Best of
African-American-Literature

2019

Hoodwinked


Desiree M. Granger - 2019
    Soon to be married off to Percy Hugo Milton to keep money circulating between black families, she realizes she’s stuck in a dead end relationship where he basically, “ain’t shit”. Money matters most, marriage is nothing but a business deal, and love is nonexistent in Percy’s eyes. Not to mention he finds her particularly boring, and uninspiring. Jasmine becomes desperate when she seeks the help of a spiritual guide. An eccentric witch named Delilah Skye who grants her three things she wants in life. Friendship, great sex, and true love. Yet, the reading doesn’t go as planned when Delilah informs Jasmine that everything she wants is hidden in the man she hates the most. Percy. After a wild drunken night in Atlanta a few years ago with some girl he never planned on seeing again, Homer Skye thought he had life figured out. He had the plans laid out to propose to his long time girlfriend Nasia Stewart, move her into a house, and start his family immediately. The all american dream. That is, until he runs into his one night stand, Pia Milton, and their two year old daughter he knew nothing about. With the Moon becoming full almost every night in Atlanta, things start to turn upside down as these two stories collide at the hands of black magic, family ties, and messy drama. Determined to find true love, Jasmine takes matters into her own hands by proposing a deal to her cheating fiancé. Pia has to come to terms with tolerating her child’s father, and the black magic that runs deep in his crazy family. While Homer struggles with the thought of this woman who lied about their daughter for two years, might just be the one he’s meant to be with all along. Fine Print: This story contains a little magic, belief in the impossible, and a few other random things and people that make up the story. Might be some hood shit in here too, I don’t know. I say, just read it.

Hood Luvin' From A White Boy 2


Sha Jones - 2019
    However, when Diamond, the stripper that was only supposed to be a one night stand unexpectedly gets pregnant, she refuses to let go of Javo. Not wanting to lose Mahogany, Javo hides the pregnancy, but just like the old saying goes, “What’s done in the dark will come to light.” Mahogany has been through mishaps, including miscarriages, heartbreak, and betrayal. Every man she meets hurts her, leaving her to pick up the pieces to her broken heart, but Javo convinces her to take another chance on love. Unfortunately, when Diamond finds out about the new love affair between the two of them, all hell breaks loose! Will Mahogany reflect on all of her past failed relationships and let Javo go to protect her already wounded heart, or will she stick it out with him and a child that might not be his? Find out in the second installment to Sha Jones’ latest love story.

The Perfect Waters: Odessa. Book One


LeeSha McCoy - 2019
     For the waters to be perfect, an Odessa must connect to all life within them, and if the reigning Odessa loses her life, her sorcery is always passed to her first-born daughter. Only, the daughter the waters know of, is not the first. Asia's mother went missing eighteen years ago and since then, Asia has feared the one thing she always dreamt of working with. The ocean. So instead, she's been living life as a lab tech. She doesn't exactly love her job, but it pays the bills and she has money to spend on nights out with her girls. However, her most recent night out ends up with her gaining markings on her skin and losing body parts... Prince Zale is son to Emperor Ecthelion and Empress Océane. They rule Ocêllus, also known as the Royal Waters. News quickly arrives of O'Marilla's murder and the waters become a state of panic. Darya, the daughter of O'Marilla, arrives in Ocêllus to take her position as Odessa but unawares to anyone, she is not the first-born daughter. A single member of royalty and Priestess Noelani are always pulled to the next Odessa, but so are the murky sea witches who use hounds to do their dirty work. So, with a woman up on land unawares to how important she is, the hunt for her begins before she gets into the wrong hands. Who will find her first? And will Asia be able to find the one thing she needs in order to claim her sorcery so she can make the waters perfect again?

Trouble the Water


Rebecca Dwight Bruff - 2019
    Born a slave, Robert Smalls commandeered a Confederate arms ship from the Charleston harbor, and with the woman he loved and a small crew of other slaves, delivered it to the Union Navy. After the war ended Smalls was able to purchase the house in which he and his mother had been enslaved, and he became one of America’s first black legislators. His courage, thirst for knowledge, and compassion ultimately changed the lives of untold others, including making SC the first state to legislate public education for all.From his illiterate childhood to his thrilling escape to freedom, from his work to make South Carolina the first state to guarantee public education to his final days on the porch of his family home — Trouble the Water will thrill history lovers, biographical fiction fans, and book group members who appreciate exciting fiction based on the lives of real people.Pre-order here: http://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/trou...

The Family that Lies: Merci Restored


Lakisha Johnson - 2019
    Three years ago, Merci realized she’d been a part of something much bigger than she ever could have imagined. Sure, every family has their secrets, hidden truths and ties but Merci had no idea she’d been born into the family that lies ... without caring who it hurts! Now, years later, Merci finds herself in the midst of grief, a new baby and marriage while still learning how to pick up the broken pieces of her life. All while Melvin is still raising hell! In this special edition of The Family that Lies, there will be questions answered and new drama but I have to warn you ... there will also be tragedy, hurt and of course LIES!

Benefriends


Chencia C. Higgins - 2019
    I would have said it was a setup that was doomed to fail each and every time. I had friends who had been there, done that, and got the keyed car and broken windows to prove it. I didn’t need to experience it for myself to know that I was good on that. That’s what I would have said before if anyone wanted to know my opinion. In a way, I still thought like that, except… I’d known Aisha since I was thirteen years old and if you would have asked me, I would have said I knew her pretty well. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, and when she revealed some things to me—things I had somehow missed over all these years—I found myself uttering words I never thought I’d say. It was just an agreement. You could almost call it a selfless act on my part. I was just being a good friend. The thing was, I forgot who drew the lines in the sand and before long I found myself caught up in the more-than-friendly benefits with my very good friend. Author’s Note: This is short, steamy read featuring explicit language and situations. If either of those offend you, this might not be the story for you.

King Dingaling: An African American Erotica


Cumilla Jenkins - 2019
    Fuck Me. Those are words that Dakota “King Dangling” Jackson likes to hear. He earned his reputation during his porn star days, but everything they say about him is true. He’s a beast in the bedroom. Always has been. Always will be. But has he met his match? Along comes Skyy, and she’s not like any other woman Dakota has ever come across. She doesn’t want love. She just wants to cum. And Dakota was the perfect man for the job. But, somehow, sex always leads to something else. Someone always wants more. But both Dakota, and Skyy, have other lovers in the picture and none of them are willing to give them up without a fight. In this sexy, fast-paced read, find out if King Dingaling will ever get his Queen.

Ann Petry: The Street, The Narrows (LOA #314) (Library of America)


Ann Petry - 2019
    

A Blended Family Christmas


Tyora Moody - 2019
    Her family and friends are happy to finally see the couple walk down the aisle. But there’s something missing. Since his wife’s death, Amos has been estranged from his two daughters. Eugeena encourages Amos to reach out to his daughters by inviting them to spend Christmas with him. Will Amos’ family accept the invitation and will they accept the pending nuptials? Take a sneak peek at Chapter 1 from A Simmering Dilemma, Eugeena Patterson, Book 4.

Trust: A Novel


Daines Reed - 2019
    I loved this novel." --5 Star Review Alyssa Elmore, Reader's Favorite Reviewer "The themes of sisterhood and financial freedom, prominent in the book, are very relevant to many women today. I especially liked how the women stood together and helped each other out when any of them was in need... [Trust] features real issues affecting many women and it also provides practical solutions." --5 Star Review Edith Wairimu, Reader's Favorite Reviewer How do you free your family when you're not sure how to free yourself? For Ruthena Gentry and her book club friends, problems with relationships, kids, and money bring new frustrations every day. But, when Ruthena is forced to flee here tumultuous marriage-- and the lives of her friends come tumbling down, too-- the ladies fear that a future fraught with turmoil is becoming inevitable. Caught in the quicksand of daily survival and desperate for a change, Ruth and her friends make a bold move towards freedom. Ending the legacy of poverty that has plagued their families for generations will require epic faith and these friends are down for the cause. The problem is that time is not on their side and freedom is never free. Don't miss Trust , the first novel of the Trust Series by Daines L. Reed. It's an inspirational, soul-stirring story about sisterhood and resilience that will stay with you long after you read the last page. Grab your copy today.

Mema's Pretty Little Black Girls


Sherabim Joy - 2019
    When her son and daughter-in-law perished in a plane crash, she assumed the responsibility of raising her three granddaughters Shavonne, Cherise, and Joyce. She also made a significant impact on the lives of her nieces Marilyn and Monique during their summer visits with her.Mema spent years laboring in prayer for the salvation of her Pretty Little Blacks Girl, as she affectionately called them. However, as these young women blossom into adulthood, they experience many heartaches, disappointments, and personal struggles that challenge their individual belief in God.Mema has passed away and this year marks the eighth year that the girls have gathered together for her annual memorial celebration. Eight is the biblical number of new beginnings. Will this be the year that Mema’s prayers are answered, and her Pretty Little Black Girls allow God back in their lives? Or will the words of prophecy that she has spoken over their lives fail?

James Baldwin: Living in Fire


Bill V. Mullen - 2019
    As a lifelong radical, anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, feminist and pro-Palestinian, the life and writing of James Baldwin (1924-1987) has been an inspiration to generations and his words continue to resonate through our culture at large. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of the African-American. Fighting towards what he hoped would be a post-racial society, Baldwin's philosophy was tragically ahead of its time. As racist and reactionary forces rise across the world, this is an essential guide to the life and legacy of one of America's most important radical voices.

Street Players: Black Pulp Fiction and the Making of a Literary Underground


Kinohi Nishikawa - 2019
    From the late 1960s until it closed in 2008, Holloway House specialized in cheap paperbacks with page-turning narratives featuring black protagonists in crime stories, conspiracy thrillers, prison novels, and Westerns. From Iceberg Slim’s Pimp to Donald Goines’s Never Die Alone, the thread that tied all of these books together—and made them distinct from the majority of American pulp—was an unfailing veneration of black masculinity. Zeroing in on Holloway House, Street Players explores how this world of black pulp fiction was produced, received, and recreated over time and across different communities of readers.Kinohi Nishikawa contends that black pulp fiction was built on white readers’ fears of the feminization of society—and the appeal of black masculinity as a way to counter it. In essence, it was the original form of blaxploitation: a strategy of mass-marketing race to suit the reactionary fantasies of a white audience. But while chauvinism and misogyny remained troubling yet constitutive aspects of this literature, from 1973 onward, Holloway House moved away from publishing sleaze for a white audience to publishing solely for black readers. The standard account of this literary phenomenon is based almost entirely on where this literature ended up: in the hands of black, male, working-class readers. When it closed, Holloway House was synonymous with genre fiction written by black authors for black readers—a field of cultural production that Nishikawa terms the black literary underground. But as Street Players demonstrates, this cultural authenticity had to be created, promoted, and in some cases made up, and there is a story of exploitation at the heart of black pulp fiction’s origins that cannot be ignored.