"I don't know how to do this." He was almost embarrassed to admit it. "I ain't been right with you in a long time, but I'm gon' ask anyway. Please don't take her from me." His plea cracked something open inside of his chest. "I know I ain't a good man. I done did some shit that I can't take back and I can't make it right. But she is, she's good. She's the light in so many places I didn't know were dark." "So if there's a price that needs to be paid for all the pain that I have caused in this word and done onto others put it on me. I'll pay it. I swear I will. I'll protect her with my last breath. I'll listen and heed her warnings. I'll slow down and come home more and stop thinking that I'm alone in this world." "Just please let my baby wake up. I love her, I'm in love with her and I can't do this without her. If waking her up means I got to sacrifice letting her go so she can be safe. I'll do that. Just don't take her from this earth." "In Jesus name I pray. Amen."

"Solè, why'd you stay?" "Because, Zaire... you the first thing that ever felt worth staying for." ❀ 🝳 ❀ Harlem held the noise. Solè gave Zaire the quiet. Zaire Knox, Harlem's quiet storm, known for his ties to the streets and a gaze that read people faster than they could lie to him. Respected. Feared. Loved. With scars buried deeper than his tattoos, he never planned to love soft. Until a Harlem vinyl shop left behind by his late grandfather forces him to slow down, to breathe, to find his real purpose in the world beyond the streets. Solè Sinclair, soft but unbreakable, raised by her father after loss. By day, she serves warmth behind the counter of a café. By night, she disappears into her art, trying to paint the parts of herself no one ever sees. When their worlds cross, the city shifts. What starts off tense and unexpected turns tender. Together, they learn love can hold you just as fierce as the streets ever did, and softer, too. But love in Harlem always asks one question: what are you willing to risk when the heart wants more than the streets ever offered? A Harlem story. A hood love. A soft place to land. ❀ 🝳 ❀

Yasmine works at a children's hospital in New York City, she's has an average life and has average friends. After breaking up with her no good two timing boyfriend she wanted a change. She decided to get a personal trainer. Giovanni works at State Wide Fitness in New York City as a personal trainer. When Yasmine came to his gym looking for a trainer, he was taken by her beauty. He made sure he became her trainer and nobody else. Gio loved her body even if she didn't, and he found every way he could to get close to her. What happens when the two gets tangled up?

Drew remembered the little girl who befriended him when no one else would. He remembered her long braids and her cocoa butter scent. And when he found her again, he swore to never let go. He made a silent promise; that no matter where he went or what he was doing, he'd always come back to her.

A talented boy from the roughest part of town earns a scholarship to a prestigious, predominantly white high school, where he's thrust into a world of privilege, pressure, and cultural clashes. Paired with the no-nonsense "boogie" black girl for a school project, he's initially put off by her sharp wit and unapologetic confidence. But as they work together, he discovers there's more to her than meets the eye-her passion for life, fierce independence, and determination to break free from expectations even when her adoptive parents are morbidly controlling and mentally abusive. Over time, their unlikely bond blossoms into an undeniable romance, and with her by his side, he finds the strength to confront the challenges of balancing two worlds, all while striving to fulfill his basketball dreams. But it's not just his game that gets a makeover-his perspective on life, love, and self-worth is completely transformed.

Being twins is one of the few things that Zari and Zayir had in common, other than that, they were basically polar opposites. Zari was chaotic, loud and her intense love could be too much sometimes, while her twin brother was quiet, his love was shown in different ways and he'd been mute ever since he was born. The two are living parallel together, right next to each other yet they are on two different paths. With connections forming, Zari with an unexpected infatuation to a man who was just like her, and Zayir with Zari's best friend Naliyah. Things begins to shift and relationships get tested, even their own. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥 follows Zari and Zayir, navigating through both of their love lives, drama and most importantly, their journey. zarixsantiago zayirxnaliyah

She was the flower that bloomed in silence-he was the storm that saw her. In a world where beauty is currency and pain is hidden behind glossed lips, Celeste Monroe is tired of being invisible. But when a chance meeting with Empire Heights' most feared boy sparks an unexpected connection, everything begins to change. A romance about healing, heartbreak, and finding light in the darkest corners. ik it says editing but i haven't edited nothing 😭 bare w me !

"Do you think we're soul mates?" She asked, lifting her head in order to lock eyes with him. It took him a moment, mustering up his answer. Thinking about how they were so alike, but so different. How they had been through similar things and had the same outlooks on certain perspectives in life. The connection that they shared. It was like she was made specifically for him. No one would ever be able to hold a candle to her and the way she made him feel. She was his person, and he was hers. "To be honest...yeah." He replied, wrapping his arm around her. --- Knucks is a misunderstood teenage girl, deemed as destructive to the society with her reoccurring outbursts and rebellious behavior. Anger fuels her defiant spirit but beneath her exterior, lies a vulnerable girl searching high and low for someone to help her through a time of crisis. Bones quiet and reserved, has nothing but a hard exterior looking from the outside in, when in reality he is just an innocent boy. He's fighting to keep his head above the water also known as life, that is trying its hardest to submerge and break him down mentally. When the two teenagers find themselves in an environment far away from home with others just like them, it leaves both of them separately hopeless about the outcomes of their future lives. One night upon meeting each other, one felt as if they had nothing to live for anymore, while the other felt the same way only holding a different meaning a sense.The night bringing them closer than ever eventually has to come to an end. It's up to the two of them to carry out the strange but alluring connection made with each other, or leave it in the night they met. SLOW BURN; 2 books in 1 STARTED; FEB 19th 2024 PUBLISHED; MARCH 3rd 2024 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 29th, 2024