True Romantic

David Lee was supposed to be dead. Nineteen years old, terminal cancer, nothing left but hospital beds and webtoons about gang fights, brotherhood, and underdog heroes. But when he opens his eyes again, he’s not David anymore. He’s Seo Joonwoo — fifteen, awkward, quiet, and newly enrolled in the most infamous school in the city: Taeyang Technical High, where fists rule the halls and teachers look the other way. It should’ve been a nightmare. Instead… it’s everything David used to dream of. And when his first fight begins, a strange blue screen appears before his eyes: [Romanticism System Activated.] “The stronger your conviction… the stronger your punch.” Now, armed with a second chance, Joonwoo isn’t just here to survive. He’s here to live the kind of story he once only read about — a story of loyalty, friendship, fights under flickering lights… and maybe even love. This isn’t just delinquency. This is romanticism.

Moving to a new town with her only family, after a haunting incident seemed like a good idea to Iris. Iris is a black girl with a sad past. She's your average book nerd and can be nice when she wants to be. She doesn't believe in true love or happy endings but is a sucker for some good ol' romcoms. She hates badboys and finds them completely clichè. Here Luca comes into the picture. Luca is not your everyday bad boy. He is broken and is considered the town's brute or beast rather. With tattoos, piercings and a glare that wards people off. Unfortunately, Iris becomes drawn to him like a moth to a flame. And almost immediately, Luca is pulled to her quirky, sassy and stubborn self. (Although the list could go on.) With his possessive and overprotective behaviour, Luca isn't one to let go of what makes him happy. And Iris makes him happy. What happens when their pasts comes to haunt them? Will these two broken souls fight their way through every barrier just to be with each other? This is the story of two broken souls trying to find solace within themselves.

The night before returning to the Cantrell residence, I had a dream where I was the despised antagonist in a book. In the story, my father had adopted a girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to my late mother. On the day he came to pick me up, he got into a devastating car accident. After that, my second brother, Shawn Cantrell, lashed out, calling me a curse, while my eldest brother, Seth Cantrell, treated me with cold indifference. In the end, I was abandoned by everyone, meeting a tragic and lonely end.

Alpha Ares was vicious and heartless. Driven by the need to be at the top, his pack– the Coldcrest pack, was a no-nonsense pack. It was the largest of them all, and it was comprised of brutal and strong warriors who were drilled to come back triumphant after every battle. They were terrified by all. The sheer mention of his name would have the other packs trembling in fear. Infuriated by the demise of his parents, who were both slaughtered by wolf-hunters, Alpha Ares had only one rule – No pack member of his was to be mated to a human. Anyone who was to be painstakingly blessed with a human mate had to be killed or exiled, no matter their rank in the pack. And this rule was never to be broken. Appalled by his harsh judgment and vicious ways, the Moon goddess decided to bless him in the cruellest of ways. She gave him a mate, after so many years spent by Alpha Ares yearning for one. The only problem was, she gave him a human mate. A timid human mate named Akira.

Nicholas becomes a lone wolf at the age of eighteen. His parents were murdered because of the power of truth he possesses against their alpha pack. Wolfless and mateless, he was despised by all. He melted his wolf in the human world and used his ability who knows the truth against humans in exchange for money. Misses no one, corrupt government officials, wealthy murderers, and ordinary ones. Their truth and lies are his survival. Then he came to a point when is he knowing the truth about everyone he could meet a gift or a curse?

Steven Zimmer, the assistant of my wife, Lucy Quinn, has lost in a truth-or-dare session. Lucy doesn't hesitate to file for a divorce from me for the ninth time. In the courthouse, I hear the staff member asking Lucy curiously, "Your husband is like a well-trained dog now. You've already married and divorced him nine times! Aren't you worried that your husband might ditch you for real?" Lucy merely smirks at her. "Do you know that the more ruthless you are when you abandon your pets, the harder it'll be for them to live without you? In fact, they will just become more obedient and docile. As long as I curl a finger at him, he'll definitely sink down to his knees and beg me to remarry him." Everyone bursts into laughter after that. They bet that I'll plead pathetically to Lucy to remarry me for the tenth time in less than a day after I've obtained the divorce certificate. Lucy even declares that she'll stream the tenth wedding proposal on the Internet when it happens. But the next day, Lucy keeps waiting for me to show up at the city hall while clad in a wedding dress. All she gets is a text from me. "No more proposals. This is the end between us, Lucy."

Alpha Damian is ruthless and spares no one when it comes to his business. Love is out of the question and only money matters till he is forced to choose one or nothing.

*Excerpt* “You don't understand, Xavier," I take a step back, “Brandon will find me. He always does. And when he finds me this time, he'll kill you. As much as I want to be free of him, this isn't the way.” “I'll protect you–” “You're not listening to me. I'm not worried about me. If he catches us, he'll just punish me but he won't kill me. I'm too important to him. But you…” My throat closes up as I turn to leave, but Xavier grabs me by the elbow as I push back the door. I turn to look at him, my heart aching for us. There's a cold indifference in his eyes though, and for the first time ever, I'm scared of what he's capable of. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way, Audrey. All I know is that I'm not leaving you here.” *** Audrey Watson has been scared of dreaming about a better life, because as the saying goes, dreams are for losers. But Xavier came to the scene as her knight, albeit one with rude behavior. This was it, her better life. Or so she thought. Little did she know that this was basically a new chapter of hard decisions and regrets. They always say that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade out of them. But what if life gives you bitter kola instead? How do you go about making it into something sweet? Find out more about Audrey and Xavier's journey in this captivating novel.

My mom, Susan, had a habit of sending me to get her shopping. However, she would always leave out a zero when paying me back what was owed, blaming on her poor eyesight. I never minded. In fact, I would just cover the cost without another word. Then, Summer, my sister, had to throw shade. “Mom sends you money whenever she wants something. You never show us the actual costs, though. I bet you’re making a nice little profit off Mom behind our backs.” Susan smiled and didn’t even bother to defend me, as if confirming Summer’s accusations. My heart sank. Over the years, I had bought her things from major appliances to the smallest groceries, and each time, the payment she sent was short. Susan would just brush the whole thing off by saying, “Oh, my eyes aren’t what they used to be. My bad.” I had poured hundreds of thousands into her expenses, only to end up with a reputation as a thief who cheated her own family. When Susan sent me money for the New Year’s Eve catering, I simply booked food that fit the budget she paid for.

While I've been unconscious for 12 days after getting into a car crash, I end up spending 12 years wandering in my dreams. In my dreams, I play the role as the fake mafia principessa. I've committed all atrocious crimes for the sake of my lover, Marcello Gallo, only for him to expose me in front of everyone on our wedding day. In the end, I freeze to death on the streets. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Marcello brings the real principessa, Viviana Sabato, home. He's still gazing at me as sincerely as he did in the past. But I know that in the future, he will cross his fingers while making our vows before the priest. Even if I have to go through everything one more time, I know that I must give up on Marcello no matter how genuine his feelings are for me right now.