[2024 WATTYS WINNER] A wall separates their worlds. But when love climbs over it... everything breaks. Grace had no idea what she would find on the other side of the wall when the gates opened. Even less so that they wouldn't let her brother cross. Why? A blue-eyed and fierce commander, named Heather, holds the answer. She closed the gates to him. What she didn't expect, though, was to feel drawn to her in ways that would turn her life upside down. Now, not only does she have to find her brother and find a way to sneak him over, but she must also navigate her complicated feelings for the woman responsible for their separation. 𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕: ⚡Romance reading list - @project_Athena ⚡ ★彡[ᴀᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ:]彡★ ⚡2025 Happiness Awards - Thrid place - LGBTQ+ Category⚡ ⚡2024 WATTYS WINNER⚡ ⚡2024 GemStone Book Awards - First Place - Sci-fi Category ⚡ ⚡2024 Zelicaon Awards - Second Place - LGBTQ+ Category ⚡ ⚡Adorn Award Book - Second Place - Romance Category⚡ ⚡The Crown Awards - Third Place - Adventure Category⚡ ⚡Qualified Queerverse activity #FreeTheWriting⚡

Callisto, a nymph carved from her tree, has a chance meeting with the moon goddess Artemis. With Callisto joining the ranks of the hunt, Artemis will learn more about humanity than she ever has before, and in doing so find a love for Callisto that turns her entire world upside down. Featuring retellings of Orion, Iphigenia, and more, this take on Artemis' mythology seeks to remove a long history of misogynistic undertones.

Highest Ranking: #1 in Humor [FEATURED, SEPT-OCT] An idealistic poet refuses to budge from the last parcel of land a developer needs to acquire in order to build a shopping mall. (Literary satire with pop culture references and environmental themes.) synopsis: The Myth of Wile E. is a riff on the modern obsession with fame and acclaim, as well as a mediation on the artist's place in the modern world, as seen through the eyes of a naive poet who is made simultaneously pathetic and heroic by the pursuit of a singular goal. In this novel, we meet an assortment of eccentric monomaniacs, from mushroom hunters in search of a legendary truffle, to birders pursuing a possibly-extinct bird, to competitive Duck Stamp artists, to "the World's Foremost Living Statue"...and even a very stubborn spider. Meanwhile, our narrator--a terrible, yet persistent, poet--battles a ruthless land developer who's determined to acquire the poet's humble property, in an escalating battle of wills that spirals out of control when the media gets involved. With these quirky events as a backdrop, we gradually learn of the misfortunes that befell each member of the poet's family in their various misguided quests for glory. We also learn why money makes the world go flat, why talent is a white elephant, and what it means for parents to love their children "to pieces." Some of my influences are Richard Brautigan (especially), Christopher Moore, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, and George Saunders, so if you like any of them, I hope you'll enjoy this, too.

When all hope is lost. When there's no-one else left to call... Dudley the Labrador is a cadaver dog specifically trained to sniff out human remains. His handler, Jennifer, suffers from an unusual phobia which has left her socially isolated. When together they uncover the corpse of a missing child, Jennifer begins to feel a deep, personal connection to the case. Dissatisfied by the direction of the official police investigation, she resolves to unravel the mystery herself. In doing so, she must first unravel herself... Readers' comments (final chapter): 'great book', 'superb' 'wonderful, incredible, fantastic!' 'wow, just wow', 'wonderfully satisfying', 'I love this book' Status: completed Genre: mystery/suspense Target readership: adults Narrative style: psychological depth, frequent twists, semi-literary Length: 75,000 words (approximately 300 standard novel pages) Author: Michael D Smith, Wattys award winner (The Painted Altar, 2020, literary fiction) Extract: It was then that the barking came, somewhere a hundred or so metres off to my right. Not his usual playful response, but instead a focused, constant noise - a quick-fire volley of woofs like rounds from a machine gun. His 'found something' bark. My heart quickened along with my step, the flashlight boring through the darkness. The moist barks of the trees deflected against my outstretched hand; pernicious branches whipped at my thighs, my chest, my face. "Stay there boy! You just stay right there." The barking was incessant, grew louder with each step. At last the thick maze of tree trunks relented and there he was, framed in the soft-edged beam of the torchlight in the centre of a small clearing. His tail swooshing manically, snout directed at the ground. Stooping myself down beside him, I slanted the flashlight to the earth, squinted in close examination. Nothing - just dirt, twigs and damp leaves. A shallow grave. The lifeless body of Meghan Shaw had been tossed into a shallow grave.

✨Wattys 2024 Winner: Most Engaging World✨ Witches and demons have hated each other for thousands of years. At least that's what the young witch, Meredith Huang, has been told all her life. She's never met a demon, but the stark difference between demoncraft and witchcraft is enough to prove that demons are vile creatures who can't be trusted. Then Meredith meets the dashing Onyx Castle, a woman who makes her heart flutter for the first time. There's just one tiny problem; Onyx is a demon. Unraveling their growing feelings for each other is the easy part. Together, they must overcome enemies who will do anything to tear them apart, figuratively and literally.

[Wattys 2022 Winner - Wildcard Category] Mereneith is a junior crystal keeper at the Temple of Ptah, the greatest of the temples located within the capital of Memphis. Bored with the mundane job growing and maintaining the Ak'heka crystals-the kingdom's prized energy source-Mereneith secretly pockets scrap pieces for her own research, her wild imagination conjuring endless possibilities for the Ak'heka crystal technology. When Mereneith's mentor is found dead in a temple well, leaving behind only a cryptic message, she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth behind his death. Accompanied by the fourth prince Kha, son of Pharaoh Sneferu and forerunner to inherit the throne of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mereneith's quest for justice lands her in the middle of a political storm, where one wrong move could spell the end of the empire - and her own life. ======== Heretic of the Nile is Book One of the Sands of Giza Trilogy, a speculative historical fiction series that explores the origin of the Great Pyramid of Giza 19.10.22 - Heretic of the Nile has been shortlisted for The Wattys 2022!

[2021 WATTYS Winner] Giovanna joins a handsome nobleman to save a friend from an arranged marriage, but they discover a plot that may have victims of Venice's Black Death rising from their graves. * * * As a child, Giovanna Visconti learned the arts of bloodletting and elixir brewing from her father with an intent to simply support his work, not take it over. But when he falls ill from the pestilence that's been ravaging Venice for months, she reluctantly dons the beaked mask of the plague doctor. Vowing to protect her father however she can, Giovanna hides him away and sees her first patient--the handsome, but alarmingly feverish Matteo Barozzi. Although she successfully treats this son of a high-ranking official, in a careless moment Giovanna fails to properly conceal her identity. The only reason she isn't tossed into a dank jail cell is thanks to the young man's honor and feelings of indebtedness. The association between the charming aristocrat and the clever commoner should end there, but when Giovanna's dearest friend goes missing right after her betrothal to the Doge's son and amid strange reports of nighttime attacks, violent commotions, and inexplicable behaviors in the community, the only person Giovanna can turn to for help is Matteo. Together, they must carefully navigate Venice's increasingly deadly canals to uncover a sect peddling false cures and a smuggling plot involving the highest levels of government or risk the entire Republic falling victim to something even worse than the plague: the risen dead. Historical Fiction with Fantasy Elements THE BORGIAS X FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH * * * WATTYS 2021 winner for Historical Fiction and special HQ prize for "Catchiest Hook" AMBYS 2022 winner for Best Zombie story Content Warning for adult situations including assault and death.

When aspiring writer Marcie is hired as the personal assistant to her all-time favorite author, Rosalind Lindbergh, she expects to be learning the ins and outs of the industry - not fending off red-hot feelings that aren't exactly "workplace appropriate." Season 1 of Romancing The Writer *** Willing to do anything to prove she has it together, unemployed writer/perpetual screw-up Marcella Harper somehow manages to land her second-place dream job: personal assistant to her personal hero, best-selling author Rosalind Lindbergh. Brutally dumped less than 24 hours after her first day, Marcie discovers that there may be no better distraction than her new job ... and new boss. After all, Marcie has had a crush on über-famous, ultra-hot Roz since high school. And - although she promised Marcie their relationship was strictly professional - Roz might just be returning her awkward, bumbling advances. When lines begin to blur and career prospects end up on the line, Marcie is sure of one thing: either she gives up on her dreams, or her dream woman. "You know, they have tutorials online for this kind of thing," I tell her. "You know, I hired a personal assistant for this kind of thing," she retorts. And then, we both stand there, awkwardly close. We watch the coffee sputter, then begin to pour. Neither of us utters a word. And, when it's done pouring, neither of us reach for it. "Are you ... not gonna take your coffee?" I finally ask. It's quiet. Tentative. "Oh. Right."

After a family disaster our protagonist, Lucy Snowe, travels to Villette where she teaches at an all girl's school and gets wrapped up in romance and adventures.

[COMPLETED] In late spring, a tornado sweeps through the idyllic mining town of Paradise, Texas. On the same day, eighteen-year-old Cindy Ackerman doesn't arrive home. As the mystery over her whereabouts deepens, Nick Brennan's curiosity for the girl from his school morphs into obsession. Why can't they find her? How far is Nick willing to go to help? What if each new clue points towards him? And if he knows more about the night Cindy never came home, why can't he remember? Everyone has a story. One has a secret. Copyright 2020 Sarah3534 Under edit 2023