It’s not their fault I turned out to be a hoodlum.” – Giovanni “Grim” Re For Grim, even his name spoke of the constant battle that warred within him on a daily basis. His government name, Giovanni Re, was chosen specifically by his father. He wanted Grim’s first name to remind him that he was favored by God while his last name meant King. His nickname, Grim, stemmed from his past of being somewhat of a grim reaper towards his enemies. For a great deal of his life, Grim struggled with his good heart and evil mind, unsure of if he’d ever have a peaceful relief… until Havana. Havana Brooks has always been soft spoken and quiet natured. In her relationships that led to her being taken advantage of. In her career that led to her music being shelved while she watched her label mates gain the stardom she dreamed of having. There was a good thing about being so nice and sweet, though. It allowed her to be peace for Grim. As friends, Havana settles Grim and he builds her up. She nurtures him while he gives her a voice. He strengthens her while she weakens him. For those around them, Grim and Havana are a match made in heaven, but these two will have to go through hell to be with each other. *I’ll Give You Mine is the spinoff for If You Give Me Yours. Although both stories can be read as standalones, it is recommended that you read If You Give Me Yours First. This book does contain explicit language and an urban setting. If either of these things go against your personal preference, please skip this book on your journey for literary entertainment.*

    She lacked confidence and often shied away from everyone in the world except her grandmother and best friend, Noelle. The only time Simone isn’t afraid to shine is on the basketball court. Simone didn’t know the hidden beauty she possessed and probably never would have until she met Que. Que, a big-time drug dealer in the heart of Atlanta, had it made. He was handsome, wealthy and every nigga wanted to be him and every female wanted him. When he notices Simone, he makes up his mind that he has to have her. He brings out the best in Simone, all while keeping her a secret afraid of her interfering with his reputation. Will the unlikely pair find true love or will it lead to a devastating heartbreak?

    But when his estranged childhood best friend Emir Shah shows up to summer training camp, Sebastian realizes the team's success may end up in the hands of the one guy who hates him. Determined to reconnect with Emir for the sake of the Lions, he sets out to regain Emir's trust. But to Sebastian's surprise, sweaty days on the pitch, wandering the town's streets, and bonding on the weekends sparks more than just friendship between them.

    The only problem she didn't factor in was the distance Harvard would put between her and her nine year old sister. When you have a mother who can't let go of her youth, and a father too busy trying to make ends meat to provide for his family Charm has no choice but to pick up the slack. Charm makes the hard decision to attend college to build a future for her little sister when tragedy strikes leaving Charm to question her purpose in life.

    She had the perfect job, perfect man and enough money in the bank to last three lifetimes. One-day tragedy struck when she least expected it. Depressed and alone Jasmine finally decided to give love another try. She met Ty who was handsome and charming; he was everything she was looking for until he did the unthinkable to her.Mo grew up with Jasmine and always had a crush on her; unfortunately she never gave him the time of day. She felt that he was too much of a thug for her and would be a constant distraction. Jasmine didn’t want the headache so she always played it safe when it came to dating. When he finds out what happens will he be her knight and shining armor or will he push her away.

    Deliberate. Menace. Executioner. Those were just a few words to describe the DeLano Trevino. For the majority of his life, he had been deemed the quiet one. Light on his toes, but swift with his trigger finger; no target was ever left untouched. No enemy ever left breathing. That was until he made the mistake of letting his best friend’s killer roam freely. Six years have gone by since he left the grimy streets of California. After the brutal killing of his best friend, Lano uprooted to the Midwest. Over the years, his rank in the streets solidified him as one of the most ruthless men to grace Kansas City. To most, especially the women, his entire persona yelled dangerous, but not to all. Attracted to what she knew wasn’t good for her, Anika was smitten with Lano from day one. His hood charm turned her own in ways no other man had ever done. Their friendship blossomed into a full-blown relationship with ease and was rocky at first, but there was no turning back now. She was invested, respected as his woman, and held as much weight in the streets as he did. That was until Samia, Lano’s ex and his best friend’s sister, pops back into their life. When a trip to his hometown ends with bullets flying leaving Lano shot, all bets are off. The notion of making peace with his past was terminated immediately. With a thirst so strong for revenge, treachery overshadowed any rational thoughts Lano has when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. If it was a war his enemies were seeking, they had better come prepared with guns blazing. DeLano wasn’t laying down for a soul. He was snatching the lives of whoever during his deadly ambush and sending them straight to their maker.

    It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense. With every stolen moment, soft touch and breathless kiss, they fell deeper in love.Finn was his future…until he wasn’t. Love stays. Even when you don’t want it to, even when you try to deny it, it stays. Eight years later, Finn has returned to the seaside town where it all began. He’s on the brink of stardom, a far cry from the poor mechanic who spent one gorgeous summer falling in love on the beach.The last thing he wants is a second chance with the man who broke his heart. Finn has spent a long time forgetting Joshua Newton—he certainly doesn’t plan to forgive him. Love grows. It never leaves. One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise : all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!This book is approximately 63,000 wordsEdited by Kerri Buckley

    Whatever Mona wants, Mona gets...including another woman's husband. But when a face from the past re-enters her life, she begins to question the decisions she's made. Will she make a change or stay the course with her lover? *this is not your ordinary inspirational novel*

    Will Derrie likes girls but he isn’t honest with them; he wants kinky sex and lots of it. When Hugh offers to dominate him, no sex required, Will realizes it might not be so easy to separate the two. Sometimes all it takes is a new angle on an old idea to change everything you thought you wanted. Hugh Reynolds holds the world at arm's length. He lives alone, works alone, and he thinks he's as happy as he'll ever be. But Will gets under his skin and once he's gone, Hugh realizes he doesn’t want to go it alone forever. Sometimes all it takes is a random encounter to open your mind (and your heart). Truman Jennings hits on a cute guy at a conference and he’s smitten by the end of their first date. Hugh's not the kindest or the easiest boyfriend Truman's ever had, but he brings one thing to their relationship that no one else could: kinky, adventurous, sweetly submissive Will. Sometimes you can't find the right man till you find the wrong one. Three men. Three sides to love, and intimacy, and laughter. Three people who don't know what they're looking for...until they find it in each other. This book is the first book in the Scientific Method Universe, and was originally published as two volumes: The Scientific Method and Hugh's New Dude. The new version has some additional bits here and there, but covers most of the same ground. Information about the rest of the series can be found at krisripper.com/smu

    After doing so much dirt in the streets of Atlanta the only option left for the twenty-six year old dope boy is to leave or end up in an early grave but everyone knows that relocating doesn’t change who you are. Being a hustler at heart, it was nothing for Meeko to come to the country and quickly have everything on lock. Him, his brother, and their new team have money flowing in like water and with the money comes women, willing and ready to do anything for a chance at being the main chic of a well-paid dope boy. Problem is Meeko only has eyes for one woman... Cookie. Cookie’s the complete opposite of all of the women that Meeko’s dealt with since arriving in Boykins, including his baby mama Shy. Quiet, hardworking, intelligent, and simply determined to have more than what her non-supportive family envisioned for her. She’s also been able to stay away from the BS of the small town. That is until her and Meeko’s paths cross… she’s exactly what Meeko feels he needs in his life but his fast paced, chaotic lifestyle isn’t what she wants or needs, which causes her to initially ignore all of his attempts to pursue her. After trying her best to deny and fight the chemistry that she and Meeko obviously have, Cookie finally falls victim to his southern charm. The two couldn’t be a more perfect match but when the town starts talking and word gets out that Cookie is the new lady in Meeko’s life, she will have to endure his ratchet baby mama and what seems like never ending drama in order to hold the title of ‘wifey’ and it won’t be easy. With everything and everyone against them, can love really conquer all?

    She's trying to hold everything down while her baby daddy serves a ten year bid for drug trafficking. The last thing she's looking for is love. Between working and taking care of her daughters she's stretched thin. One night by chance she meets Jaeshawn, a thug in his own right. Jaeshawn aka Larry Bird runs everything from New York to Virginia and everything in between. All he wants is a woman to call his own, but that woman isn't his baby mother, Kaysha, who wants to make her family work. Kaysha and Jaeshawn have a one year old son, Keyshawn who Kaysha uses as a pawn against Jaeshawn. Maddie is in a hateful relationship with her man, Jared. Jared is mentally and physical abusive, and has a terrible jealousy problem. He forbids Maddie to hang with her best friend, Tiara, and keeps tabs on everything she does. When Tiara introduces Maddie to John, an Arabic God , who is also Jaeshawn's right hand, she doesn't think it will go far, but boy is she wrong. Jared, Dyron and Jamal are all friends and have one thing in common: Dread. Dread runs Queens and has an beef with Larry Bird. But when Jared , Dyron and Jamal start landing in trouble, and Dread is the common denominator, things go haywire. When Tiara enters Jaeshawn's world one cold winter night, his entire worlds changes. He sees her right to take the throne beside him as the trap king's wife.

    The last thing he expects is for his friend’s roommate to be the one guy he despises the most. The same guy who stomped on his heart senior year of high school. And by the looks of the girl on his arm, the same man who’s still deep inside the closet. Nicholas Dell never predicted that eleven years later, one of his greatest regrets would show up on his doorstep down on his luck. Nick has made some terrible mistakes—story of his life—and he’s been paying for them ever since. And if the guilt and shame aren’t enough, his first crush had to turn into one of the sexiest men he’s ever laid eyes on. Nick and Brin have weeks to steer clear of each other. Weeks to avoid strangling each other. But when stubbornness leads to skyrocketing sexual tension, hate-sex doesn’t seem like such an awful way to work through their frustration. Except hate is a powerful emotion, especially when it’s turned inward. And in Nick’s case he’s been drowning in a sea of self-loathing for so long, he can’t see his way out. As Brin reconnects with Nick, his perception of what really happened in their past begins to change. He’s finally ready to forgive him and take a second chance on the one guy who stirs him like no other. But Nick’s demons are complicated, heart-wrenching…demanding. So devastating, he might never allow himself true happiness—even with the one man who’s always owned his heart.

    When she enters their lives, she brings along chaos and mayhem. She desperately seeks the love that her mother, a woman who cares more for drugs than her own flesh and blood, couldn’t give. She only knows how to show and feel love by opening her legs. A night that begins as partying and fun turns into horror. The events that transpire blacken Della’s heart. She vows that the pain inflicted upon her will be inflicted back on her attackers. She will pay them all back - with a vengeance. What happens when her obsession with getting even causes her to spiral out of control?

    When Max Sheldon arrives to take over as Acting Registrar, Darren finds himself consumed by lust for his new boss and making the kind of decisions he as a stuck-in-his-ways administrator has never made before.When Darren initiates a full-on kiss during a meeting with Max, the enthusiasm of the Registrar's response takes him by surprise. Max is reluctant to pursue a relationship with an employee, but Darren is equally determined not to take no for an answer. Can he prove his worth to the man he's beginning to love and show him he's a dab hand at educational politics as well?