Why wasn't I moving anymore? I'd gone still, muddled as what I should do. My eyes swept up off my body and on to the boy, catching a breath in my throat when he smirked in my direction, flicking two fingers two in the air. "Hi," I read his lips. Helplessly, I become entangled in his soft spoken greeting, taking the first leap to the captivating boy in the corner. I decided he was beautiful enough to become my distraction. My own little addiction until I left the safety of the pretend world we were all playing make-believe in. --------- Right when Silvia Ellington is about to start her senior year, her mother decides to have her move in with her aloof father and his "perfect" family in California. She promises to be on her best behavior, and for the most part, she's able to keep her snappy attitude in check...until she ends up going to a party one chilly night. In the adolescent madness, she finds a tattooed boy named Dakota. He's ungodly tall and has crystal blue eyes that can sway any good girl to do bad things. When they first meet, he makes it his job to show that he doesn't like Silvia. And he's got reasons. All she has to do is disarm this bad boy and unlock the secrets he's keeping deep inside. Before they know it, Silvia and Dakota embark on an emotional roller-coaster of a relationship that is bound to ruin a few lives. But when Silvia's own secrets come knocking on her door, will it tear them apart or will love prevail? HIGHEST RANKING: #1 in Action #2 in Humor #2 in Teen Fiction #1 in Drama #8 in Romance

It's early summer, and in a small community on the central Jersey Shore, a black car screeches to a halt outside the Wright Bros grocery. Danny looks up from where he's working at the carwash to see the driver rifle out of the car and chase a girl rushing into the store. For some reason-fate perhaps or intuition-he decides to cross the lot and investigate. When he meets Mary, there is a great deal Danny doesn't know, but he certainly knows that he's been struck. For it's like the keys to an old car had been dropped into his hands and is about to start the engine that will forever alter the outcome of their lives. Some Place Better Than Here is a gritty, unflinching look at how we define family and come to grips with loss. It's about growing up in a small town, following your dreams, and mapping out the uneven ground that often lays between love, friendship, and sexual awakening.

| SAMPLE ONLY; READ IT NOW ON GALATEA | ❝He's the boy she left behind. She's the girl he let go.❞ ➵ Before she became one of music's biggest up-and-coming artists, Evelyn "Evie" Chase was a nobody at the bottom of the Roosevelt High School food chain with only a handful of friends. Her best friend (and longtime crush)--popular jock, Adam Fields--was her polar opposite, but despite their differences, their bond was as strong as they come. That is, until one day-- one mistake--changed the course of their friendship forever, and the once inseparable duo never spoke again. Fast forward three years, and everything's changed. Evie has the world at her feet, now out in L.A. living her dream as a seventeen-year-old popstar-- leaving the town, the boy who broke her heart, and those who'd made high school unbearable behind. Meanwhile, Adam--at Roosevelt finishing off senior year and still the school (and town's) beloved "golden boy"--is trying his hardest to let go of the past and the girl he let get away. And it's going well, the two of them living their separate lives. Until Evie's back. Suddenly, seventeen and senior year just got a lot more interesting.

Boy next door is charming. Boy next door is dangerous. Boy next door is on house arrest. * * * * * They've been neighbors for as long as Juliet can remember. You'd think being neighbors, they would have been friends by now. Not the case. They've been sworn enemies since Jack dumped sand down her shirt in the 1st Grade. Juliet Sanders lives next door to Jack McKinnon, the boy on house arrest for being the prime suspect in a murder investigation. That's only because his father paid off the judge, of course, or he'd be behind bars until the trial. The McKinnon family stays in the spotlight. Jack's mom is a famous author, his dad a movie producer. Juliet watches Jack. Whether if he's going for a swim or walking laps around the house at 3 in the morning. Something always piqued her curiosity. It takes Juliet getting locked out of her house to finally face the mysterious boy next door. And he's definitely not rainbows and butterflies. Juliet's curiosity may just get her in trouble. *Slowly editing FULLY* Note: KKKANGAROO has been really kind and has helped me edit some chapters. :)

He lit his cigarette, I lit nothing. He drank alcohol, I drank water. He smirked, I smiled. He didn't love me, I didn't love him. He and I together wouldn't last a day. And then the game started... He said he found me intriguing, unique, and interesting because I didn't swoon over him. "You and me Grey, let's play a game. We'll date and in three months time I promise you will fall for me. When you fall in love with me between that time span, I win. If in any way you were to win I'll give up all the alcohol, cigarettes, and player ways." It was a game I wasn't willing to lose, but all games had accidents and consequences. It takes a broken heart to know how to break a heart.

“Love’s like a bullet. It’s fast. It’s furious. Sometimes you can’t see it coming. You can run from it. But you can’t dodge it. Unless someone stands in your way…” Growing up, Callie Tollson had always admired her older brother, Clay, for being exactly who he wanted to be…despite the consequences he faced doing so. With their roles reversed, Callie had always been the one to stand up for Clay when he was in harm’s way. She always thought this was enough. She thought she was able to protect him. That is until he turned the tables and unleashed harm back on those who had done it to him. She couldn’t understand why, being the one who stood up for him the most, she was the one he picked as the receiver for the final bullet in his gun. Now she’s the most feared girl in school with a haunting family tie to keep her stuck in the halls of Riverton High. As she tries to survive the rest of her junior year as the sister of the boy who brought a gun to school, she soon realizes she owes nothing to the boy who turned on her and everything to the boy who saved her life.