A no-nonsense IRS agent sent to investigate a family business for tax fraud finds it difficult to do her job when the suspect is so frustratingly adorable. ~~~A 2021 WATTY AWARD WINNER!~~~ ***** Summer Hong is good at her job. As a field agent for the IRS's criminal investigation division, she knows never to let things get personal. Her resolve is tested, however, when she meets the beguiling Holly Layton. Holly loves Christmas, and loves the Layton Christmas Tree Farm even more. If only her father would take her seriously and let her play a bigger role in the company. Dealing with an IRS agent breathing down their necks isn't what she had in mind, though. Still, if she succeeds in somehow making the problem go away, maybe she'll finally get the recognition she deserves. But how do you get rid of a "problem" you secretly have a crush on?

{ONC2021 2nd Place Overall, Round Two Ambassador Picks & Shortlist} When Max O'Brien receives an almond with a skull painted on it, he initially plays it off as a prank. But, after his wife leaves town, he begins discovering more of the nuts hidden around the house. More disturbing than that is that some unseen intruder is keeping an accurate running count. The more almonds Max finds, the stranger things get. Mysterious noises. Moving Objects. Damaged valuables. It's a haunting that grows in power with each success in the involuntary scavenger hunt. As the almonds pile up so do the threats until Max realizes he may just not survive. __________ ONC2021 Prompt 62 Cover by @mensemortuis 1st Place in Horror/Paranormal - The Opulence Writer's Awards Also posted on Royal Road

quiet isn't always violent. #1 in poetry 11/2

For months Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her - and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers. His family. But flowers can't survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out...