Overview

Seventeen years ago, Malik Carter and Julian Reed were inseparable.

Music bound them together. Friendship turned into something deeper. Then one betrayal shattered everything, turning first love into silence and resentment neither of them ever truly escaped.

Now Malik is a global R&B star, out, unapologetic, and living loudly in the spotlight. Julian is a celebrated jazz pianist, private, controlled, and carefully closeted, having built his career on discipline and restraint. They have not spoken in years. They were never supposed to cross paths again.

Until the industry forces them onto the same tour.

For four months, Malik and Julian are trapped in shared venues, shared stages, and the echo of everything they lost. Two months across the United States. Two months in Europe. Old wounds surface. Tension sparks. Music becomes both weapon and bridge as unfinished truths rise to the surface. Malik demands honesty. Julian is forced to confront the fear that shaped every choice he ever made.

As desire resurfaces and the past refuses to stay buried, both men must decide what they are willing to risk for love, for truth, and for themselves.

Slow Dance is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers MM romance about Black queer love, the cost of secrecy, and finding your way back after heartbreak. Emotional, sensual, and driven by music, this is a story about forgiveness, survival, and the rhythm that never truly leaves you.

342 pages