COMPLETED. "Look, if you're-" "Shut up." I was taken back at the sudden manner in which he spoke to me. "Let's get something straight Miss Greene, I don't appreciate people talking back at me. And quite frankly, you're crossing your limit with me and my patience with you. So from now on, as long as you're with me you'll do as I say. Understood?" _____________________________________________ Mystery. Romance. Deception. You know what they say, hate is a strong emotion- so is love. You can only hate someone you place in high esteem since you care about what they think. When Juliet Greene secures an internship position at the Empire Heights hotel, and things seem to be finally going her way, a brief encounter causes her life to turn upside down. Getting in the way of the hostile, unfeeling, yet wickedly magnetic billionaire Adrian Vandermir, Julie suddenly gets thrown into a situation that's too much for her to handle. Wanting to have little to do with this and the infuriating Vandermir, she none the less convinces herself that his decisions would be best for her family's own safety. But when things begin to get out of hand, she discovers that she has more to do with the dangerous situation Adrian is involved in than she or anyone else could ever imagine. In the hopes of ending the matter, both must endure each other's company as they take a trip together which reveals unbearable past secrets and irresistible desires. Desires that Julie fears would only deepen her wounds, but somehow heal Adrian's. BONUS CHAPTERS available on my blog (link in my bio)

He lit his cigarette, I lit nothing. He drank alcohol, I drank water. He smirked, I smiled. He didn't love me, I didn't love him. He and I together wouldn't last a day. And then the game started... He said he found me intriguing, unique, and interesting because I didn't swoon over him. "You and me Grey, let's play a game. We'll date and in three months time I promise you will fall for me. When you fall in love with me between that time span, I win. If in any way you were to win I'll give up all the alcohol, cigarettes, and player ways." It was a game I wasn't willing to lose, but all games had accidents and consequences. It takes a broken heart to know how to break a heart.

I was a young girl living in ancient China during what became known as the Tang dynasty. I was found abandoned on the doorstep of a monastery by the monks that lived there, they called me Nǚhái or girl. My mistress called me Yīnghuā or Cherry Blossom as she found me in my blossoming Cherry tree. My mistress taught me to read, write and do sums from the time she found me and she trained me in martial arts even though it was frowned upon for a girl to learn. She instructed me up until my last round in what would come to be my last tournament, it would be years before I would see her again. With China torn by civic unrest and a gravely ill Emperor, the Crown Prince needed a bride of common blood that could quiet the people of the lower classes. When I was caught competing the Prince saw in me that opportunity and the power to keep the noble class from turning against the Imperial family by possessing the beauty they prized and gain approval from the military leaders for my fighting ability. In the end I was given a choice, marry the crown prince or perish and the latter was not an option.

Delaney Escott lives in a world where popularity reigns supreme. If you want to be noticed, social status is everything. The government is run by the Superiors: a very exclusive group of individuals who are virtually flawless. They are smarter than us and stronger than us, and to join their ranks is the highest honor. The Superiors pay an annual visit to the top schools in the nation and evaluate the students, choosing one boy and one girl - the most Popular in the school - to go the Capitol and train for Superiority. Delaney thinks that she's the only one indifferent to (and perhaps even suspicious of) the Superiors, until Caleb Payne, the most popular boy in school, approaches her with a request. He has a task for her, one that he believes she is uniquely capable of completing. And as she helps him, Delaney discovers that the government is hiding many secrets - and that the truth of the Superiors is far from what people believe it to be. [Watty Awards 2012 Winner, Science-Fiction: On the Rise]