The Fallow Year

The Curse of Seasons is a Trilogy The Curse of Summer: Cursed for as long as she can remember to spend most of each year asleep, Lana is doomed to never lead a normal life or experience the normal issues teenagers usually have to endure. That is until Rhett, the neighbour's delinquent son comes into the picture. *** The Curse Of Spring: Cole has spent the last six years hunting down the girl whom he fell in love with but has never met, their curse binding them to each other as much as the pages of the diary they shared as youths. Harley has no memory of a time before she was saved from death, but when her way of life is threatened, she must join in the fight or become a casualty. *** The Curse of Autumn: Nathan can feel the winds of change, knowing that the inevitable war between his kind and the organization who created them is on the horizon. There is only one barrier to his involvement - the General's daughter.

Maya Reyes is twenty-six, quietly resilient, and out of options. When she takes a live-in nanny position for a Manhattan billionaire, she expects a difficult employer and a lonely child. She gets both, but she also gets Ethan Cole. Ethan lost his wife eighteen months ago and has been managing the grief the only way he knows how: by controlling everything around him. His apartment is spotless, his rules are laminated, his daughter Lily is the only crack in the armour he has built around his life, and it is through Lily that Maya begins to see the man underneath. What follows is not a dramatic love story, it is a quiet one. He carries her to her room when she falls asleep on the floor, he heats her soup when she hasn't eaten. He holds her hand in a dark car and lets go like it never happened. She cooks for him, confronts him, tells him truths no one else will, and slowly without either of them naming it, they become the most important person in each other's lives. But grief doesn't move in straight lines. When Ethan's fear gets the better of him, he tries to restore the distance, and nearly loses the one thing that has made him want to come back to life. It will take a four-year-old's unfiltered honesty, a letter Maya writes from the floor of her room, and a man finally choosing to stop running, for both of them to find their way to the other side of it. When Winter Blooms is a story about what love looks like before anyone admits it exists, and what it costs to let it.

For centuries, the powerful House Shadowmoon and the Lycan Crown of Valtheris maintained peace through sacred alliances. From childhood, you and Silas Ashthorne—the future Lycan King—were destined to marry, but the arrangement never mattered because you were already best friends. When your wolf awakens and reveals a fated mate, you choose destiny over duty and leave Silas behind. Three months later, everything falls apart. After discovering that your fated mate, Darian Vale, has been secretly reconnecting with the woman he never truly forgot, your heart is shattered. With nowhere else to turn, you make one call home. Instead of judgment, you find acceptance. And instead of resentment, Silas offers only four simple words: *"I'll come get you."* Returning to Ashthorne Keep awakens old memories and forgotten feelings. Surrounded by the warmth of the Ashthorne family, you slowly begin to heal while Silas quietly rebuilds the friendship neither of you ever truly lost. Yet as political unrest spreads across the kingdom and ancient enemies gather beyond Valtheris's borders, your return becomes more than a personal matter—it may determine the future of the realm itself. Meanwhile, Darian refuses to let go, convinced that a mate bond gives him a claim over your future. But as the kingdom edges toward war and secrets from the past begin to surface, you're forced to confront a question far more complicated than fate: If destiny led you away from home... why does every road seem to lead back to the king who waited? And when the truth behind an ancient prophecy emerges, you may have to choose between the bond fate gave you—or the man your heart has already chosen.

Our son's birthday celebration had just come to an end when my wife of seven years smiled and asked, "What do you think about one wife having two husbands?" "What?" I stared at her, certain I had misheard. Before I could make sense of the question, my half-brother walked in, holding a three-year-old boy’s hand. I was still trying to process what was happening when Nancy leaned back with casual ease. "I asked them to come." She reached down and took the little boy's hand, her smile impossibly gentle. "Let me introduce you. This is my son with Julian. "He was born the year you were stationed overseas to manage the Scott family's branch office." The words made my mind explode, leaving it completely blank. She calmly revealed the truth. She and Julian had been together for four years. "I know you've always blamed Julian for your father's death. “I suffered through hiding them for four years out of consideration for you." Her gaze never wavered. "I don’t want them living in the shadows anymore. I want them here by my side." I struggled to stay on my feet, my voice trembling as I forced out the words. "What are you saying?" Nancy raised a hand and gently brushed her fingertips beneath my reddened eyes. "I just want you to be a little more generous. Don't interfere when I spend every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with them." After a brief pause, she added matter-of-factly, "Or you can divorce me, but our son will stay with me." She smiled as though she were discussing nothing more important than the weather. "I just don't care about you anymore. Even if our son stays with me, I can't promise I'll take good care of him." Ignoring the color draining from my face, she looked at me indifferently. "So… "Have you decided which option to choose?"

Yesterday, my fiancé told me he didn’t have time to come home with me for the holidays, but secretly, he had booked a flight to my hometown. I couldn’t help feeling a quiet thrill. Justin Baker had always been good at surprises back when we were dating. I just didn’t expect that now, when we were practically like an old married couple, he’d still do something like this. I was just about to tell my dad the news when my stepsister suddenly dropped a message in the family group chat that she was bringing her boyfriend home for the holidays. The relatives in the family immediately started teasing her, wanting to see what he looked like. The next second, photo after photo of her and Justin’s couple pictures flooded the chat. “I told you he’s really handsome, right? And he’s the same age as me.” “Oh wow, you locked him down so young? Dawn, you’re impressive.” “Hmph, of course. He’s crazy about me.” I stopped breathing. So that was why, when he found out I’d be spending the holidays at my mom’s place this year, he suddenly said he didn’t have time to come with me. It was because he already knew we wouldn’t run into each other. My hands trembled as I sent him one last message. [I’ve returned the engagement gift to you. We’re done.]

I made the decision to break up with Layla Freeman as I opened my eyes once more. She wanted to take Charles Jones and his son home so she could take care of them, so I would logically leave. I had a lot of arguments with Layla in my former life because of Charles and his son. She paid for Charles’ son’s wedding using the money I had saved for my retirement. Ultimately, the bitter cold killed me in the winter. When Layla found out about that, she was not filled with sadness. Rather, she accused me of dying on her godson’s wedding day. I would leave her and not have anything to do with her in this life.