April showers gave way to May flowers—along with lots of books. Check out these black fiction reads released in May 2021.
Rochelle Alers
It’s been almost a year since Leah Berkley Kent left her lavish Richmond home to spend two months on Coates Island, North Carolina. There she found friendship with two extraordinary women, Kayana and Cherie. Together they formed a summer book club, meeting weekly at the Seaside Café. Leah also found the courage to finally stand up to Alan, her domineering husband of 28 years.
With her twin sons now grown, Leah decides to return to Coates Island again this summer. Alan’s explosive reaction only convinces her that her marriage, and her old life, may be ending. But what comes next? Helping out at the Seaside Café, Leah grows closer to Kayana’s widowed brother, Derrick. He knows what it’s like to start over – he traded a Wall Street career for a beachfront house and a slower pace. Derrick is drawn to Leah, but wonders if she’s truly ready to move on.
It’ll take a summer filled with lazy beach walks, bold new horizons, and book club meetings rich with shared laughter and support, for Leah to find the answers she’s been looking for….
Tisha Andrews
Faith is to have complete trust or confidence in someone or something designed to love, protect, and honor you. That is a perfect description of Faith, the eldest daughter of Pastor Theodore Valentine. She has complete trust in the first man she loved, her father, who selfishly puts his own needs, saturated with greed, over his child.
While Faith desires to minister to the people of God through music, her heart opens up and wide for Denver Daniels, a rough around the edges yet honorable young man who attends her church. With a first name like Faith and a last name like Valentine, Denver knows everything he desires and needs is deposited into one girl, and he has to have her. What starts out as a simple crush evolves into a forever love, or so they hope, until someone else who has eyes for Faith interferes.
Raziel “Razz” Streeter, like Faith, has a love for music that soon catapults his otherwise dark life into a space of light. That light is Faith. With the help of her father, Razz’s desperate need to be validated costs Faith not only her first love but herself, being sucked into their world of selfishness and greed.
Once the foundation of Faith’s life is shaken and secrets are revealed, a getaway to Mason yields as more than a time to hide. It births a second chance for Faith to love again when she reconnects with her first love—Denver. While Denver struggles to forgive, Faith’s presence unlocks the love he has deeply tucked deep away in his heart for her, and he just can’t seem to let go. Even if that means revealing more secrets that could destroy them all.
A.C. Arthur
In the final installment of A.C. Arthur’s The Fabulous Golds series, a reunion in Saint Lucia between exes RJ Gold and Grace Hopkins is a little rocky…and a lot sexy! Can an island fling become the real thing?
Fashion exec RJ Gold hasn’t seen Grace Hopkins since she turned down his marriage proposal and walked out of his life. While he’s in Saint Lucia for his sister’s wedding, a run-in with his journalist ex is unexpected…as is the story she’s writing on the decades-long feud between his family’s fashion empire and a rival Manhattan house. Grace’s body is as delicious as RJ remembers…but he remembers too much to trust her again.
Grace knew seeing RJ would be awkward. It’s also intense…and red-hot! But she can’t afford distractions from her big break. This story will launch her journalism career to new heights, a dream she chose over RJ years ago. Still, she would rather work with him than against him… Except working together in paradise makes it impossible to ignore the tropical temptation at play!
As their explosive chemistry and rekindling feelings reach a fever pitch, RJ and Grace must decide—can second chances last, or is their desire on a deadline?
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Xio Axelrod
Growing up in dive bars up and down the East Coast, Toni Bennette’s guitar was her only companion…until she met Sebastian Quick. Seb was a little older, a lot wiser, and before long he was Toni’s way out, promising they’d escape their stifling small town together. Then Seb turned eighteen and split without looking back.
Now, Toni’s all grown up and making a name for herself in Philadelphia’s indie scene. When a friend suggests she try out for a hot new up-and-coming band, Toni decides to take a chance. Strong, feminist, and fierce as fire, Toni B. and the Lillys are the perfect match…except Seb’s now moonlighting as their manager. Whatever. Toni can handle it. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be if Seb didn’t still hold a piece of her heart…not to mention the key to her future.
Erika B.
Married to her best friend, Kaya Brown’s life seems to get no sweeter. However, fate brings a sharp curveball and leaves her having to do serious heart work. Luckily for her, she stumbles upon someone that presents a safe space where she can lay her burdens down.
Stepping into his new role as owner of a family business, Ryland Davis is responsible for saving their legacy. He’s unwilling to stand aside and let what they’ve worked so hard for be snatched away. Despite being focused on strictly business, he still finds time to get to know and confide in someone outside his troubles.
Neither Kaya nor Ryland are prepared, but their friendship quickly shifts into a romantic whirlwind. Is what they’re building strong enough to hold against naysayers and onlookers? Or will they have to let love sail away and wait for its return elsewhere?
Kema B.
**Re-Release**
After her central air malfunctions, romance novelist Stacia Baker finds herself in the middle of a deadline and a series of problems she needs fixed asap.
As the owner of his own maintenance company, Drew Fields has all the tools to fix everything that’s wrong in Stacia’s life in more ways than one.
But after an embarrassing encounter between them and her less than desirable attitude. Will he leave her stranded in the middle of a scorching heatwave that sets South Florida ablaze instead? Or will she get her act together so they can create one of their own?
Bree Bagley, Lauren Hilliard, Sheridan Lee, Janiyah Thornton
A journey can be an amazing adventure. Your journey allows you to be the main character in your own story. The words spoken, the individuals met, and the actions taken are not guided by a movie director, theater director or screenwriter and it’s not make-believe. These events are real and make up the story of your life—a story much sweeter when shared with true friends. A Friendship for a Lifetime takes you on a journey through life with Bree, Lauren, Sheridan and Janiyah as they share their special bond with you as they recall their elementary days. An unrehearsed, unscripted, and genuine journey of friendship. Ten years, four girls, four paths—this is their story.
Love Belvin
It was twenty-two years ago when Launz and Nye met at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Trenton, New Jersey. Both students, Launz played college football and gigged as a guitarist on the side while Nye was promoted from kitchen cleaner to a waitress. All due to Nye’s clever prowess, it took no time at all for a passionate affair to ignite. Then, as quickly as it all began, it all ended when Nye up and disappeared.
Launz went on to become an accomplished football coach in both Division I college programs as well as the League. He’d just landed the coveted role as the head coach for the Connecticut Kings when Nye breezed back into his world. The position has come with great challenges, thanks to Launz’s predecessors. He must rebuild a team separated by scandal and betrayal.
Nye has been gone, fighting demons in secret. Though she’s done well for herself as an attorney, her absence has been the most painful period of the life she’s had to endure—that or trying to explain to Launz the hell she’s been through.
Asha Bromfield
In this sweeping debut, Asha Bromfield takes readers to the heart of Jamaica, and into the soul of a girl coming to terms with her family, and herself, set against the backdrop of a hurricane.
Tilla has spent her entire life trying to make her father love her. But every six months, he leaves their family and returns to his true home: the island of Jamaica.
When Tilla’s mother tells her she’ll be spending the summer on the island, Tilla dreads the idea of seeing him again, but longs to discover what life in Jamaica has always held for him.
In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise―all in the midst of an impending hurricane.
Hurricane Summer is a powerful coming of age story that deals with colorism, classism, young love, the father-daughter dynamic―and what it means to discover your own voice in the center of complete destruction.
Anthony Todd Carlisle
James Kingsman hated the South. Raised by parents who had migrated north from Alabama years before his birth, he had heard their personal stories of racism, injustice, and fear. At best, he carried a certain disdain for those who stayed behind, no matter how much the South had changed. When James reluctantly agrees to his mother’s last wish to be buried in her ancestral home, his notions about southern relatives are turned upside down. As are long-hidden discoveries about his parents. His father did not migrate north, he escaped. His mother kept an even deeper secret, one of rage and beauty.
Some ghosts cannot stay buried.
Letrise Carter
Lucyʼs Worth is part one of a young woman’s desperate journey to find herself while trying to make it on her own. Faced with her first true relationship, Lucy’s long battle with low self-esteem will cause her to fall down a path with a dangerous man. Will Lucy be able to escape the trap that’s been set for her? She’s going to have to make the most important decision of her life—because her life depends on it!
P. Djeli Clark
Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.
So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 40 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.
Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city – or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems….
Alyssa Cole
Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir.
Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with.
When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there’s more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.
Sarah Dass
Seventeen-year-old Reyna has spent most of her life at the Plumeria, her family’s gorgeous seaside resort in Tobago. But what once seemed like paradise is starting to feel more like purgatory. It’s been two years since Reyna’s mother passed away, two years since Aiden – her childhood best friend, first kiss, first love, first everything–left the island to pursue his music dreams.
Reyna’s friends are all planning their futures and heading abroad. Even Daddy seems to want to move on, leaving her to try to keep the Plumeria running.
And that’s when Aiden comes roaring back into her life – as a VIP guest at the resort.
Aiden is now one-third of DJ Bacchanal – the latest, hottest music group on the scene. While Reyna has stayed exactly where he left her, Aiden has returned to Tobago with his Grammy-nominated band and two gorgeous LA socialites. And he may (or may not be) dating one of them….
Zuri Day
Will a secret child stand in the way of business? Find out in this Sin City Secrets novel by Zuri Day.
Is she willing to risk it all for one more night with the boss?
Thanks to a year-long hiatus, interior designer Samantha Price is desperate for a new project. But the only client she can land is Nick Breedlove, a former one-night stand who’s dominated her fantasies ever since! The real estate billionaire agrees their partnership is strictly professional—even as his flirting promises more. If Sam gives in to their passion…will Nick learn the truth about their baby son?
Porsha Deun
Readers asked how did Destiny meet the men in her life and what was Andre’s life like after the ending of Addict.Here is your chance to find out!In this second installment of the Addict Series, we witness how Andre and Destiny met. Andre had no idea how that chance meeting would change his life forever and for the worse. What should have been a one-night stand turned into Andre falling desperately in love for Destiny Chambers, a woman who had no intentions of being in love ever again. Destiny consumes Andre and he finds himself doing things he wouldn’t do under normal circumstances in hopes that one day, Destiny will return his affections. Just how far will Andre’s love for Destiny push him over the edge?
Delaney Diamond
When Tamika Jones arrives at the apartment on Hargrove Street, she expects to find her boyfriend, the money he stole, and the woman he cheated on her with. Instead, she finds Anton Bevins, a young attorney, who’s good-looking, bewildered by her appearance, and also a victim.
Anton doesn’t know what to think of the sexy, baseball-bat-wielding firebrand who disturbed his weekend rest. But somehow he gets sucked into her charms, and after one night together, he can’t get her off his mind.
The two end up in a sexy, fun-loving relationship that takes them both by surprise, but is it really love? Or are they just two lonely people on the rebound, seeking comfort in each other’s arms?
(Quicksand is a series of stand alone stories based on love, sex, and romance. Why Quicksand? Because love pulls you in. The more you fight, the deeper you fall. You can’t fight your way out of quicksand, and you can’t fight your way out of love.)
Kathy Douglass
The return of his childhood friend leads to the fresh start he never expected
Horse rancher Carson Rivers has his own emotional demons. There’s no place in his life for a divorced single mom pulling at his heartstrings. But when Gabriella Tucker and her adorable children move next door—the place of her favorite childhood memories—Carson’s tempted to help the heart-guarded beauty make more adult memories. Maybe Gabriella and her kids are the healing balm he’s been yearning for…
Steffanie Edward
When Yvette receives a call to say her estranged father, Joe, has been attacked in a seemingly random act of violence, she rushes to his side.
But when she arrives, she finds a man different to the larger-than-life father of her memories. Joe is broken, too scared to describe his attacker to the police, and seemingly haunted by memories of his past – memories he’s fought to suppress.
About the boat journey that brought him and his wife, Dolina, to their new home in a hostile and unwelcoming Britain – as part of the Windrush Generation. About the secrets left behind in St Lucia…. And about the darkest secret of all – the one that he has carried with him since stepping off the boat that cool, wet August day.
As he fights for his life, he begs Yvette to find out what really happened on the last day of that crossing. Because, for 40 years, Joe has believed that he killed a man. A man who had loved Dolina, too. And who might hold the key to Yvette’s own story….
Camryn Garrett
The behind-the-scenes access of Almost Famous meets the searing revelations of #MeToo in this story of a teen journalist who uncovers the scandal of the decade.
Ever since 17-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to write a celebrity profile for Deep Focus magazine, she’s equal parts excited and scared, but also ready. She’s got this. Soon Josie is jetting off on a multi-city tour, rubbing elbows with sparkly celebrities, frenetic handlers, stone-faced producers, and eccentric stylists. She even finds herself catching feelings for the subject of her profile, dazzling young newcomer Marius Canet. Josie’s world is expanding so rapidly, she doesn’t know whether she’s flying or falling. But when a young actress lets her in on a terrible secret, the answer is clear: She’s in over her head.
One woman’s account leads to another and another. Josie wants to expose the man responsible, but she’s reluctant to speak up, unsure if this is her story to tell. What if she lets down the women who have entrusted her with their stories? What if this ends her writing career before it even begins? There are so many reasons not to go ahead, but if Josie doesn’t step up, who will?
Joya Goffney
Quinn keeps lists of everything—from the days she’s ugly cried, to “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud” and all the boys she’d like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing . . .
Then an anonymous account posts one of her lists on Instagram for the whole school to see and blackmails her into facing seven of her greatest fears, or else her entire journal will go public. Quinn doesn’t know who to trust. Desperate, she teams up with Carter Bennett—the last known person to have her journal—in a race against time to track down the blackmailer.
Together, they journey through everything Quinn’s been too afraid to face, and along the way, Quinn finds the courage to be honest, to live in the moment, and to fall in love.
Face Down Fridays (audiobook)
Sherelle Green
Ever indulged in your wildest fantasies without any restrictions or consequences?
Her
Sly smirk. Heated glance. I knew I was hooked from the first moment our eyes connected. But I’m not the type of woman to give in easily. Especially when his offer is dripping in rule-breaking notions threatening to consume me.
Him
I wanted her willing and ready for anything before she’d even spoken a single word. I’m a patient man, but even patience has a timeframe when it comes to following her rules. But as she’ll soon learn, I don’t follow rules. I make them.
Contains mature themes.
To Marry a Madden (audiobook)
Sherelle Green
You’re invited to the wedding of Carter Madden & Serenity Taylor. Before they exchange vows, Carter has to make peace with the family he left behind, starting with a message to the women who changed his brothers lives for the better. Welcome to Carter’s confessional…
Dear Sis, We didn’t meet before you became a Madden. Even though I am truly honored to have you as a sister-in-law, that is something I will always regret. I’m marrying the love of my life this weekend and thereby securing the last Madden woman to join our fold. But before I can exchange my forever vows with Serenity Taylor, I just needed to tell you…
Love, Carter
Sunny Hostin
Welcome to Oak Bluffs, the most exclusive black beach community in the country. Known for its gingerbread Victorian-style houses and modern architectural marvels, this picturesque town hugging the sea is a mecca for the crème de la crème of black society—where Michelle and Barack Obama vacation and Meghan Markle has shopped for a house for her mom. Black people have lived in this pretty slip of the Vineyard since the 1600s and began buying property in the 1800s, making this posh town the embodiment of “old money.”
Thirty years ago, Amelia Vaux Tanner and her husband built a house high on the bluffs, a cottage they named Chateau Laveau. For decades, “Ama” played host to American presidents, Wall Street titans, and cultural icons. But her favorite guests have always been her three “goddaughters:” Esperanza “Perry” Soto, a beautiful, talented Afro-Latina lawyer with Ama’s strong, yet guarded personality; Olivia Jones, a gifted Wall Street analyst with Ama’s brilliant, logical mind; and Billie Hayden, a gifted marine biologist and rule-breaker with Ama’s courageous free spirit.
Growing up, these three goddaughters from different backgrounds came together each summer at Chateau Laveau. As adults, the cottage is a place this trio of successful yet very different women go to escape, to slow down from their hectic lives, share private time with Ama, and enjoy the gorgeous weather, cool water, and stunning views Oak Bluffs offers.
This summer on the Bluffs, however, will be different. An era is ending: Ama, now nearing seventy-one, is moving to the south of France to reunite with her college sweetheart. She has invited Perry, Olivia, and Billie to spend one last golden summer together with her the way they did when they were kids. And when fall comes, she is going to give the house to one of them.
Each of the women wants the house desperately. Each is grappling with a secret she fears will hurt her and her chances. By the end of summer, old ties will fray, new bonds will be created, and these three found sisters will discover they aren’t the only ones with something to hide. Ama has a few secrets of her own. What she has to give them is far more than property. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, she will tell these surrogate daughters she fiercely loves and protects everything they never knew they needed to know.
Alexandria House
fervent.
incontrovertible.
imperishable.
a love infinite
This is a brief collection of erotic scenes which also includes two short stories previously available for free online. If erotic content and short stories are not your cup of tea, this experience is not for you.
Nia Jolove
The Lady:
Kiera is a young black data scientist. Her life is threatened when she discovers proof that could destroy her past employer’s million-dollar company. While on the run with her new bosses ( Troy, Jamal, and Eric ) she realizes they are more than just her protectors.
As Kiera runs from one dangerous situation to another, will she lose her heart to all three men along the way?
The Men:
Troy, Jamal, and Eric have been homeboys since back in the day. They have shared women in the past but are looking for more. Will Kiera be what each guy needs or just a one-time thrill ride?
Catch Me If You Can (audiobook)
Christina C. Jones
For Naomi Prescott, it’s not just a cute little saying. It’s a critical mantra, words to live by if she wants to retain her freedom, and, more importantly, her life. Impeccable planning is the only way to ensure she sets off the small flutters that will trigger the big ripple she needs to pull off the score of a lifetime – no matter the stakes.
FBI Agent Marcus Calloway is a straight-shooter…if you overlook his sometimes unconventional, law-skirting, expensive ways of solving a case. A big arrest would do wonders to restore his reputation, and he has one woman in mind: Jolie Voleuse.
Unforeseen circumstances force them into a closer proximity than either – especially Naomi – would like to be. Sparks fly, and as surely as fire ignites, eventually their undeniable chemistry combusts into a passion that neither expected as they join forces in the dangerous pursuit of a common bounty.
Contains mature themes.
Vivian Rose Lee
The townsfolk of Tullahassee, Oklahoma are awed by the young woman they remember as the wild tomboy who ran around town – dirty, barefoot, and always causing trouble. Now, after completing medical school, Dr. Juba Gibson returns home, refined and well-respected by those from back east. She is ecstatic to be the one caring for her fellow townsfolk. But to her surprise, Tullahassee has made many changes – some good and some not so good. She is shocked to learn that some of the people do not accept her as the new doctor, but she will not be deterred. She figures she will just have to prove them wrong and change their way of thinking.
Deputy Marshal Drummond Washington does not recognize the new young woman who has just arrived in town. Good Lord, she is beautiful. Later, he learns that the woman in question is none other than the town nuisance who used to follow him all over creation. Now, he has to place Juba to the side because she could be a distraction that he doesn’t have time for. He has other deep-rooted heartbreaks to deal with – like finding the outlaws who massacred his family.
Lutishia Lovely
Since childhood, Chantel has idolized her older sister, Jett, a superstar performer. But she’s seldom seen her Hollywood-based sibling. More on the shy side, Chantel is perfectly happy with her own modest singing career and quiet Missouri hometown life. But when their mother dies and Chantel’s world is upended, she hopes that moving to Los Angeles will give her a fresh start – and a chance to know Jett better. But the truth is, she doesn’t know Jett at all.
When Jett rebuffs her efforts to bond, Chantel learns a devastating secret she never could have imagined. Reeling and angry, Chantel soon comes up with the perfect vengeful weapon: a best-selling tell-all book that will reveal Jett’s stormy past – and wreak havoc on the stardom she prizes more than anything or anyone. But Jett guards her private life for a reason, and will stop at nothing to stop the past from being exposed. Now, between hard hidden truths and bitter new revelations, Chantel must decide how much payback is too much – and if the reward is worth the life-altering price.
Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen
From Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel David Makonnen comes an Afrofuturist adventure about a mythical Ethiopian empire. Sci-fi and fantasy combine in this epic journey to the stars.
Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime — a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family… and his only friends.
Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and wisecracking sense of humor, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.
Suddenly, all the stories Yared’s uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them.
Together with Besa and the Ibis — a game rival turned reluctant ally — Yared must search for his uncle… and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.
K.O. McGee
Management Consultant Crimson Knox is as fierce as they come. A bruised heart from her college days had turned her into a career-driven powerhouse with a trail of successes behind her. Still, her heart secretly yearns to love and be loved. She won’t settle for just anyone, though. A brief romance taught her that. But when love comes back around and taps her on the shoulder, will she be able to recognize its face?
Dayton Burke thought he was ready for marriage. As a Corporate Attorney, he built quite the life for himself. Sharing it with a better half was the icing on the cake he was looking forward to. However, trust was crucial and realizing his fiancée hadn’t earned his, was a sting that needed to be dealt with. Now single and free, the life he desires seems out of reach until the sudden reintroduction to the woman who has always taken his breath away.
Will the pain of the past stay a distant memory for these two lovers? Or will seemingly ready hearts prevail, setting the stage for a love that’s well-fed?
Vanessa Miller
Leah Davison has made some serious mistakes, but she refuses to give up as she tries put her life back together. But the secret she discovers about her preacher father, coupled with the abuse she suffered from a man she dated shatters her faith in family, men and God. Leah doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn. Reconnecting with Cory Parker, an old church friend, proves to be a blessing that saves her life, but can Leah trust Cory with her heart?
Cory Parker can’t afford any distractions. He’s staking his entire career on an IPO that must go off without any more glitches…but he can’t stop thinking about Leah and the fear he saw in her eyes. He’d give up everything in order to protect her; he’d walk through fire for the chance to love her.
During the most horrific time of her life, Leah must find a way to trust in God’s ability to protect her. With help from a praying family and a man who shows her love in action, Leah begins to believe that dreams really do come true.
Dream Come True is a reprint of Heaven Sent. However, this book has 70% new content, book discussion question and book club kit.
Coco Mixon
When Natavia was born she felt nothing like the person she was born to be. She decided to be the woman she always wanted to be. After making many changes, she moved to a different city and lived her life to the fullest. She met and fell in love with Lance, but he wanting more than she could offer caused her to run away. Years later, Raymond came into play and she was at her happiest, until Lance shows up. Lance not wanting to take no for an answer starts digging in her past. What he discovers blows his mind. Now there is nothing he wouldn’t do to get his revenge on Natavia. Only time will tell if Natavia will continue to live her new happy life. Or will Lance ruin it all for her.
DND: Caught Up in His Love (audiobook)
Tay Mo’Nae
Instagram model, party girl Luna Star had closed herself off to love, content with her life as a local celebrity. She enjoys the fast life and didn’t see herself slowing down, until meeting Bash one night at the club. What was supposed to be one night between Bash and Luna Star turns into more than what either of them were expecting.
Being wrongfully imprisoned should have changed Bash, instead he gets out of jail determined to make things right in his life. After two years, he runs back into Luna, finding out a secret that will rock his world.
What Luna Star wasn’t expecting was Bash to be holding onto some secrets of his own. Once his secrets come to the light, both of them are forced to fight the attraction that they have for one another.
These two are tested in ways neither of them expected, forced to fight temptation with outside forces trying to keep them apart. Find out how Luna Star was able to be Caught Up in His Love.
Contains mature themes.
Tucora Monique
The best way to describe Spencer Hendricks is calculated. From childhood to her mid-twenties, the stoic attorney has kept her life on a schedule to avoid chaos. However, when the best day of her life and the worse become one, Spencer is forced to check her harsh demeanor. And when she’s assigned to defend Black Lightning Motorsports’ newest champ, the overthinker may be taught how good freedom feels.
One word to describe Lucas Jackson? Reckless. At twenty-seven, the professional driver isn’t concerned with rules, regulations, or relationships while enjoying the benefits of his hard work. Nonetheless, the party animal is humbled when his stature conjures attention he doesn’t need. In a bind and considering the advice of his mentor, Lucas finds himself focused on his inner traumas and a woman who may not mind being alone with only him.
Tyora Moody
Jackson “Jax” Reed has exchanged his years as a reporter to become a New York Times bestselling author. Being birthed from an affair, Jax has always had a cloud that’s loomed over his life. Despite the growing success of his true crime books, a secret that his mother took to the grave has turned his life upside-down.
Jax runs into an old flame, Ebony Hampton, the woman who broke off their engagement fifteen years ago. These two quickly find themselves at odds since Ebony is the FBI agent tasked with investigating the serial killer who happens to be the subject of Jax’s latest book.
When their shared “subject” makes a daring escape from prison, the former couple will find themselves risking their lives together.
Renee A. Moses
Lyric Phillips is ready for love. For the first time ever, she believes that something worth having may exist for her. She always did what made her feel good with no cares for anything else until it caught up and bit her. She ultimately changed her mindset, vowed celibacy, and tossed her bad habits. When the new Lyric falls in love again, her past trickles in with an agenda.
Elijah Grant is a youth pastor for his father’s church. He loves working with the kids but being their pastor was not his calling. After mishaps from his past, he fell in line to get back into his father’s good graces. Now, he’s ready to step down and move on. Breaking the news to his family may mean more trouble than it’s worth.
J. Nichole
Parker met Bailey Monroe in Hawaii, and he wanted her to fly out to London, Bali, and Dubai too.
There was just one problem, he was a traveling artist, a nomad of sorts. And she was not.
She had a business to run, a life to maintain.
He couldn’t stay, and she couldn’t go. Is their love strong enough to cross seas, and time zones?
Nadia Nicole
Amarie Nesbitt has it all. She is young, beautiful, rich, and owns a thriving beauty company. The last thing she needs in her life is drama. A bullet through her office window makes her fear for her life. She is sent on a downward spiral as she becomes the focus of an unknown assailant’s cat and mouse game.
Will she make it out alive?
Suyi Okungbowa
In the ancient. city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—only he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy.
But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.
Nova Reign
Doing a one-eighty implies that you’re making a turn that points you in the opposite direction than what you previously believed yourself to be going. Just when you think you had your steps and life all planned out, one slight shift can spin you in another direction.
Indulge in the journey with two generations of the Cummings and Dawkins families, where friends become family or enemies depending on the time and day, lines are blurred, and secrets are revealed.
Vibe with them as they navigate through all the twists and turns that life and love have to offer.
The Crew: Pop and Poetry
Sabrina B. Scales
A band brought together by platinum rapper, Plus, has taken the world by storm. But with recent tensions within the group, the label has decided to split the five into three groups. The second of this three-part split is rap and R&B duo, Joc and Kimi Wells who have been forced to make the best of a high-pressure situation. Find out if their brilliant lyricism commonality translates to love, or if they’ll leave the chemistry in the booth with pop and poetry.
Once Upon a Summer
Toni Shiloh, et al
Embrace the enchantment of summer with these contemporary twists on timeless tales.
A New Beginning — Who is she? Acacia Martin raised by an impostor mom serving a prison sentence for her sins, or Jasmine Callahan abducted at birth from a family she’s yet to meet? Luckily, she has Drake to help her untangle the mess that is her life. Will he ensnare her he art in the process?
An Ever After Summer — The employees of In a Bind are terrified of Jean-Luc Thibodeaux, so Bellamy Larson hops on a plane to France to deal with the beastly client. Yet once she arrives, she’s convinced he merely needs a friend. Then her heart begins to want ever after, not just one summer.
Gwen and the Three Dates — Life isn’t a romantic movie, but Gwen Lochs is determined to find her leading man. When she joins a cheesy dating site, Gwen agrees to just three dates. Can Ben Smith watch his best friend and soulmate find someone else? A romantic comedy about searching for that just-right love.
Unkissable — Reality diva Charlotte Lavigne’s on-camera meltdown reminds former teen-TV prince Jaime Reyes exactly why he left Hollywood ten years ago. A chance encounter leads to a bargain that transforms them both. When it’s time to face her past, will their rediscovered love be strong enough to build a future together?
Tanisha Stewart
They say to always watch the quiet ones, because you never know when they might snap.
Shatina is a young woman with a troubled past and present. She lives in the shadows of her fraternal twin sister, who sucked up all the beauty genes, her best friend, whose seductive charm will sway any boy who listens, and her cousin, who is more than a knockout, but a force to be reckoned with.
Shatina feels like she has nothing going for her but her grades and her full scholarship to a four year institution of her choice… until someone comes along to threaten that.
Shatina has faced threats before, and little does anyone know, she has gained vindication over all of her enemies, one by one. Except this last one might be a bit more of a challenge than she bargained for.
Theodora Taylor
You’ve never met an ex like Victor…
DAWN:
Three dates with the monster.
That’s the price he’s demanding for my freedom.
With a growing secret inside my womb, I have no choice but to accept his deal.
But can I tangle with the silent beast without losing myself again?
VICTOR:
She’s escaped, and I’m undone.
A crime lord brought down by one woman.
They’re saying that I must let her go. That I’ll never be able to win her back.
She says that too.
But failure is not an option. Losing her will destroy any humanity I have left.
She’s my addiction. My only weakness. The woman I chose over everything else.
Three dates. If that’s all I have to prove I’m the man she belongs with, then I’d better make them count.
Jacquelin Thomas
He’s a courageous man…
But can he rescue himself?
Firefighter Leon Rothchild had endured his share of grief. Still, honor compelled him to look after his late friend’s ex-wife and daughter. Though it was obvious the lovely Misty Brightwater could take care of herself, she welcomed Leon into her three-year-old’s life. Their family was a marvelous glimpse into the warmth of the one he’d lost and desperately missed. And perhaps it was the push he needed to risk everything again…
Emancipating James (audiobook)
Joan Vassar
In this compelling third saga of The Black Series, Joan Vassar returns to Upper Canada,1862. While on a mission with the legendary Black, James comes face to face with a dark beauty enslaved on the Mickerson plantation. Freedom and love are within his grasp, until ill-fated circumstances separate the two. When he is severely wounded in a violent uprising, James’ life is forever changed. Scarred both physically and emotionally, he tries to put behind him the failures of the last year.
When life at the fort is threatened, James and his brothers are called upon for a dangerous mission that could jeopardize their hard-earned freedom. The men embark on a treacherous journey that will take them to the Union Capital and then on to their final stop: The Hunter Plantation, where bitter enemies and reckonings await payment. As the men follow a path of murder and intrigue, who will live and who will die remains to be seen.
Emancipating James reveals the complicated facets of the human soul exposed against the backdrops of Civil War, slavery, and romance.
Monica Walters
Chrissy Henderson has endured more hurt and heartache now more than ever. Finding out her husband of over twenty years isn’t the man she thought him to be has taken a toll on her mental health and stability. His actions and the demise of their marriage has brought her to her knees, but it has also strengthened her relationships with her siblings… all except the two she’s always been the closest to. During her self-preservation and self-repair phase, she meets someone who has the power to make her forget all about her past hurts and simply focus on her present with him. However, the weight of her past and situations with her family has her questioning it all.
LaKeith Douglas is searching for a love that can fill him in the most amazing way. Being divorced for over twenty years, he knows that love the second time around will be much better than the first. He’s matured and knows exactly what he wants in a spouse. A fateful meeting with Chrissy Henderson takes him by surprise, but upon first sight, he knows that she’s the woman that will steal his heart. Despite a few bumps along the way, his vision hasn’t changed, but he can only hope that Chrissy’s hasn’t either.
Past hurts have done a number on Chrissy. She is guarded and constantly questions her life choices. Can LaKeith keep her from living in her head to focus on the present with him, or is she too far gone to be swayed?
Alexandra Warren
Returning to her hometown was not in the plans, and neither was falling for her former best friend…
Briyana Hayes can’t seem to catch a break.
The job offer she expected after taking an unpaid internship at a major shoe company didn’t come through. The friend who’d offered her a place to stay suddenly gave her forty-eight hours to vacate after a misunderstanding. And when she’s forced to move back to her hometown to live with her father and his mistress-turned-wife, it almost seems impossible for things to get any worse… until she runs into her former best friend who’s only gotten fine with time.
With his sixth season as the starting linebacker for his hometown Houston Skyhawks on the horizon, the only thing Lance Hawkins is looking forward to is another year of getting paid and chasing accolades. But when he discovers that the girl he once considered his best friend is back in the city, he quickly finds himself intrigued by a different kind of pursuit after seeing how attractive she’s gotten.
Even with the fallout of the past, their undeniable chemistry as friends makes it impossible for the two of them to remain distant. And once romantic feelings get involved, it doesn’t take long for Briyana and Lance to find themselves on a journey of not only reestablishing what once was, but also exploring what could be.
Monica West
Every summer, 15-year-old Miriam Horton and her family pack themselves tight in their old minivan and travel through small Southern towns for revival season: the time when Miriam’s father – one of the South’s most famous preachers – holds massive healing services for people desperate to be cured of ailments and disease. This summer, the revival season doesn’t go as planned, and after one service in which Reverend Horton’s healing powers are tested like never before, Miriam witnesses a shocking act of violence that shakes her belief in her father – and in her faith.
When the Hortons return home, Miriam’s confusion only grows as she discovers she might have the power to heal – even though her father and the church have always made it clear that such power is denied to women. Over the course of the next year, Miriam must decide between her faith, her family, and her newfound power that might be able to save others, but, if discovered by her father, could destroy Miriam.
Celebrating both feminism and faith, Revival Season is a story of spiritual awakening and disillusionment in a Southern, Black, Evangelical community. Monica West’s transporting coming-of-age novel explores complicated family and what it means to live among the community of the faithful.
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