Inspired by the Dolly Parton song 'Wildlfowers', WHEN WE WERE WILDFLOWERS is a contemporary YA novel about the joy of finding your best friend, the heartbreak of saying goodbye, and all the wild adventures in between. When 13-year old good girl Violet Wilson moves to a new housing development in a small Texas town, she finds an unlikely friend in wild child Poppy Cooper. They're instant besties, but there's one problem: Violet's controlling mom forbids the friendship. Poppy's troubled family and reckless behavior stands in the way. After a dramatic turn of events reveals cracks in Violet's picture-perfect family, the girls learn they have more in common than they thought. As Violet's parents divorce, and her Mom makes plans to move away, the two best friends embrace their wild side and create an epic bucket list to squeeze teenage years into a few short weeks before Violet must say goodbye. It's all fun and games staging a first kiss with Violet's crush, driving lessons, a Dolly Parton concert, and prom... until Violet discovers that Poppy is keeping a devastating secret. It'a a betrayal that threatens to uproot their friendship. Can these wildflowers weather the storm? RATED PG-13: a little foul language, teenage subject matter, kissing, underage drinking at a party TRIGGER WARNING: divorce, infidelity, incarcerated parent, dysfunctional family, car accident

They were two flames forgotten until now. Book 2 in the Flames series, spoilers from book one in the blurb below. Jax, the illegitimate heir to Chicago's most powerful crime family, was believed to be dead. He was left in an unforgiving forest for years as he lay in wait to avenge his father's crimes. Until she showed up, and everything changed. Sweet Sam. A girl so beautiful and so kind-hearted. She was strong enough to break down every wall he'd built around himself. Jax is now back in Chicago, playing a dangerous game of illusion with his father as it's the only way to save Sam's dad from the mafia's clutches. But the forgotten son isn't welcomed by everyone, and in a world full of power, money, and hidden agendas, Jax begins to question everything he thought he once knew. Except her. As long as he knows she's waiting for him, he can push through it. But what Jax doesn't know is that Sam was smoked out of the woods where she'd been left to wait for him. The scrappy daughter of a foolish gambler is once again entrapped with a man she doesn't know. As she wavers on whether or not to trust this stranger, a shocking secret is revealed. In a desperate move to get to Jax, Sam puts herself in grave danger with no way to reach him. Can these two embers find their way back each other or will they get swallowed in the flames?

Samantha Morgan has always been tough, but the scrappy teen is about to be tested like never before. In a desperate bid to protect his daughter, her gambling-addicted father drives her away, leaving her in an abandoned forest. However, she soon discovers she's not alone. A mysterious guy named Jackson is living out there, and seems to have been for a long time. Jax is as guarded as Sam is pensive, but when danger approaches, they realize they need to work together to survive. As they come to depend on each other, their attraction grows into something neither of them expected. But with a deadly winter looming and an ongoing threat hanging over Sam's life, do they even stand a chance? Part one of two in the Flames Series.

[Ambassador Featured, Top 25 in 2023 Historical Awards, 2022 Watty's Bootcamp Mentee] 💜Embark on a heartfelt journey of self-discovery, first love, and the transformative power of a 90s playlist in this captivating coming-of-age story.💜 To 15-year old Rose, it's not just 1995. It's the era of mixtapes, shrink-wrapped CDs, and bass blasting from a boom box. It is sophomore year in a new school and mean girls who dash her hopes at fitting in. It's a dizzying crush on her bully's boyfriend Zach and the desperate desire to become part of his world--even if it means becoming someone she's not. Cue Rose's glow up and a series of missteps which put her on a path to popularity she never intended to walk. With Zach finally within reach, and revenge in sight, how far will Rose go on the quest for transformation? Will she risk friendship, her self respect, and even a shot at true love in the quest to prove her worth? Sometimes you have to face the music, and die a little inside, to rise as a better version of yourself. **** PG-13 for underage drinking, drug refernces, profanity and sexual humor **** Trigger warning: portrayals of bullying and anxiety

♡I was shocked to see whose still bewitching eyes had just accidentally met with mine. Giovanni! A boy, a crush, and one fantastic kiss. I thought I'd never see him again. ♡Dual POV ♡ It's the mid-90s on the West Coast: grunge music, mix tapes, pagers, skateboarding and baggy clothes. Lauren, an ordinarily shy 8th-grade girl, risks the first move to approach her long-time elusive crush, Gio, a gorgeous and mysterious outsider who has a secret crush of his own. The night of the school dance, they get exactly what they dreamed of: a first dance, a first kiss...but the timing isn't on their side, and the budding relationship slips through their fingers. Fast-forward to her junior year-the worst year of her life so far-and Lauren feels anything but confident. Gio reemerges at school after a three-year absence, and the unexpected encounter sends tremors through both of their lives. But their attraction to each other is as intense as ever, and interactions between them heat up quickly. However, Gio's school life is a disaster, and he harbors a secret he won't share, but it's the truth that Lauren keeps from him that really threatens to tear their young romance apart. "This is a great teen romance with angst, humor, and two incredible main characters. Ren is the friend I would have loved to have growing up, and Gio . . . well, he is just teen crush perfection! Also, it's set in the late nineteen nineties, which was my own teenage era, so I love revisiting the nostalgia of that time! " -Polly Ford. "This is a heartwarming and nostalgic read that will take you back to the late nineties, where we follow Ren, who is so relatable, as she comes of age on her journey with the swoon-worthy Giovanni, who will make your heart melt several times! Their journey is emotional, passionate, and both heart-wrenching and heart-warming-such a beautiful book! " - Heidi Carroll.

For 12 years, Ethan Fletcher has been the annoying, chaotic boy next door and brother to Kira's best friend... and she hated him... at least, she thought she did. This story is about becoming friends and falling in love one fond memory at a time... and having loads of fun along the way. Friendly Dating - Ethan is written from Ethan's point of view and can be read before, during or after this one, but they do contain some spoilers for each other. Excerpt: Ethan spills through the gap between my curtains and lands on my floor with a soft grunt. "You shouldn't leave your window open like that, Kicks," he huffs, getting to his feet. "Something weird could get into your room." "So I see," I blink at him. Genre: Teenage Romance/New Adult Romance This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. I reserve all rights as @MaggieOHighley. Please do not copy or use my work anywhere without my permission. Thank you.

Briar Chiem has only ever had choices in her life. Her parents made sure of that, and she knows for a fact it has everything to do with her terrible, hypocritical grandfather. At least that's what her dad's bestselling book series makes him out to be anyway. And when they visit him for the summer to make amends, she sees for herself what he's really like and the choices set before her. Idris Laxamana has some choices to make, too: get lost in The Quiet Nights series or listen to his family tell him he's a disappointment. The choice is obvious, but when he meets Briar, he's not so sure anymore. And the more they read her father's series, the more they start to realize just how closely their choices and the subsequent outcomes can parallel art.

Adeline Stargate is more than happy to immerse herself in her senior year of high school with her new group of friends and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jax Inkrose. No more toxic friends. No more gaslighting. No more manipulation. And no more hate letters. At least not with her current friends. When Adeline's former "friends" decide they don't want her out of their lives quite yet, she finds herself spiraling into the emotional turmoil of the past three years. Jax wants nothing more than to make all Adeline's problems go away, but when the problems become more intense and Adeline falls back on bad habits, he's forced to think about what a true friend would do. More importantly, he's forced to come to terms with whether he's a true friend himself.

For Mona's upcoming sixteenth birthday, there's only one thing she really wants: to get it over with. But with her family coming to visit her and her older sister for winter break, all she can do is listen to their suggestions and hope time passes quickly. The only problem is time seems to be at a complete standstill since Mona won't be celebrating her birthday with her twin brother for the first time in her life. The next best thing? Deflect the conversations and hope for the best. Mona's been doing exactly that for the last few months. What're a couple more weeks until her birthday passes? But when she meets Nathan and Clara, she finds that a couple of weeks of deflecting conversations and hoping for the best isn't going to cut it. Not with them, and not with herself either.

The world is complicated and people even more so. Everything in the present and future is nothing but intimidating and unpredictable, and Ashlyn Artwell doesn't know any other way to navigate modern life than to consume every piece of history she can find. If history can repeat, personalities can, too, right? History might help Ashlyn, but not everyone finds her historical obsession endearing. Especially not her soon-to-be step-brother, Marcus Halloway. Ashlyn figures the best she can do is avoid Marcus and keep referencing history to her heart's content. But all that changes when she ends up tutoring August Nightspade, Marcus' best friend. The more time she spends with August, the more the present doesn't seem all that scary. But that doesn't stop Ashlyn from clinging onto history when she doesn't trust herself to make her own personal history. And the more she clings to history, the more she realizes the difference between past and present.