Women's Fiction

by Suzette Welling

Megan Hart has it all . . . a lakefront house, standing midday tennis dates with a crew of see-and-be-seen ladies of status in Lakeland, and an enviable husband. But in the depths of Megan's seemingly perfect life, tragedy strikes with the sudden death of her beloved Blake, unveiling a hidden world of secrets—a web of lies that unravels everything Megan thought she knew. Seeking solace amid the ruins of her shattered world, Megan finds herself drawn back to Destin, the place where their love once bloomed.  There, in the tender embrace of grief, Megan encounters Sam, an enigmatic figure harboring secrets of his own. As their connection deepens, Megan senses there is more to Sam than meets the eye, a magnetic pull that ignites her curiosity. Yet just as their friendship begins to blossom, Megan stumbles directly upon her former husband’s secret in the flesh: Tabitha. Determined to uncover every detail of the truth and protect her assets, Megan’s focus becomes infiltrating Tabitha’s world.  While embarking on a journey of self-discovery and the chaos of her newfound reality, Megan must grapple with confronting her darkest demons and incorporating tools into her life to paint a brighter future—under the guidance of unexpected friendships and the power of vulnerability. Will Megan crumble as she uncovers the truths that lie hidden in the shadows of her past? Or will she find her path back to the light, to healing, with the strength to paint a brighter future one brushstroke at a time?

by Suzette Welling

**Sometimes the journey that breaks your heart is the one that leads you home.** *Journeys of the Heart* is an uplifting women’s fiction series about love, loss, friendship, forgiveness, and the unexpected ways our lives can be transformed when we find the courage to begin again. At the heart of the series are women facing circumstances they never imagined – betrayal, grief, regret, loneliness, and life-changing loss. Yet within those difficult seasons, they discover something they never expected: hope. Through friendship, faith, creativity, and the healing that comes from helping others, they learn that even the most painful chapters of our lives can lead to beautiful new beginnings. Set against the warmth of Florida, *Journeys of the Heart* celebrates the families we are born into and the families we create along the way. Its characters remind us that forgiveness can set us free, purpose can emerge from pain, and it is never too late to open our hearts to love, joy, and possibility. Filled with heartfelt friendships, second chances, touches of romance, and stories of ordinary people making an extraordinary difference in one another’s lives, *Journeys of the Heart* is ultimately a celebration of hope, and a reminder that sometimes the life waiting for us is even more beautiful than the one we had planned.

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The sign set in stone,” Those who reap what they’ve sown may return to common ground.”**   **This large rock depicts the life in these corridors of the scenic landscape.**   **They both stopped to admire. Then grabbed a free pamphlet to read . Very interesting indeed to read about this topic of mystical life.**   **Further on smoke rings did dwell from the chimney. A small rock and mortar house built right into the side of the hill.**   **Something of common ground be small lady white haired. A fairy looking piece of specimen. Her hand goes up to a friendly wave.**   **Her basket she carries full of wild berries. “ God Brengt Veel.” ( God brings much.)**   **“Zah he shall flourish in the presence of a midst which will bring pure happiness,” Martha Ann says smiling back at the old lady.**   **“ To bring beauty to the family table is sacred and I am grateful to be apart of it,” Adrian replied wholeheartedly.**   **She invited them both in to visit drink hot tea or coffee. Entering into a room so pretty and quaint. Lots of house plants to look upon as pretty nature. A lovely table and chair set sat waiting to be sat at .**   **Each tea cup details are blue bells painted on each cup. “If you tip them up into the light you’re bound to see a pretty seashell.**   **“How absolutely lovely,” they crooned with delight. “And the tea tasty as ever. “**   **Fine chocolates set upon the table to enjoy. They too shaped into a shell. Tasty , oozing of dreamy creamy cream. Beside each tiny plate a white napkin.**   **Then Addy was her name Addy Esh the Grossmama. Her tiny husband has a beard long to his belly dark gray. Wearing spectacles, a sharp look to him. He wore an off white, wide brimmed hat . Big brown eyes, hard worked hands . “ Hallo to all you look familiar to me whys that do you think?”**   **The Mrs. Says they are Burkholders family see how they looked. “ He quickly agreed with her.”Awe yes your Grosspapa was in school with me many years ago.” He began to laugh covered his mouth using Hankey and coughed. “ There i have found pleasure in your presence of treasured flowers from the old days to today.”**   **“ We shall tell them all about you both gut tempered to be sure.”**

by Heiwa Akers

Crystilline Heiwa Yuy has always known the quiet safety of her Hawaiian home. But when she uncovers her hidden ties to a powerful Japanese family, her world is turned upside down. Suddenly, she’s swept into the heart of the Moon Clan—a Yakuza dynasty ruled by a brother she never knew, and shadowed by danger at every turn. With her innocence tested and her freedom on the line, Crystilline refuses to be a pawn in anyone’s game. Surrounded by overprotective allies and an ancient rivalry, she’s determined to forge her own path. "Princesses Don't Wait" is a gripping tale of family, fate, and fierce independence. This princess isn’t waiting to be saved—she’s ready to save herself.

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The most valuable asset of a relationship is a person to whom we are connected to. This special bond between ourselves is a gift to our selves. Thinking of a future together is cozy and intimate. Those valuable moments will always remain a special part of us.**   **Behind every successful person is true love . A large portion is a blessing to us all. I’m talking in behalf of all of you who love to be loved.**   **Many blessings go out to all those around us looking forward to finding love . I hope the love bug gets you next.**   **Though it may take time true love is the key to happiness and your love will always have a special place.**   **Church is always there for love relationships. Singers bring dating each other easier . Choosing a partner to date is always hard. They may not feel the same about you. Then is when praying to the love Angel of God helps transpire someone to love.**   **It helps to be set up with another man or lady Mennonite. There is something about being attractive to someone who you want to be intimate with.**   **The excitement of getting a relationship started is so intense you can’t imagine it without feeling something special. An emotional connection is what makes a relationship. Last the man gives you a note asking for you to date him only .**

by Heiwa Akers

Follow the journey of Crystilline Heiwa Yuy as she discovers her ties to a Japanese Mafia family and how she turns tradition on its head. Crystilline is no ordinary princess who sits within a tower, waiting to be rescued. She will rescue herself.

by Heiwa Akers

Anya Springfield has spent her entire life running. Dragged from town to town by a mother desperate to keep them hidden, Anya has learned one painful truth: people are drawn to her—sometimes in dangerous ways. New schools, broken friendships, and constant upheaval are all she’s ever known. So when she arrives in a quiet town for what feels like yet another temporary stay, she vows to keep her head down and survive senior year unnoticed. But this town is different. Almost immediately, Anya finds herself surrounded by an unlikely group of boys unlike anyone she has ever met—Felix, Galen, Connor, and Griffin—each mysterious, fiercely protective, and strangely familiar. Along with their enigmatic guardian, Audric, they seem to know things about her no stranger should know. More unsettling still, they believe Anya is something impossible: A goddess. As buried memories begin to surface and the truth behind her painful past unravels, Anya discovers she may be tied to an ancient power older than memory itself—the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. But awakening to her destiny comes with a price. Dark forces from her past are closing in, desperate to claim the power within her before she can understand it herself. Caught between fear and destiny, healing and heartbreak, Anya must decide who she truly wants to be: the frightened girl always running… or the powerful woman she was always meant to become. **A heartfelt blend of contemporary fantasy, found family, healing from trauma, and elemental magic, *Maiden Mother Crone* is a coming-of-age story about reclaiming your voice, embracing your power, and discovering that family isn’t always the one you’re born into.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The lady ghost Presently living in there Phelisha Yoder she had told the . During a visit she had written a shaky hand writing . How they figured out it was her is they had set up a night camera. Then a lighted siloute has hovered around the dinner table where the journal lay open alongside it a pen to write with . She in ghost form at the area writing . Then softly move away up the stairs to an open stairwell. Drift up to a higher floor in a furnished room they presumed to be hers. Making it so by stories they had told about this entity living within their house.**   **Minister James Bontrager, and wife Faith lived within the house sending messages of love through writing letters back to her. About the goodness of God . It hadn’t been long before she continued to contact them back from a realm called heaven here on earth. Much to their delight and the great joy of making friends. A large portion of their conversation came through symbolic words.**   **Something about it made Faith buy a book to reference out of. Being an enthusiast of the subject matter on ghosts. She hung around to conclude an end story about her own experience in life.**   **The story had been told in church . Afterwards drew out a lot of other stories about ghosts living amongst us. In turn Faith started writing about to make a book out of it.**

by London Renee

There is a moment in every race when the waiting ends. The gates open. The field breaks. And everything that came before—training, fear, mistakes, hope—has to meet the track. After years away, Reese returns to Lincoln, New Mexico with her two young daughters and a ranch she can barely afford to keep. Her father is gone, the debts are worse than she knew, and the horses he left behind may be the only thing standing between her family and losing everything. Reese has survived a marriage that nearly emptied her, and she knows how to read a horse, rebuild one, and bring back the ones everyone else has written off. Trusting people is harder. Then Wade steps back into her life—steady, quietly capable, and far more connected to the racing world than Reese realizes, a man who remembers the girl she once was and sees the woman she fought to become. As their friendship begins to shift into something neither of them expected, Reese’s return draws the wrong kind of attention. A powerful ranch owner with ties to the bank sees her debt as an opportunity to take the land her family built, while a jealous woman at the track watches Reese reclaim her place among the horses—and notices exactly how Wade looks at her. With bills still coming due, old damage refusing to disappear, race day approaching, and her blood-bay stallion Rocky carrying the hope of a future Reese is almost afraid to believe in, she must decide how much she is willing to risk to save the life she came home to rebuild. Because Reese knows how to fight. What she doesn’t know anymore is how to trust. In racing, once the field breaks, there is no going backward. You ride what comes. And Reese is about to learn that starting over is not about returning to the woman she was before everything went wrong—it is about becoming the woman who can ride out the race. **When second chances run deeper than bloodlines.**

by Diann Cabler

**Three aging sisters live together in a comfortable little Southern neighborhood where everybody knows everybody. Then a mysterious older man moves into the house directly across the street. He doesn't wave or smile. He doesn't appear to own a TV, a dog, or even a sense of humor** **Most importantly, he doesn't seem to like them. Naturally, the Bellamy sisters find this completely unacceptable.** **Vivian, 78 is the oldest and absolutely refuses to behave like it. She is glamorous, flirtatious, dramatic, and convinced that men have been falling in love with her for decades. Whether they actually did is debatable. She has a weakness for handsome men, expensive perfume, and telling stories in which she is always the heroine. Her favorite phrase is: "Honey, I've still got it." Her sisters aren't entirely convinced.** **Martie, 74 is the practical one. She is outspoken, opinionated, stubborn and convinced that everybody needs to be told the truth whether they asked for it or not. She has a heart of gold, but the bedside manner of a chainsaw. She is a wonderful cook and takes enormous pride in feeding people. Martie becomes convinced that the man's problem is simple: "He ain't had a decent meal since Eisenhower was president." She makes it her personal mission to feed him.**  **Lou, 68 is the youngest of the sisters. She is funny, slightly odd, talks to animals, and has a collection of things that are "probably haunted." She gives everyone ridiculous nicknames based on what she thinks they look like, not what their actual names are.** **Art Caldwell, a 79 year old widower moved in across the street. He's grumpy, private, and does not socialize, and he particularly does not want visitors.**  **And he has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't need anybody. Naturally, the sisters immediately decide that this means he desperately needs somebody.** **Art isn't mean. He's simply shut himself away, since his wife died several years earlier. He has a daughter whom he hasn't spoken to in years. He moved to this town because he wanted to disappear. He believes if he doesn't get close to anyone, he can't lose anyone.** **The sisters don't know any of this at first. They only know: The man is a grouch. And they intend to fix him.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Dat not able to get far due to his gout in the left foot. It had become so painful he road all around the farm drive a pony he behind and Dat in it. His favorite day-to-day activities giving others orders to do his chores. He had his sons do all the work proud as ever of their accomplishments.   For some unforeseen circumstances a lady just moved into the Homestead Hotel. She is living there as her apartment. She has her office rented next to the Veteran Clinic. And her expertise in healing animals and people. After moving into her new office, putting the finishing touches on. A small library there of natural healing techniques. Teas, poultices, and praying to heal, blessing your soul out to the body. Rejuvenate the cells into the next generation. Helping to possibly change health issues forever. Ivory Stoltzfus is her name. Healer by Trade, healing touch based.   She is tall, femine, very smart about human nature. Blonde, green eyes, very pretty yet plain.

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Today big snowflakes dropping at unusual speed. Beautiful white one of a kind, one-of-a-kind, and hung on a sky-blue background. Our lovely big old farmhouse stood being recognized, comforting art within itself. And being in the dead of winter, sleigh riding in a one horse open sleigh. Bells strung around the big wood sleigh and horses groomed to follow lead in a prance to guide the sled. The horse as well had jingle bells on its harness. Then of course the familiar all too safe Mennonite plain and simple life. Do gooders at heart in the future of what life sends us to engage our own likeness to be living on earth as it would be in heaven. Before long those riding in a one horse open sleigh sang bells on bob tail ring.   To those of us who come from plain not fancy folk. Thrive on Good will towards man.   Away they went Jack Hershberger driving belting out some tunes in Pennsylvania Dutch. The moon shone down on twinkling fresh snow. Philip Bontrager kissed Fanny Miller gently on her cheek.   She blushed ever so slightly, and rubbed it with her gloves.” Thank you Mr. Bontrager, your my favorite guy in this world. “

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

A winter chill settled in as darkness came early at fourthirty in the evening. Those of us intrigued by wintertime think earnestly six more months of winter time. Something of a different perspective takes over directing your thoughts. Winter fun chores done early before darkness stays. Then of course

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Olive let it be known Armond King is a widower . Who has been seeing Olive just those two connected with the same thing for a reason. She a widower herself both had no children yet.   Someone happened in between times. To decide how to worship. Anabaptist they are , yet must decide whether to join the church. They both had being married once before. Olive said she didn’t think it was necessary if one person in a couple had decided to not want to be baptized and marry without it. And I guess she must of said the wrong thing because Armond disagreed and didn’t ask her to date again.   Close friends and family questioned it when out of earshot. Yet neither of them were giving into the relationship again being indifferent towards the fact that both did not share the same beliefs.   Unworthy of the relationship between both of them. It was inevitable then to start a relationship with someone else who views things the same way as they do. A stand alone relationship would be more important than the other person who would not be.   Olive Bontrager, knelt down pulling unwanted weeds from the flower bed . Each bunch pulled out put in a bushel basket with handles. Between each pull of weeds thoughts of a day filled with joy for all who celebrate life . Everyday is another opportunity for us to share our joy to live life with intensity as it relates to another scenery in a new everyday life. This will be written in our daily routine journey wrote in my journal.   Something cleverly done a landscape by our lords hand made. Try as I must Grant Stoltzfus, ended up his end of the days work in the back yard of Olive Bontrager seen pulling weeds . “ Miss I’m Grant and I’ve been hired to paint your house trim.”   “ Please call me Olive Bontrager, and I’m so glad to meet you. Danke so much for your service. As you can see we can sure use the help the trim is bare from weather. “

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Grossmama goes by the name of Kindra Bontrager . Her table of taste testing has been done and awaiting the judges.   Granddaughter Olive Bontrager stood by her side . Somewhat nervous yet very happy they were here awaiting the taste testing. They finally sat down at the table waiting.   The judges looked seriously at each selection of food. Then taking a break to brush their teeth in the powder room. And drink lots of water. There ready to taste test more food.   A group of four Judges showed up at Kindra Bontragers table. “ Hello Kindra Bontrager, I see you have Carmal apple pie and Cherry chocolate cheesecake. Let’s have a good taste it sure looks good.”   They filled out their forms and left . The final card with her placement presented to them and ready to be read.   Ma’am walked up to talk Blue Ribbon first place Grossmama. Kindra extremely happy to be in first place.   They still had the entire week to prepare more baked dishes. She had to admit it was nerve racking. Waiting then wondering what now.   Then at home eating supper together. Ma’am said ,” Grossmama your son and I have something to say. Do you remember Shyann Esh , from Church? Grossmama she has stolen your recipes and won a first place also. Remember her and she stopped to drop off the heart association envelope to give to the donation? Her and Grossmama I still think that might have been misleading because it’s not being time to donate yet.”   “ My goodness I’m flabbergasted my dear , I feel my life is violated. It’s the worst feeling I’ve experienced in my entire life.”

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**For appearances only Ma’am stood by collecting old recipe cards are relics of reminiscing about baking or cooking in the Mennonite kitchens. Recipes are the pride and joy of their heritage.**   **“ What is so special about the lost recipe cards?” Marie Hershberger said,”I’m curious to know what the recipe might have been.?”**   **Ma’am replied,” Grossmama was entered in a baking contest. A secret recipe passed down from the Bontrager family. She miss placed them and what is upsetting the contest is only a week away.”**   **Nothing else was said then except Grossmama along with Ma’am helping her and daughter Olive. They bowed their heads in prayer just then around the family table.**   **Olive her Granddaughter, made way with boxes of old recipes from the attic. Dusting them off with a dust cloth, they began making their way through them. One by one looking at them was intriguing enough. Yet was it enough to find contest material?**   **Dat Bontrager had just finished Chores for the evening. “ I’ve heard Grossmama I’d hoped you’d of found the recipe cards . What do you do next.” His Dat following behind him. Grosspapa Bontrager said sorry fra ( wife) pray for you to find them or another favorite family recipe. “**   **Grossmama deep in thought at the moment. Looking serious at the recipes. “ I must have a recipe to make the tasting better than ever before tasted. Which makes the individual eating it love it. “**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The future held Homestead**  **Family tree right down the line. This is their Children’s, Children. That’s right great , greats now. Something about it makes you think of love passed on forever. Something between two people in love passed down the generations reaches them. The making of the children’s, children.**   **To their predecessors and parents, grandparents who were born into the family. Out of a love marriage they became the children. “ Come onto the little children and I will give Thee Rest.”**  **Norval Bontrager , Levon Bontrager, brothers , Karlyle Bontrager. Schwesters Lovina Bontrager ,Olive Bontrager.**   **Their parents Faith ( Ma’am) and John (Dat). Farmers and their expertise horses and growing corn and beans. Always attentive to our lord . Much respect goes out to them. Lots of respect for prayer, believing in blessings beyond measure. Marriage utmost cherished by all who are faithful to his word. Uniting the family together in a peaceful life bond never to be broken.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**“There was a lot to say except I didn’t think I could talk it hurt my feelings so much ,” Emily Yoder said . She sat down stairs and talked through tears and her handkerchief.**   **Vivian, sighed softly then said something.” He must know he’s hurt you too the point of tears don’t you think so?”**   **“ Richard Esh never believed he is wrong. Honestly he is off with his brother golfing today.”**   **“After he didn’t show up again and seen him with the lady Helen Yoder. Your third cousin even. I truly feel for you,” Vivian told her.**   **“ I sent his ring back through the mail today. He should receive it back tomorrow. And wrote a short note about my feelings and Helen that is.”**   **“ That sounds smart to me Emily . Because sooner or later you can be a better candidate for someone new.”**   **“ Here a nice cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll it’s Saturday your day off from teaching school.”**   **“ Danke so much Vivian , there I feel much better about the entire situation since I told someone. By the way the cinnamon rolls are delicious. Where did you** llearn to bake like that?” She licked her fingers and then wiped them into her napkin. Then reached into her purse  Handed Vivian a small hand lotion from Avon she sold it for extra money. “ This is rose scented I’m thinking you’ll love it.”   “ Oh I will enjoy it very much Danke . I’d like one of your books to order from.”

by F.J. Blooding

Victoria Armstrong is running for senate on a promise she can't keep. Something in Kins City's water finds the para gene and turns it into a death sentence, and proving it means going after the men who own the labs, the insurance companies, and the ballot. Winning means becoming the thing her wife and best friend may no longer respect, but if it keeps her alive... does it matter? October Sky reads tarot for a living and insists that's all it is. When a fourteen-year-old slips her a note about the people going missing, she lands in a vigilante crew run by a detective and starts seeing disasters her cards deliver just late enough to watch. Dannika once hunted paras for the government. She was sent to infiltrate a youth center, and now the man who runs it is helping her with her own para abilities, and she has no idea how to tell him what she came there to do. Everyone standing in their way believes they're the hero. Before it's over, one of these women will erase a mind to save a life. One will erase a nation's records to save a people. And one will ask to have her own gift taken from her. *For readers of M.L. Wang, J.D. Evans, and Krystle Matar.*

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The most recent study has shown snow skiing is the result of a combination of factors. Being a wide ski slope. Then the ski lift with people dressed in snow suites , skis , hanging from boots.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The Snowstorm worsened more than ever. Looking out into an abyss of flocked trees outside. Intricate ice cycles hung from the awnings of the homestead and the barns. What a beautiful place to live.** **Marks of sleigh runners, Belgian horses hooves marked the snow like a rubber stamp might have.** **Made for a picture book, snow fell slowly piling up.** **Folks baking for Christmas , pies, cakes, cookies a must.** **Besides candied hams, roast beef, roasted potatoes a must. Sure enough guest caught in the snow storm gather. Singing old fashioned Christmas songs. Such fun after a very bad storm and thieves steeling.** **The women in the kitchen and girls. Men and Boys down in the barn enjoying animals and old time religion music.** **Snow calms serene hearts.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**John Zook held out on a ransom note asking for a large amount of money to get his stolen sheep back. He decided to hold out and wait. They would survey the place on the farm. Then decide along with the FBI. Then suitable precautions taken to eliminate pros and cons of the situation at hand.**   **Suddenly the Blizzard predicted hit full blown snow storm. Under the circumstances those thieves may not get very far. The FBI told them all at another meeting.**   **The crime of this nature not seen very often thankfully. Those of them involved felt the crunch of theft especially when insurance money not giving back full value of the stolen property. Hard times struck our town. Especially around the Holiday Thanksgiving and then Christmas.**   **Would the band of thieves be captured and prosecuted? How long must be taken to the cleaners before it is stopped and prosecutted. Tears shed from the ladies' sewing circle when a gut share of their quilts stolen in the middle of the night.**   **Reward towards the return of the stolen quilts returned in near new shape.**   **For some of them Christmas Gifts.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The wind always blows from a different perspective. Then, the first time a noise faintly speaks about the situation coming your way.**   **Someone has made it their life's work to watch all of us. Scrutinizing the situation. Because you knew everything that goes on in our lives.**   **Something unnerving about it all. Actually it made our hair stand on end on my arms each and every time I thought of it. Ma'am said to Mary while visiting over coffee.**   **The reason being able to stop it from happening. Most of all something that I am praying for is the stealing ending. This entire situation came out of no where. Persisted to be domineering the lives of the town.**   **A beautiful place of farms all around. Many of us are neighbors. Dat still very upset about his money and horses never being found yet. Then other people having problems with being robbed too.**   **If that weren't it two buckboards were stolen from Bontrager's farm.**   **Soon a Sheriff shed out up always having law enforcement on board. They were under the impression of this Constant activity going on keeps away crooks.**   **And it has so far since they put it up. Lots of people on walks stop to chat. Tell them about the day and other things of interest.**   **Without warning, the first place to stay in case you're wondering about it. A place if someone is following you and it's unpleasant going in with a phone lock the door and call for help.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**Another Mennonite Family by the name of Emery Esh** **And Missis Wynetta and kinner nine of their own. One late night they witnessed an intruder leaving with the family safe from behind a picture.** **Emery immediately picked up an electric cow proder.** **He stuck it in the intruders back leg he immediately dropped the safe busting it open money spilled out. He ran away limping riding a motorcycle away. In dead sentence Emery made an emergency call to The Sheriff Department.** **Soon the Town was made aware of this and looked for a man limping.** **Apparently the town invested in Cameras To videotape the place. A Town meeting planned . A secret meeting to talk about the new system . Deputy Sheriff happy with the turn out. All at once the lights went dark some hit the outside circuit breaker. Everything went dead , silent , a scary thought took over . Who is it , what are they going to do to us all before its all over. Deputy Sheriff Lit an oil lamp and instantly we could see one another.** **The entire Town went dark. Sounds of a large semi backed away loaded with llamas a farmer sold. Hard luck for him a total loss. There is only one thing to do.** **Snow Started falling in big flakes. Sticking to the ground all around. The radio weather forecast called for a blizzard.**

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Suddenly at the family farm bonfire mid-fall. Singing, relaxing, and sharing a fall cookout. There were signs of an intruder. Tobias yelled out into the night. Who goes there this is my property and I'm telling you get out. There is nothing of yours here it's family-owned and operated.” Fortunately Deputy Sheriff Ben is there tonight and called the station. Soon the pasture was surrounded by flashing law enforcement lights. The night sky filled with Warrior Angels standing down the Demons.   “ There shall be a part to play with every day. Something I pray brought back to its rightful owner.”  Angels sang out to the latter of whoever listened that night. Asleep or awake, dreams are even listening.   If you believe as the Angels do then surely the first Owl you see will bring a warrior messenger among you to help field the wicked rats amongst you all. Partaking in sabotage as we speak. Then a quick glance of your keen eye at the magnified dawn brings a light of an inheritance of justice. Will prevail the key I leaveth thee is to unlock the forbidden door coming from a different point of view planted. Tobias quickened his step and did hoot the ole Owl did. A man of flesh and blood, bone of my bone of Christ Jesus. His right eye tuned into an eyepiece held tightly. A round piece of gold magnifying glass. Slipped into his pocket nicely. Then another hoot of an Owl matched his perfectly. Down toward old Owly Howl perchance where dance in foot hills of an Owl zone. Amongst the living practicing Gott on a regular basis. The transformation.

by Jessica C. Wheeler

*She’s Fine* is a collection of satirical short stories about women who are, by every visible measure, doing just fine. Thank you for your concern. No need to call anyone. Behind the appropriate pauses, polite nods, and well-practiced coping strategies, these stories examine the considerable amount of effort it takes to appear effortlessly fine. Blending sharp satire with tenderness, the collection finds meaning in the seemingly ordinary. Some characters bend. Some come apart with admirable efficiency. Others discover that holding it together is less impressive once it becomes clear who benefits from the arrangement. Clever, character-driven, and emotionally exacting, *She’s Fine* offers a candid look at contemporary womanhood and the gap between public composure and private reality. With humor that ranges from wry to quietly mortifying, these stories celebrate women in all their complicated humanity. They’re gracious, occasionally unhinged, and far more interesting than the version they present to the world. They’re fine. Really.

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Time had filtereated the first Sign of over spent money . When some Men bought out all the bakeries on that day.

by L J Temple

To those who have felt the crushing weight of societal expectations, the seductive whisper of digital validation, and the gnawing ache for a life that feels undeniably *real*. This story is for the dreamers caught in the gilded cage, for the navigators of blurred lines and curated realities, and for anyone who has ever questioned the actual cost of chasing a dream that glitters but may not satisfy. May you find your own truth beyond the screen, your own voice in the silence, and your own irreplaceable worth in the quiet spaces between the curated moments. May this narrative serve as a mirror, a cautionary tale, and ultimately, a beacon of hope for those seeking genuine connection and a life lived with authenticity and courage. To the unwritten chapters of your own story, may they be filled with purpose, peace, and the undeniable beauty of simply being.  Curated Self: The idealized, often selective, presentation of an individual's life,\ particularly on social media platforms, designed to elicit positive external validation.\ Digital Footprint: The trail of data left behind by a user's online activity, encompassing\ everything from browsing history to social media posts and digital transactions.\ Fulfillment: A state of deep satisfaction and contentment derived from living a life\ aligned with one's values and authentic self, rather than the pursuit of external validation\ or idealized outcomes.\ Societal Pressures: The external expectations and norms imposed by society regarding\ success, appearance, behavior, and lifestyle, often amplified by digital platforms.\ Vulnerability: The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of attack or harm,\ either physical or emotional; in the context of relationships, it refers to the willingness to\ share one's true thoughts and feelings, even those that are imperfect or uncertain.

by Author_Nilz

Mira Thakur has spent most of her life learning how to make herself small. Orphaned young and raised in her uncle’s home in the hill town of Shimla, she divides her days between college, family obligations, and the tiny bookshop she loves. Her parents left her an inheritance—but an old-fashioned condition keeps it beyond her control: **She cannot take charge of it until she marries.** Then a violent storm sends Kian Dutt through the bookshop door. Kian is heir to one of India’s most powerful industrial families—brilliant, charming, wealthy, and dangerously accustomed to solving problems his own way. Mira doesn’t recognize him. For once, Kian likes it that way. One rain-soaked evening becomes walks through Shimla, cups of tea, private jokes, long conversations, and a slow-growing intimacy neither of them expected. Then Kian discovers something Mira doesn’t know. The land his development project desperately needs belongs to her. And marriage is the one condition that would finally give her control over it. **He wants Mira.\ She wants her freedom.\ His project needs her land.** To Kian, one impossible idea begins to look almost elegant: marry the woman he already wants, give her the freedom she has been denied, and negotiate for the land afterward. The problem is not that his feelings are false. The problem is that the secret is real. What begins as an intimate slow-burn romance in the mountains becomes a story about love, ambition, betrayal, separation, growth, and whether two people can ever find their way back to each other after the truth changes everything they thought they knew.

by TheHaze

Elena Cruz thought taking a job at an exclusive nightclub would be nothing more than a way to make extra money. She never expected it to lead her straight into the dangerous world of Dante Moretti, the ruthless heir to one of the city’s most powerful mafia families.\ Dante is everything Elena should stay away from—powerful, possessive, secretive, and surrounded by violence. Yet the more she tries to avoid him, the more impossible it becomes to ignore the connection between them.\ After Elena accidentally witnesses something she was never meant to see, Dante gives her a choice: forget what happened and walk away, or discover the truth about the man behind the Moretti name.\ But secrets have consequences.\ As danger closes in and Dante’s enemies begin watching Elena, she finds herself trapped between the man she fears and the man she can’t stop wanting.\ Because sometimes the most dangerous love story begins with a single question…\ Who are you?\ And once Elena discovers the answer, there may be no way back.

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

Homestead out amongst Mennonite communities. Mary Bontrager Schwester, Ma’am Agnus Bontrager, Dat Horace Bontrager, Tobias Bontrag, Braudar. Dat owner of-the Wine vineyards deep within a forest of green lush trees. Where grapevines grow plentiful by love of nature. Many Old Order Amish women bore aprons full of freshly picked grapes. Barefoot ladies up to the elbows in grapes of all colors and kinds. While Amishman and Mennonite men are in fields of grapes growin only to be picked for wine bottles here and sold. The large sand rock houses refrigerated by a gas generator. A wooden sign above the door reads Built on honesty. Inside greeters are Mary Bontrager Schwester and Grossmama. Property owner Horace Bontrager,( Dat) and Agnus ( Ma’am ). The property owners, a large white family adorned two porches beautiful inside and outside Then the Chocolate House where candy made daily. Packaged then sold to customers. Delicious decadent chocolate. Much to everyone’s delight. Bontrager Cousins worked hard for the store. Our Pride and Joy Cheese factory full of delicious home made cheeses. Best Cheesecake, samples daily from happy employees handing it out as free treats. The Gold nugget jewelers hand made rings , necklaces. Very well known for quality jewelry. Nestled in a large barn inside cases of finished jewelry. Quality jewelry sold here. The family Bakery housed homemade bread, cookies and pies . Freshness guaranteed. Braudars Tobias and Isaac Bontrager. As well as taking care of the grounds there. They were also proud owners of many horses . Pastures full of them. Give Thanks for your love for Gott as a whole. Reading your Bible and following his example is best. May you find peace in your life as a family. May those of us that gather together find friends who are family members Mary is the heart of herself, wandering through life in a world of Mennonite. Being noticed by Harley Hershberger known by everyone as a Wheat farmer. Most of his work done on his own small farm. Down the road apiece. Surroundings were very beautiful Evergreen trees. A windmill connected to a water wheel. Inside the barn ground oats made daily. Integrating sorghum to make bread sold to restaurants. His Rock farm house inherited from his Dat . His Braudars also lived there. This place     down in a gully. Surrounded by rocks . A trail leading to a lake treasured by family. To top it off they made binoculars. Sold to stores a catalog that they ordered from. Quality assurance guarantee in all products. Literally everything around the earth is a vast quantity of valuable information that can only come from a mature enough mind to find out what it gives forth in gifts. Ideas to make money from and create something to sell. Church held in neighbors barns turn church The bench wagon delivers benches for all day church meetings . Wild goats standing way up high on cliffs. White goats creatures standing there firm keep our grass chewed short. Sounds of running water from cliffs . Partakers in a river of life gathere often. Baptized people and it was a healing experience. Many walked away with their lives forever changed by a miracle. In fact the English had the subject matter analyzed and studied. Then wrote a magazine article about the healing benefits The mud from the river bed cured all wounds from infection or scars. Some say our beloved animal friends even taken there. To be healed from pain and twisted gut. Sightseeing a must though these foothills. Promise of life of a lifetime for happiness bound to souls entrusted to give their lives to Gott. The Temple of quiet is built upon its promise to keep your soul clean. When entering into silence for a month. This individual has committed to cleansing totally leaving to go back to their lives at home freed from any bad feelings Talking when they leave. Many different things have happened    Down in The Mennonite Country.

by Scarlett Ashfall

***Every King has his throne. Every Empire holds its power. The enemy seeks it all.*** `They thought they were hunting me, but truly, they were the prey. I was better at this game than they were. Years of learning this business and the game of war made me lethal. ` `When they came for the throne, I went for their throat.`

by Piper Lazarus

**One murder. One hidden enemy. One secret worth killing for.**  One phone call changes everything. ***Murdered.*** And the scene waiting for me is worse than anything I've encountered in my years as an investigator. Someone didn't just want her dead—they wanted to send a message. The problem is, I don't know who the message was meant for. *Until the first clue leads straight to me.* I rush to Jack's side expecting grief, answers, and a case I can solve. Instead, I find myself stepping into a deadly maze of deception, hidden alliances, and secrets that reach far beyond a single murder. The evidence doesn't add up. Witnesses are disappearing. Someone is erasing clues before I can find them. And buried beneath the murder is a connection to something no one saw coming. Then Axel appears. Again. Dangerous. Controlled. Impossible to read. He has a talent for finding the truth while hiding his own—and I can't shake the feeling that he knows exactly why I'm here. He says he wants to protect me. But I've learned the hard way that protection and possession can look frighteningly similar. The closer I get to Axel, the more questions I have. He knows too much about the murder—and far too much about me. All of it feels like a trap waiting to spring. **Then another murder.** That's when I realize this isn't about *her* anymore. Someone is hunting anyone who gets too close to the truth. The deeper I investigate, the more I uncover a hidden world of power, loyalty, and secrets protected at any cost. And somehow, my past is at the center of it. And if I uncover the secret they're willing to kill for, I may finally learn the truth about my past…about *them*... **Right before I get buried with it.**

by Piper Lazarus

***My past is coming for me…*** I’ve spent my life chasing the truth—uncovering secrets, solving the unsolvable, and exposing the darkness others fear to face. But now, the past I can’t remember is hunting me. I woke up with no recollection of who I am.\ \ **No name. No past. No idea why I’m running for my life.**\ \ All I know is that the people after me will stop at nothing until I’m erased. Somewhere in my shattered memories lies a secret—a royal scandal drenched in betrayal, deception, and blood. And if I don’t piece the puzzle together soon, it will cost me everything. Then there’s Axel. ***A storm wrapped in shadows, dangerous, unreadable, and laced with secrets that could shatter me.*** He claims he’s here to protect me, but the fire in his eyes tells a different story. His presence is intoxicating, his touch a temptation laced with danger. Every glance pulls me deeper, every whispered promise ignites something inside me I don’t understand. But one question lingers in the air between us. **Is he my savior—or the executioner waiting to strike?** With time slipping away and danger closing in, I must make an impossible choice: *trust the man who could betray me or face the enemy I can’t even remember.* One wrong move, and I lose everything—including my life. **The past holds my salvation—or my death. And the clock is ticking.**

by Adeline Blackthorn

Wren has never needed a five-year plan. She has a hometown she loves, more jobs than any reasonable person should have, a stake in the local coffee shop, and an uncanny ability to know exactly who needs a casserole, a favor, or a swift kick in the pants. Her life may look a little chaotic from the outside, but it works just fine for her. Then Daniel arrives. Award-winning architect Daniel believes in clean lines, careful plans, and things behaving exactly as they’re supposed to. When an old friend brings him back to town to design an ambitious new shared-work center—one that could bring jobs, entrepreneurs, and desperately needed economic growth—Daniel sees an opportunity to build something extraordinary. Wren sees a very expensive stranger trying to turn the town she loves into someplace it was never meant to be. Unfortunately, they need each other. With state funding hanging in the balance and half the town suspicious of Daniel’s modern vision, Wren becomes the reluctant bridge between the architect and the people whose trust he needs. Soon Daniel finds himself being dragged into coffee-shop conversations, community meetings, unexpected errands, and the strange orbit of a woman who seems to belong everywhere at once. Wren, meanwhile, begins to discover that beneath Daniel’s immaculate shirts, impossible standards, and insistence that everyone call him by his actual name is a man considerably warmer—and funnier—than he wants anyone to know. Somewhere between arguments over architecture, compromises neither expected to make, and the quiet moments neither can quite explain, their carefully established positions begin to shift. Daniel came to town believing good design could solve almost anything. Wren is about to teach him that the best things in life aren’t always built according to plan.

by Dionna Robinson

THE GODDESS OF EMBERS SERIES   She was never meant to be a goddess. He was never meant to love her.   Persephone Deimos thought the gods were myths.   Then the God of the Dead found her.   Pulled into a world of ancient magic, ruthless gods, forbidden desire, and deadly divine politics, Persephone discovers that there is something inside her the immortals have spent centuries trying to destroy.   Hades has ruled the Underworld for centuries. He knows monsters. He knows power. He knows exactly what happens when you let someone get close.   But Persephone is unlike anyone he has ever encountered.   As their dangerous attraction deepens, Persephone must uncover the truth behind her awakening power before the gods decide her fate for her. Because the Underworld is already stirring, Olympus is watching, and an ancient war is beginning to rise from the ashes.   She is the spark. He is the darkness.   And together, they may become the greatest threat the gods have ever known.   🔥 Begin the journey with Crowned in Ash, Book One of the Goddess of Embers series.   Six books. One forbidden love. A goddess forged in fire.

by Nikki Rollingwood

**Till Death: A Gripping Psychological Thriller** **SHE STAGES THEM AS LOVERS. SHE SEES THEM AS PREY.** > *A campus killer stages fake romantic suicides. To stop her, Tauny must tap into the dark instincts inherited from her serial killer grandfather.*   When two popular university students are found dead in their dorm room, locked in an intimate embrace beside an empty neon vape pen, local authorities and campus officials are quick to label it a tragic accident—a mutual overdose pact amidst a growing student drug crisis. Case closed. Except for Tauny May Baker. To the rest of the student body, Tauny is just a quiet, reserved graduate student trying to blend into the background. But beneath her ordinary surface lies a terrifying secret: she is the granddaughter of one of the country’s most infamous serial killers. And along with his blood, she inherited his clinical, predatory radar—an ability to see the meticulous calculation behind human violence. Where the police see grief and reckless youth, Tauny sees impossible symmetry: hospital-corner bed folds, unnatural body posture, and a crime scene arranged like a gallery exhibit. She knows instantly that a killer is hunting on campus, hiding in plain sight behind the mask of a grieving, "perfect best friend" who is obsessed with turning her victims into eternal legends. When Detective Jase starts investigating the deaths, Tauny must play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. She has to drop subtle clues to steer his investigation toward the truth without revealing *how* she knows—or risking Jase uncovering her own dark lineage. But as Tauny quietly digs into the killer's social circle, the killer takes notice. To outsmart a monster who treats murder as fine art, Tauny is forced to do the one thing she fears most: stop fighting her genetics, tap into her grandfather's ruthless mind, and embrace the darkness inside her to survive.

by Gemma Therese

Sixteen-year-old Melanie Howard's world is fractured on her birthday when she discovers her magical angelic bloodline and processing her brother, Eli, gets dragged into the shadows of danger. Thrust into Bloodbound Academy, a pre-Civil War institution for the descendants of the Angelic Realm, Melanie discovers that she possesses the rare talent of psychometry, a gift that allows her to catch glimpses of her kidnapped brother. Desperate and struggling against time, Melanie has only one priority: to bring her brother home safely.

by Valrica

For Hendrix, disappearing into a life of crime was never permanent. It was a survival tactic—a necessary detour before she could return to the daughter she loved.

by oliverd

## **Where They Begin** Since losing her husband and then both parents, Dee has quietly convinced herself that happiness is dangerous — that every joyful moment is simply another loss waiting to happen. Years of caregiving have taught her to rescue everyone except herself. She has become so skilled at surviving that she no longer knows how to choose joy. When she breaks one of her own emotional rules and watches an elderly woman dance with an invisible partner, long-buried grief begins to surface. Gary, also sixty-five and eleven years sober, has spent a lifetime running — from relationships, from vulnerability, and ultimately from Dee. Five years earlier they met aboard a cruise, fell deeply in love, and exchanged letters for months. But when his growing feelings challenged everything he believed about himself, fear won, and he simply disappeared. ## **The Reunion** When Gary sits down at Dee’s casino table, five years of longing collide with five years of heartbreak. Dee grants him one hour to explain, on one condition: complete honesty, especially when the truth makes him look bad. Every conversation becomes a test. Gary must prove through actions — not promises — that he has become someone capable of staying. AA becomes the unexpected blueprint for rebuilding love. In meetings aboard ship, Gary abandons the polished explanations that have protected him for years and confesses the truths most likely to cost him Dee, including the shame of imagining her waiting after he vanished. For the first time, telling the truth matters more to him than being forgiven. ## **The Turn** While Gary learns to stay, Dee must learn that her worth is not measured by how useful she is to others. Each day Gary asks a question no one has asked her in years: *When was the last time you did something simply because you wanted to?* She cannot answer. Two people illuminate her path. Lou, Dee’s fiercely loyal friend, challenges her to separate evidence from fear rather than let grief masquerade as wisdom. Sandra — the elegant woman dancing each evening with an invisible partner — reveals the novel’s deepest truth: loving again does not betray the dead. Love does not end. It changes form. ## **The Test** The turning point is not a misunderstanding but a series of chances to trust. On a beach with a hidden rip current, Gary risks his life to pull a drowning boy from the water while entrusting Dee to organize the rescue from shore — and for the first time she learns what it is to be trusted rather than only to rescue. Days later, on a zip line strung across a rainforest gorge, it is Dee’s turn: she has to let go of the cable and fall, on faith, with Gary waiting below. Trust, the novel insists, is built in ordinary acts repeated until they hold. The true climax comes when Dee falls hard on the ship’s pickleball court, breaking her ankle and her nose on the last days of the cruise. Gary — days from a national championship he has trained three years for — quietly withdraws to fly her home and see her settled, asking for neither recognition nor gratitude. The choice detonates a hidden conflict: his tournament partner and closest friend, who has quietly loved him for years, forces a reckoning that proves Dee right about her all along and costs Gary the person he thought knew him best. Watching him choose her and lose something real for it, Dee confronts her deepest fear — not losing Gary, but leaving first, before she can be hurt again. In the terminal she confesses that for one honest moment she hoped he would miss his flight, and telling the truth, rather than being reassured, is the point. ## **Where They Arrive** By the end of ten days, both have crossed the distance that truly matters. Gary learns that staying is the most courageous promise he can make. Dee finally abandons the belief that avoiding joy can somehow prevent loss; grief came anyway, and refusing happiness never protected her from it. On the flight home, her ankle in a cast, she places her hand in his — and lets herself, perhaps for the first time in years, receive love without believing she must earn it. Then the novel turns the story inside out. Then ending chapters present a major twist and readers are left to craft an answer to a final question.

by Misery Walker

In a future society, every citizen must choose a single color upon turning eighteen. From that day forward, nearly everything they own, wear, eat, drive, and decorate with must be that color. The only exception is that citizens earn the right to use additional colors by performing verified acts of kindness, sacrifice, or service to others. Over time, a person's color palette becomes a public record of their character. A person who reaches middle age with only one color is widely suspected of being selfish, narcissistic, or unwilling to help others.

by A.M Isle

A century of stillness does not end quietly. The empire is waking hungry and afraid, and the people who survived the freeze are discovering that survival was only the beginning. Kathera is returning, and the world is moving again. It should feel like enough.\ \ It isn't.\ \ Sahora never asked to be the one who carried Kathera's soul across realms. She never asked to crawl to the bottom of a waterfall and trade her breath for a world she barely knew. She never asked to stand trial before a village that wants her dead, or to fall for the man who broke every oath he had ever kept just to pull her back from the dark. She never asked for any of it.\ \ The world didn't ask either. It just needed her anyway.\ \ While Oliver faces the cost of choosing love over law, and Lyrian holds together an empire built on grief and rose gardens, a darkness older than the freeze is moving in the east. Carlosa of the Dark Court does not doubt. She does not stumble. She has spent a lifetime being certain. But something is pulling her toward the cliffs of Sinthia, something her shadow recognized long before she did, and Carlosa is beginning to understand that certainty is only as strong as what you refuse to look at.\ \ Ten shards. One stone. A world still remembering how to breathe.\ \ And the people brave enough, or broken enough, or desperate enough, to believe it can.

by Nikki Rollingwood

**In the shadow of the Blackbear Ridge peaks, nothing is ever truly accidental—especially not the death that just made headlines.** Georgia, the voice behind the true-crime podcast *The Anatomy of Malice*, has spent years dissecting the dark underbelly of human nature. But when a "freak" avalanche at a luxury resort kills a high-profile guest, Georgia discovers a detail the authorities missed: a surgical, artificial incision along the mountain’s crest. She hasn’t found a tragic coincidence. She’s found a signature. As she digs deeper, Georgia realizes the avalanche wasn’t an act of nature—it was an act of design. The architect behind it is someone who doesn’t just plan the tragedy; she curates the audience, and Georgia has been cast in the starring role. When a rare, vintage brooch is left behind as a deliberate taunt, Georgia finds herself trapped in a high-stakes game where every move she makes—and every step she takes to uncover the truth—is exactly what the Architect anticipated. Forced to abandon her digital life and go into hiding, Georgia realizes that to stop the next "accident," she has to stop playing detective and start playing the Architect’s own game. Caught between the secrets of her own family’s business and a predator who is rewriting her life in real-time, Georgia must determine if she can break the pattern before the final act of the performance begins. **In this chilling psychological thriller, the lines between storyteller and victim blur. In the game of *The Anatomy of Malice*, the pen is sharper than any blade—and the Architect is always watching.**

by Amber Faith Robbins

​This poem captures the brutal reality of loving someone through a timed jail call. It turns the phone itself into a cage, trapping the person on the outside in the exact same sentence. The narrative looks back at a chaotic street past, showing how their fierce loyalty was forged in the trenches. Everything builds to that ruthless 60-second countdown where love, regret, and survival are forced into a mad dash. When the line drops, it leaves a cold, heavy silence where the entire world is put on hold.

by Jacob Harvey Redloh & Véronique Margot

**Two agonized hearts, what can become of them?** **Love-lost and weariness prevail within his forlorn and aging heart. He has not seen love beyond his childhood home, which was true in his life. When love was claimed, it was not real, or in time turned away, never having been actual. Mutual affections were no more than dreams or lies. His heart had become hardened until she came to ease her way between the blocks set so long within his mind to protect his damaged heart.**  **She was lonely, emotionally bruised, and many false loves came into her life, with her being used to fill their needs, their only purpose. Bravely, she remained hopeful despite the troubles seen through time.** **A man to be loved, cared for, and preserved, her dream, and for which she is expressly skilled. He is an image online, yet important. As chats begin and continue, things change for each; affections build slowly for him and rapidly for her. He resists every allusion that more could be between them than good company, while she is determined to break down his emotional walls to mend his broken heart. Reluctantly, he is drawn in by her. Their chats become deeply important.** **All seems well, with love growing and moving forward to mend hearts and lives**  **A heartless hacker steals the love-determined woman’s social media account. With evil, tricky, and conniving means, the interloper took her place, deceptively cutting into the love-dance between this man and this woman, taking him in through the use of his lady's exciting words spoken earlier, newly restated with evil intent**  **While his true lover is grieving his loss, his precious and gracious words and poems, she yet remains unable to give up that last vestige of hope which would have him return and be restored to the love she and he had found together.**  **Here is the story, told in verse, an epic of love lost, deception, with a struggling possibility of love’s recovery, and restored trust the key.**

by Leslee Kahler

Tristan has inherited a title and many debts left by his debauched father and brothers. To save his family from poverty he has to marry his late uncle's ward. Can he convince the independent young lady to marry him? And can they not only find love but discover who is trying to destroy his family?

by Gina Murdock

Investigative journalist Mara Reynolds has built her career on uncovering the truth, but she's about to discover that her own life is built on lies. When Mara interviews billionaire tech entrepreneur Elijah Williams about his revolutionary energy project, the Prometheus Initiative, she's drawn to his charisma and vision. As their professional relationship evolves into something more intimate, Mara begins experiencing disturbing fragments of memories she can't explain—nightmares about guns, blood, and a murder she witnessed as a child. But every time Mara gets close to remembering the truth, something pulls her back. Therapy sessions with Dr. Catherine Reeves seem to help at first, but soon Mara realizes she's been manipulated in ways she never imagined. The "random" mugging that traumatized her wasn't random at all. Her mother's early-onset dementia may not be natural. And the gaps in her own memory aren't accidents—they're erasures. As Mara digs deeper, she uncovers a horrifying conspiracy: twelve years ago, she witnessed the murder of Elijah's parents by his younger brother David. To protect his family's reputation and his brother from prosecution, Elijah hired a pioneering neurologist to erase Mara's memories. But this wasn't a one-time intervention—Elijah has been manipulating her memories for over a decade, erasing and rewriting her reality every time she gets too close to the truth. The Prometheus Initiative isn't just about clean energy. It's a cover for something far more sinister: a facility where Elijah has perfected the technology to manipulate human memories on a massive scale. Mara is just one of seventeen victims whose lives have been systematically erased and rewritten. Now, as fragments of her true past surface, Mara must race against time to expose Elijah before he can erase her again—permanently. But with her best friend compromised, her mother's mind destroyed, and powerful forces aligned against her, Mara faces an impossible question: How do you fight someone who can rewrite your reality with the touch of a button?

by David J. Liebeg

"What is going on with me?" Jazmyn Wolff felt a wave of panic wash over her. It was her 21st birthday, and she had no idea what the future held for her. All she knew was that the word 'magic' was about to play a big role in her life. She was gifted with a special power, and it was up to her to unlock it with help from a group of witches, a healer, and her own strength of will. She had to learn to become her true self and use her powers to stop a deadly demon from ruling the world. Jazmyn must trust in her ability to overcome this daunting challenge and her determination to succeed. She was allowed to make a difference, and she was determined to take it. With courage and bravery, she set out to learn all she could about her magical powers and use them to save the world.

by Jane Austen

*Sense and Sensibility* by Jane Austen follows the Dashwood sisters—practical Elinor ("sense") and romantic Marianne ("sensibility")—who are left destitute after their father's death. Forced to move to a modest cottage, they navigate love, heartbreak, and societal pressures before ultimately finding contentment in balanced, mature marriages.

by D.M. Jordan

Copyright 2026 D.M. Jordan. All Rights Reserved. Cover Art by Mohsin Afridi  A novel in 64 parts published daily.  Synopsis: Dr. Aubrey Prentice is a rising psychiatrist with ambitions of writing a groundbreaking self-help book for women trapped in destructive relationships. But her methods are anything but conventional. Rather than observing from a clinical distance, Aubrey immerses herself in the lives of her male patients—crossing ethical boundaries in pursuit of deeper insight. Through intimacy, she believes she has uncovered what drives men, both emotionally and physically. The question is no longer what she has learned—but what it has cost her. At the center of her most dangerous case is Ian Henshaw III: a brooding, powerful billionaire whose influence extends far beyond the therapy room. What began as a professional relationship quickly evolved into something far more entangled—first patient, then lover, and now fiancé. But Ian is not a man who shares. Possessive, commanding, and accustomed to control, he demands absolute loyalty—even as Aubrey’s current marriage remains unresolved. Drawn into his world of wealth and power, Aubrey finds herself facing a chilling realization: the life she has pursued may come at the price of her independence. In a high-stakes collision of ambition, desire, and control, Aubrey must confront the consequences of her choices—and decide whether she is the architect of her own destiny, or merely another piece in Ian Henshaw’s carefully constructed empire.

by M Kennedy

People in Mercy County know exactly what to call Elena Vargas: addict, liar, bad mother, lost cause. What they don't know is how she got there-or how hard she's fighting to come back. Raised in abuse and pulled into violent love, Elena turns to drugs for relief and loses everything that matters most: her children, her safety, and nearly her voice. When grief and shame leave her with nowhere left to run, she begins to write- pouring her pain onto the page discovering that survival is only the beginning. Raw, gripping, and deeply emotional, When the River Learns My Name is an unforgettable story of heartbreak, resilience, and second chances -powerful novel about a woman learning that even after her worst mistakes, her life is not over.

by Joshua (J. E.) Dyer

Being sixteen can be Hell. For Sarah, every day is the same. Keep up with the grades. Stay on top of the cleaning and laundry around their cramped apartment. Friends? Boys? If her mom found out, her rage would follow. For as long as Sarah could remember, it’s always been her and her mom. Stories of her dad’s untimely death hold their own questions.\ \ So long as her chores get done and she stays close to home, everything’s sunny. Otherwise, she might feel the wrath of her mom’s love.\ \ That all changes when Sarah’s great aunt leaves her a mysterious journal in her will. Its pages tell tales of a missing brother’s adventures, riding the rails in the 1930s. The further Sarah delves into the events surrounding him, the closer she gets to uncovering her own past. As the truths of her great uncle’s disappearance come to light, she unearths the skeletons hidden in her mom’s closet.\ \ Then, there’s Collin. The boy she’s had a crush on for years picks now of all times to ask her out. Juggling a boyfriend and a relationship on top of everything else could push her and her mother to their breaking point.\ \ Sparks will fly on Sarah’s journey to independence and healing. One boy’s journey across Great Depression America could hold the key to setting her free. Sarah needs to find him in time to get to the truth before time takes another relative and his secrets to the grave.

by Sarah Bantu

**About the Story** What if the key to your survival was locked inside a secret, ancient bloodline?\ Spun from a fascinating true piece of Russian history and set against the brutal, breathtaking backdrop of the frozen north, *Daughter of the Falcon* blends gripping suspense with an unforgettable romance.\ For centuries, deep within the endless, snow covered forests, an elite and hidden clan of warriors lived by their own laws. They did not just survive the winter they ruled it, training lethal military falcons to hunt, fight, and protect secrets hidden from the world. Today, that fierce bloodline legacy is alive, but the isolation of the frozen north is cracking. A dangerous, unpredictable threat is closing in, forcing old secrets into the light and testing the loyalty of a clan that has never bowed to anyone.\ Filled with high stakes twists, deep betrayal, and a slow burn love story that burns hot against the bitter ice, this fiction novel proves that some family histories can never stay buried. Step into a harsh, beautiful world where danger hides in every shadow, trust is a luxury, and you never know what's going to happen next. Discover what happens when the frost bites deep, and the falcon finally takes flight.

by Sarah Bantu

**A breathtaking true story of unimaginable loss, survival, and the fierce resilience of a child's heart.** **In the gritty, contrasting streets of post-Soviet St. Petersburg, nine-year-old girl lived as a "Little Shadow" always running to keep pace with her older brother and undisputed hero, Yuri. To her, the city was a sun-drenched playground of fortresses and boundless adventure.** **Until the fateful morning a catastrophic explosion shattered her world in a single second.** **Left holding nothing but Yuri’s scuffed rubber shoe, she was thrust into a downward spiral of adult tragedy. As grief mutated into fatal addiction and suicide, she lost both of her parents, survived the cold cruelty of an abusive relative, and was violently torn away from her sister by state authorities. Stranded in a sterile Russian orphanage, she had to build a calloused armor just to survive the freezing institutional gray.** **But from clouds of flour in the kitchen to the hot spotlights of the orphanage stage, her spirit refused to bleed out. Clutching her brother's shoe beneath her iron cot, she used her memories as a weapon against the dark.** **UNBROKEN is a profoundly moving, cinematic memoir of a young girl’s journey through the deepest shadows of trauma to the brilliant, twinkling Christmas lights of a new beginning in America. It is a raw, heart wrenching testament to the unbreakable bond of siblings, the cost of survival, and the beautiful, enduring light that can never be extinguished.**

by Blaze Fire

At a heated Chicago hospitality conference, passionate strategist Simone Beauviuex clashes with data-driven director Marco Rivera in a viral debate on heart versus profit. Their fiery banter ignites into one unforgettable night of raw chemistry—apple martinis, sharp wit, and promises made in the heat of the moment. But Marco slips away at dawn with a curt four-sentence note, returning to his stagnant relationship.   Months later, pregnant and determined to raise her baby alone, Simone returns to Miami. When she joins Herrera Visions as a senior strategist, she discovers Marco is her boss. The reunion upends everything: Marco is stunned to learn he’s about to become a father and is ready to step up, but his ex Amanda isn’t ready to let go. As professional boundaries blur and family drama explodes (loud Caribbean-American cookouts, protective relatives, and unsolicited advice included), Marco must prove he’s done running.   Through nursery builds, glucose tests, Sunday dinners, and an emergency C-section, Simone and Marco navigate co-parenting, lingering sparks, and the messy reality of turning one night into forever. With their baby at the center, they learn that the best plans are the ones rewritten by love.   A steamy, heartfelt contemporary romance packed with enemies-to-lovers tension, surprise pregnancy, workplace complications, and the irresistible pull of found family. Perfect for fans of emotional second chances and strong-willed heroines who get their happily ever after—on their own terms.

by Shelly Meyer

**THE DAY I STOPPED BEING INVISIBLE** is a contemporary romance about emotional neglect, self-reclamation, and the quiet, radical courage it takes to be fully seen. Thirty-year-old Celia Ortiz has built a life that looks perfectly fine from the outside: a steady job, a comfortable apartment, and a long-term boyfriend who is dependable, successful, and safe. But inside her relationship with Brian Callahan, Celia is slowly disappearing. Brian never yells, never cheats, never makes a scene. His cruelty is quieter than that. He half-listens when she speaks, dismisses her feelings as overreactions, and treats her needs like inconveniences. Over time, Celia learns to ask for less, say less, and want less, convincing herself that stability is love and silence is peace. Then one afternoon on the crowded Newport Beach boardwalk, everything shifts. After enduring another joyless outing filled with Brian’s complaints and indifference, Celia wanders away alone through the farmers’ market, drawn toward the bright fruit stands, salt air, and a version of herself she can almost remember. There, she quite literally collides with Aiden Mitchell, a local surf instructor and boardwalk shop owner whose warmth and attentiveness catch her off guard. When a woman from Aiden’s past confronts him aggressively, he blurts out a desperate request: will Celia pretend to be his girlfriend? On impulse, she says yes. The moment is brief, awkward, and almost absurd. But afterward, Aiden thanks her with a level of sincerity that unsettles her more than the fake-dating stunt itself. He listens when she speaks. He looks at her as though what she says matters. He notices her in a way Brian hasn’t in years. For Celia, that fleeting encounter does not ignite instant romance. It ignites something far more dangerous: recognition. Once Celia has experienced what it feels like to be seen, she can no longer ignore how invisible she has become. When she finally tries to voice her loneliness, Brian dismisses her as insecure and needy, forcing Celia to confront the truth she has avoided for years: she is not asking for too much. She has simply been asking the wrong person. Their breakup is not explosive, but devastating in its calm. Brian is less heartbroken than inconvenienced, and his reaction confirms the deepest ache of all—he never really knew her. Alone for the first time in years, Celia moves into a small beachside apartment and begins the fragile work of rebuilding her life. She pours herself into her career, reconnects with neglected friendships, and starts learning how to occupy space without apologizing for it. Then fate intervenes again: Aiden turns out to live in the same building. What begins as a coincidence slowly deepens into a connection. Unlike the relationship Celia left behind, the one that grows between her and Aiden is patient, tender, and grounded in mutual care. Their intimacy is built in quiet moments rather than grand declarations: shared meals, morning walks along the shore, surf lessons that become unexpected lessons in trust, and long conversations where vulnerability is met not with dismissal, but with kindness. Aiden is steady, whereas Brian was indifferent, attentive, and absent. He asks permission. He checks in. He gives Celia room to choose. And for Celia, that kind of love is both healing and terrifying. Because being truly seen means risking loss. As Celia begins to believe she may finally be worthy of a love that does not require self-erasure, life delivers a personal crisis that cracks her open. Grief stirs the old instincts she thought she was leaving behind—the urge to withdraw, to endure in silence, to disappear before anyone can leave her first. Aiden, burdened by his own wounds and his fear of emotional chaos, struggles to reach her as the distance between them widens. Their relationship is tested not by betrayal, but by the raw vulnerabilities both of them are still learning how to survive. Celia must choose between the false safety of invisibility and the terrifying possibility of remaining present in a love that asks her to be fully known, even in pain. In the end, Celia chooses visibility. She allows herself to grieve out loud. She allows herself to be witnessed in her fear instead of hiding from it. She allows herself to lean on someone rather than disappearing into solitude. In doing so, she breaks the pattern that has defined her adult life. She no longer mistakes silence for strength or emotional absence for safety. She learns that real love is not dramatic or consuming, but steady, attentive, and brave enough to hold the truth. By the novel’s close, Celia stands fully in the space she once abandoned—a woman who no longer shrinks to keep the peace, who no longer confuses being tolerated with being loved, and who finally understands that the greatest transformation is not simply falling in love, but learning to exist fully within it.

by Louisa May Alcott

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March navigate the transition from childhood to womanhood in New England while their father serves in the Civil War. Led by their loving mother, the sisters struggle with poverty, personal ambitions, and their distinct individual flaws. Jo pursues a career as a writer while rejecting a marriage proposal from their wealthy neighbor, Laurie, who eventually marries Amy. Tragedy strikes the tightly-knit family when the gentle, sickly Beth passes away after a long illness. Through grief and joy, the surviving sisters establish their own households, remaining deeply bound by love.

by Gina Murdock

Investigative journalist Mara Reynolds has spent her career uncovering the truth. However, she never expected the biggest lie to be her own life. \ After interviewing billionaire tech entrepreneur Elijah Williams about his groundbreaking project, the Prometheus Initiative, Mara finds herself drawn to his intelligence, charm, and influence. At first, everything seems normal. But soon, disturbing fragments of memory begin to surface—visions of blood, fear, and a childhood event she cannot fully remember. \ As the nightmares grow stronger, Mara turns to therapy for answers. Instead, she uncovers something far more terrifying. The gaps in her memory are not accidents—they are erasures. \ Someone has been rewriting her past. \ As a result, Mara is forced to question everything: her childhood, her relationships, and even the man she is falling for. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Because someone has been controlling her memories for over a decade. \ And the man she trusts most may be the one behind it all. Perfect for readers who love: - Psychological thrillers with shocking twists - Stories about memory manipulation and identity - Suspenseful books like The Silent Patient and Gone Girl - Fast-paced thrillers with unreliable truths - Dark secrets, conspiracies, and emotional suspense

by Elwyne Verahs

A young girl who wishes for peace in a nation built around warfare is sent into exile with her once celebrated war hero father and their loyal steward. When her father mysteriously falls catatonic, the burden of survival shifts. Forcing the steward to decide whether to tend to the broken man he considers family or protect and provide for the man’s young daughter in a land that’s alive with hostility toward humankind—a hatred born of war.   Choosing to take matters into her own hands, Fiora looks back on memories of her deceased mother’s flower garden and struggles to coax life out of tainted soil. She gains an unlikely ally in a curious tree spirit who teaches her to look deeper into the growing things around her. But the land remembers more than it reveals. As Fiora digs into its roots—and into her father’s silence- she senses that exile is only the beginning. Some truths lie buried in the soil, while others are guarded by the people she trusted the most.

by Tabitha Polenz

--- What if everything you thought you knew about sex, love, and intimacy was just the beginning? This book is funny. It is crude. It is psychologically precise and occasionally so direct you will feel personally called out — because you probably should be. We are going to talk about pussies, cocks, scrotums, licking, sucking, and the kind of lovemaking that lasts nine hours and leaves you permanently ruined for anything less. We are also going to talk about childhood wounds, generational trauma, the chakra system, plant medicine, Tantric philosophy, and why so many grown adults are still operating with an eight year old's emotional toolkit. At the center of it all is a love story. A real one. A man named Seymour who was brilliant, quietly charming, and a prisoner of wounds he didn't know he was still carrying. A woman in the middle of her own becoming who thought she was just dating and ended up in the most profound classroom of her life. This book is the map she built from that experience. From the dating field through the blockades and the wounds, through the chakras and the sacred body, all the way to the other side where Tantric lovemaking sessions last twelve hours, orgasm is not a moment but a sustained state, and two people who have actually done the work discover what connection was always supposed to feel like. If you are tired of the same old patterns producing the same old outcomes, this book is for you. So, buckle in buttercup. Let's go for a ride.

by J.A. St. Thomas

***Foray* into this *highly* entertaining and thrilling mystery series where Stephanie Beroe, risks everything to combat the dark side of the one percent.**

by Judah Ray

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY! Madison thought she was the only sane one in the house.\ \ Fourteen and isolated in a remote farmhouse ruled by her mother Faith’s rigid devotion, Madison is convinced the madness belongs to the adults around her. Aunt Hope urges patience. Aunt Grace sees demons in everything. Faith stands between doubt and doctrine.\ \ Certain she is being suffocated by religious extremism, Madison secretly launches a livestream channel to expose her mother to the world. The followers grow. The comments validate her. And no one in the house knows they are being broadcast live.\ \ When Grace convinces Faith that Madison’s rebellion is something darker, prayer turns to accusation. Accusation turns to restraint. An exorcism unknowingly unfolds live as viewers watch religious fanaticism spiral out of control.\ \ This may seem like just another story about a rebellious teenager and her controlling mother.  Another story about faith gone too far.\ \ But the footage tells a different story.\ \ UNORTHODOX is a claustrophobic psychological horror about faith, rebellion, and a mother who refuses to abandon her child, even when the world calls her crazy.