Heliophobia

"When Zack Wallace’s uncle offered him the chance to fulfill his dreams with a job flying for his Alaska charter service, no way was Bailey George going to hold him back. Flying was Zack’s life. Which is why she never told him about the unexpected, unplanned pregnancy. Or answered his letters or returned his calls. Instead, she moved away, got her law degree, and raised her son with the help of her family and friends. When Bailey is charged with running a retreat for her law partners at Casa Blanca Resort and Spa at Barefoot Bay, the last person she expects to run into is Zack. But any chance of a future comes to a shrieking halt when Bailey’s son, the image of Zack, shows up at Barefoot Bay. Part TwoIt was bad luck that had Robin Hanna working late the night her boss, already in trouble with the feds, had two late visitors. Worse luck for him when they shot him dead. In less than twenty-four hours the FBI whisks her out of town and off to the Casa Blanca Resort and Spa in Barefoot Bay, Florida. If she has to hide a way, she gives thanks for the hiding place they picked…a luxury resort. Trey DeMarcus. He had his life all mapped out: a beautiful wife, a career in JAG, and then retirement to Montana, a state where he’s always wanted to live. Neither his wife nor the law practice worked out and now he’s at the Casa Blanca Resort and Spa, trying to figure out his life. When these two meet up, they have nothing in common except lives in chaos. Sunstroke is created by Desiree Holt, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author."

A vampire of noble birth, Dawn, is promised to marry Seth and travels through the cold forests to the promising ceremony. She doesn't want to marry Seth but has to choose between her clan's survival and staying alive or making it on her own. On her way to her new home, the carriage is ambushed, and she is tied to a tree and left to die being burned alive by the sun. A monster finds her and she's terrified, she's never seen any creature like it before! It's name is Ray...a terrifying monster that can walk in the light that calls itself a human! What sort of terrifying beast could do such a thing? Dawn is afraid but yet somehow something about Ray keeps calling out to her no matter how dangerous he seems.

My older sister Katie said she missed me and requested I visit her. The second day at her place, the apocalyptic heatwave arrived. I fought tooth and nail in the supermarket for food and coolant—she told me I'm shameless and have no self-respect. I offered a high price in the community chat for supplies—she sneered at me and said that anything stored for so long must be disgusting, contaminated by bacteria. Yet, she threw herself into the arms of the man living across the hallway just for a bit of food. While cuddled in his arms, she watched me die in the heatwave. When I opened my eyes again, I heard her on the phone saying she missed me. Well, keep on missing me!

I'm learning to swim when my childhood friend, Vivian Thorne, fakes a cramp. My boyfriend, Oliver Wilde, suddenly lets go of my hand and swims toward her. I'm left alone in the two-yard-deep pool, completely stunned. After Oliver carries Vivian ashore, he smiles as he watches me thrash around. "Vivian says you rely on me too much and need a push to learn, so just swim over here yourself." I choke on water and sink. At the sight of my struggle, Vivian laughs so hard she slaps her thigh. Oliver says something to her, then drapes a towel over her shoulders in resignation. Even though I can't hear what he says, I bet it must be, "Now that you've had your laugh, don't tease her the next time. Aria is already pitiful enough with her fear of water." It's true that I was born with a fear of water. I've known them for seven years. All this time, Oliver and Vivian have been tormenting me under the guise of helping me overcome my fear of water. In college, at the beach, Vivian deliberately pushes me off the speedboat. Oliver jumps in to shield her and watches me swallow a bellyful of seawater in the waves. On the graduation rafting trip, Vivian suddenly capsizes the kayak. Oliver swims over to pull her up and watches me slam into a rock, my leg bleeding nonstop. Last year at the water park, Vivian shoves me down the waterslide. Oliver slides down to catch her and leaves me in the pool, nearly suffocating with fear. Every time, my fear and despair are met with a burst of laughter from Vivian. Meanwhile, Oliver stands behind her, always saying the same thing. "No more next time." However, the next time always turns into Vivian's new way of having fun at my expense. Water floods into my mouth and nose, the suffocation shooting straight to the top of my skull. But suddenly, I realize that I can actually float on my own. I grab the safety rope and haul myself ashore. Two pairs of hands reach out to pull me up, but I push them away. "From now on, I don't need you two to help me build up my courage anymore."

When her parents lost their jobs, Dawn Talia Celeste became the breadwinner of the family while studying. Then she met Theros Skye Fuentes, the cold-hearted, distant, and arrogant man who only thinks about himself. His life is full of darkness but when she came, everything went bright. They are totally opposite and that's what attracts them to each other. Theros will do everything for his company while Dawn is willing to give up everything for him. Until when will she be able to stay with a selfish man? Until when will she sacrifice just to change him? Will she succeed or she will get tired and leave?

My mother constantly berated me for being lazy and fragile, claiming I couldn't handle a single shred of hardship. Her resentment stemmed from a terrifying symptom I couldn't control. Without warning, my body would begin to convulse, and my mind would go entirely blank. I would collapse into pitch darkness. Yet, every time she took me to the hospital, the medical tests came back frustratingly normal. My teachers eventually noticed my frequent episodes of zoning out and fainting, and they desperately urged my mother to take me for a more thorough evaluation. But my mother, a respected doctor herself, brushed their concerns aside. To her, it was an open-and-shut case: I was a lazy child faking an illness to skip class. From then on, she strictly rationed my diet. Whenever I felt dizzy, grew drowsy, or began to convulse, her response was swift and cruel. I was subjected to sharp slaps across the face and hours of forced standing, while she towered over me, screaming that I was a disappointment who was intentionally trying to ruin her life. Everything came to a dead end on the day of our school-wide physical exams. My mother happened to be the doctor manning the blood-drawing station. When my turn arrived and I sat across from her, that familiar, agonizing tremor seized my limbs. The entire room began to spin, and my torso pitched forward, nearly crashing onto the examination table. Instead of checking my pulse, my mother violently yanked me upward by the arm and shoved me away. "Stop acting!" she hissed, her voice dripping with disgust. "Faking a faint over a routine blood draw? Can you be any more pathetic? Get out into the hallway and stand there. Stop humiliating me in front of my colleagues!" She shoved me out the door before turning back to her work. The moment my back hit the cold hallway wall, an icy chill enveloped my body. My consciousness began to splinter. For the first time in my life, I couldn't fight the weight. Half out of it, I thought to myself that this was good. If I passed out completely this time, she would finally believe that I wasn't lying.