Book picks similar to
Secrets Unraveled by J.J. Michael


african-american-authors
family-dynamics
in-collection-already
mental-illness

Hard 2: Thirst for Blood


Anjela Day - 2013
    Everything the legendary duo has built is on the line due to the jealously of past loves, friends and even family. Obtaining money, power, and respect is never easy, but The Alton’s prove it that holding on to it is even harder.

Promising My Love to a Boss 3


Käixo - 2017
    Caught between two men she once loved and the one who holds her heart, now. With a baby on the way, she has to face the music and deal with the karma she brought onto herself. Confined in total darkness with little to no food or water, her thoughts become her refuge… But those same thoughts haunt her with the demons from her past and the hateful actions against her baby sister. Seemingly all hope is gone, Salimah slowly gives up. Wishing she’d thought things through. Is life worth living? Tyrone is caught between a rock and a hard place. Once the brother with all the answers, he’s left broken-hearted and discarded. Torn between the facts and his feelings. How could the same girl who he loved and claimed to love him double cross him? Did he miss the signs? Now, his brothers are in jeopardy and Tyrone is partially to blame. Even through this, Torin, the same brother he attacked and belittled is the only person he trusts during this trying time in his life. Will Torin be the bigger person and help his brother or will he hold a grudge and hang him out to dry? A rocky past unraveling itself leaves Fatima in a rut. Defying Torin’s wishes and snooping around The Windy City for answers. Left handcuffed to a bed, Fatima must come to grips with all the secrets she’s kept from Torin. From her sneaking out of the house to meet with his estranged sister to keeping her pregnancy a secret. With Torin ten steps ahead of her there’s no room for lies and games. Not to mention, she and her best friend are on the outs, leaving Fatima with nobody to run to. Will she open up to Torin about everything she’s been up to or add more gasoline to the fire? Crack open Promising My Love to a Boss 3 and find out how these stories unveil. There’s no love in these streets and the city that hates itself will swallow you whole.

Everly / Sarah / Beth / Maggie's Gift


Kay P. Dawson - 2015
    Dawson Inside, you will get the following books: Everly Sarah Beth Maggie's Gift - Short Story EVERLY The terms of her father's will leave Everly with no choice but to marry before her 21st birthday in order to ensure the security of her family. Will she be able to get over her anger towards men in enough time to find someone to marry? Answering an ad for a mail order bride, she finds Ben - a man who needs a woman to help him raise his two nieces left in his care. Can they find love while dealing with both a vindictive stepmother who wants to stop her from marrying, and a meddling woman who is determined to take the children from Ben? They will both have to learn to trust, even as the past threatens to ruin everything. SARAH Always optimistic Sarah believes in happily ever after, even after her own heartbreak. After overhearing a conversation that will affect her future, she decides to take fate into her own hands and answer an ad for a mail order bride. However, imagine her shock when she arrives in Wyoming only to discover the very man who broke her heart is standing there, determined to save her from the man she was coming to marry. Jake swore he would never marry after being left at the alter, but as a favor to his cousin, he meets the train carrying a woman he has vowed to put his distance between. In order to save her from having to follow through with a marriage to the most dangerous man in the state, Jake ends up having to marry her himself. Angry about being forced into a marriage he never wanted, Jake is determined not to make this easy. But, Sarah is also determined, promising to show him that happily ever after isn't just in fairy tales. Sarah and Jake will be put to the test as they struggle to understand their feelings, until something happens that threatens to take away everything they have together. Will Jake be able to realize his love for Sarah before it's too late? BETH Determined not to be a burden on her mother, Beth takes a job working with the local sheriff. Hoping to use her position to help take down the much hated Barlow men, she doesn’t plan on the feelings she will start to have for the man she is working beside. When she is charged with a crime she didn’t commit, can the man she has started to care for help her? Or, will it be even too much for him to save her? Nate Dixon has his own score to settle with the Barlow’s, and doesn’t need interference from a woman getting in his way. As if one woman working with him wasn’t enough to deal with, now he has another woman arriving with the expectation of marriage. Trouble is, she isn’t the woman he is in love with. What will happen when he discovers something from the past that can change everything? And, will this new woman get between what is starting to grow between him and Beth? Together, Nate and Beth will have to find a way to get through the pain of the past and learn to trust each other, while they deal with circumstances that seem determined to keep them apart. MAGGIE'S GIFT - Short Story Fleeing from a man determined to make her his own after the death of her husband, Emma finds herself in Mulder Creek, Wyoming with only her dog for company.

King Michael: The Dark Angel


Neicy P. - 2019
    after he puts his life and everything else on the line one last time for his family. 
 One failed attempt on his life after another is thwarted but right when he believes that all hope is lost, he sets his eyes on Ariella. One glance and he knows that she is his true destiny and come hell or high water, he won't allow anyone to steal the bright future he now sees that he can have with this queen by his side. 
 Ariella, a strong, independent boss in her own right, has always followed the rules and never questions the edicts and decisions of those ranked higher than her. She unquestioningly takes on the assignment to bring King to his knees. What she doesn't expect is for her feelings to overcome her faith and blind her from the truth... or is it that she was deceived and now her eyes are finally wide open? 
 King Michael and Ariella have an instant, undeniable attraction to one another, but the question is, are they truly destined to be together or will Ariella carry out the orders of the elders sacrificing her and King's chance at a happily ever after?

From the Projects to a Rich Thug's Mansion


Sonovia Alexander - 2017
    She was born into a life of poverty that she never asked for. Her mother dropped her off at the local fire station as a newborn and her father could have been any of the local crackheads that she passed by on the daily. Jumping from foster home to foster home and living a life that gave her nothing, she was tired of it, she wanted more. She deserved more– she desired to live the life of the rich and famous.  Nothing was more memorable than the day she met Boogie. Boogie had the paper, the cars, the money, and the drugs that could help her with her come up– until an unfortunate turn of events happen to Boogie. There’s a new dealer on the block… and her name is Swiss.

Cuffed by A Black Billionaire


Khadijah J. - 2019
    But what if your past has affected you so bad, that you no longer believe in love? From adolescence, Kentrell Rockwell, had learned first hand the power that love held. Kentrell decided at an early age, that he never wanted to experience that side of love after watching a loved one experience heartbreak. Growing up extremely handsome and intelligent, he had no problem getting any woman that he wanted. Add on the factor of him making money, they flocked Kentrell, but he held eyes for his woman and his child. There was love, but there was also heartbreak, which was all Aliyanna Ray knew since a teenager. Somehow, she pushed passed all the obstacles life threw her way, and went on to become a pharmacist. After thinking she found love, she soon realized that she was sleeping with the enemy. Picking up the pieces of her broken heart, she continues to move forward. Unfortunately, she runs right into what the doctor ordered. When they first met, they both were skeptical of one another. But after spending a weekend together, they were interested, but still guarded. Aliyanna was scared of falling, she had been hurt in the past, and been through a lot of stuff as a child, that she still carried into her adult life. Was Ken capable of being everything she needed and more? Or will this be another result of a hurt people hurting people?

The Darkest Child


Delores Phillips - 2004
    She is the darkest-skinned among them and therefore the ugliest in her mother, Rozelle's, estimation, but she's also the brightest. Rozelle--beautiful, charismatic, and light-skinned--exercises a violent hold over her children. Fearing abandonment, she pulls them from school at the age of twelve and sends them to earn their keep for the household, whether in domestic service, in the fields, or at "the farmhouse" on the edge of town, where Rozelle beds local men for money.But Tangy Mae has been selected to be part of the first integrated class at a nearby white high school. She has a chance to change her life, but can she break from Rozelle's grasp without ruinous--even fatal--consequences?

To Love A Stranger


Adrianne Byrd - 2007
    Then, six years after being lost at sea, her prodigal husband returned. And to Madeline's amazement the newfound Russell Stone was nothing like the old, womanizing rascal she'd married. Her new man was loving and considerate, kind, romantic and...very sexy. Madeline found herself doing something she thought she would never do--falling in love with her husband.Now Madeline faces a dilemma: Should she accept her happily-ever-after ending, or should she expose the troubled, yet loving stranger who now shares her bed?

Child of God


Lolita Files - 2001
    Neighbors while away afternoons at the local bar, swapping rumors about voodoo, incest, and illegitimate children. Usually they're gossiping about the Botens. In this epic saga, Lolita Files unveils the hidden lives of three generations of the Boten clan, a family as cursed by fate as they are blessed with hope. There's Grandma Amalie, who's willing to sacrifice everything for her son; there's Grace, who manages to conceal the identity of her child's father for more than twenty years; there's Aunt Sukie, whose strange power over her husband, Walter, is matched only by the strength of her dark magic; and, finally, there's Lay, whose secret betrayals will set the Boten clan in motion, sending its members on a quest for self-discovery that will lead them from one end of the world to the other.From the drug-infested world of inner-city Detroit to the jungles of Vietnam, Lolita Files deftly captures one family's struggle to drag demons out into the light in this compelling story of the bonds of blood, forbidden love, sacrifice and redemption.

The Preacher's Wifey


DiShan Washington - 2013
    From athletes to politicians, she's been with them all. When Byran Ward, a wealthy pastor, enters the scene, Allyson could not be more excited. Never one to pass up an opportunity, she turns on her charm and soon finds herself sharing his bed and swiping his Platinum American Express card. Beyond his physical attraction to her, Byran has his own agenda. He's vying to become the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, a ten-thousand-member congregation that is sure to give him more of the prestige and notoriety he craves. He matches all of their qualifications except for one: he needs a wife. Knowing that Allyson is a certified gold digger, he makes her an offer she can't refuse. She can have the life of luxury she desires, an instant social circle of well-known pastors' wives, and anything else she needs to act the part. The only stipulation is she must always remember it's just an arrangement. It's a facade; it's not about love.No one is more surprised than Allyson when she discovers the material perks are not enough to satisfy her. She develops real feelings for her new husband, and she soon wants more attention and affection than Byran is willing to give her. Allyson is left with a decision. Does she give it all up for true love, or does she stick it out and try to prove that money can buy you happiness? The Preacher's Wifey is a well-written, page-turning, intense drama that will stay with you long after you read the last page.A wonderful story of growing faith and learning how to rely on God, this novel is full of messages of God's love and forgiveness. This is DiShan Washington's best work yet. Bravo! --Essence bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray"

P.G. County


Connie Briscoe - 2002
    Jolene is half of P.G. County’s number-two couple–and she desperately wants what she doesn’t have: namely Barbara’s husband. Pearl owns a hair salon and lives on the outskirts of the posh community with her son, Kenyatta. She’s not only juggling a growing business and a bad divorce, but now she’s has to cope with Kenyatta’s less-than-ideal girlfriend. Candice is white and liberal, but her daughter’s new beau tests her beliefs–and opens a can of worms she never knew existed. Lee is a runaway teen, a girl whose only connection to her father is an old photo and the belief that he’s well-off and waiting for her in . . . P.G. COUNTYFrom the Trade Paperback edition.

Soul Food Sisterhood


Aisha Washington - 2013
    So follow the Jefferson girls as they try to navigate the choppy waters of the Atlanta dating scene.

Congratulations


Darrin Lowery - 2007
    That's why no one is more surprised than her when she starts dating Thomas Anthony Young, the fit and handsome office heartthrob. After eight months together, Tiffany is sure that he's about to propose at any minute.Instead, she's taken off guard when they have a senseless argument. Thomas abruptly departs for a business trip, leaving Tiffany hurt and confused. In an effort to cheer herself up, she calls her friend Alicia for some company. Alicia already has plans to attend the wedding of a cousin she's not too fond of. She suggests that Tiffany go with her. They'll make a brief appearance and then spend the rest of the day together, shopping and catching up. Neither one of them is prepared for the pandemonium that breaks loose when they get to the wedding and Tiffany discovers that Thomas is the groom!

Sunday Brunch


Norma L. Jarrett - 1999
    She seems to have it all together all the time until a seductive client topples her self-control. Then there’s Jermane, a devout Catholic who met her husband in law school and has never been with another man. But now her workaholic marriage is threatened by temptation.Angel, on the other hand, sees men merely as a means to sex. Her scorn for love of all kinds—godly or otherwise—is challenged by a serious health scare. Meanwhile, Jewel bases her dating choices on the size of a man’s bank account until she meets a new flame who causes her to reconsider her requirements. Finally, there’s Lexi, the link between the ladies, who provides sage advice while praying for Mr. Right. But what happens when depression hits hard? Through conversation and consolation, these dynamic characters provide one another with divine inspiration—encouraging readers to root for them along the way.

Two Hearts (Brotherhood #1)


Vivian Rose Lee - 2016
    The two of them couldn’t be in the same room for more than ten minutes before they were at each other’s throat and she was calling him Thor or he was calling her Mighty Mouth. For a job well done, Rocky gifted her four member team a well-deserved four week vacation cruise. Once there however, Quiana and Troy picked up where they left off and were once again back at each other’s throat. One evening, tired of the club scene Quiana found herself walking the deck and Troy quickly tiring of his date found himself also walking the deck, only to find his nemesis Quiana leaning against the rail basking under the glow of the full moon. Neither was expecting a ship board romance and if you like, you can blame it on the moon, but true feeling came to the surface and one thing led to another, and the two of them wound up spending the night together. Deciding to put away the animosity they share for one another in the past and opting to enjoy the next four weeks together and the two of them were happier that they had ever been before and were in the process of making plans to continue their tryst once they returned to Philly, but when they docked at the pier, neither expected the drama that was awaiting them. With a low tolerance for nonsense Quiana left without giving Troy a chance to fix the problem, and returned to her home in Virginia. Troy McAfee former bodyguard to Rocky Curtis-Singleton was devastated when Quiana left without giving him a chance to explain, vowing he would never forgive her hurting him. That was until her brothers found him and imparted a bit of news that would change his life and Quiana’s life forever.