Iꜰ Aᴄᴇ Rᴇɴsʜᴀᴡ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴄᴀʀᴅ, ʜᴇ'ᴅ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ Kɪɴɢ ᴏꜰ Hᴇᴀʀᴛs...
|| Writer of the Year Award -- Second Place Winner ||
Ace Renshaw is a teenage gambler. After his sister left for college and his father turned to alcohol, he was left with nothing but bitter jealousy. His motto? "Love does nothing but destroy." He's turned from romance, and instead, lives off the rush he gets from doing things he shouldn't be doing.
Every month, Ace meets up with a group of friends to make a bet. They'll dare him to do something illegal, something dangerous, something they're convinced he cannot do. Then they sit back and watch as Ace proves them wrong.
One bleak February afternoon, Ace is presented with his hardest challenge yet. Never has he tinkered with emotions before -- it was always breaking and entering, or vandalism, or stealing. But this time? This time, Ace has one month to get a girl who firmly believes in rules to fall in love. With him.
The plan was to seduce her, to lure her in with false flattery and artificial emotions... and then, he'd break her heart. Bonus points if she cried.
And yet, as new friendships are forged, secrets are exposed, and previously unknown emotion starts to blossom, Ace starts to wonder if maybe, just maybe, falling in love wouldn't be that disastrous after all.
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AMAZING cover design by @atroXity !
[Previously feautured Noteworthy Novel & Staff Pick on Tapas.io!]
Frey Sanders isn't a shy guy. He is a lot of things - obnoxiously loud, over-confident, spoiled - but shy was never even in the list of words to describe him. He has enough confidence to have lots of friends, not considered to be the most popular in school, but definitely a welcomed guest at most tables during lunch. And as the son of the owner of the most popular club in town, his image is nowhere near being ruined.
It all becomes a bit complicated when he pisses off the wrong people, and they decide on teaching him a lesson in humility. What they aren't aware of, are the raging fights inside Frey's own mind that he struggles with every day. With an over-bearing mother, a mostly absent father and his own mind messing with him, will Frey be able to handle their revenge?
A group of friends teams up, coming up with a plan to get back at Frey; all with a different reason. But Frey responds to everything a whole lot different from what they expected. How will they teach Frey a lesson, if he turns the table and the plan backfires in their faces?