People living in uwani along Zik's Avenue never slept properly even in the day break when cocks crowed, you need no prophet to tell you that okonji's family were already at loggerheads awakened with noise. John Okonji raised his voice and littered slurred words as a result of alcohol drunkenness that already took control of him as he dragged his slippers on his way home from mama Ndubuisi beer parlour like a misaligned star coordinates. His wife Helen Okonji was standing in front of their house waiting for him with her wrapper well tied to her chest like someone ready for a fight. Their marriage was not a union instead it was a collision. But still Mama Biliki, a neighbour in the compound, would tie her head gear to glue her ears to the wall, Mama Chidiebere would pick brooms and pretend to sweep the same spot over and over again in pretence with ears like an antenna ready to pick a radio transmission broadcast.While the children hid behind cold walls with clenched hands, learned through fear and vulnerability of a bleak world they never bargained for. A life quite different from that of their peers and colleagues. Tears and prayers were never enough to give solace.Instead of a marriage marked by union, it was a collision. Money that entered their family never stayed long to multiply and bear fruit. If it does not end in mama Ndubuisi beer parlour it would be in the pool house in the name of John Okonji chasing unmerited fortune like someone chasing aeroplane in flight to catch up.Coupled with the notice of house rent and school fees that came like season greetings, Helen Okonji engaged in petty trading which were on borrowed capital. Her husband John Okonji has failed her repeatedly on many fronts but never failed to find solace in the hand of Ogogoro, dry gin and merriment in mama Ndubuisi beer parlour.The future of the five children now hangs in the balance but now a question of fate. Like pockets of stubborn weeds that refuse to die, the future of the five children stood fragile like a house with cracks and questionable foundations on cement that would soon cave in no time. Only the hands of fate can carry the burden of the Children far like "The Burning Wick" That would live to see its end.Mr John Okonji later days did not end without a taste of light, he toured the USA, Europe, UK, Canada, spending the US Dollars, Pounds and Euro not just for the beauty of affluence which many who were responsible at parenting were denied with a twist of fate but on a medical tourism in a battle to save his life with the nemesis of his wrecked liver and kidneys that has caved way to the abuse of alcohol over the years. A taste of life indeed at his grave bed.. But how did the children of a mischievous and reckless man come about with all the money? Definitely, "The Burning Wick," has a lot of hidden whispers to tell.

Winter has many faces—soft and silent, cruel and merciless. Stefani Hale has met them all. A nurse with trembling hands and a heart packed with old scars, Stefani has learned that holidays never bring joy. Not to her. Not anymore. Christmas, snow, fairy lights—everything she once loved has betrayed her. But on the night she finds her boyfriend wrapped around someone else, fate decides to intervene… wearing silver eyes and a wolf’s heartbeat. He steps out of the blizzard like a secret whispered by destiny. Beautiful. Dangerous. Watching her as if she were the first sunrise after a thousand years of darkness. She thinks he’s just a doctor. A stranger. A miracle who appeared when her world collapsed. But Giovanni Moretti De Luca is anything but ordinary. He is Milan’s most feared and desired gynecologist—brilliant enough to save lives, cold enough to sever any emotional tie, and powerful enough to make kingdoms tremble. Beneath the charm, beneath the surgical gloves, beneath the title… sleeps a forbidden Alpha whose bloodline carries the weight of ancient wars and unfulfilled prophecies. A man hunted by rival clans. A man shackled by duty, haunted by destiny, and starved of a mate he was never supposed to have. And the moment Stefani cries into the snow, something inside him breaks free. One word. One truth. One curse: Mate. A snowdrop pendant finds her—glowing, warm, alive. A relic of winter magic that awakens only for the one chosen by fate. Suddenly, luck follows her like a shadow. Too much luck. Luck that twists paths, bends coincidences, and pushes her straight into Giovanni’s orbit. But destiny is never gentle. When a medical conference pulls Stefani to Milan, Giovanni tries to resist her. Tries to protect her. Tries to deny what every breath in his chest is screaming. “I shouldn’t touch you,” he warns. “Then why,” she whispers, “do you look at me like I’m the only thing you’ve ever wanted?” A snowstorm traps them under the same roof. One penthouse. One bed. One forbidden bond ready to burn everything he swore to protect. Then the impossible happens— Stefani slips through a glowing portal into the Midnight Realm: a world of mask-wearing royals, ancient werewolf courts, vampire diplomacy, enchanted markets, and magic older than starlight. Giovanni follows, revealing teeth he’s kept hidden for years and truths that terrify even him. Because Stefani is no ordinary human. She is the girl with snowdrop magic. The key to ending wars. The flame capable of crowning him… or destroying him. And she is being hunted. A rival Alpha wants her. Wants her magic. Wants Giovanni broken. He will start a war to get what he wants. From the glittering winter streets of Milan, to the enchanted forests of the Nordics, to the royal courts of France and Spain, Giovanni and Stefani are thrust into a world where love is a weapon… and destiny is a battlefield. When an enemy kidnaps the one child Giovanni swore to protect, the Alpha within him rises—ancient, unstoppable, and merciless. A winter storm wearing a man’s shape. War is coming. Magic is awakening. And the snowdrop pendant grows brighter with every beat of Stefani’s heart. In a universe where snowdrops bloom only for true love, Stefani must make an impossible choice: Run from the destiny that terrifies her… or kiss the Alpha who was born to ruin her—and save her—in the same breath. Kissed By The Snowdrops is a sweeping tale of fate and fire, heartbreak and healing, forbidden mates and explosive passion. A story where the coldest winters grow the fiercest love, and where the snow itself seems to whisper: "They were meant for each other. And destiny will burn the world to prove it."