"Deliciously captivating! It's the perfect amount of laughs, love and drama. You won't be able to put this book down!" - Grace K @ HQ. When Agatha becomes the Everard's governess, she's grateful for a way to escape her dark past. That is until her growing feelings for the mysterious Lord of the house begin to present an even greater risk. ***** The Everard's are one of the most esteemed families in Wickhurst. And Benedict, the Lord of Devonshire and the eldest of the clan, is as mysterious and brooding as anyone The Town has ever seen. His face is marked with scars, and no one dares to speak on how he got them. Known to all as 'the beast,' the townsfolk tremble in his wake. But little does he know that he is about to meet his match in Agatha Blair, his sisters' new governess. Agatha is witty, smart and gives him a run for his money when he tries to peel back the layers of who she really is. She truly intrigues him more than any woman he has met but she is a governess and he is a Lord. The Town would shun the union of two people from different stations and any romance between them is surely a recipe for social disaster! But what can they do when the burning hot feelings refuse to relent? And when Benedict uncovers that Agatha is hiding a secret far more dangerous than anything he could have imagined, will love save the day and will Agatha finally tame the beast? *This story is a standalone title in the Everard Family series. [Now a Hachette Audiobook!] [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

A teen monster will stop at nothing to get power, even if that means eating the forbidden fruit that will forever bind her to the keeper of death itself. ***** After rejecting the Wolf King and refusing to be his docile, powerless bride, Korin escapes into the mountains in search of forbidden fruit. And while the legends say that anyone who eats the fruit will be enslaved to the keeper of death itself, Korin is confident she can become something more. Because the power that comes with being queen of the underworld is everything she craves, as she'll finally be able to destroy the society that ripped her werewolf identity from her soul. [[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]

*03/03/2020 - 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏* _̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲ Everybody at Black Hill knows about the lake by the old house. They know never to let an open wound bleed out in the murky waters. Never to take their eyes off the pine trees lining the banks. Then Annalise Madigan moves in, and she can't believe her luck when the popular kids invite her for a swim in the lake. But when she dives under the depths of the water, her life unravels. After swimming up, 2 months have passed and her new friends lie dead on the surface. As time goes on, Annalise can't keep track of the days, losing hours where she's unable to remember what she's done. And there's always a trail of dead kids on the water behind her. Drawn into a mystery of dark creatures and police investigations, Annalise must find out what happened at the bottom of the lake that night. Or else risk losing her soul forever. _̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲_̲ ONC 2020 Entry

Grace, the illegitimate daughter of Edward IV, finds her life turned upside down when he dies and her family flees into sanctuary when her uncle takes power. Torn between family loyalties and her need for love and stability, Grace struggles to survive a dangerous world. A historical fiction story set during the War of the Roses. One fateful night, a young woman flees with her family to take sanctuary in the church. The illegitimate daughter of the late king, Grace, is told her uncle Richard has stolen her half-brother, the new king and is seizing power. Her stepmother, Elizabeth Woodville, takes her children and Grace into sanctuary and begins recruiting others to take down Richard. Young Grace is sent on a mission and meets her uncle. His kindness makes her doubt that he is as bad as her stepmother claims. But she sticks to her loyalty to her family even as everything falls apart. Elizabeth's plan fails, Grace's half-brother is taken by force out of sanctuary, and Richard reveals Elizabeth was never legally married to Grace's father, making Richard the king. Elizabeth refuses to leave sanctuary, keeping Grace and her half-sisters trapped as rumors grow about the disappearance of the girls' brothers. The only bright spot of Grace's life is meeting with a messenger, a young man who is the first person to see this forgotten king's daughter. As much as she wants to leave, her loyalty keeps her buried alive. Shortlisted in the Open Novella Contest 2020 Shortlisted in the Wattys 2021 and Wattys 2022

[ORIGINAL DRAFT SAMPLE] She is twenty-nine when the FBI comes for her, but Catherine Themis was only seventeen, grieving and naive and angry, the first time she wiped someone else's blood from her fingers and felt the snake rise in her chest. She was seventeen when she stepped into the dark and never looked back. ***** By day, Catherine Themis is an unassuming civilian administrator for the Dedwich Police Department, but by night, she is a notorious vigilante known as The Hangman. Struggling with her violent urges and the psychological cost of her actions, Catherine becomes the target of an obsessive serial killer and a relentless FBI agent, and as the hunt for the Hangman intensifies, Catherine must decide which life she wishes to live and what she values more: vengeance or her fading humanity? A psychological thriller in the vein of MINDHUNTER and HANNIBAL, SERPENT HEART is a deep-dive into the life and history of a conflicted vigilante forced to confront her inner demons and evade a national manhunt. Catherine questions the efficacy of her own convictions as the FBI closes in and a vindictive murderer puts her family, love, and identity in jeopardy. With everything on the line and time running out, who will Catherine Themis become? --- [[AVAILABLE ON AMAZON]] [[REMOVED 24 DEC 2021]] [[2019 Watty Winner - Mystery & Thriller]]

The world has been overrun by monsters. Governments have toppled, nations have fallen. Desperation has ushered in a new world order. Welcome to The Bright Waste where violence is cheap and salvation is in short supply. Where survivors are brutal and compassion is a rare commodity. Akiva is a scavenger for The Mothers. Her job is to scour the bones of the old world for any vestige of value, and to stay alive. That's the hardest part when the monsters have other plans. Her only hope is to stay in the light, glorious and burning bright. Editor's Pick List: June 2020

Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option. ***** Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her... Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault. [[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]

When May Alana's wish on a star brings a stranger to her remote island home, the pair must survive a deadly magical conflict in order to be together. ***** When May Alana, a scorned and anxiety-ridden young woman, finds a stranger on the beach of her remote island home, she wonders if this is the adventurous, accepting, and loving answer to her otherwise cloistered life. But as the pair grow closer, the stranger entrusts May with her brilliant secret: that she is half-Star in possession of otherworldly powers, and that a violent group of Star worshippers are out to destroy her. So if they want any chance of being together, they'll have to survive a deadly conflict between humans and mythological creatures first. THE STAR AND THE OCEAN is Book 1 in the Starborn Series Book 2: THE WIND AND THE HORIZON Book 3: THE FIRE AND THE SKY Cover illustration by Brittany Willows (@BrittanyMWillows) [[Watty Winner]] [[Wattpad LGBT Book of the Month]] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

This is a FREE story with PAID bonus chapters. Lizzie and Parker couldn't be more opposite, except for their inability to sustain romantic relationships. They can't stand each other - but when they take on the challenge to date for thirty days to fix their horrible dating habits, the line between fake and real starts to blur... ***** Lizzie's relationships have never lasted a week. Parker's have never lasted more than two. But being dating disasters might be the only thing they have in common. Tired of their constant fighting, a mutual friend challenges them to date each other for thirty days. What they didn't expect was for the trial period to be so sweet. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]] Cover designed by Adam Budny

Born a slave, made an heiress, Annabelle must battle a society unwilling to accept her and a love that threatens to ruin her in order to keep her freedom. ***** Born a slave, Annabelle soon finds that fate has other plans when she's purchased by a man named Elijah Finley, who not only rescues her from an abusive master, but also gives her her freedom. However, her new life comes at the cost of another: Elijah has made Annabelle the heiress to his estate, in spite of having a son. So Henry Finley, unwilling to accept his father's will, is determined to regain his rightful fortune at any cost -- even if that means seducing his father's former slave... Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story contains some racist and sexist language that reflects the historical time period when it's set. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]