[COMPLETED] A girl's dad loses her job. A guy loses his wallet, girlfriend, and job all in a day. So what happens when the two strangers meet and both of them have money to spend and to blow off? - cover credit: @Iris_Underwood

**A Blue Beard retelling** Based on Charles Perrault's fairytale, this YA Historical Fantasy short story set in Victorian England mixes romance, magic and mystery. After agreeing to an arranged marriage to escape her greedy relatives, 18-year-old heiress Amelia moves into her husband's manor determined to start a new life. But the gothic mansion's forbidding surroundings, the servants' strange demeanour and her husband's mysterious past soon awaken her suspicions. If Amelia truly wants to become the lady of the house, she'll have to discover what secrets lie beyond closed doors and unravel the mystery of the old house's forbidden room. But sometimes secrets are kept for a good reason... HIGHEST RANKING IN HISTORICAL FICTION # 44 Copyright © 2017. All works posted here are the property of EM Castellan. Please do not use without permission. Any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal. Cover artist: @seventhstar

A LINE UNBROKEN. A TRUTH UNSPOKEN. Born into wealth and privilege as the niece of an emperor, Starborn Lady Mhera never dreamt that tragedy would shatter her world. But darkness roils beneath the peaceful facade of the Holy City: a rebellion is brewing among the Arcborn-the dangerous, magic-blooded undercaste of Penrua-and they will stop at nothing to destroy the peace of the realm. That much is proven to Mhera when she is just a girl and her greatest treasure is taken from her. Years later, still wounded by the evil the Arcborn wrought against her, she is on the brink of professing her final vows as a nun...but before she can accept the life of safety and solitude she doesn't truly desire, she is offered a chilling compromise with fate that threatens everything she has ever known. FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2018 Clash of Swords (hosted by The Fae Folk) - Dark Fantasy Category SECOND PLACE WINNER - 2018 Sunset Awards - Fantasy Category SECOND PLACE - 2018 X Factor Awards - Overall!

Agnes Allore's passions are simple: music, first and foremost, rules her heart. Second comes her best friend Daniel, a servant boy. As a girl, Agnes can do as she wishes; her beloved father indulges her willful spirit, and her troubled mother hardly pays her any mind at all. But as Agnes leaves her girlhood behind and becomes a young woman, she learns that dark secrets lurk beneath the surface of her influential family, and none of what she loves can go with her into the dark. --- Daniel Serran is a waif and a wanderer. When he and his disabled father come upon the Allore mansion, they expect to be turned away, but magnanimous Master Allore takes a chance on them. It's there that Daniel meets Agnes, the young lady of the house. Compared to her dazzling mother, Agnes is plain; compared to other women, she's rude and she's wild. But there is something about her that draws Daniel in, and he will never be the same. --- Plunge into a dark retelling of "The Little Mermaid," embellished with mermaid lore. In a world where men's greed knows no bounds, there are few happy endings. FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2018 Iris Awards - Romance Category SECOND PLACE WINNER - 2018 Iris Awards - Overall FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2018 Mystic Awards - Romance Category FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2017 Romance Awards - Heartbreaking Category HONORABLE MENTION - June 2017 Rose Gold Awards - "Best Kiss" TW: Abuse and graphic violence