{"title":"Friends 2 Lovers Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe complete Friends 2 Lovers series by Jonathan Anthony Burkett, Volumes 1 to 10, in reading order. Childhood best friends Claude and Kelly find out whether friendship can become a love that lasts a lifetime.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-the-unthinkable","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: The Unthinkable Book Series","description":"\u003cspan\u003eIt is said that being friends before lovers is a key to a wonderful relationship. When couples are friends first, even when there is no physical loving, there is still caring and communication. Claude and Kelly are friends. The question is do they have what it takes to successfully transition into lovers while keeping their friendship intact for the long haul.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn Friends 2 Lovers: The Unthinkable, high school senior Claude Daniels faces some of the most horrific tragedies life can throw at a person, and his best friend Kelly helps see him through them all. As they move toward adulthood the pair is exploring the possibilities of their relationship and will soon discover if friendship really is the best foundation or if it does more harm than good.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAutobiographer Jonathan Anthony Burkett is back and determined to keep readers up all night with his first work of fiction Friends 2 Lovers: The Unthinkable. Inspired by his personal experiences, Jonathan has crafted a story of the heart to address several crucial relationships issues of our day.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDoes support always equate to love? What has to happen for truth to rule over the emotions of a relationship? Can anything kill a friendship? Find out if Claude and Kelly can answer these and many others questions in Friends 2 Lovers: The Unthinkable.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43753431400691,"sku":"234","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/Untitled_design_3.png?v=1780058366"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-v-2-closed-doors-open","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: Closed Doors Open Book Series","description":"\u003cspan\u003eIn the heartwarming follow-up to Friends 2 Lovers, readers can look forward to childhood friends Claude and Kelly s new encounters and their ebb and flow of emotions as they begin life together as a couple. Friends 2 Lovers Part 2 gives fans of the first book a new twist to look forward to as closed doors begin to open and unbelievable things happen. The novel begins as Claude and Kelly bid their goodbyes to old acquaintances and very close friends. After spending a year in New Jersey, they start their journey back down to Miami, Florida to be close to their families. They encounter many new things and strive to keep their bond strong and unbreakable. However, past relationships and misunderstandings catch up with them, threatening the special connection they already have together. In addition, a more haunting past troubles them, risking both their lives and loves. Blending suspense, murder, revenge, love, lust, Friends 2 Lovers Part 2 is a compelling and emotive read that will still leave readers overwhelmed, hanging, and asking for more.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43753431957747,"sku":"246","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/Untitled_design_1.png?v=1780057998"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-unexpected-consequences","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: Unexpected Consequences Book Series","description":"\u003cspan\u003eThe third chapter of Friends 2 Lovers focuses on new adversities that the pair must face as they move forward in their new relationship. Crises from all angles of life present themselves to Claude and Kelly, testing their resolve to remain true to each other while the world around them becomes more and more perilous. Violent actions enter the love affair several times throughout the novel, forcing Claude and Kelly to protect themselves and their relationship from those who wish to bring harm to them. Medical issues also come into play when the couple learns that their close friend is in need of a life-saving transfusion. With difficult choices to make and lives at stake, the couple must find strength within their relationship to make it through.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43753432121587,"sku":"248","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/Untitled_design_4.png?v=1780058446"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-hidden-in-plain-sight","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: Hidden in Plain Sight Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Four of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne year after Kelly Richards gave up the baby born from the worst days of her life, she marks the little girl's first birthday the only way she can: one cupcake, one candle, and a prayer whispered in the laundry room. Then the mail comes. Inside a plain white envelope is a photograph of a laughing one-year-old in a pink party hat, and on the back, four words in careful block capitals: \"Happy 1st Birthday to OUR daughter.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLarry Vance is out on bail, and five months from trial. He knows where the child is. He knows exactly how to reach Claude. One quiet remark in a courthouse hallway is all it takes for Claude's temper to hand Larry everything he wants, and when Claude's fist goes through a wall in front of their daughter, Kelly gives him a choice: learn to control his rage at Uncle Dev's boxing gym, or don't come home. There, beside fast-talking heavyweight Clinton Johnson, Claude stumbles onto a secret that could change everything, and he decides to keep it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnthony owes a dangerous man a favor that has come due, a film director offers Kelly the role she gave up on and the people closest to them are hiding more than anyone knows. This family has survived everything. Can it survive the secrets they keep to protect each other?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-4-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of Hidden in Plain Sight →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from Hidden in Plain Sight\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Anybody can hit. A champion decides.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Uncle Dev\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We don't keep score anymore. We keep each other.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Fighting is when you can't stop. Boxing is when you know how to.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I don't care what I come from. I care where my kids come from. They come from me. So I got to be somebody they can come from.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Your silence belongs to you. You don't have to sell it. Not to him. Not to anybody.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You were wrong, and you love her, and both of those are true at the same time.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Whatever it costs you to tell it, it costs more to keep it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Colin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I don't forgive you. But I'm done carrying you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Evette\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The ones God gave us, and the ones we chose.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-4-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815007944947,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol4-front.jpg?v=1792589921"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-the-ones-we-chose","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: The Ones We Chose Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Five of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the night of Anthony and Myra's wedding, under a sky of silver stars, Kelly opens the envelope she has kept hidden in her Bible for months. The test proves Larry Vance is not the father of the daughter she placed for adoption. And if it was never Larry, there is only one other man it could be. The little girl with the mark on the back of her neck, the one who ran across the dance floor straight into Claude's arms, may be his.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClaude wants to bring her home. Kelly wants something harder: no hiding, no fists, no lawyers first. She owes Valerie Dixon, the woman who opened her door and raised Lori with love, the truth face to face. But Valerie's husband, Reggie, greets kindness with a careful plan of his own, and Clinton Johnson, Claude's sparring partner and Lori's devoted big brother, is not about to let anyone take his sister without a fight. Anthony, ignoring his own failing health, offers his son a lawyer who only plays to win. And from a prison cell, Larry is still looking for ways to hurt them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo families love the same little girl. Both have every reason to hold on. When the law, blood and love all point in different directions, who gets to decide what makes a family?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-5-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of The Ones We Chose →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from The Ones We Chose\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That's all a father ever is. The one who stays.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“A kid can have more than one person decide they love her.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Clinton\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Every time this family hides something, somebody gets hurt worse than the thing we were hiding.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Tell the truth first and fight second. If I have to fight at all.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I'm not asking you to give her up. I'm asking you to make room.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You stop fighting for the belt. You fight for the person.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Uncle Dev\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Every secret I kept grew teeth. They got bigger in the dark.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Colin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Anybody can win it one time. A champion has to keep it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Arnold James\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That's not less for her. That's more.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Clinton\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-5-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815008764147,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol5-front.jpg?v=1792589946"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-the-sins-of-the-father","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: The Sins of the Father Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Six of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn Father's Day, Claude Richards holds a yellow envelope from Detroit and learns that the man who raised him since he was seventeen was never his father by blood. Anthony Richards paid for a lie in 2008 so he could bring Claude home. Now, with a kidney transplant scheduled for dawn, Claude has one night to decide what he owes the man who chose him, and his wife, Kelly, has to decide how close to stand while he carries it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe secret does not stay in the study. Myra, Anthony's wife of less than a year, learns that the safe she was trusted to open held the one thing she was never told. Latoya's Sunday table goes quiet. Detective Arnold, who signed the paper he was handed, wants answers of his own. And a podcast host named Vanessa Cole is asking questions about a doctor in Detroit and a test he never should have changed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf the truth comes out, it reaches past Claude and Kelly to Daisy, to CJ, and to a little girl in Miami Gardens, and to a man in a Georgia prison who once spared Kelly's life for a reason that is no longer true. In \u003cem\u003eThe Sins of the Father\u003c\/em\u003e, a family built on love has to ask what a name is worth, and who will pay for the one that was bought.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-6-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of The Sins of the Father →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from The Sins of the Father\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Some families keep their secrets in the ground.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The lie isn't the end of the man. What he does next is.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Colin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“No hiding inside this family. Privacy outside it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I'm angry. That's different. I can work angry.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Some envelopes, you just carry. You don't open them, and you don't throw them away, and you don't hide them. You just carry them to who they belong to.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“There isn't going to be a good day. There's just days.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Uncle Dev\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A gift is only a gift if you're free to keep it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Tonight I'm drinking to the ones who came.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I always come.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-6-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815036027123,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol6-front.jpg?v=1792590543"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-a-seat-at-the-table","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: A Seat at the Table Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Seven of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA year after the operating room, Claude and Kelly Richards are expecting their third child and learning to live with the truth about the man who raised Claude. Then an invitation arrives that Anthony cannot refuse: Father's Day dinner on Key Biscayne, at the home of the silver-haired man the family knows only as Papa, the man whose favors once brought Kelly home alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe table is beautiful. The booster seats are already set out. Little Lori runs straight to the old man with her arms up, and Valerie Dixon realizes her daughter has been here before. Reggie will not look at Julian, the grandson who quietly sets every chair. And in a library at the end of a long hall, Anthony is told that the debt is paid, and given advice that sounds a great deal like an order: when the grand jury asks who this man is, he is to say what he always has. He does not know.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Anthony promised his family no more lies, and a federal subpoena is coming. With Claude standing beside him, Kelly guarding the children, and Clinton preparing for a rematch the whole city is watching, the Richards family has to decide what honesty will cost. In \u003cem\u003eA Seat at the Table\u003c\/em\u003e, how do you tell the truth about a man who has never told anyone his name?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-7-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of A Seat at the Table →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from A Seat at the Table\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Whatever you decide, you don't decide it alone.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A table with more people at it than chairs.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Our family says everybody's name.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Daisy\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That man doesn't make threats. He makes weather.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Detective Arnold\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A debt, somebody can call in. A gift, nobody can.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I'm not giving you away. I'm walking you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The people who mattered were the ones who sat down next to you, not the ones who drove away.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You came late, and you came wrong, and you came on a lie a doctor sold you. But you came. And you kept coming.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Latoya\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sometimes the only thing you do is stay at the table.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-7-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815037796595,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol7-front.jpg?v=1792590567"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-flesh-and-blood","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: Flesh and Blood Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Eight of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is Father's Day, and an old man on a silver-headed cane has just laid a faded photograph on Anthony Richards's tablecloth and called him son. The powerful man Anthony testified against before a federal grand jury is the father who watched him from across the street for fifty-six years, and now Claude and Kelly Richards have to hold their family together while the ground shifts under all of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWithin days there is an arrest at dawn, a courtroom list with Anthony's name on it, and a new word at every table: brother. Reggie Dixon, the man raising Kelly's birth daughter, Lori, is suddenly Anthony's family by blood. In the Bronx, Marcus Greer opens a letter from the father he has never known and has to decide whether to pick up the phone. Claude, who knows what it means to be claimed by a man who was never required to, parks across the street and waits. And Kelly does what she always does when the truth gets expensive. She counts every name at the table, twice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut some debts are older than anyone at that table, and loyalty runs in more than one direction. When blood and paper say different things, which one decides who is family?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-8-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of Flesh and Blood →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from Flesh and Blood\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We came the long way, though. That's the only way that counts.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You don't count the ones who said they would. You count the ones who came.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A man could sit beside you at a table and still be across the street.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You're not useless. You're waiting. It's a different job.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That's not a reason. That's an inheritance.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Marcus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Go so you aren't him.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Marcus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I know you can't go in. Go anyway.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Marcus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Nobody opens anything alone in this house.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“They argued like two people who weren't afraid the other one would leave.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-8-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815038845171,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol8-front.jpg?v=1792590592"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-the-whole-truth","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: The Whole Truth Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Nine of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFlesh and Blood\u003c\/em\u003e ended on Father's Day with a mask coming off. The quiet housekeeper who served Anthony Richards snapper on Key Biscayne, who stood behind every chair in the old man's house for fifty-three years, is Doreen, the mother he was told had died when he was three. She is alive, and she is sitting at his table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDoreen will tell her story once, from the beginning, in her own order, and not one word sooner. So in a summer when nobody can come close, Claude and Kelly Richards learn to wait beside a man who has been waiting his whole life. Kelly, who counts every name in this family twice, realizes she never once counted the woman under the banyan tree, and writes her name at the top of the page. Reggie Dixon has to reckon with the woman who raised half of him in his mother's kitchen. Marcus finds out he has his grandmother's hands. And while the government keeps building its case, dangerous men are growing curious about anyone who heard what was said at that dinner table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow much of a mother's story is a son owed, and what will it cost Claude and Kelly's family to hear the rest?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-9-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of The Whole Truth →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from The Whole Truth\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Every one of us is sitting here. That's the whole score.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You can tell me anything, baby. I may not answer it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I loved you on your own account. You hear me? Not for anybody else's. Don't you let anybody take that from you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Then you know some columns don't total. You just draw the line under them and write what's there.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“A woman who'll carry a chair across a cemetery to a stranger, you hold on to.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Thank you for this family, the one we were born to and the one we chose, in this one life that we live.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Anthony\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Everybody in this family talks, Dad. You were the one who listened.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You write us all down so nobody in this family gets left at the gate.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A page nobody will swear to isn't evidence. It's a rumor with a postmark.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-9-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815040418035,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol9-front.jpg?v=1792590616"},{"product_id":"friends-2-lovers-in-this-one-life","title":"Friends 2 Lovers: In This One Life Book Series","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing soon.\u003c\/strong\u003e Volume Ten of the Friends 2 Lovers series is on its way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn Father's Day, at a long white table in the Miami sun, the family learns who has been mailing secrets to the federal government for twelve years. The answer reaches back to a kitchen telephone in 2008, and to the night Claude Daniels lost his family in Detroit. Claude and Kelly have built a marriage, three children, and a foundation out of everything that tried to break them. Now Claude carries a sealed envelope in the inside pocket of his navy jacket, a letter from the man who ruled Anthony's world, and he has not yet found the courage to open it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA trial is three weeks away. The defense wants the source named and every envelope thrown out. Men tied to the old empire have already stood outside Julian Dixon's gate. Detective Arnold and Latoya refuse to leave Doreen's side, Reggie is learning things about his own mother at sixty-three, and Agent Dana Whitlock finally gets invited to the table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eIn This One Life\u003c\/em\u003e, the final book of the Friends 2 Lovers series, Kelly holds Claude to the rule she made for this family: no more safes. Whatever that letter holds, they will face it side by side. But when the truth finally comes out of that pocket, can the love that began on a Detroit schoolyard carry the weight of everything it says?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead Chapter 1 free\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStart reading now: \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/friends-2-lovers-volume-10-chapter-1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead Chapter 1 of In This One Life →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eQuotes from In This One Life\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Friends to lovers. That's what we thought the whole story was. Like that was the end.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I don't know. I hope. That's different.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Nobody freed me. I walked out of that house on my own two feet, and I've been walking since.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You were always sitting right there.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Claude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“She had married a man who could hear what she meant, and he had married a woman who could see what he was doing before he did it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We tell each other everything. Before. Not after. That's the rule.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Latoya\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Every child alive has a daddy who was somewhere he shouldn't have been, once. The ones that turn out are the ones somebody came for anyway.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You were never kept. You were watched over. There's a difference, and it's me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Doreen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Then we'll be old in Detroit.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e— Kelly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/jonathan-anthony-burkett\/friends-2-lovers-volume-10-quotes\"\u003eSee all the quotes from this book →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShare any quote with the credit “— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, \u003cem\u003eFriends 2 Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Upstormed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67815042056435,"sku":null,"price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0653\/7579\/7491\/files\/F2L-Vol10-front.jpg?v=1792590644"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.upstormed.com\/collections\/friends-2-lovers-book-series.oembed","provider":"Upstormed Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}