"So, you're a stripper?" "Yup." Molly is struggling to stay on her feet. After her mom leaves, she's left to take care of her little brother, and since they're on the verge of being homeless, she's forced to get a job outside of McDonald's. A strip club to be specific. Between shifts where she takes off her clothes for guys, she still has to go through high school, alone, and unhappy. But when a cute, and kinda dopey, guy who knows her from both of her lives seems interested, it just adds more to her heaping plate- a little too much for her to handle. Highest ranking: #9 in teen fiction.

Katie Holmes is a caffeine addict. Between college, and taking care of her brother, it's acceptable. Though, it doesn't help that the cafe down the street is full of handsome baristas, including one William Cerak in particular who has a mysterious scar on his wrist. Synopses will be the death of my publishing career.

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. *** Claire is lost and scared and utterly alone. Her family is in shambles after the death of her older sister Ina, and she's left to pick up the broken pieces of herself as her life heads into a downwards spiral of loneliness. Her heart leads her to 5:48, a little cafe by 33rd street, where she finds her new home. With a broken heart and a speech disability, Jasper has his heart and mouth sewn shut by the winding threads of hurt and fear. Painting and serving coffee in cafe 5:48 are one of his last few saving graces, but the smile he's been painting on himself will soon fade away as everything he's ever held dear slips away from his grasp. Ezra is out-of-sync and oddly cold by the way life has treated his young self. Abandoned by his single mother at an early age, he has grown up thinking that he is a mistake. His constant shaking hands are a reflection of what he often thinks of himself, but the delightful pastries he bakes for 5:48's customers are a reflection of what others see of him. Drew is a quirky rarity. He is a dash of loud, a pinch of exuberant, and a cup of eccentric - just like the meals he serves in the cafe as the only chef there. Behind his playful grins and outlandish clothes, however, are his jutting ribs, hollowed cheeks, and too-thin arms. Sometimes he cannot stomach being in his own skin as much as he cannot stomach food. This family has gone a long way from finding each other, and they'll be going a long way together too as reality comes catching up to them, threatening the newfound happiness they've found with each other. Secrets are revealed, pasts become presents, and lives are changed. Slowly but surely, they find their way back home. *** NOTE AS OF 08/2026: This is the old version of the story from 2012, posted in FULL. Another story that will be considered a reprise of this old version is in the works, and will be posted under the name "Hiraya House."

Emerson knows high school can be messy, but nothing could prepare her for Oliver Remmer's return. Dangerous, mysterious, and rumored to be a psychopath, he's the kind of boy everyone fears... and everyone watches. Emerson isn't everyone. She sees the layers beneath his intense exterior-the boy shaped by a troubled past, moments of tenderness hidden under bursts of anger, and a vulnerability most people would never notice. Between the gossip, the chaos, and the adrenaline-charged tension, Emerson can't help but be drawn in. Oliver is unpredictable, and being near him is thrilling-and maybe a little bit reckless. Standing her ground almost feels like a dare. But some loves are worth the risk. Some loves are easy. ••• "Write down one word that describes you." Oliver didn't hesitate. Psychopath. Everyone expects me to run. To stay away. To be careful. But I didn't. Because there's something behind the intensity, the walls, the mystery. Something only I get to see. Because sometimes the thrill of the unknown is exactly what your heart has been waiting for. Set in North Carolina, Open is a teen romance about taking risks, discovering who someone really is, and finding that love can feel mysterious, dangerous... and irresistible. C O V E R B Y @ZiaDavis