Eight years ago, Rae Mitchell left Glencoe, Georgia without a goodbye. No note, no explanation, just a suitcase full of ambition and a heart too full to stay. She was supposed to outrun the memories. The whispers. And especially Khalil Reed, the boy who once made her believe in forever. But now she's back. Her grandmother's unexpected fall pulls her home, and with no job, no apartment, and a scandal she's still trying to forget, Rae has nowhere else to go. Glencoe hasn't changed, but Rae has. And so has Khalil. Once her first love, now the man she ghosted, Khalil isn't interested in forgiveness or small talk. He's running a business, raising his teenage sister, and trying not to care that Rae's name still hits him like it used to. In a town where everyone remembers who you used to be, Rae must confront what she left behind-family, friendship, and the one person who never stopped waiting for her to come home. But some wounds don't stay buried. Some love never really leaves. And some promises are made to be broken... until they aren't.

ROME He wasn't looking for love. Hell, he barely trusted loyalty. With a past soaked in pain, betrayal, and blood, Roman Carter, better known to the world as ROME, built his name from the ground up. Platinum plaques, sold-out shows, and a reputation that kept both fans and enemies on edge. The industry knew him as a menace, the blogs called him dangerous, but beneath it all was a man still carrying ghosts. And he planned to keep it that way, until her. KALI She wasn't just good at her job, she was the best. A high-profile PR powerhouse known for fixing the unfixable. From red carpet scandals to career-saving rebrands, Kali Raye's name rang bells behind the scenes of Hollywood's biggest stars. Her world was sleek, polished, and calculated. Just how she liked it. Until it all unraveled. The career. The relationship. The control. One by one, everything Kali thought she had a handle on started slipping. And somehow, the one man she was supposed to keep at a distance became the one she couldn't let go. Now, with the industry watching, reputations on the line, and emotions running hotter than ever, Kali has to decide what's worth protecting: the image she built or the man threatening to break down every wall she's ever had. This wasn't supposed to be a love story. Until it was.

"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. ❀ 🝳 ❀

New Orleans isn't just a city-it's a pulse. A rhythm. A hunger. And nobody knows that better than Arielle Washington, a tired single mother grinding just to make rent in the Desire Projects. Love left her a long time ago, replaced with diaper bags, house keys, and survival. That is, until a new housekeeping job drops her into the home-and world-of ICE the most dangerous man in the streets. ICE doesn't do mess. Doesn't do feelings. But there's something about Ari-her fire, her silence, her scars-that draws him in. And when business gets bloody and loyalties are tested, the line between protector and predator blurs. Because in the Dirty South, nothing comes clean... not even love.

"You could tell me you love me a million times over, but them words don't hold no weight in my heart till you show me. Show me you love me, and you can have all of me." cover by: @britxcvi

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚. 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚.

A promise. It seems like the simplest thing in the world to keep. But so often, they're broken, empty and hollow. They seem like the easiest thing in the world to believe, but after the words are left out to bleed, after they leave you waiting and wanting, after all the emptiness and hollow words-how are you going to believe the one who actually say what they mean?

"In life, we form bonds and relationships with those who've never experienced themselves in all seasons of life-at their highest and lowest points, in grief and sadness, happiness and anger. We expect people to know themselves coming into our lives, but we never think about the seasons they haven't experienced."

"And it doesn't matter how much time passed or how much time will pass-it's him. It always has been him and it always will be him...I just don't know how to tell him," When it's more than a like, and they're more than a friend. When they know you better than you know yourself and just the thought of them is all you need to put a smile on your face-telling your best friend you're in love with them should be simple. Right?

"You trust me?" he asked, eyes turning soft once they made contact. "Maj, I-I-" "I said do you trust me, Lucky?" he repeated, voice hard. "...yes," she breathed out, and his next words came without hesitation, sending a chill down her spine. "Then shoot."