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Always Running: A Slow Surrender Romance
Not yet published
Expected 13 Feb 26Taryn Ellison doesn’t do relationships.
She learned early in life that standing still for love gets you hurt. So she runs from anything that asks too much of her heart. After watching her mother fall for the wrong men over and over, Taryn built a life where no one could get close enough to leave scars. Walls up. Exit routes ready. Always moving.
Then there’s Zion Wade.
The steady one. The patient one.
Her best friend’s brother and VP of A&R for his family's music empire, Zion understands why Taryn runs. He sees the fear beneath her sarcasm, and the independence she uses as armor. So when they finally cross the line they've been dancing around for years, and she tries to act like it meant nothing, he doesn't push.
He just stays.
Long enough for her walls to crack.
Long enough for her to realize the thing she’s spent her life running from might be the thing she wants more than anything.
She can’t avoid him. Not at his family’s record label, not at Sunday dinners with his sister Simone, not when everyone around them feels the pull between them long before either of them admits it.
But Taryn knows what no one else does: Good things don’t last, and love doesn’t stay. And the closer she gets to Zion, the more she sees herself becoming the one thing she swore she'd never be.
Her mother's daughter.
Set against the backdrop of a Black Southern music dynasty navigating legacy, loyalty, and healing, Always Running is a story about choosing vulnerability over self-protection, and discovering that the scariest love doesn’t rush you, but it does ask you to trust it.
This isn't a slow burn. It's a slow surrender.
Book One in The Wade Legacy. Each story in this series is a complete standalone.
She learned early in life that standing still for love gets you hurt. So she runs from anything that asks too much of her heart. After watching her mother fall for the wrong men over and over, Taryn built a life where no one could get close enough to leave scars. Walls up. Exit routes ready. Always moving.
Then there’s Zion Wade.
The steady one. The patient one.
Her best friend’s brother and VP of A&R for his family's music empire, Zion understands why Taryn runs. He sees the fear beneath her sarcasm, and the independence she uses as armor. So when they finally cross the line they've been dancing around for years, and she tries to act like it meant nothing, he doesn't push.
He just stays.
Long enough for her walls to crack.
Long enough for her to realize the thing she’s spent her life running from might be the thing she wants more than anything.
She can’t avoid him. Not at his family’s record label, not at Sunday dinners with his sister Simone, not when everyone around them feels the pull between them long before either of them admits it.
But Taryn knows what no one else does: Good things don’t last, and love doesn’t stay. And the closer she gets to Zion, the more she sees herself becoming the one thing she swore she'd never be.
Her mother's daughter.
Set against the backdrop of a Black Southern music dynasty navigating legacy, loyalty, and healing, Always Running is a story about choosing vulnerability over self-protection, and discovering that the scariest love doesn’t rush you, but it does ask you to trust it.
This isn't a slow burn. It's a slow surrender.
Book One in The Wade Legacy. Each story in this series is a complete standalone.
494 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication February 13, 2026
7 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (4.5/5)
Always Running: A Slow Surrender is the perfect description of Taryn and Zion’s relationship.
Always Running follows Taryn and Zion’s journey to love—two people deeply shaped by abandonment, neglect, and trauma—caught in a cycle of denial, yearning, and emotional self-sabotage. This story reads like a master class on how people operate inside self-inflicted false narratives born from trauma—and the emotional labor it takes to love someone who hasn’t yet decided to heal.
Taryn’s walls were built so high that they had their own security system. She’s determined to “break the cycle,” yet she’s still allowing her mother’s choices—and the trauma attached to them—to dictate much of her life. Her childhood was heavy, and while I understood why she is the way she is, the constant flip-flopping made her incredibly hard to root for at times. I found myself talking out loud, wanting to throw the book across the room. Sis needed therapy immediately. I wanted to shake her, hug her, and schedule her an intake appointment—all at once.
Meanwhile, Zion is a study in protection, consistency, and patience. He’s been in love with Taryn for ten years, falls first, and waits—sometimes too quietly—for her to get with the program. Even while carrying his own emotional wounds, he extends her immense grace—sometimes more than I think she deserves. That said, I was genuinely proud of Zion for finally putting his foot down. Watching him stop excusing her behavior, name it for what it was, and choose himself felt necessary and earned. His refusal to absorb her trauma responses as justification was a powerful reminder that understanding someone’s pain does not mean tolerating harm.
That tension between empathy and boundaries—how much is too much?—is really the heart of this book.
One of my favorite elements was the tenderness between Taryn and Zion, often shown in quiet, intimate ways: sharing songs, leaving voice messages, and showing up without the need for constant grand gestures (though a few of those were very grand—and expensive 😉). Love here wasn’t loud; it was intentional. What truly elevated their dynamic, though, was the banter. Their back-and-forth was sharp, playful, and emotionally charged—adding levity to an otherwise heavy story and making their chemistry feel natural and lived-in. The banter made the yearning hit harder and the quiet moments feel earned. I also appreciated the nuanced portrayal of Taryn’s mother, particularly as she begins to help Taryn reflect and unpack parts of herself—even if I still believe therapy should have been prioritized far earlier.
By the end, I was relieved that Taryn finally tapped into her full emotional range and started figuring herself out. While I desperately wanted to see her receive real therapy on the page, I appreciated that her growth wasn’t linear, easy, or clean. Her redemption arc was deeply satisfying—and as an empath, it unexpectedly became my favorite part of the story.
While Taryn repeatedly tested my patience, this debut was layered, tense, and thought-provoking. This is the start of a series, I'm fully invested—and I will absolutely be reading what comes next.
Special thanks to the author for the opportunity to review this ARC! 💖
Always Running: A Slow Surrender is the perfect description of Taryn and Zion’s relationship.
Always Running follows Taryn and Zion’s journey to love—two people deeply shaped by abandonment, neglect, and trauma—caught in a cycle of denial, yearning, and emotional self-sabotage. This story reads like a master class on how people operate inside self-inflicted false narratives born from trauma—and the emotional labor it takes to love someone who hasn’t yet decided to heal.
Taryn’s walls were built so high that they had their own security system. She’s determined to “break the cycle,” yet she’s still allowing her mother’s choices—and the trauma attached to them—to dictate much of her life. Her childhood was heavy, and while I understood why she is the way she is, the constant flip-flopping made her incredibly hard to root for at times. I found myself talking out loud, wanting to throw the book across the room. Sis needed therapy immediately. I wanted to shake her, hug her, and schedule her an intake appointment—all at once.
Meanwhile, Zion is a study in protection, consistency, and patience. He’s been in love with Taryn for ten years, falls first, and waits—sometimes too quietly—for her to get with the program. Even while carrying his own emotional wounds, he extends her immense grace—sometimes more than I think she deserves. That said, I was genuinely proud of Zion for finally putting his foot down. Watching him stop excusing her behavior, name it for what it was, and choose himself felt necessary and earned. His refusal to absorb her trauma responses as justification was a powerful reminder that understanding someone’s pain does not mean tolerating harm.
That tension between empathy and boundaries—how much is too much?—is really the heart of this book.
One of my favorite elements was the tenderness between Taryn and Zion, often shown in quiet, intimate ways: sharing songs, leaving voice messages, and showing up without the need for constant grand gestures (though a few of those were very grand—and expensive 😉). Love here wasn’t loud; it was intentional. What truly elevated their dynamic, though, was the banter. Their back-and-forth was sharp, playful, and emotionally charged—adding levity to an otherwise heavy story and making their chemistry feel natural and lived-in. The banter made the yearning hit harder and the quiet moments feel earned. I also appreciated the nuanced portrayal of Taryn’s mother, particularly as she begins to help Taryn reflect and unpack parts of herself—even if I still believe therapy should have been prioritized far earlier.
By the end, I was relieved that Taryn finally tapped into her full emotional range and started figuring herself out. While I desperately wanted to see her receive real therapy on the page, I appreciated that her growth wasn’t linear, easy, or clean. Her redemption arc was deeply satisfying—and as an empath, it unexpectedly became my favorite part of the story.
While Taryn repeatedly tested my patience, this debut was layered, tense, and thought-provoking. This is the start of a series, I'm fully invested—and I will absolutely be reading what comes next.
Special thanks to the author for the opportunity to review this ARC! 💖
Review of advance copy
This book was a whole vibe.
Playlist was FIYAH and the story relatable. This story gave me all the Brown Sugar vibes. LOL
Taryn and Zion were goals in a sense. Taryn a woman who refused to open herself up to love and Zion is the man who has loved her for over a decade. A man who knew the score and was willing to play the long game. Talk about a patient man. A successful man. A protective man. A man who loved hard and without wavering. Zion was THAT man and Taryn was too stubborn and closed off to see it.
When I say relatable, I truly understood how Taryn felt. We all have that one friend, family member or associate that constantly looks for love in all the wrong places only to end up hurt, stressed out, in debt, you name it and those individuals always go back for more because they are so desperate for love. Taryn grew up watching her mother go through this endless cycle of trifling men only to be left a shell of her former self with each failed relationship. Therefore, it was easy to understand why Taryn closed herself off to relationships but as a result she closed herself off to the possibility of love and happiness.
Zion was a man on a mission. He knew all about Taryn's heart of steel and it didn't deter him. Zion was her friend, her protector, her lover, her confidant but he refused to be one of her options/playthings. As bad as Zion wanted Taryn, he was willing to play by her rules until her rules stopped making sense.
At times Taryn was insufferable because Zion never gave her a reason for her to continue acting the way she was toward him. She was his sister's best friend and has been around him and his family for over a decade; she knew the type of man he was. She wanted to keep things casual but still wanted to act like a jealous girlfriend. She was insufferable.
Taryn is like many black women who are doing whatever necessary to prevent heartache, drama and pain but it's a double edge sword because sometimes it can leave us missing our blessing; something Taryn ha to learn the hard way but in true Boss BIH fashion my girl had a come to Jesus moment with herself and tackled her demons head on and put in the work necessary to fight her and Zion's HEA.
Playlist was FIYAH and the story relatable. This story gave me all the Brown Sugar vibes. LOL
Taryn and Zion were goals in a sense. Taryn a woman who refused to open herself up to love and Zion is the man who has loved her for over a decade. A man who knew the score and was willing to play the long game. Talk about a patient man. A successful man. A protective man. A man who loved hard and without wavering. Zion was THAT man and Taryn was too stubborn and closed off to see it.
When I say relatable, I truly understood how Taryn felt. We all have that one friend, family member or associate that constantly looks for love in all the wrong places only to end up hurt, stressed out, in debt, you name it and those individuals always go back for more because they are so desperate for love. Taryn grew up watching her mother go through this endless cycle of trifling men only to be left a shell of her former self with each failed relationship. Therefore, it was easy to understand why Taryn closed herself off to relationships but as a result she closed herself off to the possibility of love and happiness.
Zion was a man on a mission. He knew all about Taryn's heart of steel and it didn't deter him. Zion was her friend, her protector, her lover, her confidant but he refused to be one of her options/playthings. As bad as Zion wanted Taryn, he was willing to play by her rules until her rules stopped making sense.
At times Taryn was insufferable because Zion never gave her a reason for her to continue acting the way she was toward him. She was his sister's best friend and has been around him and his family for over a decade; she knew the type of man he was. She wanted to keep things casual but still wanted to act like a jealous girlfriend. She was insufferable.
Taryn is like many black women who are doing whatever necessary to prevent heartache, drama and pain but it's a double edge sword because sometimes it can leave us missing our blessing; something Taryn ha to learn the hard way but in true Boss BIH fashion my girl had a come to Jesus moment with herself and tackled her demons head on and put in the work necessary to fight her and Zion's HEA.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews