failing forward

Bound by a contract, torn by the past, and tested by fate--is a second chance at love worth fighting for? Vanya Moon never imagined she would marry the man who once broke her heart. But when Rex Patterson, a billionaire with icy charm, offers a deal to save her brother’s failing business, she has no choice. Their marriage is strictly business, yet old feelings resurface—passion, pain, and a love neither can forget. As hidden truths emerge and family pressures mount, their fragile bond is tested. When Rex discovers Vanya’s secret—twin sons he never knew—he must fight to win her trust and reclaim their love. Will their second chance be enough to heal the wounds of the past?

Annabelle and her sister, Rae, have relied on each other for support since their orphaned childhood. But when Rae falls gravely ill, their unbreakable bond is put to the ultimate test. Determined to save her sister at all costs, Annabelle is willing to do anything. With unwavering love propelling her forward, she comes up with a daring plan that involves assuming a false identity, risking her very existence to fill the role as the Surrogate for the Dragon King.

My name is Ember Haiven. I’ve been alone and on the run my entire life. Everything changed when I became Kieran’s surrogate in exchange for his protection. I had no idea that I would fall in love with this dragon shifter and enter a world that I believed existed only in my dreams. “Is that what you want?” he asked. “Yes…” I said feeling myself go breathless in his arms. “I never thought I’d be able to touch another person like this and now, I just don’t want this feeling to end.” He kissed me sweetly, pulling me closer and then rested his forehead against mine. I could see the color drain from his face and his shoulders sag like I’d ripped the heart from his chest. And maybe I had. It felt like my own was trying to claw its way from my skin. He moved to take a step forward but then thought better of it. Surrogate of the Sleeping Dragon is written by Claire Wilkins, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

By the second year of my marriage to Quentin Lambert, we had a son. Fast forward five years, and I was basically a human cookbook, agonizing over every pinch of salt like it was rocket science. One night, Quentin tossed out, "Too much salt." And our son? He didn't even blink—he dumped the whole pot down the drain right in front of me. That's when it hit me—pure exhaustion, like a tidal wave. I told Quentin I wanted a divorce. He didn't even bother looking up. "Is that really necessary?" I nodded, my voice flat. "It is."

Cara Wylder is the last female in the prestigious Wylder lineage, a family blessed with a rare and powerful she-wolf known as the Golden Luna. This ancient blessing grants her lineage immense power, as any Alpha bonded to her is destined to rule with unmatched strength. However, Cara’s legacy is threatened by a secret—she cannot shift into her wolf form. As rumors of her wolflessness begin to spread, her father, Alpha Roy Wylder, offers her hand in marriage to Darius Wrent, the powerful Lycan King, in an effort to preserve her reputation and the family's standing. On their wedding day, Darius, suspicious of her lack of a wolf’s presence, demands that Cara shift in front of the gathered wolves. When she fails to do so, he publicly rejects her, leaving her disgraced and humiliated. As the other powerful Alphas look on, uninterested in a wolfless bride, Darius mockingly asks if any would dare take her hand. To everyone’s surprise, Lucien Valen, a weakened Alpha who lost most of his power after the death of his fated mate, steps forward to claim her. Lucien, once a contender for Alpha King, has been ridiculed for years, holding onto his title solely due to the loyalty of his people. Ignoring the scorn of the other Alphas, Lucien marries Cara and takes her to his castle. Though she expects a life of shame, Cara soon discovers that Lucien is not cruel, neither is he weak Alpha the others believe him to be. His power remains but is locked under the grief from the loss that haunts him and his inability to enact revenge even after all this years. As they get closer, unsettling truths about Lucien's past and the mastermind behind the fall of the once legendary Alpha is exposed.

After failing the mission, the System gave me one final chance, and to succeed, I had to give birth to a child. The System promised that if the baby were born safely, it would reveal the truth to my target and give me one last glimmer of hope. However, six months into my pregnancy, just when things seemed stable, I was dragged onto an operating table in the middle of the night by my husband and family. My husband stopped the anesthesiologist from giving me any pain relief. “Let her feel the pain,” he said coldly. “We need to keep the kidneys as fresh as possible.” My parents instructed the doctor to draw my blood. “She’s the same blood type as our precious girl. Let’s take some for backup.” Even my childhood friend, the boy who had always been by my side, was the one to slice open my abdomen.  They wanted my kidneys to save my sister, who was dying from kidney failure. No one believed I was pregnant. No matter how much I begged, they went ahead with the operation, tearing me open. The baby couldn’t survive, and I died on that operating table. However, as my soul began to fade away, something strange happened. Those who had murdered me—my husband, my parents, my so-called friend—they all lost their minds.

My wolf has always hid. Never coming forward to save me. Yet, she is obsessed with my bosses cousin. He claims I am a rare Omega, but that can't be true! Omega's are powerful. And I'm broken.

Does he really think so little of me? After everything I’ve done for him, for this pack, is this all I’m worth to him? Astrid’s voice breaks through my thoughts, her tone soft but firm. "You deserve better." I close my eyes, letting her words wash over me. She’s right. I do deserve better. But how do I move forward when my entire world has been centered around him? And why, after everything, do I still feel the faintest hope that he’ll come after me? Will he even care that I’ve walked away? Or is this the end of everything?

Despite a decade of marriage, Simon never once shared my bed, claiming that he had pledged himself to ascetic practices and that it was beneath him. I thought that he suffered from some shameful ailment and guarded his secret like a devoted fool, until my birthday, when I came home to find him entangled with a brothel worker before the floor-length mirror. When I lunged forward in rage, he drove a shard of that broken mirror straight through my heart. When I awoke, I was gripping my phone, its screen illuminating a message Simon had just sent: [I’ll still give you a lavish wedding, but the marriage certificate? That belongs to her.]

Venessa was always the picture of innocence—a sweet, gentle soul who never knew the dark truth that kept her alive. As a child, she was involved in a tragic accident that left another girl, Sophia, fighting for her life. But a powerful, heartless billionaire had a deal to make, one that would change everything. In exchange for Sophia’s heart, her life would be traded away so that Venessa, dying from a congenital heart defect, could survive. Fast forward years later, and Venessa has grown into a beautiful young woman, blissfully unaware of the dark secret that beats inside her chest. But when Alex, a charming yet cold billionaire, entered into a contractual marriage with her , things start to unravel. Venessa is swept up in a romance with the man who, unbeknownst to her, is the son of the man responsible for her father’s untimely death. As their love deepens, Venessa uncovers a devastating truth: the heart that keeps her alive is the heart of Alex’s first love—Sophia, the very girl she unknowingly doomed. And Alex? He’s now torn between a love that could heal him and a betrayal that could destroy them both. In a tale of passion, secrets, and vengeance, Venessa and Alex must navigate a twisted fate neither of them ever saw coming. Will love conquer all, or will the truth tear them apart?