the calculated victory

In 2004, the football world was transitioning. Cristiano Ronaldo was a flamboyant teenager at Old Trafford, The "Galacticos" era was reaching its peak in Madrid, and a billion fans in China were desperate for a true superstar. Enter Lin Feng, a 16-year-old prodigy in the Real Madrid youth academy. To his coaches, he is the "Spanish-Chinese Hybrid"—a hardworking playmaker with the technical elegance of Guti and the tactical discipline of a veteran. But behind his polite smile and "team-first" attitude lies the Apex Professional System and a soul driven by cold, calculating self-interest. While other teenagers dream of glory, Lin Feng dreams of Global Monopoly. In an era of legends, Lin Feng won't just participate. He will exploit the system, dominate the stats, and build an empire. He isn't here to be the best player in the world; he’s here to own the world of football.

Chosen by a former Olympic swimmer to train for the 2016 Games as a pre-teen, Reed’s journey begins. Along the way, he develops feelings for two childhood friends: neighbor Cal and lifelong rival Mathias. Cal’s struggle with his sexuality brings tragedy. Mathias’s wealth makes Reed feel as if they’re from different worlds.<br><br>As Rio approaches, Mathias becomes a gay sports icon, while Reed must hide his sexuality for a lucrative endorsement deal important to his family’s future. Reed’s unresolved desires for both men remain, and so do the things that have kept them apart. Has Reed grown enough to navigate rougher waters, to find truth, pride, victory, and love?

My Drabble. Posted here from FFN to stop people copying it and reposting it on here without my permission anymore. A more deeper, darker flawed characterisation of Harry, bearing the effects of 11 years of virtual solitude. Subtle AU. There will be romance... eventually.

When Su Lin transmigrated into a Rebirth novel, he found himself playing the role of a villain. He then came to know that Ye Feng, the Protagonist, will be reborn in three days and he began to alter the plot, leaving the reborn Ye Feng dumbfounded. His goddess attitude towards him has now changed. Even his childhood sweetheart began to treat him coldly. The reborn Ye Feng who intended to reach the pinnacle of his life, would never have expected he’d sink into oblivion. On the other hand, Su Lin, who was well-versed of the plot of the world and the cliches that are bound to it used them to his advantage, and flourished. His story had become much more interesting. The one who had been reborn, the supreme medical saint who had come from the mountains, the one who had returned from the military, and many more Protagonists were all dealt by Su Lin, and thus he had become a legend.

Kabir Mehra has a reputation: cold, calculating, untouchable. Every move he makes is deliberate, every glance measured. In the high-stakes world of corporate power plays, he trusts no one… until the day Anaya Kapoor walks into his life. She’s sharp, unpredictable, and annoyingly persistent—a bright spark in his meticulously ordered world. And yet, despite himself, Kabir notices. Every flinch, every curious glance, every accidental brush of hands becomes a puzzle he can’t resist solving. But the office isn’t just a playground for subtle tension. Allies and rivals alike circle, manipulating, teasing, and testing boundaries. Veer Malhotra, charming and deceptively warm, seems to have his own agenda. Aryan Mehra, shadowy and cryptic, knows too much. And Kabir must navigate them all while keeping control—over his work, his reputation, and, most dangerously, himself. As Anaya becomes a constant presence in his carefully structured life, Kabir realizes one undeniable truth: some chaos is worth indulging. Some connections are impossible to ignore. And some walls… are meant to be broken. Calculated is a male-led, slow-burn romance of tension, obsession, and the intoxicating collision between control and desire.

“Will you marry me?” Dashiell slid the ring onto Alexander Astor’s finger. Alex stared at the cold metal, jaw tightening as irritation rolled through him. “Do I even have a choice.” Dashiell smiled. “It seems not.” Dashiell Harper is an autistic doctor who trades his freedom to save his family’s dying hospital, binding himself to the one man incapable of love. Alexander Astor, a six-foot-five, ruthless, diagnosed psychopath, and chief surgeon of a hospital empire, he takes what is placed in his hands and never lets go. Their marriage is a contract. Their lives, a forced merger. Their world, endless twenty-four-hour shifts and locked doors. But when obsession replaces indifference and control turns into desire, the line between survival and surrender blurs. One ring. One vow neither wanted. One dangerous kind of love. Dark BL • Arranged Marriage • Medical Drama • Antisocial Personality Disorder/ psychopath × Autistic • Obsessive Romance • 18+ Explicit

It's not as easy as it seems to be a prince, especially when it seems impossible to meet expectations. As the second prince, young Donavin is expected to someday become the commander of the army like his great uncle who happens to hate him. Maybe it's because he would rather hold a book than a sword or that he's more likely to trip than to land a hit in training. Either way, the ability to protect his jerk of an older brother and an entire country seems utterly impossible. Frustrated, he runs away to be alone, only to be immediately found by a peasant girl who is also having a bad day. It's not easy being a foreigner in a new country especially when you can't talk to anyone. Vera looks a little too much like the enemy, and her father has strange rules, one of which is no talking outside the home. It seems impossible to make friends when you can't talk to anyone. It doesn't help that people think she's stupid because she is still learning the basics of a new language while others are reading and writing. Frustrated that she can't be herself or show her skills she runs away, so she can just be herself for a while when she runs into someone else trying to hide from the world and decides right there and then that they should be friends. Years pass and their friendship has helped both of them grow into stronger people, their situations in life have changed but more changes are on the way, and secrets will get revealed leading to adventures and futures neither could have imagined.

Hi, my name is Nikita Slater and I'm the International Bestselling author of The Queens series, Fire & Vice series, The Sanctuary series, Driven Hearts series and several standalone novels. I've loved the written word my entire life and am an avid reader, as well as a writer. I live, eat and breathe books and I'm always working on something new! ​ I live on the beautiful Canadian prairies with my son and crazy awesome dog. I have an unholy affinity for books (especially dark romance), wine, pets and anything chocolate. Despite some of the darker themes in my books (which are pure fun and fantasy), I am a staunch feminist and advocate of equal rights for all races, genders and non-gender specific persons. When I'm not writing, dreaming about writing or talking about writing, I love to help others discover a love of reading and writing through literacy and social work. Trapped, taken and caged by a cruel captor. Her solitary existence as a world class hacker changes in the blink of an eye when she's kidnapped by an international arms dealer. Everything she knows, everything she understands has shifted. Ivan Vogel insists that she is now his slave. He plays terrible mind games while torturing her senses. He keeps her locked up, away from all her toys. But once she is free, once she can fly again, she will reign hatred down on her enemy. She will use everything she knows against him, everything she has been taught until she is victorious. She will rip out the heart he insists beats only for her. His obsession will be his downfall. His caged bird will make sure of it. This book is standalone. Guaranteed HEA, NO cheating, NO cliffhanger. Sizzling dark mafia romance. Read at your own risk!

Polly Parker has escaped her sleepy and snobby little town to the big city to make her name as a baker of cupcakes. Despite landing a job at the legendary specialty bakery Victory Cupcakes, all is not well. The boutique bakery is in financial trouble and under threat of a buyout by various corporate raiders. At the top of the list of potential buyers is the handsome but aloof billionaire Declan Perry. It is up to Polly, her new best friend Tuesday, and the rest of the Victory Cupcakes crew to save their sweet little world from all who might threaten it. What can go wrong? VICTORY CUPCAKES is created by T.S. MCNEIL, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.

[Irresistible MC + Farming & Entrepreneurship + Strong Female Lead + Cute Baby + Love Rivalry + Farming System + Male Competition] Deng Yuyuan wakes up to find she has transmigrated into a period novel about a "pampered group darling" — as the biological mother of the vicious female villain. The female villain has a biased grandmother, a mooching uncle and his family, a blindly filial father, and a spineless mother. She was a small-time thief as a child. As an adult, she committed every kind of evil — constantly framing the female lead — and ultimately met a miserable end. The female lead is the only daughter in another family, doted on by her older brothers. The villain targeted her out of pure jealousy. And now, Deng Yuyuan has become that villain's cowardly mother — and the villain herself is currently just an ugly, wrinkly-faced infant. The blindly filial father loves his wife, but gives all the good things to his own mother. He says to his starving wife and daughter: "Xiao Yuan, come drink some water. I specially heated it for you." Deng Yuyuan looks at her own bony frame and her tiny child — and decides to get a divorce. Goodbye, useless husband. She's going to raise this little cub with an abundance of money and love. No way she'll go astray this time. Lost one husband, gained a crowd of suitors. A beautiful sent-down youth coveted by many — she knows some self-defense and burns the midnight oil studying. With the reinstatement of the college entrance exams, she takes her child toward a much wider world. Riding the wave of the times, Deng Yuyuan works her way up to become a gaming tycoon and a cutting-edge scientist... Except — why are so many men fighting to be her cub's stepfather?