"When I tell you that he hates me, you'll probably assume it's because he's a jerk...but you'd be wrong. He's not a jerk. I am." --- Several years ago tragedy struck Emma's home, leaving her broken... like a cup with cracks spiraling and slithering around the edges. Slowly, bitterness crept in like tar, hardening between each fracture to resemble a deceitful wholeness. She became a monster, and targeted her venom on the sweetest person she could find: Trinity Nixon. Too bad the boy Emma longed for was Trinity's brother. Now, as Emma fights to win the heart of the boy who despises her, she's forced to hide her demons. She paints her fragile cup in pinks, yellows, and oranges - all the colors of the sun. She paints on a smile, and an unusual sense of humor, so that the world will view her as bright and cheerful, when in reality she's breaking. But she's completely unprepared for the acidic truth that melts away the tar, demolishing her shell, and awakening the Emma White buried deep inside. --- Book 1 in The Dismantled Pride series *Story was previously titled "Faking It"

[ORIGINAL IDEA] Frederick Boyce's career choice would rarely be described as mainstream. After all, having a quick lunch in the mists of several dead bodies can be counted as the most predictable part of the job as each day becomes a bundle of unpredictable events. Regardless of the questionable stories the elder harbors after a long day, the seventy-two year old grandfather could always on his hardworking son and grandchildren to listen intently. Speaking on behalf of the dead was something he'd earned respect for- not only from his family and other co-workers, but maybe even himself. And yet, the old man seemed at a loss for words on the fateful day when the job strikes close to home. He was left with doubt and a dash of bewilderment at the sudden revelation that, unlike any other murder he'd been called in to investigate, the untimely death of a young college student may be directly linked to one of his own blood. The predicament was futile for the elder to digest. Nevertheless, as ominous secrets and behaviors come forth, it all fortified the one thing Frederick Boyce had learned from his days as an advocate for his victims: Sometimes the biggest monsters are closer than realized.

Bad boys aren’t born, they’re made. And they all stem from the same creator—heartbreak. There's always that naive innocent girl that tries to fix them and more often than not ends up worse for the wear afterwards. This book will delve into this heartbreak, through the eyes of Carter, a good guy turned bad boy, and Chrysanthemum, a good girl that is determined to follow in the footsteps of so many before her. Join us as we take a look from a unique perspective at the root of all heartbreak : The Cycle.

Malakai "Mal" Brown, Inkster's high school star point guard, is well on his way to becoming a Duke University commit, with promises of major minutes in the near future and nothing but his senior year standing in the way of it all. When Kaiya Johnson moves into town things, however, begin to change. [cover by: labyrinth-]