2026 Watty Awards Shortlist Finalist! Helena Pierce has it all. A company built from nothing, wealth, a best friend who knows her better than she knows herself, and a brother who would move mountains for her. On paper, her life is flawless. But perfection doesn't fill the emptiness. Helena is lonely and love has never come easily, and when it did, her need for control always pushed it away. She rules every part of her life with iron precision, and that same power keeps her from letting anyone in. Helena doesn't know how to surrender - and maybe, deep down, she fears what would happen if she did. ❁ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ˋˏ༻❁༺ˎˊ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❁ June Holloway refuses to back down. Words are power, and behind a screen, she wields them all. Declared deaf at six, though she had struggled to hear long before, she controls her world from home, safe from the noise and chaos she can't fully navigate... but safety has a price. She has her work, a best friend who never leaves her side, and a brother who would give his life for her. Yet love has always been complicated. Speaking, hearing, connecting - it should be simple, but for June, it's a battle she fights again and again, never easily won. Even so, she keeps trying. Even so, she refuses to be silenced. ❁ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ˋˏ༻❁༺ˎˊ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❁ Since June starts working for Helena, things begin to unfold and feelings grow quietly, almost unnoticed. Both hide behind screens, careful and measured, yet there is a pull between them they can't ignore. Every word, every message lingers a little longer, makes them think a little more. Neither is ready to admit how much they want it to go further. Helena doesn't know June is deaf, and could that secret change everything between them? #1 under #lesbian 1/9/26 #1 under #wlw 1/11/26 #1 under #sapphic 1/12/26 #1 under #girls 3/15/26

Emerson Greer is twenty-five, successful, stubborn, and used to getting what she wants. Camille Rhodes is thirty-nine, a respected Division I soccer coach at Wake Forest, and very aware that dating a younger professional athlete could become a problem. Emerson thinks the fourteen-year age gap is just a number. Camille thinks it's a reason to stay away. Too bad Emerson has never been good at taking no for an answer.

Reincarnation is a cosmic lottery, and this time I've won a medieval village, a twin brother who collects other people's undergarments as though they were sacred relics, and a newborn's body that collapses if I use more than 5% of my own power. Brilliant. Splendid. Marvellous. Well. I have been an empress, a cultivator, a goddess, a dragon, and at least three things that have no name in any civilised tongue. I have governed sects, empires, and at least one dimension that would rather not be mentioned. I have survived wars, apocalypses, and cultivation masters who considered suicide missions a perfectly sound pedagogical method. My plan, then, is simple: pretend to be a normal child, drink my tea in peace, and refrain from destroying anything of structural importance. Eos, my intelligent system, puts the probability of that working out at 12%. She's being optimistic.

Alexandria Evergreen, a bored heiress to her dearest father's hotel empire with a penchant for justice on her own terms and too much time on her hands, lives a life of luxury and moral ambiguity. Behind her poised façade lies a dangerous secret: she quite enjoys seeing the life leave the eyes of abusive and perverted men - and the occasional woman - who believe themselves untouchable, operating in the shadows of high society. Clarke Griffin, a struggling law student in her final year, is barely holding her life together. Clarke has just landed an internship at a prestigious law firm, a position she fought hard for. Now all she wants is to graduate, pass the bar exam, and start building her career, following in the footsteps of her late father. From the moment Alexandria lays eyes on a stunning Clarke, she's obsessed. What could possibly go wrong when one is morally grey at best, entirely unhinged and a walking red flag at worst and the other embodies everything Alexandria isn't - pure, principled, and committed to the legal system? I'll be putting trigger warnings below, and I will add to the list as new potential triggers become relevant in the story. Always feel free to let me know if I have missed any. TW: Strong language, blood and gore, murder, sexual content, mature themes, violence, mentions of abuse (of all kinds), sexism, torture, mention of drugs, mention of suicide, absolute toxic, obsessive, and unhinged behavior.

Wrongfully accused and charged for a crime he did not commit, Nhazul Hatake was abandoned and outcasted by everyone around him. Forced into a cruel world on his own, a lone Wolf... Will this Wolf be able to find another pack to belong to? (This is a Rewrite/Revised of my Original Wolf Swordsman Story)

Sora Yatagami was a young boy who lost everything. His parents were framed by a mistake they never commit. After that none of his friends and other family wants to take him in. And thanks to that Sora lose trust in people and the idea of being in a family. At the age of 14 Sora was trapped inside SAO now how would Sora life turn out to be?

(Y/N) is a normal kid. Originally, he didn't want any part of SAO, but his friend had other plans. Join (Y/N) as he tries to survive the tragedy of SAO. Join his heartbreak, his love, and more importantly the laughs as he plays the death game called Sword Art Online. I do not own SAO, or the cover of the book. I encourage you to support the original.

Trapped in the death game Sword Art Online, Renji Shinku carves his path through Aincrad with unmatched skill and a sharp tongue. A former beta tester, who fights not just for survival but to protect those who can't protect themselves. Alongside Kirito, the enigmatic Black Swordsman, he becomes a legend on the frontlines, facing deadly bosses, rival guilds, and the ever-present threat of Player Killers. But as the stakes rise, so do the shadows of the past. Can Raijin and Kirito overcome their demons and clear the game, or will Aincrad claim them like so many before? ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE CREATOR OF SAO

[ONGOING - POSTING EVERY FRIDAY [LONG CHAPTERS] The world is too loud, too bright, and far too crowded. For years, I've hidden behind thick white silks and the safety of my marigolds, speaking to the petals in my mind because words always feel like jagged rocks in my throat. In the Meadow Pack, I am the quiet one, a girl of shadows and soil, waiting for a Mating Ceremony I never wanted. Then the forest breathed, and he stepped out of the willow trees. He wasn't like the others. He didn't smell of heavy perfumes or forced grace. He smelled of crushed mint and the deep, solid scent of a forest after a storm. He was a mountain of black fur and scars, a beast the stories warned me about, the Alpha of Stormridge. They call him a monster. They say his heart is as dark as the ink on his skin. But when our eyes locked, the noise in my head finally went silent. For the first time, I didn't want to hide. He is the storm to my sunlight, the growl to my silence. He doesn't know how to be gentle, and I don't know how to live in his loud, violent world. But the moon doesn't make mistakes, and my blood hums a song only he can hear. The wolf with the scarred eye has found me. And for the first time, I think I'm ready to let the silk fall.

𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗥 „𝗇𝗈, 𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝗀𝖾𝗍𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗋" 𝗜𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵, 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝖼𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗒𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝗁𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽ʼ𝗌 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾, 𝗇𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗒 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗅𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝖿𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖺𝗐𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗌 𝗁𝗂𝗀𝗁, 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗈𝗇. 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐜 𝐱 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝