It’s a family reunion today at Black Fiction Addiction. All the authors from the Family First box set are stopping by to discuss their contributions to the series.
According to the blurb, inside the pages of this limited edition box set are an introduction to eight family series containing eight contemporary romance novels from bestselling authors. Get ready for captivating stories of passion, family ties, and Black love!
INVESTED by Iris Bolling
Myles Dunning, the thirty-five-year-old CEO of Dunning Bank and Trust, is fighting off one takeover attempt after another to save his family’s historical bank. Chrystina Price is a voluptuous, lovable, powerhouse, whose sole purpose in life is too uplift and protect the man she has loved from the first day they met. When the integrity of the family always comes first is it worth investing in love?
Tell me about your Family First contribution.
Invested is the first book in the Dunning Trilogy. I enjoyed writing about this family. I can’t tell you which of the children I love the most. However, Myles is close to the top.
Myles Dunning, the thirty-five-year-old CEO of Dunning Bank and Trust, is fighting off one takeover attempt after another to save his family’s historical bank. Recently ranked the third largest bank in the world, the leaders in the financial industry conspire to prevent further growth by any means necessary. Chrystina Price is a voluptuous, lovable, powerhouse, whose sole purpose in life is to uplift and protect the man she has loved from the first day they met…Myles Dunning. Discovering enemies, close and afar, Chrystina throws everything she has into uncovering and blocking each attempt to bring Myles down. After a boardroom victory raised the bank closer to the number two ranking, Myles and Chrystina share a victory kiss that unleashes an unstoppable flow of love that no dam could control. The bliss of love is short lived when Miles learns a tragic truth.
When did you fall in love with the written word?
Reading has been my first love since I was a little girl. It was my escape from being social. Yes, I am a nerd who’d rather read than go to parties. My love for writing came much later. In fact, I was turning 50 when I wrote my first novel.
What book(s) are you most excited to read next?
I love thrillers and suspense. I’m always excited when a David Baldacci book is released. I also love historical romance. Not only do I enjoy a Beverly Jenkins novel, I learn from them. Last, I love romance, especially those that represent Black love. Give me a Brenda Jackson, or Deborah Mello book, and I’m good to go.
Do you have anything you would like to add?
Yes. It was both a pleasure and an honor to be invited to be a part of this boxset. Each of the authors involved has proven to be great storytellers and conscience about their craft. I look forward to what each of them will produce in the future.
Learn more about author/producer/director Iris Bolling:
LOVE UNDER CONTRACT by Sharon C. Cooper, Award-winning and bestselling author
Sumeera Robinson refuses to settle for less than she desires, even if what she craves is the sexy Nicolas Jenkins-Moore. She’s ready for marriage and a family, but his five-year plan has those items at the bottom of the list. When Sumeera walks out of his life, Nicolas realizes what he’s lost and will stop at nothing to win her back.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
Chandra, thanks for this opportunity! My contribution to the Family First collaboration is Love Under Contract. This is the first book of my Jenkins & Sons Construction series, which is a spin-off of my Jenkins Family series. The story follows Sumeera Robinson and Nicolas Jenkins-Moore as they navigate through a relationship that they both want, but they’re at different stages in their lives. They’ve dated for about a year, and Sumeera is ready for marriage and a family. Nick, however, has a five-year plan and is on track, but marriage and starting a family is at the bottom of the list. It’s not until Sumeera breaks up with him that Nick realizes just how much he loves and wants her in his life. They basically want the same thing, but now he has to convince Sumeera of that.
Love Under Contract is book one in the series. Also included in the Jenkins Family series is: Proposal for Love (book 2), A Lesson on Love (book 3), Unplanned Love (book 4).
What’s the best part of being an author?
Hmm…that’s a good question. There are several things I love about being an author, but I’ll give you the top two. I LOVE coming up with stories! There’s always an idea floating around inside my head, and I have a file of story ideas just waiting for me to write. Something else I absolutely love about being an author: my readers. I love, love, love them, and they make me want to keep writing and creating, especially when they send me emails. Lol. I get the best emails—usually with thought-provoking questions about my stories, my future stories, and characters they want me to give a story to. Lol. My readers are the best!
What’s the hardest part of being an author?
Writing / being an author is probably the hardest job I’ve ever had! I think one of the hardest parts is that I have tons of ideas, but can’t get them into stories fast enough! So many times—story ideas come to mind when I’m in the middle of another story, but I can’t jump on it because…I’m in the middle of a story. Lol. As an author, I want to get books into the hands of my readers quickly, but sometimes (for me), it’s not as quick as I’d like.
What’s next for you?
I’m staying busy with a number of projects in the works. I just released Hunted, book 6 in my Atlanta’s Finest series, and I’m working on book 7 (Tempted). I also have my Harlequin Romantic Suspense debut book (His to Protect) coming out April 1. Later in the year, I’ll share information about a couple of romantic comedies that I have coming out in 2022. Some of my other projects don’t have release dates yet, but your followers can check out my website for constant updates.
Learn more about Sharon C. Cooper:
Website: http://sharoncooper.net
Join Sharon’s mailing list: https://bit.ly/31Xsm36
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSharonCCooper21?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Sharon_Cooper1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823574.Sharon_C_Cooper
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sharonccooper/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorsharonccooper/
UNFORGETTABLE by Delaney Diamond, USA Today Bestselling Author
Ivy Johnson is stunned when Lucas Baylor makes an appearance at her family’s event in Seattle. When her deception is revealed, it throws his life into a tailspin and forces them to face the truth of their feelings for each other—feelings they’ve both tried in vain to forget.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
Unforgettable is my contribution to the Family First box set, the first book in my Johnson Family series about one sister and four brothers who run a multi-billion-dollar beer and restaurant conglomerate out of Seattle. This particular story contains two of my favorite tropes—second-chance romance and secret baby.
Lucas Baylor is a semi-famous writer who’s on a book tour when he accidentally bumps into Ivy Johnson, the woman he spent an intense summer with nine years before. Right from the start, you get the impression that these two are still very much into each other. They were in their twenties when they became lovers, and neither forgot the other. While Lucas wants to rekindle at least a friendship with Ivy, she’s adamant she wants nothing to do with him because she’s held onto a secret all these years—that she had his child and never told him since he’d made it clear back then that he didn’t want to be a father. So when Lucas finds out, he’s forced to make a decision—can he be a father to this little girl, a child he thought he never wanted and never knew existed? And at first, the answer is no, but then there’s some back-and-forth between him and Ivy as they learn to co-parent while dealing with mutual animosity and unresolved feelings and desires.
What books have you read lately and loved?
Mostly I’ve been reading industry books on marketing, etc., but I did read a fiction book that I absolutely loved and couldn’t put down. I gobbled up The Guest List by Lucy Foley in twenty-four hours, dedicating every spare minute I had to reading it. It’s a must-read for mystery fans.
What book(s) are you most excited to read next?
I’m in the process of reading 24 Hours by Greg Iles. A couple’s child is kidnapped, and they take matters into their own hands. So far so good, and I’m excited to see the resolution of the story. I’d planned to read A Promised Land by Barack Obama around the holidays when I had quiet time, but I didn’t get a chance to. I’ll try to get to it some time during Black History Month.
What’s next for you?
After the Family First box set, my next release is the second book in my Plan B romantic suspense series, Until Death. The series is about a clandestine government agency that protects the United States from enemies foreign and domestic. Cruz Cordoba is the hero in this novel—a no-holds-barred assassin who fell for the heroine, Shanice, while he was investigating her. Books one and two have been so much fun to write! Blowing things up, car chases, fight scenes. I’m an avid watcher of action movies and read a fair amount of thrillers, so combining my love of romance with that type of high-octane action was certainly challenging but fun, and so far reader response has been very good. This book will have the same action, romance, and intensity from the first book, and I’m excited for readers to check it out.
Learn more about Delaney Diamond:
Website: www.delaneydiamond.com
Newsletter: https://geni.us/DDNews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDelaneyDiamond
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DelaneyDiamond
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordelaneydiamond
#BLESSED BY MALAKAI by Sherelle Green
Overnight, Malakai Madden becomes a social media legend after the #BlessedMyMalakai hashtag starts trending. Avery Nightingale is the perfect image consultant to get his life back on track. However, avoiding their explosive chemistry proves to be a bigger distraction than either of them bargained for.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
#Blessed By Malakai kicks off my to Marry a Madden series and follows the journey of Malakai Madden and Avery Nightingale. Overnight, Malakai becomes a social media legend after the #BlessedByMalakai hashtag starts trending. Avery just may be the perfect image consultant to get his life back on track. However, avoiding their explosive chemistry proves to be a bigger distraction than either of them bargained for. A huge trend in this book centers around social media and the impact it can have on a person’s life. Privacy—or the lack thereof—plays a huge factor in Malakai getting back the life he lost as private stories and photos are shared throughout several social media platforms. He never set out to be a viral sensation, yet Avery is the only one who can help him after others have tried and failed. Avery is one of those characters that has an adorable awkwardness that makes you want to root for her in every scene. She knows that professionally, she’s the right woman. However, ignoring all the signs that she may be the woman he’s meant to fall in love with takes longer for her to realize. For anyone who is a fan of fate and things happening serendipitously, #Blessed By Malakai touches on those elements.
When did you fall in love with the written word?
The writing bug bit extremely early for me. When I was a young girl about three or four years old, I used to write these short stories in broken-kid language and read them out loud to my parents and grandparents. I always knew I wanted a career in writing, so I majored in English and journalism in college and wrote short love stories any chance I could. I was also a journalist and news reporter for a while before diving into a career in the publishing industry from a professional standpoint. After years of working in publishing, I finally switched gears and followed my true passion of writing romance novels.
What’s the best part of being an author?
For me, the best part about being an author is connecting with readers and other authors. The camaraderie with readers. The sisterhood and brotherhood with authors. Collaborations that help broaden your tribe and liven your spirit are always so much fun for me to work on! Through books, we are able to reach a wide range of individuals that we may never reach otherwise. At the end of every day, I just hope that someone reads a character I’ve created and are able to relate to him or her in a way that helps them get through whatever they may be going through in life.
What’s next for you?
The Family First Box Set that #Blessed By Malakai is included in is my first collaboration of the year. However, in March, myself, along with Sheryl Lister, Elle Wright, and Angela Seals are releasing four stories in the Once Upon a Funeral series. For my Madden fans, you’ve already met the Crowne family and may or may not know that Face Down Fridays and Sins of a Saint released in Crowne Legacy last year. This year, I plan on releasing more books in that spin-off series.
Learn more about award-winning author Sherelle Green:
Website: www.sherellegreen.com
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/sherelle-green
Reader Group: bit.ly/SherelleGreensCoffeeCorner
YouTube: bit.ly/SherelleYouTube
Facebook: Facebook.com/AuthorSherelleGreen
IG/Twitter: @sherellegreen
EVENINGS WITH BRYSON by Tina Martin, three-time Emma Award Winner, including Author of the Year, Book of the Year Award Winner, multiple Amazon #1 new releases.
Kalina Cooper doesn’t believe in love since watching her father walk out on her mother years ago. But when she meets Bryson Blackstone in her aunt’s cafe, he challenges everything she thinks she knows about life and love and reveals secrets about her family that she otherwise would’ve never known.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
Evenings With Bryson is about two people who don’t believe in love and never expected to find it with each other. Kalina Cooper is overworked and stressed, managing her blog. Bryson Blackstone is the divorced landscape company owner who overhears Kalina’s conversation with her aunt as she discusses marriage and relationships. A challenge from him ends up with them spending their evenings together.
What’s the best part of being an author?
The best part about being an author is creating stories that never existed before. It’s like creating your own world and introducing that world to readers. Also, the best part about being an author is interacting with readers and having book discussions.
What’s the hardest part of being an author?
One of the hardest parts of being an author is staying on task. It’s easy to get distracted and lose motivation, especially with everything going on in the world.
Learn more about Tina Martin:
Website: www.tinamartin.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tinamartinauthor
Instagram: instagram.com/tinamartinauthor
Book and Main: https://bookandmainbites.com/tinamartinauthor/
SAFE WITH ME by Stephanie Nicole Norris
Samiyah Manhattan is mourning the death of her six-year marriage when she vows never to trust men again. Celebrity ex-boxer turned business mogul, Jonas Alexander Rose never takes women too seriously. However, when he meets the beautiful Samiyah mulling over a mimosa, Jonas is overwhelmed by the heart throbbing heated attraction, and now he is on a mission to explore this thing called love.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
Safe With Me is a second-chance romance. It follows Samiyah Manhattan and Jonas Alexander Rose. Samiyah is newly divorced and nursing her woes at a bar when she meets Jonas. Samiyah’s in no mood to chat, but because a local patron can’t take no for an answer, Jonas, who is minding his business, notices the commotion at the bar and intervenes. Their chemistry is instant, and although Samiyah is in no mood to be around men, she decides to live it up for the night. She ends up going home with Jonas, and from there, their relationship begins to build.
When did you fall in love with the written word?
I’ve loved to read since I was young. I’ve always written short stories, even in grade school. In 2010, a story wouldn’t let me rest until I wrote down what was going on. That’s when my writing career began.
What’s the best part of being an author?
Creating. Being able to flex that muscle and watch worlds come to life. The people are real, breathing, loving, sexing, fighting, rejoicing characters. It’s amazing. It’s the best part.
What’s next for you?
I’ve always wanted to be a hybrid author–self-published and traditionally published. I have some interest in the traditional world, so I plan to try my hand at that and see where it takes me.
Learn more about Stephanie Nicole Norris, award-winning bestselling author.
Penning Black. Swoon-worthy. Stimulating. Romance.
Get VIP access to all things Stephanie Nicole Norris by subscribing to the Queendom text list https://bit.ly/QueendomVIPs
Website: www.stephanienicolenorris.com
Books: http://bit.ly/FallingForARose
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/stephanie-nicole-norris
Instagram: www.instagram.com/stephanienrrs1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/125331954243382
Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephanienrrs1
COOKING UP LOVE by Candace Shaw
When Shelbi Arrington foregoes her medical residency, the last thing she’s searching for is love. However, that’s just what the doctor prescribes when she meets chef Justin Richardson, who is leery of doctors because of his mother’s death years ago. As their relationship heats up, Shelbi learns of a shocking revelation which may extinguish their flame.
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
My contribution to the Family First box set is Cooking Up Love from the Arrington Family Series. The book centers around the youngest Arrington sibling, Shelbi and her unexpected journey to love with Justin Richardson, executive chef and owner of Lillian’s Dinner and Blues club. The five-book series is set in Memphis, Tennessee, and follows the lives of five siblings who are all doctors at the medical practice their parents started years ago. In Cooking Up Love, Shelbi is fresh out of medical school but has decided to forego her residency and instead accept a position as a food critic for the Memphis Tribune. Using her new job as a scapegoat, she tries to forget her guilt of a patient dying under her care during her internship. Upon meeting Justin, they both feel an immediate connection of cooking together while falling for each other. Justin is leery of doctors, especially the one who couldn’t save his mother when he was twelve. When Shelbi finds out his disdain for doctors as well as a shocking revelation, she is faced with a devastating decision and the fear of losing the man she loves.
When did you fall in love with the written word?
I was in fourth grade when I started reading for enjoyment and not just because I felt I had to because of my teacher or parents. For summer vacation, my parents bought me a collection of about fifty classics as well as a set of encyclopedias (that’s when I became a research nerd as well. LOL!) One of the books Little Women by Louisa May Alcott inspired me to write like the main character Jo March, and I began writing short stories and plays like her.
What book(s) are you most excited to read next?
For Christmas, my husband gave me A Promised Land by President Barack Obama, and it’s number one on my list to read once I wrap up my current project.
What’s next for you?
I’m in the process wrapping up the rewrites/edits for the last book in the Precious Moments Series, When I Think of You. The heroine in this book is also an Arrington as the series is a spin-off with cousins and friends of the Arrington Family Series. I’m also in the process of placing the rest of the books in Precious Moments in audiobook for later on in 2021.
Learn more about Candace Shaw, author of fun, flirty, and sexy romance novels
Website: https://CandaceShaw.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Candace_Shaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candaceshaw08
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candace_shaw/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Candace-Shaw/e/B008FEK8MI
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/candace-shaw
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829266.Candace_Shaw
KEEPING SECRETS by Kiru Taye
Have you ever loved someone and didn’t know it? That’s the dilemma facing Felix when he wakes from a coma to find he is married to the most beautiful and most sensual woman he’s ever known. However, will he still feel the same way when he regains his memory and realizes she’s been keeping secrets and their marriage is not what he thinks it is?
Tell me about your contribution to Family First.
Keeping Secrets featured in the Family First black romance box set is a marriage of convenience, billionaire, and contemporary romance set in Lagos, Nigeria. Felix, the amnesiac hero, unknowingly falls for Ebony, who he contracted to be his wife for a limited period. Things get even more complicated when there is an accidental pregnancy. J
When did you fall in love with the written word?
I fell in love with the written word in my early teens. I would read every book that came my way. But I loved the romantic stories especially. Then I would make up my own stories and write them down.
What’s the best part of being an author?
The best part of being an author is being able to tell stories that entertain readers while doing something I love.
Do you have anything you would like to add?
Keeping Secrets is the first in a seven-book series about the Essien family.
The Essiens are the kings of African finance. A close-knit family, their father is the patriarch of a finance dynasty that ranges from retail to investment banking spanning the African continent. Yet all is not as it seems as the brothers—Felix, Mark, Tony, Kola and Freddie—soon discover when their family is rocked by secrets and scandals. Blood ties or not, family is family.
Series link: https://www.kirutaye.com/the-essien-series
Other books in the series: 2 – Making Scandal, 3 – Riding Rebel, 4 – Kola, 5 – A Very Essien Christmas, 6 – Freddie Entangled, 7 – Freddie Untangled
Learn more about Kiru Taye who writes sensual African stories. She is also the publisher at Love Africa Press.
Website: www.kirutaye.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKiruTaye
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KiruTaye
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirutaye/
Use the Black Fiction Addiction affiliate link to purchase your copy of Family First.