TO THE READERS "The Last Drop" is a vulnerable offering of poetic inquiries into the nature of love, the paths it takes, and the lingering emotions when it ebbs away. These poems are a personal journey through the questions that arise in the heart, particularly in the face of loss. While deeply felt, they are presented as artistic expressions intended to connect with the universal experience of love's complexities. ABOUT "Like a river, love carves its own course, sometimes turbulent, sometimes serene, but always shaping the landscape of our being." Long before love takes tangible form, it exists as a whisper of possibility. Love, in its nascent form, is often a question whispered in the solitude of our hearts, a dream painted on the canvas of our deepest desires. love begins as a dream woven with threads of hope, a vision of finding solace and understanding in the eyes of someone yet unknown. It's the primal urge to witness and share in a profound connection, a silent prayer for a love that feels divinely ordained. But what of the love where silent prayers devolve into echoing nightmares, where cries shatter the very core of one's being? Left to inhabit a living hell, the forced strength others speak of feels like a cruel jest. What becomes of the yearning for simple cherishment, the irretrievable loss of our former selves? What solace is there for the wounds inflicted by loyalty, faith, and tenderness? To claim it's a chosen path ignores the chilling sense of being mere puppets, our strings manipulated by an unseen hand. DEDICATION This collection of poetry, "The Last Drop," is lovingly dedicated to all the shattered and questioning beings who navigate the complex terrain of love's journey and the often-disorienting landscape of its loss.May they remind you that even in shattering, there is a profound resilience, and that the act of questioning is itself a courageous step towards healing and finding meaning in the aftermath.

" W..what are you-" " Do you want me to show all those people who you belong to the easy way or the hard way?" He says deeply, a dark look in his eyes as he looks down at my lips then back to my eyes. I feel my heart start to beat insanely fast at his close presence, the smell of his expensive cologne intoxicating me, almost like he was trying to lure me into his lips. • Sofia Novikov, youngest daughter of the Russian Mafia leader was kept away from the public eye her whole life. Her sister Anastasia Novikov however was always in the spotlight. With her perfect figure and personality everyone adored her. She was the sunshine and could do anything you could think of, she was everything any girl wished to be. What happens when ruthless and cold hearted Italian Mafia leader Connor Agosti is to be arranged in a marriage with one of the Novikov sister?

Kallai has a tendency to make things explode. Not on purpose, but every spell she's ever tried has gone up in a puff of smoke. Literally. And being the only mage in school who can't actually perform a spell has left her at the mercy of those looking for an easy target. It takes her meeting Shuu, a boy who claims to have been sent away from a war, to get her to really open her eyes to the world and her situation. But Shuu isn't safe to be around, and the longer Kallai is with him, the closer to the fire she gets. NaNoWriMo 2013

Her beautiful and daring self crosses the border--the biggest mistake ever, because now she is all he can think about. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Athena grows up witnessing the feuds and hate that transpires between her kingdom, and the kingdom of her erstwhile slave masters. Her inability to stand and watch her people get slaughtered one by one lands her under the roof of the son of her father's enemy. She finds herself tending to the almost-fatal stab of a man who would have her dead without a second thought. She finds herself falling deeply for the prince of her people's enemies. The situation between the two kingdoms begin to stir when the prince of Thestoria, a gorgeous and brutal young man is enamored by a certain Black woman, the one who had saved his life. She is all he can think about and it contradicts everything he's been loathing and fighting for years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Highest Ranks 🏅1 in #celebrateblackstories 🏅2 in #impossiblelove 🏅3 in #19thcentury 🏅11 in #feud 🏅13 in #blacklivesmatter

WHEN AN UNLIKELY SUITOR.... The Earl of Stokeford is hardly a man of amiable disposition and social graces. He scowls whenever he pleases, becomes rude at any time convenient for him, and worse, has a regrettable tendency to scare ladies out of their wits. Therefore, it is a most astonishing thing indeed when, upon laying eyes on the beautiful Miss Sophie Winscott, he decides to embark on a courtship... Except, of course, the hapless peer knows nothing in the matters of romance...until he receives help from an unlikely quarter. MEETS AN EAGER MATCHMAKER Then enter Miss Winscott's cousin, the vivacious Caroline Davis, who oddly gets along well with the slightly waspish Earl. Determined to help, Caroline endeavours to make a match of the two. But for all her enthusiasm, she can't help but be drawn to the troubled lord... and things start to get a little tangled from there.

Everyone has a fear. Fear of spiders? Arachnophobia. Fear of small spaces? Claustrophobia. And of course, the fear of being tickled by feathers: pteronophobia. Sophie Smart fears drowning. No, her fear isn't some made up malarkey like exposedflabophobia (acute paranoia when wearing a swimsuit and baring pasty thighs and a round bottom). Sophie drowned as a child. She died for three minutes. Her childhood trauma is real. Yet Sophie, hot-shot advertising executive, isn't a child anymore. Now Sophie's most important client, handsome Matthew Silver, is insisting she learn how to swim. She can't blame him really - he's the owner of a chain of swimming centers, and Sophie's in charge of his new advertising campaign. The last thing Sophie wants to do is get in the water, in a clingy swimsuit, with a client she's trying to impress. She's not going to win him over flapping around like an idiot, is she? But with a broken heart from her last relationship, maybe getting into the pool is just what Sophie needs. Maybe she can trust Matthew with her fears. Maybe it's time for her to forget about her past and take the plunge?

To save her brother, Veronica decides to dig up a vampire's grave and must grapple with the dangers that come with fraternizing with a killer. ***** There's a reason buried things should stay buried. Desperate to save her dying brother, Veronica digs up Lucius' grave--a notorious vampire with endearing charm and a thirst for redemption. Ignorant to the spotlight now on her family after releasing a killer back into the world, Veronica must grapple with her new reality while Lucius is forced to finally face the ghosts from his past, pulling him into the hell he helped create. As enemies begin to draw closer, Veronica finds herself having to choose a side, and leaning toward one she never thought she would. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Ren Tachibana

In a world of monsters and gods, the Lupus Deus is the one being no one wants among them, especially not the gods that wronged him. Vivian Grey is as average as any werewolf comes, or at least that's what she believes growing up until she is confronted with the fact that her mate is the monster she heard stories about growing up. It doesn't take her long to realize that he is as cruel as whispered, as unfeeling as he is complex, and far more monstrous than believed. When push comes to shove she'll have to learn to navigate her own strength or risk being drowned in his. As a war between her mate and the gods that made him take place, love, might just easily become a double-edged sword. PUBLISHED ON AMAZON Link: https://www.amazon.com/Lupus-Deus-Werewolf-Sophia-Moore/dp/1644341271/ref=nodl_

After a late night fight between Alex Summers and her ex goes terribly wrong, her parents ship her off to spend a stress-free summer in Los Angeles. But the second she steps off the plane, Alex stumbles into California bad boy Elias King, a too-hot-to-handle heartbreaker with a taste for trouble. ***** When Alex and Elias find themselves stuck living under the same roof, their sexual tension's undeniable, but their differences set them on a warpath to destroy each other. Elias bets he can steal her heart and seduce her in thirty days, while Alex swears she can keep him one-night-stand-free and have him sober by the end of the summer. All's fair in love and war if you're playing by the rules, but this time around, there are no limits. [[Audiobook now published by Hachette Audio/Hachette Book Group]] Content and trigger warning: This story depicts mental health issues, trauma, bullying, suicide, and violence. [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]] Cover designed by Ren T

Sophia will do anything to escape an arranged marriage to the arrogant billionaire, Enrique Monteiro, but he has more control than she knows. ***** Enrique Monteiro, a powerful Brazilian billionaire, has gotten everything he wanted in life. He has looks, wealth, power, and women. He travels in his private jet to negotiate business deals all over the globe. His godly looks and reserved attitude makes seems to pull women in. With just a snap of his fingers, he can get everything he's ever wanted. Everything except Sophia Castello. [[word count: 50,000-60,000 words]] Cover designed by Karen Roberts