Booker Prize 2019 Longlist

“To escape a monster, she ran straight into the arms of a devil.” Lila Vance was a debt payment. Wrapped in fifty thousand dollars of French lace, she was minutes away from marrying Marcus Thorne—a man who whispered that she was nothing more than his "property." But Lila refused to be broken. With a ripped dress and a heart full of terror, she bolts from the altar and into the private elevator of the Grand Imperial Hotel. When the doors open, she finds herself in the lion’s den: the penthouse of Adrian Sterling, her fiancé’s most lethal rival. Adrian is a man carved from shadows and sin, a billionaire "Shark" who destroys legacies for sport. When Marcus comes to claim his prize, Adrian offers Lila a choice: go back to the man who will break you, or sign a one-year marriage contract with the man who will own you. As the line between their fake vows and real desire begins to blur, Lila must face a terrifying truth: Adrian Sterling didn't save her out of mercy. He saved her because she is the final piece in a game of revenge he’s been playing for years. In a game of power, who will be the first to break?

At the award-giving ceremony of the end-of-the-year gala, my boss, George White, suddenly announces that he will be adding a bonus round on a whim. "This is the annual department evaluation! The department that comes last shall come onto the stage and receive a tiny encouragement from me!" The huge screen lights up at that moment. The sales achievements accumulated by all departments are being shown in a ranking system. The sales department is ranked first. The operations department comes second, and the marketing department gets third place. As for the administrative department, the sales achievements shown on the screen are none. After all, that department has no KPI to achieve at all. George beams at us from the administrative department. "Everyone from the administrative department, come on up and receive your prize!" Two people can be seen carrying a basket of brooms up the stage. Everyone bursts into laughter instantly. "Come now, sweep away your bad luck with the brooms! Try not to come up as the bottom-ranked department again next year!" George personally thrusts the brooms into our hands. Camera flashes go off beneath the stage—people are clearly taking photos of us. The people from the sales department are the ones laughing the hardest. "Finally, the peeps from the administrative department are getting the recognition they deserve!"

---> if you are interested in my work, please check out my novel The Starving Vulture. Available on Amazon, $3.99 for the Ebook and $14.95 for the Paperback https://www.amazon.com/Starving-Vulture-Miguel-Monta%C3%B1a/dp/1951150899<--------- Aster Likaya is a Battle Mage of the Zeraph Republic. Raised in a military family, she was destined for a life on the front. As a Battle Mage she has mastered the art of Controlling. A simple but effective kind of magic that is necessary when one bonds and commands the essential robotic warmachines of her world. The Gearbanes. And now, she is a Captain. But much to her surprise, she is not handed a company but a unit of stoic and silent soldiers that call themselves DragonWolves. Her second in command, is Lieutenant Able Froster, young but grim faced soldier who has seen combat since he was barely a boy. For their first mission, they are given a simple task. Retrieve an agent of the Republic who is lost in the vast swampland known as the Suha Marshes. Little do they know, that they are not the only factions searching for the man. For in the Suha Marshes, hunt the cannibalistic Birchmen and the Kolysian pirates. All eager for the prize the agent carries. This is the world of Likaya and Froster. Dominated by machines powered by magic, weapons ignited by runes and wars fought over ancient relics forged by a forgotten past. Welcome to Likaya's Wolves.

"You were never her, Aria. You were just... there." Jason's words echo in my head as I stand in the back of the church, watching him mourn another woman on her sister's wedding day. Isabelle. The perfect dead girlfriend. The ghost I've been competing with for three years. I thought I could be enough. I thought love could grow where grief once lived. But when I find the evidence, when I see the hotel receipts, the text messages, the photos of Jason with Isabelle's sister Violet, I realize the truth. I was never the love story. I was the intermission. What I don't know yet is that nothing about my marriage was real. Not Jason's cruelty. Not Violet's affair. Not the stranger's rescue. They've all been playing a game, and I'm the prize they're willing to destroy each other for. When the truth comes out, when I discover why Isabelle really died and who's been pulling the strings, I'll have to decide: Do I let them destroy me, or do I burn their whole world down?

Warning: This story containes explicit scenes. Intended for those above 18... ******* Aria Blackwood has spent her life trapped beneath her father’s iron rule. When she is paraded through the glittering halls of the Grand Moon Hall, offered as a prize to unite the powerful Twelve Houses, she believes her fate is sealed. But one forbidden night changes everything. The stranger who steals her breath is no ordinary wolf. Kael Nightborne is the King of werewolves, ruler of Nightfall Keep, and the last man Aria should ever desire. When dawn comes, he turns her away, cold, distant, unreachable. Except Aria carries his child. Hunted by secrets, betrayed by blood, and chased into the dangers of the High Wilds, Aria discovers that her father, Victor Blackwood, is tied to horrors buried deep within the Forsaken Heights, sins that could tear the realm apart. As enemies close in from Ironwill Basin Pack to the shadows of Veilshade Peak, Kael is forced to choose between his crown and the woman fate never intended for him. Love was never part of the plan. Neither was a baby that could change the balance of power forever. When the truth finally comes to light, will Kael protect his hidden family, or will the past claim them both before dawn breaks?

At the company holiday party raffle, I'd barely stepped on stage when my superior, Victor Grant, shoved a crumpled slip into my hand. "Special prize for our top sales guy. Go on, open it. Let's show everyone." All eyes were on me as I unfolded it. Scrawled across the paper: [VIP janitor status unlocked—every toilet in the company, three days.] The room lost it—laughter everywhere. Victor crossed his arms, grinning. "Fair, right? Everyone knows you climbed the ranks hooking up with rich cougars. Gotta avoid hard feelings for the others, yeah? While the rest of us take a break, you can get busy. You're not gonna back out, are you?" The crowd cracked up. My girlfriend—and CEO—Rachel Sullivan stood off to the side, watching. Didn't say a word. Everyone waited for me to explode. Instead, I just nodded. Next day, over 300 refund requests hit. Cash flow flatlined. Victor and Rachel begged me to talk the buyers down. I shrugged. "Nah. Don't wanna save the company and make my performance too good. That'd just cause more ' hard feelings,' right?"

Renee, a Disney and Harry Potter aficionado, is not your average girl. Beneath her nerdy exterior lies a secret - she is a rare breed of wolf. To protect herself, she must pretend to be wolf-less, a facade that subjects her to relentless bullying. Her first mate, who once shared clandestine moments with her, rejects her when she reveals their fated connection. His rejection is not of her wolf identity, but of her nerdy quirks, claiming he was only after one thing. Heartbroken, Renee leaves behind her past and embarks on a new journey, starting a catering business. It’s here that she encounters Jace, her second chance mate who has been patiently waiting for his destined partner. But just as things start looking up, her past resurfaces. Her former mate reappears, and she finds herself the prize in a competition between two Alphas. However, only one truly values her, nerdy quirks and all. The other, having discovered her true identity, is playing a dangerous game of deception. As Renee navigates this complex love triangle, she must decide who to trust and who to love. But the question remains: Will Renee choose the one who loves her for who she truly is or fall prey to the deceptive games of her past? The answer lies within the unfolding chapters of her life.

I was sent to reap her soul. Now, I am it prisoner." ​Sloane is a Wingless Reaper. For five centuries, he hasn't known mercy only the cold weight of his blade. His final mission was supposed to be easy: find the girl born with the Infinite Soul and kill her before she manifest and destroy his kind. Elena has spent twenty- four years in a guarded palace, hidden from the world and even the air outside by the ancient Ouroboros cult. She is a walking miracle whose blood holds the key to immortality. She doesn't know she’s a savior; she only knows she wants to be free. ​The cult wants her blood. The Wingless want her dead. When Sloane finally corners his prey, the universe intervenes. A golden brand sears into his wrist a Divine Shackle. A 24-hour countdown to his own death begins, and there is only one way to stay alive : He must protect the girl he was sent to kill. ​Now, the world’s deadliest hunter is her only protector. To the Ouroboros, she is a prize to be harvested. To the Fallen, she is a plague to be erased. To Sloane, she is a beautiful curse. ​As the prophecy draws closer, he realizes the most dangerous thing isn't the ticking clock on his wrist... it’s the heartbeat he could feel for his enemy. ​One HUNT. One LEASH. No ESCAPE.

Lila Williams is an up-coming actress but for five years she chose to focused on her husband as a faithful and devoted wife, giving up on her career and helping her husband achieve his goal which was being the CEO of his father's company at an early age. She had it all, the perfect husband and life too, well so she thought. Unknown to her, her husband was having an affair with her own sister, which is also carrying his child. Lila decided the best way to mend her shattered heart is by destroying the one thing he holds more important than anything else: his career. Nicholas Fernando is a billionaire first generation American; he knows the value of hard work and doing what it takes to survive. His entire life has been geared to the moment he can take the Williams company away from the corrupted men who once left his family homeless. When Lila Williams approaches the billionaire to bribe him with information set to ruin her ex-husband, Nicholas Fernando is chomping at the bit to take everything the William's prize including Lila. A story of love, revenge and healing needs to start somewhere and Lila's pain is the catalyst to the wildest roller coaster ride of her life. Let the bribery begin.

I watch as he gently places the gun on the table. Seconds tick by a heavy silence filling the room. He takes a stand and makes his way to me. He takes a stance behind my chair and places his firm arms on my armchair, caging me. I bask in his scent and warmth. "You choose now Lana, here and now." He whispers into my ear. His traces my knuckles before grabbing my notebook out of my hands, and tossing it on the table. "I wasn't done with that." I say. He laughs, I feel his chest rumble as he laughs. I turn to face him, feeling my breaths shorten with each passing second. "Eyes on the prize, Lana." He turns my head back towards the table. "You choose the notebook you can go back to living your life in fear and delusion, then one day end up dead in a dumpster or," He brushes a strand of hair from my face, " You could pick up the gun and hunt your past which shall it be Lana?" I feel beads of sweat on my back and my anxiety prickling through my skin. I have to choose, here and now. I extend my hand and pick my choice.