'"If she's somehow convinced you that she doesn't control you then she's exercised the greatest control of all," she says so tiredly it makes me immediately conscious of how naive I've been. "She decides your every move."' When the adult population of the Herel Plain, a small country known equally for its film industry and repressive government, is decimated by a civil war, the state sets up an auction system to distribute the newly orphaned youth into American foster homes. The so-called "Pageant" separates Savannah from the brother she has raised and places her in the hands of a violent, brooding entrepreneur and his wife, a callous and alluring college professor, who enlist her - along with their thirteen year old daughter Laurencia and their irreverent, young assistant, Nasrine - as a dealer in the high-end American drug trade. When Nas comes to her with an unthinkable scheme to take off with the money, Savannah sees her opportunity to be reunited with her brother and give him the life they never had. To run away is all she ever wanted, but when the moment finally strikes, something about her new employer makes her want to stay. COVER ART by the wonderful @celaestial; thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart, friend!

"It was the typical American marriage: day after ceaseless day of betrayal, right up to his very last breath." A full-time surgeon and full-time mother, Dr. Casey Kenny's third career is damage control. Casey's days are spent covering her husband's tracks as his constant scandals begin to unravel; but living in the public eye as the wife of a United States senator, Casey knows that an unhappy marriage is just her pill to swallow. Just like Senator Wilson Kenny, Casey has some secrets of her own, but she swears her extramarital affairs are just how she keeps herself sane; that is, until her former intern Hallie Strickland begins to change Casey's ideas about love and commitment, and both Casey and Hallie begin to put themselves on the line to rescue the other from deterioration. Casey finds herself in deeper than she ever anticipated. When Wilson Kenny is assassinated mere days after his affair hits the news, all fingers point to Casey. As always, it's her job to pick up the pieces, but now it's her own past that she needs to cover. Cover art by the wildly talented @JaneDoeSmith1! Trigger warning: discussion of DV/IPV

Ally is a Operating Theatre Nurse who loves her new job working in one of London's busiest hospitals after having worked in Gambia for two years. After putting her past life behind her can she move on when a new surgeon and familiar face turns up. Completed 2015 Edited 2018