Eight years ago, Bailey ran from the small town that broke her heart. She left behind a love that once felt unbreakable, a boy who chose rumors over trust, and a town that turned its back on her when lies painted her as a sinner. Now she's back-pulled home by a will she never expected and a past she tried to forget. Ashton, the mayor's golden son, has moved on. He's successful. Respected. And engaged to the best friend who betrayed her. What no one knows is the secret Bailey carried with her when she left. A child. Ashton's child. In a town where gossip never dies and forgiveness comes at a cost, Bailey must face old wounds, buried truths, and the question she's been avoiding for years. Can first love survive betrayal... or is some damage permanent? Some love stories don't end...they wait.

QUEENS OF CHOAS SERIES PREQUEL!!! Once upon a time, a girl was sent away. No trial. No second chance. Just a story everyone believed because it was easier that way. Five years later, she comes back. This is the part where, in a Disney movie, she'd forgive everyone, hug her family, and learn the power of love. Instead, Gianna De Santis learns how to break bones, keep secrets, and survive rooms that were never meant to be safe. The family expects a villain. The kingdom expects obedience. And some Princes are not always charming . There are no fairy godmothers here. Only men with power, women with knives, and lies that refuse to stay buried. And while everyone's busy wondering if Gianna is still dangerous- They forget to ask the real question: What happens when the girl they tried to erase comes back sharper... and finally decides to stop being nice? Because this isn't a Disney movie. And the girl who survived the tower doesn't believe in happily ever after- She believes in consequences.

For Mariposa, recovery did not begin in the hospital room. It began in fragments, days that blurred together, pain that arrived late and never left. People told her she was lucky. People told her she would heal. People said words that sounded certain in ways she could not yet feel. But there were two presences that did not fade with time. They appeared first in official questions and follow-ups, then in unexpected coincidences that didn't feel entirely like coincidences at all. An officer with steady eyes who checked in when he didn't have to. A civilian who seemed to appear at the edges of her hardest days, as if he could sense when the weight of everything was becoming too much. Both had seen her at her most fragile moment. Both had decided, in some way, not to walk away. And she, barely still stitched together by uncertainty and memory gaps and a life that no longer fit the shape it once had. Did not know what it meant, now that she had become something they were both unwilling to let go of. People like to believe that after something breaks, the hardest part is putting it back together. She would learn that sometimes the harder part is deciding what shape you want to become when the pieces no longer fit the way they used to. And in the quiet spaces between recovery and relapse, between fear and forward motion, she would find herself standing at the center of something she never asked for: Two men who remembered her at her worst. And a life that would not let her forget it.

✨ ..... They buried her at the age of three. They cried over a tiny coffin, believing their princess had burned to ash. But Celestia Russo never died. Kidnapped, abandoned, and raised in an unforgiving orphanage, she grew into something dark and powerful, with blood on her knuckles and silence on her lips. She doesn't remember her real name. She doesn't remember the family who would kill and die for her. All she knows is how to survive. In Italy, a ruthless mafia family still mourns the daughter they lost - unaware that the girl they buried is alive... and standing closer to them than ever before. She was born a light. She was raised in darkness. And when the truth rises... blood will follow. ..... "They buried her. They mourned her. Now she's back - and the world will bleed for the truth." ..... ✨

for the ones who used to love me, the ones who broke my heart, and the one who loves me now. and for you. for all of you. ~ catarine hancock's debut poetry collection. covering topics like love, heartbreak, feminism, growth, and more, these select poems from her book will tug at both your heartstrings and your mind.

Chase Michaels became a doctor on a whim - nothing more, nothing less - and the same applied when it came to choosing where to work. He decided on the Junpei Institution based on a fleeting sense of interest after seeing their ad. Most of the things he's done in life were decided in a similar "spur of the moment" way, including going to medical school in the States. This time, due to his complete lack of research, Chase finds himself surrounded by violent, testosterone-driven young criminals, the absolute worst of the worst, who only have the facility standing between them and a dissolute future of felonies and anarchy. For a man whose adult life has been decidedly carefree, his time at Junpei threatens to overwhelm and drown him in a contracted five years of stress. His personal Hell reaches feverish heights after a certain student takes a vocal, damning interest in him, a man by the name of Luca Nixon. Tethered to the No Man's Land that is Junpei, Chase is securely kept within Luca's perplexing hands, tossed and turned about by his every whim. And though the doctor has his doubts that the "student" is who he says he is, Chase finds himself pulled in by a confusing sense of connection, unable to shut the other man out completely. Their budding relationship increasingly threatens to break down every coping mechanism he's carefully gathered and force him back into a reality that nearly destroyed him as a child. And Luca is all too happy to guide him, hand in hand, every step of the way back into the muck. |☆| Warning: This is a gay dark romance novel. There will be man on man action. And some violence, I guess. |☆|

Haphephobia: the fear of being touched. Blake, a second-year Psychology student, hadn't ever heard of such a phobia, until the day he was hired as a guide for Dean, the heir of a rich family. Even though Dean had the appearance and behaviour of a gentleman, he harboured an extremely dark and painful past that left him traumatized. After a rainy night on an empty road, a string of coincidences brings the two together. Blake makes it his goal to help Dean free himself from his past and bring back the happiness he deserves while Dean can't help but be won over by the charismatic guy, who is the only one not to see him as damaged or pitiful. However, when memories are revealed, and the feeling of friendship starts turning into something else, things complicate. Is it possible to let go of your past, to fight for an unlikely future?

"He fulfilled her deepest desires." On a journey to fulfill the desires spewing inside her, Abigail Bennett finds herself at an anonymous club that looks more like Greek Heaven than a shabby BDSM establishment. It is the perfect place to meet the Greek God that is Preston Trice. He's ruthless, robust, arrogant, and believes he can walk on water. Most of all he's willing to fulfill all of Abigail's fantasies as long as she gives him total control. Drawn to a life she only read about in books and fantasied about in her dreams, Abigail is taken on a sexual awakening that enlightens her entire being. → | completed | → | highest ranking #1 in general fiction | Copyright © 2018 by paudickson. All Rights Reserved. Collared is completed and available on AMAZON for purchase as an ebook or FREE with Kindle Unlimited. You can head over to my profile for the link.

Damien Stryker is a ruthless billionaire, but when Serena Mclane is forced to marry him, she hopes to find the mercy behind his cold eyes and strong hands. ****** Damien Stryker, a domineering billionaire, is someone you don't want to get close to. Unfortunately for Serena Mclane, she doesn't have much of a choice. Always at the mercy of her family's name and legacy, Serena has to do as her father says. So when her father forces her into an arranged marriage with the one and only Damien Stryker: the truth comes out. Secrets are unveiled, and love starts to bloom. [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]

Tobias and Talia are complete opposites, yet thrown together in an arranged marriage. Can they navigate married life in the wake of a terrible tragedy? ***** After being pressured into an arranged marriage to merge their families' companies, Talia and Tobias are stuck living together as husband and wife. Although they are both unhappy, neither tries to make the best of it. Tobias is too busy, and Talia is too distraught by the tragic death of her former fianceé, Jason. But as time goes by and they spend more time together, an undeniable attraction develops between the two. Despite this, Tobias can't seem to see past his jealousy of Jason and accept Talia - and Talia, plagued by guilt, is unwilling to let Jason go. Are the two heading for better - or are they headed for far worse? [[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]