Montana State Library Novels & Stories

My mom died giving birth to me. They couldn't save her. My dad? He dumped me outside a prison and ran. Didn't even look back. It was five degrees. I was basically frozen. Barely breathing. Later, a guard said the whole max block lost it that night. One hundred eight inmates—death row, life sentences—went crazy. Slamming doors. Smashing windows. Yelling they wanted to keep me. In the end, they filed a letter. Not a breakout plan. A custody request. Somehow... it got approved. From that day on, I had 108 dads. But growing up, I found out the truth. They weren't criminals. On paper, they were dead—killed in the line of duty. In reality, they were still out there, serving. Eighteen years later, I got into one of the top high schools—with the highest score in the State of Ashford. On the fifth day, I beat the rich girl, Vivian Cobbley, by one point on a mock exam. Next thing I knew, my name was all over the bulletin board: [Riley Ray, daughter of murderers!] Vivian cornered me in the bathroom and shoved my head into a toilet. "Your dads are killers. That filth's in you too." She beat me so hard I dragged her down when we went over the second-floor railing. When I woke up, the Dean of Students was right in my face, finger in my face. "No surprise you're violent. It's in your blood. Call your criminal dads. Now." I shook. "Mr. Todd... you sure you want me to call them?"

Ariana Delaney, a middle class girl who went about her daily life with little or no excitement to it but all that is about to change when she finds out that she has been arranged to marry into the most famous and absolute richest family in the state and that too to the breadwinner. Damien Kingston, a young business tycoon, a billionaire and a force to reckon with in the cold world of business needs a simp for a wife just to keep up appearances and Ariana seems to fit into the description but he sure is in for a surprise. Follow these two as they weave through their relationship fully aware that they are from two entirely different worlds. Maybe there'll be a happy ending or maybe not. ~~~ He watched like a hawk, eying her every move hoping to swoop in at the right moment and catch his prey. Her smile, her hair, her innocence and of course, her curves. Those curves could have any man turn in her direction and it sure did. He couldn't let her go, she couldn't have been who he thought she was. No, maybe he wasn't in love with her but he sure knew one thing, she was his and his alone. ~~~ She watched his as his beautiful eyes swallowed her up. This man was beautiful but she couldn't fit into his world. It was too much for her and she just had to admit it into herself. It was never going to work.Disclaimer:This work is purely a work of fiction and any similarities in names and characters are purely coincidental. The sequel is up: Meant to Be HIS. Check it out❤️

Three years after I died, my mother sent me twenty dollars for living expenses. Three years before that—the first time I ever asked my family for money—she said to me, offhand, "Sometimes I think you're just putting on an act. What's so unsanitary about a thirty-cent boxed meal? And why can't you wear a five-dollar down jacket? Face it, you're just more high-maintenance than your little brother." Later, when I needed twenty dollars to buy some cheap medicine for my stomachache, she blocked me immediately and cut off all contact—along with every relative we had. "Don't contact me anymore. I'm clearly not a good mother. I can't afford to give my son a life of luxury." But for my younger brother, who had just started high school, she spared no expense—renting him a three-bedroom apartment. Even the family dog got its own room. In the end, on the day my brother became the top scorer in the state, she finally remembered me. She took me off her block list and transferred twenty dollars. "It's only twenty dollars. Was it really worth giving your family the silent treatment for three whole years?" What she never knew was this— On the night my stomach ruptured, three years ago, I had already died. I couldn't afford to go to the hospital. I froze to death in the snow.

Hunter Webster is the Alpha's son; the next Alpha in line once he turns 18 but to humans, he's just the mayor's son, a bad boy and an embodiment of trouble. Hunter has a secret; his bad-boy attitude was just a cover-up for the grave sin he's committing until a girl from his past came into the picture, ready to win over his heart and unravel his darkest secrets.Babara Arnold attracts trouble everywhere she gets to, even if it is at school or home. She meets Hunter Webster after several years and in the process of trying to avoid the bad boy, she keeps on getting thrown into his hands. "What are you doing here?" I asked. I could hear murmuring around us."Eating, just like you three" he replied"You can't sit here," I warned."Why?" "You're trouble," I replied."Is that surprising? You see me in leather jackets, bikes and I have tattoos as well. Isn't that enough to let you know that boys like that are usually trouble? You don't have to state the obvious, Babe" He answered. "You need to leave" "If you want your cousin to be safe, you'll sit like the good girl that you are and have breakfast" He warned.I turned to look at Pinky and I could see the discomfort on her face. The guys with her waved at me to my disgust."Sit Babara. Don't make me hurt somebody else today? Yesterday was enough for me," He growled in an inhuman manner.

"Runaway BillionaireWhat happens when two sets of parents decide their thirty-something offspring need to get married? To each other. The problem? Neither one wants wedded bliss, and they don’t even know each other. Kyle Montgomery is happy with his single state and the excitement of running the Montgomery Hotel Corporation. Pepper Thornton is just as happy running the family B&B, the Hibiscus Inn. What started out as a fun ploy suddenly turns into something much more—until reality pokes up its head and nearly destroys it all.Touch of MagicMaddie Woodward is in a pickle. The last person she expects to see when she returns to the family ranch for one last Christmas is her former lover, Zach Brennan. He’s hotter as he ever was, all male and determined to get her naked. She’s just as determined to show him she’s over him—until she ends up in his bed, enjoying the wildest sex of her life. A night of uncontrolled, erotic sex shows her that Zach is far from out of her life. Now if she can just get him to help her convince her sisters not to sell the ranch—or sell it to the two of them.Wet HeatIt was supposed to be a month in a cottage by the lake in Maine. For Peyton Gerard it was time to recover from not one but three disastrous breakups and try to find her muse again. A successful romance novelist needed to believe in romance to write about it believably, and Peyton had lost her faith in it.All About Love is created by Desiree Holt, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author."

In order to prevent the employees from slacking off at their jobs, the HR department of my company has established a strict check-in policy. We're requested to check-in with the company once per ten minutes. On top of that, we have to follow the HR employee, Felicia Lane's instructions in striking poses. Otherwise, the system will list us to have skipped work for the day. After failing to check-in with the company for the eighth time, I head to the HR department immediately. "Ms. Lane, your check-in policy is far too strict to the sales department! We have to travel everywhere just to make sales and strike business deals with clients! There's no way we can keep returning to the company!" But Felicia just scowls at me disdainfully. "Since you're working at the company, you're meant to follow the company's rules. Why else are you even here, in the first place? If checking in with the company affects your sales performance that much, that just means you don't have any capabilities to begin with. You should reflect on your own work performance instead!" When I recall the number of contributions I've made for the company, I try to seek out my boss to take my side. But he just tells me, "Since this is a rule, you might as well follow it. What's the use in seeking me out?" Later on, I choose not to do anything related to my job just so I can follow the check-in policy very strictly. But the rest of the company flies into a state of panic because of me.

Susan is a human girl who was blessed with the gift of prophesies. In the state of Kansas, it was believed that everyone who was born with this gift was possessed by a demon. When her family figured out her reality, they sold her to Father Antoine of the Catholic division. It was believed that whoever was sold to a reverend father for a period of seven years, would end up being free from the demonic spirit. This was so strange, and many of the gullible has been sold over. Susan Theodore will be a part of this circle. She carted off her things, and went to stay with Father Antoine. Things were really good. She was allowed to do so many things kids her age did. And she didn’t miss her parents all that much. To Susan, it was like a home away from home. Things changed exactly three months later. Susan had a dream as real as breathing. She saw the Father having sex with a woman called Lily Wolfe. Susan remembered seeing her at a time. She was so pretty. And, always seemed in a hurry. She couldn’t keep the affair in her head, owing to the fact that the Father had informed her to always tell him about her dreams. It will make it easier to deliver her from evil spirits. So, after the confessions on a cold Saturday morning, she summoned up the courage to talk to the Father. Father Antoine was wrath. For the first time, he saw what her family had been complaining about. This girl was truly possessed. In his rage, he striped her of the respect she had been accorded, and made her nothing but a slave.

My dad worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant, earning a measly $400 a month. My mom had bad legs, so she could only scrape by collecting trash. When my academically-gifted younger brother was in middle school, they pulled him out of school and made him work to earn extra money so that they could afford to send me to the best school in the state. I didn't let them down and aced my high school, becoming the top student in my state. The day I got my SAT scores was also my birthday. Dad, all hunched over, came to my school with a pink cake, followed by Mom in her tattered clothes and my brother with his face covered in grime. But instead of being grateful, I grabbed a sharp compass and threw it at Dad, drawing blood. "You think you can buy me off with a cake? Get lost! Don't let me see you again!" The principal stared in disbelief. "Yvonne, what are you doing? If it weren't for your family working hard to support you, you wouldn't be this successful!" I held my head high, unperturbed. "So what if I'm the top student in the state? It's no big deal! If they really loved me, they would give me a million dollars so I could live a life of luxury!" Dad's tears hit the ground as he called me an ungrateful brat. Mom wanted to slap me but was held back. Meanwhile, I silently opened the cake box and cut the cake. The next second, everyone was shocked.

Sophia Carter, a struggling teenager, in a quest to save her mother's life, faced a life-altering pregnancy after having a passionate one-night stand with a billionaire by the name of Damien Knight. Her mother later died, and she was devastated, having to deal with the loss of her mother and the pregnancy she was carrying. Damien Knight left the state before she could tell him about the pregnancy. Tragedy strikes as she walks into her miserable life alone. With the help of her friend Kattie, she was able to give birth, raise her son, Ethan, rebuild her life, and become a successful career woman. Years later, she married Lucas Knight, Damien's younger brother. Lucas accepted Ethan as his son, unaware that Ethan's biological father wasn't  Damien, his elder brother. The truth about her past crashes down when Damien hosts a school contest where Ethan gives an excellent performance. Damien demanded the identity of Ethan's parents. They were called for accolades for their son's performance. Damien was shocked to see Sophia and Lucas as Ethan's parents. Secrets, lies, and emotions unfold as both Damien and Lucas demand the true identity of Ethan from Sophia. Lucas got furious at Sophia for deceiving him. Damien stood with nothing to gain the hearts of Sophia and Ethan back.  Sophia was facing a choice: Fight for Ethan—face the real father or lose the boy she nearly died for.  What decision will she make, fighting for Lucas's love or accepting Damien back? Find out in this intriguing story.

On the day of the SAT, my boyfriend, waiting for his childhood friend who was running late, made the whole class delay heading to the exam venue. However, there was less than an hour left before the exam started, and continuing to delay would surely mean missing it. In my previous life, as the class representative, I kindly advised everyone to go to the exam venue first. The result? A torrent of accusations directed at me. "You're just jealous that Nina and Brock are close, so you're leaving her behind to make her miss the exam on purpose, right?" I pleaded in the pouring rain for ten minutes before they reluctantly agreed to leave. They arrived at the exam venue with just a minute to spare. After the exam, I was pushed off a building by Nina Holiday, my body turning into a bloody mess. Under my boyfriend's lead, the entire class gave false testimony to the police. "Cassie Woods took her own life because she feels guilty for making Nina miss the exam!" Nina used this opportunity to play the victim, gaining sympathy and becoming a famous online influencer. My dad wanted to get justice for me but was cyberbullied by clueless netizens. Driving in a mentally-unstable state, his car veered off a cliff, his body never recovered. Only after death did I realize that it was all a big conspiracy by Nina. When I opened my eyes again, I found that I had been reborn to the day the whole class waited for Nina to go to the exam venue. This time, I decided not to stop my ungrateful classmates from suffering the consequences of their own choices!