Manhattan Stories

A tale about culture and cost, costumes and couture, and the early aughts.

"Play the game before the game plays you." The Social Season isn't just a competition, it's a rite of passage for Manhattan's elite. In 1998 Manhattan, every year five 18-year-old women are tested, ranked, and celebrated in public. Daphne Marigold thought she was just chasing glory. Wrong. One misstep could destroy her career. One wrong alliance could ruin her life. Charm, cunning, and courage are the only weapons that matter. To rise, she must play by the rules, sometimes even bend them. And in a world built to break girls, the price of losing is far higher than anyone likes to tell you.

"Some connections don't begin with a look - they begin with a sentence." Olivia McCallum never expected a quiet forum for writers to become her anchor. From her small flat in Edinburgh, she lives between essays, late-night drafts, and the silence of her own thoughts. Writing has always been her way of reaching out - even when there's no one listening. Then one night, a message appears under one of her posts. "If you ever turn that into a story, I'd like to read it." The message is from Noah Sullivan - a digital editor living in New York, someone who understands the rhythm of sleepless cities and sentences written at 2 a.m. What begins as a quiet exchange of words slowly unfolds into something deeper: two people trying to find honesty, belonging, and a piece of themselves in each other's distance. A story about modern loneliness, fragile connections, and the spaces between what's said and what's meant. Between Lines - sometimes, the smallest words carry the loudest truths.

Maya Rivers needs one thing: a lifeline. Instead, she walks straight into the office of Adrian King, the billionaire CEO known for firing assistants before they finish their first week. He's cold, calculated, and merciless. And now, he's her new boss. She only wants a paycheck. He only wants control. But the moment she challenges him, something dangerous ignites-something neither of them can handle. Maya is the first woman who doesn't flinch under Adrian's icy perfection. She's the first to break through his deadly calm with her quiet courage. She becomes his greatest distraction and his greatest weakness. But Adrian King has rules: strict ones. Rules that protect his heart. Rules that keep the past buried. Rules Maya is about to shatter. When a high-stakes corporate storm hits the 88th floor, the mask he wears cracks. The man beneath is far more intense, far more vulnerable, and far more obsessed with her than she ever imagined. Now Maya must decide: walk away while she still can or fall for the billionaire who could ruin her life or save it. Because Adrian King doesn't fall in love. He claims. And once he claims her, there is no escape.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲. In a city that eats the innocent alive, 𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢 learned to become the predator. She doesn't have a job - she has disguises. By day, she's just a tired single mother with a daughter to raise and a past that won't stay buried. By night, she's the whisper in Manhattan's penthouses - a conwoman who seduces, steals, and leaves her sins gift-wrapped in diamonds. New York taught her how to survive: weaponise silence, smile like sin, and make danger fall in love with her. Some people run from their past. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠." Because healing was never the plan. Revenge always was.

For fifteen-year-old Alena Johansson-Jost , fall is the season of fresh starts. New notebooks, new routines, new possibilities - because, according to her, everything good happens once September begins. Though, she discovers that sophomore year has other plans. Between juggling classes, romantic disasters, and the occasional visit to the SNL studio where her Dad works, Alena's perfectly scripted life starts going ridiculously off-book. Witty, heartfelt, and quietly rebellious, Sophomore Year is a story about figuring yourself out one sketch, one friendship, and one almost-romance at a time.

This is my version of Gossip Girl. If they had a third girl with Blair and Serena, it would be completely inspired by the show. I don't own any of the characters except for Marlena and her family, with the proper endgames we should have had.

Victoria shook her head and laughed softly at herself. "I don't need to go to the show," she thought, releasing the tight knot of anxiety that had been sitting on her chest. She would not let it hold her-or keep her prisoner. The burden of feeling like she should attend the show on 11-22 didn't matter. What mattered was their connection. It didn't mean that her bond with Asher was any less real. Nothing could break it-not narcissistic partners, not time, not even separation. They were tethered at the soul, two hearts beating as one. Two bodies living in a fifth-dimensional life. Victoria rolled her eyes at the memory of her family's raised eyebrows, the silent judging looks, the gentle reminders about "plans" and "responsibilities." She chuckled. Even amidst the chaos, she knew: this was theirs. And no one could touch it.

How do you react when you find out your life is a lie? When the person closest to you kept something important from you, your whole life. As soon as she was old enough, Paige was earning money. Anything and everything she worked for went straight to her mother, who was barely staying afloat under heaps of medical bills and other debts. The two shared the closest bond a mother and daughter could have but when the truth finally comes to light, Paige just can't handle fearing her relationship had been a facade, so she decides to find her father herself with just a letter and a plane ticket to New York. - Shades of cool | Gossip Girl | Chuck Bass x oc - Disclaimer: I own Paige and parts of the plot only, the rest belongs to its respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

When a high-profile murder shakes the Upper West Side, journalist Harper Lane thinks she's finally found the story that will elevate her career. Until she writes one name she shouldn't have-his. Julian Hale. Charming. Untouchable. Suspiciously connected. And now standing at her door, offering an interview she never asked for. He claims he wants to help clear things up. He swears he's innocent. He tells her everything she wants to hear. But the deeper they dig, the more Harper realizes two things: 1. Julian knows far more than he's saying. 2. Someone is willing to kill to keep him quiet-and her with him. Now she's trapped in a murder investigation with the one man she absolutely cannot trust... and the only one keeping her alive.

In a city filled with secrets, heartbreaks, late-night confessions, and dangerous second chances, four friends fight to protect their dreams while their pasts refuse to let them go. Dana searches for healing, Najia risks everything for love and survival, Amara rebuilds the pieces of her life, and Tyler faces a threat that could destroy everything he has finally gained. In New York, love can lift you or break you, and Volume 2 proves that growing up means choosing who you are, even when the world tries to choose for you.

At 39, Madison Ardent controls everything except the 24-year-old bartender who was supposed to be her weapon. One kiss. One camera. One scandal that turned her into trending content while her competitors circle like vultures. Now Ethan isn't just leverage. Now she's obsessed. With him, with his power over her, and how he destroys every rule that kept her on top. In Manhattan's ruthless elite circles, where age is a death sentence and desire is a luxury she can't afford, Madison faces an impossible choice: surrender control or lose everything she's built. But Ethan plays dirty. And he's already inside her head. Some affairs are business. This one is war.

Elliott Miller is your average 23 year-old, only with a lost father and a resentful mother. When he goes back to his hometown to make amends, he inadvertently gets dragged into the activities of an illicit criminal group. Enter Marcel Nixon, 25, who silently follows Elliott with the goal of gathering information about the cartel until the organization he works for tracks down their clandestine operation. However, circumstances cause them to cross paths and Marcel is forced to reveal his identity. What follows is a mix of hiding, investigating and an unlikely romance that causes the both of them to choose between what the heart wants and for what duty calls. Amidst joy, pain, fighting, and the reopening of chapters once thought to be closed forever, the fragility of their bond remains painfully bare. It seems to be only a matter of time before their idyllic world is shattered by reality. The only question that remains is if they can come to terms with this reality. Dive right in to find out!

673 miles away from home and alone. Gisselle Bossier packed her bags two days after graduation with nothing but dreams of becoming a fashion mogul and didn't give Sumter, South Carolina another look ..but all it took was 1 ounce of cocaine, 1,526 dollars, and an overdose and Gisselle's dreams are tumbling out of the window- or a 8 million dollar yacht to be exact. It seems like life for Gisselle can't be getting any worse, until she meets August: the privileged boy who's too arrogant and too loud. As he navigates the ups and downs of life in Upper East-Side Manhattan, he crosses paths with Gisselle Bossier and they flip each others' lives upside down - for better or worse.

❝I was afraid of losing you. Now, I'm afraid you'll never look at me the same way.❞ * Amanda Reed returns to New York, to the place where she made the decision that spun her world off it's axis. It will take one man to steady it, but he's on a mission of his own: to break the girl who broke his heart. [Sequel to Free Falling] Cover: @ThePenPrincess

GOSSIP GIRL IS BACK When lonely boy Dan Humphrey gave up his Gossip Girl website in turn for an honest life, Manhattan's elite thought they were rid of the prying eyes of the anonymous blogger. Their children are about to find out that it wasn't just a boy from Brooklyn who orchestrated gossip girl, it was the people of new york who made it happen by sending in tips. The players may have changed, but the game remains the same. cover by @malfoysapple

*Sequel to More Issues Than Vogue* Three years after Haley Monroe interned at Forward magazine, she's now one of the associate writers for the New Yorker. Haley is at the top of her game and has landed on the list of New York's "Writers on the Rise". With her self-motivation going strong and career taking flight, Haley Monroe is unstoppable. Haley's surprised when she receives an invitation to a month long writer's retreat in Aruba, where writers, journalists, and editors from magazines all around the world come together to enhance their personal growth, improve their writing skills, and unwind with some much needed R&R. One month all expenses paid trip? Check. Reunion with her Forward interns? Check. Stress-free from work? Check. Tanned, toned, and tamed island men? Check. The biggest shock comes when she learns which magazine will be hosting the retreat this year: Forward. If there's one problem Haley wasn't expecting to run into during this trip, it's Nate Chester. #DAMNITNATECHESTER Copyright © 2016 BellaLunaa All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the author.

Taylor is a beautiful naïve and very smart girl. She is organized and sweet. She aces her classes and doesn't care if the cool kids in their school hated her. She has her plans set: to finish high school with flying colors and get accepted to New York University. Falling in love was never part of her plan until an English-tattooed jock named Harry Styles moved in next door. He was nice to her and she felt things she never felt before. Until one tragic moment happened that tore them apart. Seven years later, Taylor came back to her hometown as a strong, hard-driven woman. Until she crosses paths with Harry again. Can he take down the walls she built for years? ** This is a HAYLOR Fanfic **

𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓮𝓶 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼.