In this tale of forbidden love and rivalry, two of the South’s elite Black families are threatened by a star-crossed romance that might change everything—for readers of Kimberla Lawson Roby. 

Carrah Andrews spent her life trying to please her parents and siblings, putting her own hopes aside to work as a chemist at Noir, her family’s cosmetics company. Her dream was to be an author, not spend her days developing beauty serums. Everything changes when Carrah enters a writing contest and lands a book deal. Except she can’t ever tell her parents because: 1) they’d be devastated she wants to leave Noir, and 2) she just hired their biggest rival as her entertainment attorney.

Christopher Chenault is not supposed to cross enemy lines, but he can’t bring himself to turn Carrah away. After all, the families’ enmity doesn’t have to be theirs…especially as more time spent together leads to undeniable attraction.

But when long-held secrets come to light, Carrah and Chris are going to have to decide if they’ll stand by their heritage or embrace who they want to be—and the love they have only just discovered.