Rhymes With Eighteen

After the tragic death of my best friend, I took her younger brother in and treated him like my own. Everyone knew how much Zach Lawson meant to me, so much so that I vowed not to marry because I could not bear leaving him. The day he turned eighteen, he got on one knee and asked me to marry him. With tears of joy streaming down my face, I took the bouquet from him, only to realize they were made of writhing snakes. Everyone laughed at my misfortune. It was an artfully crafted joke, at my expense. Thalia Lewis laced her arm through Zach's and grinned. "Sorry about that, Sydney. It was just an innocent prank. Zach is willing to do anything to make me smile!" Zach gave me a look of utter disgust. "Is this what you think of me? You're my sister! How can you even think of marrying me? This is vile! Is this the reason you took me in? Have you been secretly pining for me since the start?" My whole life had come crashing down around me. I was overcome with shock, misery, and despair, until Connor Grey showed up and asked for my hand in marriage.

Even if he hated me, I couldn’t look away from him. Even if he called me an imposter, a trickster, all I could think of was how alluring his scent was. Even when he was ready to take my sister’s words over mine, I couldn’t help falling for him. I wanted him to take me in his arms and tell me that the last few weeks had been a dream after all. That he loved me, like a true mate would. I wanted him to be my prince charming. To be my salvation. But that was not my fate. Goddess forbid if I had anything easy in life! Sometimes, I truly believed that this mate bond was the curse. Not my being the Stealer. Callista Leander turned eighteen with hopes of finding her happily ever after. But instead, she was left locked in a tower of a castle, doomed to be married off to her true mate’s feral brother to save him from certain death. All because of one curse and a conniving sister. Her life was suddenly filled with betrayals and secrets, and in every corner she looked, danger lurked. Now, with the whole world against her. At the mercy of an angry king, her oblivious one true mate, will she make it out alive on the other side?

[A Mermaid x Mafia Boss Fluffy Romance] "Stay away from humans," Aqua's mother used to tell her. Until the age of eighteen, she spent most of her time in the deep depths of the ocean. Occasionally, she would swim to the pier at night when there were no humans to explore. One fateful night, a human fell from the sky covered in blood. Using her tears, Aqua saved the mysterious man and spiralled into a life of crime. Dawn Daniels did not expect to live. His advisor had betrayed him and tossed him into the cold watery depths. Yet, like a ray of light, he was given another chance to live by a mysterious mermaid like no other maiden. Touched by her gentle and innocent nature, Dawn tries to live his new life with her but his past catches up to him. Dying for the third time without a way for Aqua to save him using her immortality, the unlucky couple exchanged one last vow, transforming their lives forever. For the price of granting him a new life, Aqua loses her voice forever. Dawn promises to take care of her for as long as they live and marries her. Away from their tragic pasts, follow Dawn and Aqua as they learn more about each other's species and fall deeper each day. [Completed]

*Mature Audience* Dallas Parker suffers years of abuse from her boyfriend, Jax, in Los Angeles, California. After being brutally beaten again, Dallas Parker escapes with her young son Lyle. She finds comfort in going back to her hometown, Anaconda, Montana. She was born and raised in this small town by her Aunt Helen. At eighteen years old, Dallas Parker ran off to California to escape the horrible things that happened in Montana. Now that she is back, she will have to face her troubled past head-on. Everyone is stunned by Dallas’s return, especially her ex-best friend River Storm. River and Dallas are forced to deal with their past. Even though it is sweet to be home, there will be consequences. What would you do if it felt like the world was out to destroy you? The romance will leave you breathless. The drama will leave you in shock. The suspense will keep you up all night reading. Take a ride on the country-side with these two rebels. A quote from this story: "I told you this town wouldn't let me forget what I did," River muttered. "I'll never live down what I did. Even if everyone else forgot about what I did, I never will. I’ll take it to the grave, and I know that." River’s eyes filled with shame, sadness, and regret.

Juliana Anderson once enjoyed a happy life until her mother passed away. To compensate for the Beta who sacrificed his life to save him, her father, Alpha Anderson, married the Beta's widow and treated their daughter, Arlene, as his biological daughter. Thanks to Arlene's sham, everyone thought she was an innocent victim who had to suffer her stepsister Juliana's bullying. But no one knew Juliana had lost everything she cherished because of Arlene. Father, happy childhood, the chance to be admitted to her dream college, and her boyfriend, Carl. Arlene took all of them from Juliana, leaving Juliana no choice but to leave the home she had been living in for eighteen years. However, the nightmare didn't stop, and Juliana was kidnapped by a group of rogues. When she thought it was impossible to survive, she encountered a young man. He gave her the protection and love she hadn't experienced for ten years; then he went missing in a fight. No one knew whether he was dead. Juliana didn't give up hope and kept searching for him. Finally, she saw him again. But this one, who had the same face as her lover, was wearing a king's crown. So, was there any possibility that her missing lover was the legendary tyrant, the Alpha King? Picking Up an Alpha King is created by Cara TaleSmith, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Asher Evan is a young CEO, billionaire, and buyer entrepreneur playboy, a knave, he is known for his ravenous and underhanded method of acquiring businesses. He is on a mission to take a bride from the old money families to improve his status among society's elite. Joan Hargreaves is the heir to Hargreaves Corporation, she left home for college when she was eighteen years old to avoid taking over the family business. She however returns home when she receives a letter informing her of her father's death. When she returns home, she finds her family business in a financial constraint due to her stepmother and uncle's mismanagement. While trying to save her family's company, she discovers an old tradition between families, an alliance forged through marriage, a marriage arranged between powerful families simply for gains. When Asher finds out that Joan is the heir to Hargreaves Corporation, a company he's been trying to take over, he approaches her and made her a deal she couldn't refuse. He would help Joan save her family's company, in return, she would marry him. Joan apprehensive of Asher's deal asks that they get engaged first, but unknown to her Asher plans to steal Hargreaves Corporation from Joan. But Asher never imagined falling into his trap.

Isabella Romano's idyllic existence falls apart in just one week. Her engagement and career have been ruined, and the only place she can go is to her father's construction business. Finding herself in front of Dominic Castellano, her dad's business partner, best friend, and the man she's desired since she was eighteen, is the last thing she expects. For years, Dom has avoided contact with Vincent's daughter. She is everything he shouldn't want, off-limits, and prohibited. His good intentions, however, are immediately dashed when she arrives, broken and desperate. A single touch triggers another. An uncontrollable fire is started by a single kiss. With a hunger that had been growing for years, he forced her against the office wall and framed her face with his rough hands before snatching her mouth. "This is insane," he growled against her lips while his fingers entangled themselves in her hair. "Then stop," she said softly. No, he couldn't. He couldn't, God forbid him. As he raised her, plans strewn across the floor, her legs encircled his waist. It was everything he had denied himself: the taste of her, the sensation of her gentle curves on his. She gasped as his lips touched the tender region on her neck. "Dom," she said. "Please—" “Dom? "You in there?" The door opened and Vincent's voice roared in. Both of them froze

At seventeen, Selene Caelum is still wolfless. And she wasn't bothered. She turns eighteen in few months and hopefully by then her wolf will emerge and she'll might be able to mated to her boyfriend, if the mating council agrees. She could hardly wait. She goes to the ShadowCrest’s Wolf Reveal Ceremony to support her boyfriend, Damien Blackthorn. But when the Luna sees Damien’s wolf, Ashur, with his sea-blue eyes politics twist against Selene. She is accused of forging a forbidden Moon Oath and dragged before the ruthless Draxmore court. Devlin Draxmore, the Alpha’s merciless son who calls her “little kitten”, makes her fate his plaything. Before her wolf can ever surface, Devlin severs their link, making her mere human and exiles her. Saved by rebels in Lycan’s Hollow, Selene is thought that being human isn't a weakness. She's trained to maximise the human strength and live a more normal life. She falls in love with Marcus, an elite Wolf hunter. But when he proposes and she says yes, the Moon fights her. Now, to marry Marcus, the soothsayer, says she has to kill and reclaim her destiny. But when she returns to ShadowCrest, a lot has changed and she finds herself bound by contract marriage to Devlin himself Selene must navigate betrayal, politics, and forbidden desire to discover the truth, she is the Luneborn, the chosen Luna who will crown the next Alpha.

I was reborn. The universe spat me back to the year of my SATs, eighteen again, right when Noah Ritchie confessed his love for me. Turned out, it was the last year he'd ever love me. That was the year he met her… the one who'd actually own his heart. For Carla Davidson, he didn't hesitate to confess his love to me, not out of sincerity, but to distract me from my studies. Because of him, I missed my shot at a top university and barely got into a second-tier one. He even staged a car accident to keep me from attending an academic competition, just so Carla could win first place. When Carla suffered from severe blood loss in an accident, he convinced me to donate so much blood that it permanently damaged my health and left me unable to bear children. Later, Noah was forced to marry me, but he spent every day brooding over a photo of Carla. And when he learned she was getting married, he abandoned me without a second thought, choosing to die for love. But in this lifetime, I'm wide awake. I won't love him again. I'll be selfish. I'll live for myself and no one else. So when Noah looked at me with his usual arrogance and asked, "Tiffany, will you be my girlfriend?" I met his gaze calmly and shook my head. "No."

She lost her mate. She swore she’d never love again. She never expected him. Gamma Riley Winters has built her life around two things: her son and survival. Love and second chances are for other people—not widowed single mothers trying to keep their heads down in the pack. Until Logan Reynolds shatters every rule she’s set for herself. He’s utterly off-limits. Her son’s best friend. The Alpha’s son. Too young. Too dangerously attractive. And thinking of him as anything but a kid could cost her everything—her position, her reputation, even her place in the pack. But Riley isn’t the only one who’s noticed Logan is all grown up. And when jealousy flares, so does something she’s desperate to ignore. Logan, however, has only ever had eyes for one woman. Now that he’s nearly eighteen, he’s done waiting. What begins as stolen glances and whispered confessions ignites into a bond neither can deny—no matter how forbidden. But in a pack built on hierarchy and tradition, their passion comes with a brutal price. One wrong move, one whispered secret, one more lie, and everything could come crashing down around them. Will Riley risk it all for a love that could destroy her? Or will she choose safety over the one man who makes her feel alive again?