Book 1 | ✓ Sweeping my curls with his hand, he unapologetically held my face, making me look at him as he spoke: "Someone should've gotten you a manual for living here. If that shocks you, then I don't know how everything else will make you react." I muffled a laugh, though deep down wanted to fall into a fetal position. He was so much more handsome up close like this with the sun behind him, angelic almost―disregarding the tattoo inscribed on the side of his neck. Picasso's full lips parted, grinning at me till my heart started acting funny-fluttering against my ribs. "I think I've got the hang of it around here. I can handle myself," I remarked, smiling. "Stop worrying about me." "The thing is I can't stop," he admitted. "And I won't." Though there was no legal ties to bind him to what he said, I believed what Picasso swore to me on that afternoon. And for that reason, I agreed to his proposition to go out on a date. ❀ Picasso is the polar opposite from the preppy rich girl that is, and always will be, Sydney Webster. However, Sydney loses it all in an instant when she hears of her father's death, leading their two worlds to collide. Kicked out of her beach house in Malibu, Sydney is forced to move in with her aunt and her three kids in a tiny apartment. Sydney goes from attending prestigious schools and yacht parties to having to walk through metal detectors before entering homeroom, gang violence brewing inside the school, and a posey of mean girls ready to put Sydney in her place and remind her where she's at on the food chain. Luckily for her, there's a savior in the chaos: Picasso Hudson. ❀ [this is a companion book to Tethered Hearts. you do not need to read that book to understand this story.] #1 in urban fiction tag (4/1/20) #1 in urbanbooks (9/8/19) #1 in goodgirl (1/31/23) #4 in badboy (2/4/20) #65 in Teen (1/11/20)

❝Why do you have a tongue piercing?❞ I asked, observing the other piercings he had and the designs inked on his skin. I'd never seen so much work done on one person before. ❝What's the purpose?❞ A playful grin quirked on to his lips, challenging me. ❝Would you rather I tell you or show you its purpose?❞ ♡♡♡♡ Set in the years 1987-1993 At nineteen-years-old, Sophia Álvarez has everything a girl her age could ever want. A trustworthy best friend, high markings in her college classes, and a loving family. Everything in her world is calm and full of structure. She's content with what the universe has served her until one fateful night causes her to cross paths with a mysterious man. After only one interaction with the tattooed and mean-spirited college senior, Bryce Matthews, Sophia's life suddenly changes from being calm to being chaotic. Their love is just as undeniable as it is dangerous. Bryce smuggles kilos into the California coast, and with his job comes serious trouble. He's everything she shouldn't want. In the end, it's their differences that charge their relationship, adding fuel to the fire and giving them a reason to fight for their love. But when dark pasts, obsessive exes, and deceptive friends threaten their relationship and their lives, will Sophia draw the line and say enough is enough or will she stick around for the long haul? ♡♡♡♡ HIGHEST RANKING: #1 in Diverse Lit 1/3/19 #2 in Teen Fiction 11/13/18 #1 in Completed #9 in ChickLit 11/18/18 #1 in Crime