Ari Callahan has no idea how to talk to boys -- or how to talk to anyone for that matter. Enter Zac, the cute new guy in town who won't stop texting her. But is his interest real, or does he have a hidden agenda? ***** Found as a young child washed up on the beach, 17-year-old Ari Callahan has never uttered a word out loud to anyone -- not even her adoptive family. Psychologists have diagnosed her with a condition called selective mutism, but Ari can't help identifying with her namesake character, Ariel, the little mermaid in the fairytale whose voice was stolen by a sea witch. Mermaid-obsession aside, Ari's silence makes socializing tough. She's never had a boyfriend or been asked out on a date. Not until Zac, the confident new arrival in town, asks for her number. But Zac has his own reasons for texting with Ari. He's part of a movement to sabotage the artificial music app called SirenSong, threatening to render human singing obsolete. Zac's collaborators have scoured the globe in search of a singing voice perfect enough to break the SirenSong spell, and their search has led them straight to Ari's beachside town. Will her relationship with Zac help Ari find her voice and unlock the secrets of her origins? Or will he use her and leave her high and dry? Title: Ari and Zac (formerly The Mermaid Hypothesis) Content Warning: This story contains references to selective mutism, suicidal thoughts, and early childhood trauma.

A collection of spin-offs from Expiration Date by Mikaela Bender. Includes: Our Love Has No Expiration Date (Valentine's Day) Sweet, Darling, Love (Mother's Day) The Phantom Ball (Halloween) Christmas Story Before Colton Met Iris

Is it an invasion if they're already here? Six months have passed and Iris and Jonas have reached a conclusion about their future, one that will leave many unhappy. Left alone in the Society by Jonas, Iris finds herself "blackmailed" by Colton when she stumbles in on him. Dying inside, Colton is fed up with being melodramatic. His cousins have had enough. He's the Beta, and it's kind of difficult to intimidate peasants when he's bemoaning his fate in life. When an accidental photo of Vienna with the Prince and Princess of France appears in a newspaper, Colton is determined to have Vienna back, traitor or not. His family's not in charge of him. The Society isn't either. And if they are, he really doesn't care anymore. When Iris (and Bently) discover Colton's plan, Colton forces them to come with him to France so they don't divulge his future whereabouts before he can depart. Once there, Iris finds Erik in a worse state than when she last saw him, while Colton and Vienna. . . well who knows if they'll ever actually get back together. They've got about as many problems as Iris and Erik. Every moment Iris is in France she grows more anxious that Jonas will find out where she is, but when dead bodies start showing up with Expiration Dates tattooed on them, the monarchy forces the Beta to take action, sweeping Iris into a dangerous invasion for Earth amidst the glittering, bewitching lifestyle of the French court. Highest ranking: #6 in Scifi

Now a digital pilot for SYFY The Society knows when we're going to die. They imprint it on our arms at birth. I was supposed to die yesterday. I'm the girl who's Expired. Winner of the 2020 Readers Choice Awards Cover by @Forcade