Apex Future Martial Arts Novel

Love. Duty. Valor. Secrets & Betrayals *** In the Kingdom of Vakythia, power cleaves the populace into two distinct classes: the Blessed, wielding gifts granted by the Ember, and the ordinary citizens, devoid of such divine favor. Arwyn Balchor, a rebellious girl and a blessed healer, finds her life intertwined with that of Thrystan Gaelen, the Fire Prince and future king of Vakythia— propelling her from the shantytown of Wyrm to the opulent palace. But blending in is a fragile thing, especially with a watchful enemy lurking in the shadows, poised to sabotage her every move. And as if that weren't enough, she unwittingly captures the attention of the Prince Thrystan Gaelan. Amidst swirling palace politics and brewing tensions, Arwyn begins to experience haunting visions linked to the plague ravaging a part of the Kingdom and a mysterious woman. As the kingdom prepares for the grand annual Sun Festival, an insidious threat looms closer, with the plague creeping ever nearer to the Capital.

Unrequited love is the worst. It never quenches your thirst. When you love someone the most, but they treat you like a ghost. You don't exist to them, even if they're your gem. It hurts your heart and tears you apart. _________________________________________ She loves him and he loves another, but he loves her too. He loves her and she loves another, but perhaps he is wrong. Maybe he's the one she actually loves. So, who does she love more? Mahendra or Vikram?

Cory Sullivan, my ten-year-old son, joins a swimming class organized by his school. A bunch of his fellow students end up pinning him to the drain of the swimming pool. I spot the streak of red in the water and completely lose my mind. I immediately dash over to save Cory, but by the time I do, his face has turned swollen and blue from the suction. Blood trickles from his mouth. He's no longer breathing. Andy Webster, the ringleader of the trio who hurt Cory, arrogantly declares that he won't be criminally prosecuted because he's a minor. "So what if I did it? He started getting on my nerves ages ago! Now that he's dead, no one else can compete with me to be the top in our class." Andy's father, Greg Thompson, condescendingly throws me a debit card. "There's 100 thousand dollars in there. That should be enough to make up for your son's worthless life." Outrage, I demand justice, but my wife, Sheryl Lowe, stops me. "Andy's just a kid himself. Are you going to force someone else's kid to lose his freedom just because your own son is dead?" I stop at nothing in the pursuit of justice, but Andy simply gets sent to a juvenile detention center. That's nowhere near enough for me. Eventually, I lose all hope. I lie down at Cory's grave and swallow a bottle of sleeping pills. Suddenly, my eyes open again. I've returned to the day I took Cory to the swimming pool. I immediately drag him off to take him back home before anything happens, but alas, a young boy still ends up losing his life at the pool.

In a college world where every hallway is a battlefield of intellect, pride, and desire, Rival Hearts explores the thin line between hate and a love that burns hotter than anyone expects. When fiercely independent Harper Lawson, a chemistry major with a sharp tongue and a stubborn streak, collides with Emery Collins, a confident and ambitious literature student, sparks fly—literally. Their rivalry begins in classrooms and spills into dorms, cafeterias, and late-night campus corners. Harper thrives on rules and routine, while Emery lives for unpredictability and teasing chaos. Every insult, every sarcastic remark, every heated debate draws them closer to a truth neither is willing to admit: attraction doesn’t always ask permission. What begins as antagonism turns into stolen glances, secret touches, and nights filled with whispered confessions and passion that neither can deny. Their friends notice the chemistry, professors are oblivious, and both women struggle with pride, past heartbreaks, and the fear of being vulnerable. As the semester unfolds, Harper and Emery navigate parties, group projects, dorm-room secrets, and the intoxicating highs of desire and intimacy. Amid campus gossip, emotional upheavals, and raw, steamy encounters, Rival Hearts captures the journey of two women learning that love can come disguised as hate, that surrendering to desire can be terrifyingly exhilarating, and that the fiercest rivals often make the strongest partners. Full of witty banter, heart-pounding tension, and intimate romance, this novel is a slow-burning, passionate exploration of the chaos of first love and the unstoppable force of attraction.

The day Jessica Smith and I went to pick out our wedding rings, her long-lost first love unexpectedly returned to town. When we went to pick him up from the airport, she introduced me to him, saying, "This is Sebastian Grant, a friend." Jessica made it clear that I wasn't her fiancé. She even went a step further and called off our engagement party scheduled for the next day. Just when she thought I would fight and insist on marrying her, I suddenly said in relief, "Your best friend previously wanted to hook up with me, you know? And honestly, I was kind of interested."

When Jenna Brooks's family goes bankrupt, she's forced to move in with the Declan family in Houston for her senior year. Getting to Houston, Jenna quickly realizes that things have changed since she last saw them. The Declan brothers, once innocent little boys, now have now grown up to be hot and attractive guys. What Jenna doesn’t know is that, her life is about to be changed. She is soon thrown into the world of heartbreak, boy kisses, make outs and school scandals. But will Jenna make it through senior year without losing herself in the chaos? Jenna's life is about to be forever changed, and the choices she makes will determine her fate. Prepare yourself for a journey filled with unexpected twists, as Jenna discovers just how far she's willing to go to find her place amidst the chaos.

Lila only wanted to fit in for this one night and this one party. So she had one fake boyfriend to keep her from feeling invisible in a sea of confident smiles and perfect couples. It was supposed to be simple until her fake date ditched her under the blinding strobe lights, leaving her stranded and humiliated in the middle of the hockey team’s Freshers Welcome Party. But humiliation took an unexpected turn when Ethan, her best friend’s brother, and worse, her brother’s best friend stepped in to save her. That moment should have been the start of something new. Instead, it became the beginning of everything she never saw coming. Because while her heart recognized something in his eyes, his stayed shuttered, cold and unreachable. And just when she thought she was ready to forget, the fake boyfriend returns, this time, asking for something real. Between two hearts that shouldn’t collide and a past that refuses to stay buried, Lila must choose: follow the safety of what she knows, or risk everything for what she can’t seem to let go of?

Her name was Cathedra. Leave her last name blank, if you will. Where normal people would read, "And they lived happily ever after," at the end of every fairy tale story, she could see something else. Three different things. Three words: Lies, lies, lies. A picture that moves. And a plea: Please tell them the truth. All her life she dedicated herself to becoming a writer and telling the world what was being shown in that moving picture. To expose the lies in the fairy tales everyone in the world has come to know. No one believed her. No one ever did. She was branded as a liar, a freak with too much imagination, and an orphan who only told tall tales to get attention. She was shunned away by society. Loveless. Friendless. As she wrote "The End" to her novels that contained all she knew about the truth inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, she also decided to end her pathetic life and be free from all the burdens she had to bear alone. Instead of dying, she found herself blessed with a second life inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, and living the life she wished she had with the characters she considered as the only friends she had in the world she left behind. Cathedra was happy until she realized that an ominous presence lurks within her stories. One that wanted to kill her to silence the only one who knew the truth.

Alpha Theon Blackwood, a 25-year-old Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, rules with an iron fist, valuing power above all, shaped by a painful past that he overcame through his first kill, earning him respect. His life takes an unexpected turn when he is forced to shelter and protect relatives, including a 20-year-old human girl named Leah, revealed through his older brother's secrets. Leah, who has just lost her parents, is now responsible for raising her three werewolf siblings as a human, facing new dangers and forced to trust the werewolf pack led by the forceful Alpha Blackwood. Despite werewolves not typically keeping secrets, Leah discovers the Blackwood Pack is full of deadly secrets.

When Diane Biggins meets Danny Seth for the first time she doesn't like him and she is convinced to stay away from him but things go wrong when she just can't stay away, even when he happens to be a guy her best friend's been messing around with. Danny thinks she is not his type but he just can't stay away either. It's even worse when she needs his help to save her mom and he demands she marries him and gives him a child in return. Why would he want to be married to someone he doesn't want to be around How would her best friend feel? What happens to her self-promise of never getting married? These questions make Diane want to reject Danny but how would she?