BOOK 1 OF THE MARKED DUOLOGY - 2025 WATTY'S SHORTLIST Syerin Cayde has spent her life in the shadows, a deadly assassin who knows how to survive in a world that shows no mercy. But everything changes when a cursed mark - the Bloodmark - burns itself into her skin during a mission gone wrong. It's a symbol of power, of destiny, and of death - a mark that hasn't been seen in centuries. A curse that if found by anyone would end with her death. There have been legends, rumours, that the Bloodmark was the mark of the Goddess of Blood and if one bear the mark, they would have one of the god's power. However, it is also said that the power is enough to make one explode, die. Now hunted by forces she doesn't understand, Syerin is dragged to Ironspire, a fortress where the Ascension Trials unfolds. The prize? The crown of Velthar - and unimaginable power. The cost? Everything. Forced into a deadly competition alongside warriors, heirs, and monsters, Syerin must fight to keep her secret hidden. But as the mark begins to awaken, whispering of the ancient gods imprisoned beneath Ironspire, Syerin realises the tournament is a game far more dangerous than anyone knows. And then there's the matter of the Knox Brothers. Three brothers. The royals. The heirs to the throne. The oldest one in particular. She knows something is off about him. That there is something coursing in his veins that isn't just blood. Drawn to him in a way, Syerin can't understand, will the trials be her end? Or will the war that she fights against her feelings do it for her? Allies become enemies, love and betrayal blur into one, and the mark's power begins to consume her. To survive, Syerin must decide: Will she embrace the curse that could save Velthar or destroy it?

An impending alien invasion brings the Drakoan military to the rescue, but when they arrive, the battle is already over. And yet, the fight is just beginning... With no news of the fate of the Earth itself, Commander Davin and his team descend to the planet's surface to investigate, discovering not only a web of mysteries in need of unraveling, but the enticing scent of a fated mate... This is a fully edited story, publishing ~1 episode every 2 weeks.

Zolani thought the worst was over the night her ex-stalker was finally arrested. She was wrong... When Officer Luke Dimitriou steps into her life, he is everything she should avoid...controlled, unreadable, and far too observant. He notices things no one else does: the way she twists the ring on her finger when she's anxious, the exact time she leaves for work, the way fear still shadows her after dark. Around him, Zolani feels safer than she has in months. That should have been her first warning. Luke should have closed her case and walked away. Instead, one look at Zolani turns his professional concern into something darker. He watches. He follows. He memorizes every detail of her life until protecting her becomes an obsession he can't control. Every threat against her feels personal. Every man who looks at her feels like a problem he needs to solve. But when strange break-ins, missing belongings, and the feeling of being watched begin to close in around Zolani, the line between protector and predator starts to blur. And the most dangerous truth of all? The man keeping her safe may be the one she should fear most.....

Book 1: Legacy of Flame series | Isla Havencrest was never meant to burn. Hidden in the frostbound lands of Cryovale, she believed herself nothing more than a girl of ice and snow-until fire wakes within her veins and dragons answer her presence, she's thrust into a world she was never meant to find. In Drakoria-the land of dragons, she collides with a ruthless leader from the Scions of the Flame. To him, she is a danger. To the dragons, she is destiny. Enemies close in, shadows gather, and fire may be the only thing that saves her... or consumes her.

They performed her last rites, while she was still alive. Akshara Maheshwari was erased from her own family before she could even understand what she had done wrong. Abandoned, forgotten, and declared dead, she disappeared from the world that once called her blood. Years later, she returns.. not as a broken child begging for answers, but as AK - a name the world admires, fears, and follows. She doesn't come back for forgiveness. She doesn't ask for love. And she doesn't reveal herself easily. Because some wounds don't need apologies... they need truth, power, and reckoning. As the Maheshwaris celebrate, lie, and protect their secrets, the past claws its way back into the present. A past involving betrayal, silence, a sold child, and a savior who changed her fate. What happens when a family realizes the daughter they buried... is the woman who now controls their empire? And what if revenge isn't her goal, but taking back what was always hers? A story of abandonment, survival, silent revenge, and a girl who learned to smile while planning her return. Read to find out: Will the truth destroy them... Or will Akshara destroy the truth first?

A realm on the brink of war. A bond that threatens to consume them both. Cora's life takes a dangerous turn when she's thrust into a world of secrets and magic. Mistaken for a fae, her blood is thought to hold the power to restore balance to a crumbling realm. The first thing she learns when she's captured: never trust a dragon. Ash has always known what it means to be feared. He comes from the Third Kingdom, the only realm where dragons remain awake inside their bonded. Considered little better than beasts, the people of the Third live in isolation, training to control the instincts and will of the creature that lives inside them. Alone in the Outlands, he never expected to find a fae. Especially not one like her. When her cry shatters the forest, he understands the instinct that drives him to her side. What he does not anticipate is how fiercely he will have to fight the beast that already sees her as its own. With witches whispering of prophecy and a dark king determined to bring about a new era of ruin, they must choose: fight the fate that binds them or risk becoming the very force that brings the realm to ruin. Because the longer they travel together, the harder it becomes to tell where Ash ends and the dragon begins.

"Not every heir wants the throne." PART I | She buried her name, her crown, and her past-but some things don't stay dead. Her kingdom is gone-burned to ash, buried in betrayal. She escaped with nothing but a haunted heart, a fractured name, and a secret sharp enough to split her soul. Earth was never meant to be a refuge. But in its quiet chaos, she tried to become someone else- smaller, safer... invisible. Then she met Matthew. Arrogant. Magnetic. The kind of man you clash with first- before you realise you'd fight for him just as hard. Because in a world like this, love doesn't come easy- and loyalty costs more than most people are willing to give. Sera has lived between two lives, two names, two truths. But the past doesn't stay buried. When it finds her- it comes with teeth. Because secrets rot. Kingdoms fall. But the people you choose to stand beside? They're the only thing that makes the fall worth surviving. Now everything she ran from is closing in. Not to crown her- but to break her. Fate doesn't ask permission. Destiny doesn't wait for peace. And not every heir wants the throne... ...but some are born to burn-and some will burn the world to protect the people they love.

Everyone expected the quiet princess to die. The tyrant king had buried wives before, and the fragile girl forced to marry him was supposed to become just another forgotten tragedy. But the soft-spoken queen does something no one expected. She survives. While the court fears the monster on the throne, she remains beside him calm, gentle, and far stronger than anyone realizes. At first, the king tells himself she is simply useful. Her mind is sharp. Her kindness dangerous in a palace built on cruelty. And kings protect what is useful. But the longer she stands beside him, the more the kingdom begins to notice something unsettling. The tyrant who trusted no one now watches her like she is the most valuable thing in his world. His words remain cold. His temper still deadly. But everyone can see the truth the king refuses to admit. The monster on the throne has fallen in love. And the quiet queen who was supposed to die has learned something even more dangerous The only way anyone could ever hurt her... Is by surviving the king who would burn kingdoms to the ground to protect what belongs to him. (Book 1 )

Every year, Lyra's village gathers beneath the ancient statues of the Fates, offering prayers and sacrifices to keep the creeping darkness at bay. The Ruined Kingdom stands in the distance, a forbidden place where no one enters and no one leaves. A place ruled by a king who does not age, does not die, and does not care for the world beyond his walls. Lyra has never believed in fate, only in survival. With her mother's health failing, she is willing to do whatever it takes to save what little she has left. But when this year's ritual goes terribly wrong, Lyra is taken-ripped from the life she knows and thrust into the heart of a kingdom lost to time. There, she is told she has been chosen. That she, along with others, must vie for the favor of a king no one has seen in over a century. But something is wrong within the castle's walls. Whispers of the past haunt her steps, and the King-cold, untouchable, and shrouded in secrets-watches her too closely. As shadows stir and forgotten magic awakens, Lyra begins to question everything she's been told about the Ruined Kingdom. And, more importantly, about herself. Because the deeper she delves into the mystery of the King and the kingdom he rules behind the walls, the more she realizes: Some destinies are written in blood. And some fates are meant to be broken.

Camilla's coffee shop seems like the perfect personally owned business. The coffee is delicious and the pastries are to die for. However, the coffee shop is also home to an erotic fantasy group at night. They meet to help facilitate each other's wildest fantasies. Camilla has always enjoyed making others sex dreams come true. She's never indulged in her own fantasy but when she meets seemingly straight-laced journalist Clark, he might be just what she needs to get the ending she's been craving.