True love is built on sacrifice and that sacrifice often means putting others' needs above your own.

Keon "Kae" Briggs was born and built in Ridge Pointe, a place where loyalty weighs heavy, losses come early, and boys grow into men faster than they should. Youngest of five, raised in a house full of brothers tied to the streets, Kae was the only one the neighborhood protected. Football wasn't just his gift; it was his lifeline. His way out. His one clean thing. Amira Fields is quiet in a way that makes people underestimate her. A soft-spoken, introverted girl who grew up with manga notebooks, science kits, and a mind that never stopped building things. When Ridge Pointe Low was home, she was the kid who stayed inside drawing anime while chaos moved outside the window. Shy. Observant. Different in a way kids picked on. What happens when the two connect after years apart, after years of learning themselves, losing themselves, and finding out home wasn't a place, it was a person?

𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 '𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞.' 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. Letter to my lover, let me explain my love to you. I know how your trauma built a grudge, but i wont judge you. Letter to my lover, your love like a drug too.. When we fell in love, I was fightin' demons and battlin' drug abuse.

"Nia." Her name softly fell from his lips and she soaked in his sweet breath like a pancake to syrup. Her eyes were low and she was watching his chest rise and fall. She couldn't look at him just yet. She was frozen in place. With just this brazen touch alone, being this close, closer than they'd ever had before, her fingertips pressing into his skin with a lusty intention, Nia knew she was crossing a line before she had even crossed it. "Nia." When he said her name this time, it sounded so tense and tortured, Nia's eyes lifted to meet him just to make sure he was okay. His gaze was soft, and his pouty lips were set in a firm line, "What are we doing?" *** Nia Birch (30) is confident and content, but choosy. She has the perfect, stable job as a social media strategist for a beauty brand. She's not looking to be a "boss babe", and is totally happy with the consistent and comfortable life her professional success has brought her. As a result of knowing what she wants, doesn't settle for men who don't meet the standards of her 'man must' list. Her life's decided measures made keeping the contacts in her little black book as strictly hookups so easy. She knew what box a man filled in her life almost instantly. She also knew she would never want to blur the lines of a physical or plantonic relationship, Until she did. 📝🖤

"She not like the others, Ma. She real." Phoenyx spoke with conviction. "She makes me feel-" "Like a bitch." Persephone cut in, raising off of the couch. "You lettin' her soften you up. I ain't raise you to be no simp." "Forreal, Ma?" Phoenyx felt the heat rising to his face, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Why can't you just let me have this?" "Have what?" Persephone scoffed. "This shit ain't you. You gon' start actin' like somebody's fuckin' husband now? You think love gon' save you in these streets?" • • • • • • 𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎. ❤️‍🔥👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟹 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗-𝚘𝚏𝚏)

SEQUEL TO THE ART OF MANIPULATION Jonika thought the bullet ended everything-his empire, his hold on her heart, and the man she loved but was forced to betray. She tried to rebuild, to bury the grief under the illusion of a normal life. But grief doesn't stay buried. It claws. It festers. And some ghosts don't stay dead. When fate drags Jonika back into the shadows she thought she'd escaped, she finds herself hunted by the very man she once destroyed. His face is the same, his eyes colder, his love and fury tangled into something she can't escape. Now she doesn't know if he has returned to reclaim her heart... or claim her life.

Follow Tatum and Sloane as their journey continues. Love is tested, loyalty is questioned, and the past refuses to stay buried. Secrets come to light, some powerful enough to pull them closer and others sharp enough to tear them apart. With every truth revealed, the line between trust and betrayal blurs, and survival of their bond, their peace, and maybe even themselves is not promised.

Peaceful would be the perfect word for Mila to describe where she was in life. She was a single mother, raising her daughter alone-which wasn't anything new, anyway-but she'd escaped. She'd escaped the life she was born into and created a new found family that didn't exude toxicity. But as her best friend never let her forget, the next addition to her life had to be...love.

EKOW sequel

Book 1 of 2 ❤️ Soriyah and Derek's story. 18+