Diverse Stories

Mira finds herself stuck in the city of love with Jake, the playboy athlete she can't stand. What she doesn't expect is for major sparks to fly on their 24-hour adventure. But can this newly-found love last beyond the magic of Paris? ***** 24 Hours in Paris is now published as a Paperback & E-book by W by Wattpad Books As a Wattpad reader, you can now access both the Original Edition and the W by Wattpad Books Published Edition here upon purchase (PS: a review on Amazon (and also Goodreads) would be very much appreciated, to help get this POC rom com in front of more readers! All the review page links are on my Wattpad profile page :-) ) In the new Published Edition of the book, the characters of Mira and Jake will be older and wiser co-workers in the corporate world, who miss their flight and get stuck spending an extra 24 hours in Paris. They'll start off annoyed with each other, but you know how the story goes... "Adorably sweet and a brilliant read! It made me feel like I was roaming the streets of Paris without having to leave my couch." - Grace @HQ ***** On the last day of their class's college trip to Paris, Mira and Jake get tangled up in a debacle that causes them to miss their flight home to New York. Which means they're stuck in Paris until the next available flight that's 24 hours away! Mira is witty and a lover of art history and good cheese. Jake, on the other hand, is your All-American frat boy with a killer smile. Translation: they can't stand each other. As they visit places they could never have imagined, Mira and Jake go from mortal enemies to star-crossed lovers with sizzling chemistry. But can their spark last without Paris' cheese and charm to keep it going? [[word count: 50,000-60,000 words]] Cover designed by Ray Gardener

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION. It only takes one moment to change your life forever . . . After her mother's deportation last year, all Soledad "Sol" Gutierrez wants is for her life to go back to normal. Everything's changed-new apartment, new school, new family dynamic-and Sol desperately wants to fit in. When she joins her community college's history club, it comes with an odd initiation process: break into Westray's oldest house and steal . . . a fork? There's just one problem: while the owners of the house aren't home, their grandson Ethan is, and when he catches Sol with her hand in the kitchen drawer, she barely escapes with the fork intact. This one chance encounter irrevocably alters her life, and Sol soon learns that sometimes fitting in isn't as important as being yourself-even if that's the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION. There are some friends you never forget. It's the summer of 1955. For Ethan Harper, a biracial kid raised mostly by his white father, race has always been a distant conversation. When he's sent to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle in small-town Alabama, his blackness is suddenly front and center, and no one is shy about making it known he's not welcome there. Enter Juniper Jones. The town's resident oddball and free spirit, she's everything the townspeople aren't-open, kind, and accepting. Armed with two bikes and an unlimited supply of root beer floats, Ethan and Juniper set out to find their place in a town that's bent on rejecting them. As Ethan is confronted for the first time by what it means to be black in America, Juniper tries to help him see the beauty in even the ugliest reality, and that even the darkest days can give rise to an invincible summer . . .

A heartbroken fashion designer escapes to Tokyo to be an assistant on a movie set, only to get caught up in an illicit, whirlwind romance with the lead actor. ***** After discovering her fiance is cheating on her, heiress and fashion designer Lily Porter is whisked away to Tokyo to help a production company adapt one of her great-aunt's novels. She isn't thrilled about lying about being her aunt's assistant until it throws her into the path of the movie's lead actor, who is enough of a distraction to keep her mind off her ex for good. But can there really be a future for them when their relationship is built on lies, false identities, and a secret engagement? [[Wattys' Longlisted]] [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION In 1955, mixed-race Ethan Harper leaves his progressive hometown for a summer in Alabama where he's not welcome, except by resident free spirit, Juniper Jones. ***** After getting himself into a bout of trouble, 16-year-old Ethan Harper's parents send him to Ellison, Alabama, to live with his aunt and uncle for the summer. But the year is 1955, and Alabama is a far cry from his beloved home of Arcadia, Washington. As much as it's hotter in temperature, it's colder in every other way, and Ethan learns the hard way that people see his mere existence as a threat. Amidst all the mayhem, a fiery, free-spirited, oddball walks into Ethan's life. Her name is Juniper Jones. She is the first person in Ellison who seems unfazed by their racial differences, and she promises to give Ethan a summer he will always remember, filled with endless adventure and discovery. With Juniper, Ethan can breathe, he can be, despite the incessant attention and bullying their newly formed friendship attracts. Can the two survive the summer, run in the light and block out the noise of the outside world? [Published version comes out June 16, 2020 with Wattpad Books!] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

Born into slavery, Lena Wells escapes in search of freedom-but instead finds a Union camp overflowing with runaways, soldiers, and the man whose gaze she can't seem to forget. What begins as stolen glances soon becomes forbidden touches and passionate, secret kisses. But war has a way of claiming everything, and when Julian is called back to his regiment, Lena is forced to let him go. Four years later, Lena has built a fragile new life in Philadelphia-a seamstress by day and a devoted mother by night, determined to protect the child who carries the face of the man she lost. Julian Dennis, wounded and discharged, is living in the same city rebuilding a life that no longer feels like his own. When a chance assignment brings Lena into his home that he shares with his mother-who has hired her to sew a few dresses-the past collides violently with the present. One look at Lena's little girl sends Julian spiraling. She looks like him. She acts like him. And the timing is undeniable. Yet Lena insists the child isn't his. Now Julian is torn between hope and heartache, while Lena clings to the truth she's carried alone for years. As long-buried emotions resurface and new wounds open, both must confront not only the ghosts of the war, but the powerful forces of society, race, loyalty, and love that threaten to keep them apart. Because sometimes the war doesn't end on the battlefield- Sometimes it finds you again, exactly where you're trying to start over.

Talia Bennett is done being stuck in a trope. After the worst high school love life of all time, Talia Bennett decides that college is her time to shine. No more boys that don't know what they want, no more boys using her as a stepping stone for their next, blonder girlfriend, no more sticky situationships. Now that cuffing season has rolled around, she's about to fix her romantic life for good, by figuring out exactly how to survive the trope that's haunted her love life so far. Starting now, Talia is no longer going to be the temporary girlfriend passed on for something better, and she's not getting written out of her story this time. College means cuter guys, crazy frats and better friends to hopefully help Talia break free from being the Disposable Black Girlfriend, once and for all.

Some of these men have been hankering for a relationship ever since the start of the semester...or maybe some don't even think of the others as their type and brush them all aside...maybe some haven't even dated outside of the opposite gender...and maybe some want that raunchy college-party life at work... Five college boys are in search of a job--(they need money, of course.) When the deal comes with living spaces right above where they'll work for a discounted price, they're pretty much within ten feet of each other for twenty hours a day. And with there being five of them, one's always bound to feel left out of the group. Be prepared for a mess of simultaneous situationships...

Bookery (BUUK- uhr-ee) -- a collection of books _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._ When a boy finds out his crush works at the local bookstore. This book is currently unedited (read with caution) Highest Category Rank: #9 in Bookstore

In this comedic, full of heart standalone novel, college just got spicy. Raj, Shruti, Asifa, and Nisha are starting freshman year-and chaos follows. At UT Dallas, Raj's boyfriend Max flies in from Yakutsk amid Russo-American tensions and bonds with his roommate Sully, a Kazakh-American dudebro with a heart of gold. Raj and Shruti launch Kumar Fancy x Shroom Chai-a nail salon/chai bar-through a student startup program. It becomes the next big thing... until a shady rival shop pops up, clearly stealing their idea. Suddenly it's a Real Housewives-coded turf war, complete with glitter, gossip, and sabotage. Meanwhile in the Bronx, Asifa and Nisha start at SUNY Maritime and are nearly robbed on day one-until two mysterious Y2K baddies save them. They stumble into Sylheti Spice, a cozy Bangladeshi chai spot with magical tea and a slow-burn spark between Asifa and Zain, the owner's feminist son with a blue-eyed cat named Dairy Milk on his shoulder. But Sylheti Spice is in danger. A Bronx gang, Cosa Norte, is extorting them-and the cops are no help. To protect the shop, Zain secretly cuts a deal with Los 174, a rival gang that once saved them, offering free food in exchange for protection. One member, Dino, becomes Zain's friend-and maybe more to Nisha. Now Zain holds enough intel to take everyone down... but doing the right thing might cost him everything. You better buckle up readers, because freshman year just got spicy. Welcome to college.

In a city where the steam network remembers your secrets, the revolution begins with a wrench. Thomas Li-Harrison is a mixed-heritage engineer fixing the pipes that keep Shanghai warm. When impossible readings start appearing in the network - and his body starts doing things he never learned - he discovers the infrastructure he's maintained for years is hiding something vast, watchful, and alive. Now every pipe whispers a question he can't ignore: who built this system, and what is it really for? ⚙️ THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIMENT: This is an iterative serial. Your comments and votes shape the plot and the romance in real-time. ⚡ JOIN THE RESISTANCE: Sign up for the Substack (link in bio) to get the secret Marco prequel story and vote on future chapters!

Alysha never cared what anyone thought-until senior year made it impossible not to. Seventeen-year-old Alysha has spent her entire life in a small town where nothing ever changes. She keeps her head down, avoids the drama, and counts the days until graduation. But when she's pulled into a new friend group during her final year, Alysha finds herself trapped in a cycle of secrets, loyalty tests, and nonstop chaos she never asked for. And then there's Derek-intense, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore. And Jake-steady, familiar, and the one choice that actually makes sense. Caught between what feels safe and what feels real, Alysha must decide how much she's willing to risk before senior year ends and everything she knows changes forever.

Zenobia is not the queen the history books promised. She is a widow in hardened leather, a huntress who sharpens her iron with the same ruthless precision she uses to command an empire. When the world burns and the Roman eagles circle, she is the only thing standing between her people and the dust. From the sandstone ridges of Palmyra to the marble halls of Rome, this is the story of a woman who wore a crown of thorns and a chain of gold-and dared the world to break her. She didn't just challenge an empire. She made it bleed.

Alessia Vera is one party away from flunking out of her senior year. Once a straight A goodie two shoes, her sudden change has caused a large concern for her parents, especially her mom. Her mom decides to take matters into her own hands to protect her daughters now fragile future. Now enter Jonathan Philips. He was on track to be valedictorian. Compared to Alessia's popularity, Jonathan was a nobody. His friend total amounted to a whopping one. Jonathan's home life was not the most secure. When presented with an opportunity to make some extra cash by Alessia's mom, Jonathan can't refuse. But there is a catch, not only will Jonathan be tutoring Alessia, he is to also try and be her friend. As Jonathan and Alessia get closer, despite Alessia's initial distaste to the situation, they learn to rely on each other. What will happen when Jonathan realized how broken Alessia is? When Alessia sees past his supposed perfection. #1 in tutor #1 in beckyg #3 in pictureperfect #1 in niceguy

"Do you know what your name means?" I ask, letting the molten gold sky consume me. He frowns at me, his gaze as unflinching as ever. "The sun or something?" I laugh, happiness piercing my chest in the most painful way. "It means the first ray of sunlight. You are the ray that opens my eyes and the ray that wets them. You are the first ray of sun and the first person I've truly loved." ... Years passed, but Maria couldn't forget about him. The silent crush she had housed when she was freshly in high school lingered throughout the years. All the way to the stage on which he graduated. And in that moment, when they locked eyes, she accepted it as the last. But fate has its own will. Against all odds, they stumble into each other again. Scared to let her old feelings consume her, Maria tries to stay away. Yet chance encounters turn into something deeper, and she finds herself falling hard once again. Time after time, she tells herself not to get her hopes up. There's no way he liked her all those years ago. But the more she gets to know him, she lets him pull her back in.

Jeffrey, better known as Steven or Stefan, is a beefy werewolf looking for a mate. Krystal, distraught over best friend/fiancee's death, is about to have her life turned upside down when she sees something she shouldn't have. As one secret gets revealed, it seems they never end. As Krystal soon learn, secrets have layers, like an onion or a nuanced history argument. This is shapin' up to be a supernatural romance for the ages, with Krystal and Stephon at the center of it all. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. You're seeing things, nobody is real in this story. Stephen isn't real.

(the cover has nothing to do with the story lol) It's baseball season in South Carolina, and Guinevere (Gwen) Gray has helped prepare Owen Sinclair, her best friend from like, diapers, for the season that could determine his baseball career for the years to come. Because of a minor setback, an arm injury that put Owen on the bench for an entire year, Gwen has been helping him get his confidence in baseball back. But when Owen's confidence puts him in the hospital again, Gwen has other things on her mind.

A story about the lives of six crazy rich kids. This hasn't been edited so excuse my shit gramma.

Like most teenagers, Halle likes good food, video games and ragging on their brother. Unlike most teenagers, Halle is also an Internet-famous restaurant critic. After another explosive review, they begrudgingly visit a nearby Chinese restaurant at the request of a commenter, ready to be disappointed. But all their expectations - and practically everything they know about food - are blown away when they meet an alluring waiter at the restaurant.

Elara Santiago, 18, has left her bustling hometown of Cincinnati for college in a small, conservative town in the Midwest. As an mixed woman, she finds herself a bit of an outsider in this new environment. Elara was a competitive rower in high school, has a passion for baking, and comes from a supportive, loving family. But despite her successes, her past struggles with bullying and depression linger, making it hard for her to trust new friendships. Now, college presents a fresh start-and an opportunity to unravel the complexities of her identity, sexuality, and place in the world.