Californa Stories

***THIS STORY WILL BECOME FREE ON JULY 15t!*** Kelsey Harris, a young chef moving to LA, struggles with work, the glamour of the hollywood scene, and a new romance with mega-celebrity Ethan Glenn. ***** Kelsey Harris is heading to LA to begin her new career as a sous chef, and she's excited to work under a prestigious mentor and feed fabulous celebrities. She also meets Ethan Glenn, a movie star with doubts about his career, on the plane. But when she settles in, she learns that her new job is more intense than she expected, and her roommate is acting strange. When they happen to be on the same movie set, Ethan and Kelsey begin to grow close, though their friendship is immediately put under scrutiny by friends and the media. A romance begins, but the delicate facade of Hollywood is slipping, and Kelsey has to decide if she wants to escape the photographers and screaming fans, or if she wants to be with Ethan and put up with the consequences. [[Wattys 2018 Shortlist]] [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]

Sophia Miller can't stand rich, arrogant people or the world they live in. especially her new classmates at Weststar elite Academy. She avoids attention, hates drama, and finds comfort in the quiet escape of books and paintings, where she buries the grief of losing her parents. Starting over at Weststar Elite Academy is supposed to be a fresh beginning-but everything changes the moment she crosses paths with golden boy Lorenzo Calloway. The definition of rich ,arrogant ,dangerous and totally not her Typ .

When they were twelve, Michael built a tree house-a quiet sanctuary where he could escape the world. Then came Elise. What started with an accidental meeting soon turned the little tree house into their haven place and made a promise that would change everything. Whoever got married first gets the tree house. It was a ridiculous promise. A childish one. Years later, Michael is chasing the biggest dream of his life, building a career that leaves little room for anything permanent, except a long list of women who never seem to stay. Elise, on the other hand, is ready to settle down. She's dating a man who's only one ring away from making the promise come true. What begins as a harmless competition, slowly unravels years of unspoken feelings, almost-confessions, and the terrifying realization that maybe the person they've been searching for has been standing beside them all along. Because sometimes, your one true love isn't about finding someone new. It's about finally seeing the one who's been there since the beginning.

Hopper McCollum thought he'd escaped his past when he crossed the ocean to St. Gloriana. He was wrong. Because the moment Darjeeling calls his name, he's pulled into a world of quiet power, old traditions, and secrets that were waiting for him long before he arrived. Now Hopper must decide what he really is - a boy shaped by California's shadows, or the young man Gloriana has chosen to stand among its heirs. No battles. No tanks. Just the most dangerous challenge he's ever faced: becoming himself. Readers will follow Hopper into candlelit halls, whispered rites, and the elegant storm of identity he can't outrun. Hopper stops surviving... and starts becoming unforgettable.

Riley and three of her friends got maybe a little crazy idea - to form a band, just for a fun, but maybe not just for that. Dreams of a future. Their band didn't get many reactions in the beggining until one girl asked them to perform at a school event in which they later participated. That changed their situation a bit as other students started to pay them more attention. However, that wasn't always the good one. As everyone this age, they all get through many kinds of relationships-friendships, getting boyfriends or girlfriends... however, there are also self discoveries.

Sam and Eva grew up inseparable-neighbors, best friends, each other's whole world-until Eva's sudden move across the country at thirteen. Now, five years later, Eva is back for senior year. But time changes people, and memories don't always match reality... As old feelings resurface and new truths emerge, Sam and Eva must decide if their past can survive the present-or if some things are meant to stay in memory. *****

You're a certified social worker at the university of sacramento falling in love with a start athlete that is your student.

When the lights go out and there are no stars in the sky to show you the way, a great many things can go wrong. Cassie learns this firsthand. Haunted by the demons of her past, she decides to leave behind everything that once mattered to her. Though her heart still aches for what is gone for good, Cassie sets out to find meaning in her life again. Along the way she's helped by unexpected friendships, and by feelings blossoming for a boy she shares one thing with: they both want to reach the stars.

Up until she turned 15, Emma's life was ordinary. Living in Los Angeles, she had a few friends, and loved learning history. She had a fascination with magic growing up, but after elementary, she moved on from the foolish idea, learning the hard way that magic isn't real and that it's only a lie Hollywood had fed her. But her whole perspective shifted again after the passing of her grandpa. She discovered that he had kept a secret from his whole family-that he once was a warlock. He had given up that life when he moved to L.A. in the 1970s, but Emma and her cousin Carolina are determined to learn every trick in the spell book he left behind. Fast forward to a year later, Emma's life takes a new turn. During junior year, a mysterious new student from San Bernardino catches her eye. He's mysterious, intriguing, and mostly keeps to himself, but why? It's what she wonders every day when they cross paths. Who in Glendale would want to be so secretive, anyway? Bobby Staten-that's who. Due to Bobby's classic leather jacket and dark aesthetic, Emma and her friends constantly joke that maybe he's a vampire and that's the secret he's hiding. It's no longer funny when a series of gruesome killings occur at Verdugo High, described by local officers as a bloody mark found on the necks of the victims. Strangely, this same pattern had appeared earlier in spring at a San Bernardino High School. Coincidence? Rebecca, Emma's other cousin, thinks not. Rebecca quickly suspects a connection and begins investigating Bobby's past and persona. As Emma befriends him, she struggles to believe that someone like Bobby could be capable of crimes so vicious. Rebecca reminds her that one of the only ways to permanently kill a vampire is with a stake through the heart-in much more poetic terms, heart right through Verdugo.

Book One of the "Song Series"! "I like me better when I'm with you..." Avalon Wilde didn't come to NYU looking for love but Will Hunter wasn't part of the plan. He's charming, British, and a little too good at making her forget her walls. What starts as a chance encounter turns into late-night messages, stolen moments, and a connection Avalon doesn't know how to handle. But when secrets from Will's past resurface, ones that hit closer to home than she expected, Avalon has to decide if love is worth the risk... or if protecting her heart means letting go.

"when are you gonna love me back?" "keep on trying and you'll see." in which two childhood best friends start to see each other as something more. with a friend group rallying them together and more than a few shared moments alone, friends turn to lovers just in time to make it onto the podiums.

Courtlynn Castro is the typical 17 year old LA nepo baby. She has famous filipino-American parents and siblings, attends Sierra Canyon, a prestigious high school, goes to Starbucks or erewhon everyday, dances, shops with her nepo baby friends on the weekends, and is starting an acting career. But what happens when her parents want her to experience the normal high school life? And what happens when she meets someone who isn't so different from her? Malachi Barton has one main goal this year- finish high school and pursue acting full time. But what happens when he meets a girl who isn't like the rest? What happens when she makes him flip his life?

« 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖. » It was the cruel summer of 2020. There wasn't much going on at the moment. Or at least that's what Emma thought up until meeting Bobby-a boy she never expected to meet, let alone fall for. But you know what they say-the heart wants what it wants, and sometimes that involves challenging everything you thought you knew about the world, especially when Emma believes that her world should be golden. She's got goals-Grammy winning kind of goals, that don't involve the kind of complications Bobby brings. And falling for Bobby was never part of the plan. Emma's weekends at her cousins' neighborhood was supposed to be carefree and simple. Not lying to sneak off elsewhere. What starts as something unexpected quickly becomes something she can't ignore... even when the secret slips. Because when feelings get involved, so do opinions, expectations, and the people who aren't afraid to make theirs known. Suddenly, growing up isn't as simple as it seems... especially when you're fifteen. « 𝑰 𝒔𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅, '𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒊𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅?' »

the title explains it

in which the new girl in town was trying to get her life back up after she lost her light stiles stilinski/ oc teen wolf s1-s6

She just turned twenty and decided to finally leave her comfort zone. One random trip to Target turns into an awkward run-in with a boy mid-stream... and somehow, it's not the last time.

A story about Indiana Jones turning into a werewolf

Shasmeen is lovely. Mubashir is handsome. Both have been recipients of a string of rejections. When the possibility of them marrying each other suddenly becomes attractive, questions of a union between fire and fire rise. Can love bloom between two who refuse to see eye to eye?

On their first day of school, best friends and competitive swimmers Mable and Conner must adapt to the newest addition to their swim team, a runaway, who is from a very wet, very different world.