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Shades of Jade (Strivers Row) by Gloria Mallette


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Baby, You're the Best


Mary B. Morrison - 2015
    Morrison introduces her most seductive and vulnerable characters yet with the Crystal women, a family whose bonds are tested by love, lust, and the elusive quest for true happiness.  .  .Blake Crystal has the best of almost everything. She's at the top of her game at work, she has four wonderful daughters, and at fifty, she's more financially secure than she's ever been. In and out of the bedroom, her new younger lover takes her in breathtaking directions that force her to make decisions she never imagined.  .  .On the surface, Alexis Crystal is an ideal daughter. As confident as she is beautiful, she can have any man or woman she wants, so she has both in her collection of bed partners. Determined to add one more, she doesn't care that he's dating a family member. But for all the satisfaction she gets between the sheets, she's left unsatisfied by the one thing that troubles her--the identity of her father is listed as unknown on her birth certificate. Her mother has kept him a secret for twenty-six years. Alexis can't move forward with her life until she stands face-to-face with the man she feels abandoned her. It doesn't help that her three other sisters don't know the identity of their fathers either.  .  .but they've also got their hands full with problems.  .  .As the Crystal women celebrate Blake's big birthday, they realize the issues in their relationships are too big to ignore. To get what they want, they'll have to lie, use their seductive power, battle their insecurities, and if necessary, betray each other.  .  .Book 1 in The Crystal Series

Plain Brown Wrapper


Karen Grigsby Bates - 2001
    Their investigative trail will carry them from the West Coast to the East, to D.C., New York, and the social whirl of Martha's Vineyard as the summer season reaches its peak. In the middle of dissed colleagues, dumped girlfriends, disgruntled ex-employees, and the legions of enemies Ev managed to accumulate before he died, Alex Powell realizes that before everything is over Everett Carson might not be the only person who ends up with a toe tag.

Just Too Good to Be True


E. Lynn Harris - 2008
    Brady Bledsoe and his mother, Carmyn, have a strong relationship. A single mother, faithful churchgoer, and the owner of several successful Atlanta beauty salons, Carmyn has devoted herself to her son and his dream of becoming a professional football player. Brady has always followed her lead, including becoming a member of the church's "Celibacy Circle." Now in his senior year at college, the smart, and very handsome, Brady is a lead contender for the Heisman Trophy and a spot in the NFL. As sports agents hover around Brady, Barrett, a beautiful and charming cheerleader, sets her mind on tempting the celibate Brady and getting a piece of his multimillion-dollar future--but is that all she wants from him, and is she acting alone? Carmyn is determined to protect her son. She's also determined to protect the secret she's kept from Brady his whole life. As things heat up on campus and Carmyn and Brady's idyllic relationship starts to crumble, mother and son begin to wonder about the other--are you just too good to be true? A sweeping novel about mothers and sons, football and beauty shops, secrets and lies, JUST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE has all the ingredients that have made E. Lynn Harris a bestselling author: family, friendship, faith, and love.

Colored Sugar Water: A Spiritual Tale


Venise T. Berry - 2002
    Lucy is thirty-five, single, and in great shape thanks to her career as a fitness manager for a string of Texas health clubs. Adel is the vice president for human resources at American Oil, pulling in a six-figure salary and annual bonuses. Unfortunately, neither is happy.Lucy struggles with her emotional and spiritual dreams. Her boyfriend Spencer, a basic kind of guy who loves his mama, sports, fried chicken, and Lucy in that order doesn't seem to measure up. So she decides to get out of her rut with a Sexy Soul Psychic named Kuba. Self-assured and sensitive, Kuba seems to know exactly what women want. Or does he?Adel struggles with a husband, Thad, who refuses to grow up and a job that is less than satisfying despite its financial gains. She is eventually forced to reexamine her faith as she searches for a life that brings her closer to happiness and fulfillment.Filled with the humor, passion, and pathos of modern relationships, Colored Sugar Water tells the story of two women who discover the power of their unique spiritual gifts. It further establishes Venise Berry as one of the freshest, wittiest, and wisest writers on today's fiction scene -- as New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey wrote, "magnificient and honest, Venise Berry's writing comes from her soul."

Home Wrecker


Dwayne S. Joseph - 2008
    As head fashion designer for an elite firm, she has no time for drama. Besides, her co-worker and friend, Marlene, fills her in on enough drama to last her whole day. Marlene's married to an attractive philanderer named Steve. She wants to divorce him, but there are complications in doing so. If she were to actually catch him cheating on her, then all of those other complications would go away. But how? A setup, of course. A business deal is made, and Lisette, the Home Wrecker, is born. Three years later, Lisette has made a career out of helping wealthy wives stick it to their controlling, soon-to-be ex-husbands. A job like this is not only stressful but very dangerous, so her clientele is kept very exclusive. When a mysterious caller says she needs help or else bad things will start to happen, there is more at stake than possible exposure... Lisette might get a taste of her own medicine.

Redemption Song


Bertice Berry - 2000
    But when Josephine--"Fina"--and Ross arrive in search of an obscure, unpublished manuscript written by a slave woman, Miss Cozy knows that all her visions have been leading her to this magical day. Yet Miss Cozy has no intention of selling the manuscript--no matter the price. So she offers Fina and Ross an alternative. They can read it together at the store. It was not what they hoped for, but their interest in the extraordinary love story is about as strong as their uncanny attraction for one another . . . one they both sense runs much deeper than a kiss. In the course of a few days, Fina and Ross realize that this powerful book has special meaning for the two of them--and that the path to their shared future may be linked to something that happened more than a century ago. . . .

Groove


Geneva Holliday - 2005
    This funny, sexy book has something for everyone!

Sleeping with Strangers


Eric Jerome Dickey - 2007
    With a supporting cast of grifters and killers, broken-hearted squares and streetwalkers and three very different women who each want to become bad-boy Gideon's leading lady, this is a world that thrives on the darker passions of revenge and desire.

Roadrunner


Trisha R. Thomas - 2002
    He’s married to his college sweetheart, Leah, and they have two children and a dream home in Los Angeles. But an injury has sidelined his hot career, and prescription medication and depression are pulling him into a downward spiral, leaving Leah feeling emotionally distanced and lonely. Their fighting escalates, and one night Dell commits an act of violence that changes the course of their lives forever. But Angel Lopez, the cop who arrests Dell, decides to take the law into his own hands. Determined to teach the famous athlete a lesson, he drives Dell to the worst part of town and tries to kick him out of the car. The men struggle and the car crashes. When Angel comes to, Dell is gone and no one knows if he’s dead or alive.Leah is grateful when a guilt-stricken Angel offers to chase the media away from her home and help out around the house, “just until Dell comes home.” She and her family grow to trust him, and Angel falls in love with the Roadrunner’s lovely, grieving wife. Will Dell find his way home? Will Angel replace him? And what really happened that dark night the Roadrunner disappeared?

Eve


K'wan - 2006
    Orphaned as a small child, Eve quickly learned the art of the hustle, and by age seventeen she had spent two years in prison. But now Eve is eighteen, back on the streets of Harlem with her gang and up to one of her old tricks: strong-arm robbery. Despite her edge, she's got a soft spot for Felon, the up-and-coming street king.Eve's life takes a serious turn when the powerful DeNardi family, the city's biggest drug supplier, tries to tighten its hold on Harlem. And when Eve's best friend, Cassidy, is murdered in the crossfire, Eve seeks revenge—starting all the way at the top.

True to the Game


Teri Woods - 1998
    Gena the main character finds herself in true blue love with Quadir, a millionaire associated with the cartel. Quadir is faced with combating the art of extortion and interception masterminded by the notorious Junior Mafia, which reigns from the inner city streets of Philadelphia onto the pages of this book. Both Gena and Quadir find themselves caught up in the vicious, yet seductive, world of drugs and money, only to find that success int his Game is no easy win. There's no way out once you're in, and everyone in stays forever...TRUE. Enjoy a copy today of the ORIGINAL and CLASSIC cover copy of TRUE TO THE GAME!

Who Ya Wit': The Finale


Brenda Hampton - 2013
    

Always True to You in My Fashion


Valerie Wilson Wesley - 2002
    Randall is rich, handsome, and charming -- the true-to-life dream lover of these smart, independent women who all find themselves passionately involved with him during the same seven-month period.There's Medora Jackson, an artist who has loved Randall since college and is now desperately trying to cut him loose. But turning Randall Hollis out of her life will end up being far more difficult than she thinks. There's Ana Reese-Mitchell, a wealthy widow and art collector who is haunted by the death of her best friend and the specter of her cruel late husband. She hopes Randall Hollis will be her second chance at love. And there's ambitious Taylor Benedict, a graduate student in art history who is coming to terms with her parents' divorce and problems from her childhood that she can't chase away. She's sure that Randall Hollis will be the first rung on her ladder to success.Randall Hollis is a man for all seasons, representing a different fantasy for each of the women who love him. As the novel unfolds, each woman will discover more about herself than she bargained for. And each, along with the errant Randall himself, will finally know the true meaning of love and the peace that comes with forgiveness.

Saving Max


Antoinette van Heugten - 2010
    Until he's accused of murder.Attorney Danielle Parkman knows her teenage son Max's behavior has been getting worse—using drugs and lashing out. But she can't accept the diagnosis she receives at a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that her son is deeply disturbed. Dangerous.Until she finds Max, unconscious and bloodied, beside a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.Trapped in a world of doubt and fear, barred from contacting Max, Danielle clings to the belief that her son is innocent. But has she, too, lost touch with reality? Is her son really a killer?With the justice system bearing down on them, Danielle steels herself to discover the truth, no matter what it is. She'll do whatever it takes to find the killer and to save her son from being destroyed by a system that's all too eager to convict him.

No More Drama


La Jill Hunt - 2004
    Original. 20,000 first printing.