When Alistair Melek gave his life to the sea, a various degree of things changed. For starters, his love for bloodshed was exemplified. Bolder. He was drawn to the clash of a sword, blood spiling below to floorboards, like a moth drawn to a flame. And this love was damned to spread through his crew as some treacherous disease, claiming any and all who joined. But he knew this was the price he'd pay. The price for the sea itself. So when his crew completes another standard loot and pillage from a merchant ship, he allows his men a bit of fun. He liked to give them an audience, rounding up those who didn't fall victim to the blade during battle, and forcing them to beg for their lives. To prove how much they really wanted to live. Alistair had ruled the sea for some years now. Killed thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Destroyed hundreds, maybe thousands of vessels. And yet, each feeble human was all the same. There was not one man he threatened that didn't beg for their lives with all they had in them when faced with the wrong end of the sword. Each feeble human was always the same. Or so he thought. And yet, he also thought that this would be one standard job. A treat for his men after a night of good work. But this particular survivor, the one with long white hair and dead looking eyes... He wasn't a merchant. He couldn't have been. More important, there was no hesitancy when Alistair asked the fairly built man whether he wanted to live, and the man replied with a simple no.

I thought I knew who I was. Gabriel Alvarez. Twenty. Son of a poor family in Albuquerque. Big brother. Protector. Future cop. My life had been built on long nights of work, endless study, and the unshakable promise that one day I'd wear a badge strong enough to keep my family safe. But then the threads started unraveling. Whispers of a world I wasn't meant to see. Names spoken like curses. The Caruso family. The Sicilian Mafia. Everyone in the city knew they ruled from the shadows. What no one knew, what I could never have imagined, was that I carry their blood. I am the brother they lost fifteen years ago. Every step I take now feels like a betrayal. To the family who raised me, who trust me with their lives. To myself, who swore I would fight men like the Carusos. And when the moment comes, when the truth tears everything apart, I don't know which side I'll stand on. The law I've devoted my life to... or the brothers who claim me as their own?

Boys don't have eating disorders. Those are only for vain, teenage girls. Not for Alex. Alex Rivera doesn't know why he started counting calories or why he's addicted to stepping on the scale. He just knows it's what he needs to do. His parents don't understand, and neither does his twin brother - the hotshot player of the school. His little sister doesn't get it. His fucking pet lizard doesn't get it. None of them understand how, a family so happy and so healthy, could've festered this disorder. A disorder that's taken everything from Alex. As the heartbreaking secrets unfold and Alex's disorder is brought under the microscope, the Riveras must find a way to get by, even through the impossibility of Alex's eating disorder, a molestation charge, and the realization that pain isn't always clear-cut and obvious. Told through multiple point of views, The Way We Get By shines a light on the often ignored side of mental health and eating disorders, and it shows that with a little love, humor, and sacrifice, absolutely anything is possible. - - Highest Ranks: |#1| - ednos |#1| - disorder |#1| - mentalillness |#2| - eating |#3| - recovery

They were supposed to be enemies. Instead, they burned down two empires just to keep each other. Theo Lombardi grew up in the shadow of a crime family that never wanted him-too soft, too sensitive, too breakable to ever fit their world. When he finally overhears the truth of what they think of him, he runs...and straight into the arms of Rhydian Keres, the dangerous heir of an even deadlier mafia line. Rhydian should hand Theo over. He should walk away. He should follow the rules he was raised to obey. Instead, he chooses him. When both their families declare war, Theo and Rhydian vanish into the night with only one goal: stay alive long enough to build a life the world never intended for them. Joined by Theo's fiercely loyal brother and Rhydian's hidden allies, they create a small, messy, beautiful family of their own-one worth fighting for. But the past has sharp teeth. Old loyalties bleed. And love this powerful refuses to stay hidden. A dark, romantic, and emotionally gripping mafia story about found family, forbidden love, and the courage to create your own destiny-even when it means defying blood, legacy, and fate itself.

Luca Hale has spent his entire life pretending. Pretending he enjoys the parties. Pretending he doesn't care what people think. Pretending he isn't breaking under the weight of being exactly who everyone needs him to be. At nineteen-almost twenty-Luca is dragged from London into the dangerous, glittering world of the Italian mafia when his single mother marries Matteo De Santis, one of the most powerful men in Italy. Overnight, Luca gains five stepbrothers who don't trust him, an extended family who despises him, and a reputation he never asked for. Behind the bad-boy persona and sharp smile lies a secret identity, a hidden underground group fighting quietly for people like him. No one knows who he really is-until he falls for the one person his new family has forbidden him from ever touching. Adrian Russo was supposed to be an enemy. Instead, he becomes Luca's freedom. Green Eyes, Black Suits is a story about chosen family, queer love, forgiveness, and the courage it takes to stop performing happiness-and start living it.

Marcello was raised with negligence disappointment and abuse. He was a kind child that wanted nothing but to be loved and adored by his mother. Unfortunately she didn't feel the same way and did nothing but reject and hurt him. He soon finds out that she wasn't who he thought she was after her death and she lied about a lot of things. One being that he wasn't an only child. #Foundfamily #Older siblings #Friendships.

Shiloh spent his entire life focused on making his parents proud. He never took the time to discover himself. When he is assigned to protect two famous men who were making extreme progress in the sports medicine industry, they show him a world he never would have found. He discovers many things about himself in the process. Malin and Rhett were attached to the hip since their freshman year of high school. Playing football together all four years, then going to play for the same college, to playing on the same NFL team. All is going amazing until Malin is injured, but the two make the best of it as they work towards designing and creating better equipment for athletes with the goal to decrease sports-related injuries. When they begin exposing other sports companies, the death threats begin. Rhett talks Malin into getting a bodyguard only for them to be assigned a small, petite man who acts more like a robot than the young adult he is. The two refuse to change their lifestyle, bringing Shiloh with them in their normal routine. But everything changes when Shiloh steps in front of a bullet, saving Malin from a fatal injury. Join these three as Shiloh discovers not only himself, but a completely new lifestyle, and the two dominants fight against their instincts to take care of the exhausted man. What will Shiloh discover? How will he respond to the lifestyle of the two men?

Knox has spent years perfecting the art of not giving a damn. He has spent his whole life keeping people at arm's length, working late shifts, smoking through the exhaustion, and surviving each day with the numb detachment of someone who learned too young that caring only leads to pain. The art club he joins for extra credit is supposed to be just another chore. Instead, he founds a new obsession and four artist that, turns out, aren't as bad as he thought. Knox doesn't want redemption. He doesn't believe in healing arcs or clean endings. But as the weight of his past presses closer, and the present demands choices he can no longer postpone, he's forced to confront a question he has never allowed himself to ask: What happens when running is no longer enough?

Dante Harris was running. Running from an abusive past. Running from a messy break up. Running from the life he left in the small city of Round Rock Texas. Somehow this small town boy has found himself in the busy streets of New York City, and in the arms of one Samuel Deminico (not intentionally of course). Sammy's managed to survive in the Big Apple all his life. The city has brought him major once in a lifetime opportunities, such as opening up his dream boxing gym. He never thought he'd need to use his self defense moves outside of the ring... but one particular crackhead proved him wrong the night of April 15th. That was when Sammy met Dante. •• "You ever get punched in the face by a crackhead?" "No, I can't say that I have." "Then don't speak on it like you've been punched in the face by a crackhead." *this book is unedited

After being left for dead in the woods, Viper never thought he would find his happily ever after, not since the brutal murder of his best friend- his twin sister. Once he became the Capo of the most influential mafia, The Wolfe Pack, life became nothing more than blood, sweat, and tears. When he's sent on an assignment to gather intel on an illegal trafficking ring in his city, he wasn't prepared for his heart to start beating once again in his stone cold chest after laying his eyes on the blond Adonis beating his opponent to a bloody pulp in the fighting cage. After being orphaned at the age of 13, Dante was shipped off to a group home where he was raised till he chaptered out of the foster system. Dante was on a scholarship at the local university where he was approached by a scout wanting him to join his program, and he hopped at the chance doing the thing one he loved the most, wrestling. But after an incident that left him fighting for his life, he found himself forced into a life of servitude. Five years later, he's a shell of his old self, going through the motions and just trying to survive. Then one night, he's thrown into a room with a male with obsidian eyes who would change his life forever. But would it be for the better or worse? ___________________________ ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This book is DARK, containing triggering themes and is NOT suitable for minors. This book is also about a relationship between two adult men. If that ain't your cup of tea then you better back out now because this is not the book for you. ----------------------