Kalen Mercer's Rules of Survival Rule #1: Don't get caught. Rule #2: Always get even. Rule #3: Trust Nobody. Survival isn't just a word to Ioney Mercer; it's a way of life. Having grown up in poverty in Chicago where some of the most ruthless gangs in the country preside, Ioney knows better than anyone what it takes to stay in the game. Or so she thought. When her older brother Kalen is brutally murdered and Ioney is left to take care of her younger siblings, she doesn't think things can get any worse. That is until in a cataclysmic turn of events, Ioney is thrown into a pit of danger her brother has left behind. Sinister people have suddenly developed an interest in her, she unwittingly falls into the middle of growing gang rivalries, and unfortunately manages to land herself under the scrutiny of Chicago Blood Kings Enforcer Justice Montoya. As things escalate rapidly, Ioney finds herself at a crossroads. Can she trust notoriously ruthless gangster Justice Montoya, or is he just another enemy she has to conquer in order to survive.

Alyxis Dasher had it all. Great friends, perfect grades, and an almost unparalleled talent for dance. A strategic planner, her future is set: graduate top of her class from the Hilliard Ballet Academy, and join a prestigious ballet company that tours the world and would ultimately gain her international stardom. But when the unthinkable happens, destroying Alysix's innocence, self esteem, and trust in everything around her, things change. Her whole world caves, leaving her bitter and broken. Unable to move past it, Alyxis ends up on a downwards spiral and her dreams become simply that: useless dreams. Worried about her wellbeing, her parents send her to live with her Aunt Sadie, hoping the change from her hectic city life will do her good. But will a new scenery and break from constant high expectations be enough to bring back the old Alyxis? Or will the weight of what she has suffered prove too much and swallow the last fractured pieces of her soul, leaving nothing but emptiness and resentment behind? Axl Swanson is as cynical as they come thanks to years of disappointment from a consistently absent father and countless betrayals by a selfish mother. End result: a mental armour so thick he considers himself immune to people's empty promises, lies, and deceitful behaviour. Such a blatantly flippant attitude ensures that he has no real friends, something that Suits Axl just fine as it means nobody can get close enough to hurt him. Determined to remain untouchable, he does his best to ignore the New York transfer student Alyxis Dasher whose haunted eyes and skittish tendencies pique his curiosity. But when a unexpected encounter with Alyxis in the school gym leads Axl to believe she is facing some pretty big demons of her own, things change. He has a decision to make. Will he break his well honed anti social habits to get closer to the one person who could potentially end up hurting him the most? Or will seventeen years of injustices and the fear they've i

[Status: Completed - 2009] This book should be read with the knowledge that I've grown as a writer and person in the time since then. - Out of a stadium filled with 50,000 screaming girls why did he have to single out the one person that really couldn't care less. Corey Santaski, the millionaire goregous popstar, chooses Pamela Adams and her sister Jasmine to go backstage after his concert... Jase is about to hyperventilate... Pam on the other hand, is more worried that she left her hair straightner on at home, than the fact that she is living every girls dream.

It was hard for Charlotte to let go of her best friend, Dalton, the boy she fell in love since she was nine years old, to make way for her sister, Caroline, who happens to be in love with him too. It was hard for her but in order to make someone happy, even if it meant sacrificing her own, she was willing to let go. It all happened around her senior year, where she let go the only thing that mattered to her and after graduation, she moved away with no intention of going back. Four years later, on her college graduation day, her parents asked rather demanded her to come home with a reason that shocked her senseless.

Everything happens for a reason. It’s what Ioney Mercer tells herself whenever she pauses to think about the circumstances of her life. Why did her older brother die? Why did her mother leave her with five brothers and sisters to raise? Why did the only person she’d ever fallen in love with have to go? Because everything happens for a reason. Saying it was one thing. Believing it was another. And recently, the mantra had started sounding more like an annoying show tune that could easily be tuned out rather than the unfailing piece of truth she needed it to be. But then, one silly little saying could only get you so far when your life was on the line yet again. More importantly, it meant absolutely nothing when your family was being targeted as well. Things are starting to shake up in Chicago. Callahan Cordero has been released from prison. His first order of business: Revenge on the person responsible for putting him there. With nowhere to run or hide, Ioney has no choice but to engage the enemy head on. The only question left to ask is whether she will stand alone, or if help will come from the most unlikely of places.