Book excerpt: This page-turning contemporary romance introduces a smart and savvy heroine whom readers will cheer on as she struggles to find meaning and fulfillment along the rocky road to happiness...and discovers that love can thrive in the most unexpected places. In Missed Conceptions, Michelle De Leon tells a poignant and captivating tale of love, friendship, and what it means to be a parent. The owner of a successful café in Harlem, Shanneen Ross has attained one of her two life objectives. Now she's ready for a meaningful relationship, and a change of scenery sounds like the perfect plan. In Atlanta to help her cousin open a café of her own, Shanneen meets an attractive ex-marine named Jeroi Black. When their whirlwind affair results in pregnancy, Shanneen is delighted. Especially when Jeroi pops the question. Now all that's left is to meet Shanneen's family. But a disturbing revelation awaits them both at her uncle Solomon's house. Shanneen returns to New York, where she meets Sebastian Lew, a gifted artist who is about to become a father. When tragedy frees Sebastian from an unhealthy relationship, he and Shanneen try to make a go of it in the face of daunting obstacles. But Jeroi is waiting in the shadows, ready to destroy Shanneen's hard-won happiness. It will take courage, faith, and a lot of love for Shanneen and Sebastian to overcome the odds in this moving, sensual, and always surprising story of what it really takes to build a family.