[WATTY'S 2024 SHORTLIST] When the Ravos Kingdom abducts the Nyrial Emperor's dragon, princess Aeryn Glastos must marry the demon prince planning her assassination to save her empire and end the war while guarding her heart and a dangerous secret. ------------ The twenty-two-year-old Draconian princess is starting her final year at Insignia Academy during the height of the war between the Draconians and demons. Aeryn's dream is to graduate as a bonded Champion in the Fire Force and fight in the war. The only problem is, she is the only Draconian to never receive a power by age twenty. Ashamed of his powerless daughter, the emperor of the Nyrial Empire proposes a marriage between Aeryn and the Ravos Kingdom's demon prince to end the war and get his dragon back. Shade Cross is ruthless, cunning, and dangerously powerful. Everything he touches dies, except Aeryn. He awakens something in her she has never felt before and she acquires not one, but two powers. She must navigate both nations built upon lies, betrayals, a forbidden alliance, and a deadly curse. When she discovers the truth about her empire, she must make a choice: protect the secrets and save her father, or side with the enemy. Aeryn needs to be careful because when it reigns, it pours, and she is caught right in the middle of a feuding storm between both nations.

Ever heard of reverse catfishing? A drunk night out with her housemates, leads Odessa to get dared to send Liam, the hottest guy on campus a kinky message but he also happens to be the popular playboy who does not know her name. A month later, he notices her on his newsfeed and finally sees her message. Not recalling her drunk night or dare, she believes someone is catfishing her when he responds and plays along till they become friends. A few months later the real Liam meets Odessa buts she pretends like she has never talked to him, reverse catfishing the campus playboy leads things to spiral out of control because he never gets catfished. Until he met a certain girl from Russia who has a big secret...spoiler! It's big!! Love and Heartbreak and unavoidable as Odessa & Liam begin to fake date to stop the school from hating her for being a catfish. Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/gigidedede/players-guide-to-catfishing-book/

The Blood Moon Festival is a deadly competition that selects the next generation of dragon riders. Most competitors spend their childhood honing their Divine - a rare, godlike power typically found in the ruling class. But Raven Black, a poor orphan with an unusually powerful Divine, spent her childhood breaking more laws than she can count. At sixteen, Raven's list of crimes is taller than she is, and she is paying the price for it. Caught and sentenced to death after a heist gone wrong, Raven figures her luck has finally run out. That is until a dragon rider sees potential in Raven's Divine and offers her a chance to avoid execution by competing in the Blood Moon Festival. With no other choice, Raven enters Skydescent, a castle where contestants train and form alliances. As the only ex-criminal, Raven figured she would be the most cutthroat, her competitors too worried about honor to get their hands dirty. But in Scadril, a powerful dragon is honor. 128 competitors enter the Blood Moon Festival, and each will do whatever it takes to come out on top.

Conjure a demon to catch a killer? That's Appalachian witch Ellie's last remaining hope to solve a two year old cold case that haunts her nightmares. She's still grieving her late fiancé, but the few Boone residents that don't think she killed him herself have given up on finding the murderer. Kazerin, on the other hand, is not prepared for what awaits him when he answers Ellie's request. He's used to bargaining for lust or power, not closure, and he's a little nervous about what feelings stir up the longer he's around Ellie. Their feelings only entangle further the longer that Kaz stays in town, pretending to be Ellie's new fiancé as a cover for investigating the murder. Follow Ellie and Kaz in an alternate history where Others-- demons, vampires, angels, shifters, and many more beings-- roam the earth, magic is alive and burning bright, and blood runs deeper than just our ancestry. BLOOD BARGAIN is Book #1 in the Appalachian Magic book series. WATTYS 2024 WINNER AMBYS 2024 GRAND FAVORITE 🎖️Featured | @Ambassadors | Para-Romantasy 🎖️Featured | @Paranormal | The Para-Romantasy Experience 🥇The Hot and Bothered Awards, Mythical Creatures Romance, 2024 🥇Our Wishing Sock Awards, Romance, 2024 🥇The Phoenix Awards, Mystery/Thriller, 2024 🥇 The Virtues Awards, Paranormal, 2024 🥇 Esthetique Community Fiction Awards, Paranormal/Action, 2024

Inspired by true events, 'The Blue Hour' is a story of political intrigue and doomed love set in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire during the summer of 1876. All Prince Hamid and the Belgian glove-maker, Flora Cordier, want is to pursue their forbidden love. But how can they amid backroom dealings, deadly conspiracies, and when an ominous prophecy seals Hamid's fate as the saviour of the Empire? ***** It's the summer of 1876, and rebellion, corruption, famine, and the impending threat of war plague the Ottoman Empire. As European powers circle like vultures for spoils, the century-old dynasty fears Allah has abandoned it. Presiding over the decline is the deranged Sultan Abdulaziz. A prophecy emerges that Hamid, second heir to the throne, will ascend to sultan-hood by summer's end. Fearing for his life and haunted by an inner darkness, he flees the palace. Meanwhile, Hamid's step-mother Peresto, and his enigmatic tutor, Reshid, conspire to fulfil the prophecy by betraying the Sultan and Hamid's step-brother, Crown Prince Murad. Intoxicated by love and freedom, Hamid pursues a secret affair with Flora Cordier, about to marry a man she does not love to escape her past. Over a few passionate summer months, they fight for their forbidden love to become the persons they dream of being, in defiance of society and of the powerful forces of history that conspire to drive them apart. Intimate and intensely atmospheric, 'The Blue Hour' encapsulates eternal themes of love, power, and the struggle for freedom. Blending the epic romance of 'Doctor Zhivago' with the rich historical detail and political intrigue of a Jason Goodwin novel, it is entertaining and vividly immersive, with deep emotional resonance. COMPLETED.

At age six, Pullman Grier was abducted by a monster. Held deep underground in the Ontario wilderness, he and four other children laboured for years, scrounging for the creature's food, until the day the impossible happened: Pull slew the monster. Three children crawled out of the cold earth and made the long, bleak trek back to civilization. Now an adult in frozen Winnipeg, Pull scrapes by on a minimum-wage job, a stomach destroyed by childhood malnutrition and a grim sense of humour. The only good thing in his life is an online group that uses image recognition to search for victims of human traffickers and return them home. Then, a local boy vanishes. Unable to find help, the boy's desperate father approaches Pull's group. Only Pull sees the calling card of the monster that took him sixteen years prior. The monster that is supposedly lying dead and buried in the Canadian wilderness. Knowing the thing that stole his childhood could still be abducting children and that more will be taken if he fails, Pull scours secrets buried in his old prison. Secrets that have lurked in the darkness just beyond the firelight for all of human history.

[WATTY'S 2024 SHORTLIST] Seventeen-year-old, popular Athlete, Ontario Hackman struggles with identity, and the fact he may be facing something deeper-rooted than the surface, and when fellow gay boy, Nathaniel Ericson comes along, out and about, with his rainbow bracelets, and his shameless crush on the Popular Athlete, and begins experiencing torment at the hands of his peers, Ontario realizes just how much easier it is to stay hidden. But everyone knows, What's done in the dark will always come to the light - In the gilded halls of his high school, seventeen-year-old Ontario Hackman is the epitome of perfection-a star athlete, a charismatic leader, and the heartthrob of every party. But beneath the surface of his flawless facade lies a turmoil of uncertainty and hidden desires. When Nathaniel Ericson, openly gay and unapologetically himself, arrives with rainbow bracelets and an unabashed crush on Ontario, it sets off a chain reaction that shatters the delicate balance of Ontario's carefully curated life. As Nathaniel faces relentless bullying at the hands of his peers, Ontario is forced to confront the shadowed corners of his own identity. The conflict between staying hidden in the comfort of his popularity and embracing his true self becomes a battleground for Ontario's soul. As their worlds collide and intertwine, Ontario and Nathaniel must navigate the tumultuous waters of love, acceptance, and self-discovery. [Word count: 45k) #1 in mentallyunstable out of 3.97k (July 4th, 2024, 10:39 AM)

[WATTYS 2024 SHORTLIST] Lucan Thurst, an alchemist shackled to his obsessions, seeks the unattainable: immortality. In the heart of Burnell Academy he toils away--pieces of himself lost until the line between human and other is blurred beyond recognition. Meanwhile, long-time friend and scientific rival, River Kim, believes death is not the body's end, and a heart stopped may yet beat again. Nearing the completion of his medical degree, River intends to prove immortality lies not in elixirs but in the resilience of flesh. As their friendship fractures around them, the two men must learn to work together in order to achieve their goal. Both keen on being the first to alter the course of medical science. Both utilizing one another's secrets to their own advantage. But, when those secrets are whispered into the dark, Lucan and River will learn a harrowing truth: it is the dark that always listens. For fans of dark academia: Frankenstein, The Secret History, The Haunting of Bly Manor