Henley agrees to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for a fee, falling in love as she wonders - how is he involved in her brother's false conviction? ****** Henley Linden's brother is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and she'll take any job to raise the money needed to free him. Soon, she's agreed to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for ten thousand dollars, so his mother will ease up the pressure on him to find a wife. But once Henley is enmeshed in Bennett's world, he falls for her, and she starts to have feelings for him as well. Despite her romance with Bennett, as she grows closer to the Calloways, Henley realizes they are somehow involved in her brother's conviction. Journeying deeper into a world of wealth and conspiracies, Henley is forced to rely on Bennett, though doing so could cost her everything. [[word count: 200,000-250,000 words]]

In this delightful short story, enterprising actress and amateur sleuth Isobel Spice faces down a theater ghost to learn the truth behind an actor's mysterious death during a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's gothic operetta "Ruddigore."

AUTHOR'S NOTE Thank you for taking the time to read my story! If you want to learn more about me and my other books please visit my website, marychrisescobar.com (there's a link in my profile). DESCRIPTION Carolyn’s life has gone pretty much according to plan. She’s followed all the rules. Her star is rising at work, she’s just gotten engaged to an amazing man and she lives in a perfectly decorated apartment. A delayed flight throws her life and plans off schedule. What she learns, stuck overnight in the airport, has her questioning everything and puts her face to face with her own missed connection. Follow twenty-six year old Carolyn’s quarter-life coming-of-age story, the demise of her life as she knows it and the discovery of her own truth. PRAISE FOR DELAYED "I don’t know how Mary Chris Escobar did it, but she basically renewed my faith in the saying, 'Love is lovelier the second time around.'" - coffeebookmom.wordpress.com "The story renews your faith in forgiveness and the power of love." - Amazon review

Imagine the second you're born, a consultant removes you from your mother's grasp and runs a battery of genetic and physiological tests on you. Thirty minutes later they give you a score out of one hundred which denotes your level of perfection. If your score is above eighty and you work hard to maintain that score you will have a charmed life; well fed, well-rewarded, spoiled. But fall below eighty and you're labelled Flawed, and life will not be so kind. Hannah is adopted by a Flawed family when her birth parents choose their social standing over their daughter and endures a life of struggle, hunger and service. One day Hannah is escorted to the regional government office and told that the Consultant who delivered her, who labelled her Flawed got it wrong! Now, she is being relocated back to her birth parents, to live as one of the Ninety-Five- all medically and legally judged as perfect. Entering this new life Hannah has an impossible decision to make which puts not only hers, but the lives of everyone she cares about at great risk. "The Numbered- where no one wants to be number one". Authors notes: -This is a first draft of my story and will be edited soon. -2013 Began writing Flawed -2015 Watty Winner/ Named changed to The Numbered -2016 Completed The Numbered -2019 Optioned by eOne for development into a TV show.

Now a digital pilot for SYFY The Society knows when we're going to die. They imprint it on our arms at birth. I was supposed to die yesterday. I'm the girl who's Expired. Winner of the 2020 Readers Choice Awards Cover by @Forcade

Banished for five years, Lady Belinda Carrington returns to Willowfair, claiming to know things one would find impossible to believe. With her tainted reputation, can Belinda make Town Guard McKenzie Haverston help her in her pursuit of the truth? *** After her banishment five years ago, Belinda Carrington returns with secrets and tales too impossible to believe. But something in her lies makes McKenzie Haverston desperate for the truth... When Belinda shows up in McKenzie's home asking for protection in return for important information on a case he's working on, he rejects her. But when he learns where she had been banished after her great scandal five years ago, he finds himself striking a deal with the woman-he protects her, she gives him answers. The question now is: how true is her tale? She was once considered the fairest of them all, but one scandal later, she has become the most reviled. And she is also being hunted. If Belinda wants to stay alive, she has to start trusting McKenzie Haverston, a task she finds to be surprisingly easy to do. However, as the truth of the past begins to resurface, and the secrets of her scandal is revealed, Belinda is confronted by her own demons, causing her to doubt her own reality. Trigger warnings: abuse, violence, mental trauma, sexual assault, mental health illness

The Ice Lady... She is not the most charming. In fact, she is too cold, too frank, and too flat. Worse, the only home she has known all her life has been taken away from her and she has to find a way to keep it. Upon her mother's strong suggestion, she has to at least try to seduce the next Lord of Langworthy. The Cursed Friend... He is charming and rich. He is handsome and smart. Women wanted him. If only he was not cursed. For now, having everything leaves him with nothing to do but be the friend to help the future Lord of Langworthy escape from Lady Ice. When these two completely opposite individuals cross paths, sparks fly. (This story is a standalone prequel title in the Everard Family series.)

SHE IS CONFLICTED... Emma Everard has said yes to marrying Samuel Theobald, a dear friend of hers. Emma cannot find a single fault in her decision, but she also has trouble recognizing if it is the correct one, especially when someone else comes along to pique her interest, both intellectually and physically, as he exposes her into a completely different world in the Town she has never seen before. HE WANTS IT ALL... Samuel Theobald has always been in love with the beautiful, intelligent and opinionated Emma Everard. And now that she has said yes, he cannot be happier. The Town loves him for his bold articles and he revels at the freedom the pen provides, but trouble and intrigue will soon make him face choices that may change the course of his career forever. THE INTRUDER... For Wynne Hastings, getting close to Emma Everard is beyond knowing more about his friend's future wife. He is on a mission to shake the Everards and those they protect. Wynne is quite willing to do anything to get closer to Emma and the secrets of the Everards, even if it meant seducing her and losing his best friend. But there is one thing Wynne does not know: Emma Everard is on to him and she is ready. THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL... In the end, it is a battle of good and evil; of wits and tricks; and of loyalty, ambition and love. Still set in the fictional place of the Town, this final book in the Everard Family series follows one man obsessed to push society to fight while struggling to keep those he loves, another man who slowly falls for the wrong woman his family wants to ruin, and the heroine who happens to be in the middle of a silent, brewing war against herself, the man she adores, and the one she is fighting not to love. [This story is a standalone title in the Everard Family series] [This is a FREE book with PAID exclusive chapters]

THE BANDIT She merely meant to steal and get away with it. She did not mean to find a dying woman and be chased for it. She merely meant to help. She did not mean to be dressed in a gown and be a target for murder. THE GUARD He was tasked to chase them. He was not expected to work with them. He merely meant to pay for an oddly professional service. He was not expecting it to be complicated and sexually dangerous. (This story is a title in the Everard Family series.)

SHE IS DIFFERENT... Sophia owes her life to none but one man: Marcus Durley. After saving her from hell, he took her to Rock'oles, the most affluent and sophisticated brothel in the Town, where women are given more freedom, a far cry from the brothel slum Marcus rescued her from. But unlike the others, her role is not to service men in bed, instead, she serves them to serve Marcus. She does what Marcus wants for she knows of his secrets and shares his pains. He has always been the only true man in her life. A PLAN... Marcus is part of the illegal slave trade in the Town and Sophia is helping him achieve his true goals with loyalty and trust. The Town Guards, particularly Ralph Everard, has been making things difficult. But Marcus has a plan and Sophia is a willing participant. UNTIL HE CAME ALONG... Nicholas has always been curious about the mysterious woman behind one of the most wanted chambers inside Rock'oles and he is not the only one who tried to get an invite and failed. The woman only allows entry to selected gentlemen, men who make his Town Guard brother, Ralph, raise a brow in suspicion. Nicholas is urged to court an invite into the mysterious woman's chamber with the belief that she is the key to solving the slavery case. And as if by some miracle she welcomes him into her dark, quiet world. He is there to spy on her, but the more he learns of her secrets, the more he discovers things that put his playful, tender, and seductive reputation to its greatest test thus far. Still set in the fictional place of the Town, this sixth book in the Everard Family series follows two people determined to protect those they value most. And in their quest to help those they love to escape failure, they find themselves a victim of their own plans and of the undeniable passion and love that will never ebb even after the certain tragedy of which they are heading to. (This story is a title in the Everard Family series.)