Scandal never sleeps in a city where Irish crime king Flynn Dempsey rules the streets. Especially when he just couldn't seem to keep his hands off an Italian socialite. ****** This story contains my own ideas, characters and plot line. I do not own any of the actors used to portray the characters or any real historical figures used. OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK: https://open.spotify.com/user/rczcfuy05wzo0s09e7jq80gp7/playlist/0KxgsHSnR4L5zxczbCIdVL?si=_J5QfmLRQyacX9QSFSqdyw

[#110 in Historical Fiction! 03/03/2017] Beautiful girls in exquisite dresses. Handsome men with dishonorable intentions. Add in jazz and booze and you have the high society of Chicago 1922. With white lies and dark secrets Chicago's wealthiest families don't only bounce back and forth between the city and their country estates, they also alternate with ease between the extended pinkie tea parties during the day and scandalous speakeasies at night. Clara and Olivia Vandercroft are at the top of the social scene... or so it seems. When they find out that their position may not be so secure , suddenly everyone is against them to threaten their future - including Clara's social-climbing best friend, Virginia, who is tired of living in her shadow. When Virginia's envy boils over from being thwarted once again by the Vandercroft sisters, no one is safe. It's the roaring twenties, when morality is questioned, dark secrets prevail, and anything goes. Cover credited to: @nighttimemonsters #EWA2017

Prohibition is the law of the land, but Nellie needs cash - after socking a gangster in the face, she's got ten days to make it right. Frightened and caught empty-handed, Nellie turns bootlegger. She accepts a job from her sly friend Lola to pick up some liquor. It should be a cinch, seeing as how Nellie's dependable mechanic friend Felix volunteers to help drive her car. But an encounter at a speakeasy sends idealistic cop Lester on the chase - and he's not exactly looking for cash. As tensions between Chicago lawmen and gangs grow worse by the day, all the fast talking in the world might not be enough to keep Nellie and her friends out of jail. Or alive. * * * * * * * * * * Felix drums his fingers along the steering wheel. A man exits the other car, dressed to the nines with a fine-looking fedora. A very bad feeling begins to swirl inside my chest. He's certainly no cop. The attendant is hurrying with the pump. Felix has tensed beside me, staring with fascination directly ahead. "Are they watching us?" "The one fella is." Felix presses his lips together. But he knows we can't leave. We need the gas. Felix has a back-up can of it stowed somewhere but that's for emergencies. Is this a real emergency? One of the other fellas hops out. Before the door slams I notice what his still-seated friend is holding. A tommy gun. My skin prickles. Felix pales. We're just playing at bootlegging now. But those folks are the real deal-complete with hired guns to protect their hooch. Felix's hand moves to the starter and I knock it away. The one in the fedora has seen us. He casually makes his way over and I know our story isn't good enough; this guy will notice we snooped even when we didn't mean to and we'll be in some sort of a mess. So I ditch our story. I throw myself at Felix and kiss him as thoroughly as I know how.

#WATTYS2017 Winner - HIGHEST RANKING # 5 - DOWNTON ABBEY meets Libba Bray's THE DIVINERS in this YA Historical Fantasy set in 1922 England. Unlike all the Debutantes she knows, eighteen-year-old Vita couldn't care less about her coming out ball. Trapped in her gloomy country estate, all she wants is to spend the summer dancing to jazzy numbers in East End clubs with her best friend Izzy. Freshly returned from a year abroad, Izzy is ready for the thrill of the London Season, with its endless whirl of balls, shopping sprees and horse races. Most importantly, she's counting on Vita to help her find the rich and handsome husband every high society girl deserves. But when Vita is kidnapped and found barely alive in an East London alleyway, the carefree summer the girls had planned turns into something much stranger than they could ever have imagined. With flappers turning up dead all over the city, and Vita terrified of hybrid monsters she swears she can see lurking in Mayfair's marbled houses, Izzy can't help noticing that darkness is seeping into their lives. As Vita starts to believe she's turning into a monster herself, Izzy suspects her friend's sanity is slipping away. Both girls have to find out what's happening before they lose their friendship and status, and their crowd of Bright Young Things becomes a thing of the past. *** A Wattpad Featured Story from 16/02/17 to 25/07/17 HIGHEST RANKING: # 5 on the Wattpad Historical Hot List *** THE BRIGHT AND THE LOST Pinterest Board: http://uk.pinterest.com/emcastellan/the-bright-and-the-lost/ *** Cover designer: Amalia Chitulescu *** Copyright © 2016. All works posted here are the property of EM Castellan. Please do not use without permission. Any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

It must have been a goddess. That he was sure of. In the middle of those dark ashes, a body was laid down, wrapped in a cape that must have been green before but which was now covered in brown because of the ashes. Her face was strikingly pale, of a rare whiteness, but it was also dirtied by the ashes, hiding her cheeks and forehead. But despite those ashes and these dark smudges, one thing was absolutely certain: she was divine. She had a beautiful face with a straight, small nose, lips that were plump even if they were dry and a bit blue from the cold. Her eyes were closed, but her lashes seemed to be long and thick, resting on her cheeks like she was sleeping peacefuly. But all of those traits were not what attracted the Jarl. What did was the streak of hair that rested on her forehead, which had leaked from her hood. Its color was so unique and uncommon for a girl from this country that Tharn remained fixated on it. It was impossible to decide if this girl was a red-head or a blond. It seemed like the gods had not been able to chose in-between those two hair colors and had to give her the tone in between those two: gold. What a waste for such a heavenly creature to be dead, Tharn thought. Well, was he sure she was dead? After kneeling down, he bent over her, placing his fingers on her throat to check if her heart was still beating and placing his cheek in front of her mouth to see if he could feel a breath against his skin. As faint as it was, a light breeze touched him and a slow beat came under his fingers. She was barely alive, but she still was. A sigh of relief escaped him without him controlling it. He had no idea why he was so glad she was alive, but he was sure of one thing : she was coming back with him, and she would be his.

The gowns, the dinners, the dashing young gentlemen ... every young lady dreams of experiencing a taste of life amongst the nobility. For Catherine Taylor, the dream becomes a reality when she is invited by her uncle Sir William Cavendish to stay with him and his family in their charming village of Barnbury. Four weeks of fine parties and even finer society, all in the idyllic Somerset countryside - there surely could be nothing more enjoyable. However, life in Barnbury is not quite as Catherine expected. Between the wild Viscount Russell, his flirtatious sister and the rude Professor Lawes, tension mounts and sparks fly between the younger members of society, as Catherine begins to realise that the noble life might not be quite so 'noble' after all. #24 in Historical Fiction on 28/04/16.

*WATTYS 2018 LONGLIST* Second book in the Pirates series

Chosen when a child, Lady Joselyn is trained to be a ruthless killer. She is destined to be the English king's assassin and protector. Only he and the guild master are supposed to know. It's a life and death secret that must be kept. For an assassin survival is precarious. Life is something you simply cannot take for granted because the next day is never granted. Despite her privileged upbringing, Joselyn quickly learned how to survive on her own and to never trust a soul while following the Guild without question. Upon her return to England, a murderous plot against King Cassiush is discovered. Joselyn is shocked when she finds out who the fiend is. She's even more shocked when the King proposes marriage, a lot. An assassin has never married her king before. The last one who fell in love had her tongue ripped out and was burned alive. Letting her emotions cloud her judgment, Joselynfalls for Cassius and agrees to the marriage, jeopardizing not only his life but her own. Disobeying the Guild means death. Now she must figure out how to keep them both alive and not piles of smoldering ash.

Charlotte Cecil was always a beauty, elegant and refined in disposition. However, the moment she opens her mouth, all propriety of a lady is thrown out the window. With a rotten mouth and quite the head strong temper, it's no surprise that she's remained unmarried. However ever since her father passed away along with her freedom, Charlotte finds herself with no choice to marry on her brothers demands - or else be stripped of the life she's known. Handsome and devilishly charming, Jonathan Lennox fell in love with an angel. Well, a cruel one at that. But ever since he saw her, he was smitten by her looks and her personality. He was a man of challenge and he'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Since returning to London, Jonathan has one thing set on his mind. And that's taking a wife.

Ginelle Hayes is orphaned, and after escaping her abusive guardian with a dark secret, she finds herself alone on the cruel streets of London. Then Eloise Ashford arrives to take the impoverished child under her care and back to her lavish plantation manor where she raises the skittish child as her own. He is an intense and challenging man, with dark secrets and a guarded heart. Dorian Don Ashford returns from sea, eager to seek the comforts of his manor home, only to find an unwanted distraction in the form of a small, orphan girl. As time transpires, the girl transforms into a remarkable beauty that stirs feelings unknown to Dorian, slowly thawing the ice around his heart. But when a sudden tragedy occurs, will it bring Dorian and Ginelle closer, will their desire and destiny bound them together in the thralls of love or will the past resurface and the perilous truths shatter their lives forever? Cover done by M_Rainberry.