"You're a thorn in my side." . . . The bane of my existence has always been Alessandro Silvestro. He's the reason my blood boils every time I'm in the same room as him. The reason why I do things out of my character. He brings out the nasty, rotten side of me. He was my first love. First enemy. And if that wasn't enough, he's also the identical copy of my best friend. The person I hate the most also has the face of the person who means the most to me. And he'll stop at nothing to see me crushed and wither in front of his eyes.

Book 1 in the Sacred Bonds series. There are two kinds of scars on a man. The ones you can see, etched into skin by the Texas sun, and the ones you can't; the kind carved into a twelve-year-old boy watching his legacy get stolen at the barrel of a smile. For AZAD MARTINEZ, the memory is a film reel that never stops playing. The day his father was laid in the ground, his uncle, MALIK MARTINEZ, arrived to deliver his first lesson in family: it's a weakness. He threw Azad and his grieving mother out of their own home, the only home they'd ever known, the very dirt his father had sworn was a sacred trust. But Malik didn't just take the land. As a final, calculated act of cruelty, he took Azad's older brother, ZAYAN, dragging him away to be remade in his own corrupted image. Now, years later, the echoes of that day have become a relentless soundtrack. Azad has built a new empire from nothing, a legitimate agricultural powerhouse, but every success is shadowed by the ghost of what was stolen and the sound of his mother crying in the next room, her tears a silent prayer for the son she couldn't protect, begging for a forgiveness only God and his return can grant. But Malik isn't finished teaching lessons. He's back with a contract, wielding a forgotten debt from Azad's father like a holy writ. He offers a choice that is no choice at all, a move designed to break Azad's spirit completely and claim his hard-won empire. This is where the real war begins. This is a halal romance, a journey deep into the heart of what it means to love under the weight of duty, to seek revenge without losing your soul, and to find the impossible path to forgiveness when the wound is the only thing that reminds you you're still alive. This is a story of one man standing on the land he built, forced to choose between the vengeance that fuels him and the faith that could save him, all while the ghost of his brother and the cries of his mother threaten to pull his world apart at the seams.

When little Isla Mae returns home from college, no one believes how much she's grown-- including her brother's best friend. | NEW CHAPTERS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 5PM EST |

[WATTY'S 2024 SHORTLIST] When the Ravos Kingdom abducts the Nyrial Emperor's dragon, princess Aeryn Glastos must marry the demon prince planning her assassination to save her empire and end the war while guarding her heart and a dangerous secret. ------------ The twenty-two-year-old Draconian princess is starting her final year at Insignia Academy during the height of the war between the Draconians and demons. Aeryn's dream is to graduate as a bonded Champion in the Fire Force and fight in the war. The only problem is, she is the only Draconian to never receive a power by age twenty. Ashamed of his powerless daughter, the emperor of the Nyrial Empire proposes a marriage between Aeryn and the Ravos Kingdom's demon prince to end the war and get his dragon back. Shade Cross is ruthless, cunning, and dangerously powerful. Everything he touches dies, except Aeryn. He awakens something in her she has never felt before and she acquires not one, but two powers. She must navigate both nations built upon lies, betrayals, a forbidden alliance, and a deadly curse. When she discovers the truth about her empire, she must make a choice: protect the secrets and save her father, or side with the enemy. Aeryn needs to be careful because when it reigns, it pours, and she is caught right in the middle of a feuding storm between both nations.

Finding out that your parents, the people that raised you your whole life, weren't your actual parents was hard. Being told at the ripe ol' age of eighteen that you're the last living member from an Ancient Shifter line, the one responsible for creating the First Shifters, was inconceivable. Especially when a group of assassins were on their way to exterminate me simply for just existing. Kidnapped from my bed by three extremely stunning and grumpy Alphas, and forced to attend a special Shifter University located in the middle of nowhere, I have to navigate an unfamiliar and unknown secreted world while simultaneously trying avoiding those who want to use my lineage to enact an age-old curse. Join Nova Nyx as she's dragged into a world full of Shifters, Secrets, and Startling Surprises. ~~~ "Mates?" I repeated owlishly, blinking rapidly at the one worded bomb they just dropped on me "What are Mates?" Instead of answering my question, they just stared back at me in silence, arms crossed over their broad chests. I ignored their silence, choosing to focus on second part of their sentence. "And you're telling me I have three of them?" I gawked "How many are you supposed to get? I can barely handle myself and my life at this point and you want me to worry about three other people?" Of course the most annoying man I've ever met smirked at my bafflement. "I don't think it'll be such a hardship for you" he said, arrogance lacing his tone "After all, I hear these three Mates of yours are very self-sufficient." "Don't forget extremely gorgeous" his Buffon of a friend chimed in, winking at me "That's a plus for you Princess." "One," the third one growled out at me, finally speaking up and adding subsistence to the conversation, startling the banter from the other two "You're only supposed to be blessed with one Mate in your entire lifetime."

She hated him as much as he wanted her, a thorn in her side ever since they met, and it had only gotten worse with each lingering gaze between them. As an aspiring journalist, Presley didn't believe in love-or lasting romantic relationships of any kind. The last thing she needed in her whirlwind of life was to get involved with her best's friends bodyguard-or rather the head of the Cosa Nostra. A man with little use of manners and secrets in his past. Tall, handsome and covered with tattoos, a living and breathing hazard with a cold nature and quiet demeanor. A beautiful monster dressed in leather jackets, and tight fitting shirts. A made man. Silvio had ever met a woman like her, who spent every minute glaring at him. One who he was consumed to touch despite his dislike for touch. A stubborn femme fatale with soft brown eyes and obsidian curls. A woman he'd been trying to resist for a long time. When a threat from her past lands her into the very arms of her nemesis and into a fake relationship, she's forced to get to know him and suddenly, their fake relationship feels more real than anything she had ever own. - preview - God, it felt right like this was where it belonged-this was where I belonged. And she felt it too, given by the slight rush of her breathing, and dazed eyes. There was always this magnetic pull and tug between us, so irresistible and consuming. "Silvio." She let out a small gasp, obviously not expecting me to touch her, and it burned. Everything right now burned but it felt good. Almost in an addicting way like the pain crossed the threshold and soared to become another feeling. "I don't think this is a good idea." "You want me to stop right now, say it but this is a damn good idea." I said in a gruff voice. "Tell me you don't want this, tell me it's a bad idea and I'll stop."

[completed] *Book 1 of the Colorado Ink series* Freya: I thought being dumped by my boyfriend right before I left for college was the worst thing that could happen before I arrived in Colorado. Then, I met him and he turned my world upside down. He held all the power and I knew he would break me, but something told me it would be worth it. Jensen: My life was as good as it was going to get considering all that I'd been through. I didn't expect this college girl from Kentucky to tear down every wall I built to save myself. I swore to myself that I wouldn't feel this way ever again, but this girl had me breaking all kinds of promises to myself.

Cat Logan is a single teen mother with a deadbeat ex-boyfriend and parents that haven't spoken to her since she got herself knocked up at the age of sixteen. She's been making it in the world all on her own and has been raising a child that she loves more than anything. She's used to men running for the hills the moment they find out about her two and a half year-old son, so when her best friend Hannah sets her up on a blind date with aspiring musician and college student Nick Bradley, she reluctantly agrees but isn't exactly expecting to find her happily ever after. Maybe it'll just have to find her instead? #Wattys2019

When a mafia princess's life is threatened, she is forced to accept the help of a bodyguard-the emotionally damaged underboss of a crime family, her ex-boyfriend. Standalone in the Sons of Sin series *** Eva and Reaper were once in love and full of hope. Their relationship came to a dramatic end when the pressure of Eva's political engagement to Reaper's best friend-Torin-became too much. Upon miscarrying their unborn child, Eva turned to Reaper for support, only to be let down when he used alcohol as a coping mechanism. A year later, the two cannot be in the same room as each other without hurling abuse. But when an unknown threat attempts to take Eva's life, Reaper is assigned as her bodyguard. Eva is determined to make him quit and he is just as determined to hang on. But beneath the hostility are unresolved feelings and profound wounds that they'll have to move past to figure out who's trying to kill Eva and why. Content warnings: The story contains references to and depictions of alcoholism and miscarriage that may be upsetting for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.