WATTYS 2023 SHORTLIST | WATTYS 2023 FANS CHOICE AWARDS NOMINEE Initially looking for nothing more than a feelings-free summer fling before college, reckless Harris McCammon and anxious Seb Krause might have stumbled into more than they bargained for. --------------------------------- When a graduation party takes a risky turn, Harrison McCammon finds himself in the passenger seat of Sebastian Krause's truck. When the two virtual strangers agree to begin a friends with benefits kind of situation, neither expect anything more than maybe a fun situationship before they leave for college. But as their casual entanglement turns into something slightly more, the two of them are forced to push down their real thoughts on this non-relationship. Add in sketchy ex-boyfriends, concerned parents, and a small dash of existential dread, there's no such thing as no strings attached. TW: underaged substance abuse; mentions of/attempted SA; (fade to black/non-explicit) sex; homophobic figures/abandonment; hospitalisation ^that sounds like a lot, wow, i'm sorry, it's ... it's mainly fluff ---ONC Ambassadors Round 2 Pick, 2023---

Sam is a musician caught between his past and his present. Two years ago he lost the woman he loved but with a new project at work, and a reclusive writer to deal with, will he finally be able to put the ghost of the girl he loved to rest? Fate works in mysterious ways. Life is fleeting and seconds chances came around when you least expect it. Or at least that's what Sam's beginning to realise. #1 in love-lost on 26/09/21

𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐄 is pretty sure her new neighbor is a serial killer. What else could explain his antisocial behavior, creepily minimalistic apartment, and that inhumanly emotionless demeanor? Not to mention the bloody body parts that have started showing up. It's too bad she's not scared of him. Or his unveiled threats on her life. But an emotionally scarred gangster on the run -- riding the brink of insanity and followed by a host of trouble -- is a lot more than she could've bargained for. 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐎 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎 is beyond redemption. Capo of the Romano crime family, the sociopathic Prince of Chicago, hell wrapped in a designer suit. He exemplifies cold precision and perfect control. His job has always come easily to him for the very same reason that his name is feared widely: he's incapable of emotion. But something horrifying and sinister is beginning to happen to him. And it turns out that pesky slipping sanity is the least of his concerns. Because his new neighbor is a ray-of-sunshine wildcard dipped in beauty like he's never seen, and she won't leave him alone. Worse, he can't decide if he should kill or protect her. Massimo doesn't count on Vivienne being the first person to look at him like he's human. Or demons from his past coming back to haunt him. Much less a new threat looming on the horizon. Or love. Especially not that. ♛ Deviant Prince is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, dark mafia romance. WARNING: this story gets very dark. You must check the CW in the intro. [ Book 2 in the Romano Brotherhood Series | COMPLETED ✔ ]

~ 2021 WATTY'S SHORTLIST ~ "I-well, I..." I hesitated with my response. I wanted to let go. To not worry about what would happen in the future. I'd always loved staring into fires. It hypnotized me with its beauty and danger. It was so tantalizing to look at, but one little touch could destroy. I knew the heat between Tyler and I was similar. It started off small but it had only grown in the weeks he'd been here. We'd fed it unintentionally, and it had gone from an ember to a crackling flame. Every nerve in my body wanted to reach out and touch it, even though I knew I'd get burned. *************************************************** Pia Callahan always lived a carefree life with no worries. Her only responsibilities were to attend her college classes (sometimes) and keep herself fed (on ramen). When tragedy strikes, Pia is all of the sudden thrown into a whirlwind of change. She has to grow up and take on more responsibility than she could ever imagine: the custody of her best friend's son. Pia may not believe she is the best person for the job, but she is determined to do it. She'll trade in frat parties for PTA meetings and beer-bongs for apple juice. But what happens when the ruggedly hot motocross athlete Tyler Westwood shows up in her small town? Tyler lives on the fast track, never caring too much about consequences. You can't when your job is to do backflips through the air. Sometimes, you just have to send it and hope for the best. From the second Tyler meets Pia, he knows he wants her. But she is determined to ignore their bubbling chemistry. She has priorities now and a summer fling isn't one of them. Will Pia be able to stay away from Tyler? Or will she decide to hit the throttle? ***************************************************

They say revenge is best served cold... and she's about to serve the best platter yet. Savannah Bristow wasn't the reckless type, but after catching her boyfriend in bed with her cousin-then finding out he's marrying her-she refuses to show up to their wedding alone. She needs a charming, bright smile, clean cut man to make her family swoon and make her ex regret ever losing her. She matched with the perfect guy for the job, but that isn't who showed up to meet her. In his place was his best friend. Jaxon Cage. The tattooed, illegally handsome, sharp-tongued menace who tormented her through high school-the last person she ever wanted to be dating, fake or not. But Jaxon's not the same boy she remembers. Beneath the cocky smirk is a man carrying his own demons, and when he offers to show her how to bring a man to his knees, the lessons start to cross a line neither of them ever expected to. Now Jaxon can't tell where the act ends and the truth begins, and it doesn't take long for him to realize that she might be the one he'd ever fall to his knees for. --- Fake dating. Hate to love. One wedding, one bet, and one very bad idea. Show Me How is a steamy, addictive university romance about second chances, past scars, and the moment a good girl decides to be bad for all the right reasons. ----- HIGHEST RANKINGS #1 in Fake Dating of 5.82K stories #26 in Forced Proximity of 7.58K stories #4 in Black Women of 15.8K stories #77 in Romcom of 37.6K stories #32 in Hate to Love of 26.2K stories #1 in Dating App of 467 stories #1 in Novel November of 28 stories #1 in Tattoos of 9.2K stories

The real world skins you alive. It's a hazard of growing up in rural Suffolk... or possibly, it's a hazard of growing up. Either way, the Dorian Andrade and Isaiah Matalon who reunite at a party in Oxford have become equally disenchanted imitations of the boys who used to spend summers eating apples on the riverbank. A lot has changed in the six years since they saw each other. One thing is still the same: the longing for each other's company. But aren't the objects of our yearning so much easier to encounter in the imagination than when they're standing in front of us? GENRE: literary fiction, queer romance TROPES: second chance romance, friends to lovers, mutual pining COMP TITLES: A Little Life, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Call Me By Your Name, basically Wolfstar Muggle AU featured in Ambassador Reads featured in Ambassador Recommendations: Living Beyond Labels Dec 24 featured in Ambassadors: Slice of life featured in ContemporaryLit: Ambassadors' Picks featured in ContemporaryLit: LGBTQ+ Contemporary featured in ContemporaryLit: Literary Fiction featured in Chicklit: Ambassadors' Picks featured in lgbtq: ManxMan (NA/Adult Fiction) featured in FreeTheLGBT: Diverse Literature featured in WattpadLitFic: Novels featured in WattpadMulticultural: September 2023 Reads of the Month

[BXB] Archie Holland and Brooks Dawson decide to take a third and final shot at love. ☆☆☆ Brooks Dawson is falling apart. His mom's behavior is spiraling out of control, his best friend keeps getting him into trouble, and he's still in love with his ex-boyfriend, Archie. But when a party goes awry, Brooks finds himself in an unexpected reunion with Archie while hiding from the cops. Maybe it's the late-night adrenaline (or their lack of better judgement) but they decide to give loving each other one more chance. And if the third time really is the charm, maybe this will finally be the time that they get it right. Maybe. [ February. 2022. - September 2022. ]

''I get it,'' he said, ''the sun so loved the moon...'' His voice trailed off. We both knew the story. We knew it all too well. He was looking at me thoughtfully. I, however, turned away. ''What if,'' I began, ''the sun didn't want to die for the moon anymore?'' ~~~~~~~~ There's darkness in West Acres and, no matter how fast the light travels, it will always find that darkness has beaten it. There are decisions to make, battles to fight, wars to win, and Lou's not sure which side she's on. After all, if the darkness is already there, why not embrace it?

[COMPLETED] [2025 Wattys Honorable Mention] Danny's neighbor should be illegal. There's no way someone should be that attractive. They've lived next door to each other for over a year. As a skinny, clumsy, sweater-loving, Modern Poetry professor, Danny never believed someone like him could catch the eye of someone as perfect as Brett. But when Danny (accidentally) RSVPs to a destination wedding he never wanted to attend, he realizes he's in a bind-he needs a plus-one. And somehow, Brett becomes his unexpected solution. Brett's MMA career was on the brink of greatness until an injury stopped him cold. Now, trying to reclaim his spot in the octagon and live up to heavy expectations, the last thing Brett expected was to build a friendship with the neighbor he's been crushing on. However, Danny is undeniably gorgeous and way out of his league, so he needs to maintain realistic expectations. But, when Danny needs a date for a destination wedding, Brett's first instinct is to offer his help. Being his fake boyfriend would not be a hardship. A romantic beach, a fake relationship, and one bed... what could go wrong? Genre: Contemporary Romance / Fake Relationship / Friends to Love / HEA Guaranteed / Dual POV There will be mature scenes between two men that I will mark accordingly. These scenes are intended for mature audiences. This is a spin-off of the worlds of King of Hawkings/Death & Tequila and A New Song/Beats of the Heart, but it is a stand-alone novel, so reading the other novels is unnecessary. However, some old characters will appear, so you may enjoy it more with the full background.

{COMPLETED} Read the story that inspired Fated to the Vampire Prince! A dark witch teams up with a handsome vampire when her family's plan to unlock the pages of an ancient grimoire goes awry. Cora Kemp is one of the infamous Wicked Kemp Witches of Salem. Snarky, powerful, and utterly unapologetic. At twenty-two, Cora is tired of competing with her aunts and seeks to prove her place as a dark witch. As her grandmother lies dying in a witch infirmary, Cora's mother, Diana, takes control of the family and informs her sisters that their next spell will bring down the High Blood Coven, an order of vampires responsible for regulating demonic and occult activity on earth. The only problem? Cora's grandmother has sealed the Kemp Family Grimoire. Diana tasks Cora with unlocking the ancient book, but there's a catch. This task will bring Cora closer to darkness than ever before, because she must murder her grandfather with a box given to her by the Demon Prince of Hell. Before Cora can set her plan in motion, Aunt Chastity brings her favorite demon in on the deal, and his presence draws a very handsome member of the High Blood Coven. By the end of the night, the plot to unlock the grimoire's magick goes awry, and the lines between witches and vampires are blurred. Will Cora and Rami choose to fight for each other, or against each other?