"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."

Adey Tesfeye lives a life of quiet invisibility, carefully managing her anxiety and keeping the world at a safe distance. Sweet and trusting, she often finds herself taken advantage of but avoids confrontation at all costs. Her routine is predictable, her walls high, and her heart locked away-until she crosses paths with Dayvon "Von" Bennet. Von is a hardened drug dealer from the streets of Chicago, a man used to control, manipulation, and survival by any means necessary. His dangerous lifestyle has left him detached and weary, but when he meets Adey by chance, he becomes fixated on her softness-her fragility in a world as ruthless as his. What starts as curiosity spirals into obsession as Von begins to see himself as her protector, despite the chaos he brings into her life. As Von infiltrates Adey's world, their connection grows in ways neither of them expects. Adey, drawn to Von's intensity and the promise of safety, begins to let down her guard, unaware of the lengths he'll go to keep her close. But with her best friend growing suspicious and Von's grip tightening, Adey is forced to question whether her growing feelings are love or a dangerous illusion. In The Butterfly Effect, vulnerability and control collide in a slow-burn, high-stakes romance that blurs the lines between protection and possession. Will Adey find the strength to reclaim her life, or will Von's obsession consume them both? COVER AND BANNER CREDIT: K4SHMAYY

When David Brewster comes back to L.A. for his close friend's dad's funeral, the last thing he expects is how hard it hits to see Chantel Brown again. She's his friend's mom, 47 now, newly single, raising a baby girl...and somehow, the feelings he swore he left in the past come back like they never left at all. Being around her messes with his head in ways he didn't plan for. And getting back close to Chantel isn't just complicated, but also dangerous since David is living a double life.

"𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲? 𝗬𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗼 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮." 𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺'𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸. 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆- "𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗶." "𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁.." 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. "𝗬𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼." "𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱"- 𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗶 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘀𝘁. 𝗛𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻-"𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀." 𝗛𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗪𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲.

"See I'm a killer, but I got feelings. I catch you with him, I just might kill him." - Von. "Fuckin' on someone else and textin' like you want me, disrespectful." - Kentrell. *very old & cringy don't read omg*

𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨. 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞. *this is my first book, please don't stress ya selves out bc I did while writing it! 😭

"What it's called when the patient grow feelings fa therapist?" He asked, and she chuckled, staring at him. "Transference."

𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝗼𝗺𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝗼𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝗺 𝐣𝗼𝐛 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝗼𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝗺𝗼𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝗼𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝗺𝗼𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝗺𝗼𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝗼𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝗼? 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝗺𝗼𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝗼𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝗼𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝗼𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝗼 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐯𝗼𝗺 𝐭𝗼 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝗼 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞.

"I build off of keeping you sane and you having no control makes me feel so in control."

"And all the times you wasn't chosen, well, I'll make it up to you...And all that you are, I do"