Sloane: Dominic Alexander is my late husband's best friend and the last man that I should want. For the last ten years, he's taken a sick pleasure in making me feel paper thin, like my existence is of no consequence to him at all. But now, things are different. After a drunken night, and a surprisingly sexy act of heroism, he's started to be . . . nice. Treating me like something other than the embodiment of his annoyance, which would be nice if it didn't make me feel things I swore to never feel for another man after my husband died.

Dr. Ezekiel Green is ready to make a fresh start in a new city after the divorce from his high school sweetheart. What was supposed to be a professional business dinner with a future colleague quickly transformed into a love at first sight encounter, or so he thought. Dr. Jemma Holiday was spirited, brilliant, beautiful, and another man’s wife.

The job offer she expected after taking an unpaid internship at a major shoe company didn’t come through. The friend who’d offered her a place to stay suddenly gave her 48 hours to vacate after a misunderstanding. And when she’s forced to move back to her hometown to live with her father and his mistress-turned-wife, it almost seems impossible for things to get any worse...until she runs into her former best friend, who’s only gotten fine with time.

Skylar Addison is one of the best sports attorneys in the city, so when the firm she worked for “reallocated” her out of a job, she felt as if the rug had been snatched from up under her. Finding out that her ex had her terminated after she decided that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship, only made matters worse. After a pity party at a local bar and grill, Skylar found herself falling for the type of man she swore she would never think twice about.

For Maleek Jones, hockey is his wife. Everything and everyone else is his mistress, an aside. When unexpected responsibilities land in his lap, the balance of his world is disrupted, changing the way he sees everything.

Sometimes, you just need someone to help you see things in a different light. A shift in the angle.

All Jerzey wanted was a family of her own. After things don't work out with her ex-husband, she takes matters into her own hands. Being a foster mom isn't easy, but having her best friend by her side to help makes it a little easier. That is, until the two blur lines and suddenly a friendship isn't enough.

Ashira, a belle from the suburbs, is the wealthy acting CEO of her father’s booming building firm. That's when she’s not the dancer on the Gram and TikTok, dating the latest Black Hollywood shooting star. To her, Jas, a construction laborer, is a walking conundrum. He’s fruitlessly ambitious yet steadfast in his spiritual convictions. He’s enigmatic, well-read, regimented, and poor. Oh, and a felon. An incredibly disarming parolee who wants no connection to her. Until he does.

From the moment his eyes met hers, there was something. Time stood still, the world around them vanished, and electricity... instant electricity. Immediately, she owned him in an inexplicable way he couldn’t quite understand. He couldn't escape her. Not in his dreams. And soon, not even in his reality. He was the man that made her soar. There was nothing in the world she wanted more than him. Absolutely nothing. His touch made her levitate. When she was with him, she was limitless. He felt like home.

All Zarinah wanted was to fall in love. Growing up, she had kissed her fair share of frogs. When an unconventional situation leads her to Lawson, her wishes might become reality. Lawson is the new CEO of his family's hotel casino chain. He's tired of aimless dating and women just wanting his money. When he meets Zarinah, he instantly feels like she's the one.

She’s an angel. And she doesn’t mind dancing with a demon. That’s why I’d move mountains, dry seas, and hydrate the desert if it made her happy. She brought goodness to the world. It was only right that I made it hers, along with the two tiny beauties that shared her hazel eyes and perfect smile. For them, I’d do whatever. For them, I’d become whoever.

At twenty-one, Ason ‘Ace’ Williams Jr. knows all about inevitable endings. He’s formerly famous, a popular rapper’s muse, the son of a three-time NBA champ, and a little… complicated. After a disturbing scandal and loss rocks his world, he’s left to deal with both in a city that doesn’t quite feel like home. It’s a place filled with old family friends he’s never met, reminders of all the endings he’s had to endure, and even worse—he’s stuck there after his dad takes a job no one ever imagined him taking.

You met them in the Valentine and Rose series. In this prelude, I will formally introduce you to Malik Anthony Clark, Tristian Neil Clark, and Langston Jamal Clark.

Elias Omari exists in the darkness that clouds his mind. Cress Devereaux exists in the light that inspires her soul. Together, they create beautiful shades of gray. An arranged marriage forces two families to smooth the edges of their jagged past with the hopes of a new beginning. But can a union tainted with secrets and uncertainty promise an unbreakable alliance? The one thing that Elias and Cress share in common is family over everything, but should they continue to fight for family when that same family has never truly fought for them?

I always knew marriage for me would never be to a man of my choosing. As a young girl, I was all too aware of the power I wielded in a world where men were supposed to be the superior gender. To the underworld, I was just a mafia princess. To my family, I was an equal. To my soon-to-be husband? Well, that was yet to be determined. But I prayed Enzo Bianchi was ready for me because I was damn sure prepared for him.

Haunted by the responsibility of caring for her troubled family, Maya Jacobs gave the only answer she could when Cameron asked her to marry him. Years later, entrenched in a soulless professional routine, she distracts herself from the lingering regret of her decision with a "work hard, play hard" lifestyle that guarantees no man will ever find his way into her heart again.

Mixed martial arts fighter Reid Andrews’s chance to reclaim his title as light-heavyweight champ is shattered when he’s injured only months before the rematch. To make sure he’s healed in time, his trainer sends him to recuperate under a professional’s care - Reid’s best friend’s little sister, all grown up....

I think for sure it must've been a dream because there's no way a guy could look like that, touch me like that, and be so in tune with me on every known level and disappear, leaving me with nothing but a good story to tell my friends. When he walks into my bar three months later, everything I thought I knew and what we'd had disappears in the blink of an eye and the blinding light of the three-carat diamond on his fiancee's hand.

Mia Saunders needs money. A lot of money. She has one year to pay off the loan shark who has threatened her father's life and is coming after his unpaid gambling debts. One million dollars to be exact. Her mission is simple - serve as a high-priced escort for her aunt's Los Angeles-based company and pay monthly against the debt. Spend a month with a rich man whom she doesn't have to sleep with if she doesn't want to? Easy money. Unlucky in love with a spirit that never gives up, this curvy motorcycle-riding vixen plans to get in, make her money, and get out.

Determined to overcome a difficult past, Erica Hathaway learns early on how to make it on her own. Days after her college graduation, she finds herself face to face with a panel of investors who will make or break her fledgling startup. The only thing she didn't prepare for was going weak in the knees over an arrogant and gorgeous investor who's seemingly determined to derail her presentation.

The NHL’s been at my door since I was 18, but I’d never leave the Swedish Hockey League—not while raising my little brother. But now he’s grown, and the Carolina Reapers show up with my greatest weakness: Langley Pierce, their new head of PR. I’ve never been able to say no to her. She’s fierce, independent, and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. She also has a stubborn streak wider than my entire country. One comment from her smart mouth about never dating again, and I propose. No, really, I actually propose.

The first time I saw him, he entranced me and offered to help me forget my broken engagement. The second time was on a blind date with no last names and undeniable passion. The third time, I was eight months pregnant with his baby that he knew nothing about. This time, he's not letting me walk away so easily.

Fresh off a divorce from a Hollywood hotshot, Madison Atwood needs an escape. With the paparazzi fresh on her heels and her love life splashed on every tabloid, she runs away to a swanky retreat in Northern California. Avalon Springs is the mountainside haven she needs to find herself again. Luke Dawson lives off the grid, preferring solitude to society. When he finds a beautiful woman soaking in the hot springs on his property, he can't stop himself from watching her. She captures his attention, but she's just a city girl - a beautiful distraction disturbing the peace.

Here come the (Barefoot Bay) brides! They’re experts at planning dreamy “I do’s” but haven’t found their own happily ever after...yet. Destination wedding consultant Willow Ambrose has fought a battle with the scale for much of her life, but she has finally won the war. She hasn’t just cut calories - she’s cut all ties to her past, too, and successfully carved out a new body and a new life. But when she comes face to face with someone who left an indelible mark on her heart years before, all that threatens to crumble.

The moment I see Adelaide Spencer, I know she's my mate. Neither of us have given ourselves to another - because we were both waiting for a moment like this. Her and me, under the stars, the night spread out in front of us, full of hope and a thousand tomorrows. But our pasts have collided in ways she doesn't know, and when she finds out, she'll never forgive me. Not for the mountain man I am, or for the bear I've been.

Sebastian Shark is on the verge of realizing his dream. The Edge - the most luxurious Los Angeles skyscraper ever conceived - will be his legacy, an icon to dominate LA’s skyline just as Shark dominates its boardrooms. Self-made businesswoman Abbigail Gibson is on a trajectory toward massive success, but to get there, she must navigate the egos of her demanding clients - particularly the driven and obstinate Shark, who possesses the special talent of aggravating and arousing her within the same breath.

From New York Times best-selling author Kim Karr comes a flirty new love story. The whole stethoscope-and-white coat thing isn't my cup of tea. I prefer a man with an artistic vein in his body and 9-to-5 hours. And I can definitely do without the half-lidded, sleepy bedroom eyes. (Okay, so those are kind of sexy.) Tall, dark, and handsome doesn't change the fact that he's arrogant, cocky, and rude. Not that I care, but he's made it clear he wants nothing to do with a quirky girl like me, which is why he said no. Turns out no isn't an option.

I'm a rescuer. It's in my DNA. Stray dogs. Stray women... But this one doesn't need rescuing. She needs something real, but I never keep the ones I rescue. I could let her go...but I can't watch her walk away. I'm an ex-Navy SEAL, and I never give up on a mission.

Family is everything to gambling den darling, Teresa Valentini. So when her brother lands himself in hot water, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save him. And showing up topless in her unwitting savior’s motel room is turning out to be the furthest thing from a hardship. Will Caruso is the bad boy of New York’s financial scene…and he just found out the very thing that drives his success is a damn lie. Now he’s exchanged his high-stress life for the open road. When a beauty arrives, her secrecy prods his suspicions, even while she tempts his lust to the breaking point.

"Have we met?" Answer: a right hook! Because Bryony Morgan pulls no punches. Even when she's very pregnant and facing down the father of her unborn child. She fell for wealthy hotelier Rafael de Luca when he courted her for her beachfront real estate. Then he disappeared. Now, she's in New York for answers - and she won't accept a brush-off. But selective amnesia after a crash has Rafael puzzled. How could he ever forget a combustible beauty like Bryony?

Sloane: Dominic Alexander is my late husband's best friend and the last man that I should want. For the last ten years, he's taken a sick pleasure in making me feel paper thin, like my existence is of no consequence to him at all. But now, things are different. After a drunken night, and a surprisingly sexy act of heroism, he's started to be . . . nice. Treating me like something other than the embodiment of his annoyance, which would be nice if it didn't make me feel things I swore to never feel for another man after my husband died.

Pregnant by a man she learned wasn't who she thought he was and starting a new career, she's forced to step up and show everyone around her she's more than the hothead, feisty, girl they believe her to be.

Think you know what it's like being a baller's girl? You don't. My fairy tale is upside down. A happily never after. I kissed the prince and he turned into a fraud. I was a fool, and his love—fool's gold. Now there's a new player in the game, August West. One of the NBA's brightest stars. Fine. Forbidden. He wants me. I want him. But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go.

I shouldn't have felt this way about her. She's my brother-in-law's first love. She was forbidden fruit. Ain't shit ever been forbidden for me. I take what I want, and I want her. I shouldn't have these strong of feelings for a woman I just met. I wanted to lay every man who even thought about looking her way… including my brother-in-law. Erin was mine before she even knew it. Our paths were meant to cross, our futures to intertwine.

For better or worse… That was the promise Denver and Kensa made, but it’s a sentiment they’ve somehow lost along the way. What started as a passionate wildfire has diminished to a flicker, all but snuffed out by unspoken fears, perceived betrayal, and a complete breakdown in communication. Can either of them tuck their ego away long enough to rekindle their flame?

Eliana Barlow has spent years longing to be a mother. With six miscarriages, she is finally blessed with a beautiful baby girl through the loss of her best friend Porchea. The loss of her husband in the line of duty only two years later proves to Eliana that life can be cruel. Dealing with heartbreak in the midst of raising her daughter is no easy task, but Eliana manages to do it all with grace.

I am not a drug dealer. I am not a seller… I am not a handler… I am not an abuser… I am not a promoter… I am not a smuggler… However, I understand that I can not save the world or the people who have chosen those paths. So, making substances safer, grander, and extremely unique is my life’s work. What I have created can’t be duplicated, stepped on, or mistaken for anything else.

All Sevyn wanted was to finish law school and make her late grandmother proud. She was never the one to color outside the lines or go against the rules. When Sevyn is suddenly faced with past due bills and eviction, she becomes overwhelmed trying to stay above water. Nasir is content in his relationship with his long-term girlfriend. The two of them have an understanding. Inviting another partner in the bedroom has never been an issue—until now. When Sevyn joins the couple for one night of pleasure, Nasir instantly becomes attracted to the innocence surrounding her.

Sometimes, you just need someone to help you see things in a different light. A shift in the angle.

Growing up with parents that expect nothing but the best from her meant that life hasn’t always been the easiest for Ava Murphy. Fortunately, she’s learned to cope with the cards she’s been dealt. The intelligent beauty is now at a crossroads, torn between pursuing her passion or pursuing the life that has been carved out for her. As a way to distract herself from thinking about her impending future, Ava keeps herself busy with her temporary job at one of Miami’s finest bars.

When you know, you know. Or so say the men in my family. While I was never one to run from love, marriage, or commitment, I knew it’d take a strong woman to handle everything that came with being with me. Not only was my family well connected and wealthy, but as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, I had made a success of my life on my own. In my world, women came a dime a dozen...or so I thought.