Book picks similar to
Ain't Nobody by Adrienne Thompson


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Chances Are


Donna Hill - 1998
    Years later, through hard work and sheer force of will, she had provided a good life for her daughter and started a successful home for teenage mothers and their babies. But from the moment television producer Garrett Lawrence began a story on the teen center, Dione's hard-won confidence was shaken. How could a man she found so attractive and intelligent be so cynical about unwed mothers? Battling her conflicted emotions, Dione would have to defend the work she believed in - even if it cost her a love that promised a lifetime of happiness.Garrett didn't think much of "irresponsible" teen mothers. He knew firsthand the misery of being given away and searching for the acceptance he never could seem to find. Although he found himself drawn closer and closer to Dione because of her independence and passionate determination, his painful past kept getting in the way. Now Garrett and Dione must find their way to each other through a search only the heart can undertake—and only love can bring.

Blindsided by Love


Monica Walters - 2019
    Andrews. The thirty-one-year-old freelance journalist is living life on her own terms, except in one area. Love. She feels somewhat stuck in an engagement to a man that she once loved, until things began to change once they decided to cohabitate. They argue about her career as if it’s a hobby and Aspen is sick of it. As their engagement is on the verge of being dissolved, she decides to take a trip to the little town of Nome, Texas to interview farmers about their livestock that are mysteriously dying. What she doesn’t expect, is to meet a man that threatens to change everything she found attractive in a man. Aspen couldn’t have these sorts of desires for a stranger who was tactless and rude. No matter how pitiful her relationship was, she was still engaged to be married. Seven Storm Henderson is a man that knows what he wants. Until he finds it, or he stumbles upon it, he chooses to live life to the fullest. Being the youngest of seven children, he’s used to getting his way. He owns a full-service center and mechanic shop and his family pretty much owns the entire town. But what he loves is taking care of the animals in their pastures, especially the cattle. Women are willing to throw themselves at his feet, but he only wants one thing from them. Even with him being rude and nasty to most of them, they still continue to chase the Storm. One day, what he feels is his destiny, drops in his lap, but he soon realizes that she isn’t like most chicks he dealt with. She was all woman. Storm and Aspen have a rocky start, because Storm can’t seem to speak intelligently enough to woo Aspen. He realizes that she may be too good for him, but that doesn’t stop his pursuit. Will Storm make the necessary changes to have Aspen all to himself or will Aspen make the necessary changes in her life to actually give Storm a chance?

One Night


Blair Bennet - 2016
    It was only supposed to be one night. One night to wash away the past, but it turned into a mistake. A sexy, beautiful, and dangerous mistake. I shouldn’t want another taste or take another night. Secretly dating your boss is how reputations get destroyed, careers ruined. But he knows my body better than I know myself. Liam She fit me. She delighted me. She broadsided me. How could she end up my intern? Wanting her is forbidden. Letting her go is impossible. Yet I have to choose if she stays or goes. And she’s already failed her first lesson-- Keeping me away. Nothing can be learned from lust. But maybe she can teach me to live. (Guaranteed HEA, Secret baby romance!) **INCLUDES Bonus Book, LOVE SICK, starts 50% in.**

Fragile


Shara Azod - 2009
    A quiet waitress, she was brutally gunned down coming out of the neighborhood corner store. There was nothing taken, there was no motive, just a fragile, broken woman lying on the cold, broken sidewalk.Kale was not the easiest cop to get along with. Biting and sarcastic, he worked alone caring for little but the job. There was something about this case that Kale just couldn’t let go. There was something about this victim that called him unlike any other.Can they heal each other or will it just be a banage on their wounds and they still fester?

Tastes Like Chicken


Lolita Files - 2004
     What's a girl to do when she finds out her man's been feeding her lies? When readers last saw the girlfriends, Misty had just married her dream man, Rick Hodges, and was off on a fabulous honeymoon. A pregnant and newly engaged Reesy was riding off into the sunset with her fiancé -- reformed ladies' man Dandre Hilliard. But it isn't long before everyone starts misbehaving, and in Tastes Like Chicken, they get what's coming to them. With steamy thrills and disastrous infidelities, Tastes Like Chicken is a tale of two women who find themselves poised at life's crossroads with everything to lose but their friendship. Filled with the humor and personal drama that made her first books national bestsellers, Lolita Files's latest takes the sistahs -- and readers -- on their wildest ride yet.

Chocolate Star


Sheila Copeland - 1997
    Then the way to fame was leading him toward a mistake that could send him straight to hell...She never looked back.Lies, drugs, too many men-- golden skinned singer Topaz Black would do anything to get a hit to the top of the charts, even walk away from her friends and family. But surrounded by greed and lust, the love the longed for seemed to be slipping away forever.He broke all the rules.Brought up in South Central L.A., movie producer Gunther Lawrence learned early how to get the wealth and women he wanted-- and to turn his back on his roots. Now, blinded by Hollywood's glitter, his illusions may shatter when he discovers who really controls his career.As their lives touch, ignite, and explode, three talented African-Americans pursue fame at any cost...and the price may be their happiness...or their lives..An alternate selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club

All I Want is Everything


Daaimah S. Poole - 2007
    Poole took readers on a wild, sexy ride with her novel Ex-Girl to the Next Girl. Now in All I Want is Everything we meet a young woman with a hot voice and superstar dreams... Talented Kendra Michelle Thomas always dreamed of becoming a singing sensation. At high school talent shows, she moved people to tears. Everyone thought she'd be the next Mariah Carey. But between Kendra's father abandoning her mother, her mother's alcoholism, and a tragedy that lands Kendra and her siblings in foster care, there's not much opportunity for making dreams come true. Before Kendra knows it, she's twenty-five-years-old, working as a bartender, and trapped in a relationship of convenience. She knows something's gotta give... Determined to break into the industry, Kendra takes her small savings and makes a demo. Her gift and personality soon get her a manager, a series of gigs, and finally a recording contract- plus a check fat enough to move her family into a house, and then some. But when a turn of events lands her right back where she started from, she'll have to make a choice: sink back into obscurity- or discover what she's really made of...

A Love Noire


Erica Simone Turnipseed - 2003
    student, walks into Brown Betty Books, her righteousness kicks in to overdrive amid the self-identified "talented tenth" who wear their double degrees and five-hundred-dollar shoes like badges of honor. And then Innocent, a well-heeled investment banker from Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, walks in and turns her on her head. Innocent seems interested in her -- but he's one of them.Before meeting him, Noire shunned the "bourgie" world of black-moneyed cosmopolitans like Innocent, opting instead for socially conscious (but economically challenged) artists and urban intellectuals. Their mutual attraction blossoms into lust -- and eventually love -- but it lives in the shifting sands of personal beliefs and professional ambitions that are often at odds.Set in New York City with jaunts to Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean, A Love Noire is the story of an unlikely couple that transcends all they've known to learn the redemptive power of love.

In Too Deep


Dwayne S. Joseph - 2007
    'In Too Deep' is a gripping novel about three brothers who choose very different life paths.

Good Peoples


Marcus Major - 2000
    A first novel. Reprint.

Acceptable Losses


Nia Forrester - 2016
    The only respite either of them have is their regular coffee dates, while working on shared projects at a very demanding law firm. Sick of hearing about Lena’s semi-disastrous attempts to couple-up, Quentin decides to fix her up. With his brother. Seems like a perfect solution; after all, his brother is a decent enough guy and Lena deserves that. A perfect solution ... at least until it appears that the fix-up might actually work. ** THIS BOOK CONTAINS PREVIOUSLY-RELEASED CONTENT, FROM THE E-BOOK COMPILATION 'BECAUSE MY HEART SAID SO' co-authored with Jacinta Howard, Rae Lamar and Lily Java. **

A Hard Man is Good to Find


James W. Lewis - 2011
    Despite the exceptional qualities and his obvious interest in her, things are moving too slow between them. Unlike most men who can’t wait to get in her pants, this particular man refuses to take things to the next level.DARYL JACKSON has grown tired of the nightclub scene and wants to settle down, but he has a secret that always seems to interrupt any potential love connection once he reveals it. He believes Michelle is the ideal woman, but can she handle the truth?After six weeks of dating, and still no attempt from him to get her “horizontal,” Michelle grows sex-starved. She is driving herself crazy trying to figure out Daryl’s problem! During a weekend getaway in Palm Springs, Michelle finally puts an end to the what’s-wrong-with-Daryl guessing game and demands to know what’s up. Not only does Daryl answer all her questions, Michelle learns first hand that you really need to be careful with what you wish for!

Della's House of Style


Rochelle Alers - 2000
    . . and Passion. Rochelle Alers' Sweet SurrenderManicurist Maria Parker can't help but notice when a hunky financial planner brings his niece into Della's for a manicure. And when he starts to frequent the salon himself for manicures from Maria, she's pretty sure he has more than cuticles on his mind...Donna Hill's It Could Happen to YouWhen Della turned Rosie's Curl and Weave into Della's House of Style, a few things managed to slip through the cracks-and now she's is under fire by the IRS. When a by-the-book IRS agent comes to investigate, Della is infuriated by his presence in the salon-and reluctant to admit that she's growing more than a little used to it...Felicia Mason's Truly, HonestlyHigh-maintenance investment banker Sheila [last name] needs some serious pampering. On a whim, she decides to get a shoulder-length weave at Della's House of Style, and afterwards, visits and salon's lounge, where a sexy D.J. has a song in mind for her...Francis Ray's A Matter of TrustSingle mother Hope Lassiter, once a critically acclaimed actress, is now a cosmetologist at Della's House of Style. When a handsome director tries to woo her back to the stage, Hope has to wonder if his intentions are more than professional. . .

Pipe Dream (Strivers Row)


Solomon Jones - 2001
    Black drew hard, squinting as the smoke rushed into his lungs."Where do you want to start?"the lawyer said, lighting a cigarette of his own."I guess there’s only one place to start; at Broad and Erie."Johnny Podres, a politician whose record against corruption had been propelling him straight to the mayor’s office, is found murdered in a North Philly crack house.Enter Samuel Jackson, a.k.a. Black, a drug addict who knows better, a man embittered by the fact that he can’t seem to escape from his addiction to crack cocaine or, for that matter, from himself. Though he was once a family man with a wife and son, Black’s only concern these days is getting his next high, that is, until he stumbles across a friend and fellow addict, Leroy, and both become prime suspects in the Podres murder. Black and Leroy hook up with two female pipers: Clarisse, a registered nurse who is slowly losing to crack any semblance of a respectable life, and Pookie, who already has lost it. Soon the hunt is on for all four as they try to stay one step ahead of a police department under tremendous pressure to solve the case—because if a killer isn’t found soon, this could blow up into one of the biggest scandals in Philadelphia history. Solomon Jones weaves a suspenseful story against the backdrop of corruption in the Philadelphia police department and centers it on a group of drug addicts who, in the process of fleeing the law, come to terms with their own addiction, leading to some devastating consequences.

Desdemona's Closet: A Christmas Tale


Sabrina B. Scales - 2019
    A tough exterior is her claim to fame, and necessary for the life she lives. But even the toughest have been known to let their guard down at Christmastime. Hilarious by nature, Pharo is the perfect match for Des. And though he wasn’t exactly looking, fate doesn’t care about that. When chance encounters with a stranger happen twice in one day, it's too big to be a coincidence and he's smart enough to know it. Join these two on a hilarious, heart-filled, nutmeg scented journey to love in tight spaces!