Blog

If Celeste is ambition in heels, Malachi Owens is resistance—in Ferragamos or a hoodie, depending on the day.

He can hold court in a strategy meeting or a barbershop, break down equity metrics or city corruption over bourbon, and still show up to Sunday dinner with foil-wrapped leftovers and a perfectly grilled pan of jerk chicken.

He’s 33, born and raised in Langston Heights, and if you ask him what he does for a living, he’ll probably shrug and say, “I try to make the city better.” But don’t...

Let me introduce you to Celeste Evans—because once you meet her, you won’t forget her.

She’s 31, born and bred in Langston Heights, and currently running the show as Chief of Staff to the Mayor. But don’t let the title fool you—she’s not just managing schedules and smoothing over press conferences. Celeste is the engine behind the city’s most powerful office, pulling strings, shaping policy, and cleaning up messes no one else even sees coming. She’s the strategist. The fixer. The woman people...

When I started writing Crossing Lines at City Hall, I knew a few things for sure. I knew my first novel had to be a romance (obviously), and I knew I wanted to start with an enemies-to-lovers story.

Now, is it my favorite trope of all time? Not necessarily. But something about the emotional chaos of two people who clash, challenge each other, and still can’t stay away? I was hooked.

But not the kind where they’re "enemies" in chapter one and kissing by chapter two. No ma’am. I wanted that slow...

Heyyyyyyyyy boo,

First of all—thank you for being here.

I’ve been dreaming about this space for a long time. A corner of the internet where love reigns, where Black people are at the center of the story, and where romance is messy, sexy, steamy, and a little—okay, a lot—complicated… and always worth the ride.

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Charese Powell—a romance author, a lover of big feelings, steamy tension, and characters who are as layered and complex as the rest of us. I write love stories...