Accidentally Brave

“I want you to touch me… right now. I’ll show that scumbag ex I’m good at sex too.” Those were the last words Emily remembered saying before she woke up naked in the hockey captain’s bed — with her brother’s best friend staring back at her. One drunken night. One reckless mistake. One positive pregnancy test that ruined everything. Emily is a talented painter who just caught her boyfriend cheating. Alex is the campus’s arrogant, playboy hockey captain who never does commitment. Now they’re stuck together by an unplanned baby, crushing guilt, and a sizzling attraction that refuses to die. He says he doesn’t do responsibility. She says she won’t abort their child. But as Emily’s paintbrushes capture feelings she’s terrified to name and Alex starts showing up at her dorm with midnight cravings and soft kisses, one thing becomes dangerously clear: This hockey captain might just be hers… accidentally forever.  

Before the drop tower started, my best friend gave a look, and my boyfriend, with perfect tacit understanding, suddenly unbuckled his safety harness and ran off with her. I was left completely stunned on the drop tower by myself. My boyfriend stood in the safety zone with a beaming smile. "Freya said you're a scaredy-cat and need to be frightened more to get braver, so you're riding alone." The drop tower started. Looking at my comical appearance when terrified, my best friend held her stomach, laughing uproariously as she took photos. My boyfriend opened his mouth to say something as he helplessly steadied the camera lens for her. I couldn't hear the words he said, but I guessed it must have been: "Once you've laughed enough, don't tease her again. It's bad enough Cleo's so shy." I'm a timid person. Growing up together for twenty years, this was always how they accompanied me to build my bravery. When we were little, my best friend intentionally threw pebbles to draw over stray dogs. Then, he carried her on his back to climb up a wall, leaving me to be chased by the dogs and run all over the courtyard. During high school, in the vaulting class, my best friend suddenly pulled away the mat. He laughed and kicked away the rolling foam pad, watching me receive two bloody gashes from the impact. In college, we went on a night hike together. My best friend intentionally shook me off, and he followed her into the bushes to make noises, leaving me in the dark, so terrified I couldn't catch my breath. Every single time I shook with fear, it was met with a bout of loud laughter from my best friend. And standing behind her, he was forever saying a single phrase: "Don't do it next time." However, each "next time" would turn into a new joke for her happiness. The drop tower climbed to twenty meters, and the sensation of weightlessness pushed right up to the back of my throat. Suddenly, though, I felt there was nothing left to be afraid of. The drop tower reached the ground, and two pairs of hands reached over to support me. I pushed them away. "From now on, I don't need you guys to help me build my courage anymore."

A slow-burn, sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance about what happens when the one person you despise becomes the only person you can trust. The Accidental Heart follows Avery Cross, a fiercely independent artist forced into a marriage of convenience with Vivian Thorne, the ruthless CEO of her family's rival empire.  Bound by an ancient legal agreement to prevent mutual financial ruin, they establish a tense, divided home built on boundaries and passive-aggressive hostility.  However, when an industry crisis forces Vivian to protect Avery's firm, their cold war melts into genuine respect.  When an outside threat targets Vivian’s career, Avery steps into the spotlight to defend her, turning a corporate transaction into a real-life romance.

I’m raising someone else’s kid. My sister’s daughter, and where I thought I’d never make it as a single father bachelor, I was wrong. This little girl has my heart. And only her. Until a stray dog happens upon my place and we’re forced to call a vet. And a beautiful woman showed up. I didn’t believe in fate. But it seems to believe in me. The beautiful woman who helped us out with the dog shows up again later on a blind date across the table from me. And I’m sold out for her before I realize what’s happening. Pulling back is my only hope for survival. After losing my sister, I’m far more protective of me and her little one. But it’s a losing battle. No way I’m going anywhere, until I’m forced to. It would seem I have a kid of my own in the world. Maybe this is the breaking point where I can walk away from the all-consuming passion of my new romance. Because I’m good with giving my time, my body, and all of my money. But to her? I’ve accidentally given all of me.

Every time Anthony Slim and I tried to get our marriage license, something went wrong. For three years, we tried thirty times. And every single attempt ended in an accident. The first attempt ended with a vagrant that went berserk and stabbed me four times. I nearly died outside the city hall. The second attempt ended with a speeding motorcycle crushing the bones of my hand. The third attempt ended with a burning mall, and I was trapped inside for three whole hours. … Everyone told me to cancel the engagement, but I stubbornly refused to give up. And then the 31st attempt ended with me getting rushed into the ICU. A billboard that fell from up high crashed right into me. I was rushed into the ICU with a severe head injury. The doctors issued one critical notice after another. For two months, I hovered between life and death before barely pulling through. Then on the day of my discharge, I overheard Anthony talking to his best friend. "If you really love that underprivileged student and want this marriage canceled, you can just tell Melissa. Why set up all those accidents? She nearly died." Anthony did not answer for a long time. When he did, his voice was filled with gloom. "I don't have a choice. Her family saved my life ten years ago, and her parents died in the process. This marriage contract is repayment of that favor. "But I only love Lily. I won’t marry anyone but her.” I looked at the bruises and wounds that decorated every inch of my skin and let out a broken cry. All the accidents and near-death experiences I went through were the machinations of another man, not actual mishaps. If Anthony was feeling stuck, I was more than happy to make that choice for him.

Kyra Taylor has spent years dreaming of becoming a mother. After deciding to pursue motherhood on her own, she walks into a fertility clinic believing she’s finally taking control of her future. One devastating mistake changes everything. Instead of an anonymous donor, Kyra is accidentally inseminated with the embryo of billionaire CEO Zaire cruz. A man who never intended for his sperm to be used aside for his person use . When the clinic discovers the error, they’re forced to reveal the truth, throwing two strangers into a situation neither of them chose. Zaire is determined to protect the life growing inside Kyra, while Kyra has to adjust to a life she gave up on when she decided to do her pregnancy journey alone now the one thing she didn’t care about anymore is thrown in her way. What starts as an accident becomes an unexpected journey filled with stolen glances, late-night conversations, impossible choices, and a love neither of them saw coming. But when the truth behind the clinic’s mistake comes to light, Kyra and Zaire must decide whether they’ll fight over the child that brought them together or risk everything to become the family fate chose for them. Sometimes the greatest love stories begin with the biggest mistakes.