Ella Joyce Set It Off Novels & Stories

Normal is overrated; that’s what my mom always said. My mom didn’t know the half of it. For 23 years, I thought my biggest problem was being an adopted child of a single mom in a tiny house, then I burst into flames. My first thought was mental breakdown, but that didn’t explain the fact that real flames were put out by real firefighters, so I fled to the city. The plan had been to check myself into a mental hospital, but I’d been too afraid, so I looked for a temporary job while I worked up the courage. My first interview is where things really went off the deep end. I found myself submerged in a world of monsters, and I was one of them. By my 24th birthday, I would supposedly be set into my immortality, with supernatural powers and all. With not one, but two handsome immortals watching out for me, hatred and hostility still lurked around every corner.

Marina Hunter is your average teenage girl– detached from the world, absorbed in books and music until she meets the choleric boy across the street, cocky and talented, Darnell McCoy and feels things she's only ever felt once for her best friend, Playboy Jason Kuyper. As Marina tries to navigate junior year at Silver Lake High alongside family drama, an ensuing love triangle, her phobias... A happy ending is pretty uncertain.

Ares is her brother's best friend. Thirty-four, engaged to the perfect woman, and completely forbidden. Yet, Scarlett cannot stop watching him. At twenty-two, fearless, and cherished by her older brother, she knows she should do what is right and avoid the blue-eyed man across from her. Each forbidden glance and touch intensifies their bond, threatening to unravel their worlds and guarantee heartbreak. And Scarlett’s brother has just made her start her internship at his office. Someone is secretly watching, intent on destroying them. As Scarlett gets closer to Ares, the danger around her increases. Secrets, betrayal, and obsession meet at a crossroad in a love they were never meant to have. Yet, I can't resist.

Mom dies of rage when she discovers that the bride at my wedding has become Nelly Johnson, Harvey Fisher's business partner. My wedding turns into Mom's funeral the moment she breathes her last breath. Despite that, Harvey insists that the ceremony continue as planned. He even orders me to put the wedding ring on Nelly's finger. "Hurry up and put it on! I'll explain everything to you tonight!" he snarls. I ignore him and leave the hotel with Mom's body in my arms. The wedding ends with a banging success at 8:00 pm. Nelly updated her social media with a post that's liked by tens of thousands of people. "I've finally married the light of my life! I'd like to thank a certain homewrecker for leaving after remembering her place." Harvey updates his social media with a similar post. "Those who are unworthy don't deserve to be loved." I like both their posts in the ice-cold morgue. I comment, "I wish you two a lifetime of happiness." Then, I head home with Mom's ashes. When I enter the house, I see Harvey holding Nelly tightly while making out with her.

After an unexpected pregnancy, Silas Shaw, who had always avoided the topic of marriage, suddenly proposed to me. Overjoyed, I readily accepted. However, on the day of the wedding, I stumbled upon an unexpected conversation between him and his friends. "Are you really going to marry Chaldene just because of your child with Nora?" one of them asked. Silas was visibly irritated and full of disdain as he responded, "It's all because of my mother. She kept saying that Nora's family background wasn't good enough.” "If it weren't to give my child with Nora a better status, why on earth would I marry Chaldene?” "You have no idea how boring a woman like her is in bed. I got tired of her after sleeping with her twice."

I shook my head as a dark chuckle escaped my lips. “I’m not her, Dimitri, can’t you see it? I will never be her,” My voice shook as I spoke, tears threatening to spill. Dimitri ran his fingers through his hair in distress. His usual cold demeanor slipping away as he walked towards me and grabbed me by my shoulder. I felt his fingers on my chin, forcing me to look at him. I swallowed. “You don’t understand, Dimitri,” My voice came out as a whisper. “You are in love with that woman. Not me. It has-it has never been me,” “I know who I want, Val and that person is you,” *** For years, Valeria Moore had lived her life as a substitute lover to Dimitri. She believed one day, he would see her for who she is and not as his lost mate who had the same face as her. But when Dimitri announced his engagement to Summer Wood, Val knew she couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to cut all ties with him but now, Dimitri wasn’t ready to let her go. Not when he just realized she was pregnant for him.

Our seventh wedding anniversary. I sat at the dining table—alone. My phone buzzed, lighting up with two messages. First, from Tom: [Working late at the office tonight.] Second, anonymous: [Tom is incredible. Can you even keep up?] Attached was a picture of him, lips locked with a woman I didn't recognize. I blew out the candles on the anniversary cake. Eyes shut, I typed back: [Let's divorce.]

The day after the new year, during a family gathering, my aunt sneered at me as I worked overtime, reviewing a proposal. "Why are you pretending to be so busy? It’s not like we don’t know you only make three thousand a month. Real money-makers are people like my daughter, a designer so successful she doesn’t even have time to come home!" I ignored her, but she directed her spoiled son to delete all my files while I was in the bathroom. My hands trembled with rage. "This proposal is due in ten minutes—if I don’t submit it, everything is ruined!" She scoffed dismissively. "He’s just a kid. What could he possibly know? Besides, your job isn’t even worth much. If you lose the files, you lose them. Worst case, you get fired." I chuckled coldly but said nothing. She had no idea it was the proposal her daughter had spent an entire month working on. And I was the client who held her daughter’s fate in my hands.

Back in the day, in the legal world, Finn Cross and I were the top dogs. Untouchable. He ran New York, a king in criminal defense, never lost a case. I held down Boston, crushing it in civil court. People in the biz used to say it was a good thing we weren't in the same city. If we were, we’d have gone head-to-head, and it was anyone's guess who'd come out on top. But they never would've guessed. Three years ago, I, Victoria Sterling, quietly married Finn Cross. And just like that, the legend of "Vicky" was locked away. I was willing to leave my career behind, to be the quiet, supportive woman behind the great man. I made his coffee, went with him to all sorts of events, and left a light on for him when he came home late. But when Elena, the one he’d always carried a torch for, showed up again, I couldn't keep up this charade anymore.

It's already hard being Black in America, but it's even tougher surviving America as a Black Vampire. N, who is a vampire, has been on a long search finding the police officer who killed his family and cut off half of his tongue when he was young. He believes that the cop is in Virginia; he goes on a grueling battle to find him. But he also ends up falling in love, meet other unique black vampires like him, find his true origin, and leads a revolution to end police brutality and racism.