Mantis Piercing Nose

"One wish,” whispered Rica. “A love that will last forever.” Rica jumped out of her bed when she saw a man lying in the bed next to her. She stared at him, fascinated by his handsome face. He had an attractive aquiline nose which complemented his projecting cheekbones and alluring lips. His black glistening hair was coiffed to perfection. She closed her eyes. “This is just a dream,” she told herself pinching her own skin to wake herself up. “This is not a dream and I am your husband.” Her eyes widened as she stared at the manly figure standing in front of her. His perfect amber-colored eyes met hers. She opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no words came out. She was so confused. Yesterday, her boyfriend broke up with her, and now a stranger has appeared claiming they were married to each other. Is he the one she has been waiting for? A love that will last forever?

After his dream career as a footballer comes to a tragic end before it even got started, Twenty-three-year old Samuel Cartwright is forced to pursue a lackluster job as a high school substitute Literature teacher when his father gets into a bad accident. With no real interest in teaching, he is less than enthused to face the spoiled rich kids than run the elite school where he’s been hired on a whim. It is no mystery to him that he doesn’t belong there and that the Principal intends to fire his father at the first opportunity that she gets. With his Dad’s job on the rocks, Samuel does the unthinkable – he gets into an affair with a man two years younger than him. Of course, Ryan isn’t just any student. He’s the Principal's out-of-control son. It seems that both teacher and son have an ax to grind with the Principal. What better way than by having an illicit affair right under her nose?

In my last life, my sister and I got adopted into two very different worlds. My mom? The "cool" type. Let me perm my hair in elementary school, signed off on a nose job in middle school, and shoved me toward one of Northport's richest heirs right after college. Ella's mom? Hardcore strict. Pulled her out of a fling with some delinquent and married her off to a quiet professor with a just-decent paycheck. Ella hated it. Wanted my life so bad. So when I ended up in the hospital pregnant, she used her shiny doctor title to kill me—and my baby. Then boom—I woke up, and we were back to adoption day. This time, she dove for the mom she thought handed me the dream. What she didn't know? That "cool mom" she worshipped was straight-up a monster.

Caroline Ann Turner is the new student at Harbinger high. After getting expelled from her previous school for punching and breaking a guy's nose, she is sent away by her parents to her uncle's house to attend high school with her cousin brother Tyler Martin who is not only a goody two shoes but also the top scorer and model student at Harbinger high. On her first day, Caroline happens to run into a huge trouble after colliding with the school's popular nerd and basketball captain, Asher Carter. Not only does Asher welcome Caroline to Harbinger high by rewarding her a one week detention but also keeps on troubling her. What will happen when Caroline decides to take her revenge on Asher by hacking his social media account? Will she be successful? Or, will strange things happen in her life that she never even imagined?

I met my mate, Alpha Draven, at the bonding ceremony of our classmate Raven—seven years after I rejected him. But everything had changed. He was still handsome and prestigious, with his beautiful mate clinging to his side. And me? I stood there in an old-fashioned uniform, black-rimmed glasses perched on my nose— a relic from another world. Yes. We were from two completely different worlds now. In the middle of the ceremony, I overheard some werewolves whispering and laughing. "Draven, have you finally moved on from her rejection? It's been seven years, after all." His smile faded. "Honestly, I didn't even recognize her at first glance today." Their words struck me like claws to the heart. I couldn't breathe. So I left—quietly, halfway through the ceremony—before the pain could completely devour me.

"I'm sorry, Sophia. But her daughter's hurt even worse." Among the rubble, Sophia watched in disbelief as Jared pushed her aside, choosing to go to his first love. But who would save her daughter, who lay unconscious, a steel rod piercing her small body? At Molly's funeral, Sophia silently vowed she was done with Jared. She wanted a divorce. But just as she made up her mind, Jared stumbled back to her, grabbing her hand and telling her she was the one he loved. Sophia looked at a handsome man beside her, her arm linked with his. She smiled slightly and said, "Alright. If Molly agrees, I'll consider it."

When introverted college student, Gabriella Brooks, escapes her overbearing parents grasp. She finds solace in a quaint LA apartment. But her newfound peace was short lived as her next door neighbor Kai Alexander Flynn, a tattooed enigma with piercing eyes and a sharp tongue stirred up trouble. He was everything she'd been sheltered from, he was her antithesis: darkness to her light, chaos to her calm. Yet, in the storm of his presence, she found an unexpected freedom. She began to realize that his kind of chaos might be exactly what she needed to break free. As their animosity ignited into something fierce, she'd have to decide: Was he her ruin or her salvation? Was he her reckoning or her rebirth?

After whiskey, betrayal, and the undeniable urge to spite her cheating, gay ex, Maeve Summers had a one-night stand with a gorgeous stranger. Six years later, former detective turned journalist Maeve is horrified to discover he was Aurelian Morgenstein, the mysterious mafia lord she must interview to save her crumbling career. With piercing blue eyes and a jet-black serpent tattoo coiling around his hand, Elian is every bit as tempting as he is dangerous. Especially when her five-year-old daughter, Sia, shares his infamous gaze. Now, Maeve must decide what’s more at risk: her career, her heart, or the truth about Sia’s father.

When my boyfriend came to my family home to ask for my hand in marriage, my sister-in-law, who was usually cold and aloof, became a completely different person. She flung her arm around me warmly and asked, “Cassie, who’s your favorite? This boyfriend or one of the dozen or so men that you’ve brought home before?” As I denied her accusation and interrupted her, she cheekily batted her eyelashes at my boyfriend and cooed, “Oh, yes, yes. Cassie has never brought another man home. You’re the lucky first!” In the midst of dinner, she deliberately took her own soiled underwear out of the bathroom, pinched her nose, and waved it around as she screeched, “Oh my goodness, Cassie! I know you don’t really care about hygiene, but we have guests today! How can you have no shame? It smells so bad!”

When I turned 18, my mother married my stepfather, a retired mafia kingpin, and I moved with her into a luxurious mansion. Just when I thought my life was heading toward happiness, my stepbrother, the new mafia boss, stormed into my life. He was like a devil, with delicate eyebrows, a high, sharp nose, and lips that were always tightly pressed together beneath a cold expression. Every time our eyes met, I felt a chill run through me, making it hard to breathe. I tried my best to avoid him, but he had no intention of letting me go. “My stepsister, from the moment I first saw you, I knew I couldn’t let you go. You can’t escape—you’re destined to be mine.” I stared into his possessive eyes as his body pressed down on mine. “No, you're my stepbrother, we can't……"