“In a time of increasing loneliness, this book provides a steady guide, teaching us how to foster closeness, show up intentionally, and genuinely care for the people in our lives."—Nedra Glover Tawwab, author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace

From New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Elle comes a vulnerable exploration of the friendships that shape us, stretch us, and sometimes wound us. With her trademark wisdom and storytelling, Alex invites us to not only celebrate but to examine the relationships in our lives, from the friends who matter most to the ones we should re-examine.

This book offers hard-won wisdom on:

* Recognizing when people-pleasing and self-silencing have become a pattern.

* Understanding that honesty—while sometimes painful—is a bridge to real intimacy or necessary endings.

* Letting go of the belief that we earn love by shrinking ourselves.

* Honor the sacred friendships that restore and heal us.

The Company We Keep offers readers permission to evolve in their friendships and reminds us that the people we surround ourselves with are not only mirrors, but key companions on the lifelong journey of healing, self-trust, and belonging. Alex shares her unflinching journey of learning to stop abandoning herself in the name of loyalty, to take ownership of the energy she brought into relationships, and to tell the truth—even when it cost her comfort. The Company We Keep is not just about cultivating our most meaningful friendships—it’s about becoming a better friend to ourselves first.

*ships in 7 - 10 business days*

An encouraging guide to cultivating self-love, courage, and joy from Alexandra Elle, a celebrated leader in self-care.

Greet each day with confidence and positivity with In Courage Journal, a daily writing practice to help you set intentions, find strength, and learn self-love. Celebrated self-care author Alexandra Elle presents simple morning and evening journaling prompts, creative writing exercises, and inspiring mantras to help you process your emotions and show up in the world with courage and clarity. Delivered in a shimmery package with luminous details, and brimming with Elle's signature warmth and wisdom, this encouraging journal is an invaluable companion for anyone interested in self-care, mindfulness, and personal transformation.

• BELOVED AUTHOR: Alexandra Elle is a celebrated leader in the wellness world. She hosts online courses on writing and self-care for her large following, and travels the country giving workshops on wellness, empowerment, and courage. She is the author of After the Rain and the host of the Hey, Girl podcast, where she features interviews and stories from female writers, wellness experts, artists, and more.
• BEAUTIFUL TO DISPLAY: With a luminous cover, shimmering flourishes, and a ribbon marker, this package is both practical and gorgeous, making it an uplifting gift or self-purchase for anyone who needs a little encouragement or inspiration and a beautiful accessory to display.
• EASY TO USE: With simple prompts to complete each morning and evening, this inviting journal makes it easy to process emotions, set intentions, and practice self-care in everyday life.
• VALUABLE CONTENT: Touching on themes of stress, anxiety, and burnout, this book offers compassion and encouragement for all of life's difficult moments and provides valuable wellness practices, including gratitude exercises, empowering mantras, and affirmations.

Perfect for:

• Fans of Alexandra Elle
• Self-care enthusiasts and mindfulness seekers
• Anyone in search of techniques to reduce stress and anxiety

In How We Heal, bestselling author Alexandra Elle offers a life-changing invitation to heal yourself and reclaim your peace. In these pages, readers will discover essential techniques for self-healing, including journaling rituals to cultivate innate strength, accessible tools for processing difficult emotions, and restorative meditations to ease the mind.

Alex Elle elegantly weaves together themes like self-healing, mindfulness, inner child work, and boundary setting and presents the reader with easy-to-follow practices that have changed her life and the lives of the thousands of people she has taught. Her 4-part framework for healing will appeal to anyone who wants a clear process, while the compelling personal stories leave the reader feeling connected and ready to begin again.

Complementing the practices are powerful insights from Alex Elle's own journey of self-discovery using writing to heal, plus remarkable stories of healing from a range of luminary voices, including Nedra Tawwab, Morgan Harper Nichols, Dr. Thema Bryant, Barb Schmidt, and many more.

Brimming with encouragement and delivered with Alex Elle's signature warmth and candor, How We Heal is a must-have companion for anyone that wants to unlock their inner wisdom and confidence to heal on their own.

*ships in 7-10 business days* 

From feeling at home in your body to tapping into the wisdom that already lives within you, Taylor Elyse Morrison, founder of the lifestyle brand Inner Workout, guides you to discover what “self-care” truly means and cultivate a dynamic relationship with your whole being.

• Physical (Feel at Home in Your Body)
• Energetic (Work with Your Energetic Cycles)
• Mental and Emotional (Cut Through Your Brain Fog)
• Wisdom (Tap into the Wisdom within You)
• Bliss (Experience Care Through Connection) 

• Anyone ready to develop easy self-care routines
• Health and wellness enthusiasts and practitioners looking for new approaches
• Expanding upon personal interests in chakra healing, yoga, body positivity, and other forms of health and wellness
• Corporate or private group resource for combatting burnout and promoting well-being
• Supportive and thoughtful gift for students, recent grads, overworked moms and dads, coworkers, or friends who would benefit from the permission to put themselves first
• Followers of Dive In Well, Black Girl in Om, Well + Good, and MindBodyGreen

Spring is in the air, and love is on the page. Join D.W. Brooks, Alexandra Lechelle, and Zee Renee at Kindred Stories for a celebration of local romance authors.

EVENT DEETS

When: Saturday, May 23 @ 6PM

Where: Kindred Stories: (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP WITH BOOK to support the authors and our store programming. There are four options available: you can choose to support an individual author or select the Romance In Spring Bundle, which includes one book from all participating authors.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

D. W. Brooks

D. W. Brooks  is an author who has independently published three romantic suspense books and two contemporary romance novels. In addition to writing books, D. W. is also a retired ophthalmologist and a kidney transplant recipient of over eight years. She is originally from Alabama but now lives in Texas with her husband and daughter.

Alexandrea LeChelle

Alexandrea LeChelle is a contemporary romance author whose stories explore love, grief, healing, and the complicated beauty of human connection.

Her novels unfold between Houston and Louisiana and center Black characters navigating family legacies, emotional vulnerability, and the quiet courage it takes to love deeply and unapologetically.

Through rich, emotional storytelling and cinematic detail, Alexandrea writes the kind of love stories she rarely saw growing up and entering adulthood. Stories where Black characters are allowed to be flawed, passionate, and deeply human.

What began as a way to process emotions and channel creativity through her own healing journey, slowly evolved into something much bigger: an urge to create and share stories about love, healing, and the complicated paths of life that bring people together.

Her stories often explore themes such as emotional healing, family dynamics, grief and growth, healthy Black love, the courage to begin again. Every story is planted in the belief that love, in all its forms, has the power to change us for the better.

When she’s not reading, Alexandrea can be found working her way through her own TBR, journaling or planning new creative projects, adding recipes to her personal cookbook, and listening to playlists that eventually inspire new stories.

At the heart of everything she creates is a simple hope: That readers will find pieces of themselves in her stories.

Zee Renee

Writing is where Zee thrives, finding peace and purpose. Her journey began at thirteen with a black-and-white composition book, later blossoming on Wattpad, where she captivated over two million readers. In December 2023, she released her debut novel, All In, and was nominated for the 2023 Black Girl Who Writes Best New Author award. By November 2024, Zee became a National Best-Selling Author with the release of When He’s Not There, her third book.

Crafting urban fiction and romance, Zee transforms raw emotions into powerful stories. Her characters are deeply personal, each carrying a piece of her spirit. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her God-given talent and hopes readers will feel the same passion in her words as she does in writing them.

*Ships in 7-10 business days*

Lenore Bennett has always been a force. A star artist and style icon at her high school, she’s a master in the subtle art of not giving a . . . well, you know what. But now that graduation is here, she’s a little less sure.

She’s heading to NYU in the fall with a scarlet U (for “undeclared”) written across her chest. Her parents always remind her that Black kids don’t have the luxury of figuring it out as they go—they have to be 110 percent prepared. But it’s a lot of pressure to be her ancestors’ wildest dreams when Lenore’s not even sure what her dreams are yet.

When her family embarks on a post-graduation Mediterranean cruise, her friend Tessa is sure Lenore’s in for a whirlwind romance. But Lenore knows that doesn’t happen in real life. At least not to girls like her.

Then she meets Alex Lee. After their parents bond over the Cupid Shuffle, she ends up stuck with him for the remainder of the cruise. He’s a hopeless romantic and a golden boy with a ten-year plan. In short, he’s irritating as hell.

But as they get to know each other during the picturesque stops across Europe, he may be able to help her find something else she’s been looking for, even if she doesn’t want to admit it to herself: love.

Joins us as we celebrate the release of How We Heal with Alexandra Elle in conversation with Deun Ivory. 

EVENT DEETS

When: November 11 at 7:00 PM CST

Where: St. John's Downtown (2019 Crawford Street, HTX77002)

How: Get General Admission or VIP Meet & Greet tickets via Eventbrite. Each ticket comes with a book. 

About the Book

Beloved wellness author and teacher Alexandra Elle shares this practical and empowering guide to self-healing.

In How We Heal, bestselling author Alexandra Elle offers a life-changing invitation to heal yourself and reclaim your peace. In these pages, readers will discover essential techniques for self-healing, including journaling rituals to cultivate innate strength, accessible tools for processing difficult emotions, and restorative meditations to ease the mind.

Alex Elle elegantly weaves together themes like self-healing, mindfulness, inner child work, and boundary setting and presents the reader with easy-to-follow practices that have changed her life and the lives of the thousands of people she has taught. Her 4-part framework for healing will appeal to anyone who wants a clear process, while the compelling personal stories leave the reader feeling connected and ready to begin again.

Complementing the practices are powerful insights from Alex Elle's own journey of self-discovery using writing to heal, plus remarkable stories of healing from a range of luminary voices, including Nedra Tawwab, Morgan Harper Nichols, Dr. Thema Bryant, Barb Schmidt, and many more.

Brimming with encouragement and delivered with Alex Elle's signature warmth and candor, How We Heal is a must-have companion for anyone that wants to unlock their inner wisdom and confidence to heal on their own.

About the Author

Alexandra Elle is a writer, wellness educator, and certified Breathwork coach. Her work has been featured by a wide range of media outlines, including the New York Times, NPR, Good Morning America, ABC News, Essence, The Cut, MindBodyGreen, Bet, and Forbes, among many others. She teaches workshops and leads retreats centered around writing and self-care, and was host of the popular hey, girl podcast. She is the author of several books and journals, including, most recently, After the Rain and the In Courage Journal. She lives in the Washington DC metro area with her husband and three daughters.

About the Conversation Partner

Deun Ivory is a creative director, photographer and multidisciplinary artist whose work centers and celebrates black women.

As a multidisciplinary artist, Deun has photographed campaigns and projects for brands such as Apple, Google, Glossier and Nike, as well as covers and editorial shoots, including CRWN Mag’s cover of Issa Rae. She has also worked as the Art Director for Black Girl in Om. 

As the Founder and Creative Director of the body: a home for love – a 501 (c)3 non-profit and creative wellness space for black women, Ivory has cemented her power and influence as a thought-leader and visual storyteller in the mental health and wellness spaces. Ivory’s work has been featured in Essence, Glamour, Refinery29, Vogue and other national and international publications. 

From bestselling self-care author Alexandra Elle, this empowering deck makes it easy to cultivate confidence, joy, and mindfulness in everyday life.

Affirmation Cards is a deck of 55 cards, each featuring an uplifting affirmation on the front and a meditation practice on the back. Organized into six categories—Self-Love, Personal Power, Self-Trust, Letting Go, Boundaries, and Healing—these cards are designed to help you tap into moments of peace, clarity, and connection in your day-to-day life. Delivered in a luxe, take-anywhere package, this deck is a gorgeous accessory for wellness enthusiasts, meditators, and fans of Alexandra Elle.

EXPERT WISDOM: Alexandra Elle is a leading voice in wellness and a New York Times bestselling author. Her work has been featured by a wide range of media outlets, including the New York Times, NPR, Good Morning America, Essence, MindBodyGreen, Forbes, among many others. This deck is inspired by the popular affirmations Alex shares with her fans online, offering readers bite-size practices that make it simple to incorporate positivity into daily life.

EASY SELF-CARE: Brimming with 55 affirming practices, this deck makes it easy to incorporate profound self-care practices into busy days. The portable, on-the-go format makes it the ideal accessory to keep in your bag so that you can pull a card whenever you need a mindful moment.

BEAUTIFUL TO GIFT AND DISPLAY: Delivered in a stylish, eye-catching package filled with 55 shimmering cards, Affirmation Cards is a beautiful gift for anyone interested in self-discovery, meditation, and mindfulness and a stylish companion for the spiritually curious.

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES: This interactive and uplifting deck can be used in a variety of ways: pull one card a day to start your morning with positivity, pull several cards at once to set an intention for the week, or keep a favorite card on the bedside table for everyday encouragement.

Perfect for:

• Fans of Alexandra Elle and her popular self-care publishing including How We Heal, After the Rain, and In Courage Journal
• Meditators, yoga enthusiasts, and anyone interested in self-healing and personal development
• Birthday, graduation, or wellness gift givers looking for gifts for for poets, writers, healers, caretakers, and all who can benefit from the power of positive thinking
• Fans of Yung Pueblo, Rupi Kaur, Nedra Tawwab, and the Nap Ministry

*ships in 7 - 10 business days*

In After the Rain, celebrated self-care storyteller Alexandra Elle delivers 15 lessons on how to overcome obstacles, build confidence, and cultivate abundance. Part memoir and part guide, Elle shares stirring stories from her own remarkable journey from self-doubt to self-love.

This soulful collection is filled with illuminating reflections on loss, fear, bravery, healing, love, acceptance, and more.

• Readers follow along her journey as she transforms challenging experiences—a difficult childhood, painful romantic relationships, and single parenting as a young mom—into fuel for her career as a successful entrepreneur and author driven by purpose and pasion
• Filled with Elle's signature candor and warmth
• Includes empowering affirmations and meditations for readers to practice in their own lives

After the Rain is a soulful guide to help you embrace all the beauty, love, and opportunity life has to offer.

• Presented in luminous package with a foil case and gold accents
• A beautiful gift for anyone on the path to self-discovery, and an uplifting reminder that there is always sunshine after the rain
• Perfect for the friend who loves meditating, self-care, journaling, or seeking personal transformation and empowerment
• Great for those who loved Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist, 100 Days to Brave by Annie F. Downs, and anything written by Brené Brown, Rupi Kaur, Rachel Hollis, and Elizabeth Gilbert