Rhymes With Eighteen

What happens when you accidentally send a text to your best friend's dad that was not meant to be for his eyes? Elona, who is eighteen, is on the cusp of a new chapter- her final year of high school. A dream she has her sights on becoming a model. But beneath her confident exterior lies a secret crush on someone unexpected- Mr. Crane, her best friend's father. Three years ago, after the tragic loss of his wife, Mr. Crane, a painfully handsome man, stands as a hardworking billionaire, a symbol of both success and unspoken pain. His world intersects with Elona's through her best friend, their shared street, and his friendship with her dad. One fateful day, a slip of a thumb changes everything. Elona accidentally sends Mr. Crane a series of revealing photos intended for her best friend. As he sits at the boardroom table, he receives the unexpected images. His gaze lingers on the screen, he has a choice to make. Will he confront the accidental message, risking a fragile friendship and potentially igniting emotions neither anticipated? Or will he grapple with his own desires in silence, seeking a way to navigate this uncharted territory without disrupting the lives around him? This age-gap, forbidden, slow burn, suspenseful romance is filled with angst and tension.

“I, Julius Armstrong, reject Doris Charles as my mate.” The laughter came right after. This was the second time my mate rejected me because I cannot talk. In the pack, they call me dumb not because I am stupid, but because I am mute. When I turned eighteen, my first mate rejected me for that reason. Today, it was the Gamma. He is twenty-one, the same age as the Alpha and Beta. This was his third rejection. The first girl was too fat, the second was too short and now, I was dumb. I never wanted to attend the mating ceremony. I knew how it would end, but my stepmother forced me to go, and my stepsisters came just to watch me get mocked again. The next day, wolves who had found their mates returned to officially claim them before the Alpha and pack leaders. I went only because I was forced, just to stand there and watch my stepsister get chosen. Then something happened that no one expected. The Alpha claimed me as his mate in front of everyone. Was I shocked? Yes. Did I believe him? No. Did I think it was a cruel joke? Absolutely. Because no Alpha would choose a rejected, mute girl like me.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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."

My name is Drexton Blackthorn. This is my story. Twenty-one years ago, I witnessed the birth of a girl, born not in innocence but to fulfil my deadly quest. Her cries were a testament to the hate and fire burning inside me, a reminder of blood spilled... and blood owed. Her body was smeared with the sinful blood of her mother. She was born into the same family that annihilated mine. Ixora Castellan. Two years ago, she walked into the trap I spent decades designing. Then my game of torment began. It was supposed to be a simple game of hunt, predator and prey. I ruined her physically, twisted her mentally, but I failed to shatter her heart, and that failure ruined me. I fell for the woman who was born for my destruction. The truth was supposed to stay hidden forever, but someone else had to interfere. Secrets spilled. Blood followed, and I lost my Ixora. Eighteen months later, she returns, but I know she's not Ixora, my firefly. She is a shadow, wearing her face, body and identity. I don't know where my obsession is, dead or alive? For the first time, I am weak and powerless. I want her back. As long as she is alive, I will burn the world to find her. She is not just a part of my past; she is my present, and I will make her my future. She is a sin that I want. My Nemesis.

What makes a hero? They say a hero is someone that has given his life to something bigger than himself. I say a hero is no braver than an ordinary man, he is just braver for five minutes longer. All soldiers are brave, it's what they do with their bravery that makes them heroes. Am I a hero? Clayton Jackson dedicated his life to serving his country. Enlisting in the Marine Corps at the young age of eighteen, he never imagined following any other path. However, fate had other plans for him as a life-altering accident during his last deployment left him disabled and forces him to return home. Hiding in the small town he grew up in, Clayton tries to keep his secret from his loved ones at all costs. One day while seeking refuge from his troubled mind, his path crosses with Isabella Jones. Their connection is instantaneous as if the universe conspired to bring them together. Isabella, a mysterious and enigmatic woman, is haunted by the demons from her own past. As their relationship quickly blossoms, the unspoken truths between them threaten to tear them apart. When Clayton is presented with the opportunity to rejoin the Marine Corps, Isabella is faced with a decision: whether to accompany him or remain behind. Caught in this web of secrets and lies, they try to navigate their love through the murky waters, desperately hoping to find solace in each other's arms. But will love be enough to conquer the shadows that lingered in their hearts? Or would the truth ultimately be their undoing?