~ 2021 WATTY'S SHORTLIST ~ "I-well, I..." I hesitated with my response. I wanted to let go. To not worry about what would happen in the future. I'd always loved staring into fires. It hypnotized me with its beauty and danger. It was so tantalizing to look at, but one little touch could destroy. I knew the heat between Tyler and I was similar. It started off small but it had only grown in the weeks he'd been here. We'd fed it unintentionally, and it had gone from an ember to a crackling flame. Every nerve in my body wanted to reach out and touch it, even though I knew I'd get burned. *************************************************** Pia Callahan always lived a carefree life with no worries. Her only responsibilities were to attend her college classes (sometimes) and keep herself fed (on ramen). When tragedy strikes, Pia is all of the sudden thrown into a whirlwind of change. She has to grow up and take on more responsibility than she could ever imagine: the custody of her best friend's son. Pia may not believe she is the best person for the job, but she is determined to do it. She'll trade in frat parties for PTA meetings and beer-bongs for apple juice. But what happens when the ruggedly hot motocross athlete Tyler Westwood shows up in her small town? Tyler lives on the fast track, never caring too much about consequences. You can't when your job is to do backflips through the air. Sometimes, you just have to send it and hope for the best. From the second Tyler meets Pia, he knows he wants her. But she is determined to ignore their bubbling chemistry. She has priorities now and a summer fling isn't one of them. Will Pia be able to stay away from Tyler? Or will she decide to hit the throttle? ***************************************************

Alessandro Galanti, a mafia boss who has his eye set on Aria Stone. And he'll stop at nothing until she is his.

Paige Monroe is your typical girl, she loves luxury and the finer things in life. Travis Prescott, on the other hand, is her polar opposite-a rugged country man who values simplicity and hard work. When their worlds collide, sparks fly in more ways than one.

Imani, Logan, and Kaleb are floored when their partner Roman announces that he accepted a surgical position at a private hospital in Texas, forcing his partners to say goodbye to their lives in California. They arrive in New Heaven, TX, and realize that Roman's employer wasn't truthful about New Heaven being diverse, forcing the poly family to hide the nature of their relationship. Kaleb and Logan are introduced as Roman's brothers, but what happens when their secret is leaked? **Secret Lovers is an ongoing story on Inkitt! The link is in my bio.**

Bryce had been a good kid. A better than good kid actually, with his sense of justice and high morals. He wanted to be a police officer and do good things for his community and the world. But then he was kidnapped because of one of his many good deeds, and worse yet, he had dragged his girlfriend, Krissy, into the dangerous mess he had made for himself. Their kidnapper was a woman, a mother, who blamed him for her son's imprisonment and later death. The woman's goal was to torture him, break him, and turn a good kid bad. It wouldn't have worked if not for Krissy - the good kid's one weakness. The one thing he would do anything for, including becoming a Monster.

"Let's go for a party." They said. "It'll be fun." They said. Well my best friends were so wrong. So very very wrong... My world literally turned upside down after that one night. It was supposed to be my first High school party and it was the day before my 18th birthday and in case your wondering, my birthday is on Halloween. Pretty cool right? Not. At the stroke of midnight like Cinderella or some shit, my powers were unlocked. And get this... I'm a witch. And there's this evil demon lady called Lilith who my mom and dad locked up in the depths of hell that is hell bent on killing me for some reason (pun intended) and I have seven days to find a way to stop her. Urgh! The only positive thing about this is that Lucas, the son of Lucifer, is helping me, along with his wolf familiar Sydney. I may be catching feelings for him and I think he feels the same. I'm Melody by the way. #5 in princeofhell #8 in familiars #10 in portals

When she was 14, Dalia was sold to Matteo Martinelli, the former leader of the largest Italian mafia. Flash forward with his son, Vittore Martinelli as the new leader, Dalia is given to him as a birthday present after years in spent in the "safe house". Dalia struggles to fulfill a promise she made and get her old self back as Vittore tries not to fall for the black beauty. Will they go through all the lies, jealousy, betrayal, envy, lust and murder together all in the name of love? Because at the end of it all, she is still Property Of Vittore Martinelli. * * * "Lift your hand," I said looking at how he held onto his bicep with a tight grip. "Let me take a look at the bullet wound." "No tesoro. I can do this myself," Vittore grumbled and I gave him incredulous look. "Don't start that bullshit with me Vittore. Remove your arm and let me help you or..." I trailed off, not able to say more. I was still in shock but I could do this. "Just... just let me help." "No." I glared at Vittore. "Why are you being so damn egotistic?! Let me help you! Do you know what it was like to find you like... and to..." I couldn't even get all the words out. "Let me help you. Please." Begging wasn't something I'd ever do but I just needed him to let me help him. "No-" "Why?!" I suddenly exploded. "Why won't you just let me help you?!" "Because I don't know how to handle it ok?!" Vittore suddenly exploded, his dark eyes glaring at me. "I don't know how to handle these... feelings. Fuck tesoro you drive me crazy! Don't you see that? You make me question everything I've ever known and... I can't..." I watched Vittore as his expression turned determined. "Fuck it." He leaned forward and pressed his lips on mine. * * * WARNING! Mentions of death, torture, gore, abuse and other things related to the mafia.

He worshiped the ground she walked on, he would lay down his life for her and their children, He is the King, she is His treasure. They promised each other forever, but being King of the underground world, has its challenges, and being the prized possession of the most feared man, puts a target on your back. Through, lies and deceit the two are separated, The Treasure becomes the hunted, and the King becomes the Hunter to figure out a way to bring their family back together, with forces at play hell-bent on keeping them apart will they succeed and rebuild stronger shields, or will the finger slip and pull the trigger

Give Me Courage is about a young African-American Woman finding out she has cancer? the shock almost leads her to death until she is rescued by her "Hero." well that's what he likes to call his self that is. Interracial story. Olivia Blessing just found out something horrible, she has cancer. Feeling like her life is over way before she even felt like it started. She wanted to end it, but it didn't go well as she jumped into it. Save by a strange man who begins to feel attached to her and for some reason. Olivia seems to be attached to him too. Is this what they call soul mates? What is this strange feeling and what happens when both of them have history??? Can they get through this together? lovers of series: Chasing Life would love this story. Kassandra Vivu wrote this story *RANKINGS* #44 Real Life #44/1.9k #184 Happiness #184/6K #19 Courage #19/564 #247 Tragedy #247/6K #84 Goals #84/1.7K #225 Beautiful #225/4.2K #264 True love #264/4.9K #325 Couple #325/4.9K #167 Happy Endings #167/2.4K #1000 Relationship #1000/11.6K #994 BWWM #994/7.5K

Hannah Baker cannot stand to breathe the same air as Justin Kirkland...but she adores his daughter, and his parents, and she even dated his younger brother back in high school. So what will it take for those two to fall in love? A screwy family tree, a bitter ex-wife, and lots of long, hot, summer nights.