Every time Dayvon looked at Salem , he was reminded that there was still a small piece of good left inside him. He met her on one of the worst days of his life, fresh out of jail and carrying more anger than he knew what to do with. While everybody else saw a criminal headed nowhere fast, Salem saw a man with busted knuckles who needed help. He'd never understood how an autistic doctor could be so oblivious to who he was. She never feared him. Never judged him. Never treated him any differently than anybody else. One hug from her felt like peace after years of chaos, and somewhere along the way he found himself depending on her more than he should've. That's why he yearned for her the way he did; why he couldn't stay away no matter how hard he tried.She stole his Antidote.

𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐱. ⇱ 𝖬𝖴𝖲𝖤 - PARTYNEXTDOOR Once a rising star, she was discarded by her label for being "unmarketable," a blow that left her drowning in cheap liquor and late-night diner shifts. She keeps her head down, her voice quiet-until one night she forgets to mute her shine.
When she sings while closing up, a stranger lingers in the shadows, listening like her voice is oxygen. She doesn't know he's been watching her long before that night. 
She doesn't know he's the producer whose name used to sit on her dream board. 
She doesn't know he's the reason opportunity suddenly knocks again. Because he's not a stranger.
He's her next chance at fame-
and the stalker who's been rewriting her destiny from the dark. 🥇in #books.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀" 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧' 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐰. " ⠀⠀ Sade Lux wasn't looking for anything that night just a drink, some silence, and a break from everything ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ she built on her own. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ Then she met 'Dante' Reggie Thompson and 'Marcus' Nico Seo. Best friends. Complete opposites. Both impossible to ignore. Dante is bold, charming, and doesn't hesitate to make his interest known. Nico is quiet, controlled, and ⠀⠀⠀⠀watching her like he already understands her. What starts as a simple conversation turns into something neither of them expected... and something ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ none of them can walk away from. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ Because they both want her. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ And Sade doesn't want to choose.

Aujani Mitchell has never believed motherhood should depend on whether a man chooses to marry her. At twenty-seven, she has built a life she is proud of-a successful career as a pediatric nurse, financial stability, a close family, and enough love to give the child she has always wanted. After months of researching sperm banks and anonymous donors, Aujani realizes she cannot bring herself to choose a stranger. She wants to know her child's medical history, their family, and the kind of man responsible for half of who they will become. There is only one person she trusts that deeply. Her best friend, Cartier Moore. Cartier has been beside Aujani since fifth grade. They have grown up together, shared clothes, secrets, arguments, firsts, heartbreaks, and every version of themselves in between. He is also a devoted father, a successful businessman, and the one man Aujani knows would never abandon his child. But when she asks Cartier to help her have a baby, he makes one thing clear-he is not interested in being a donor. If they create a child together, he will be the daddy. Five months later, an appointment is booked, their plan is in motion, and the friendship that has survived almost everything begins changing in ways neither of them expected. Morning sickness brings Cartier closer. Late-night cravings become routine. Baby names, tiny clothes, doctor appointments, and quiet moments start feeling far more intimate than friendship should. Cartier falls first. Aujani does not realize she is falling until the man she has known nearly her entire life starts looking at her differently-and she begins looking back.

When a deadly crash on an icy mountain road claims the lives of Giselle and Sai Whiteford, their world stops overnight. Solani Kross-a compassionate social worker who grew up in foster care-and Saint "Spider" Whiteford-a feared kingpin who built an empire from the shadows-are left with the same unimaginable loss. Then the lawyer reveals Sai and Giselle's final wish. They've both been named legal guardians of two-year-old Isabella "Issy" Whiteford. To keep Issy out of foster care, they must sign immediately. To honor her parents' wishes, they must raise her together... in the home Sai bought for his family. Neither of them understands why Sai chose Spider-a man whose name carries fear throughout Pleasant Mount-to raise his daughter. Not even Spider understands it. His brother spent his entire life avoiding the streets, yet somehow believed the man everyone else judged was the one who would protect Issy with everything he had. Grief leaves no room for pride. Now two near-strangers must become roommates, co-parents, and the only constants in a little girl's life as she asks the same heartbreaking question every night: "When are Mommy and Daddy coming home?" As seasons change, bedtime stories replace silence, shared dinners become routine, and a house built for one family slowly becomes home to another. Somewhere between sleepless nights, preschool mornings, therapy appointments, and healing hearts, Solani begins to see the man behind the nickname... and Spider realizes the sunshine he never thought he deserved has been living under the same roof all along. But loving each other is the easy part. Learning to build a family from unimaginable loss-and protecting it from the life Spider thought he'd never escape-may be the hardest thing either of them has ever done.

"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.

"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."

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇- Sage Monroe finally opened Sweet Tooth, the bakery she and her late grandmother always dreamed of-only to find herself next door to loud bass, loud weed, and an even louder man who owns the dispensary beside her. Cash Vaughn owns the whole strip, but Sage doesn't care about his money, power, or reputation. All she knows is he's bad for business... and somehow impossible to ignore. Cash doesn't trust anybody outside his bloodline, but Sage gets under his skin in ways nobody ever has. What starts as tension turns into something neither of them saw coming-until betrayal, kidnapping, and a deadly street war threatens to tear it all apart. And when the smoke clears, Cash has to decide if love is worth bleeding for... and Sage has to decide if she can survive loving a man built for war.

Mob ties, wealth, prosperity. Those were the three things that circulated Luciano; A wealthy businessman's life. Wealth, Mafia ties, and Murder were Kyrei's diversions. Two cutthroat sociopaths trying to survive in the jungle-also known as the streets. Will they let their wrongdoings define them and pin them against one another, or will they learn to coexist and put their differences aside? Cover made by @triceynexttdoor 💕