Harper Avery Award Novels & Stories

“He said he was just helping me rehearse... So why was I moaning his name backstage with his hand under my skirt?” Harriet Avery is the school’s invisible girl: brilliant, overweight, and bitter from years of bullying. But when her name appears as the lead in the school play—thanks to a cruel prank everything changes. Nick Marsh, the cocky captain of the hockey team, unexpectedly offers to help her. Their rehearsals are supposed to be harmless. But heat builds under stage lights. Chemistry simmers behind closed doors. And soon, Harriet is glowing—inside and out. She’s falling. Hard. But the cruelest twist comes after the curtain falls: the entire thing was a dare. Now with her heart broken, Harriet has two choices: fade into the background like she always has… or finally step into her own spotlight and set fire to everything that tried to break her.

A drunk Eliza Harper ended up having a one-night stand with Benjamin Clayton, a powerful billionaire, after getting cheated on by her boyfriend on their one-year anniversary. The two thought that they were meant for each other until Shannon, Benjamin’s feisty ex-wife brews up a storm between the two. Will Eliza and Benjamin survive love’s hardships? ---------------------------------- “Mommy, how come I don’t have a daddy like the other kids?” Eleanor questioned her mother with her glistening bug eyes. Her mother stopped her work and stared at her lonesome daughter. Tears flowed down her face like a stream as she took her daughter in her arms. She didn’t know how to answer such a difficult question....

Violet Harper, an actress, has just about anything going wrong in her life. That is until she's offered a deal that she can't possibly resist: pose as the long-lost sister of billionaire CEO Clyde West to fulfill his father's dying wish. But the moment she plays the obedient daughter, the line between reality and fiction blurs. The longer it takes Clyde to get infatuated with his fake sister, the more Violet is stuck deep into a web of deceit, torn between the role she is playing and the truth she's hiding. Told against a backdrop of clashing family secrets, taboo love, and lethal alliances, the choices Violet and Clyde make dictate the measure of their devotion to their own hearts-and one another.

Benjamin Harper has everything: wealth, power, charm … Yet, an injury following his abduction years ago has rendered him impotent, so much that he's long refrained himself from worldly pleasures and dedicated his life to Zofism instead. That is, until Victoria Jameson strides into his life, turning everything he once believed upside down. Now, ensnared by the woman who might very well be a wonder of her own league, Benjamin has to play his cards well or risk being consumed by Victoria's relentless flame—though, he suspects being claimed by a woman as feisty as she is might not be the worst thing that could ever happen to him. In fact, it might very well turn out to be quite the opposite.

Avery's always harbored a crush on Jake Ortega, the charming boy next door who once stole her first kiss. Life pulled them apart when she had to move away with her mom. But now, fate reunites them, and sparks fly anew. With Jake now at the helm of his father's billion-dollar company, their rekindled connection breaches all boundaries, fueled by an irresistible attraction. ********* "Do you like that princess?" Jake thirstily questioned between our kiss once again. "Y..yes." I managed to moan out before he cruelly removed himself. Jake stood above me while staring down at me with a pleasing smirk on his handsome face. "Your lips taste of strawberries just as they were before princess. Now I want you to be a good little girl and maybe, just maybe I'll give you what your body has been craving for and more."

"Do you feel anything?" His question made my brows furrow in confusion. "Feel what?" "You really don't feel anything?" He repeated, his tone incredulous and increasing my confusion. Am I supposed to feel anything? "What a weak bitch.” Disgust filled his eyes as he spoke. ---------- Avery was thrown at the feet of Alpha Jared by her stepfather in exchange for his debt. Alpha Jared recognizes her as his mate, but she doesn't, cause of her lack of a wolf. She is forced to live a life full of suffering and pain as Alpha Jared and his girlfriend, who were both aware that she was his mate never missed a chance to make her life hell. Would she ever find out that the Alpha is her mate? Even if she does, is she capable of making the Alpha who hates her, love and yearn for her?

After I get pregnant with my second child, all the pets in my household start viewing me as their biggest enemy. The tabby cat who once loved clinging to me now poops in my nutritious meals every day. The parrot who only knows how to repeat "hello" begins cursing at me to suffer from a miscarriage. "Die, Leanne Foster!" When I feed the goldfish, they protest against my efforts by quitting food entirely. The next day, they are all dead. Even the terrier I've kept with me for ten years lunges at me like a mad bitch the moment she sees the baby clothes in my hands. After I almost suffer from a miscarriage, I plan on giving the pets away. But my daughter, Harper Steele, hugs the terrier and the cat as she pleads to me sadly, "Mommy, please don't give them away!" My husband, Adam Steele, is worried about my unborn baby, but he also doesn't want to hurt Harper's feelings. In the end, he comes up with a compromising solution. "Honey, there's still one month left till your due date. Just endure the pets for a month, okay? I'll lock them up in their crates and make sure that you're safe." Eventually, I agree to that solution after giving it some thought. But unexpectedly, on the day my water breaks, as soon as I dial Adam's number, the pets rush out of their crates simultaneously and begin tearing at my stomach with their claws and fangs. In the end, I close my eyes weakly from the sheer pain. I can never understand why my pets hate the unborn baby in my womb that much. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I find out I'm pregnant with my second child.

Ethan Harper was infatuated with the widow, Grace Bowen, who lived downstairs. She made him special breakfasts and did not mind his hunched back or his loud chewing when he ate. He said, “My old hag of a wife is like an NPC. Whenever I get close to her, she just gives me chores to do. “Not like you. You’re so understanding, and you make me feel like a real person.” He envied her late husband, whom he said was luckier than he was for having married her. I decided to grant him his wish immediately. I was afraid if I waited even a moment longer, he might snap out of it.

Riley Harper finally has the quiet life she fought for—her shop, her kids, her peace. Until a powerful Alpha from her past shows up and turns everything upside down. Knox Blackthorn is richer, colder, and far more dangerous than the boy she once loved… yet he looks at her like he’s been searching for her for years. Old wounds reopen. Old fire sparks. And the secrets Riley has protected with her life start slipping through her fingers. Because Knox didn’t come back to say sorry. He came back because something isn’t adding up—and he’s not leaving without the truth… or without her.

My stepson, Lucas Lincoln, is trapped in a fire. After calling the fire brigade, I quickly ring my husband, Jasper Lincoln. Jasper is the leader of a search-and-rescue team, after all. But to my dismay, Jasper is currently keeping his ex-wife, Yvonne Schmidt, company. Yvonne has won the "Forensic Doctor of the Year" award, and so they are out celebrating it. My phone calls are rejected again and again. Jasper never once calls me back, even after Lucas' cries for help disappear entirely. By the time the fire brigade arrives to quell the flames, Lucas has been burned to a crisp. I tell Jasper what happened to our son, but he only gleefully says, "He was nothing but a troublemaker who'd contribute nothing to society. If he's dead, then so be it. This way, he won't grow up to become a menace. "Yvonne happens to be giving a public talk tomorrow and is still in need of a specimen demonstrating burn injuries. She can use Noah's corpse for her demonstration since it's still fresh." I sneer. So Jasper thinks that my own son, Noah Green, is the one who died in the fire. I immediately send Lucas' blackened corpse to Yvonne's operating room.