There lived a handsome prince engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world. Despite her beauty, she failed to capture the prince's heart. Instead, the prince fell for a rather average woman who also captured the heart of the cold, Second Prince. Blinded by jealousy, the beautiful woman was eventually killed by the Second Prince. The lesson of this story emphasizes that looks aren't everything, and what really matters is the 'true beauty' inside a person's heart. Yeon-Woo is a middle aged woman in her late 30s. After she passes away from a plane incident with her loving husband, she wakes up as Celine, the beautiful woman who is fated to die. As Yeon-Woo rewrites her story, she learns how to heal and love again. DISCLAIMER: although the story is mine, the art was not done by me!

A family lost and a son alone. A boy's life at its end and beginning. An adventure filled with fantastical terrors, where a child becomes a monster, and a monster becomes a legend. *** These were the ominous words the ghost Marmy Jo spoke when foretelling Josiah's future: "Got a world of pain comin' your way, boy-and fast! But, if you make it, you'll come out a stronger beast than many." When a wolf attack leaves Josiah mortally wounded, his sister Credence is forced to abandon him to find help. Where she went, he cannot say, for the last thing he remembers is hearing his heart stop. Josiah, the boy who died, wakes to find the world much changed. Deep within, a horror howls, threatening to tear from his bones at any moment. With his sister gone, Josiah is alone for the first time in his life, and must learn how to survive in the dark, dark woods. But how can an eight-year-old defend against devious spiders, cruel kings, and bloodthirsty titans? And how long can Josiah refuse the call of darkness before he's pulled down a path of chaos and blood? 📚 Book Three of the "Bedtime Story" Series 📚 Content Warning: This story contains violence including death of children, mild language, alcohol and tobacco use.

Sadie's secretly in love with her best friend Connor. When the lights go off at a party, she kisses him in the dark. The next day, Connor enlists her help to find his mystery kisser. Sadie is stuck in the middle, will she ever be able to tell him how she feels?

15 year old Anastasia Adams has spent her entire life on run. She and her mother have never spent more than 18 months in any one location, often times leaving with just the clothes on their backs. Despite the havoc that this is wreaking on Ana's social and academic life, her mother offers no explanation as to why it is they're constantly moving, or even what it is they're running from. But that all changes one night in the woods of Pelion, SC--the night the terror catches up with them. Fearing her mother dead, and having barely escaped with her own life, Ana is whisked away to world of privilege and tradition. It's a fairytale come to life. The poor girl used to living out of a suitcase is now a resident of one of the most exclusive addresses in the world. The people there adore her and she catches the eye of a young guardian who sees her as a refreshing change to the girls he's grown up with. If only they could find her mother. If only she knew the consequences of being born a "conjurer." If only she knew who that green eyed stranger was, the stranger who'll tell her about a past too romantic, and too tragic to be real. In the end, she'll have to choose between the boy who has captured her heart and the stranger she can feel down in her soul, assuring at least one of them an almost certain death.

[2022 Wattys Winner] When love cynic Madison Watson starts university, she vows to follow three simple rules. One: Work out at least twice a week. Two: Get an internship. Three: Stay away from men. But after a chance encounter with three guys in the dorm halls, Madi's enlisted to transform a shy and love-sick hopeless case into the perfect boyfriend. Unbeknownst to her optimistic accomplices, she's out to prove a hypothesis of her own - love is a construct, and heartbreak is inevitable. ♡ A college story about first love and first heartbreak, reflecting on the ins and outs of dating in the age of technology. Achievements: 2022 WATTY WINNER (New Adult and W by Wattpad Books Award) Featured on Editors' Picks by @wattpadexplorer (Apr 21) #1 in The Siren Awards 2020 (user run) #1 in The Creator's Choice Awards 2020 (user run) Best Protagonist in The Creator's Choice Awards 2020 (user run) Ranks: #2 collegestudent (Sep 20) #1 contemporary romance (Feb 21) #3 newadult (Feb 21) #1 collegestories (Feb 21)

Paranelope, a ghost hunter who's been cancelled for faking evidence, must discover the truth behind a local cryptid in order to clear her name. -- Penelope, better known as the ghost hunter PARANELOPE to her millions of followers, has only ever wanted one thing: to find solid, irrefutable proof of the supernatural. But when her ex-boyfriend outs all of her evidence as fake, her fans and the rest of the Internet are quick to turn on her. Now not only is Penelope betrayed, heartbroken, and #cancelled... She's not sure what to believe in anymore. Seeking refuge, Penelope lands in the quiet little mountain town of Ridgestone, far away from the city and reliable cell service. But Ridgestone isn't as quiet as it first appeared, and washed-up influencers aren't the only thing haunting its surrounding woods. The little town is home to a cryptid, a legendary monster, just like the ones she used to hunt. A monster that seems particularly interested in Penelope. If only someone would believe her... Rankings ------------ Featured on the Front Page Featured in Don't Get Ghosted #1 in #Paranormal #1 in #Cryptid #1 in #Creature #1 in #FolkHorror #2 in #Ghost

Summer, sunshine, and a lovely beach...Lilly couldn't have asked for a better way to relax during her pregnancy together with her hot billionaire husband. Except maybe for the little problem of them being shipwrecked. No water. No supplies. No hope of rescue. Now it is Mr and Mrs Ambrose against the jungle. All that is missing is a sinister plot and some bloodthirsty pirates... The 8th volume of Robert Thier's "Storm and Silence" series.

This was NOT how Lilly had expected her honeymoon to go. Ever since their ship left the shore, she has been feeling dizzy, irritable and nauseous...and what the heck are these strange cravings she keeps having? Her brand-new husband is no help either. Suddenly, stoic, icy billionaire Mr Rikkard Ambrose has turned into a moody, overprotective caveman. Oh well, there's no bad mood that can't be cured by an action-packed adventure in the Wild West, right? Volume 7 of the Storm and Silence series.

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Sonya Marston is a rational woman. She's a graduate student, an anthropology major, and not the kind of person easy to scare with silly ghost stories. She only believes in what she can see, what she can touch, and what facts can prove. However, when misfortune in the form of immortal, marauding vampires strikes her class's expedition, Sonya will have to expand her beliefs to include the undead, magic, and a set of ever-vigilant Norse gods. Ghost story or not, one bite to the neck changes Sonya's life forever. Now, she must accept the help of a charming vampire exile named Anton to return to his home of Vidarheim and find the man who bit her. Untended, the curse in her wound will grow and turn her into a senseless ghoul. All is not well in Vidarheim though, so finding-and convincing-her attacker to complete her change will be more difficult than Sonya or Anton anticipate. Time is running short, the curse grows, and Sonya races against fate and realm politics to find the cure before she loses her life and mind forever. --- AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. Written for #NaNoWriMo2021