Giving upcoming authors a chance to shine

Wes Lee hails from a long line of mercenaries, a lineage steeped in the art of assassination that stretches back through countless generations. Each member of his family is trained from a young age in the deadly skills that their ancestors mastered, preparing Wes to inherit the dark mantle of leadership from his father. However, fate has a way of rewriting plans, and everything shifts unexpectedly with the brutal loss of his mother. Her untimely death sends shockwaves through the family, and all evidence points ominously to their most formidable rival-Sanchez. The Sanchez family is notorious in the underworld, equally as skilled in the lethal craft of assassination, and their paths have long been entangled in a deadly dance of power and revenge. Consumed by grief and rage, Wes is driven to take matters into his own hands. Fueled by the desire for vengeance, he defies his family's expectations and goes rogue, severing ties with the only life he's known. He envisions a solitary quest where he can hunt down those responsible for his mother's death and make them pay. But like every meticulously crafted plan, the pursuit of vengeance rarely unfolds as one desires, leading him into a perilous game where every miscalculation could cost him everything he still holds dear. ©️ _RelleLebby_//R. L.

Two bodyguards. One cartel queen in silk. A city that forgives nothing. They swore to keep their distance-and her alive. Only one of those vows will survive Barcelona. ©️ Relle H

Elianna Bennett is 25, careful, and very good at keeping things contained. Seo Jae-hyun is 24, famous, and living a double life that is slowly taking him apart from the inside. One concert. One backstage encounter. One decision that seems, at the time, like nothing more than a beginning. Seven years later, they are still carrying what that beginning made. And the world is about to find out. Set between Seattle and Seoul, THE HANNAM-DONG SECRET is a slow-burning interracial romance about two people who fell in love at the wrong moment in the wrong circumstances and chose each other anyway - across an ocean, across a secret, across a daughter who grew up knowing her father through a phone screen and her first word was for him anyway. This is not a story that moves quickly. It earns what it arrives at. There is grief here, and distance, and choices that cost more than anyone planned for. There is a little girl who sees more than the adults around her have accounted for. There is love that is real and still, sometimes, not enough - until it is. If you are looking for a fast burn, keep walking. If you want something that stays with you - the kind of story that asks something real - this is yours. Drama. Distance. Two people learning, slowly, what it means to stop hiding. ©️ R. L.

Some things are taken from you. Your family. Your freedom. Your body. And still, you survive-changed, scarred, and angrier than you've ever been in your life. Myra Sanches has already lost more than most people twice her age could bear. At seventeen, she's navigating grief, rage, and a new reality that no one prepared her for-one where the people in power aren't just corrupt, they're catastrophically dangerous. When she finds herself confined inside a facility that has no intention of letting her leave, she discovers she's not the only one. Behind reinforced doors and surveillance cameras are others just like her: a French boy with wings that have never known open sky, a Japanese hacker forced into digital servitude, Korean brothers whose abilities are as volatile as their rage, and twin children who know far more than anyone realizes. What Vardi Corporation built in secret, Myra intends to tear apart publicly. But escaping isn't the hardest part. The hardest part is what comes after-rebuilding trust, surviving the fallout, protecting the people she's come to care about, and deciding what kind of person she wants to be when the world is watching. This is not a story where love saves the day or trauma disappears neatly. It's messy, violent, slow, and real. The Onyx Project is a slow-burn interracial ensemble drama with mature themes, explosive action, and a Black female lead who refuses to be anyone's weapon-or anyone's salvation-except her own. Some fires don't burn out. They spread. ©️ _RelleLebby_// R. L.

Kira Thompson doesn't trust easily-not after the ambush in East Africa that killed her teammates and ended her military career. Betrayed by her commanding officer and lover, she disappeared into the ruthless world of private security, where emotions are liabilities and trust gets you killed. Liang Jun has everything: wealth, status, and the reckless confidence of a man who's never faced real consequences. As the son of China's ambassador to the UN, he's more interested in Shanghai's nightlife than the credible assassination threats against his life. Bodyguards are inconveniences. Rules are suggestions. And the scarred American woman assigned to protect him? Just another obstacle to ignore. But when the Qing Triad makes their move, Jun realizes Kira isn't just a bodyguard-she's the only thing standing between him and a brutal death. Forced into proximity, their explosive clash of wills ignites into something neither can control. She sees past his careless facade to the man beneath. He sees past her armor to the wounds she hides. As betrayal circles closer and old enemies resurface, Kira must decide: keep her walls up and do her job, or risk everything for a man who's already claiming her shattered heart. In a deadly game where love is the ultimate weakness, survival might cost them everything they never knew they needed. ©️ Relle H

Rae Innes never planned on raising her niece and nephew alone, but she's determined to keep Jordyn and Marcus safe-no matter what. A weekend retreat at the sprawling, high-tech Sunnyside Estate should have been a chance to catch their breath. Instead, it becomes a labyrinth of secrets, shadows, and sudden danger. When socialite guest Lila Anderson meets a mysterious fate, Rae finds herself swept into a puzzle that challenges her wit, courage, and trust. Her sharp observations, Jordyn's keen eye, and Marcus's restless energy draw them all into a web of intrigue-suspicion doesn't spare anyone. Every sleek hallway, every modern smart-home glitch, and every whispered secret brings them closer to the truth...if they can survive long enough to uncover it. ⸻ ©️ _RelleLebby_