WIP of the Week: 10/24/11

Soul to Keep by TG81

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7047107/1/Soul_to_Keep

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Supernatural/Romance
Characters: Edward & Bella

Summary: "What if I can give you everything you've ever wanted?" It's an exchange of sorts. All of Bella's dreams can come true, but at what cost, and more importantly, is it worth it?

Who hasn’t uttered the words that they would sell their soul for something? Or at least thought about the possibility of having everything you want to come true? The perfect job, the perfect body, to eat whatever they want and never gain weight, to have Robert Patt...er, Edward Cullen fall in love with them? I know I have and TG81 explores this very concept in Soul to Keep.

We meet Bella Swan when she is at a party, feeling bad because her boyfriend, Mike, is home sick. She feels so guilty, in fact, that she leaves the party to go check on him. Only, when she gets to Mike’s and finds that he definitely is not sick and is in quite the compromising position with Jessica Stanley. After she leaves and gets home, we get a clear picture of who Bella is.

I am average-in hair and eye color, height and weight. I'm not skinny, but I'm not eating eight thousand calories a day, either. I'm a size ten or twelve, depending on the clothing. Like I said, average. I work for a newspaper doing the movie reviews and sometimes fill in for Alice, the girl who writes the daily horoscopes. I'm smart, I can be funny, and I've always gotten along with people. So what is it about me that drives men to be unfaithful or gay, my pets to run away, and have the most mundane existence known to mankind? 

After the Mike episode, Bella makes a commitment to herself to not be so average anymore; she starts submitting her resume for bigger and better jobs, and she also starts going to the gym, but is impatient with not seeing any results. She meets Alice for coffee one day and says the phrase that changes her life forever.

I plop down in the chair across from Alice and can't wait to dig into my scone. 

"Didn't you just come from working out?" Alice asks me as she raises an eyebrow, judging me. 

"Yup." I break off a piece and shove it in my mouth. "This is so good," I moan appreciatively. 

"I'm sure," Alice's voice is dripping in sarcasm. I may be able to dip my scone in it. 

"I mean, I'd sell my soul for a lifetime of these," I exaggerate. Kind of. 

Alice does a spit take and excuses herself. She comes back from the restroom more composed. 

Alice is intrigued by what she says and tries to dig and see what Bella would really sell her soul for. 

"A lump sum? As in, everything I've ever wanted?" I clarify. 

She nods. This conversation has taken a bizarre twist. I thought we were going to have a coffee and gossip about Lauren Mallory and the two grapefruits she recently had bolted to her chest. I scan the room, trying to give myself time to think. My eyes land on a copy of USA Today where Edward Cullen is on the cover. He's the most successful land developer since Donald Trump, and his hair is real. 

"Edward Cullen," I declare. 

I don’t want to give too much of this story away, but can I just say that this Alice and Jasper is probably in my top five characterizations of them in fic. Here’s a little taste:

"I'm freezing!" He cups his hands around his mouth, warming them up. 

"Uh, Jasper, it's at least seventy-five degrees right now," I chime in. 

"I'm used to at least at least ninety, and would some humidity fucking kill anyone?" Jasper folds his arms, and wait-is he pouting? 

"Bella, ignore him. He gets whiny when he doesn't get to piss is someone's Cheerios every twenty minutes." Alice grins, and I get the feeling that she's spot on and I see Jasper's eyes have turned black as well. 

"Just remember, Bella, you wouldn't want to be a Jessica, now would you?" Jasper's voice is deceptively calm. I don't like it. 

"What the hell?" Alice pokes his chest, and he winces. "Would you just stop talking already?" 

"Why don't you make me by putting your mouth on my cock like a good little minion," he sneers. 

"And...that's my cue to go." I really don't want to hear the rest of this. 

This story has it all. A little supernatural, a little drama, a little romance, and TG81 is incredibly witty! It is a quick nineteen chapters in and you will get sucked into this story! Please give it a try...you won’t regret it!

Banner by JaimeArkin

WIP of the Week: 8/8/11-8/14/11

Through a glass, darkly by middlewife

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6769963/1/Through_a_glass_darkly

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Suspense/Romance, AH
Characters: Edward/Bella
 

Summary: AH/AU. Bella Swan thought being invisible would protect her from the eyes of the world. Instead, it made her an enticing target for a sadistic predator. Can Officer Edward Cullen and his partner protect Bella from her unknown and persistent assailant?

My scrutiny continued as I waited until she was safely inside her little bolthole before leaving the seclusion of my surveillance point. I crept along the rooftops lining the alley behind her building until I found my favorite vantage point, giving me an uninterrupted view of her small living room. I watched as she unpacked her messenger bag, unloading her books onto the tiny dining table, which doubled as her desk. She disappeared briefly from my view, returning after changing from her 'outside' uniform to the 'inside' comfort of a tank and yoga pants. I studied her as she went about her nightly routine, as familiar to me as her dainty features. 

Soon, she would be mine and mine alone. One touch and I would know all her secrets. Soon… 

This is an excerpt from the prologue of middlewife’s first full-length story, Through a glass, darkly. This is told from an unknown person’s POV. The next chapter we get to see a glimpse into Edward’s life. He is a police officer and is partners with his brother in law Jasper. They get called to the scene for a possible code 48, a deceased individual. They arrive at an old warehouse district, where a group of teens happened to have stumbled upon a body.

My mental inventory kicked up a notch with that one. Oozing wounds, congealing blood – the body must be quite fresh then. As I held my flashlight focussed on her head, something shimmered in the periphery of the light, catching my attention. Her chest, had it moved? I crouched for a closer look. The arm laying over the top of the body obscured my view as I concentrated fiercely. Yes! It was rising. Barely, but definitely rising. I shot abruptly to my feet.

"Jasper, she's alive! Call an ambulance." 

After a few days of being in the hospital, they finally learn their Jane Doe’s identity, one Ms. Bella Swan. She suffered from an acute form of amnesia, due to her brain injuries, but soon starts recovering bits and pieces from her life. She was all alone in her life, her mother and father both deceased. She lived a life of obscurity, not having any friends, not doing anything to get noticed. She also lacks a verbal filter in the first days after her accident.

The tall one put out his hand, stating his name was Officer Cullen. I grasped the Cullen God's proffered hand in my left, since my right was still strapped into the brace. I held it awkwardly, staring at his long fingers with their clean and trimmed nails, mesmerized by how handsome they were, too. He stared at me as if he expected me to let go. 

"You have nice hands, too," I said. "Soft and warm, and so big," I marveled. I stroked his fingers as I continued to stare at them. 

The other one tried unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh as the Cullen God changed color. I must have been doing something wrong, I realized, so I released his hand and tucked my now lonely one under the colorful quilt covering my legs. 

There are many things to like about this story. There is the suspense of a stalker, who keeps coming back. There is some humor and there is some nice UST. I actually really enjoy all of the police terminology and the realistic life of a police officer, not some hyped up Law and Order scenario. The case definitely does not get solved in forty-eight hours. I also enjoy the slow burn of Edward and Isabella realizing their feelings for each other and the reality of the fact that she is his case. We also see Isabella recognize how her life was before the attack, and even though she still can’t remember that, she realizes that she doesn’t want to lead that lonely existence anymore.

Now is the perfect time to start reading Through a glass, darkly. Things are starting to heat up for our favorite couple and I am sure there is plenty more suspense to be read as they try and discover Bella’s attacker. You won’t regret it!

Writer Submitted Fic: 6/20 - 6/26

The Disillusioned by PhoenixRising25

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5811420/1/The_Disillusioned

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Suspense, AU
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: Bella Swan needs something to put on her college applications, so she signs up to volunteer at Forks General Hospital. There, she meets Edward, a young man with a complicated past. AU, rated M.

The Disillusioned by PhoenixRising25 starts off pretty much like our beloved Twilight, with Bella moving to Forks her senior year to live with Charlie. But that is where the similarities end. Charlie suggests that Bella do some volunteering at the local hospital to “beef up” her college applications. On the first day of school she learns that Angela also volunteers at Forks General and they decide to meet there after school so that she can help Bella get set up. This is also where we first hear a hint of the whereabouts of Edward.

"Hey, Ang, do you ever see that kid there? You know, the one whose parents were killed last month?" Jess whispered conspiratorially around me.

Angela shook her head, a sad frown on her face. I had no idea what Jess was talking about, but from the change in Angela's demeanor, it couldn't have been good.

"That's too bad," Jess said, oblivious to her friend's expression. "He was hot."

I was about to ask Angela what Jess was referring to, when the warning bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and letting us know we had about five minutes to get to our next class.

We then get an EPOV and learn that he is currently residing in the psych ward of Forks General. It seems that our beloved Edward is under the impression that he is a vampire.

Every day it was the same routine; someone trying to get me to eat. Most days it was Sally, but occasionally, it was the tall, mannish woman with the sideburns and five-o-clock shadow. They had a large staff here, but it made no difference to me. If I didn't select anything, it would undoubtedly get reported to Dr. Marshall that I wasn't eating, and that just caused me a bigger headache. I didn't want the IV again, which is what they did the last time I refused food. How they managed to find a needle that would penetrate my skin, I'll never know.

The thing about it is that Edward thinks he has the characteristics of the Twilight vampires, not of the traditional vampire lore. We also learn that he has been in the hospital since his parents were killed and that he is under the impression that he killed them.

Bella goes to the hospital the next day and learns that she has been given a permanent volunteering position in the psych ward, which she is really apprehensive about at first.

I nodded again, unable to speak. I was becoming a bobble-head. Absently waving to Linda, I followed her directions and headed down the hall, my mind churning. Were all the patients in straight-jackets, being force-fed medications? Would I be ripped apart by cannibalistic crazy people? Were there any violent patients in solitary confinement, like Hannibal Lecter? Anthony Hopkins still gave me the creeps, even a couple of years after I first saw Silence of the Lambs. Every possible scary scenario raced through my mind until I looked up, realizing that I had stopped walking. I was in front of a large door, marked both in English and Braille as my destination.

She soon finds out though that she likes being there and working with the patients, especially a green-eyed boy who is very stand-offish with her at first.

The relationship between Edward and Bella develops slowly, which I actually like in this story. I always find it unlikely of them to fall in love at first sight when one of them is damaged and in this kind of situation.

The story takes off from there, with the arrival of the golden eyed Cullen’s and Aro learning of Edward’s condition by reading in a Psychology journal. I don’t want to give too much away of the story, but trust me, this one is worth reading. PhoenixRising25 writes beautifully and I found myself laughing out loud at times when Edward is speaking of his condition. Go read this and you won’t be disappointed!

Writer Submitted Fic: 5/16 - 5/22

Sometimes by Pingvingirl

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6123416/1/Sometimes

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Angst
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: Sometimes things don't happen the way they should. And sometimes the things you'd swear are meant to be don't happen at all. AH/AU

Sometimes things don't happen the way they should. And sometimes the things you'd swear are meant to be don't happen at all.

This is the opening line to Sometimes by Pingvingirl. We first meet Bella in a hotel in Seattle, enjoying a day of solitude before she has to go home to Forks for the holidays. She has been in NY working for the parent company of the magazine she works for, Pacific NW. She revels in her solitude in the restaurant.

And so she didn't notice the man watching her as she chomped happily on her bear claw. She didn't see his eyebrows lift as he looked at her, hadn't noticed him push his messy bronze hair back as he stared, almost in amusement as she poured the coffee into her cup with inexplicable delight. She was far too busy feeling pleased with herself. If her hands had been free, she'd almost have been tempted to clap like a performing seal.

We are soon introduced to Edward as he offers to pay for Bella’s pastry. She is reluctant at first but when Edward knows her name, she relents. Bella moved to Forks at the end of her senior year but, unlike Twilight, she wasn’t acquainted with the Cullen’s.

She didn't know why he bothered to add that, even if he did know they'd graduated in the same year. He probably was aware of that- there were no secrets in Forks and every piece of gossip- especially one as juicy as the daughter of the Chief of Police suddenly arriving for the end of her senior year hadn't passed anyone by. But she nodded anyway, blushing as she tried to remember if she'd ever even spoken to Alice. Probably not- it had been easier to agree with Jessica when she'd said Alice was really weird- and there had definitely been something creepy about her boyfriend, Jasper. She knew Edward existed, but she knew she'd never met him. She'd remember if she had.

Edward is a photographer and is at the hotel because he walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him. He’s biding his time for her to pack her stuff and move out. Seeing as they are both alone, Edward invites Bella for dinner where they decide to drive to Forks together the next day.  As Edward drops Bella off, we find out that Bella has a boyfriend, Jacob, whom she failed to mention to Edward. Although, it appears that their relationship isn’t perfect in Bella's eyes.

Jacob barely waited until the door was closed before he pulled her back into his arms, back into the too-hot, smothering embrace. This time he let her retreat just enough that he could kiss her, though that felt forced and awkward too. Maybe that was to be expected after ten weeks apart, she thought as she tried to respond to him. Or maybe the absence meant that she should have been ready to throw herself into his arms and not let go.

She is confused, because it seems that she had feelings that Edward has evoked in her that she can’t exactly pinpoint.

As for the blushing and the weird reaction to him- maybe it was some kind of holiday virus. Something she'd picked up from the re-circulated air on her flight from New York. Or- since she had to concede it had mostly manifested itself around Edward- maybe it had been an allergy of some kind after all. Or maybe it was just plain exhaustion.

This story is told in the third person POV, which is very difficult to get right. Pingvingirl does get it right though. The story flows well and it is nice to get the back and forth of what they are thinking, without switching POV’s. She also brings elements in from Twilight but reshapes them to fit an AH story. So the ultimate question is, will the boy get the girl? Well, you will have to come and find out. At just 11 chapters in, now is the perfect time to start!

New Fic of the Week: 5/9 - 5/15

Music of the Night by theladyingrey42

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6859831/1/The_Music_Of_The_Night

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Romance
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: He seeks atonement through music. She seeks solace in an unseen world behind the curtains of a stage. What they end up finding is each other. Written for JAustenLover and Durameter for FGB:Eclipse. AU / BxE.

Music of the Night is the new story by theladyingrey42. It is loosely based on The Phantom of the Opera, with each chapter title being one of the songs from the musical. The story starts off with a canon Edward, awakening in 1918 to his vampire life.

In 1918, Edward Masen wakes from a sleep of fire and ash, his eyes opening to stare up into a cold, golden gaze. For a moment, there is disorientation. Silence.

 And then the world is a cacophony of sound. Voices. Darkness. With his hands over his ears, Edward finds himself in a crouch in a corner of a room he doesn't know, the floor tiles cracking beneath his feet as he shifts. The golden eyes are in front of him again, one voice ringing out just slightly louder than the others. After a few moments that feel like hours, Edward realizes that this voice, alone amongst the hundreds waging war inside his skull, matches the motion of the lips before him.

The person behind the lips before him is Carlisle, taking on his role of Edward’s creator. Among all the wisdom that he bestows upon Edward about his new “unlife”, Carlisle also tells him that he should keep his human memories close in his first year so that he won’t forget his humanity. Carlisle brings a piano home and leaves it for an unsuspecting Edward, which sparks very vivid memories from his childhood and playing side by side with his mother.

The first note fills the room and his empty chest, but it is accompanied by a crack and the smell of fresh ivory as it is exposed to the air. The second is equally satisfying but more sour, the end distorted by a piece of wire stretching and then snapping. The third hears the breaking of a hammer and the obliteration of a key, and Edward is already relearning all over again that vampires cannot cry by the time his hands move automatically for a chord that he remembers his mother teaching him.

As the three keys depress at once, the entire front of the piano collapses, a host of wires surrendering en masse to the call of non-being, steel and wood all giving. With a dry sob, Edward looks at the destruction his monstrous hands have wrought through the blur of dry, unsatisfying sobs, his fist coming down on the top of the piano as he abruptly stands.

He flees back into the woods, leaving behind him the shattered ruins of the piano, and with it, the broken shards of his lost memory.

Of his love.

And of his humanity.

I love that theladyingrey shows him not being in control of his vampiric strength and lets us feel his frustration.


Some things are very true to canon in this story, such as Carlisle changing Esme and bringing her into their home while Edward feels abandoned by his companion. She does veer away, when Edward decides to break away from Carlisle and Esme, before Rosalie comes along, to succumb to his true vampiric nature.

Over the course of many years, Edward revels in killing humans to becoming loathsome of his true nature. Although, instead of returning to Carlisle and Esme, he finds his salvation in a small theater.

The steps that take him to the bench are silent and swift, and his unsteady breathing is calmed slightly when he manages to sit without incident, the wood failing to creak or to crack under his weight. Edward does not even dare to blink as he lifts a cold white hand to off-white keys, pressing down so subtly. So gently.

The warmth that moves through him at the resulting note is almost as powerful as that of the sun, and Edward exhales raggedly, unnecessarily, with the lifting of a weight that has hindered him for so long. A second soft, musical tone rings out, and then a third and a fourth. Stinging with venom, his eyes cloud and close as finally he dares to make a chord. And then another.

And before he knows it, lost in memories of his mother and of love and of home, Edward is playing. There are old songs and silly songs. Songs that haven't even been written, but which flow from his hands like water. 

Like blood.

And like blood, the music sustains him. Beneath the slowly rising notes, there is a silence he has never known, the thoughts and voices outside of the theatre slowly fading until it is just him and his memory.

Soon we meet Bella, an eleven year old girl who desperately wants to be part of the choir, but is rejected. Through a series of letdowns in her life, she becomes a shy, withdrawn girl who eventually moves to Forks for her senior year of high school. It is there that she decides to take another shot at her dream of being onstage, only to get laughed at by her peers.

 After leaving in tears, Angela Weber introduces Bella to the world of working behind the scenes. Eventually going to college to study theatre production and stage craft, she ends up with a job building sets and working backstage. It is there that she hears a beautiful voice belonging to a beautiful man with golden eyes.

Music of the Night is only three chapters in and theladyingrey does not disappoint. I have always admired her writing style and she goes above and beyond with this story. Please go read it and become swept away with Phantomward.

Banner by JaimeArkin

Writer Submitted Fic: 5/2 - 5/8

Return of the King by A Cullen Wannabe

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6312308/1/Return_of_the_King

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Crime/Suspense
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: When the body of a young girl is found, all signs point to convicted serial killer, Royce King, currently behind bars. FBI Agent Bella Swan and her team have to race against time to discern who the real killer is before time runs out.

Return of the King starts on a hot summer night at a crime scene. There we meet a team of investigators in the form of our favorites, the Cullens. Bella leads the team that consists of Emmett, Alice and Jasper as investigators, Rosalie as the medical examiner and Edward as a new member of the team and a very talented profiler. The first chapter is intense as we read about them investigating the murder of a young woman.

Hale turned and ran for the tree line, vomiting into the underbrush as McCarty ran after her, while Brandon melted into Whitlock's chest, quiet cries coming from her chest. At some point, I had fallen to my knees at the sight before us, as Cullen knelt beside me, his arm around my shoulder.

"Is this?"

I nodded mutely, staring at the words taunting us all from the back of the innocent bystander in his sick, twisted mindgame.

Okay Team,

Let's see if you can catch

the RIGHT MAN this time.

One year was enough of a vacation,

Time for the real work to begin.

XOXO

The King

Carlisle shows up in the second chapter. We learn that he was Bella’s former boss and Edward’s father. . He comes in as a consultant on the case, because they fear that it is a copycat crime of a serial killer they put away thirteen months prior, Royce King. It turns out that Rosalie was King’s first assault victim so she is taken off the case and put into protective custody, much to her dismay.

Things start to unravel in the case, linking King’s DNA with the current victim’s, which would seem to be impossible since he has been in solitary confinement. The reader will be captivated as they try to figure out this case.

I truly loved this story. It is a nice short story, complete with twelve chapters. It is told completely from Bella’s POV and if you love a strong Bella, then you will love her. There is also a nice underlying story of the budding romance between Edward and Bella. I felt like I was watching an episode of CSI when I read this. A Cullen Wannabe’s writing is so well done and keeps you engrossed to see what happens next. So, if you are looking for a nice, suspenseful story that you can read in one sitting, this is for you!

Writer Submitted Fic: 4/4 - 4/10

To the Highest Bidder by RainyGirl1978

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6018429/1/To_the_Highest_Bidder

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Drama
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: 1849 CA "Bella he loves you! He'll make sure you're taken care of!" Bella runs from an arranged marriage to make her own way only to wind up in something much more sinister. Can she escape & find love & purpose? Mature themes, minor violence/abuse.

To the Highest Bidder by RainyGirl1978 is a story that takes place in a town called Rough and Ready in Northern California during the height of the Gold Rush. In the first chapter we meet Edward and Emmett Cullen, who just moved into the area from Missouri with their parents, Carlisle and Esme.

On Edward’s first trip to town, he is met with a true vision.

She was sitting underneath an old oak tree, quietly reading a book next to the Sheriff's Office. Something about her enthralled Edward's attention. She looked completely absorbed in whatever she was reading, softly chewing on her bottom lip, while the breeze blew tendrils of her chestnut hair gently around her face. She looked at peace and Edward wondered what she was reading. She was beautiful; but not in an ostentatious way. Nevertheless, she was captivating. A compulsion to go to her and brush the windblown hair from her lovely face surprised him in its intensity. He had to tear his gaze away from her and force his attention back to the task at hand: collecting the mail. But as he continued on towards the Post Office his thoughts kept returning to the beautiful girl under the tree.

Enter Bella Swan, daughter of the town Sheriff. Edward becomes smitten with her and thinks of her often through the week. When Emmett comes to him and asks to go to church for their parents that Sunday, Edward agrees quickly, knowing that Bella will most likely be there. She does arrive at church, although under less than favorable conditions, in Edward’s eyes.

Just as they were finding their seats Edward heard soft feminine laughter coming from behind him. He glanced back and there was Bella, looking beautiful alongside Jacob Black, one of the Cullen's hired men. Jacob had his arm slung casually around Bella's shoulder and the two of them were laughing and chatting. It was obvious that they cared for each other a great deal. Edward's eyes narrowed. Was she spoken for after all? Bella looked up and seeing his glare, she blushed and looked at the floor. Jacob didn't miss a beat; glaring right back at Edward, possessively placing his hand on the small of her back and ushering Bella into her seat.

We learn that Chief Swan has promised his best friend, Billy, that Bella and his son, Jacob, will be married. Bella feels love for him, but in more of a brotherly way, since they grew up together. She longs for feelings of passion and happiness that she believes she will not have if she goes through with it.

After a tragic accident, it seems that Bella’s worst fears will come true sooner than she thinks and she flees to Sacramento. Edward is frantic in worry and wants to go look for her, but has absolutely no idea where to start. It isn’t until one day, when Edward makes the trip to Sacramento to pick up a package, that he runs into Bella unexpectedly, somewhere where he never would expect her to be.

He sat frozen in his seat, unable to move, just processing the scene in front of him. How in the hell did she end up here?

RainyGirl1978 tells this story in the third person POV and does it very well. I am always impressed when author’s can do this POV and keep the flow of the story going, and that is just what she does. She weaves a wonderful tale and we get glimpses throughout the first chapters that Edward has a tragedy in his past as well.


To The Highest Bidder keeps your interest throughout the story and it is complete at twenty three chapters. So, if you want a good historical fic, with action and romance, this is definitely one to read!

WIP of the Week: 3/21-3/27

To Be Stabbed in the Front by forevergold

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5187934/1/To_Be_Stabbed_In_The_Front

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Friendship/Drama
Characters: Bella

Summary: A friend should be a master at guessing and keeping still." - Friedrich Nietzsche. It's all a facade: a girl searching,a stranger who doesn't know what she wants and a boy who is just trying to get out. In Forks, none of this seems possible. AH.

To Be Stabbed in the Front takes place in high school during Bella’s senior year and it’s told entirely in her point of view. It starts out with Bella in class one day, thinking of the joys of high school life and pondering the social hierarchy, which at the top if the “golden couple” Edward and Rosalie. Unfortunately for Bella she has a major crush on Edward and thinks that Rosalie is unworthy of him. Not because she isn’t rich and beautiful, but because she is of average intellect and apparently a stuck up snob. She muses about how they are always all over each other in class and glances around the room when she realizes that there is “trouble in paradise.” As Edward leaves class that day, alone, Bella starts to see Rosalie in a different light.

She was looking at me. Like the world had just suddenly come crashing down around her. Like all that crap people spew about true love and soul mates was just proven completely untrue, with facts and evidence to back it up. Like life was just too painful to bear.

I panicked. For in that moment, she looked real. Like a human being. I hurt for her. So, I turned and left the classroom. Leaving behind a girl holding a broken heart in her hands, trying desperately to put it back together.

She tries to forget Rosalie but is having a hard time since now she sees her as a living being with feelings, instead of some Barbie doll. We see the drama of the relationship unfold through Bella’s perspective and it is so interesting to see the layers peel away. In one chapter, we get to see snippets of the drama through the lens of her camera, as she quickly tries to finish a photo assignment. She notices that day how quickly Rosalie has deteriorated and that Edward is a far cry from his usual confident self.

It’s when Bella has decided that she has had enough of her boring, lonely existence that things really start to get interesting. She decides to go to an all-night donut shop and happens to run into Edward there. They spend the whole night talking about life in general and Bella is on cloud nine. When the sun is coming up and they leave the restaurant, he apologizes and says that he didn’t get her name.

You know in the movies, when some asshat delivers that line, that one fucking line, that throws everything off-balance, and you hear that weird, ripping sound of a record being all fucked up?

I swear to effin' God that was the noise that was now reverberating off the walls of my brain. I almost wanted to ask loverboy over there if he had heard it as well.

Maybe this was something he just did. You know, like not recognize people he saved or charm random strangers to get in their pants

There are so many layers to this story, that it would be impossible to say more, without giving the story away. Forevergold’s writing style is beautiful. You’ll find yourself questioning philosophy and values. It really gets you thinking and that is only one thing I love about this story.

If only the cool kids weren't so goddamn entertaining to watch. I could actually focus on my own life. And not for the first time today, I thought of Edward. And Rosalie. And hated myself for wishing she really was a bitch instead of some human being with feelings. Because hell, that just made me feel disgusted, dirty. We preach about judging people, about stereotyping and assuming and yeah, we all fucking agree that it's wrong, but do we ever really stop doing it?

No.

How could we? It's in our nature.

Fuck.

It's so easy to put yourself on a pedestal, mocking the sinners and sneering at the saints. Thinking somehow, you're in your own category of human. That you're not included in this joke of a world that uses categorization to organize chaos. But, then you realize. You are just as vile and condemnatory as the rest of them. And that is the fucking scariest moment of your life because then…

Who the hell are you?

I seriously could have just used quotes in this review to showcase the author’s talent. So, go get lost in this story. You won’t regret it!

Writer Submitted Fic: 1/24-1/30

Personality by angelanharvey3

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5555818/1/Personality

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: Bella starts to display odd behavior her first wkend back in Forks since the trip to Italy. What will happen when the Cullens learn of her fractured mind? There's not just one Bella for Edward to worry about now. There's three. *DARK THEMES/SPANKS*

When I saw the summary of this story, I thought how intriguing it sounded. And I definitely was not disappointed. Personality begins three days after the gang returns from Italy. Edward is concerned for Bella’s health and Bella has some deep-seated abandonment issues. She is so worried that Edward is going to leave her again that she even sleeps with him in a way that he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Bella straddled my hips and then laid down on my chest, her head fitting snugly under my chin. This was a new position for us, and it is still somewhat awkward for me. Just the act of her straddling me gets me aroused and that is really not appropriate right now. It's just that, in our new sleeping position, her delicious heat is just right there and it's enough to drive me mad with lust for her warm, fragile body. I have to block out those thoughts immediately, and reign in my control. Bella doesn't need me rejecting her need to sleep on top of me because I can't control my urges. It is not fair to her and it's my own damn fault she sleeps like this now, anyway.

They return to school the next day and things get interesting in Biology when Bella lashes out at Mike Newton which is completely uncharacteristic of her. Edward actually is enjoying this feisty new Bella, until Alice busts in telling him there is something wrong with her.

And there is undeniably something wrong with her. It turns out that when Bella was a little girl she had an ‘imaginary friend’ that wasn’t that imaginary. She went to therapy to cure her of her split personality and had been fine ever since. That is until Edward took it upon himself to leave. Her other personality comes back with a vengeance, harboring and expressing all of Bella’s pent up aggression and anger.

I stared in his eyes for a second more, then spoke. "Christ, you're a sorry son of a bitch, you know that? You stay gone for weeks, fuckin your whore, then you have the audacity to waltz back in here, out of nowhere, and try to play fucking 'daddy' with me? To yell at me? Over a motherfucking ticket? You think you can smack me around and I won't do anything about it? You don't know me at all!" I ranted into his shocked face.

"Don't you ever touch us again," I growled at him.

A look of confusion crossed his eyes.

That's right motherfucker, I said us. Your precious Bella isn't around right now. She ran off, probably hiding in a goddamn corner somewhere.

Angelanharvey3 writes the story in different POV’s, mostly altenating between Bella and Edward, with a few Marie’s (Bella’s other side) thrown in. She expertly handles the switching of pov’s and the tone of each in fantastic. Personality is complete and is sure to give you a great ride!

Brand New Fic of the Week: 11/22-11/28

All Fired Up by MsEerieChastain

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6373421/1/All_Fired_Up

Reviewed by Dragonfly336
*This story is no longer available*

 

Rating: M
Genre: Humor/Romance
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: The sexy new hire in Bella's office is a blast from her past, and she's not very happy about it. It's been 8 years; did he honestly think he could walk back into her life and she'd be happy to see him? Fucking absurd. AU/OOC/Canon. Over 18 only please!

“Hold the door, please."

Almost automatically, I pushed the hold button for the elevator even as my mind processed the melodic voice that had spoken the words. A voice I hadn't heard in well over eight years. I froze. It couldn't be.

I lifted my eyes from my Blackberry to look at the face of the man who was equally surprised to see me. 
"Bella?"

My phone dropped to the elevator floor with a clatter. "Edward?" And then everything went black.

That is how the new story from VampishVixen starts. This is her first foray into the world of Bella and Edward, and I am glad that she did!

All Fired Up takes place 8 years after Edward leaves Bella in the woods. We learn that Bella’s path though was a little different then it was in the books. She actually dating Jake for awhile before she left for college, but they broke it off when Jake imprinted on one of Sam’s cousins. Charlie ends up married to Sue and learns all of the secrets of the Pack and that the Cullen’s are vampires. Bella goes on to have a “normal” college life, filled with “...dorms, all night study sessions fueled by shitty pizza and Red Bull, parties, bad sex during or after said-parties...” 

She has learned to move on from Edward, has a job she loves in Portland, and a boyfriend, Roger, who is the anchorman of the local news station.

Enter Edward. He has also learned to live without Bella. He has led somewhat of a nomadic lifestyle in the eight years they have been apart. He eventually “succumbed to the advances of Tanya” and tried to make a go of that, but she decided his heart was still caught up in Bella. He eventually decided to attend Yale Law School and break out of his shell. There he, in fact, discovered that he had enough control to have sex with human girls.

So, with a little meddling from Alice, he takes a job at the very company that Bella works for, unbeknownst to him. And let me say that Bella is definitely not happy to see him.

I am really enjoying this Bella, who has become stronger by what he did to her, and is not falling right back into his arms.  She even keys his car for parking in her spot!

Go read this story!  I am looking forward to seeing what there tenuous relationship will bring and the journey that is in store for us!

Banner by JaimeArkin

Completed Fic of the Week: 10/11-10/17

River Dam by jennyfly

http://www.adifferentforest.com/Fiction/?Title=93

Review by Dragonfly336

Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: Edward bides his time in Forks counting the days til he can leave the sleepy town forever. But fate halts his departure, and he must learn to see Forks as a home instead of a prison. ...

Don’t you love when you find a story that you can’t put down and when you are done with it, you just want to tell everyone you know to drop whatever they are doing and go read the story right now?? Well, River Dam by jennyfly is that story.

When we meet Edward, he is a senior in high school. He comes from a blue collar family and desperately does not want to turn out like his father and brother by staying in the small town of Forks and working for the local construction company. He has big dreams of leaving Forks and traveling the world before going off to college. He has saved every penny that he has made since he was eleven years old, so that he can see this dream come to fruition.

At the beginning of his senior year, he meets Bella. This is such a true-to-life love story. It isn’t love and desire at first sight. It is the gradual falling in love, that most of us can relate to.
 
“What you have to know is this: Falling in love is not this big complicated thing you think it’s going to be before it actually happens to you. At first, you’re trying to get laid. And then all of the sudden it feels like the first slightly warm day after a long, brutal winter. You know the kind of day: when you walk outside and it smells like damp mud and worms—but in a good way—and you don’t need a coat and the sky is blue and you just know that nothing will bring you down the whole day. That you’re above it all.

Then, when you’re making plans for Friday night, you’re not thinking ‘How am I going to ditch this girl after I get what I want?’ You’re thinking ‘I hope to God Crowley and Cheney have plans and don’t bug us.’ You’re thinking ‘I wonder what she would think about this movie’ and ‘Oh, green beans for dinner. She hates green beans.’

And then you’re driving down to the river on a really sunny Saturday when wildflowers have begun to paint the roadsides, and you’re wondering if you even have to say I love you because she’s just got to know it from the way it shows in every thought and every word.”

At the end of his senior year Bella gets pregnant and throws a curve into all of Edward’s plans.

What I love the most about this story is that it is real. This is a truthful account of teenage pregnancy. It isn’t all happiness and sunshine. They aren’t thrilled at the idea of having a baby and when they do, it isn’t automatically a wonderful life for them.

Jennyfly is an amazing writer and her imagery and storytelling is stunning. I cried more than once for these kids and the situation that was thrust upon them. So...stop what you are doing and go read this right now!!

Banner by JaimeArkin

Writer Submitted Fic: 9/17-9/23

Beyond the Seventh Circle by Amelie Gray

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5852805/1/Beyond_the_Seventh_Circle

Reviewed by Dragonfly336

 

Rating: M
Genre: Angst/Drama
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: Gift!fic for YellowGlue. "He looked down and watched as her toes curled nervously in their rainbow-striped socks, and he knew right away he shouldn't trust her." Rating because I am paranoid

Do you ever read a story and you are instantly sucked in? Yeah, this is one of those stories. Do you ever read a story that is so different from the other stories that you have read and get so excited about it, that you want to tell everyone to read it? Yep, this is one of those as well.

Amelie Gray has written a truly unique story with Beyond the Seventh Circle. This story started off as a prompt fic. She was given this sentence to start: “He looked down and watched as her toes curled nervously in their rainbow-striped socks, and he knew right away he shouldn't trust her.” And you can’t imagine what she has come up with.

One of the things that I loved about it, is that she pulls you in, giving little snippets of what is happening so that you are constantly questioning and need to keep reading to figure it out. I can tell you that this definitely pulled me in:

The usual fee-nothing more, nothing less," he told her, averting his gaze from her translucent skin and the blue veins pulsing beneath the bright pink of her blush. He had not eaten in days, and the rush of her blood was more tempting than anything he could have imagined. The familiar burn, deep and cutting, set into his throat, and he found that in spite of the fetid air, he couldn't breathe.

She said nothing.

"Jasper did tell you what to expect?"

It is hard to review this story without giving too much away and that is half the fun of reading it. I can tell you this... it is a Darkward fic and let me be clear, this is a deliciously, dark Edward. But, not only do we get Darkward, we also get a dark Jasper and Alice. For some reason, I love a dark Alice!

When I opened them, Alice was standing in front of me, a dangerous smile curling her lips. In that moment, she no longer looked sweet and young. She was a she-devil, a demon in sheep's clothing and painted nails.

This Bella is different too. There is something special about her, and not just because she is Edward’s singer or the fact that Edward can’t hear her. At one point she describes herself as a Circe. I had to look this up and found that a Circe in Greek mythology is a minor goddess of magic that transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions.

This story is 13 chapters in and has 276 reviews. It deserves so much more. Amelie is such a talented writer. Her prose is beautiful and the imagery is fantastic! So, please read!! And in the words of Edward:

"Started the party without me?" He asked, every word coming out in a dangerous purr. "Seems like I need to catch up."

And, that you do!!

Banner by JaimeArkin

Writer Submitted Fic: 9/10-9/16

Light Of The Morning by alisXvolatX21

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5987979/1/Light_Of_The_Morning

Reviewed by Dragonfly336

 

Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Romance
Characters: Edward/Bella

Summary: He felt forgotten. She saved him. He felt lost. She showed him the light. He felt alone. She loved him. Edward Masen is a reclusive senior in high school who puts on a rebel facade. Bella Swan is a free-spirited junior who wants to branch out. AH AU OOC

At the beginning of Light Of The Morning by alisXvolatX21, we meet Bella. She has lived in Forks her whole life and her father passed away when she was 13. She lives with Renee, who was devastated after Charlie died. So she becomes the typical good girl, but she is sick of her image.

She is constantly tormented in school by “The Bitch Squad,” which consists of Jessica, Tanya, and Victoria, for her good girl image. Bella is ready for a change and her best friend Alice is going to help her. Alice compiles a list, dubbed "The Cherry Bomb List," of things that Bella needs to change before the first day of school. I love the interactions between this Alice and Bella, especially when they are talking about the list. This interaction is where Bella’s naiveté really shines through.

"But I touched it, doesn't that count for something?"

"No, not really. Did you stroke it or anything?"

"Uh, no. I kinda just poked it."

"You poked it?"

"Yeah, I poked it"

"Wow, Bell."

"What is that bad or something?"

"Yes, it means that you have no experience, at all. We are going to have to fix that."

She said as she pulled out the list that was now in her bag and she most likely wrote down; "Teach Bella to properly poke a penis."

When we meet Edward, we learn that he has not had an easy life.

I am forgotten. I am alone. Everything I do and say is fucked up. My life is fucked, therefore, I am fucked.

He is not originally from Forks. He lives with his father, Aro, who is a drug addict and abusive. Even though he lives in these conditions, he is a good kid. He gets good grades and doesn’t get in trouble. He has a part time job. But we also know that he has lived through something even more terrible.

"Edward, honey? Come out from the under the table. Everything is going to be fine."

Mom. I could hear her voice, her sweet fucking angelic and beautiful voice. Calling me to her, but I couldn't see her, everything was a blur, as if I had been crying.

"Teddy, please. Hurry baby, before he comes back."

I started to see her kneel down to the ground as she lifted up the green tablecloth. Her prepossessing face came into focus. She was beautiful even though she was fucking bleeding from the corner of her mouth and her cheek was black and blue. Her green eyes that mimicked mine stared mournfully back at me with a single tear coming out of her right eye.

But they were gone all to quickly as she disappeared from my focus. Then in her place was a pair of black fucking harsh eyes.

"Edward, is it?" his nefarious voice said as he fucking smirked at me.

He has finally had enough of his father and calls his Aunt Esme to see if he can live with her and his cousin Jasper. She agrees and he sets off to Forks in his old, rusty, red truck. He eventually meets Bella, but it isn’t the typical “love at first sight” meeting. But as the story progresses, we see that Edward cares about her and her well being.

There are many things that I like about this story. One of them is that alisXvolatX21 shakes things up a bit. It is refreshing to not read Edward being rich and driving a nice car. It is nice to see that Bella actually has a crush on Emmett, who happens to be Alice’s twin brother. I like the fact that Edward drives an old red truck and Bella has a Volvo. Dr. Cullen is Alice and Emmett’s and is a psychologist. He was married to neither Esme or Elizabeth, but to Charlotte, Who happens to leave him for his younger brother, Peter. We also meet Jacob Black, who happens to not be such a nice guy.

Please go read this story! It is humorous as well as angsty, so everyone is happy! There are only 67 reviews and that is just a shame! You won’t regret it!