~ 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? ***************************************************

⚠️warning⚠️ this book contains mature content and abuse. This Is the first warning and will not be the last. Andrei Volkov is the head of the Russian Mafia. He's ruthless, dangerous, rich and has every woman on their knees begging for him to take them. He's never loved anyone, since his past has left him unable to do so. Skylar Jones; homeless and without any family. She's the kindest and the most selfless person you will ever meet even without money. One day, Skylar meets two men that work for the Russian Mafia. They offer her job that she has a tough time refusing even with the strings attached. What will poor innocent Skylar do when she meets the Andrei? Will she fall madly in love like the rest or simply think him as another man? WARNING: THIS STORY MAY CONTAIN TRIGGER STUFF TO SOME PEOPLE. IF YOU ARE EASILY UPSET BY THE THOUGHT OF RAPE OR ABUSE, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

Briar has to move to a new place with her mother after she has found a new job. One that can benefit both of them. She now has to go to a new school which she is not looking forward to and meets a boy with who she wants to try new things. But with her mother's past experience with her father, is she able to leave the past in the past? -------- "I'm going to shower," I say and get up. I hear him shuffle on the floor before his voice comes from right behind me. "I'm coming too." He says. I turn around and look at him. "What? No, you shower after me." I say and enter the bathroom. He's right behind me so I playfully push him away. Which did nothing considering his muscles. "Or....we could shower together." He suggests and shoves us both inside, locking the door behind us. -------- Alec Hart is the quiet type. He doesn't talk to anyone who he thinks isn't worth talking to besides his best friend. He's never really had an intimate relationship and is not looking for one, that is until she came. He's taken an interest in her and is willing to wait for an eternity to ensure her happiness.

Cordelia, who was already beyond the marriageable age, quickly agreed upon the arrival of a marriage proposal from one of the most influential and well-known noblemen. She wedded Leon expecting a pleasant married life, only to be greeted with cracks and mishaps. A beautiful woman who is only a noble by name And a dashing man who is a noble with power. Not long after their wedding, her bewitching yet indifferent and cold husband gave her a contract and declared an agreement. "We are forbidden from meddling with each other's affairs. Do not expect love in this marriage." "And within two years, if you fail to birth an heir, we will have a divorce." Each word was vividly engraved in her mind as she obediently did as she was told, fulfilling her duties as his wife throughout the course of their marriage. However, as the said year approaches without an heir, Cordelia slowly prepared herself to sign the divorce papers and leave. But why is it that Leon, who had treated her badly from the very beginning, was suddenly desperate to make her stay?

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁? Banks Woods has met a lot of people in her life. People who traumatized her. People who abused her. People who left and gave up on her. She has many titles ranging from The ugly child, The attention-seeker, The broken-hearted, The controlling one, The bitch. Lance Astor was probably someone whom she never expected to meet. In exchange for breaking his nose, he gives her a new title that sticks with her until her mind starts spinning. Pretty. Why does he call her pretty even though she doesn't feel like it? He calls her beautiful even though she feels far from it. Banks wants nothing to do with Lance because of how opposite they are, but the more she tries resisting him, the more he gets under her skin. The more she tries ignoring her feelings, the more he makes her feel. The more she tries hiding, the more he makes her feel alive.

DARK ROMANCE! My back hit the wall, I was trembling in fear because of his close proximity. He was so angry that his veins were popping out from his neck, his jaw was clenched. I didn't dare to look at his eyes. "look at me!" I didn't muster the courage to look at his evil eyes so i kept my head low, squeezing myself in the wall. His hot and raged breath was fanning my face. In an instance he moved closer flushing his body against mine. A whimper left my mouth and I put my hands on his chest to create some distance but he didn't even budge. Chloe:M-mov-e away.. The next moment he punched the wall so hard just right next to my head, and I close my eyes in fear as new set of tears welled up in my eyes. The next thing he held my jaw with his one hand and jerked my face up and... ⚠️ 18+

╰┈➤ 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌. ── ☾ 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒍 sees others as an interference in his life, making his interest in having any social interaction with humans at the bottom of his schedule. Until he met Carson, that is. Killian never planned to be involved with someone like Carson. He hates everything about her, and more importantly, he hates that she gets in the way of his plans. But...maybe a change of plans isn't so bad? ☼ 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒓 thinks that getting into Columbia University was nothing short of a miracle for her. But she's survived for three years just fine. Now in her senior year, she's paired up for an assignment with a man who's the exact opposite of her. Cold, uninterested, and a stickler for his own rules. Carson is used to capturing the hearts of whomever she meets, but her partner becomes a new challenge that will be hard to beat. ── The Sun and Moon are planets that are never supposed to meet. Complete opposites, and yet, the Sun tends to pull the Moon along with its every move. Now that the Sun has seen that the Moon can be brighter with just a little bit of encouragement, the Sun takes on the quest of making the Moon its friend. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬: Strong Language, Explicit Mature/Sexual Content, Sexual Assault, Self-Harm, and Mild Violence.

The Falling Effect: When you do something that causes something else to happen (i.e. you fall down, you scrape your knee. Or you have sex, you get pregnant) Greyson Rhodes: a 27 year old tall, muscular, hot but arrogant, NHL hockey player, rich of course, and total fuck boy. Evelyn Lynch: a 5 foot 6 beautiful brunette, extrovert, book lover, 26 year old, owner of a bakery... and carrying NHL hockey player Greyson Rhode's baby? ~ What happens when a drunken one-night stand causes a lifelong accident? Greyson Rhodes First comes love, then comes marriages, then comes a baby in a baby carriage. That's how it goes right? Wrong. Notorious f-boy and pro hockey player Greyson Rhodes, doesn't fall in love, he doesn't get married, and he definitely does not have a baby in a baby carriage, or so he thought. Evelyn Lynch Evelyn wasn't the type of girl for one-night stands, but after a bad break up 4 months ago, that all changed. Living with Florida's most known playboy hockey player is one thing, falling in love with him, even though your father forbids it, is another... (BOOK 1 IN THE 'MIAMI MAVERICK SERIES') started: 7-23-22 completed: 10-19-22 edited: { #66 - baby } ~ 10/18/22 { #8 - onenightstand } ~ 10/18/22 { #1 - nhl } ~ 11/10/22 { #28 - pregnancy } ~ 10/18/22 { #57 - babydaddy } ~ 10/18/22 { #5 - hockey } ~ 10/18/22 { #1- nhlhockey } ~ 10/18/22 { #2 - hockeyplayer } ~ 11/19/22 { #17 - mature } ~ 1/6/23 { #1 - truelove} ~ 1/26/23

"Your really are the biggest pain in my ass." "I'm glad you've given me such an amazing roll being down that end. Wouldn't want to be a pain in your feet." Elena and her brothers best friend, Charlie, have never gotten along and always bicker and fight. But Elena's brother, Enzo, surprises them both with leaving them for a month and Charlie is put to take care of Elena. How are these two stubborn hockey captains ever going to get along and get over this petty little hatred? Read for more 🥰 I LOVE YOU ALL

✥ The Mob Boss & His Therapist ✥ [part one/ unedited] BEING EDITED FOR FURTHER PUBLISHING Rafael Rossi, a glass like fragile Italian mob boss, who has sworn to never let anyone on his demons that have only resulted him post traumatic stress disorder. He had one promise, to make those bleed who have made him bleed and his biggest motive being to never let anyone on the pain he has been carrying in his heart that has been bleeding for stitches till this day. He had grown out of love with the concept of love which had him only suffer. Little did the heartless mob boss know he would find someone who knew him more than he knew himself. Ravenna Romano, a kind & loving therapist, who had made a mission to help others escape their pain and make them fall in love with the idea of love once again. Losing her baby brother, Beau, at a young age had given her the curse of a bleeding heart which after a long toll, she learned pain can be only subsided by love. She knew darkness can only be taken away by the light of hope. Hope of a new fresh start. But she did not know that she would be helping the heartless Italian realise that his heart was waiting to be healed. Little did she know that she was going to be the therapist of Rafael Rossi. But would she be able to be his remedy when she choose the sweetest words to heal his brittle heart when he choose the most poisonous actions to break it. ﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎﹎ "Mr.Rossi I really need you to open up to me for our sessions to work." She said in her sweet innocent voice as he felt himself rage at her pointless efforts on healing something that doesn't exist. "How about you start by opening up to me?" He asked while his eyes traveled down her ripe body. "Mr.Rossi, I don't understand." The caring heart of the therapist spoke as she felt his greedy gaze upon her untouched shrine . "Open up your legs Ms.Romano."