♱ WHEN LOVE REFUSES TO STAY DEAD ♱ Felix Harper, an indie filmmaker with his career on the rise, has always processed grief through horror. His new project is no different: an intimate retelling of Dracula meant to exorcise feelings he'd prefer to see dead and buried. But in his search for the perfect lead actor, the person he's least expected to see again walks into the audition room. Raphael Montrose is Felix's ex-best friend, the person who once knew him better than anyone. The person he hasn't spoken to in years, not since Felix sacrificed their friendship in a desperate attempt to protect what he loved. The person who still makes Felix's heart beat in his throat. Casting him would go against any sort of common sense. But when it comes to Raphael, Felix has never had any. As the two navigate filming a potential cult classic and rebuilding the fragile trust between them, old feelings resurface and the lines between past and present, performance and reality begin to blur. But when the ghosts of their past return to haunt, will they be able to face them, or will they be forced to bury their feelings for good? For readers who enjoyed If We Were Villains and The Picture of Dorian Gray, a gothic second chance/friends-to-lovers romance spanning years of yearning, tenderness, betrayal and artistic obsession. ♱ cover by the amazing @raizelrose3

"I always thought I was the ocean, you know? Always reaching for things I can't have. Always crashing into people who don't want me back. The moon pulls. The ocean follows. Even when it hurts." "You don't have to, Noah. Why can't you stay? Why can't the ocean stay with the shore?" *** Noah Reed has spent years trying to outrun the boy he used to be- the one who froze under his father's fists, the one who kissed a stranger under the stars and watched him disappear. When Noah and his mother escape their violent home and move to Novacrest, he's prepared to rebuild quietly: new school, new friends, a job at a café, and maybe-finally-something like peace. Milo, the sweet, steady football player who keeps showing up for him, feels like exactly that. Until Noah sees him. Eli Blake. Quarterback. Golden boy. Untouchable. And the first boy Noah ever kissed. Eli acts like he doesn't remember him at all. But his eyes say something else-fear, anger, longing, something sharp enough to cut. Thrown together for a biology project, their old summer-camp secret forces its way back, tearing open every wound Noah has tried to bury. And just when Noah's heart begins leaning toward Milo, Eli breaks through his defenses... and kisses him again. Now the past is unraveling, the truth is clawing its way out, and Noah has to choose between the boy who makes him feel safe and the boy who makes him feel seen. Because oceans don't choose what pulls them. But Noah has to- before he breaks apart for good. Book One in the Ocean & Moon series.