Stories by @vzzzzzzz

Payback’s a Witch

Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn't been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams. But when a spellcasting tournament that her family serves as arbiters for approaches, it turns out the pull of tradition (or the truly impressive parental guilt trip that comes with it) is strong enough to bring Emmy back. She's determined to do her familial duty; spend some quality time with her best friend, Linden Thorn; and get back to her real life in Chicago. On her first night home, Emmy runs into Talia Avramov—an all-around badass adept in the darker magical arts—who is fresh off a bad breakup . . . with Gareth Blackmoore. Talia had let herself be charmed, only to discover that Gareth was also seeing Linden—unbeknownst to either of them. And now she and Linden want revenge. Only one question stands: Is Emmy in? But most concerning of all: Why can't she stop thinking about the terrifyingly competent, devastatingly gorgeous, wickedly charming Talia Avramov?

Not Just Gal Pals

Jenny Lynton never planned to be an influencer. It just sort of…happened. When an unfortunate post results in Jenny being “almost canceled,” she extends her stay in her hometown, Sapphire Springs, New York, to wait out the storm. Her agent suggests a fling with a flannel-wearing lumberjack might be just the thing to distract Jenny. But after a string of disastrous dates, Jenny has sworn off flings. And lumberjacks are in short supply in Sapphire Springs. Lumberjanes, on the other hand... Blake Mitchell is Sapphire Spring’s only doctor. She’s also had a crush on Jenny since high school. A crush that makes her a socially awkward mess whenever she’s around Jenny. Blake moved back home to avoid being hurt by another relationship–there’s not exactly a lot of dating options for lesbians in Sapphire Springs–but Blake can’t stop thinking about Jenny now she’s back in town. When Jenny and Blake are forced to work together to save a friend’s bachelorette party, sparks fly. But with Jenny’s return to LA a ticking time-bomb, is it wise for them to explore their feelings for each other, or do they risk being hurt yet again?

The Charm Offensive

Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star. Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off. As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

Like in Love with You

When country-bred Catherine Pine relocates to Bath in 1817, she and her mother come face-to-face with her mother’s arch nemesis, Lady Tisend, and her daughter, the wildly popular and gorgeous Lady Rosalie. Though once her very best friend, Mrs. Pine alleges Lady Tisend ultimately did her a great injustice. Twenty-five years later, she sees the perfect opportunity for retribution: Catherine will win the favor of Lady Rosalie’s suitor, Mr. Dean. Together, Catherine and her mother will ruin the Tisends’ lives, secure Catherine a fruitful match, and launch a fully triumphant return to Bath. It’s the perfect plan for revenge. Only Catherine soon discovers that there’s more to Lady Rosalie’s mean streak than meets the eye. Lady Rosalie is by far the wittiest, cleverest, most intriguing young woman Catherine’s ever met, and she’s utterly smitten.

Take the Lead

Gina Morales wants to make it big. In her four seasons on The Dance Off, she’s never even made it to the finals. But her latest partner, the sexy star of an Alaskan wilderness show, could be her chance. Who knew the strong, silent, survivalist-type had moves like that? She thinks Stone Nielson is her ticket to win it all—until her producer makes it clear they’re being set up for a showmance. Joining a celebrity dance competition is the last thing Stone wants. However, he’ll endure anything to help his family, even as he fears revealing their secrets. While the fast pace of Los Angeles makes him long for the peace and privacy of home, he can’t hide his growing attraction for his dance partner. Neither wants to fake a romance for the cameras, but the explosive chemistry that flares between them is undeniable. As Stone and Gina heat up the dance floor, the tabloids catch on to their developing romance. With the spotlight threatening to ruin everything, will they choose fame and fortune, or let love take the lead?

My Best Friend's Honeymoon

Elsie Hoffman has been engaged to her college boyfriend for a year and a half. Ginny Holtz has been in love with Elsie for almost a decade and a half. When Elsie discovers her fiancé already planned their wedding and honeymoon as a surprise and she’s expected to be in a white dress in seven days, she swiftly realizes she’s let herself become too comfortable with a future she never wanted. She breaks things off, and a week later is on a plane to the Caribbean for her non-refundable honeymoon with her best friend Ginny instead. Ginny thinks it’s high time Elise learned how to speak up for herself. So, they make a deal with her. For the next week, Elsie can have whatever she wants, wherever, however, and whenever she wants it, as long as she asks. They never expected Elsie to want them. What starts as choosing activities and taking selfies soon turns to toe-curling kisses and much, much more. But what happens when the honeymoon is over? Meryl Wilsner’s My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is about not only learning to ask for what you want, but for the happiness you deserve.

How to Read a Book

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed. When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways. How to Read a Book is an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living...

Toni and Addie Go Viral

Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding―is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more… On a whim―and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind―Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show. Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends

It’s only natural nineteen-year-old Brennan’s life would be upended by something as ridiculous and unexpected as turning into a vampire. But if there’s one thing Brennan can do, it’s pretend everything’s fine when he’s close to losing his mind. Brennan is nineteen and just clawed his way back to Sturbridge University after recovering from a suicide attempt, and this is not the new life he was hoping for. Brennan’s newly bloodthirsty existence gets way more complicated when Cole, the super cute librarian and everyone’s campus crush, stumbles on Brennan drinking from a stolen blood bag. Luckily, adorable Cole is happy to keep Brennan’s secret, and even seems to maybe like him? Navigating a new relationship is hard enough without the added struggles of vampire puberty, an eclectic clan of self-proclaimed “good” vampires, and growing feelings for the one person who makes Brennan feel normal. With swirling rumors of a missing student and a rise in strange “animal attacks” near campus, Brennan must uncover the secrets of the clan and figure out how to balance vampirism and humanity, or risk losing the first real friends he’s ever had.

Done and Dusted

For the first time in her life, Clementine “Emmy” Ryder has no idea what she’s doing. She’s done everything on her to-do list. She left her small hometown, went to college, and made a name for herself doing her favorite thing: riding horses. But when an injury results in an obstacle she can’t overcome, Emmy leaves behind a career, an apartment, and a boyfriend for the hometown she spent her whole life trying to escape. Luke Brooks is Meadowlark’s most notorious bad boy, bar owner, and bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fifth member of the Ryder family, who spent his entire childhood antagonizing Emmy, the youngest Ryder sibling. It’s been years since he’s seen his best friend’s little sister, but when she walks into his bar and back into his life, he can’t take his eyes off her. Brooks takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of why Emmy returned to Meadowlark and what happened to put out the perpetual fire in her eyes. But first, he needs Emmy to take him up on his offer to be friends. An offer that has nothing to do with the fact that he can’t stop thinking about her. At least, that’s what he tells himself. As things between Emmy and Brooks heat up, it’s getting more difficult for him to keep his hands off of her. Can he help her get her spark back? Or will they both go up in flames?

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power… Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing. Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone...and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.

Hear My Heart

Growing up deaf in a family that ignored her caused Nakyra to embrace the silence. When she meets Rome, she believes she's found the one, and after years of being together the two decide it's time to finally tie the knot when tragedy hits. Then he comes into the picture, and her whole world is suddenly flipped upside down. No matter how forbidden he might be, she can't seem to ignore the feelings forming for him. Everything she thought she knew is suddenly being tested and leaves her conflicted. Nakyra's now torn between staying committed or facing new possibilities.

The Ride of Her Life

Molly McDaniel’s life is falling apart. Between her day job as a barista, her night job at a call center, and her crushing student loans, she’s barely getting by. And that dream she has of starting a wedding event planning business? The dream that led to all those student loan in the first place? She can feel it slipping farther and farther out of reach every day. So the absolute last thing she needs is to discover she’s inherited a run-down, struggling horse barn out of the blue, courtesy of her estranged late aunt. Molly is so ill-equipped to run the barn, it’s laughable. She certainly doesn’t have the money, time or knowledge needed to save it, no matter how much faith everyone who loved her aunt has that she will. But the more Molly gets involved, the more she starts to wonder: maybe the barn is a blessing in disguise. If she can sell the land, the profits could be the small-business seed money miracle she’s been waiting for. So what if she’s starting to love everyone in the mismatched family she’s found here? Well, everyone except Shani, the resident farrier and family friend who took care of Molly’s aunt in her last days. Judgmental, grouchy Shani, who refuses to give up on the barn; who walks around like she so much better than Molly; who’s actually really good with the horses…and kind of thoughtful. And obnoxiously hot. And unfailingly loyal. And suddenly, Shani has become an entirely different kind of problem, one Molly can’t possibly solve, not without risking her whole future, no matter how much her heart wishes she could.

Well, Actually

Eva Kitt never expected to be the host of Sausage Talk, interviewing B-list celebrities over lukewarm hot dogs, instead of pursuing the journalism career she dreamed of. But when Eva’s impromptu public call out of her college ex goes viral, she’s thrust into the spotlight. It doesn’t help said ex is Rylie Cooper, a beloved social media personality that has built a platform on deconstructing toxic masculinity and teaching men how to be good partners. Forced to confront Rylie on a live episode of Sausage Talk, he offers Eva a deal: allow him to take her on a series of dates to make up for his toxic behavior, then debrief them on his channel to show he’s changed. Eva refuses to play nice, but agrees to the scheme to advance her own career and continue defaming Rylie’s good name. When these manufactured dates start to feel real, Eva has to wonder if the boy that broke her heart has become the man that might heal it.

Impossible Match

Two Torontonian socialites. One arranged marriage. What could go wrong? Cecilia Friedman is a rising tech star who has no time for relationships, let alone a wife, so she isn’t sure what to think when her grandmother tells her that she has found a spouse for her. Ingrid Gordon, one of Toronto’s most eligible bachelorettes and influencers, is known for being a flighty player and she'd rather everyone think of her that way than the vulnerable woman she really is. When Cecilia's and Ingrid’s families suggest that they get married, each woman agrees to the arrangement for their own reasons. But as they spend more time together and begin to unravel the mysteries of each other’s lives, they both realize that there’s more to each woman than they expected. Can Cecilia and Ingrid find a love connection, or is a love story as impossible as it seems?

The Poison Paradox

What price is too high to pay for those you love? Prince Alaric breaks the laws of the gods and his kingdom to bring his brother back from death, but the price is higher than he could have imagined. Exiled, slowly corrupted, and with a brother more shadow than man, he seeks the only man able to fully revive his brother...another exile, his father's former mage, Eamon. Once the most powerful mage in the kingdom, Eamon vanished years ago. Some say he died, some say he disappeared in a plume of smoke...and others in his hometown of Lithglau whisper the mage brought a young girl back to life. When Alaric finds Eamon, he's nothing like he expected. For one thing, he's an ogre. For another, he flat-out refuses to help a spoiled prince. Alaric and his brother are running out of time. Driven to desperation, Alaric forces the former mage's hand before he realizes the price of a cure for his brother will come at the expense of his own life. A life that, in Eamon's ramshackle village, he's beginning to enjoy for the first time. Can he cure his brother without cursing himself? Or will crafting this potion bring only a brief reprieve from the loneliness that plagues him and Eamon both? The longer Alaric spends in the village in the woods, the more he falls for Eamon—and the more determined he is to change both his and his brother’s fate, no matter the price.

The 7-10 Spilt

This is how love rolls… For teacher Ava Williams, some subjects are not up for debate. Like history—specifically, the one she has with Grace Jones, bowling pro and local celeb. Who is now, for no identifiable reason, teaching at the same small-town Georgia high school as Ava. Once upon a time, they were thick as thieves, best friends, rivals who pushed each other, and total bowling nerds. Then they shared a kiss, sweet and confusing…and after that, they split and nothing was ever the same. Ava is pretty sure she has every reason to hate Grace. Especially when the school’s soggy potato of a principal announces—finally—that the students can have the bowling team Ava has been pushing for, for years…only to hand it to Grace. Now they’re expected to be partners and lead their new bowling team to victory in six months. And with that, their rivalry is back. Fierce, ultracompetitive…and with an undeniable attraction that pushes, pulls and crashes together. It’s history. It’s chemistry. And it’s just a matter of time before it explodes…one way or the other.

A Lady for a Duke

When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.

Excavations

On a remote archeological site in Greece, the mythic home of the first Olympics, four women discover an unusual artifact. It’s a piece of history that definitely shouldn’t exist. And for the head archaeologist in charge, a relic himself, it means something’s gone horribly wrong. Elise, Kara, Z and Patty all find themselves digging here together, but they couldn’t be farther apart. Kara’s a polished conservator calling off her wedding. Patty and her bowl cut are desperate for love. Millennial Z just got dumped and fired yet again. And Elise, their star excavator, is a lone wolf about to go rogue. To figure out what they’re really digging for, and to topple the man who wants to hide their history, these dirt-crusted colleagues have to become what they’ve avoided for years—friends. If they put their own messes aside for one summer, they might just make the discovery of a lifetime.

Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous

An actress home for the holidays makes a bet with her former best friend-turned-online sensation. Katie Price is known in every living room in America. A small-town Wisconsin girl who became an A-list star, she rarely makes it home, but this year is different... Little does she know it will lead her straight into the piercing blue-eyed gaze of Wil Greene. A lot has happened in the decade since those cold Wisconsin nights when Wil and Katie drove around in Wil’s Bronco senior year. Since then, Wil's law career hasn’t taken off. Her father passed away. And what started as a personal challenge―kissing a new person twice a week, every week―has made her a growing sensation, but her life is still stuck in phase one. Through the years, the two have never left each other's thoughts and desires, but now suddenly, they are back in each others' lives. Their reconnection is instantaneous and the passion is palpable... but can it stand the test of time?