"𝐈 𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 '𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮... 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞."

Aaliyah Mercer never planned to catch the eye of the campus's most respected professor. She was just trying to survive her sophomore year balancing track, six siblings, and a past she never asked for. Professor Malachi Rothwell wasn't supposed to notice her.Nine years older, painfully disciplined, raised on intellect and family expectations-he never crossed lines. Not with students. Not with anyone. But over the school year, something shifts. Not all at once. Slowly. Intellectually. Quietly. Until she is the only thought he can't outrun. Their attraction grows in silence in late-night library shadows, in classroom debates that feel too charged, in the soft places where she lets him see her and the hard places he never shows anyone. One semester becomes two. Winter turns to spring. Spring becomes summer. And on chapter fifteen, a line finally breaks. Now they must survive what happens when a forbidden love becomes the only truth that makes sense.

Dejah Champagne has always believed sweetness solves everything until the Santiago name walks through the doors of her bakery. Tony Santiago isn't just any customer. He's a mechanic with oil on his hands, a kingpin with weight on his shoulders, and the last man she should ever let close. Their families' blood runs thick with betrayal, and everyone in their world knows the two names don't mix. But Tony keeps coming back. For cupcakes, for chai... for her. His quiet persistence chips away at Dejah's resolve until one yes changes everything. What begins as a dangerous flirtation soon unravels into something deeper, something Dejah never thought she could feel. Yet love is never simple when loyalty is a battlefield. When Dejah's family discovers the truth and Tony's fear of commitment collides with the weight of his empire, they'll both have to decide: is their bond strong enough to survive the sins of their families, or will history tear them apart for good? Sweet meets street, sugar meets steel, and nothing will ever taste the same.

After moving to Chicago to start a new life, Sveya isn't looking for nothing beyond a fresh start. Between church, school, and learning how to exist without losing herself, her life feels limited...until she meets Solomon.

"I told you about looking down when you being talked to mama." Kaiser spoke more softly than before. In the small time he been around Serenity, he noticed how shy she was. She was so avoidant but alluring. He was interested in her. Seeing how well she was with the kids was just a plus. "Why?" She sighed in frustration before signing. She knew if she started talking she would make a fool of herself. "Why what?" He signed back. "Why do you care? You don't know me." "Not everyone has it out for you. I just wanna know you," Kaiser frowned. He didn't understand why she was so isolated but he wanted to know. She was worth knowing.

𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭? Trevante Rhodes || Ari fletcher Read it and you'll love it 🫶🏽 Started January 11th, 2023

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝟐𝟔 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

in the west end, 25-year-old hairstylist raya phillips is all hustle and no distractions-until kairo jenkins, a right hand man for a drug dealer, walks into her life and becomes obsessed. she's unimpressed by his money and power, and that only draws him in deeper. raya tries to resist, but his world is creeping into hers fast, their connection could either be real or destroy them both.