America has been divided into two factions, the cause being the inveterate compulsion that demands adequacy in all aspects of beauty: perfection. Two contrasting societies sectioned from each other, with one side completely altering themselves to achieve the aim their ardent desire for perfection is fuelling whilst the other loathes the very principle of it, preaching it as a wrong and sinful act formed by a lust for refinement. Fleur Huxley is bound by her societies distaste for perfection. Lessons taught in an attempt to restrict this forbidden desire have been to no avail as covertly, Fleur can't help but be entranced by it all. After America's annual Supremacy day - a ceremony in which an individual is whisked away to a life in the perfection division - Fleur's life takes a sudden turn into a world she isn't familiar with. With impending rebellions and a zeal for perfection inciting her actions, Fleur is slipped into a world of deceptive passion and ravishing beauty, a place in which dangerous secrets lie behind the most beautiful eyes. But Fleur is oblivious to it all, persistent in her hunt for perfection but as haunting realities threaten the world she is enthralled by, will Fleur finally realise there is a dark side to perfection? After all, in a passion-driven world built on deceit, how many sacrifices can you truly make on a quest for ultimate perfection? [ science-fiction #12 - 2/1/14 ]

Aspiring writer Norah Jacobs needs an escape. In the span of two weeks, her corrupt brother has been jailed for murder and his partner has been hovering on her doorstep, threatening to ruin what little peace she has left. Packing her car, Norah flees the city and goes off the grid, finding refuge in the small coastal town of Bellvale. However, Norah's newfound refuge lands her right in the middle of a power struggle between creatures she thought only existed in fairy tales, and she begins to see that no matter how hard you try to run from your troubles, they seem to have a way of catching up with you... Watty 2014 Winner Haven Copyright © Melissa Lucas 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this literary work may be reproduced or used without written consent from the author.

"I admit to being a very SICK and TWISTED person." Sadie and Levi Olivers are the closest pair of siblings that anyone has ever seen. Abandoned as toddlers and forced to live in foster home after merciless foster home, they will do anything to keep each other safe and happy. All they really want, though, is for Levi's eighteenth birthday to come around so they can legally get away and forget their miserable childhoods. The night of the special day, though, Sadie receives a phone call under Levi's caller ID. All she can hear is the screaming of her older brother and a villainous voice telling her to find her parents or she'll never see Levi again. The only problem is that she doesn't know who or where they are. She doesn't know what to do. She feels lost without her brother's guidance. Within the chaos, though, she meets Theo, a wealthy, charming boy who just so happens to be in the same situation as she is. His older sister went missing just hours before Levi's known disappearance, and he's just as scared as Sadie is. As Sadie and Theo's search begins, everything quickly spins out of control. Anything is possible and no one can be trusted. To what extremes will they go to bring back their brother and sister? © valarie rae, two thousand and fourteen. action #8 // mystery-thriller #8 amazing cover by serenay (@paradoxe)

"With him, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. More like it wasn't love at first anything. I hated him so much I could die - but if only he allowed me to. So naturally, instead, I disappeared." Tori Everett was perfectly content with her quiet, walk-though-the-mud life. She didn't run after danger, and danger didn't run after her. Despite years of avoiding trouble, it comes to her in the form of Christopher Bale - a mysterious, alluring man that she can't help but loathe with a passion. What she doesn't know is his past, and eventually it must return to haunt them both. [ W A R N I N G : This is my NaNoWriMo novel, so I apologize for any mistakes I've possibly missed. ]

It was pity that first made Dannie speak to him. She had known Ryan since she was a kid, but he had always been the popular Golden Boy, and she had always been the tomboy that didn’t mind not having any friends. It was odd, she had thought, that all the popular kids who had once kissed the ground he walked on, didn’t so much spared him a glance anymore, and it was this that made her sit with him that one faithful day and begin something that would only end up causing her pain.

(A Leon Walden Story--Sequel to Life as Told by Nerdy) One word. One broken promise. One fateful night. That was all it took to lose her. And I knew we'd never be the same. I wanted to touch her face, hold her hand, to see her smiles again-even if I knew they weren't for me to keep. Now I'm back to square one. I'd make her mine again. But first, I've got to learn how to date a nerd.

As if life wasn't hard enough being bullied and treated like garbage all the time; my loathsome, insufferable seat mate just had to come with his "secrets" and torture my every waking hour. What's the big deal you say? Nothing except for the fact that he's some insanely beautiful Greek God under those nerdy glasses. And now, he lives next door. I'm Sarah and this is my story.

| SAMPLE ONLY; READ IT NOW ON GALATEA | ❝He's the boy she left behind. She's the girl he let go.❞ ➵ Before she became one of music's biggest up-and-coming artists, Evelyn "Evie" Chase was a nobody at the bottom of the Roosevelt High School food chain with only a handful of friends. Her best friend (and longtime crush)--popular jock, Adam Fields--was her polar opposite, but despite their differences, their bond was as strong as they come. That is, until one day-- one mistake--changed the course of their friendship forever, and the once inseparable duo never spoke again. Fast forward three years, and everything's changed. Evie has the world at her feet, now out in L.A. living her dream as a seventeen-year-old popstar-- leaving the town, the boy who broke her heart, and those who'd made high school unbearable behind. Meanwhile, Adam--at Roosevelt finishing off senior year and still the school (and town's) beloved "golden boy"--is trying his hardest to let go of the past and the girl he let get away. And it's going well, the two of them living their separate lives. Until Evie's back. Suddenly, seventeen and senior year just got a lot more interesting.