Ready. Set. Live.

by Harleigh Rae

As the always obedient child of her town's most affluent family, she craved excitement and spontaneity. A happenstance encounter lands her on the verge of a fate she hadn't wished for sending her back into the folds of her parents' protocols and schedules. In an attempt to reclaim the life that so many tried to delegate, she flees for the Big Apple the second the ink dried on her diploma. Well aware of what happens when you stray too far from your daily routine, she keeps her schedule as tight as her leotard. But the uncertainty that follows graduating from college causes her to go off-script, she finds herself stuck between love and a hard place. As the oldest of two children, he knows all about being a team player. After circumstances beyond his control draw a wedge in between him and his parents, he heads for New York City hoping to find a new sense of self. Quickly, he falls into the same role as a team player but desperately wants to be the leading man. Dedication and raw talent eventually land him in front of the best, including her. His post-graduation plans rule every decision he made until her pirouettes landed her smack-dab in the middle of them. After pinpointing exactly where life would take them, both are now dancing in circles. They soon realize their childhood dreams, never left much room for living or loving. The race is on and they must decide to keep dreaming or get up and make life happen for themselves. Ready. Set. Live.

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2021

About the author

Harleigh Rae resides in Baltimore, MD, a hidden oasis of art and culture. She has been writing since she was old enough to firmly grasp a pencil between her thumb and pointer finger. A millennial influenced by the 90’s era that brought us some of the greatest love stories like Kinfolks, Blues Dancing, and, Rooms of the Heart she considers herself a culture-fed romantic.

On her ninth birthday, she sat alone in her bedroom, furnished with only 2 bunk beds and 2 four-draw dressers, reading a gifted copy of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, her pages only illuminated by the tiny stream of light from the streetlamp outside her window. She was amazed at how full of life the words on the page were. How they danced around in her mind, stirring up emotions of insecurity, complacency, and self-contempt that lay dormant even in her tiny nine-year-old capsule of repressed memory. At that moment, she realized the healing power of literature. She vowed to one day usher black women, much like herself with no prominent place in the world, into a place of loving, wholly.

That mission stuck with her throughout her educational pursuits. It’s what landed her at Coppin State University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in African American Studies. Since graduating her time has been divided between teaching Pre-K literacy, writing black romance novels, and hand-making candles and teas that center the black romance reader’s experience.

As a black romance author of over 15 books and an avid reader of the genre, she has cultivated a deep commitment to breaking literary boundaries and obliterating genre norms by telling stories that fuse romance and reality to demystify the stereotypes surrounding black love. An early oeuvre of love stories written as an ode to love within you, her work speaks your deepest thoughts, fulfills your wildest fantasies, and echoes your quietest vibrations.


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Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Series

I loved the series, i appreciate the storyline as college life and the few years after can be a fun, confusing time.

There were grammar issues, misspellings and incomplete sentences throughout all 3 books.