Book picks similar to
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The Criss Cross
Crystal Lacey Winslow - 2004
She's independent, street-smart and the daughter of a prostitute. Living in the mean streets of East New York and Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn shes forced to make a living the only what she knows how. When a wealthy, South African diplomat asks for her hand in marriage things seem to get brighter. Until she realizes that the soft-spoken, reserved, gentleman is pathological, kinky, and sadistic. One day she meets a mysterious stranger who approaches her with The Criss Cross. Is The Criss Cross her ticket to a better life? Or will The Criss Cross ultimately become the double cross? Wait! The Criss Cross isn't done yet! The old gang from Life, Love & Loneliness have some unfinished business to resolve. In this page-turning novel see how the drama unfolds for Lyric, Lacey, Madison, Joshua, and Estelle.
Her Secret Life
Tiffany L. Warren - 2017
Warren novel I know I'm going to get two things--a riveting story and a faith boost!" -ReShonda Tate BillingsleyScarred by poverty and life with a crackhead mother, Onika Lewis had a rough start. Still, thanks to her sharp mind, and hard work, she graduated with honors from a prestigious college. But her achievements weren't enough to earn her the elite status she craved. So she leveraged her gorgeous looks to become a rich man's trophy...and was eventually dumped her for a younger model. Now Onika is unemployed, broke--and homeless. She's making a fresh start through a unique women's shelter, but when she meets Graham, a kind-hearted commuter with whom she has an instant connection, she can't bring herself to tell him her secret...Suddenly Onika has someone who cares about who she is beyond her looks. Graham's unselfish love gives her the kind of hope she's never had. But when Onika's wealthy ex wants her back, she plays one deception too many trying to have it all. Now present lies and past secrets are tearing her world apart. And Onika will need to educate herself once more--to learn what really matters, find faith, forgiveness--and build a life she truly deserves.Praise for Tiffany L. Warren's novels"Filled with love, betrayal, heartbreak and forgiveness." --Kimberla Lawson Roby on The Favorite Son"Highly entertaining. Captivating and compelling. Great book club option." --USAToday.com on The Replacement Wife"In a fine blend of suspense and inspirational fiction, Warren spins an entertaining tale about folks misbehaving behind the pulpit in a modern African American church." --Library Journal on The Pastor's Husband
Ruth's Redemption
Marlene Banks - 2012
Bo is also a man of God and widower whose life is destined to change when he meets the proud and hard-hearted slave girl, Ruth.Ruth has known nothing but servitude and brutality since being separated from her mother at age thirteen. Purchased and sold primarily for breeding, her heart is filled with resentment and bitterness. Ruth wants no part of Bo’s Godly devotion. Yet Bo is unlike any man she’s known and her experiences with him will leave her forever changed.A gripping slave era novel, Ruth’s Redemption is a story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. Set against the backdrop of the Nat Turner Rebellion in Tidewater, Virginia, this novel shines the light of God’s unconditional love in the darkness of a culture’s cruel socially accepted inhumanity.
Teeth
Hugh Gallagher - 1998
Neil is a dentally challenged, reluctantly hip downtown scribe whose life's work is "Dusted, " the 'zine that once earned him the title of New Jack Poet Warrior. But when the mag folds, Neil is left with an aching mouth and the realization that the icons of his time are either dying young, cashing in or dropping out. It's a time of reckoning— the perfect moment to cancel dental appointments and take off on a drift through the global ghetto. From the gritty grind of New York to the dark glitter of Hollywood, through the tropical wilds of Indonesia and the crumbling squats of East London, Neil embarks on a soulful search for a woman to love and a place to call home. But answers will remain elusive until the roaming writer tests both his friends and his beliefs, and commits to a plan to make peace with his teeth.With deft insight, sly humor, and dazzling prose, Hugh Gallagher captures the conflict of finding one's way in a culture that mocks ambition while craving celebrity. At once a saddening chronicle of childhood's end and an epic dental saga through a world of possible futures, "Teeth" is a touching resonant anthem for all those truly hungry for a solid bite out of life.
The Secret She Kept
Amelia Carr - 2012
But one day, in the middle of the 1950s, her boat is found abandoned. Fliss has mysteriously vanished, tragically leaving behind her husband and baby girl.Nearly thirty years later, Emma's world is rocked when she is approached by journalist Mike Bond with an extraordinary revelation: that Fliss was seen in America after she was presumed drowned. As Emma delves into her mother's past, she begins to unravel a tale of deep, abiding love and promises forgotten. And the rest of her family are thrown into turmoil. For Fliss is not the only one with secrets long-concealed...Don't miss any of Amelia's romantic epics, Dance With Wings, A Song At Sunset, A Woman of Secrets and The Secret She Kept.
Life, Part 2: Lydia's Story--The Second Chance
S.W. Hubbard - 2019
When she married a much older man, Lydia took a shortcut from grad student to middle-aged matron. Do not pass go. Do not drink jug wine or buy Ikea bookshelves. Now Lydia finds herself a 45-year-old widow. She’s got a suburban McMansion she doesn’t want, a hole in her day where her job used to be, and a bunch of married-couple friends eligible for Social Security. Lydia wants to start over and recapture the endless possibilities life offers at age 25. She adopts a shelter dog with issues. Buys a charming little starter home on the verge of collapse. And accepts a job she doesn’t know how to do. Lydia soon learns that youth isn’t for the faint-hearted. Her dead husband is trying to control her future through the terms of his will. And her impulsive decisions may cost her some new friendships she can’t bear to lose. But with the help of a quirky dog trainer, a hilarious colleague, and a hunky young carpenter, Lydia may get a second chance at the life she missed.
Glittering Images / Glamorous Powers
Susan Howatch - 1994
Now in one volume, the first and second in Susan Howatch's acclaimed series of novels; compelling, searching, wise and witty, they have gained her a huge following.
Runaway Love
Té Russ - 2018
Everyone except herself. When it lands her in the hospital, she has no choice but to follow doctor's order: decompress. When her best friend helps her "runaway from home", her only plan is to chill out and enjoy her long overdue time off. But an unexpected visitor on her doorstep and her sexy as sin neighbor shake up those plans. Those stony glares and razor sharp tongue of hers may intimidate other men, but Lucas LeRoux is unfazed by them. He knows beneath that tough exterior there's a softness, like the curves of her body he felt when she accidentally landed in his arms. He's determined to make her his and he's just the man for the task of tearing down the walls she's built up and get her to finally let her hair down and enjoy life, not just manage it all of the time.
Sunshine & Rain
Dawn Desiree - 2003
With their families torn apart from the vicious life of the streets, Sunshine & Rain find each other living with the same foster mother, Cathy, who has a secret life of her own.
The Cocaine Princess Part 1
Rio - 2013
Raised by her father, a ruthless Mexican drug cartel boss, and her mother, a strong-spirited black woman with an MBA from Harvard, it's no surprise that when Alexus graduates from high school text books to kilos of cocaine and heroin, she quickly becomes one of the best to ever do it in the dope game. After her father, Juan "Papi" Costilla, is sent away to federal prison, Alexus soon finds herself in Michigan City, Indiana with her mother, Rita Mae Bishop. With $250,000 in cash and 48 kilos of pure cocaine--stuffed inside large soup cans and smuggled into the country through her family's drug tunnel-- Alexus sets out to build herself a BMF-like drug-dealing ring, utilizing the connections of her numerous lovers to maximize her bankroll. But will she survive the wrath of the Costilla cartel when a portion of it turns against her? Find out in...
Ericka Kane
Kiki Swinson - 2013
But if Ericka can help it, her stepmother won't have control for very long.
Influence: Death on the Beach: An Influence Novel
Carl Weber - 2020
A Secret Worth Keeping
Lakisha Johnson - 2013
They are all career women with different businesses or careers, husbands and even children but something is missing, something they can't find at home, in a store or even in a book. So, they search for this missing piece in the beds, arms, cars, offices and even in storage rooms of other men who don't mind paying for what Dem Dam Divas can offer. They enjoy the thrill of sneaking, creeping and even vacationing on someone else's dime but what happens when it all becomes too much? From being found guilty with no evidence, secretly wanting someone who doesn't want you, loving only to not be loved back, caught up in a dream that you're about to be awaken from; will it be worth it in the end? Will their secret lives be revealed and will it become too much to handle? Will they regret their actions or stand by them? Will they finally question whether this secret is really worth keeping?
The Right Man for the Job: A Novel
Mike Magnuson - 1997
Dewy, a foul-mouthed realist, happily takes Gunnar under his wing and tries to teach him how to maneuver safely through the dangers of the Columbus, Ohio, streets. Together they devise increasingly ingenious ways to reclaim properly from their most recalicitrant customers. They become fixated in particular on a woman who will not respond to any of their attempts to repossess her furniture. Both Dewy and the customer refuse to give in. And thus the stage is set for a series of events that send Gunnar's life spiraling out of control.