When Lauren's mother died, her abusive father looks to her to play the role of house wife and bedmate. Lauren finds a way to escape it all when she meets local barbershop owner and Kingpin Rio.

kis·met /ˈkizmit,ˈkizˌmet/ noun destiny; fate. how do you know when you've met your soulmate?

"𝐌𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲." ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐲𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. [250,000-300,000 words] ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ⚠️𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬⚠️

"𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗐𝗍𝗒, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽. 𝗂 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽, 𝗍𝗈𝗈. 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗂 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽?" - 𝗍𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝗅𝗅𝖺 $𝗂𝗀𝗇 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝘂𝗴 - 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝘆 𝗫𝘅𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗞𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆𝘅𝗫 ⭢ 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗒𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗎𝗉𝖽𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋. 𝖥𝖾𝖻. 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟤 - 𝖠𝗉𝗋. 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟤

𝙆𝙤𝙞 𝙉𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: '𝙠𝙤𝙮•𝙣𝙤𝙝•𝙮𝙤•𝙠𝙞𝙣
𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣: 𝙅𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚
𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 𝙣., 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.

In a world where trust is fragile and alliances shift like sand, they'll have to decide how far they're willing to go to protect their family...and if love alone is enough to hold them together.

𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝗺𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝗼𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝗼𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝗺𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝗼𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝗼𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝗼𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐢𝗼𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫...

Jamani Raelynn Carr has always preferred life behind the scenes-quiet, focused, and in control. But when she lands her dream internship as a sideline reporter for the Detroit Pistons, she finds herself thrust into the spotlight, balancing ambition, family expectations, and her own need for authenticity. Navigating the male-dominated world of sports journalism isn't easy, especially when every day feels like a high-stakes audition. Jalen Montez Duren, the Pistons' charismatic young star, is used to the pressure and scrutiny that comes with fame. But underneath his cool exterior, he's searching for something real-someone who sees the man beyond the jersey. When he meets Jamani at a chaotic NBA Media Day, a single thoughtful question sparks a connection neither of them expects. As Jamani and Jalen's paths continue to cross-on the court, at press conferences, and in the city that raised them-friendship slowly deepens into something more. But their growing bond is tested by public scrutiny, career setbacks, past heartbreaks, and the ever-present tension between personal dreams and professional duty. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Detroit, this slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance explores what it means to fight for love, identity, and your rightful place in the world. For Jamani and Jalen, the real victory might be learning to trust themselves-and each other-when the spotlight fades.

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘢, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳." 𝖠𝖯𝖱𝖨𝖫 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 － 𝖠𝖴𝖦𝖴𝖲𝖳 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥