More Than What You See Book

Kendra "Kenny" Marshall is exhausted—working two jobs to support her six-year-old daughter Amara while dodging manipulative calls from her incarcerated ex, DeShawn. She's built walls around her heart so high that no man could possibly scale them. Love isn't on her agenda. Survival is.

Until her car breaks down in a hospital parking lot at midnight, and Marcus "Saint" Sainte appears out of nowhere to help.

Marcus is everything Kenny should stay away from—a former street legend with a dangerous past who spent three years in prison. Everyone knows his name. Everyone warns her about him. But Marcus isn't who he used to be. After losing his younger brother to gun violence, he left the streets behind and built a legitimate empire of barbershops, determined to prove he's more than his reputation.

When Marcus helps Kenny without asking for anything in return, she's suspicious. When he follows up to make sure she gets her car fixed, she's confused. When he shows patience, consistency, and genuine interest in her and her daughter, she's terrified—because Kenny is starting to fall for a man everyone says she shouldn't trust.

As their connection deepens, Marcus proves he's nothing like the men from Kenny's past. He shows up when he says he will. He respects her boundaries. He wins over Amara with his kindness and patience. He sees Kenny—really sees her—not just as a struggling single mother, but as a woman worthy of love, protection, and happiness.

But the past doesn't let go easily. Kenny's ex threatens from behind bars, jealous and manipulative. Marcus's former connect resurfaces with threats and temptations, using Kenny and Amara as leverage to pull him back into the game. And the streets that Marcus left behind six years ago suddenly want him back—whether he wants to go or not.

Caught between the life she's fought so hard to build and the love she's terrified to trust, Kenny must decide: Will she let fear and other people's opinions dictate her future? Or will she finally use her heart instead of her eyes and see Marcus for who he truly is?

"More Than What You See" is a contemporary urban romance about second chances, breaking cycles, and discovering that real love isn't found in perfection—it's found in someone who shows up, does the work, and proves every single day that they're worth the risk.