Permanent Martial Arts

Alice Collins had always wished she could provide a comfortable life for her mother and two younger sisters, as the four girls had been through great financial difficulties since their parents' separation. So, when she turned eighteen, Alice decided to try her luck in another country. Determined to take the risk, she moved to Los Angeles, aiming for one goal: to do everything possible to help her family. But, as not everything was easy, especially when finding herself in a country where she knew nothing, Alice faced challenges that made her feel an immense desire to give up and return home defeated. However, as a divine miracle, an opportunity arose for her to work as a maid in the Scott family's house. Years went by, and Alice became beloved by that family. Her salary even increased, giving her the chance to pay for an arts college scholarship. Everything seemed perfect, but she didn't imagine that there would be someone in that family, who had not visited for years, who would awaken the most intense feelings in her. Upon meeting her boss's son, Joshua Scott, a strikingly intriguing and sexy man, owner of one of the biggest cosmetics companies in London and with a reputation for being a womanizer, Alice found herself wondering if it was worth paying the price of falling in love.

On our tenth wedding anniversary, I made a special trip to the salon to have my hair done. While settling the bill, I noticed an extra charge on my account. It was a coloring and perm package. Judging by the price, it was a package meant for waist-length hair. Mine had been cropped short for seven or eight years. I called my husband, Jason Moore. "Have you used my salon membership card recently?" There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before he laughed lightly, "Oh, I lent it to Quincy a few days ago." Quincy Hahn was his business partner, a fine arts student with long hair. She treasured her natural curls more than anything. She would never be willing to dye or perm it. More importantly, her elder sister was a major shareholder of this salon. Why would she ever need to use my card? I said nothing more and ended the call. Then, I headed straight to a location displayed on my phone. In the cafe, a long-haired lady was nestled in Jason's arms. Her freshly permed curls were soft and bouncy, framing her blushed face with certain demureness. Jason had always complained that my short hair made me look rough and manly. I lacked gentleness and charm. It seemed this long-haired lady suited his tastes perfectly.

"I will never marry and pass this curse on to another human being. Do you understand? It's your fault that I'm broken! I will never give you the satisfaction of having a child from me! I will remain a lonely man! I promise you that!" "They say you should; never say, Never." Dexter Lee is about to find out why that statement is so true. Though he meant every word he said, despite being tall, dark, and handsome, it doesn't hurt that he is the only son of one of the 3% wealthiest Billionaire families in the world. He's the kind of man a girl can only wish to obtain because he checks all the boxes perfectly on the outside. Yes, Dexter Lee would have been perfect if he wasn't a broken man with a haunting secret that only a unique martial bond could cure. But he promises Never to Marry. All that will change when he unimaginably meets the most unlikely and intriguing girl. Is Tameka Tran the cure this broken man needs? Or will she only make his lonely existence more miserable? It's a riveting sweet romance novel. No cheating. No cliffhangers. Happy ending? You'll have to read it to find out.

Sloane is bright, fiercely athletic, almost 20 yo Sophomore student. On the track, she's a promising runner with Olympic-sized dreams. Off the track, she's perfectly happy being one of the guys, "the funny one"-a sharp contrast to the typical well dress college girl. But last semester, her tomboy façade cracked. A disastrous, unreciprocated confession to her lifelong best friend left a permanent, painful dent in their friendship. She was ready to power through the awkwardness, keep her head down, and focus on her sophomore season, when, her world was shaken. A celebrated international star athlete and new exchange student, steps onto campus and into Sloane's life. He's popular, he's gorgeous, and he sees the vibrant woman under the baggy sweatshirts. He doesn't just challenge Sloane on the field; he forces her to confront her greatest flaw: her deep-seated belief that she's not beautiful. But as he teaches her what "beauty" truly means, a complicated new set of rules emerges, with her scholarship at risk and loosing her mind over calculus. Can Sloane chase her running dreams, navigate a new and intense romance, and survive the rumors, bad grades, and campus chaos that follow? Or will the pressure of becoming someone new lead to the biggest stumble of her life? ♡ This romantic comedy explores the complications of academic and athletic pressure at the high level demanded by universities as well as the modern beauty standards, while also capturing how fun and dramatic campus life can be for young people. ┖┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┚ This book is entirely a work of fiction. The characters are all fictional, and all rights to this work are reserved by the author.

Charlie Wayne’s life is perfect. Or it was. As a VP who commands boardrooms and a playboy who elegantly ends every date at his door by 3 AM, Charlie’s world is built on control. But lately, his system has a glitch. A streak of bizarre, comically bad luck—flat tires at dawn, mysterious fire alarms, untimely food poisoning—keeps derailing his plans. His flawless exit strategy is in shambles. Carly Dorrington’s life is a lie. But a necessary one. After a blowout fight with her father over their family companies’ merger, Carly needs a place to stay. Where better than with her childhood best friend, Charlie? It’s just temporary. Just two best friends sharing a space. It has nothing to do with the two decades she’s spent loving him from the sidelines, or the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, proximity will make the world’s most oblivious man finally see her. Now, under his roof, the "coincidences" multiply. Charlie’s chaotic love life grinds to a halt just as Carly’s presence becomes a permanent, comforting fixture. His sacred rules don’t seem to apply to her. His peaceful solitude feels warmer with her in it. As the lines of their friendship blur, Charlie is left to wonder: Is Carly the calm in the center of his storm… or is she the one who’s been stirring it up all along? Note: This is a slow-burn, dual-POV story about best friends, blurred lines, and the long game. If you find yourself wondering"where is this going?" in the early chapters... keep reading. Everything becomes clear in Chapter 4. The foundation is being laid for a reason. Thank you for trusting the process.

What does the underboss of an infamous crime family have in common with a spirited primary school teacher? Absolutely nothing, except a marriage of convenience, of course. When Lionel Tyson defaults on a gambling debt and offers his most prized possession as collateral, Austin Hawthorne is underwhelmed. But in desperate need of a housekeeper and permanent child minder, he knows he’d be an idiot to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, against his better judgement, he accepts an offer he should absolutely refuse. Marybeth Tyson is horrified to learn that not only is her father wanted by loan sharks, but he has also sold her off to a mafia boss. Bound by duty and pushed by guilt, she agrees to give Austin Hawthorne one year of her life, despite common sense screaming at her to run the other way. After all, how hard can pretending to be madly in love with someone be? It’s all fun and games until play pretend becomes all too real, and an earth-shattering secret from Austin’s past comes to light, threatening to destroy his second chance at love with his dogged pursuit for answers. Betrayal, especially at the hands of his older brother Blake and long-time friend, Andrei Ivanov, is a bitter pill to swallow for Austin, and letting them off scot-free is not an option. Driven by his unquenchable thirst for revenge, Austin will stop at nothing to get to the truth, even if it means destroying decade-old friendships and fragile ties to The Corporation. 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

Nova is a nonbinary teen who recently moved to Brooklyn New York with their Mother and older sister. After catching her husband cheating yet again, their mother files for divorce and moves back into her childhood home in Brooklyn with her Puerto Rican parents. Nova kills off their old Identity as Shawn Jackson to live their truth in their new home and finds new friends and a steamy romantic interest in the city. Aldo Reed is a young musician who recently graduated college with a liberal arts degree, not that it has done him any good. Sure the girls back in college loved the whole angsty musician gig, but now that he's out of school working as a barista in a local coffee shop by day and playing random gigs all over Brooklyn and with luck in Manhattan barely pays the bills let alone bring in real love.He has always been fine with the hook-ups, but yearns to find his true love. maybe he's just a hopeless romantic, that's what his friends all tell him, anyway. Aldo is smitten with the beauty Nova when they come to one of his gigs, yet pursuing Nova could be a challenge due to both age difference and the ambiguity of Nova's gender. What if Nova has a penis? does that make him gay if he is attracted to them?

"What's your name?" He asked, adjusting the bulge in his pants. "Maya." "Maya, this is your last chance to walk away." He warned, hoping she would leave but she slowly ran her fingers around the hem of her panties. “I want you to touch me." Her voice nudged all his dirty desires. "I won't be able to stop myself." He told her. "I don't think I can fuck you gently. Not when you're driving me crazy and bringing my fantasies to life." ************************* When Maya was accepted to her dream school, Emerald School Of Arts, she cried for an hour. Part of her tears came from the excitement that she was accepted but the major reason for her sadness was that she could not afford the tuition. Orphaned at fifteen, she had no one to take care of her and possibly pay the tuition. Left with no option, she decided to sell her virginity at a sex for cash motel. The deal was simple: fvck the unknown man, get paid and forget about him. But one night with the man who bought her changed everything. A month later, Maya was sitting in the front row of class when her professor walked in and he was no other person that the man she sold her virginity to.

Sa isang prestihiyosong unibersidad, kilala ang dalawang estudyanteng naging mortal na magkaaway dahil sa kompetisyong nangyayari sa pagitan nila. Si Kendall Lin, isang Chinese Filipino at nag-iisang anak ng hinahangaang mag-asawang abogado sa kanilang bansa, ay pinipilit na makamit ang lahat ng pangarap ng mga magulang para sa kan'ya. Habang si Isaiah Thomas na nagtataglay ng likas na katalinuhan at isa sa mga tinitingalang model student ng Cavin International School ay isa nang sikat na businessman dahil sa biglaang pagkamatay ng kan'yang mga magulang noong bata pa siya. Sa paaralan kung saan ang sistema nito ang naging dahilan ng kanilang kompetisyon, doon din nila nahanap ang safe haven nila. Kung saan nananatili ang abandonadong silid ng Arts club, nagawa nilang makita ang sansinukob sa kanilang mga mata. In between the pressure and their high dreams, with their hearts trying to find its key to open it and kiss each other's soul with gentleness, will they ever get to do it wholly? Can enemies be friends and can their friendship be worth for something more? Something for love?

My mate, Raelor Thorne, is the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. He once swore that in this lifetime, he would mark only me. Yet one month before our marking ceremony, he insisted that he must first mark with Seraphine Morcant, his late brother's mate. He claimed it was to comfort her and preserve his brother's bloodline. He said he would help her conceive an heir, so the line would not die. I refused. He brought it up every day after that, pressing harder each time, leaving me no room to breathe. Then, half a month before the ceremony, I received a report from the Pack Healing Sanctum. It stated clearly that Seraphine had already been marked and was nearly one month pregnant. In that moment, I finally understood. Raelor had never intended to ask for my consent. So I canceled the marking ceremony. I burned every token that tied us together. On the day we were meant to bind our lives, I left Silvermoon Territory alone. I traveled to the Obsidian Pack to further my mastery of healing arts and formally accepted the position of Chief Healer within their Order. From that day forward, there would be nothing left between Raelor and me. No bond. No mercy. No return.