The Black Boyfriend Effect
About
I have a parade of horribles running through my head at all times.
You're going to get fired. Your dress makes you look fat. Everyone knows you're a fraud.
The parade is loudest when I meet Marcus Thompson—six-foot-three of confidence, charm, and the kind of direct eye contact that makes me want to run toward him and hide in the bathroom.
I've spent my entire adult life staying small. Small expectations. Small risks. Small chances of getting hurt. It's worked brilliantly—if you don't count the crippling anxiety, the carefully controlled life that feels like a cage, and the growing suspicion that I'm letting the best parts of life pass me by.
Then Marcus looks at me like I'm the only person in the room and calls me queen.
And I believe him.
Falling for him means doing the work I've avoided for years. It means confronting the voice that tells me I'm not enough. It means sitting with the discomfort when strangers stare at us. It means navigating a world that has opinions about a white woman dating a Black man.
But the hardest part? Learning that love doesn't require perfection. It requires courage.
Marcus doesn't fix me. He loves me well enough that I finally decide to do the fixing myself.
A steamy, laugh-out-loud contemporary romance about anxiety, growth, and what it means to be truly seen.
Perfect for fans of: Tessa Bailey • Kennedy Ryan • Helen Hoang
TROPES: Opposites Attract • He Falls Harder • Protective Alpha • Interracial Romance (WWBM) • Emotional Growth
HEAT: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Very Steamy • CONTENT: Anxiety rep • Explicit scenes • HEA guaranteed