"You just don't look....safe." Essence said while sipping her drink. "Naw, I only ain't safe for the niggas that hate me." "But for you, I'll be real cautious..."

"𝖨'𝗆 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗋𝗒𝗇𝖺 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽, 𝖠𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗌. 𝖠𝗅𝗅 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖺 𝖽𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝖺𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗈." (Shooting Stars, Book 1)

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." In a world that thrives on conformity, August is an anomaly. Raised in a secretive overbearing family, she was chosen to leave its hidden grounds-not for freedom, but for duty. Sent to college to become the strategic mind for her generation behind the family's growing empire, she tries to move through the world like a ghost, draped in gothic shadows with secrets too heavy to share but her style is just too much to go unnoticed by judging eyes unscathed. Then she meets Kason through his older brother. A rising rapper with a reckless charm and a hunger for something real, dealing with battles of his own, he's instantly drawn to August's eerie demeanor and the quiet storm that lingers behind her dark mysterious eyes. She's nothing like the women he's used to-unbothered by trends, and untouched by the need for validation. The more she resists, the deeper he falls, his infatuation turning into an obsession he can't shake. One he cant let go of. As their worlds collide, the slow burn of their connection threatens to ignite everything August has been taught to suppress. With her past closing in and expectations pressing down, she must decide if she's willing to defy everything she's ever known for the chance at something dangerously real. In a society that demands she fit a mold, August stands in defiance. Unfortunately, love has a way of making even the strongest question their silence. STARTED; February 22nd , 2025 PUBLISHED; MARCH 18th, 2025 FINISHED; MAY 27th, 2025

Recently moving to the west coast, Daniela Parker expected a shift when moving with her mother and brother to Los Angeles. Daniela didn't think she had anything to worry about since her brother is an A+ student, and she stayed out of people's business. But when a known gangster, Enrique González, put his eyes on her, she had trouble avoiding the charming brown-eyed man with a background of violence. *black female lead and latino male lead* #1 in the U.S 4/25/25

" I don't even like you like that." Her face scrunched up in disgust watching water drip from curls in his hair. " 'Cause you love me. Just like I love you." He retorted with a grin, disregarding the deflecting she was doing. --- They were two sides of the same city-until one move split them down the middle. Elijah and London were inseparable once, bonded by childhood summers, beat-up bikes, and secrets too deep for anyone else to know. Unfortunately, when Elijah's mom packed up and moved her family across Onyx to a rival neighborhood, everything changed. She always thought when she spoke to him again he would've changed like her. She was witty, sarcastic, and had a low tolerance, but he was still the same calm , sweet, cute boy with a heart the size of the sun. Some things haven't changed. Some things never change. The pull between them, the memories that still burn etched marks in their brain, and the words they never said out loud. In a world where loyalty can be life or death, and love isn't always enough to cross old lines, Elijah and London find themselves circling each other again. --- STARTED; MAY 26th, 2025 PUBLISHED JUNE 6th, 2025 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 27th 2025

"Damn. Hasn't even been that long and you got a whole rock on your finger now, huh?" "...What are you doing here?" She unthinkingly rubbed her swollen belly, the tight knots forming in her stomach at the same time. "What you mean? I came for the art." His tone was sarcastic as he gestured at the paintings on the walls. She watched his eyes drift down her body, before he tightly clenched his jaw. "But I see I have more than one thing to congratulate you on." He said, bitterly. • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛? ❤️‍🩹👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟸 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚕)

" 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 "

"She never asked to be chosen second. He never asked to love soft." Ka'Lani Simone Harris spent her whole life watching boys pick her brownskin twin, Imani, first. Every text, every glance, every "you cute but..." - it all ended the same. But when Juelz Amir Thompson steps into her world - quiet, tattooed, hood-smart, and realer than any man she's known - he flips her entire mindset. Only... Ka'Lani ain't sure if he really sees her, or just another shadow of her sister. Juelz got demons. A past that moves quiet but dangerous. And love? That shit was never part of the plan. But Ka'Lani pulls something out of him nobody's ever touched - not his exes, not his block, not even his blood. Now the city watching. Girls throwing shade. Secrets resurfacing. And his enemies? They don't like seeing him soft. But love like this? Ain't soft. It's bold. It's bruised. And it refuses to be background. This ain't no fairytale. This is hood love

"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

nir·va·na a state of perfect happiness; an ideal or idyllic place. where we see what happens when an emptiness that one thought could never be filled is overflowing. when two lost souls find each other. where a broken record plays a perfect harmony. when after years of searching, you find nirvana.