Never After

A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy-ever-after.

1. HOOKED by Emily McIntire

SYNOPSIS

He wants revenge, but he wants her more.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy. His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy. Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away.

The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play.

His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast.

An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass.

He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue. Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done.

Instead, he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go.

For what better way to make the man pay than to steal his little shadow.

2. SCARRED by Emily McIntire

SYNOPSIS

Once upon a time, there was a king who passed. He left behind two sons, one beloved and one outcast.

The older of the two was set to take the throne, but before he could he had to find a queen to call his own.

The younger one was known to be unruly and unhinged. The chosen queen was warned to keep far away from him.

Beautiful and cunning, in the light is where she stayed. But late at night, it was the shadowed lands in which she played.

Mistakes were made and secrets forged; forgetting duty and her sense.

And while the new king had her hand, her heart belonged to the scarred prince.

3. WRETCHED by Emily McIntire

SYNOPSIS

Once upon a time, there was a wicked girl. She lost everything that mattered, causing darkness to unfurl.

Impulsive and intelligent, she helped her family name grow strong.

But then one day a man without a heart came along. An undercover agent, meant to spy and bring back tips.

Following down her hidden path of faded yellow bricks, she hated him, he wanted her; she was too good to be true.

But a woman can be great... and terrible too.

Yasmin Karam, daughter to one of the richest men in the world, has never known strife. So, when her beloved father falls ill, she’s determined to make his final days his happiest. His last wish? To see her married to a man of his choosing. Except Yasmin’s heart already belongs to someone else. A servant. A street rat. A man her father would never consider worthy. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Yasmin strikes a desperate deal with her father’s right-hand man, Julian, not realizing he has his own twisted agenda.

Julian Faraci has one goal: become the most powerful man in the world. He’s built a future from broken bones and faded bruises, never caring who he hurt along the way. But when his mentor falls ill, he finds himself on the verge of losing everything, and he'll stop at nothing to inherit what is rightfully his. Even if it means forcing a woman he can't stand into marriage.

Yasmin is a brat who speaks out of turn, and he’s the villain of her story. But he decides she’ll be his—no matter what it takes to convince her.

5. CROSSED by Emily McIntire

SYNOPSIS

He is righteousness. She is sin.

Father Cade Frédéric is a holy man. Brought up in the streets of Paris, he has dedicated his life to the church. But there’s a monster that lingers just beneath the surface. A sickness. One that bleeds darkness and feeds on the damned. When he’s tasked to become the priest in Festivalé, Vermont―a town both beautiful in architecture and riddled with despair―his sickness sings, demanding he rid the place of evil.

Amaya Paquette is Festivalé’s beautiful mystery. She spends her days caring for her younger brother and her nights transforming into Esmeralda, dancing for greedy eyes and shameless lips. Although she longs for love, she shies away from companionship, afraid of being abandoned again.

When Father Cade lays eyes on Amaya, he finds himself ensnared, convinced she’s using witchcraft to lure him to her. He can’t eat. Can’t breathe. Can’t think unless it’s of her. And temptation is a devastating mistress. She’s his weakness, so he decides he’ll be her demise… even if it means killing the only woman he might ever love.