|| WINNER AMBYS 2022 VAMPIRES CATEGORY || || FEATURED: FOODKART || When single mother and baker Autumn Milford is hired to cater a high-end party in the Berkshires, she discovers the "special ingredient" she is required to use isn't just the quirk of an eccentric millionaire ... ------------ Autumn Milford has been determined to rely on no one but herself after her parents kicked her out at seventeen. With the money she's due to earn from catering a high-end party in the Berkshires, she'll finally have enough to open up her own storefront bakery. But her employer is not just another eccentric millionaire and his guests aren't your average denizens of high society. Autumn is about to discover that creatures of the night are real ... and they're eating her cinnamon rolls. Corbin Westbrook would rather cut off his own head than host the once-a-decade gathering of the New England Knowing. There have been sightings of a Fallen in the area and it is Corbin's duty to ensure that the creature is disposed of. But to decline such an "honor" is ill-advised. Left with no choice but to throw the party, Corbin stays as far away from the event planning as possible ... until he meets the baker. Hold onto your cinnamon rolls, it's going to be a sweet ride! ------------ ONC 2022 Prompt 20. You manage a catering company. The latest request has a few ... interesting menu items. [Status: Complete] [Word Count: 28,000] [Content warning: PG-13 for mild swearing, violence, sensuality, and fade-to-black intimacy.] [ [ Highest rankings ] ] [#1 in Baking 2/26/22] [#1 in Singleparent 4/1/22] [#1 in Paranormalromance 4/14/22] [#8 in Paranormal 4/11/22] [#10 in ONC2022 4/14/22] [#11 in Supernatural 5/3/22] [#16 in Vampireromance 4/20/22] [#20 in Romance 4/11/22] Cover by @chessaandersen

To His Majesty, It is in the middle of the night and I keep tossing and turning. To relieve my mind and hopefully sleep, I am writing this to you. A letter I will hide, and never give to you. Our love has been FORBIDDEN from the beginning. They call it impossible but I see possibility. They named it a curse but I see a cure. I know I am not the best person to fall in love with, thus I am grateful for your love. You have been nothing but spectacular. Your kisses make my heart warm. Your favor flatters my heart. Your smile makes my day. You are everything I could ever wish for in a man. I know you are aware that I am a spy, a murderer, deceiver and a BIG LIAR; you can tell all this and that is why I'm conflicted. Remember the conversation we had on the rooftop in which you said, "I don't trust you, that much I know." You had me close to you. "But still if you were to attempt to dethrone me, kill me, leave me or steal from me a thousand times... I would spare your life a thousand times more." I asked why. And you answered, "Although I may hate you then, although I won't want to see you or have anything to do with you... I still won't be able to breathe without the knowledge of your existence." You pulled my hand to you heart, and whispered, "That's how much this heart beats for you, Empress." Your Majesty, you won't call out my bluff, interrogate or have me confess my sins. I don't know whether you choose to trust me blindly, or you are waiting for me to come out with the truth by myself or you secretly investigate me behind my back. At the end of it all, I'm a liar, Your Majesty. Whether you truly know this or not, I hope you will forgive and love me till the end. Yours sincerely, Empress of your heart ◦•●◉✿ ✿◉●•◦ ©Cover by @Ei_Daisuki

To the country she was born to, she is Princess Le-Anne, the king's illegitimate daughter hidden in the shadows. To the empire she is sold to, she is Lady Wei Li Lian, a traitorous spy sent to infiltrate an enemy throne. But who is she really? Gifted with rare beauty and keen intelligence, Li Lian once desired nothing more than a peaceful, ordinary life. She dreamed of traveling distant lands and living freely, far away from politics and power. That fragile dream shattered the moment her estranged royal father finally noticed her existence. To him, she was not a daughter, but a tool. She was given one mission. Enter the enemy empire of Nevoria. Seduce its emperor. Survive the harem. Become empress. And hand the empire to her homeland. From a young age, she trained relentlessly in etiquette, strategy, and deception. She learned how to smile while scheming, how to walk through danger without leaving a trace. She would maneuver through the Nevorian court, evade the vipers of the inner palace, send secret missives in the dead of night, and climb her way to the phoenix throne. It should have been simple. So why did no one warn her? The greatest threat was never the harem, but the emperor himself. Cold, inscrutable, and merciless, he ruled with an iron fist and revealed nothing of his thoughts. Every encounter between them felt like a silent confrontation, where one misstep could lead to quiet destruction. Those eyes of his held no warmth, only sharp calculation, as if he had already seen through every lie she told herself. _____________________________ Cover By Ei_Daisuki

My love, can you hear that? It is my heart that beats for you. The dew has long settled, where are you? My feet are sore, breasts heavy, belly sagging, and the time waits for no one. Will you come back? My ears hurt, a child wails, the crown pierces my skull, and my heart is lonely. Are you coming? I sit at the window, put on my make up, look at the mirror. Maybe you won't come. S.V

[COMPLETE ✓] Rumour has it that a new guy is joining our class this year. All the girls are going crazy, imagining all the case scenarios from cliché YA books: mysterious, rebel, bad boy, werewolf, fallen angel, even vampire! The worst part, I don't even think they have read the books; they only watched the films. However, it doesn't make much difference to me, it's not like he is going to see me. No one sees me. Oh but don't worry, I got used to this and I learnt to enjoy it. Believe me, being unseen has its perks. I'll show you. ⋙⋘ Illustrator: Sarah Bochaton

Sometimes <3 means like. Sometimes <3 means love. Like the emotions it represents, sometimes <3 gets complicated. Fifteen-year-old Summer Day has a plan for the perfect school vacation until her mom drops the M-bomb on it. She wants Summer to do something 'M-eaningful' this year. Could anything be more meaningful than gossiping with best friend Madison or hanging out with perfect boyfriend Brady? Summer skirts her mother's demands by promising to construct a website - then launches a secret blog instead. But when the most annoying boy in the universe keeps showing up in embarrassingly intimate situations, Brady grows jealous, and Summer turns to her blog readers for help. They devise a plan but everything backfires when the boy she thought she'd always hate reveals he knows the stories behind the stars, the lyrics to all of Summer's favorite songs and the s'mores-lined path that leads straight to her heart.

Self-proclaimed weirdo April Hale and the notorious troublemaker Ryder Black have been living side by side for more than ten years. Both never attempted to communicate with each other, but on the night Ryder Black is thrown out by his own father, he asks her a question that might change both of their lives: "March, will you let me stay in your room?" He even got her name wrong. - A coming of age story about loss, the wonders of falling in love, and ultimately, pretending to be normal. Get inside April's distorted and yet humorous perspective, and watch as her tale unfolds into a shocking finish. COVER BY @RIVIIX