A Baby-Making Impasse

Sweet Love-Bitter Fruit is the second book in the Brothers in Law series. It is a steamy and exciting stand-alone book that tells the story of Marcus and Toni Kent, a successful Black New York couple struggling with infertility.

After multiple in vitro attempts, Marcus decides he can’t take seeing the woman he loves in so much pain, but Toni is still on board with the idea of more treatments. Will a baby-making impasse tear this dream couple apart?

Enjoy a sneak peek at this fantastic duo, who have to fight to keep life from crumbling their rock-solid union.

Sweet Love–Bitter Fruit

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Excerpt:

“Hi”—Marcus hovered over the nurse panting—“my wife is very sick,” he said over the
sound of gurneys rushing behind him. He tightened his grip around Toni’s waist, his muscles burning as he strained to keep her from crumpling to the floor. He hefted her up further against his body, her head rolling against his chest. The emergency room sliding doors ground closed, drowning out her soft moan. “It’s gonna be okay, Sweetness.” He barely got the words out of his closed throat. They hadn’t been okay since the morning.

Toni had begun the day getting out of the bed and vomiting. He went for his run and returned to sounds of her retching over the toilet. She assured him it was a passing thing and insisted that he go to work. Her clammy skin and cold hands told him otherwise, but he left and spent the morning worrying and blowing up her phone. When she hadn’t answered a string of calls, he headed home and found her lying on the bathroom floor.

Her arms fell away from his neck and her body started jerking. “Oh, no,” he groaned. She couldn’t possibly be vomiting again. He pushed back the wet tendrils from her forehead and cupped her chin. Her mouth opened, releasing a rancid smell that reminded him of putrid meat. The drugs were rotting her away from the inside. He met the nurse’s stoic gaze. “Please, help her. She’s on fertility medication.”

“All right, just calm down.” She passed him a clipboard. A blank stare fixed behind her leopard print glasses, red lipstick on her thin lips made a thin line across her pale face. “Have a seat and fill these out.” She turned in her chair and started talking to the security guard standing over her.

He took it, resisting the urge to hurl it across the room, and struggled with Toni along a row of vinyl seats, mumbling “excuse me” as they bumped their way through outstretched legs. The scent of tobacco, alcohol and vomit sent his stomach reeling. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to be throwing up next. He flopped down and tugged her pants up her hips before pulling her onto his lap. There was nothing left that really fit her after weeks of weight loss. “I got you,” he grunted and shifted on the padded seat. The corner of the chair’s arm dug into the elbow he propped on it for support. He widened his legs and sank into the chair. Her staggering breath rushed against his neck. His head throbbed in rhythm with his pounding heart. Things were the worst they had ever been.