Grownupreads Histórias

England 1921. For fifty handicapped veterans left without home or job after WW1, the only person standing between them and utter destitution is Olivia Altringham. Lacking sufficient funds and a support network, Olivia has managed to keep her veteran's programme running by sheer determination and force of personality. Now, a soldier she had an affair with during the war has suddenly reappeared in her life, forcing her to re-examine their time together and how she ended their affair. At the same time, mysterious and deadly events unfold on the estate that threaten to unbalance the safe environment she has created for her handicapped charges. The times, and circumstances, are rapidly changing and Olivia realises she must change with them -- or risk going under completely. 🔔 #1 in Historic Fiction May 2020 🔔 Featured on the Wattpad Hidden Gems list May/June 2020 🔔 1st place in the Jelsa Awards 2019 🔔 1st place in the One Million Project Awards 2018 in the category Historic/General fiction. 🔔 1st place in the Asteria Awards 2018 in the category of Historical Fiction 🔔 1st place in the Rise Awards 2018 in the category of Historical Fiction

On his way to becoming Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle pauses to settle a score with Minerva McGonagall. A little Polyjuice creates a terrible mystery for Minerva and Albus. ✔ COMPLETE ***** Trigger warning for non-con FEATURED STORY: The Petulant Poetess FANDOM CLASSIC: The Petulant Poetess

For the Unending Love Contest. It is based on the official prompt of the poem by Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore's 'Unending Love."

Years have gone by, the Cold War is over, the Special Weapons Program has been shut down along with the old Continuity of Government Program, and the USSR is a fading memory. Old weapons have been set aside, shelved, and largely forgotten. One such weapon is Anthony Stillwater, a relic of the Cold War, trained to bring about the end of the world and fight in the rubble. However, relics are shelved when they have no use. After being put out the military, Anthony Stillwater thought he had left it all behind. Living in the woods with his wife and four children, he's known around town as a relatively quiet man who dotes on his young wife and children when he isn't tending bar at the local seaside tavern. Although he bears scars from his time in the military, beyond nightmares he has left behind the dark, cold, and horror of his military service. A buried secret has been found, and events are in motion to remind Stillwater that no matter what lies he tells himself, no matter what masks he wears, he will always be nothing more than a weapon and Property of the U.S. Army.

Book #2 in the Chrim Chronicles series •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The second book in the Chrim Chronicles occures in three different worlds that collide in an inevitable war. The reckoning is coming. In part two of the Chrim Chronicles, the two missing bloodlines, Moreau and Fynce, make their return, and not without bloodshed. Meanwhile, Wren tries to escape her way out of Tartarus the Underworld, making a lot of enemies along the way. Back in Chrim the witches of the Infamous Coven who were once best friends now face each other in a battle of life and death. (Ongoing and has yet to be edited)

Schoolteacher Fiona is on a mission for grandpa - find a missing Zimbabwean artefact, the precious soapstone Bird of the Gods. Conrad - dodgy archaeologist contracted to the stunning influencer Amanda aka #mandalove - has the same job. When Fiona and Conrad's paths cross, what was supposed to be a straightforward quest turns into a crazy race around the world. With antagonists popping up at every corner - from mountain tops to underground settings like Serbian caves, frozen Canadian crypts, and the silver mines of the old West, Fiona and Conrad have to work together to catch their bird. Mutual respect grows into something more intimate. But not everything is quite as it seems, and they had better watch their backs lest they too end up underground, this time permanently.

Sybill Trelawney learns to live with her Inner Eye, cooking sherry, and Minerva McGonagall, in that order. "You can't use your Gift, it uses you," Professor Dorsett tells Sybill, and over the years Sybill finds out how lonely a Seer's life can be. But when she turns to drink to help her manage it, she finds help from an unexpected source. ✔COMPLETE 🥇 WINNER Quicksilver Quill Award

Some are dark, some are light, some are both, but all are 500 words or less. "A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film." ~Lorrie Moore These are my brief love affairs, my quickly-taken photographs, my breaks from novel works in progress or writing exercises that turned out to be rather fun! (If they are from a writing exercise, I will include the prompt.) Why the name Polished Messes? Because these stories are not perfected, they're just polished up a bit to be presentable before sending them into Wattpad world. Because sometimes as writers, we obsess WAY too much about being perfect. Happy reading and writing, I hope you enjoy them! ~*~ ©2020 by Sidney Brooks/Laura Bowers. All rights reserved. Plagiarism is illegal and punishable by law.

All your dreams will come to life. So will all your nightmares. ― After narrowly surviving the car crash that killed his best friend, Andrew King is left to grapple with his loss and nurse a traumatic brain injury. With his injury comes a crippling sleep disorder, and sick of the restless nights and fatigued days, Andrew joins a clinical study to correct it as one of four subjects. The promise of returning to normalcy is lost as his dreams begin to take harrowing turns, prophetic in nature and vivid enough to be confused with waking life. Andrew bands with the other subjects, and they learn that the study has left them with the ability to live versions of the future in their dreams. Together they embark on a journey to find the forces behind their newfound abilities, only to quickly discover that some doors are best left unopened.

A warning from a nightmare future. Ten years after the UK fragmented, the emergency mandate of the Consensus goverment is coming to an end. At long last a General Election is due. World-weary journalist Richard Davies becomes reluctantly drawn into the aspiring National Renewal Party's campaign. But as long suppressed social tensions erupt on to the streets of a nation so much like - yet so different from - our own, he stumbles across a conspiracy aimed at the very heart of the relaunched democracy. With his options for doing the right thing in a world gone wrong narrowing and time running out, somehow Richard has to survive long enough to expose the greatest scoop of his career. A 151,000 word novel written between 2012-14. The 'future' I imagined has diverged from our current timeline, but many of the book's themes are still sadly only too relevant. For more information and a plot overview I recommend the companion Readers' Guide. https://www.wattpad.com/story/51378045-the-blurt-of-richard-davies-reading-guide This novel contains mature, unsettling, and dark themes. The Blurt was previously voluntarily listed as Mature, but if Wattpad won't play fair by their hiding works so listed from being seen by the general audience, I see no reason to abide by such a ridiculous policy. Just be aware of what it is you are getting into.

Escaping from their war torn country, 12 year old Ava and her family live in secret. Amongst the celebration after the Olympics she searches for food and reminisces of the place she used to call home.

Is it my child? Can a man know? Is he even allowed to ask?

What if it came to the starkest of all choices: kill, or else suffer the loss of a loved one? Readers' comments: 'simply the best', 'one of the best books I've read', 'loved it', 'amazing', 'great reading', 'stumped me to the very end' and others Plot: When a pregnant doctor is brutally murdered in her own kitchen, the husband claims to have some weeks earlier received an anonymous and darkly menacing letter. For the small town of Ravensby, it's just the start of a living nightmare - one in which nobody is spared from the murderous cross hairs, and which will drive Detective Inspector Kubič to the edge of his own sanity... Genre: suspense/thriller Status: completed Length: 70,000 words (approx. 275 standard novel pages) Target readership: Though aimed primarily at adults, the novel features several teenage characters and so may also appeal to a younger audience Extract: "Warn you sir, not a pretty sight in there." Kubič took a deep, preparatory breath, his footsteps slow and leaden as he moved towards the kitchen door. Not for the first time over the years, he found himself wishing he'd chosen an entirely different sort of career. Paper-pushing, something out of doors. Anything at all. He'd always been reasonable enough at woodwork back at school, he recalled. Why hadn't he done that, he thought? Become a cabinet maker or some damn thing. A reluctant hand pushed open the door... "Oh dear Christ." The words escaped his mouth forcefully, involuntarily, like blood gushing from an open wound

Reinne has set her goals into graduating her Master's degree, finding a sturdy house for her parents and to see her two younger brothers finish their Bachelor's degrees, with a steady job, she was able to do all before the age of 27. She achieved everything she wanted except for one thing: a steady relationship. After her last heartbreak, she told herself no more. In Greek mythology they said that humans are born with two heads, four arms and legs but Zeus separated it in two and scattered it on the lands for it search its other half. With billions of people in earth how can she find her match? Is she willing to open her arms to the idea of love?

Driving home after a bad day, Danielle "Dan" Lent is transported from her car into a subterranean laboratory. Confused and disoriented, she has no choice but to trust the stranger Ric, who claims to be a time agent. He recruits Dan to investigate illegal time travel. However, Dan finds herself caught in a loop of time switches, thrown back and forth between the lab and a rainy parking lot where a stray border collie offers her company. Desperate to find a way home, Dan tries to figure out why she has become the pawn of criminal forces-and why her name and scientific work seem to be so important a few centuries down the line. With the help of Ric and her new dog friend, Dan sets out to untangle the twisted timelines. In a race against time, she is risking everything she has-her life, love, and future.

Robin Hood meets James Bond in this new Action Thriller ----------------------- What do you do when the world's most wanted man goes missing? That's my problem. Silver Tongue's a man of many faces; a nightmare to oligarches and a thief of hearts to the common man. There are those who want to kill him, sleep with him or be him. There is no neutral when it comes to Silver Tongue. Lucky for me, that overachiever's my brother. And while he's changing the world, I'm in the nation's capital, confined to my apartment with no social life, and a vague sense of this thing you call freedom. Until that letter changed everything. Silver Tongue has disappeared and his associates want my help finding him. I'm not sure what they expect me to do, but he is my brother. Let's face it. I'm probably going to get myself killed, aren't I?

The crew of interstellar colonisation vessel Arcadian awake from a decade of hibernation to discover that they are lost in darkness, their ship's propulsion system has shut down and they have no idea what has gone wrong. A mysterious adventure in a dangerous alien environment ensues as the colonists explore and attempt to escape alive. A standalone story set within the Astronomicon Universe. Please remember to vote for any chapters you like. It means a lot, helps me identify what my readers enjoy and can help other readers find this work. If you really like this book please let your friends and followers know about it. Thank you! ** TEMPORARILY ON HOLD WHILE I COMPLETE MY FANTASY NOVEL ** Sorry for the delay.

A WW II veteran struggles with the aftermath of a false truth; a young girl prepares to sell her body to a passing stranger; an ancient trapper sniffs the path of the wolf; a deformed fish surfaces; a mysterious track is discovered on the shore of a northern lake. Nine Lies of B.G. Davies is a collection of short fiction featuring new original works as well as a few remastered drafts. Some stories were previously published outside of Wattpad, and reworked here for the Wattpad audience, some have appeared on Wattpad in earlier forms, and others have been running around the hard drive long enough. It's time to set them free. "Unknown Artist: Bicycle and Snow, 1941" was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of Wattpad's Literary Fiction Networks's competition "Winter." "The Brother Goes First" was the grand prize winner of Wattpad's Margaret Atwood The Heart Goes Last Competition. "Seduction in D Minor" was the first place winner of Wattpad Romance Love Me Tinder Competition. "The Line in the Sand" is true. Enjoy the lies.

Book #1 in the Chrim Chronicles series •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• A small town, perhaps not far from yours, has been keeping a secret since it was founded six centuries ago and has managed to carry its secret into the world of iPhones and social media. In this town, humans are peaceful neighbors to forest-nymphs, witches, werewolves, and vampires. When a ritual turns dark and ends the life of dozens, it marks the end of a long peace. Twenty-year-old Farren, a witch descending of the creators of dark magic, decides that her current job as an executioner is not enough to keep her family safe and gathers an army to dispose of the current council and seize power for her own. But Farren is not the only one who rises. Alliances are formed, plotting each other's downfall. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••