Southern Stories

Some people spend their whole lives searching for home. Others don't realize they've found it until it's standing right in front of them. Riley Dawn McCoy has spent years building McCoy Performance Horses, one horse, one sunrise, and one hard-earned lesson at a time. Life on her Tennessee ranch is simple. The fences need mending, the horses need training, and peace is something she's fought too hard to lose. Tyler Cooper knows a different kind of life. Between long hours, a second job, and a relationship that leaves him questioning every decision he makes, he's forgotten what freedom feels like. When fate keeps leading him back to Riley's ranch, he discovers a woman who asks for nothing, expects honesty, and isn't afraid to tell him exactly what he needs to hear. Under endless Southern skies, quiet moments begin to matter more than grand gestures. A shared cup of coffee before sunrise. A Harley parked beside a horse trailer. Laughter on a front porch. The kind of love that doesn't demand to be chased... only chosen. Sometimes the road home isn't a place. Sometimes it's a person.

When the shredded body Harlan Beckett is found on a remote Ozarks ridge, the legendary Ozark Howler comes under immediate suspicion, but game warden Nora Pruitt isn't so sure. She is determined to follow the facts, but then podcast B-lister Doug Whitford shows up, and things get... complicated. Trek through the weird landscape of the Ozarks in Julian Argo's debut novel, a Wattpad-first story, Death and the Ozark Howler!

A deadly heat wave coupled with a power outage in a rural Appalachian town leads to a series of tragic deaths; an HVAC repairman must get to the safety of his home with an old woman whom he has kidnapped. Also, there's a deadly wildfire. Also, God has forsaken him.

Two years ago, she entered the house. Today, she woke up to a nightmare. 21 year old Caroline was never supposed to know the dark secrets of Misty Hollows. When she moved into the historic Groven Hillsborough house for her father's architectural project, they were completely blind to the deadly curse haunting the property. Then came the night the shadows took her father-and left Caroline in a two-year coma.Now awake, traumatized, and missing pieces of her memory, she is the sole witness to an unbelievable, paranormal truth. But the law doesn't believe in ghosts.Assigned to her case is Officer Isiash Orochi-her intense, workaholic neighbor who holds a bitter grudge against a false identity Caroline can no longer remember. Convinced her confusion is just a guilty act, Isiash pushes her to the brink. To escape a psych ward, Caroline resorts to lies, hiding the terrifying reality of what happened inside the house.Driven by desperation, Caroline launches her own investigation. She sneaks back into the cursed estate to find her father, aided only by Jackson Davenport, a high school friend raised on the town's eerie lore. But when Isiash catches them in the act, the skeptical detective forces an alliance. Together, the trio must dig up a buried history that the town will do anything to keep hidden.

My cracked K-Mart wristwatch read 1:18 am. Eleven-year-old Andy McKee had learned to survive his mama's neglect. Stay small, stay quiet, stay awake... and "Do not let Mrs. Kennedy catch you on them stairs, you hear me?" But when a vicious attack leaves him broken and alone, the world swoops in to save him. Sent him off to the damn Grimm Road to live with the Cooper's. A family with more than enough trouble of their own. To a road where only the dead and dying belong. Then Auntie Ree offers him the world. Everything a boy could want: A mother's love. Safety. Belonging. No longer the no-account bastard from the wrong end of town. And all he has to do? Sign his name in her book. In this Southern Gothic tale, Andy must navigate the bargains of a small town trapped in the clutches of one sharp ol' coffee shop owner, and discover that some prices are paid by the people you love.

Interview With The Vampire.

The Unwanted From the day she was born, Haven Grace Smith was unwanted. After her mother's death, she became nothing more than a burden to the father who blamed her for everything he had lost. Hidden behind the charming smile of the town's beloved mayor was a man capable of unimaginable cruelty, and Haven learned long ago that surviving one day at a time was all she could hope for. The only place she ever found peace was a small-town diner, where warm biscuits, quiet laughter, and the kindness of the Ward family gave her a glimpse of the home she'd always dreamed of. Then everything changed. A brutal attack leaves Haven fighting for her life, forcing a stranger to make an impossible choice-one that awakens an ancient bond neither of them expected. Thrust into a hidden world of wolves, secrets, and forgotten bloodlines, Haven discovers that nothing she believed about herself is true. But fate is rarely kind. The man destined to save her has already chosen someone else. Rejected before she ever had the chance to be loved, Haven must decide whether she will let heartbreak define her... or rise into the woman she was always meant to become. As old enemies awaken, kingdoms prepare for war, and an ancient prophecy begins to unfold, Haven will learn that sometimes the people who reject you are only clearing the path to the family you were always meant to find. Because being unwanted was never her destiny. It was only the beginning.

'se sou amor, então sou livre.' ©leviticagem, 2026. ryan x naim x oc!male.

Leo Bozzelli has one goal in mind this summer: to win Bailey Boone's heart. After a bet is formed before their college graduation, Leo is determined to convince the shy southern belle that he's worthy of her affections when he flies across the country and takes an internship at her family's farm. His future seems written in stone as the undercover son of one of the most successful tech gurus in the world, but the longer he stays at Wildwood Farms, the more he realizes how much he might enjoy the simpler things in life. Bailey Boone didn't expect Leo to take her bet seriously, especially when he shows up at the dinner table with her overprotective brothers. Since the farm is struggling, she wants to prove she can be an asset to their family legacy, but having the sexy nerd from college distract her isn't the greatest start. Bailey realizes she'll have to put her attraction towards Leo to the wayside if she has any hope of convincing her brothers to take her seriously, which is easier said than done when Leo is an insufferable flirt. When sparks fly, and feelings begin to develop, Leo discovers secrets her family wants to keep buried, which threaten to derail everything Bailey has worked so hard to prove...

"Oh so you're the almighty Reece I've heard so much about?" he said standing just inches from me "And you must be the prick Case?" I said rolling my eyes. Reece Walker is a 19 year old girl trying to live every cowgirl's dream of making it to the NFR and she won't let anything or anyone get in her way. Case Cooper is a 21 year old cocky calf roper trying to qualify to his second NFR and he is a total player. What happens when their worlds collide? Will Reece fall for Case? Or will Case change for Reece? Find out in 'Keep Dreaming Cowboy'

## REBIRTH: GAENGSAENG Yeong-sik Han did not come to America searching for love. After losing every woman who ever felt like home, the Korean widower builds his life around one rule: **survive without needing anyone.** He works. He studies. He keeps his apartment dark, his routines strict, and his heart locked behind years of grief. Happiness is dangerous. Attachment always ends in loss. And love is a luxury he refuses to risk twice. Then Polly Bennett walks away from nine pounds of fish-and straight into his carefully controlled life. Polly is a vibrant Black bakery owner with flour on her clothes, laughter in her voice, and wounds hidden beneath every joke. After a former lover betrayed her, stole from her, and nearly destroyed the business she sacrificed everything to build, Polly learned how to turn pain into sugar, survival into success, and heartbreak into light. When she recognizes the loneliness Yeong-sik is determined to hide, she decides he needs a friend. He disagrees. But Polly does not disappear easily. What begins with shared bus rides, forgotten fish, and an unwanted friendship becomes late-night conversations, cultural misunderstandings, Korean language lessons, Southern desserts, and a love neither of them believed they could survive. But when Yeong-sik is called back to Busan to fulfill a promise, their future fractures across two countries. He cannot abandon his duty. She will not erase the life she fought to rebuild. Can two wounded hearts create one future without sacrificing themselves-or will grief steal the rebirth unfolding before their eyes? **REBIRTH: GAENGSAENG** is an emotionally powerful Korean and Black interracial romance about grief, healing, chosen family, cultural connection, second chances, and discovering that home is not always a place. Sometimes, home is the person who teaches you how to live again.

Juniper Everly has just graduated college with a degree in social media marketing, but when she returns to her hometown of Wildflower Springs to figure out her next steps, her plans are disrupted by the 1969 Ford Mustang she restored with her childhood best friend. With a failing transmission and faulty wiring, the local repair shops direct her to Rowan Callahan, the town's resident vintage restoration mechanic, and the girl she hasn't spoken to in four years. When Juniper's month long rental is unexpectedly canceled due to water damage, Rowen offers her guest room in her childhood home-now Rowen's own. In the backyard stands an orange tree marked with a childhood promise Juniper has spent years trying not to think about, forcing her to decide whether she's ready to keep it, or finally let it go.

## A FINAL REQUEST BEFORE SAYING GOODBYE ### An Emotional Story of Surrogacy, Sacrifice, Forbidden Love, Faith, and the Family Grief Created **KYLIN** I am no savior. I could not save my husband, our unborn child, or the family members who died while I sat behind the steering wheel. Yet somehow, I have become responsible for a dying woman's final dream. Ruthanne Yates did not ask me for money. She did not ask me to pray harder, cure her cancer, or promise that death would not come. She asked me to carry the children her body could no longer create-with my egg and her husband's sperm. And against every warning screaming inside me, I said yes. --- **RUTHANNE** Cancer has stolen my strength, my future, and every child I once carried beneath my heart. Now time is running out. I know what I am asking of Kylin is unimaginable. She would become the biological and birth mother of the babies my husband and I have prayed sixteen years to hold. But I am no longer afraid of what the church will call wrong. I am afraid of dying before hearing someone call Rhys *Daddy*. So I make one final request. Give us the children we were never allowed to keep. And when I am gone, do not let the family we created fall apart. --- **RHYS** I have spent years preaching faith to grieving people. Now my wife is dying, another woman is carrying my children, and the church I helped build believes the miracle growing before them is proof of adultery. They want Kylin gone. They want me removed from the pulpit. They want Ruthanne's final act of love buried beneath scandal. But the truth is more complicated-and more powerful-than any rumor. Three wounded people said yes to an impossible family. Two babies are coming. One woman is running out of time. And before Ruthanne takes her final breath, she will ask us for a promise that could bind our lives together long after hers ends. **A FINAL REQUEST BEFORE SAYING GOODBYE** is a deeply emotional, interracial family drama abo

dear diary, there's a hot boy in my math class signing off - part 1

🚒 Book 2 in the One Sexy Series 🚒 If you loved One Sexy Lumberjack, I hope you'll save a spot on your bookshelf for this one because it's finally Sam's turn. And if you've met Sam, you already know she's... a lot. A little too loud. A little too impulsive. A little too likely to turn a minor inconvenience into a full-scale disaster. Her life isn't exactly going according to plan, but she's trying. Sort of. After all, she's got a successful diner to run, a best friend who's getting married and absolutely no time for romance. Which is perfect, really. Because people are always saying love shows up the moment you stop looking for it. Sam isn't sure she believes that. Then again, Sam has never been particularly good at following the rules. Maybe it's time to find out if love can survive a woman who can't seem to get her life together... and a man determined to prove she's been worth the wait all along. One Sexy Fireman is a small-town romantic comedy filled with friendship, family, chaos, laughter, and a heroine you'll either want to hug or shake. Possibly both. ❤️

Inspired by the song, Traveling Soldier by, Dixie Chicks. A young woman meets a young lonely soldier who writes her overseas. And yes, the perfect love story. -Fiction -Romance -War -First person -Mature

Sam has always been a special boy. He's smart and talented . But he has a secret. He has the famous ancestors.. Who? Oh.. The Washington Family. Yep. Until nine men appeared in his house.

𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 "𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺" 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴 𝘹 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘧𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘤 - ✶ 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘤 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

Lou thought her adventures in celebrating 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month' were outrageous last year. But this year, her sister Katie Lee is pulling out all the stops. Lou quickly finds herself in big trouble. A mysterious disappearance, a pink-themed tea party, and mercenaries (Mercenaries?) make for an unforgettable mammogram day. Will Lou be able to solve the mystery that threatens one she loves? Will Katie Lee get her fill of beefy men? How many mercenaries does it take to throw a successful tea party? All the answers are here in Lou Anne and Katie Lee's next adventure!

[Requests: Open] Nothing is better than a little be of Hetalia and some drabbles!