Book excerpt: In your most difficult times, you find out exactly who is for you and who’s against you. This was exactly what Grace Allen found out when life turned her world upside down. Born and raised in the hood of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Grace was the eldest of two sisters. Though they were from the same hood, the same mother and father, they stood on two different values. While Grace thought she and her sister were close, sharing secrets, clothes, and losses, lying dormant beneath the surface was resentment, jealousy, and envy. When all three traits show themselves, what will Grace do? Grace was in love with her college sweetheart, Chaz Gentry. Chaz had swept Grace off her feet when she hit rock bottom. As he slowly helped her find herself, Grace never even noticed that she was losing herself in him. While Grace thought she would be with Chaz forever, the Chaz Gentry she knew was not who she thought him to be. Chaz had secrets that would soon try to destroy Grace. Promising herself that when she got out the hood, she would give back to her community by showing other young girls that living in the hood doesn't make you hood, she opens her own dance studio. What she didn’t plan on was running into the rude, no-nonsense, thug named Merci Means, known to everyone in the hood as Trouble. Trouble was just that... Trouble, living up to his name. A chance encounter with the beautiful Grace Allen has Trouble intrigued and hungry for her attention. Little does he know, Grace Allen comes with a lot of baggage that could spill over and cause him major problems not only in his heart but also in his hood. As tempting as getting to know Grace seemed, Trouble had to choose between his hood ways and his heart. Not experiencing love before meeting Grace, will he change his ways, or will he continue to be the rude boy in the streets? Sometimes love can come in like raging waters, unexpectedly taking everyone by surprise. No warning and no heads up, but what’s there to do when the heart wants what the heart wants? Will Grace give Trouble a fair chance at loving her through her pain? Will Grace and Merci weather the storms as everyone and everything tries to tear them apart? And will Grace ever realize that his thug love might just be what saves her?