Stay Foolish

Katherine Elizabeth Douglas is a young journalist, unhappy with her job, but content in life with her best friends in the big city. At a night out for her birthday, she stumbles upon two very different men: the Prince Charming, and the Mysterious Hottie. They both bring her into a world that she never knew existed, but while one she can't seem to stay away from, the other can't seem to leave her alone. What happens when her world connects with theirs?

"You either walk away now," Aiden said, his voice sharp and cutting, "or you stay and deal with the consequences." Tristan's chest tightened as he met Aiden's gaze, the challenge blazing in his dark eyes. Every instinct told him to run, to leave before things spiraled out of control, but his feet wouldn’t move. “What’s it gonna be, Tristan?” Aiden’s voice was low, almost taunting. “Because if you stay, there’s no turning back. You won’t just be here. You'll be mine. Every inch of you, every breath, every thought... mine!" ...... Even before they became stepbrothers, Aiden and Tristan had never been on good terms, not since high school. Tristan couldn’t have imagined that the arrogant guy he despised—the same one he hated with passion—would one day become his stepbrother, a fact he refused to acknowledge. But after a drunken night led to an accidental , something shifted in Aiden. He began to see Tristan differently, from an angle far removed from brotherhood. It enraged him. He fought to keep hating him, to remind himself how wrong it was. Yet, the harder he tried, the more he missed him. The more he wanted him.

"Ryan we can't do this!" I pleaded, knowing I had already fallen into his temptation. He trailed his thumb softy on my collar bone, our gaze met and I melted instantly in those alluring eyes of his. "Yet, we can't deny our feelings," He uttered huskily and captured my lips with his, every ounce of restraint in me drained off as I succumbed to him. ~~ After two years of living in Bradford, UK with her broken father, Hailey recently moved back to Albany in New York to stay with her mom's remarried family to complete her finals in a new high school in her stepfamily's city. The weather, her stepfamily's lavish and luxurious lifestyle, and most importantly her stepbrother, Ryan, were all troubling for her. Ryan, The handsome, popular, and athletic rich guy of the school was every girl's dream while Hailey thought having a popular stepbrother like him would make her stay a lot easier in her new school, instead it turns out Ryan has made up his mind to wreck Hailey's life to the worst. Soon enough, Hailey noticed that Ryan has been having a grudge toward her for years for reasons she couldn't place her mind on.

He pressed him against the door, breath hot, voice ragged. “If you don’t want this… tell me to stop.” A pause. A heartbeat. “I can’t.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some obsessions aren’t meant to be touched. Some men aren’t meant to be loved. And some desires don’t care. This collection isn’t about perfect love. It’s about the one you weren’t supposed to want— Another man. Your brother’s best friend. Your enemy’s son. Your professor. Your fake fiancé. The man who shouldn’t look at you like that. The man you can’t stop wanting. Every story is a man falling for another man when he shouldn’t—and doing it anyway. Fast-paced, emotionally sharp, and dangerously seductive, every story in Burnt Offerings dives headfirst into the hunger we deny, the rules we break, and the lovers we were warned to stay away from. Some affairs stay in the dark. Others start wildfires. This isn't a love story. It's all the ones you swore you’d never tell. All of them about men who should have walked away from each other… but didn’t.

Rachel Larson was adamant about marrying me, and she spent ten years stealing my heart. On the night before our wedding, I overheard her conversation with her friend. "You're marrying Leonardo? What about your side piece?" A moment of silence later, Rachel answered, "That guy? He's just a cheap replacement. Leonardo's the real deal. Don't compare my side piece to him. If he stays put and keeps his mouth shut, I might let him stay around. Leonardo's a broad-minded man. He won't mind." The side piece did not stay put. In fact, he caused a scene at the wedding the next day. He shoved me off the stage, but the woman who was supposed to marry me darted over to his side instead. Why? He was holding a piece of broken glass against his throat. Gutturally, he roared, "Choose! Me or him?" Panicked, Rachel kicked me away despite my injuries, and she roared, "Get out of the way! I need to take him to the hospital! If anything happens to him, I'll kill you!" She didn't need to wait that long. My heart died right there and then. … That night, I bought a flight ticket that would take me abroad and left her.

After Dad went bankrupt, Mom immediately started fighting for a divorce. I did not fight or argue, just watched coldly as my sister, Jessica Shaw, shoved me aside and threw herself at Dad. She cried out, "Dad, don't be sad! I'll stay with you!" In my past life, after our parents divorced, Jessica went with our wealthy Mom while I ended up with bankrupt Dad. However, what no one expected was that Mom's remarriage turned into a disaster when she married a scumbag who not only drained her assets but left her with nothing in the divorce. Jessica suffered right along with her. Meanwhile, Dad made a comeback and became wildly successful, eventually turning into a wealthy tycoon. Jessica grew bitter seeing me live well. Under the guise of catching up, she orchestrated a car accident that killed me. When I opened my eyes again, we had both traveled back to the day our parents filed a divorce. This time, Jessica shot me a smug smile and declared first, "I love Dad, so I want to stay with him." Little did she know, I could not have been happier with this arrangement. After all, I refused to spend another lifetime hiding and scraping by.

I am Evelyn Scott, a replacement for my sister’s wedding after they found out about Sterling’s wealth. Evelyn’s family especially her stepmother, Jane wanted to get rid of her from the house and decided to send her off to get married to Adrian, an ordinary man who always brought troubles to the Sterling family. Little did they know, Adrian conceals a hidden identity that could change everything if revealed. “I’m sorry, I’m late,” Adrian uttered as he arrived late at the wedding. Evelyn smiled at him, “It’s okay, what’s important is that you’re here.” As they spend their time together, Evelyn finds herself drawn by how gentle Adrian is. He was always attentive to her, and it seemed like he was washing her problems and worries away. It was the very first time that Evelyn felt something like this to someone. “I… like you,” she confessed. Adrian smiled, cupping his hands onto her face. He gently kissed her forehead. “Me too. I like you so much.” Can this kind of love would have a happy ending after? Will they be strong and stay together until the end? Would Evelyn stay if she found out the truth about her husband?

An abused human orphan. A cursed werewolf Prince trapped in his monster form. And a cursed island which once entered, there's no leaving ever. What would you do if you're a human trapped on a deserted island with a monster capable of having you for breakfast in one moment's breath? Except he's not a monster. He's a Prince that's cursed to stay as a monster. And only you can be the Beauty to his Beast. ~~~ Avril, an innocent human orphan, fell overboard a ship and was washed ashore on a deserted island. There she beholds a terrifying sight, a monstrous wolf bigger than a human. He is Prince Dakar, an Alpha Prince who was cursed to remain as a wolf animal and a monster for decades. Avril is taken in by the cursed prince and he surprisingly shows care for her. He knows who she is... to him. But she has no idea what she is in for the moment she got washed ashore on that island. She just entered into a battle to free the cursed Island Wolf. But could she love and stay with a cursed monster like him? And if she was to live in his world full of supernatural people like him, could she survive as the only human? This is a story of love, betrayal, battles and loyalty. Prince Dakar and human Avril's love story. THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

In the Chicago mafia, refusing a powerful man is the same as signing your own death warrant. At twenty-one, Valentina is forced into marriage with Adrian DeLuca— the cold, feared underboss whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. The rules are clear: obey, stay silent, and never ask about the past. Adrian doesn’t want love. He wants a wife who looks perfect at his side and a mother for his children. Nothing more. Their marriage is built on duty, fear, and carefully maintained distance until Valentina begins to see the cracks beneath his ruthless control. The DeLuca mansion is full of secrets. Locked rooms. Unspoken rules. A five-year-old boy who hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death— until he whispers something that changes everything. “I still see my mom at night.” What begins as a marriage of survival turns into a dangerous search for truth. As Valentina uncovers what really happened to the woman who came before her, she realizes the greatest threat may not be the man she married, but the one everyone believes is dead. In a world where loyalty is deadly and love is a weakness, Valentina must decide who to trust before the truth destroys her marriage… or her life. A dark mafia romance about forced marriage, forbidden secrets, and the woman who refused to stay powerless.

Valerie waited her whole life for the Goddess to mate her and when the bond finally appears, it destroys her instead… Rejected and shamed as a cursed Omega, Valerie disappears from the pack that never wanted her. One reckless night with a stranger becomes the line between who she was… and who she will be. Years later, fate drags her back into a world of she has no knowledge of. And the man she never forgot stands in her path again with secrets from the past refusing to stay buried…