Urban Romance | Dallas, TX | Black Love Kai Karter wasn't looking for love - just peace. A 24-year-old single mom, esthetician, and LPN working her way through nursing school, she's finally building a quiet life in Dallas for her and her four-year-old daughter, Regin. After escaping the grip of her abusive, drug-dealing ex, she's focused on healing skin by day and studying late into the night. Soft, sweet, and self-made - but don't get it twisted. She's not the one to play with. Crew "Ace" Princeton has never believed in love. Kingpin of the South, owner of a buzzing barbershop and tattoo lounge, Crew only trusts his money, his Glock, and his day-one, Dice. Loyalty to the streets is the only code he lives by. Women are for pleasure, never peace - and his favorite side piece, Keisha , knows the drill. Emotions? Off-limits. But everything changes when a random grocery store run puts him face-to-face with Kai - and her wide-eyed little girl calling him "Mister with the tattoos ." He's never chased a woman. She's not impressed by his charm . When Crews mom books him an appointment where Kai works unknowingly , Crew walks into the spa for a "facial"... and walks out with something he never expected: interest. Real, inconvenient, soul-tugging interest. Now two guarded hearts from two different worlds are on a slow collision course. But the streets don't let go easy. And neither do exes who still want control. Can a woman who just wants peace love a man born in chaos? Or will their worlds burn before they ever blend?

At 21, Sayor Nicolé is a focused business analyst finally free from a toxic relationship. She's rebuilding, guarded, and done with chaos-until one late night, an unsolicited dick pic from a stranger changes everything. The sender? Christin "Ace" Amir, a 24-year-old inmate with gold slugs, a reckless charm, and no idea he just disrupted the life of a woman who never played with fire-until now.

She waitressin' at Starlets, ain't too many I ain't had

COVER BY: @-killfanatik ! Sapphire survived a childhood most wouldn't. Abandoned by a mother who tried to sell her and raised in the shadow of a father behind bars, she built walls so high no one could climb them. Onyx earned his name in blood. They call him the Reaper in the ring - undefeated, controlled, lethal. Fighting is the only thing that ever gave him peace in a world that taught him love was weakness. She doesn't trust protection. He doesn't walk away from what's his. When their worlds collide, attraction turns dangerous, secrets surface, and the past refuses to stay buried. Because loving the Reaper doesn't just come with passion. It comes with consequences.

I cupped her face, planting a soft kiss on her beautiful lips. "Don't ever run from me, baby," I said softly, letting my thumb trace her jaw. "I love the chase." Her jaw tightened, her hands coming up to try and move mine. "Stop calling me baby, Ezra," she snapped, eyes flashing. I couldn't help but grin, dropping my voice to something low and dark. "Ohhh, now my baby has a problem with me calling her baby?" She shot me a glare, but I just tucked her hair behind her ear, pressing another kiss to her lips-gentler this time, lingering. "You don't get to tell me what to call you, baby." I leaned in closer, brushing my nose against hers. "You're whatever the fuck I call you."

Since I was sixteen I've always known the kind of life I wanted for myself. I wanted the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. But sometimes life doesn't always go as planned. Instead of getting what I wanted, I got what I needed. I got lessons. I got heartbreaks that forced me to grow. I got silence that taught me how to listen to myself. I got endings that pushed me toward new beginnings. And even though it wasn't easy, every detour shaped me into the person I am today. Stronger. Wiser. More passionate about the life I'm still building. And despite all of that, I still want the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. I still want it all. Because no matter how many times life has tested me, the desire for those things has never left. It's only grown stronger. ~ Crystal

"You're leaving me, we were suppose to do this together fats, we were suppose to accomplish this together..." The young woman looked up at the gentleman in front of her with nothing but pure hurt, she couldn't believe the words she was hearing right now. "Yo' you have to stop being attached to me, you're not my girlfriend slim- chill dude I can't do this.." Marion shook his head. The young woman looked at him with a chuckle before walking away. "Fuck you!"

Jazmine Michelle Reed Twenty years old - a single mother to a three year old, owns a hair salon, and has two best friends she loves like family. With a painful past of not being able to know her mother, her father being killed, and ending up pregnant by her boyfriend at the time who left her high, dry, and alone she hasn't been too willing in the love department of her life. Jazmine crosses paths with a man who makes her want to finally give love another chance. Love that came with more ups and downs than she may have bargained for. ..... Book #1 of the Mine Series.