Call Us What We Carry

Malachi Brooks is a wealthy, eligible bachelor with everything going for him. He is living the life many would want, but he is missing something - The love of a real woman. Of course he has the pick of any woman he chooses; women would bend over backwards to bare his children. He is very attractive, intelligent and he has a lot to offer but he wants something different than what has been getting. Brianna Martin wants something other than being a booty call. She is a thick sistah with a lot going for her. She wants to find real love with a real man who would appreciate her for being her. Lately, Brianna has been thinking it's inevitable for her to be single for the rest of her life. On his way to work, Malachi sees the woman of his dreams but doesn't know how to get in touch with her. Yet he is determined to find out who she is. Meanwhile, Brianna gets an inappropriate phone call that livens things up for her. She does the unthinkable and steals the caller’s number to hunt him down. She’s intrigued to find out who is behind that sexy voice. As luck would have it, Brianna finds the caller and begins calling him to give him a taste of his own medicine and they click! A meet-up is planned between Brianna and the caller. Brianna is hesitant and decides to have a back up plan. The plan goes awry leaving confessions needing to be made. Will Brianna be able to come clean? Will Malachi see Brianna for who she really is?

In a company built on love, lies run deeper than romance. Andrea thought Everett Langston was just another difficult client. She was wrong. * * * Working as a relationship consultant suited Andrea just fine until she was assigned to Everett Langston, a powerful and notoriously difficult client with a talent for intimidation and a past he never speaks about. Everett is cold, calculating, and impossible to read. Yet behind the arrogance are cracks Andrea can’t ignore and secrets that begin to surface the closer she gets to him. Then there’s Donald. A man tied to Everett by blood, guilt, and mistakes that refuse to stay buried. As hidden agendas collide, friendships strain, and old betrayals resurface, Andrea finds herself pulled into a dangerous web where love is a weapon and trust is a liability.

Starting over is hard to do, especially when you plan on spending a couple of forevers with your childhood sweetheart. Devyn Parks has to do just that when the love of her life, Sterling, is killed in Afghanistan, leaving her to raise their five children on her own. Resolved to pick up the pieces to her broken future, Devyn packs her life in Arlington up and moves her family back to her hometown of New Orleans. Fresh off the heels of a contentious divorce, Kadeer is just trying to provide for his five daughters and maintain the peace with his ex-wife, Skylar. The only problem is that Skylar makes it next to impossible. Between his ex turning his girls against him and trying to get his own construction company off the ground, Kadeer doesn't have time for love, or does he? With the help of their friends, Devyn and Kadeer are on a collision course that will flip any expectations they had for their future on its head. Will they be able to find their way to each other, or will a bitter ex and a healing heart keep them apart? Only time will tell where their love lies.

“You can call me when you’re lonely. I’ll be your temporary fix.” Those were the words that he said to me and it was plain simple, he wanted nothing but sex and I wanted nothing more than too. I was the kind of girl who was too scared of falling in love again because I feel like there is something more in life than being mournful over a guy who never actually gave a hell. I deserve something more than pain and misery over a stupid heartbreak. Since then, I got too scared of commitment that I no longer wanted to be in one. I wanted fun and I wanted to feel like I am alive again. He was the kind of guy who was too busy for permanent relationships. The superstar that all women wanted to bang with. The kind of guy who would have any girls kneel down in front of him because well, he is that kind of guy. He was a guy with a hectic schedule, sold out world tours, drinking champagne in private jets, holding a mic in one hand and conquering all over the world on the other. Maybe I needed someone to show me how to live again and he needed someone to show him how to love.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

When Mia's best friend and long time crush proposes to his girlfriend, she's forced to move on from her hopes of a future with him.