Exhilarated

Five years. Half a decade. One Thousand eight hundred twenty-five days. Forty-three thousand eight hundred hours. Two million six hundred twenty-eight thousand minutes. Measuring the time, a lot can happen in five years. Aphrodite Greer was born and raised in the bricks-projects in Jagoda Bay. She met the love of her life, Baguette, on that very soil. The ghetto goddess had her entire life mapped out for her, and just like most life plans, things took a turn for the worse. Infidelity, losing her baby girl Athena, and constant fights with her lover's mistress turned her from a rigid, dope boy's queen to a soft, put-up businesswoman. With five years between their failed relationship, Baguette and Aphrodite remain best friends, and since Baguette has moved on, his current girlfriend has also joined their circle of friendship. Tuscany Payne is everything a reformed dope boy could want in a partner. She has beauty, personality, and brains. Not only is she the total package, but she also helped turn playboy Baguette into a man. But as time passes, Tuscany feels helpless because she can not seem to help her man get over his grief of losing his only child. In this exhilarating novel, you'll not only laugh with the characters, but you'll love with them, cry with them, and feel for them in the end. Some say three is a crowd. With secrets that go beyond Athena's grave, the saying may be true.

The house, the cars, the lovemaking, the Princess treatment, the loyalty, the beautiful child, the commitment: all of those make up Aphrodite's dream life. It took five years for Aphrodite "Pretty Pretty" to experience her version of happiness, but one slip-up threatened everything she'd silently yearned for. What Pretty Pretty thought was her happy ending turned into the total opposite. Not all heroes wear capes but they do face demons. In this final installment of Exhilarated, the characters that we've grown to either love or hate all have one thing in common: their worst nightmares have come true. Aphrodite Greer takes on everyone's grief, pain, and insecurities while masking her own. It's difficult for her to be happy because she's too busy pouring into others. Tuscany is locked in with not only her version of a monster but her secrets are now in close proximity, forcing her to see her faults. Baguette Cherman can't view himself ever giving Tuscany another thought but is letting his emotions cloud his judgment instead of looking in the mirror to find the real problem. Quasie Lantis owns a multimillion-dollar brokerage and refuses to be caught looking anything less than the realtor mogul that she is. Picture-perfect Quasie seems to have it all but deep down she's still that heartbroken little girl that has Adult Quasie making questioning decisions. Kilo Lantis refuses to accept blame for the predicament he's not only landed himself in but his loved ones as well and that has cost him everything. Where there is love, heartbreak follows. Where there is loyalty, deceit is near. Where there is life, soon comes death. In this finale, you'll see who will experience the exhilarating life and who will be dealt the karma they deserve.

Exhilarated (iɡˈziləˌrādəd): very happy, animated, or elated. Aphrodite Greer is finally starting to see better days. She's slowly accepting that she can have a beautiful life despite her daughter being dead without feeling guilty. That beautiful life has a name and it's Goal Navarro-the persistent head of the Navarro Cartel. Goal Navarro sees what he wants and goes after it. Being a man who's always on the move, he's finally found the lady that keeps him grounded. Running the Cartel that was snatched from his father and handed to him by his Abuelo, nothing can stop the sexy Colombian. Goal not only supplies the city but raises his eighteen-year-old brother Gage "Big Gator" who he's done an exceptional job with as the NFL is in his future. But not everyone is happy with his power and will go to extreme lengths to see Goal's demise. Baguette has everything a man of his stature could want and need: a clean exit from the streets, a beautiful and ambitious girlfriend, and a healthy relationship with his ex-turned-person. The only thing holding him back from enjoying his fruit is the constant reminder of his daughter. Baguette feels that she is still walking the earth and although the women in his life feel as though he's fallen off his rocker, he and Aphrodite's baby girl rise from the dead, shocking everyone. Happiness. The one thing that seems so easy to obtain is sometimes the most intangible! When you think you've overcome life's biggest hurdle, another one is thrown right into your new normal, instantly knocking the wind out of you. Everything isn't always what it seems, and just when you feel like you see a person, they show you that you're blind. In this sequel, will the crew that we now think we know and love ever experience exhilaration or will they forever be hanging on by a string trying to piece it all back together?