JAZZY
“Mmm,” I moaned the second I walked through the front door and made my way down the long corridor to the kitchen. “Now Mama Bishop, you know you don’t have any business cooking food that smells this good.”
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As we enter promo season for My Only (silent scream!), it’s the perfect time to lay out everything there is to know about Greene Gardens, since it’s a subplot in My Only. This fictional village, first mentioned in Greed—book 3 in the Love is Cure, Vol. 1 – Vices & Virtues series—will be a setting you’ll see more of in future stories.
When Greene Gardens was first introduced in Greed, it was in the epilogue. The plot of Greed centered on the MMC, Bryant, trying to scheme his way into his grandmother’s trust so she would give him the rights to her property. This particular piece of land was important because developers looking to gentrify the town saw it as the cornerstone for their plans.
In the opening scene of Greed, chapter one, we sit in on a conversation between Bryant and his grandmother. In that convo, he lies and says he has a girlfriend—just to appeal to her love of playing matchmaker. And like most grandmothers would, she asks to meet this girlfriend.
The problem? Bryant doesn’t have a damn girlfriend!
The pristine office sparkles effortlessly, as if it was born to do so. Bryant Greene, the multi-billionaire and a different man than he once was, insisted I meet him in his high-rise in Manhattan for an interview. Perched on the top floor, his corner office offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline, where New York’s tallest buildings glitter beneath the late afternoon sun. Despite it being nearing midday, activity buzzes across the floor, never slowing down.
“We’re still very much involved with developing Greene Gardens,” Bryant informs me, settling into his high-back leather office chair. “Though many residents are calling it home, there’s still a lot more work to do. Work I’m looking forward to tackling every day.”
Since he was already in the mood to discuss Greene Gardens, that’s where we start for his very first Q&A with me.
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The amount of readers who said that Ayanna tried their patience with this story was overwhelming. It made me feel really good about the characters I created, because despite the situation these two found themselves in, you all were still rooting for them! I loved Ayanna and Dallas from the time they became more than names in an outline, and my main reason for getting through the frustrating moments in So This is Love was so I could get to this chapter in their love story. Chapter 20 was the reunion we thought we were going to get when Ayanna randomly decided to visit Dallas in Oakland in a chapter prior. And it was worth the wait… at least to me it was lol.
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Genesis Garner’s story in Forbidden: An Anthology was the only romance amongst the five stories. It was based on a random question I wanted to see played out on the page. A woman who believed she was living her forever, only to be faced with two crushing situations in one night, felt too layered not to explore. And Genesis, to me, was an intriguing character. Her continued story, Meant to Be, was one of the first unconventional romances I’ve written—and I’ve been hooked ever since. Genesis carries a lot of pain, and much like her friend-turned-lover, August Hall, she experienced the loss of a parent at an early age, which helped shape who she is.
Let’s get to know Genesis a little more intimately.
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WES
I stepped into the restaurant, Union, lifting my head long enough to greet the hostess in front.
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Jazzy
I twisted my steering wheel to the right, guiding my car to the curb. My head bobbed in time to the beat of the song streaming from my phone’s speaker. The song was rough, the beat raw and very unpolished, and I loved that the most about it.
Last month on Brookelynite Daily, we wrapped our third serialized romance. This month, we’re starting a new one. The heat is up. So is the tension.
I Hate That I Love You is the fourth story coming to my premium newsletter. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance about two A&Rs with beef who are being forced to work together for a good cause. They’ve got history. And yes, there’s the baby sister’s best friend trope in the mix too.
How excited I was to create an alternate ending for these two. Just saying their names—Nubia and Naazir—makes my heart warm. I love them deeply. Not too many words here, because you’ve got to get to the story. Enjoy! I know I did writing it…
NAAZIR
I shifted my attention from the canvas in front of me to Nubia. Smiled as I studied her, sitting as still as she could, covered only with a white silk sheet. She held a bulk of the fabric around her full breasts.
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When I asked readers to let me know which short stories from Forbidden: An Anthology they wanted me to continue, the overwhelming request was for August and Genesis’s story. And that didn’t surprise me. These two were really good on page. Tack on their storyline and how they came to be, and you have an unconventional friends-to-lovers story I couldn’t wait to work on. Their story was so unique, as they were dealing with grief (Genesis had a harder time than August) and this tamed attraction they’d had for each other since they were teenagers. And while they had given into those desires in the anthology, Meant to Be really gave their love roots. But one particular chapter brought this love story back on track—and it came after a moment that seemed too big to forgive.
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