Debut Novel · Contemporary Romance · RomDram

Legacyin Bloom

"We're going to get caught." I feel his lips trace the curve of my neck.

"Try being less gorgeous," is his breathy response before sealing my lips with his, stealing any response I might make. I hear a moan, realizing the sound is coming from me.

I'm not used to this. Indulging, feeling irresistible.

Legacy
in Bloom
Aleia Bennett
Braxton Hall, male lead of Legacy in Bloom — standing in Laurel Glen Leela Carter, banking heiress and female lead of Legacy in Bloom

Cover design in progress

GenreContemporary Romance
SubgenreRomDram
Word count93,000 words
StatusComplete · Querying

Eight years. One town built on old money and older grudges. The bashful bartender she was forbidden to love — who wants nothing to do with her coming back.

Legacy in Bloom is a contemporary Black romance with the emotional second chance of Seven Days in June, the familial obligations of King of Wrath, and the emotional stakes of Kennedy Ryan's Skyland series.

Leela Carter spent eight years at a London consultancy after escaping her controlling Jamaican-American family — and the arranged marriage designed to keep her in line. When her work rival Nadine torches their biggest account, Leela is sent home to Laurel Glen to clean up the mess. She finds Braxton Hall — the bashful bartender she was forbidden to love — no longer an outsider, and no longer interested in her.

Braxton built a restaurant empire and became a father to his late business partner Sean's son, Diego. He never stopped loving Leela. He just stopped believing it was worth putting himself — and his son — in the crosshairs of her family's plans.

When they're thrown together on the Peach Elite board, old feelings bloom the moment they have air to breathe. It would feel instant if it were not so long overdue. But Leela's family and James won't let them settle into a happiness they don't control — and someone is willing to burn everything Braxton built to make sure of it.

Seven Days in June (Williams) • King of Wrath (Huang) • Skyland series (Ryan)
For readers of Kennedy Ryan, Tia Williams & Ana Huang
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Laurel Glen — the one-percent town nobody knows exists

Black people with old money. A professional gossip mill. A community formed by need, preserved despite external resistance, and power makers with shadow influence across the globe.

Laurel Glen is the kind of town where everyone's legacy was decided before they were born. Leela was born into it. Braxton had to earn his way in. And now, eight years later, the town is going to make both of them prove it all over again.

Tropes
Second chanceForbidden loveForced proximitySmall-town secretsSingle dadClass divideObsessive heroSlow burnFamily drama
Leela Carter mood board — an elegant Black woman in soft natural light, evoking the heroine of Legacy in Bloom
Leela Carter
Lush indoor plants, evoking Leela Carter's love of nature and her quiet, rooted life
Plant mama
Laurel Glen mood board — a wealthy, secretive small town full of old money and older grudges
Laurel Glen
Braxton Hall mood board — a brooding, handsome Black man who never stopped waiting
Braxton Hall
The one-percent town of Laurel Glen — manicured wealth, hidden secrets, and old money power
The one-percent town
Second-chance romance mood — the intimate tension between two people who never forgot each other
Second chance

Leela & Braxton

Leela Carter, female protagonist of Legacy in Bloom — portrait
Leela Carter
33 · Corporate Marketer
Background
Jamaican-American heiress (escaped edition). Spent 8 years building her own career in London after refusing the life her family planned — until her job sends her right back home.
The complication
Betrothed to an ashy, annoying fellow heir at age 3 (yes, 3). Her parents arranged a marriage designed to keep her in line. She has other plans.
Her thing
Plant mama. Irresistible in ways she doesn't yet believe about herself.
What she wants
A life she chose. The man she was forced to leave. Maybe both, if she's brave enough.
Braxton Hall, male protagonist of Legacy in Bloom — the man Leela was forced to leave behind, portrait
Braxton Hall
33 · Restaurant Empire Owner
The glow-up
Former bartender from the wrong side of the tracks. Built a restaurant empire that earned him a seat at Laurel Glen's table — without asking permission.
The responsibility
Adopted single dad to Diego, his late business partner Sean's son. Fatherhood buried his need for love under survivor's guilt. Then Leela came back and as much as he didn't want to forgive her, she's the missing part of his heart.
His thing
Grows an emotional support beard when angsty. Hates the knock off Carlton Banks heir. Would burn it all down for the people he loves — if he doesn't get burned for going after what he wants. Her.
What he wants
To protect Diego. To never need anyone again. To stop wanting Leela. He's failing at the last two.

What readers are saying

"It's always fun to read your writing because I feel like I can literally plot myself in the scene."

"ALEIA YOU'RE MAKING ME WANT A BOOK MAN THAT I CAN'T HAVE!"

"This book is giving me rich plant aunty vibes."

"I feel like I'm smelling and seeing and reading."

"Oh I'm fully leaned in... LOVING THIS."

"brb gonna CRY."    "PERIOD BRAXTON! Wow, I love them."

"I'm going to combust."

"It's 7:16 am and I'm hot. I need a cold shower before work."

"i really hope you let me fight this mama before the end of the book. please, I'm begging!"

Get in touch

Ready to request materials?

Query letters, sample pages, and the full manuscript available upon request.

aleia@aleiaslibrary.com
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