Failed State Novels & Stories

My sister, Yvonne Jones, tried to murder the childhood friend of a rich heir in order to seduce him. Yvonne poisoned the woman's drink and pulled out her oxygen tube after she was sent to the hospital. When the rich heir arrived in a rush, Yvonne cried in his arms daintily. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I failed to protect her." I witnessed everything in the ward but didn't say a word about it. In my previous lifetime, I stopped Yvonne from poisoning the woman. I knew the rich heir would never let her get away with it if he found out about it. Yvonne was forced to give up her plan and even praised me for my foresight. However, she ended up poisoning me instead and stabbed me in the heart with her dagger when I got dizzy. "This is your fault! Die! If you hadn't stopped me, Sean Graham would've been mine!" When I opened my eyes next, I had returned to the day of the poisoning.

In the 1860s, Hunter Eldridge is a military veteran with a tumultuous home life and a fraught relationship with his father. When he returns to London, Hunter reluctantly visits the family bookstore, dreading an encounter with his loathsome father. Upon entering he sets eyes on the enchanting Eliza Carlisle. They fall deeply in love—soul mates to the core—and spend fifteen years happily married before tragedy strikes. On Hunter’s birthday, after enjoying a wonderful night with family, he and Eliza are out for a leisurely stroll when a horrific creature of the night attacks them. Eliza is murdered, while Hunter is transformed into a vampire. In this new state, he finds a mentor in his father’s peculiar business partner Garret Wilkins. Hunter also eyes a suspect in his tragic attack and vows revenge. Over the next century, Hunter must rebuild his life as an immortal. He is lucky enough to find love again after years of loneliness and despair. Endless time allows him to unravel the mystery of reincarnation while struggling with a darker side of himself. In Hunter’s continued thirst for vengeance, he realizes death is only the beginning as he reveals a small piece of a bigger event that is about to grip the country.

Good girls and Bikers don't mix just like oil and water don't mix. Nothing similar, nothing in common, just different worlds and personalities. But what if they cross paths and end up having an inexplicable and perfect chemistry? Carl and Adrian are the two most popular bikers and rivals in college, each with a unique personality. Amanda is a medical student—intelligent, introverted, and a bit of a nerd. One night at a club, Amanda, in her drunken state, kissed Carl and accidentally broke his phone. To make amends, Carl asks her to work at his motorcycle club to cover the repair costs. What happens when Carl, who has always been distant and uninterested in women, finds himself falling for her? Adrian placed a bet with his friend to win her heart and ditch her at the end but what happens when he starts getting infatuated with her? Watch how a nerdy Amanda draws the attention of two rugged famous bikers who are rivals in college. She discovers some secrets in her entanglement with them and learns about her past, but when she crosses paths with new enemies as a result of being with the bikers, will she end it all or endure the hardships just to be with them?

I was a top-tier heart surgeon. The kind they gave a government-issued black SUV with diplomatic plates—armored, red-light-skipping, cleared-for-anything kind of ride. I parked it at my fiancé Marco Varonetti's place so he could keep it in shape. Bad call. One day, I got an emergency call: heart transplant for the Chancellor—yeah, that Chancellor, the one with state secrets ticking inside him. I rushed over to Marco's to grab the car. Right as I was about to leave, some rando slid into the back seat like she owned it. "Mall first. I need a mani," she barked. "Then get the ice cream Marco ordered. If it melts, I'll kill you." Excuse me? "This is my car," I said, trying to stay chill. "I've got a critical airport run. You need to get out." She rolled her eyes. "You're just the driver. Open those eyes and check the plate." Then the maid chimed in. "Everyone knows Mr. Varonetti takes Ms. Caro out in this car. Nobody says a word." I froze. Marco used my federally issued SUV... to chauffeur her? This wasn't just messy. This was criminal.

On the day my daughter, Dakota Bradshaw, gets into a car accident, I rush over to save her, only to get crippled instead. Both my wife, Delilah Rowland, and Dakota don't mind the fact that I'm being a burden to them. Instead, they put in a lot of effort to take good care of me. But one day, a fire breaks out at home. Yet, Delilah personally closes my room door. Since I'm crippled, I end up falling to the floor in my state of panic. That's when I notice Dakota's shoes through the gap under the door. "Dakota, save me!" I call for help at the top of my lungs. But only the sounds of the crackling flames respond to me. I have no idea how much time has passed when I catch wisps of a conversation hazily. "Mom, the firefighters are here. What should we do?" Dakota's voice is very low. Delilah replies calmly, "Tell the police that your father started the fire when he was cooking. We just reached the corridor at that time, so the doorknob was already warped from the fire." Dakota simply says one word. "Okay."

Sebastian's voice came from behind her, low and knowing. "You want to get back at them, don't you?" Kaira's gaze remained fixed on the disappearing figure of her sister, her emotions simmering just below the surface. She hated how easily Sebastian read her, seeing depths others missed. "Yes," she confessed, her voice laced with venom. "I want them to feel the same pain I feel." Sebastian stepped forward, his eyes locking onto hers as he gently wiped away the tears threatening to spill. His touch was soothing, but his words sparked a fire within her. "You can't take them down in your current state," he said, his voice soft but resolute. "But I can. I can make them pay, princess." Kaira's focus snapped to his, curiosity igniting in her eyes. "How?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Sebastian's smirk was a slow, deliberate curve of his lips. "Marry me," he said, the words dropping like a bombshell. Kaira's eyes widened, shock etched on her face.

The last thing Miranda thought when she responded to a prison pen pal request was to find true love. Joel, well, he was only hoping to pass time and maybe if he was lucky, he'd find someone to have a little fun with after doing ten years of hard time in the state penitentiary for a crime he committed when he had just barely turned eighteen years old. He had been hardened by the things he'd seen and the experiences of imprisonment and no longer believed in lovey dovey fairy tales or happily ever after. So hardened in fact, that he knew women only led to one thing-trouble. Not even a good girl like Miranda would break him ever again. Not with her long dark hair, those hypnotizing amber-eyes, and definitely not those full lips that would look so good…nope, nope, nope. What neither one expected was to find the perfect balance of emotional and physical attraction. Can Miranda's persistence and commitment soften and heal Joel's untrusting heart or will Joel break Miranda in ways she has never experienced before? This is the first book of three in the Locked-Up Lovers series. Enjoy!

I caught my fiancé, Nico Falcone, in bed with my own cousin, Bianca Rossi. Right before our wedding. When I confronted him, he just called the whole thing off and ran me out of New York. I didn’t see him again for five years. Then came the charity gala for the New York Families. There he was. Nico. He pulled me aside, saying he felt bad for the state I was in. He offered to make me his mistress. I told him to go to hell. He got ugly. The whole room was laughing. Whispering how an outcast like me had no business showing my face in New York. I clenched my fists, the sound of their mockery ringing in my ears. Just then, the entire ballroom went dead silent. Every head bowed in respect. Don Lucas, the most feared man in New York, was walking slowly toward us. He stopped right in front of me. With the whole room watching, he dropped to one knee. He took my hand—the one Nico had squeezed red—and kissed it. His voice was dangerously low. “Who hurt my future wife?”

When my mother asked me who I wanted to marry, this time, I chose none of them. Instead, I decided to go to the Northwest and serve my country. In my previous life, both my childhood friend, once a captain, and my educated fiancé courted me. I had feelings for both. But while I was still struggling to decide who I wanted as my husband, both accidentally ingested something. In a dazed state, I spent a chaotic night. After that, my parents asked one of the men to marry me. On the wedding day, the first love in both their hearts, the woman they had always truly loved, found out the truth. Out of spite, she accepted a local thug’s proposal. After marrying him, she was forced to give birth to ten children, one after another, until she died tragically. After her death, both men grabbed me by the throat and asked, “Why did she have to die such a miserable death, while you’re still alive and well?” They strangled me to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day when my childhood friend and my fiancé had been drugged.

Amara has tried everything for her family to love her, to accept her. Yet, she still remains the unwanted daughter of the Alpha…the outcast..a reject. Born prematurely, her mother dying in childbirth, Amara’s wolf failed to shift which meant her young sister, Catherine, took over her role as Alpha heir. They’ve taken everything from her, her title, her lands…her blood. Amara’s blood is the only thing that keeps Catherine alive. But they take it forcibly…and now they’ve taken her mate. The rogue that Amara pleaded with her father to save at the borders seems destined to be with Catherine, but with the pack’s reputation on the line her family force Amara to exchange her own mate…she has nothing left. After an attack on the pack, Amara is surprised to find that her new mate isn’t who he claimed to be…he was something more dangerous than just a rogue…and he’s come to avenge for what is his.