow, learns more about her Choctaw heritage, and experiences a love that maybe only happens once in a lifetime. *Characters are Black and/or Brown casting.* Cover designed by Ren T

"𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚..." | | MATURE CONTENT 18+ | | ''You want to test mе Grace?'' he mumbled, moving dangerously close to me. I can smell his cologne on my skin, making me hold my breath as I stare at his cold green eyes, crashing my soul in two. ''Try me and I'll gladly fuck you in front of your precious brother, right here, right now and I'll enjoy every fucking second of it'' "It's up to you Grace'' he drawled with an amused tone ''Are you sure you want to play this game with me?'' • • • Started: 22 July 2021 Finished: 5 October 2022

"𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜é 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬" | | MATURE CONTENT 18+ | | A contract between two powerful families. A girl that was promised to the first-born son of the King family. But she sets her eyes on 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧. And for her it felt like 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 to flirt with 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. • • •

Twenty year old Amara Preston is a student at Brookhills university. She's a top student and a great volleyball player, with a glorious career in front of her. But when she meets Ethan Crawford, captain of BHU's hockey team, everything changes. Will Amara dare break the promise she made to herself of not falling in love before graduation, or will she succumb to his playful charm? Or will the star of the Bears hockey manage to win it again? TW : sex, nudity, tw topics In writing: at least 20+ parts to come

He needs a girlfriend. She wants a boyfriend. The perfect match, right? He's a hockey boy. She hates hockey boys. Yet, they make the deal, to achieve their own goals. But what if something gets in the way of that? Something like love? - jasminslibrary