Book picks similar to
The Bishop's Daughter by Tiffany L. Warren


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How Stella Got Her Groove Back


Terry McMillan - 1996
    More than a love story, it is ultimately a novel about how a woman saves her own life--and what she must risk to do it. Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy- and she does it all. In fact, if she doesn't do it, it doesn't get done, from Little League carpool duty to analyzing portfolios to folding the laundry and bringing home the bacon. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW, and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind it too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love--and all of love's nasty fallout--anyway.But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core--not just by the relaxing effects of the sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean--and is half her age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.

The Next Thing on My List


Jill Smolinski - 2007
    She works for L.A. Rideshare, adores her rent-stabilized apartment in Santa Monica, and struggles with losing a few pesky pounds. But June’s life is about to change.After a dark turn of events involving Weight Watchers, a chili recipe and a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa, dies, June finds herself in possession of a list, “20 Things to Do By My 25th Birthday.” Even though they barely knew each other, June is compelled by both guilt and a desire to set things right to finish the list for Marissa.The tasks before her range from inspiring (Run a 5K), to daring (Go braless), to near-impossible (Change someone’s life), and as June races to achieve each goal before the deadline, she learns more about her own life than she ever bargained for.source: jillsmolinski.com

The Saving Graces


Patricia Gaffney - 1999
    Calling themselves the Saving Graces, the quartet is united by understanding, honesty, and acceptance -- a connection that has grown stronger as the years go by...Though these sisters of the heart and soul have seen it all, talked through it all, Emma, Rudy, Lee, and Isabel will not be prepared for a crisis of astounding proportions that will put their love and courage to the ultimate test.

Sweet Georgia Brown


Cheryl Robinson - 2008
     After eleven years of marriage, Georgia Brown is fed up with her husband, Marvin, a popular radio personality. It's not just because she suspects he's having an affair, or because she's suddenly expected to raise his thirteen-year-old daughter, Chloe-whom she never even knew existed. It's because of the comments he makes about her weight, their marriage, and their sex life...on national radio! Now, to save their marriage, Marvin invites Georgia to the station for an on-air rebuttal, having no idea it will launch her career. Or that what began as a battle at home will now be a blistering war for all to hear....

Can't Get Enough of You


Bette Ford - 2010
    Ms. Ford knows how to turn up the heat.”—Romantic Times   In Can’t Get Enough of You, perennial favorite Bette Ford revisits the group of friends she introduced in Unforgettable, and enthralls readers once more with a tale about the chances we take for love, and what we’re willing to risk for a second shot at happiness. Can’t Get Enough of You is a sizzling hot love story about a brilliant and beautiful professor who’s life is turned upside-down when the ex-love of her life, who once chose an NBA career over her, re-enters her world—and it reestablishes Bette Ford as a major force in African American romance fiction.

Confessions of a First Lady


Denora Boone - 2014
    Veronica and her husband Marvin served as the heads and founders of “Clover Hill Church of God in Christ” in Atlanta, GA. From the outside looking in, one would never be able to tell that this family had not always been perfect in God’s eyes. The Millhouses had three beautiful children - a son Marvin, Jr., and a set of twin girls Destiny and Dynasty. Even Marvin Jr.’s girlfriend was an example of near perfection. They were admired, loved and respected by their entire congregation. But what happens when buried secrets and hidden indiscretions get exposed for the whole world to see? Iesha was a bitter, deranged female who had been scorned by her ex-lover. Having lived years as a prostitute had taken its’ toll on her and she looked for someone to blame. Her life’s focus was to get revenge and cause havoc in someone’s life that did not want her and had moved on. She went through hell and high waters to make sure she destroyed her ex lover’s life by any means necessary. Her move from Chicago to Atlanta had nothing to do with a job, as she had told her family; she was finally putting years of planning into motion. Everyone has a past. Take a journey with the Millhouse family and find out firsthand how secrets, lies and betrayal can turn a family upside down.

The Atonement Child


Francine Rivers - 1997
    In one terrifying moment, Dynah Carey's perfect life is shattered by rape, her future irrevocably altered by an unwanted pregnancy, and her doting family torn apart. Her seemingly rock-solid faith is pushed to the limits as she faces the most momentous choice of her life—to embrace or to end the untimely life within her.

Virgil Wander


Leif Enger - 2018
    Virgil survives but his language and memory are altered and he emerges into a world no longer familiar to him. Awakening in this new life, Virgil begins to piece together his personal history and the lore of his broken town, with the help of a cast of affable and curious locals--from Rune, a twinkling, pipe-smoking, kite-flying stranger investigating the mystery of his disappeared son; to Nadine, the reserved, enchanting wife of the vanished man; to Tom, a journalist and Virgil's oldest friend; and various members of the Pea family who must confront tragedies of their own. Into this community returns a shimmering prodigal son who may hold the key to reviving their town.With intelligent humor and captivating whimsy, Leif Enger conjures a remarkable portrait of a region and its residents, who, for reasons of choice or circumstance, never made it out of their defunct industrial district. Carried aloft by quotidian pleasures including movies, fishing, necking in parked cars, playing baseball and falling in love, Virgil Wander is a swift, full journey into the heart and heartache of an often overlooked American Upper Midwest by a "formidably gifted" (Chicago Tribune) master storyteller.

Hollywood Nobody


Lisa Samson - 2007
    Scotty is determined to discover what she wants from life. She’s even documenting the journey on her “Hollywood Nobody” blog. But as Scotty begins to ask tough questions, will her story have a happy ending?

Destined


Patricia Haley - 2009
    But after three years of self-imposed exile, he has returned to take over DMI at the gentle urging of beautiful Abigail, who was once his father’s assistant. His brother, Joel, plagued by a slew of illicit affairs and poor judgment, is plunging the business into ruin, and Don’s plans to secretly assume control of the ministry come into question when his estranged sister refuses to help him. Don must decide whether to face down his power-hungry brother to save the ministry his father worked so hard to build—and take a chance on an unrequited love he never dreamed Abigail would reciprocate—or return to South Africa to find refuge in his own thriving company and the budding romance he left behind. After much soul searching, Don comes to realize that his destiny is inescapable. Patricia Haley’s evocative modern-day interpretation of these popular biblical tales will keep readers riveted until the stunning conclusion.

The Sleeping Beauty Proposal


Sarah Strohmeyer - 2007
     “Opening a book by Sarah Strohmeyer is like opening a box of chocolates – sweet, nutty, and absolutely irresistible.” —Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries At 36, Genie Michaels is beginning to feel that she has hit the snooze button on her life one too many times. When her “commitment-phobic” boyfriend Hugh proposes on national TV—not to Genie, but to an unknown mystery woman—Genie’s wise-cracking friend Patty doesn’t hesitate to give her some tough love: “You remind me of that idiot Sleeping Beauty, lying around like a zombie waiting for your prince. Well, guess what, he rode right past your castle and now you have a choice – you can either go back to bed or you can wake up!” Genie chooses to wake up. After some questionable advice, her first step is to allow everyone to believe she’s Hugh’s real fiancée. She’ll let him be the one to explain the mistake. Naturally the good news travels fast and, in a heartbeat, Genie’s parents are booking a reception hall while friends are showering her with gifts. Genie feels bad about the deception, but at last everyone is dancing to her tune, and she can’t help but enjoy it. Particularly when a certain too-handsome-for-his-own-good Greek carpenter shows up on the scene thinking he’s hotter than Tabasco. Genie realizes that she never needed a man to start her life – to buy a home, to get a better job, or even to wear a diamond ring. And if Prince Charming wants to show up while she’s at it, she just might teach him a thing or two.

Wish


Melina Gerosa Bellows - 2004
    But that doesn't mean you stop wishing, does it?  This is Bella Grandelli's heartbreaking, hilarious, and seemingly hopeless quest-from her days as a pudgy, insecure eight-year-old in the seventies, to a Madonna-worshipping Notre Dame co-ed in the eighties, where she tries on boyfriends as if they're leg-warmers, to a martini-sipping entertainment journalist in the nineties. The only constant through her love-life chaos is her twin brother, Bobby, whose mysterious illness has been a source of both triumph and tragedy-no matter how hard Bella tries to wish him well. But it's only when her family faces a devastating crisis that she finally realizes the painful truth about herself and her life. And no one is more surprised than Bella herself when that journey leads her to the only person in the world who holds the key to her heart.

100 Days of Happiness


Fausto Brizzi - 2013
    So begins the last hundred days of Lucio’s life, as he attempts to care for his family, win back his wife (the love of his life and afterlife), and spend the next three months enjoying every moment with a zest he hasn’t felt in years. From helping his hopelessly romantic, widowed father-in-law find love, discovering comfort in enduring friendships, and finding new ones, Lucio becomes, at last, the man he’s always meant to be. In 100 epigrammatic chapters, one for each of Lucio’s remaining days on earth,100 Days of Happiness is as delicious as a hot doughnut and a morning cappuccino. Wistful, often hilarious, and always delectable, 100 Days of Happiness reminds us all to remember the preciousness of life and what matters most.

Good Grief


Lolly Winston - 2004
    Alas, she is more of the Jack Daniels kind. Self-medicating with ice cream for breakfast, breaking down at the supermarket, and showing up to work in her bathrobe and bunny slippers-soon she's not only lost her husband, but her job, house...and waistline. With humor and chutzpah Sophie leaves town, determined to reinvent her life. But starting over has its hurdles; soon she's involved with a thirteen-year-old who has a fascination with fire, and a handsome actor who inspires a range of feelings she can't cope with-yet.

The Secret Life of Bees


Sue Monk Kidd - 2001
    When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.