April in Paris by AutumnSong @LuneNoire49

It was one night. One night of passionate sex but still one night and one night only, I told myself. We couldn't start this and she knew that as well as I did. She licked her plump lips and blushed as I lectured. This was going to be a long and epic April.


Rating: M
All Human
Pairing: Carlisle/Bella
Status: Complete
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5902656/1/April_in_Paris

Many stories come and go, you read them once, enjoy it and have a fin experience before it's forgotten in that long list of "favorite" stories. This story on the other hand, possesses the beauty, originality, and all around wonderfulness of a timeless classic that are so rare to come by in fan fiction. April in Paris was recommended to me when I had lost hope in Bellisle stories, despite being a writer myself I couldn't find anything fresh and original within the non-canon fan fiction realm. This story has everything you could want from a fan fic - humor, romance, drama, a touch of sugar and spice that will make your toes curl with happiness.

The author shows a clear love for the saga, it's characters, and for writing. Her portrayal of Professor Carlisle Cullen is positively scrumptious, he is the classic hero with a twist we all want to fall head over heels for. AutumnSong portrays him in a whole new light as not just a Professor of Gothic literature at a university in Paris, but also an avid fan of English soccer. What could be kinkier than Professor Cullen in a Soccer kit?

Isabella Swan is the most likable heroine in this story, her strength, willpower and determination is truly a thing to be admired. The gifted artist and university student - she is a character in her own right and not simply the lucky one with the cute guy. Indeed, the author could have made this story just about Bella and it would still be a terrific masterpiece.

This story is a one of a kind gem and not to be cast aside. I highly recommend this story, give it a try you will not be disappointed.

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The Merman by @ezrocksangel

The Merman, by EzRocksAngel

Pairing:  Edward/Bella

Rated: M

Type:  O/S

Summary:  Bella's willpower is tested by the young hottie at the pool. Older and wiser she makes a move that will change their lives forever. E/B AH

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7153634/1/The_Merman#

As one last ode to summer, I decided to rec this fun little one shot.  I’m an older twific fan and I have to say, this story about an older Bella seducing a barely legal Edward was right up my alley.  I thought the conflicting emotions Bella had about her enjoying the ‘view’ of a much younger man to be realistic.  She knew he could be a fun lay, but would he be as mentally mature as his body was?  Being a male at that age, the odds were stacked against her.

Bella’s only twenty four, yet she feels a little Mrs. Robinson-ish over her complete infatuation over the insanely hot community lifeguard who turned eighteen only a week ago.  With a little encouragement from Alice, Bella takes the first step towards teaching Edward the ways of the world.  Their little illicit summer fling eventually comes to an end when Edward heads off to college and Bella goes back to grad school after having spent the summer as a nanny. 

After all, it was just a summer fling, right?

Read The Merman to find out.

 Happy Reading & Happy Fall,

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Activation: Project Swan By @Kymbersmith90

"When her best friend, Angela moves in, Bella Swan decides to tell her the truth about her job working for the CIA. She wakes the next morning and finds Angela dead in her bed. Now Bella must search for the truth about her employers."


WIP
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Genre: Drama/Romance. AH/AU
Rating: M


URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7286770/1/Activation_Project_Swan


What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?


A combination of edge of your seat drama and excitement, a story that will suck you in from the prologue alone. Activation: Project Swan is Alias meets Twilight with a twist that will knock your socks off. Bella is a secret agent sent on an assignment that will change her life completely. Secrets revealed and a deadly relation that will not only place her, but her loved ones and associates at risk. The perfect duo Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.


This is the author's first story and it is beautifully written, nicely balanced, and filled with surprises. Bella and Edward joining forces to combat the rough secret service. 


A gripping read and one you will not want to miss out on. 

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Waking Up In Vegas by cherieblossum (@cherieblossum)

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6357939/1/Waking_Up_In_Vegas

Summary: One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila...Marriage? Well, Bella Swan, that's what you get for waking up in Vegas!

Rating: M 

Status: Oneshot 

We’ve all heard the saying “What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas”, right? Well, that’s basically what this story is all about. A little too much to drink, a broken heart, too much to drink, a little experiment that needs to be executed and written, too much to drink, two girls meeting up with some hot guys staying in the same hotel as them, too much to drink, some promises made, too much to drink, and one hot night with a total stranger. 

This story starts out with best friends, Alice and Bella, getting ready to head to Las Vegas for a weekend trip. Bella has just had her heart broken and Alice decides to take her on a trip to get her mind off of things. However, Alice has an ulterior motive. Alice wants to find some guy who will marry her on a whim and see how long it takes before he’ll annul the marriage so she can write an article about it for the coveted September cover of the magazine she works for. 

"Yes. Great movie. Hilarious. Anyways, I got the fantastic idea to combine the two." Her voice lowers to a whisper and looks over her shoulder before returning her attention to me. "I'm going to find a guy in Vegas, convince him to marry me, and then see how long it takes for him to annul the marriage." 

Bella is hesitant of this new plan Alice has, but goes along with it for the sake of a good time and her friend’s career changing experiment.

Unfortunately, the one person she was hoping to forget shows up in Vegas –her ex, (and also gay) Brady. In an attempt to get Alice and herself away from him, Bella runs into none other than Edward and Jasper, who let the two girls hide out in their room.

Alice, being Alice, swoops in. "Hey hotshot, we need to get my friend out of this hallway now. This is your room , yes?" Already impatient, she barely waits a millisecond for him to answer. "Okay well, I saw you come out of it so let's go right back on in, okay? Okay." 

So… like I said earlier a little alcohol is involved and these four keep running into each other during the night. By the end of the night, Bella has told these two guys more than she ever planned to thanks to the liquid courage and she does something she may end up regretting when she wakes up in the morning. 

This is probably my favorite Alice I’ve ever read in any story (which is why I quote her in this review). She’s hilarious, snarky and very protective of Bella…well, maybe not so protective.

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Washington by @BloodOfYourLips

Pairing: Carlisle/Bella
Rating: M
Status: WIP
Warnings: Language, Lemons, & Mature Themes.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7338334/1/Washington

Summary: After five years, Bella returns to Washington with her daughter Ali Cooper and is reunited with the man who has always held her heart. 

This story was originally published in October 2010, but the author had her account removed and deleted after her other story, Feral Blood, was reported. Thus, the republishing of this story is something of a rebirth and revival of a truly wonderful tale of loss, love and struggles, with the addition of a few comic and heartfelt touches. 

Usually I am very particular about non-canon stories; especially Carlisle/Bella pairing as they always follow the same unimaginative pattern. Edward leaves, Esme changes her personality, and somehow Bella ends up with Carlisle. This story however, provides a refreshing approach to the alternate pairing. It shows the true spirit of literary creativity in the non canon genre.

We see Isabella Swan as a young woman struggling with the burden and stress of reality beckoning her. The portrayal of a young single parent in her early twenties, struggling with the burdens of full time parenthood, college studies, and holding down a full time job.

All this coupled together with the encounter of old acquaintances and past revelations that will alter her life forever, the question of whether this change is for good or bad is something for the reader to decide for themselves.

The author provides a brief and satisfying account of the past five years of Bella’s life, recalling the final years of her adolescence and into early adulthood, the shocks and surprises along the way will engulf the reader completely, so much so that you’ll end up pestering the author for another update.

The first chapter the reader will find themselves swept into the whirlwind life of 23 year old College student Isabella Swan, bustling to her class accompanied by her four year old daughter. You cannot help but smile at the subtle humor and tenderness of the scenes, whether it is between Bella and her daughter, her University professor, or the re-encountering of lost acquaintances.

 The author’s use of language effortlessly draws you in without you even realizing it; and the many shocks and surprises in store will keep you rooted to this story. A wonderful tale to read curled up on the couch in a warm blanket with a steaming cup of hot chocolate beside you. Indeed, if this were not a fan fiction it would certainly be a bestselling original novel, a thing which I believe is where the author’s true potential lies.

Her ability to truly grasp the inner nature of the Cullens, and indeed of Bella, almost as if we are reading them as original creations of what could have been in the Twilight universe.

I highly recommend this story as it is one of the best non canon fics in existence.

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Early Winter by anarogue587

Characters: Early Winter
Author: Adrian
Rating: PG-13
Complete: One Shot
Summary: "Bella's been turned, and Jacob reflects on the now and the girl he once knew." Some beautiful 'what if' character exploration of our favorite angsty wolf and what I feel is a great interpretation of how vampire!Isabella may have turned out.

This one-shot flies totally in the face of canon. It was written/posted just before Breaking Dawn was released, so we can take 'canon' to mean the original trilogy, not the whole series. Once you're okay with that, this is an incredible piece of character introspection.

Before we learn that Bella is somehow immune to newborn tendencies and that love is her true power in this world, didn't you ever wonder what she'd be like as one of the cold, perfect Cullens? What is Bella without her adorable clumsiness, her inability to say the right thing, her introverted book habits, her tentative, human friendships? Is Edward right when he worries that turning her will change her? Is Jacob right that she won't be Bella anymore? Isabella Cullen forevermore.

'Early Winter' explores these questions quickly, sadly, and so beautifully. Told from Jake's perspective after Bella's been turned, there's an affair, a broken heart, and stolen moments. If you like angst, if you like future fic, if you don't mind throwing Breaking Dawn out the window: go read this one-shot.

Link: here on livejournal

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Reinvention of Hope by @phoenixhunter47

Title:  Reinvention of Hope
Author: Phoenixhunter47
Story: WIP

Summary: When her marriage falls apart, Bella returns home to Texas. With the help of her father and friends, can she find herself and hope again? AH

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6273507/1/Reinvention_of_Hope

Today I am reviewing what has grown to be one of my favorite fics right now.  The Reinvention of Hope is such a wonderfully told tale.  It is a lovely story about what happens when you leave a life you never really belonged in, and come home to the life you never should have left.

PhoenixHunter writes such delicately written prose; it makes me weep with its pure simplicity.  Yet when I say simplicity, I don’t mean simple.   Her words are wonderfully descriptive without being overly flowery which tends to bog a story down in my opinion.

The characters she spins in this tale are well rounded and feel true to life.   Bella’s hometown of Masen is swarming with all the people of her past that she fled when she left home to go to Phoenix and marry Jacob.  And for a while, that life was enough for her, until one night she overhears Jake whisper four little words that change her life’s entire trajectory.

I cannot recommend this story more highly.  It really is one I pounce on as soon as I see the update has hit my inbox.

Happy Reading and Happy Labor Day to my friends in the States.

I want a divorce

Bella flees back to her hometown and into the arms of her father and closest friends from high school.  She deals with the dissolution of her marriage by going through the various stages of grief.   Through it all, at an arms distance is Edward.  Edward is going through his own family issues and with the help of Bella, they are starting to deal with these challenges together.

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