Contemporary Stories

Selena is the 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍. The villain destined to lose her hot-shot boyfriend to the shy, overlooked nerd. Everyone watches in silent awe as he replaces her in the name of love. It was the perfect fairytale ending, just like the movies... But not for long. After her humiliating breakup, Selena finds herself reluctantly paired with another nerd - a quiet, reserved genius named Noel. In her loneliness, she calls him her best friend. What Selena doesn't know, is that Noel has been watching her far longer than she thinks. And the more she attends to him, the more he becomes 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅. As her care of him gets him noticed, and his research catapults him to international success, the world reaches out for a piece of the soon-to-be billionaire. But Noel only wants one person. Selena. And he will do whatever it takes to ensure she never leaves his side. ─ ⊹ ⊱ ⊰ ⊹ ─ 𝑺𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒓𝒅 𝒙 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒆 & 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝚃𝚘𝚙 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: #1 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 #1 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗ess

Sometimes you just might have to die to live again. ***** When art historian Reine Baldwin meets Gabe Moran, a charming journalist, she has no idea their blossoming love will shatter her comfortable life. But a series of clues lead Reine to discover that she's not alone in knowing that she was born centuries ago and-worse yet-there are many things she apparently doesn't even remember. Reine has to face a forgotten past and a forgotten ex-husband (the handsome billionaire Max Baldovini), who-like her-is immortal and cannot truly die. Should she trade her ordinary life with Gabe for the love of Max, a man who's worshipped her for half a millennium? The choice should be easy, until Reine starts to remember things that Max is desperate to make her forget. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

EPILOGUE WILL BE FREE STARTING JUNE 29TH, 2023! Diana wakes up in pain, tied to a bed and unable to escape. She's been trapped by a group of surgeons with a twisted passion and she's their next victim. ***** Diana Slater, a typical University student, wakes up in pain, tied to a bed and unable to see. After a mysterious figure, known only as Dr. Sweeney, nurses her back to health she finds out the truth. The Doctor has kidnapped her and given her a cat's eyes as part of a larger ploy to turn humans into collectibles. Now she's being trained by Ben, another patient, with the skin of a snake, on how to behave. Diana and Ben are forced to work together to try to escape the murderous doctors - until she discovers Ben might not be the victim he makes himself out to be. The only person Diana can trust is herself, and if she fails, her eyes won't give her another nine lives. [[Winner of the 2018 Fiction Awards for Best Horror Story]] [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston

Tyler is being hunted by the Grinning Man and flees to Marble Springs, where he teams up with Serling and Price, real estate agents who sell haunted houses. ***** After his brother disappears and a burial mound explodes, high school student Tyler Graves starts having strange visions. His brother warns him that something is coming for him. Soon, Tyler's entire family is slaughtered, and he's being hunted by an otherworldly entity known as The Grinning Man. Fleeing to Marble Springs, he meets Serling and Price, real estate agents who specialize in selling haunted houses. It's up to this unlikely trio to stop a madman from destroying the world - by literally unleashing Hell on Earth! (Sequel to Apartment 239.) [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

[This story is now FREE!] When Andie Bank agreed to take a job to help save her friend's reputation, it wasn't supposed to end up in a romance-fueled galactic rescue mission with her irresistibly hot boss. ***** With a merciless tabloid set on destroying the Hollywood career and reputation of Andie's best friend, Andie accepts a job offer with the same company on the condition that they leave her friend alone. She knew about her smoking hot boss when she accepted the accounting position, but the tabloid failed to mention small details like celebrity kidnappings, alien imposters, camera-shaped ray guns, and their absolutely abysmal knowledge of the American tax system. Unable to deny their atomic attraction, Andie and her boss's kisses quickly evolve into a forbidden affair that must remain secret at all costs. When a certain vengeful ex-fiancé discovers their secret, the laser guns come out and Andie is forced to flee for her life. As time runs out, Andie must choose between love or committing a crime that goes against everything she stands for. Plus hot alien sex! ... [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]] Cover designed by Eva (Fathima) Ismail

After falling in love with a younger and much less successful man, can Yiwen convince herself and her parents to accept him into their wealthy family? ***** When Yiwen Wang suddenly finds herself 30 and single, she lets her well-meaning best friend talk her into a blind date with the handsome Zi'an Li. And not only is he plucked straight out of a movie screen, his witty banter over dinner also convinces Yiwen he's exactly the type to make her toes curl. Yet, by some wicked twist of fate, he's five years younger than her and has no house, car, or stable, high-paying job. So how is she ever going to convince herself and her parents that he's the right choice? Especially when her new, attractive boss makes it very clear that he's interested in her? [[1st Place, Flower Awards, Chicklit Category]] [[1st Place, The Golden Awards, Chicklit Category]] [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

ORGINALLY A 'PAID' STORY. NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON/KU *** 4 CHAPTER SAMPLE HERE *** Jake Bryant, a disgraced Chicago detective, inserts himself into the police investigation of his murdered best friend to protect the woman he loves - his friend's widow. ***** Jake Bryant, a former Chicago PD detective, rushes home after his best friend is killed. Determined to find the murderer, he starts his own investigation into Tom's death. However, the case is complicated by the involvement of a motorcycle gang, drugs, and Jake's feelings for Tom's widow. But Jake has bigger problems when the police set the killer free- who then decides to silence Tom's family as well. Now Jake is faced with the ultimate dilema. Does he trust a broken system to protect Tom's family? Or does he seek his own brand of justice? [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION. You have to step off the trail to find your path . . . When her mother unceremoniously dumps her at Camp Mapplewood for the summer, Emma Lane's hopes of repairing their fractured relationship are gone with the wind. Now she's stuck in the wilderness facing her worst fears. Trees? Terrifying. Spiders? Even worse. And don't even get Emma started on how she feels about camp activities. But Emma's got a plan, and she will do anything in her power to get kicked out of camp, from sleeping in to playing practical jokes on her fellow campers. Yet when Emma draws the attention of her illusive and attractive camp counselor Vivian Black, she has to come to terms with the fact that how her summer starts isn't necessarily how it might end. Will Vivian be the key to unlocking Emma's fears once and for all?

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION. It only takes one moment to change your life forever . . . After her mother's deportation last year, all Soledad "Sol" Gutierrez wants is for her life to go back to normal. Everything's changed-new apartment, new school, new family dynamic-and Sol desperately wants to fit in. When she joins her community college's history club, it comes with an odd initiation process: break into Westray's oldest house and steal . . . a fork? There's just one problem: while the owners of the house aren't home, their grandson Ethan is, and when he catches Sol with her hand in the kitchen drawer, she barely escapes with the fork intact. This one chance encounter irrevocably alters her life, and Sol soon learns that sometimes fitting in isn't as important as being yourself-even if that's the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

A heartbroken fashion designer escapes to Tokyo to be an assistant on a movie set, only to get caught up in an illicit, whirlwind romance with the lead actor. ***** After discovering her fiance is cheating on her, heiress and fashion designer Lily Porter is whisked away to Tokyo to help a production company adapt one of her great-aunt's novels. She isn't thrilled about lying about being her aunt's assistant until it throws her into the path of the movie's lead actor, who is enough of a distraction to keep her mind off her ex for good. But can there really be a future for them when their relationship is built on lies, false identities, and a secret engagement? [[Wattys' Longlisted]] [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

Abe Barrett is surrounded by ghosts - some of them are even his roommates! But now Abe's visions show something dark coming, and it wants Abe dead. ***** When Abe Barrett's family died, he started seeing ghosts. Soon he was living with three of them, and it turns out ghosts are just as eccentric as people. Abe is bothered by the ghosts constantly since he doesn't want to solve their murders, avenge them or do much of anything. He just wants to do his job and relax. His dreams, however, have been getting darker as people in town start to disappear. Soon Abe realizes there is something hunting him, and that same threat was involved with his family's deaths. A legacy of darkness is chasing Abe Barrett, and his supernatural roommates may not be enough to save him. [[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION Finished high school, Emma's forced to spend her summer at a camp. But a striking counsellor, Vivian, changes her plans from escape to together forever. ***** Seventeen-year-old Emma Lane usually lives with her dad, but she's once again being forced to spend the summer with her homophobic mom. This time, however, instead of spending a summer on the beach, her mom drops her off at Camp Mapplewood while she heads off on a cruise with her new husband. Emma hates the camp and tries to escape, but she is caught by a camp counsellor Vivian. She's drawn to Vivian's voice and her charm, while Vivian is fascinated by Emma's instinct to protect others and to feel with her whole heart. The two grow close, but the end of the summer looms. Can they find a way to stay together when they have to return to their normal lives? (Has a sequel: My Pretend Summer.) [[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]

Julie Leong always does as she's told. Studies hard, works late shifts at the family restaurant, and carefully lays out a plan for a well paying career. But with an impossible-to-please dad and annoyingly perfect sister, Julie can't seem to ever catch a break. Everything changes one stormy night, when an awkward food delivery for Callen Sterling, mysterious and handsome CEO of Sterling Studios, leads to the offer of a lifetime, and her perfect plan goes out the window. What starts out as a harmless side gig quickly grows into so much more as they find themselves impossibly drawn to each other. She learns of anonymous threats Callen has been receiving - and they're only getting worse. But it takes a lot more than a few death threats to scare the determined (and stubborn) Julie away. Her life becomes more and more entangled with Callen's, until she ultimately finds herself torn between two paths. Misery in exchange for money and success, or risking it all for a chance at love and happiness.

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION How do you trust the ground when all you've known is flight? In this breathtaking debut, Leigh Ansell has created a compelling, heartbreaking, and truly engaging story about a young girl used to flying high only to be faced with living life with her two feet firmly on the ground . . . Seventeen-year-old Corey Ryder can't remember a time when she wasn't gliding through the air of Cirque Mystique's big top. As a trapeze artist in a traveling circus, Corey wakes up every day in a different place, buzzing for the moment she can suspend gravity during the night's performance. When the circus pulls into small-town Sherwood, California, everything seems normal - aside from meeting the exceptionally cute Luke Everett at a local diner. But that night, in the midst of the performance, tragedy strikes and flames overtake the tent. While Corey narrowly escapes, in the ashes of the circus pitch lies the only home she's ever known. Repeatedly thrown out of her comfort zone, Corey must learn how to push toward her future without forgetting her past, what it means to be a daughter to a mother she's never known, and how to navigate the confusing magic of first love, even as she performs the high-wire act of being true to who you really are.

After the accident, Noah Archer built a wall around himself. But Riley Dawson is curious about him, and she's determined to meet the man behind his defenses. ***** Riley Dawson has always noticed Noah. He was the most popular guy on campus, until he lost his parents in a car accident. Now he's withdrawn and silent. Mustering up the courage to give her condolences, the two end up talking, and Riley grows determined to help Noah find himself again. Every time she coaxes a smile from him, she can feel the ice around his heart melting. But Riley knows that Noah's loss is still close to him. She's opening up her heart, but can Noah do the same? He's got so much to lose, but now, so does she. [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

ORGINALLY A 'PAID' STORY. NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON/KU *** 4 CHAPTER SAMPLE HERE *** After a great loss, Jake Bryant finds himself in Las Vegas. To fill the void in his heart, he searches for a woman's missing daughter and finds more than he bargained for. ***** Two years after his daughter was kidnapped, Jake Bryant meets a woman in desperate need of help. Seeing the opportunity to redeem himself, Jake probes Las Vegas's seemly underbelly to find the pimp responsible for abducting her daughter. But navigating Sin City's sex trade business proves tougher than Jake thought, and he finds himself digging his own grave at gunpoint. Can Jake find a way to escape? Or will his mistakes lead to more death? [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

When Caroline returns home to find both her crush and the bad boy next door want to be with her, she's determined to keep her secrets from ruining everything. ***** Caroline Rogers is back. Having left behind her life to attend a prestigious musical academy the last three years, Caroline returns a whole new person, determined not to be weighed down by the scars of bullying that plagued her before. Her best friend and life-long crush is there to welcome her back, and he might finally return feelings for her. If only she could trust him again after what happened in their past. And when one of her former bullies, captivating bad boy Kieran, starts trying to connect with her in the wake of betrayal, Caroline is left confused over who she can really trust in this town, and how far gone she is from her past. Content and/or Trigger Warning: Not suitable for readers under the age of 13. There will be some mature language and sexual themes present. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION When her initiation into her college's History Club goes awry, Sol has to come face to face with Ethan-the cute guy whose house she just broke into. ***** Soledad Gutierrez, or Sol to her friends, decides to join the History Club at her Community college. However, this club is not like other clubs: they have an initiation process and a slew of other 'extracurricular activities.' In order to join the club, Sol must break into the oldest house in her small Californian town and steal one of their forks. The club members provide all the materials to break in; she just needs to take the utensil, take a selfie in the kitchen, and get out undetected-with the fork, of course. The problem is: Ethan Winston spots Sol in his grandparent's house, and he's determined to uncover the reason behind the break-in. However, both he and Sol are thrown for a loop when feelings begin to develop between them. And as Ethan becomes suspicious of the History Club, he and Sol get tangled in an adventure none of them were expecting. [[word count: 90,000-100,000 words]] [[Wattys 2019 Winner for Young Adult + Being Published by Wattpad Books in Fall 2020]]

ORGINALLY A 'PAID' STORY. NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON/KU *** 4 CHAPTER SAMPLE HERE *** When Jake Bryant's daughter is kidnapped for ransom, he's forced to gamble with her life in order to discover which of his enemies has taken her hostage and to what end. ***** Jake Bryant's daughter, Sam, is in trouble. Her all-star quarterback boyfriend gave her pills to help her study for a test, but the pair are caught on school grounds with the unprescribed drugs. Since Sam's grandfather is a district court judge, she gets off with a slap on the wrist. Austin isn't as lucky. But with Austin's precious future at stake, his brother attempts a Hail-Mary pass by kidnapping Sam for his release. Can Jake rescue her before time runs out, or will they both pay for her mistake with their lives? [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

ORGINALLY A 'PAID' STORY. NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON/KU *** 4 CHAPTER SAMPLE HERE *** Jake Bryant must stop the criminal mastermind who orchestrated the murder of his best friend from killing his new family. ***** More dark secrets from Jake Bryant's past come to light. Dolan, the criminal mastermind who ordered the hit on Jake's best friend, Tom, is searching for evidence Tom collected against him for another murder - evidence Tom hid with his widow before his death. Desperate to bring Dolan to justice, Jake finds himself in a race against time to save the lives of those he loves. But with allies double-crossing him left and right, Jake must discover who he can trust before Tom's family is destroyed along with the evidence. Can Jake win the race or will he die just like his friend? [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]