"Solè, why'd you stay?" "Because, Zaire... you the first thing that ever felt worth staying for." ❀ 🝳 ❀ Harlem held the noise. Solè gave Zaire the quiet. Zaire Knox, Harlem's quiet storm, known for his ties to the streets and a gaze that read people faster than they could lie to him. Respected. Feared. Loved. With scars buried deeper than his tattoos, he never planned to love soft. Until a Harlem vinyl shop left behind by his late grandfather forces him to slow down, to breathe, to find his real purpose in the world beyond the streets. Solè Sinclair, soft but unbreakable, raised by her father after loss. By day, she serves warmth behind the counter of a café. By night, she disappears into her art, trying to paint the parts of herself no one ever sees. When their worlds cross, the city shifts. What starts off tense and unexpected turns tender. Together, they learn love can hold you just as fierce as the streets ever did, and softer, too. But love in Harlem always asks one question: what are you willing to risk when the heart wants more than the streets ever offered? A Harlem story. A hood love. A soft place to land. ❀ 🝳 ❀

𝘒𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 ༯ Apart of the FAMU & Heaven series. You don't have to read FAMU or Heaven is a Teenage Girl to read the book!!

Damn, college really is the best part of yo life. Especially at an HBCU.

"I don't know how to do this." He was almost embarrassed to admit it. "I ain't been right with you in a long time, but I'm gon' ask anyway. Please don't take her from me." His plea cracked something open inside of his chest. "I know I ain't a good man. I done did some shit that I can't take back and I can't make it right. But she is, she's good. She's the light in so many places I didn't know were dark." "So if there's a price that needs to be paid for all the pain that I have caused in this word and done onto others put it on me. I'll pay it. I swear I will. I'll protect her with my last breath. I'll listen and heed her warnings. I'll slow down and come home more and stop thinking that I'm alone in this world." "Just please let my baby wake up. I love her, I'm in love with her and I can't do this without her. If waking her up means I got to sacrifice letting her go so she can be safe. I'll do that. Just don't take her from this earth." "In Jesus name I pray. Amen."

She crosses paths with a man whose charm feels effortless and whose presence feels safe... until the shadows around him start to move. She falls for him quick unaware that he's carrying a life she's never seen - a life stitched together with danger, loyalty, and secrets heavy enough to break anyone who gets too close. As their worlds intertwine, the truth begins to surface in pieces, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew about love, trust, and herself. Their connection is real, undeniable even, but the double life he lives threatens to pull them under. In a story where loyalty twists, danger breathes, and love refuses to let go, one question lingers above all: Will the secrets he hides be the thing that destroys them... or the fire that binds them tighter than they ever imagined?

India learned early how to survive by paying attention. Growing up in a small, rough city taught her when to speak, when to soften, and when to protect herself. She carries those instincts into corporate spaces that were never designed with her in mind. Alex has never needed to adapt. Power comes naturally to him. Raised in legacy and expectation, he leads with quiet authority, keeping his emotions tightly controlled and his personal life even more so. When their worlds collide, attraction becomes something neither can name without consequence. Identity, power, and unspoken desire blur the lines they've spent years maintaining.

the story of slim & cash.

Before the crowds screamed his name, before the league talks and the magazine covers, he met her. Calista Marchand. Not the kind of girl you run game on. She was sharp where it counted, soft only when she wanted to be. Real Brooklyn - pretty in the face, slick with the mouth, and solid with her hands if you stepped wrong. She kept her circle small, her loyalty tighter. The kind of woman who knew how to turn silence into safety and side-eyes into shut-ups. Men feared her. Girls tried to be her. She didn't chase, didn't fold, didn't need nobody. Until Ibrahim Montaigne walked into her life like he had all the time in the world. He didn't come with sweet nothings or flashy promises - just steady presence. Intent in his eyes, patience in his chest, and something rare behind the way he looked at her. Like he saw through the polish and the fire, like he knew the woman behind the defense. He didn't try to tame her. He studied her. Let her be exactly who she was. The shift was slow. She still fought when needed, still had a rep in the streets and in the salon chair. But somewhere between nursing exams and late-night block parties, she started saving parts of herself just for him. The quiet parts. The delicate ones. The ones nobody else got close to. And when she crossed that graduation stage, RN-BSN stitched behind her name and her grandmother crying in the crowd - he bragged harder than anyone. Didn't care who was listening. Forget MVP, forget the championship rings. She was the win. She was the headline. The girl from Brooklyn with spitfire in her lungs, gold in her smile, and a softness only he ever got to see. This isn't a story about being chosen. It's about choosing each other. No fairytales. Just Brooklyn grit and a love that never let go.

'𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑..

Averi Solène Locke had her life planned out. She knew what she wanted. Who she wanted. She wanted a comfortable home, and a boyfriend she thought she could trust. As betrayals grow and hearts ache, every choice comes with a price. Love feels both wrong and necessary, and the question hangs in the air: But at what cost?