In a season ruled by marriage, Lily Ashbourne wants knowledge. As the outspoken daughter of a duke, Lily is expected to charm, smile, and choose wisely among the many suitors parading through her family's estate. But Lily finds herself unmoved by titles and flattery, far more intrigued by books, ideas, and the quiet intelligence of a man who does not seek her attention at all. Sir Edmund Hale is a scholar. He is reserved, and utterly uninterested in the spectacle of the Ton. When circumstance forces their paths to cross, Lily discovers in him something rare: a mind that challenges her own and a world of learning she has been denied.

I froze. A man was slumped against the graffiti-covered brick wall, blood blooming across his side. His white shirt was soaked through, and there was a gun just inches from his open hand. My heart slammed against my ribs. Run, Skye. You should run. But I didn't. Instead, I dropped my bag and took a cautious step closer. His head lifted. Piercing, icy blue eyes met mine, sharp even through the haze of pain. His face was all sharp edges and shadowed scruff, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. His accent was thick and rough, like broken glass. "Leave." I shook my head slowly. "You're bleeding. Bad." "Not your concern." His voice was lethal, but he flinched hard when he tried to move. "You're gonna die out here," I whispered, kneeling beside him. My hands trembled as I pressed a napkin from my apron against his side. "I'm studying to be a nurse. Let me help." He stared at me like I was something he couldn't comprehend. A stranger. A softness he didn't trust. Then his hand, heavy and warm, clamped around my wrist-not rough, but firm. "What's your name?" he rasped. "...Skye." A beat passed. Then another. "I am Mikhail." His eyes darkened. "And you shouldn't have found me."

They say revenge is best served cold... and she's about to serve the best platter yet. Savannah Bristow wasn't the reckless type, but after catching her boyfriend in bed with her cousin-then finding out he's marrying her-she refuses to show up to their wedding alone. She needs a charming, bright smile, clean cut man to make her family swoon and make her ex regret ever losing her. She matched with the perfect guy for the job, but that isn't who showed up to meet her. In his place was his best friend. Jaxon Cage. The tattooed, illegally handsome, sharp-tongued menace who tormented her through high school-the last person she ever wanted to be dating, fake or not. But Jaxon's not the same boy she remembers. Beneath the cocky smirk is a man carrying his own demons, and when he offers to show her how to bring a man to his knees, the lessons start to cross a line neither of them ever expected to. Now Jaxon can't tell where the act ends and the truth begins, and it doesn't take long for him to realize that she might be the one he'd ever fall to his knees for. --- Fake dating. Hate to love. One wedding, one bet, and one very bad idea. Show Me How is a steamy, addictive university romance about second chances, past scars, and the moment a good girl decides to be bad for all the right reasons. ----- HIGHEST RANKINGS #1 in Fake Dating of 5.82K stories #26 in Forced Proximity of 7.58K stories #4 in Black Women of 15.8K stories #77 in Romcom of 37.6K stories #32 in Hate to Love of 26.2K stories #1 in Dating App of 467 stories #1 in Novel November of 28 stories #1 in Tattoos of 9.2K stories

She just looked up at me, breath catching in her throat, eyes wide and wet beneath the streetlight. The pink of her dress shimmered under the glow, her skin gleaming like bronze polished by heat and defiance. "You want to dance drunk in some stranger's hands?" I demanded, jaw tight. "Fine. Just say it." She stared at me. Furious. Flushed. Shaking. Then she whispered, "Why does it matter so much?" I didn't answer. Couldn't. Because the truth would've ripped open everything. So it came out before I could stop it-low, guttural, the sound of something breaking free. "Because you're not theirs." She froze. And then... she stepped closer. Just a breath. Just a whisper of space left between us. "Then kiss me," she said, voice soft but certain. "You always stop. You always pull away. You tell me you notice me. That you protect me. But you never kiss me." She looked up at me, trembling. "So kiss me. Or let me go." I didn't move. Not for a heartbeat. Not for five. Because I knew what would happen once I did. There would be no turning back. Not for her. Not for me. She looked like sin and sweetness wrapped in fire and I'd already gone too long pretending I didn't want to burn. So I moved. One hand slid to her waist, dragging her closer. The other tangled in the back of her curls, angling her mouth to mine. And then I kissed her. God, I kissed her. Like she was the only source of oxygen left in the world. Like her lips were something I could consume. Like kissing her could fix every cracked, corrupted thing inside me. It wasn't gentle. It was possession. Teeth, tongue, breathless heat and broken restraint. Her mouth opened under mine. I took advantage tasting rum, rebellion and something so soft I nearly lost my balance. Her fingers gripped my jacket like she was afraid I'd disappear if she let go.She moaned into me. That sound soft, desperate, mine shot straight to the center of my chest. I deepened the kiss, groaning as her body arched into mine,

"Stop apologising." So I did. Then I apologised for stopping. I'm the girl who eats lunch alone and tells herself she chose it. A girl who's never been kissed, who hides behind books and oversized jumpers and a smile that says please don't look at me. Malakai Vashko looks at me anyway. Six foot seven, Russian, with knuckles that never heal and eyes the colour of something cold and far away. He fights men twice his size for money and walks out of rooms without explaining himself to anyone, and his enemies have learned not to come for him. They come for the people standing next to him instead. He told me he didn't need a friend, and to stop looking at him like he might be one. I should have listened. But I'd already caught him trying to buy flowers for someone who couldn't receive them anymore, and something in me understood him before my brain caught up. He hides with silence and fists. I hide with silence and books. I didn't fix him and he didn't save me, but the night I grabbed an underground boxer by the hoodie outside a corner shop and told him to stop, something started that neither of us knew how to end. "I don't do this," he told me. "I don't let people in." He still doesn't smile. But he stayed. ------------------ ⚠️ Mature themes: violence, dark content. No explicit sexual content.

"You're going to let me fuck you like a good girl?" he asks and leans down, "Because you are, aren't you? A good girl?" . . . Elena Amoretto has always been smitten by the one and only, Ares Aetos. For three years, she's adored him from afar. Admiring the god of war and falling deeper into her obsession. While Ares can't seem to stand her. Where she's infatuated with him, he merely acknowledges her existence. While being the center of the spotlight herself. As the front woman of the rising band Icarus, Elena has to face the world while struggling with anxiety. To make matters worse, Ares is the drummer of the band rivaling hers, Dopamine. And just as fate would have it, his band and hers are touring together. She's supposed to hate him. But how could she? When all she does is drown in the blue of his eyes and willingly dies at the ruthless hands of Ares? The god of war who brings her down on her knees while she blissfully falls into his melancholy.

cover by @summerafterglow 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥 It's so much easier to spread lies about people than it is to spread the truth. That's what Gabriel knows to be true, at least. According to everyone in his town, he's a monster. He doesn't deserve to be walking among the rest of them. That's far from the truth, though. He was never good at being alone, but it became something he was used to. After everything he'd gone through, he craved solitude. Until she showed up. She wiggled her way right into his heart and now all he craved was her. 𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐚 Moving to a small lakeside town in Washington was not where Alyna saw her life taking her. She also didn't expect that she'd fall so hard for the brooding mechanic who lived there. Everyone tells her that she should stay away from him. All of the rumors say that he's dangerous, but all she ever feels with him is safe. With obstacles at every turn, will their love be enough to endure even the worst challenge they'll face? Or will they fall apart under the weight? started: 12/15/2023 published: 05/18/2024 completed: 07/11/2026 highest rankings: #2 bwwm #4 ongoing

He was the boy that no one noticed. He was quiet, bland to the naked eye, a total wallflower who sat on the sidelines and lacked in eye contact with those around him though he had the type of eyes that made you feel like you could drown. He tried his best to blend into the background, but what he didn't know was that he was the only one that caught my eye. He was the most intriguing person I had ever laid eyes on even though he couldn't see me. He couldn't see anything.

Malika Danai is pressure. Friendly, social, and loved by all, Malika thrives in college and is often seen as a mirage - seemingly real and attainable but disappears when approached. She's a party girl to the core. Loves to drink, flirt, and explore with her best friends, Ayana and Isabella. Her beauty is undeniable. With curly black hair cascading over her shoulders and golden-brown skin that glows no matter where she's at, Malika's presence is impossible to ignore. Her dark brown eyes often sparks with mischief, and her full two-toned lips often curves into teasing grins that hints at secrets she rarely shares. Malika excels at a lot of things but she was never the study type. She prayed the night before exams and hoped that her grades would at least give her a passing score and somehow, that always worked. Until now... Her grades are barely holding on- good enough to pass, but not good enough for a sorority like the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). She wants to join. No she needs to. It's the only way she can prove to her mother that she's worth it. And she'll do whatever it takes. Even if it means casting her pride aside to get help from the boy who loathes her existence. Meanwhile... Theo Sinclair is a weapon. A robotic academic weapon that nobody can beat. Coming from an old money family where the expectations and bars are set high, Theo surpasses them all and is often pushed towards greatness by his family. Yet he has a big flaw: boredom Because of his uncaring attitude towards everything and everyone around him, Theo is often alone. Deliberately avoiding attention and validation from peers; he thrives in the silence and rhythm of his own scheduled routines. He has only one rule; 'Never let myself feel things I can't control.' To him, parties are vile. An enigma vastly contrasting his reverence for solitude, silence, and carefully ordered thoughts. So when he's pushed into an unwanted arrangement, he resents the intrusion because slowly, his rule...

When beauty meets her beast-a modern retelling of a classic story with one major twist...this story isn't for sweet little girls. 'Keep the Blarcum name strong.' That is LORD VAN BLARCUM's duty and his curse. All his life he's been groomed to carry on the Blarcum legacy. He lives under his mother's rule, and he does as she pleases to protect the one thing he loves most: his manor. He doesn't care for the legacy or the empire. He prefers his isolated life on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis. His manor and his horses are all he needs. Until she walks into his life... AMANI BLAKE wants adventure. She's dreamt of seeing the rolling hills of the Highlands since she was a child, but she's stuck. She let her mother's fears keep her in the same place she's always been. After an explosive encounter with her employer, Amani has enough. She quits her job and takes her life into her own hands. A lucky search on LinkedIn has her accepting a position as an assistant to a Lord in Stornoway, Scotland. Will Lord Blarcum learn to love something more than his manor and be the adventure Amani didn't know she was looking for? Or will duty stand in the way of affairs of the heart? Cover illustration by Loveedreams from Artists&Clients ************************** Highest rankings: #1 in #Blackwoman #1 in #Swirl #1 in #StrongFemaleLead #1 in #Interracial #1 in #DiverseLit #1 in #POC #1 in #BWWM #1 in #Slowburn #2 in #Royal #2 in Interracial