Pulitzer Prize Finalists Novels & Stories

Long ago Legends made flesh collided with the underworld as Dragons and werewolves went to war. In a battle that still rages today, the land was split and dragons took over the business world while werewolves controlled the underbelly and, as the years blended together two names emerged at the top of the shifter foodchain. Ragnar Dalgaard is the last of the pureblood dragonlords. In the business world, his company reigns supreme as it gobbles up the struggling businesses of lesser dragons. Hiding in plain sight amongst the humans, learning from their technology, and adapting their own, Dalgaard Industries is on the cusp of something big. Meanwhile deep in the crime world, Giovanni Lupo is the boogeyman amongst his peers. Sexy and ruthless, Gio and his cutthroat pack rule their world with an iron fist, but the werewolf wants more than slums and backstreets, he wants it all, and no one, neither beast nor human will stop him from getting it. When Charlotte Ren, a beautiful and highly intelligent scientist finds herself lost in the City, a chance encounter with the boogeyman and a job offer from a handsome stranger sets her on a path where old friends and sworn enemies come together in a supernatural clash of the titans, for the chance to win the heart of a human. But is Charlotte willing to let herself be the prize, and who says she has to choose just one of the men fighting for her favor?

At the awards for the Global Jewelry Design Competition, my stepsister Sandra took the grand prize. She used the designs she stole from me. What she didn’t know was the show’s biggest sponsor: Jude Moretti. Godfather of the Moretti family. A bloodthirsty monster scarred in an explosion, a man they say can never have children. And the grand prize? Becoming the Godfather’s bride. That night, Moretti’s men, all in black, delivered a gold-trimmed marriage contract. They were here for the “genius designer.” My fiancé, Marco, panicked. He whisked Sandra off to Vegas to save her. They got married that night. With the deed done, Sandra strutted back in, wearing my silk robe. She flashed the ring on her finger and the hickies all over her neck. “Marco’s mine now,” she purred. “What are you going to do, Odessa? The Godfather’s only giving you a day. If you don’t marry him, the Family will have to appease him. That means sending you to the red-light district. Selling you to the kind of sicko who gets off on broken things.” She was wrong. I had another choice. I found my father and stepmother, both scrambling to deal with the contract. “I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll marry the Godfather.”

She was once the quiet wife no one respected, married to a man the world called a prize far above her league. He flaunted mistresses, mocked her dignity, and everyone believed she would crawl back even after she dared to file for divorce. But they were wrong. The woman who returned was no longer fragile. She was fire, elegance, and strength incarnate, crushing enemies who tried to sabotage her and rising higher than anyone dared to imagine. When whispers spread that she sought a new father for her daughter, the world’s most powerful men—an acclaimed scientist, a ruthless billionaire, and a top film star, lined up for her favor. Her ex-husband, however, wasn’t ready to let go. He fought for custody, framed her in scandals, and even tried to use their child as a weapon against her. But the more he pushed, the further he fell and the more unstoppable she became. When love finally came knocking again, it wasn’t from grand gestures or empty promises, but from the man who had stood silently by her side, proving loyalty where others offered lies. Now, society bows to the woman they once mocked. And her ex-husband? He can only watch from the shadows as she declares the words that seal his downfall: “Ex-husband, step aside.”

"Our heart beats only with their permission." For as long as she can remember, the bookworm Synecdoche Rochet, 23, has lived a simple life in Maharlika Nation—hiding in the grasses and grains of District G to avoid the terrifying power of the Embassy and its ruthless Ambassador. In a dystopian world that is controlled with surveillance, Synecdoche Rochet embarks on a mission to get back their rights on their district's valuable resources—the grains. When she discovered her intellectual ability, she found herself drawn to the charismatic Giovanni, the long-lost Ambassador's privileged son together with other intelligent students, Ulap, Token, and Keithwarth. They found themselves being the tributes on the 2nd Maharlika Spelling TwistBee—trapped in the Word Arena. An annually commemorated game where each district will represent one letter in the Alphabet, spell the given English words not verbally, but by beating other competitors who have letter tattoos on their arms. The rules are to Spell and beat them. Within the competitor's reach, the team-up of Synecdoche, Giovanni, Ulap, Token, and Keithwarth isn't a coincidence, it's a conspiracy. What if Synecdoche's age will be reversed? Will they use their intelligence for vengeance? Will they compel love and trust to survive the competition? Is their life the price or the prize? "Even the shortest word has the longest meaning."

In a shattered world teetering on the brink of extinction, survival is brutal. Werewolves rule the wild, humans cling to scraps, and women are the prize both sides fight to claim and breed. Emily, a survivor with no past, was raised by hidden women. She knows only endurance, not identity. When she ventures out for food, everything changes. Ambushed by men, she is saved and claimed as Luna by Hunter, a powerful Alpha wolf. But the pack doesn’t accept her. Emily is human. Torn between loyalty and power, Hunter makes a gut-wrenching choice. Pressured by his pack, who distrust outsiders and fear a human Luna weakens them, he feels forced to choose Isabella, a wolf with strong allies, as his mate to protect his rule. Cast aside, Emily questions her place, Hunter’s betrayal, and her continued pull toward him. As tensions mount and Hunter's half-brother Kaden seeks the Alpha title, Emily becomes entangled in a game of power and survival. Her past emerges, along with dreams and her strange link to wolves, hinting at a secret lineage that could shift the balance in unexpected ways. In a world where love is not an option and power seals fate… who will she become when her heart and future hang in the balance?

My fiancé, Aaron Willis, treated me like a prize he could toss across a poker table. One drink, one careless joke, and he lost me to his twin brother, Kevin Willis. They were both heirs to the Redwood Pack. I didn't cry or make a scene. I acted like I didn't know a thing and followed that quiet, cold wolf out the door. I stayed in his bed the entire night, tangled up with him until morning. At dawn, when Aaron came looking for me, I made sure I was wearing Kevin's shirt. Right in front of the staff, I let my voice turn soft and teasing as I complained about how out of control he had been the night before. Then I let one of Kevin's heirloom cufflinks slip loose and roll straight to Aaron's feet. His face went instantly gray, the arrogance in his eyes shattering. I rose onto my toes, slipped my arms around his neck, and murmured against his ear, "The way you had complete control over me last night… I really liked it."

Paige Aviva thought she had it all love, stability, and a marriage others admired. But everything falls apart on her fifth wedding anniversary when anonymous photos reveal her husband, Ethan, in an intimate act with her best friend. Her heartbreak deepens when she discovers her younger sister is pregnant with his second child only weeks after Ethan coerced her into aborting theirs. Crushed by betrayal and grief, Paige tries to end her life. But a mysterious, powerful stranger named Raymond stops her at the cliff’s edge, offering her an unusual bargain: he’ll give her the power to make everyone who hurt her suffer if she agrees to his terms. Paige signs a contract, unknowingly stepping into a world of werewolves, mate bonds, ancient curses, and dangerous secrets. As she becomes entangled with Raymond and later discovers he has a vengeful twin, Ryan, Paige learns she is no ordinary woman. She’s a cursed wolf with rare powers, a prize everyone wants to control or destroy. Torn between love, revenge, and survival, Paige must choose who to trust, embrace her true nature, and fight for her life and the life of the child she never expected to carry.

At the award-giving ceremony of the end-of-the-year gala, my boss, George White, suddenly announces that he will be adding a bonus round on a whim. "This is the annual department evaluation! The department that comes last shall come onto the stage and receive a tiny encouragement from me!" The huge screen lights up at that moment. The sales achievements accumulated by all departments are being shown in a ranking system. The sales department is ranked first. The operations department comes second, and the marketing department gets third place. As for the administrative department, the sales achievements shown on the screen are none. After all, that department has no KPI to achieve at all. George beams at us from the administrative department. "Everyone from the administrative department, come on up and receive your prize!" Two people can be seen carrying a basket of brooms up the stage. Everyone bursts into laughter instantly. "Come now, sweep away your bad luck with the brooms! Try not to come up as the bottom-ranked department again next year!" George personally thrusts the brooms into our hands. Camera flashes go off beneath the stage—people are clearly taking photos of us. The people from the sales department are the ones laughing the hardest. "Finally, the peeps from the administrative department are getting the recognition they deserve!"

“To escape a monster, she ran straight into the arms of a devil.” Lila Vance was a debt payment. Wrapped in fifty thousand dollars of French lace, she was minutes away from marrying Marcus Thorne—a man who whispered that she was nothing more than his "property." But Lila refused to be broken. With a ripped dress and a heart full of terror, she bolts from the altar and into the private elevator of the Grand Imperial Hotel. When the doors open, she finds herself in the lion’s den: the penthouse of Adrian Sterling, her fiancé’s most lethal rival. Adrian is a man carved from shadows and sin, a billionaire "Shark" who destroys legacies for sport. When Marcus comes to claim his prize, Adrian offers Lila a choice: go back to the man who will break you, or sign a one-year marriage contract with the man who will own you. As the line between their fake vows and real desire begins to blur, Lila must face a terrifying truth: Adrian Sterling didn't save her out of mercy. He saved her because she is the final piece in a game of revenge he’s been playing for years. In a game of power, who will be the first to break?

---> if you are interested in my work, please check out my novel The Starving Vulture. Available on Amazon, $3.99 for the Ebook and $14.95 for the Paperback https://www.amazon.com/Starving-Vulture-Miguel-Monta%C3%B1a/dp/1951150899<--------- Aster Likaya is a Battle Mage of the Zeraph Republic. Raised in a military family, she was destined for a life on the front. As a Battle Mage she has mastered the art of Controlling. A simple but effective kind of magic that is necessary when one bonds and commands the essential robotic warmachines of her world. The Gearbanes. And now, she is a Captain. But much to her surprise, she is not handed a company but a unit of stoic and silent soldiers that call themselves DragonWolves. Her second in command, is Lieutenant Able Froster, young but grim faced soldier who has seen combat since he was barely a boy. For their first mission, they are given a simple task. Retrieve an agent of the Republic who is lost in the vast swampland known as the Suha Marshes. Little do they know, that they are not the only factions searching for the man. For in the Suha Marshes, hunt the cannibalistic Birchmen and the Kolysian pirates. All eager for the prize the agent carries. This is the world of Likaya and Froster. Dominated by machines powered by magic, weapons ignited by runes and wars fought over ancient relics forged by a forgotten past. Welcome to Likaya's Wolves.