How Does 'Mongrels' Portray Southern Gothic Themes?

BLURB: Four years ago, Belle Moreno shattered Cassian Thornwell’s heart with a brutal lie, and disappeared without a trace. He was her best friend, her first love, the heir to a billion-dollar empire. She was the housekeeper’s daughter, never good enough in his mother’s eyes. So, she walked away. Now, fate brings them back together once more—older, colder, and harboring scars the other can’t see. Cassian needs a wife. A contract marriage to save his empire’s image. And when he sees Belle again, he offers a deal—one year as his wife. Should she say no? Should she run? But her secrets are catching up and her heart never learned how to stop loving him. Living under the same roof, sparks fly, wounds reopens, and the truth threatens to explode. Because he doesn’t know she’s hiding more than the past… He doesn’t know she’s hiding his son.

"He is Keegan. Don't ever get in trouble with him. He's from The Dragomirs. And you know who they are," said Louisa Collins to Lyla Helliwell on the first day Lyla entered Gothic Academy. Sure, Lyla knew who they were. Very influential Vampire family. Wealthy and powerful. But, Keegan Dragomir had marked Lyla as a new object of bullying. "We hate witches. They don't deserve to be in the Freaky world. They are just human who pretend to have power like us, with their stupid potions," said Keegan. Gothic Academy was a special school for The Freakies---weird and magical kids. Vampire, Witch, Siren, Lycan, Goblin, Elf, to Centaur. Something huge and dangerous was happening there, made the two different kind of Freakies---Lyla and Keegan---who hated each other, have to work together to protect the school from danger. Meanwhile, the unfinished story of their parents long long ago, revealed.

Warning: Not a standalone book. Book 2 of The Southern Werewolves Pack “Do not grieve at my grave for I am not there.” Cohen Kingsley, the former Alpha of the Southern Werewolves Pack, returns to his pack in an effort to find the body of his mate, Mira, who died nine months ago. Accompanied by his pack, family, and friends, Cohen sets out to find the missing body of his mate. Soon, he realizes all those things he learned about his mate, he's barely scratching the surface. Mira's life was more than just being tortured and experimented by her step brother, Damien. Without knowing the consequences of involving himself and everyone into her past life, Cohen put everyone at risk. Their investigation about Mira's missing body soon comes fruitful and at the same time, trouble follows. He realizes that there is still another big threat lingering around. A bigger threat than the battle against Damien Kincaid. But, it's already too late to back out as they're all already involved deeply into the mess. With the help of his allies, old and new, they unearth the oldest secret of all. The existence of the world's oldest species that nobody knows has ever existed.

My sister abruptly returns to the country on the day of my wedding. My parents, brother, and fiancé abandon me to pick her up at the airport. She shares a photo of them on her social media, bragging about how she's so loved. Meanwhile, all the calls I make are rejected. My fiancé is the only one who answers, but all he tells me is not to kick up a fuss. We can always have our wedding some other day. They turn me into a laughingstock on the day I've looked forward to all my life. Everyone points at me and laughs in my face. I calmly deal with everything before writing a new number in my journal—99. This is their 99th time disappointing me; I won't wish for them to love me anymore. I fill in a request to study abroad and pack my luggage. They think I've learned to be obedient, but I'm actually about to leave forever.

Book 3 of The Southern Werewolves Pack WARNING: Not a standalone book. The secret he kept for five years and the price he had to pay for it. Liam Blake, the Beta of Southern Werewolves Pack, has a secret of his own. He had found his mate at his sister's eighteenth birthday party but could not claim her because of their age gap, and the wars were raging on his pack’s doorstep when he found her. Five years later, his Luna, Mira, persuaded him to visit his sister, Anita, who is also the best friend of his mate, Jazmine Diaz. Liam seems to have everything planned after Anita invited him to spend the summer with her and Jazmine away from the city. Although things seem to go well, a certain someone joins the vacation, causing Liam to pick up his pace to get Jazmine. But Liam isn't the only one who has secrets to hide.

Grace Anderson is a striking young lady with a no-nonsense and inimical attitude. She barely smiles or laughs, the feeling of pure happiness has been rare to her. She has acquired so many scars and life has thought her a very valuable lesson about trust. Dean Ryan is a good looking young man with a sanguine personality. He always has a smile on his face and never fails to spread his cheerful spirit. On Grace's first day of college, the two meet in an unusual way when Dean almost runs her over with his car in front of an ice cream stand. Although the two are opposites, a friendship forms between them and as time passes by and they begin to learn a lot about each other, Grace finds herself indeed trusting him. Dean was in love with her. He loved everything about her. Every. Single. Flaw. He loved the way she always bit her lip. He loved the way his name rolled out of her mouth. He loved the way her hand fit in his like they were made for each other. He loved how much she loved ice cream. He loved how passionate she was about poetry. One could say he was obsessed. But love has to have a little bit of obsession to it, right? It wasn't all smiles and roses with both of them but the love they had for one another was reason enough to see past anything. But as every love story has a beginning, so it does an ending.