Fancy Dinner

Ericka Matthews has been in love with her roommate for two years. The problem? Dominic Anderson made her sign a contract when she moved in: no romance allowed, or she's out. She's respected that boundary, hidden her feelings, and watched him from across the breakfast table every morning without letting on. Then Dominic kisses her. And immediately tells her not to kiss him back. Heartbroken and humiliated, Ericka decides to disappear. She has a backup plan, savings, and an apartment lined up. She'll be gone before he even notices. But when she collapses on campus and ends up in the hospital, Dominic is forced to confront what losing her actually means. The contract gets torn up. Confessions are made. And it turns out their mothers have been running a secret spy network dedicated to getting them together for three years. Now they just have to survive Sunday dinner with both families and Aunt Linda's unopened Christmas presents. A contemporary romance about two idiots who wasted three years pretending to be "just roommates," the meddling families who saw right through them, and the kiss that finally broke all the rules.

ASTRID SAGE Everyone calls me naive and innocent, and in every way, I am. When I took a fancy in peering at FREDERICK SALVATORE each time he stopped by the orphanage to drop off his donation, it was just out of mere curiosity. I find him fascinating and alluring, like a piece of art. But when I get kidnapped and put up for auction, he's in the crowd of the deadliest people I've ever seen. He put the craziest bid on me and I get to find out that his name isn't FREDRICK SALVATORE. He's the notorious EAGAN KING and this is his world. Now I understand why he has that unexplainable dark aura around him. Is it possible to find him less fascinating now that I know what he's truly like? EAGAN KING A monster. A killer. A sociopath. A greedy-ass bastard. The devil. Everyone has different names for me, and they're right. I'm all of that and more. I wanna own this hell and rule these bastards. I wanna own LOVE ISLAND CITY. But to own it, I have to kill the real owner. Seven families are topping the hierarchy. I've killed three, I'm left with four. I attend this auction event to figure out the weaknesses of my next target. And then there she is, looking very virgin-ish and fucking innocent, standing on the auction ground with fear in her eyes. Bidding her was not part of my plan. But I'll be fucked up if I let these motherfuckers have her. (Warning: this is a dark romance, not for the faint-hearted. Read at your own risk and please, no criticisms.)

"Making you my Luna is the one thing I’ll always be ashamed of!" On our third anniversary, my husband, Alpha Keegan, brought his mistress home. He served her the dinner I cooked and asked her to live with us. I was the Luna, but I was just a ghost in his life. Then came the twist that shattered my world: she’s pregnant with his child. When an "accident" threatens her life, his cruelty becomes absolute. He doesn't want me; he just wants my rare, "golden blood". He orders me to become her living blood bank to "ensure Sienna and the baby's health". His final plan? To replace me as Luna. He thought I was just a weak Omega he could discard. He forgot I was once his strongest warrior. "I, Lilian Harrington, reject you as my mate and my husband." I'm done. But he refuses to sign the divorce papers, determined to keep his possession. He thinks I'll have nowhere to go. He's about to find out what happens when the warrior he cast aside is offered a new life by his biggest rival.

Hilda Oakley, the charity case Mom and Dad take in, steals my family right out from under me. She slips drugs into me, driving me into a bipolar disorder. She turns me into someone who snaps and screams at Mom and Dad without meaning to. She paints me as someone rotten inside, as the bully at school, and as someone who'd shove her down the stairs at home. And because of that, my whole family turns on me. Mom calls me a bad seed. Dad says I'm no daughter of his. Then, they adopt Hilda and throw me out in the dead of winter. My bipolar flares. Naked, I sprint onto the rooftop and jump to my death. When I'm reborn, I realize I can make the thoughts in other people's heads audible. So, at the dinner table, I let Hilda's thoughts spill right before Mom and Dad. 'I kept that witch Valerie drugged for three years. She finally broke! They still don't suspect that Alex isn't really her brother. He's Susan's son. Once we poison Valerie's parents, the Coopers' fortune will belong to us.'

She has the perfect life. The perfect marriage. The perfect lie. On the night of her wedding anniversary, Ariana Cole receives no flowers, no kiss, no warmth. Just a cold dinner and a silence that finally breaks her. Then came Luca, the man who once made her feel like fire and vanished without a goodbye. When fate throws him back into her life, so does everything she thought she buried: her desire, betrayal, and the aching truth that her perfect marriage is a beautiful lie. Torn between a husband who’s suddenly desperate to win her back, and an ex who never truly left her, Ariana slips into a dangerous double life. Then come the anonymous messages, the buried secrets, the undeniable chemistry and the truth that her past was stolen… not forgotten. As passion reignites and manipulation turns deadly, Ariana must confront a devastating revelation: someone close to her stole her chance at happiness. And they’re not done yet. With her reputation shattered, a scandal threatening to destroy her career, and the man she truly loves falsely accused, Ariana has one choice: surrender to control or fight her way to freedom, truth, and love. This time, she’s not breaking. This time, she chooses herself …and love follows.

This is a modern adaptation of the classic tale "Le Mort d Arthur" also known as"King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" told from the point of view of one of the classic villains, Morgana or Morgan Le Fay. In this version, Morgana is the hero, fighting against the forces of Queen Mab, the Evil Faerie Queen of Summer and Light. She has been trapped in a cycle of reincarnation where she has been assassinated before she rises to power as the Queen of Winter and Shadow. It is now 2025. Morgana has been reborn as a biracial woman named Faye Archer. She is living in Oakland (San Francisco East Bay) with her mother Elaine (the Lady of the Lake) and is still recovering from the tragic death of her father. She is a 23 year old college student with striking red hair and violet colored eyes. She and her best friend, Embyr (A no nonsense city girl with a sharp tongue and wit) attend a fancy bonfire party in the Kensington Hills, an exclusive neighborhood above Berkeley. She has a one night stand with a billionaire playboy, the 19 year old Arthur Drake, who happens to be the reincarnation of King Arthur. Shortly after waking up next to him, she discovers that he is her new stepbrother. She slowly starts to develop powers and runs into Devona, or Merlin, who is a beautiful woman that she is oddly attracted to. Devona, Arthur and Faye and Embyr go on several adventures together where they battle deadly monsters (the mysterious horsemen) take on the Queen of Summer, and fight for Avalon and Earth at a terrible cost.

Anna Marie Marcelo is like any normal college girl who dreamed of a fairytale-like life but ends up accepting the reality that she is a farmers’ daughter and that’s just it. This made her study hard and work harder for the dream she wants to achieve shortly. Together with her friend Margie Rose Domingo, they both face the reality of their boring, normal yet contented life. A sudden change happens to Anna that causes a stir into her normal life. She will find herself wearing gowns, expensive dresses, and high-class pieces of jewelry and dine in the finest food chains and get to meet handsome but arrogant prince charming. Almost like a fairytale story… a Cinderella story, but THIS is not a fairytale story. Cole Lyrus Pilkin is a cold handsome businessman behind his parents’ back who always goes against his decisions. His relationship with his parents is not so well even during his childhood that he starts becoming a rebel to them. His life starts to get messed-up upon meeting the woman who is the heiress of their adoptive grandfather, their so-called cousin who grew up in poverty. With her appearance, all hell breaks loose yet Cole starts getting drawn to her. What will he do? Who will he choose between her and his parents? This is a story you will love, join Anna as she faces the trials of being the so-called heiress surrounded by many handsome princes that are ready to take her fancy just for her inheritance. Will she be able to find true love or not? Will she wait to be saved just like what those fairytale princesses did on all the fairytale books she had read?

On New Year's Eve, my husband, Max Davis, took me to a private dinner hosted by a big industry player. We had barely made our way around the room when a strange woman suddenly shoved me into the pool. When I insisted on checking the surveillance footage and calling the police, Max firmly held me back. He warned me to "remember my place" and not embarrass him in front of everyone. In the brief time I changed into another gown, I returned to find that same woman perched on my husband's lap, her red lipstick leaving traces on his collar. "Max, you're right! That nasty scar on her stomach really does look like a centipede. It's so hideous!" She giggled with mock innocence, adding, "It's been so fun messing with your wife. Next time, can I slap her when no one's looking?" Meanwhile, Max gazed at her like she was the only woman in the world, gently tracing his finger over her nose. "Of course, you can," he replied, eyes still locked on hers. "I'll even tie her hands behind her back for you."

Yvonne Larson, my housekeeper, has always been punctual, but she ends up being late today. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Carter. Dinner's not ready yet. I hope you won't mind. I had no choice. I waited for over half an hour, but no one got the door for me. I even called Mrs. Carter a few times, but she didn't take my calls. That's why I ended up running late." Halfway through changing into my house slippers, I pause and frown. "Yvonne, didn't Susanna give you the access card to the apartment?" Yvonne looks confused. "The access card? Mrs. Carter never gave me any card." "Never?" "That's right," Yvonne confirms timidly while wiping the sweat off her brow. "For the past month, I've always had to call Mrs. Carter and ask her to open the door for me. She wasn't picking up her phone today, so I had to wait outside…" That's strange. I've checked the logs before. The access card has been used multiple times throughout the past month.

At the dinner table, my mother-in-law slid a contract across to me, right in front of more than 20 relatives. "Just sign it," she said lightly. "Consider it a favor to me." I looked down. A home mortgage agreement for 150,000 dollars. Across from me, my husband's younger brother, Jim Canfield, watched with a grin. Beside him, my husband's eldest sister, Cindy Canfield, urged impatiently, saying, "Shirley, what are you waiting for? Just sign it." I said I needed to go home and talk it over with Howard Canfield first. My mother-in-law's expression darkened. "What? You can't even make this decision for your own marriage?" That night, I did not sign anything. Later, she sent a three-minute voice message in the family group chat, accusing me of being childish, ungrateful, and heartless. More than 70 replies followed—not a single one in my defense. A month later, I came home from work to find three men waiting at my door, there to seize the house. I pulled out my phone and checked the property registry. The record was clear. [Mortgaged. 150,000 dollars.]