"Some scars don't fade - they just learn how to breathe." Layla Thomas came to Harlem to disappear. After losing almost everything - the love she trusted, the future she planned, the self she used to recognize - all she wants now is silence. A new start. Something that feels like hers again. One night, she finds herself standing outside a hidden tattoo studio with a sign that reads Ink & Ashes. Inside is Dave, a man with inked hands, a calm voice, and eyes that seem to see straight through her defenses. He doesn't ask for details. He just asks what the mark means - and somehow, that's the first time anyone's really asked her anything that mattered. What starts as one tattoo becomes a ritual. Late nights turn into confessions between strangers, stories traded in low light and cigarette smoke. But Dave East has his own ghosts - the kind that don't stay buried for long. In a city that never stops moving, two broken souls find something dangerously still in each other. But when the past catches up, both will have to decide if love built from pain can survive the fire that made it.

London a 28-year-old Nurse and Ethan a 32 -year-old businessman have been through the worst of things any relationship can go through but when Ethan comes home from doing a small bid can their relationship survive what's to Lie ahead of them.

Urban Romance | Dallas, TX | Black Love Kai Karter wasn't looking for love - just peace. A 24-year-old single mom, esthetician, and LPN working her way through nursing school, she's finally building a quiet life in Dallas for her and her four-year-old daughter, Regin. After escaping the grip of her abusive, drug-dealing ex, she's focused on healing skin by day and studying late into the night. Soft, sweet, and self-made - but don't get it twisted. She's not the one to play with. Crew "Ace" Princeton has never believed in love. Kingpin of the South, owner of a buzzing barbershop and tattoo lounge, Crew only trusts his money, his Glock, and his day-one, Dice. Loyalty to the streets is the only code he lives by. Women are for pleasure, never peace - and his favorite side piece, Keisha , knows the drill. Emotions? Off-limits. But everything changes when a random grocery store run puts him face-to-face with Kai - and her wide-eyed little girl calling him "Mister with the tattoos ." He's never chased a woman. She's not impressed by his charm . When Crews mom books him an appointment where Kai works unknowingly , Crew walks into the spa for a "facial"... and walks out with something he never expected: interest. Real, inconvenient, soul-tugging interest. Now two guarded hearts from two different worlds are on a slow collision course. But the streets don't let go easy. And neither do exes who still want control. Can a woman who just wants peace love a man born in chaos? Or will their worlds burn before they ever blend?

Ivy League doesn't do heartbreak twice. The 25-year-old NICU nurse learned her lesson the hard way with her politician ex, and she's not about to fall for another smooth talker in designer sneakers. Enter Kario Kingston - 30, tatted, flashy, and fine as hell. He owns a luxury car wash, a barbershop, and a tattoo lounge. And he knows exactly what he wants... until Ivy gives him her number one night - then blocks him the next. Now he can't get her out of his head. She's guarded, elegant, and lowkey about her glow. He's the center of every room he steps in. But when family cookouts, rooftop lounges, and not-so-accidental run-ins keep putting them in the same space... tension builds. And when Ivy gives him the cold shoulder, Kario decides to chase the one thing he's never had to earn before: a real woman's trust. This isn't just lust. It's a slow burn in the middle of a fast city.

Moving to the rough streets of Harlem is a step back for Lorena after running from her supposedly good life in the suburbs of Miami. She searches for freedom in the most unlikely of places yet in meeting Cross, she couldn't find herself more trapped in the hands of a ruthless thug who is also her brother's best friend. ❝𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁?❞ 𝐍𝐎. 𝟏 - #𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓, 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

"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..."

❗⚠SEXUAL CONTENT⚠❗ ⚠❗MATURE AUDIENCE❗⚠ STRONG LANGUAGE❗❗

17 year old, Makayla, is a high school senior. She's one of the more popular girls in school so there's always a hater nearby. She ends up meeting someone that will change her life forever. Copyright © 2018 Publisher: ShardaeWrites I do not own any of the pictures used in this publication.