"-he deserved it. He shouldn't've hurt her. In fact, he deserved way worse," a voice whispered. I know that voice. I peaked around a willow tree that was blocking my view. The figure was facing away from me, kneeling a little to the left of a small, heart-shaped plaque. He was about five feet away from me. He slowly placed a fresh rose next to one that looked a little older. "I'm sorry for getting in trouble, Syd. I promise everything will be OK. I'll see you tomorrow." He slowly got up and turned towards where I was hiding. His swoopy black hair looked like he had been running his hands through it, and he looked a little sad, like the last time I saw him here. I was so mesmerized by his face, that I didn't realize he had closed the distance between us. He reached for something on the other side of the tree and I did the first thing that came to my mind. RUN. Run like hell.

Ruth Marjorie Semple has a past she wishes she could forget. Her life in the present isn't so terrible, and yet, she finds herself struggling to enjoy the person who loves her most and even refuses to take pride in the job she's excelling in. How can she appreciate any of that, when her mind is still stuck on a lover from her college days three years prior? Go back in time as Ruth tries to sort through her feelings, drawing her memory all the way back to the day she, quite literally, ran into Raffo Leflore in good ol' Oklahoma, and explore the life of an Afro-Indigenous woman. He doesn't talk about himself much, but he constantly seems to show up for her anyway and she wants to figure out why. What about the two of them is written in the stars? Or are they even written up there at all? And most of all, how do you know which stars are worth chasing? Follow along as Ruth learns to grapple with her sorrow, learns more about her Choctaw heritage, and experiences a love that maybe only happens once in a lifetime. *Characters are Black and/or Brown casting.* Cover designed by Ren T

WATTPAD BOOKS EDITION. Bound by fate. Divided by duty. Yenni has never been this far from home. With only her wits, her strength, and her sacred runelore, the fierce Yirba warrior princess is alone in the Empire of Cresh. It's a land filled with strange magics and even stranger people-all of whom mistrust anyone who's different. But Yenni will prove herself, and find the cure for her father's wasting illness. She will not fail. No one warned her about the dragons. Especially not about him. Yet there is something powerful and compelling about the violet-black dragon known as Weysh. In human form he's muscular, beautiful-and completely infuriating. What kind of arrogant creature claims a stranger as his Given; as his destined mate? Yenni is no man's-or dragon's-plaything. But other magics must be at work here, because Weysh might just be her best hope at finding the answers she seeks. Only now Yenni can't tell if she's fighting an attraction to a dragon . . . or fighting fate itself.