In her debut novel, McKnight delivers unforgettable characters and page-turning drama, when a couple whose troubled marriage is pushed to its limits sets out for revenge amidst secrets, lies, and a common enemy.

    1986 BILL JAMES SOFTCOVER

    For a brief and cherished time there was a woman, and then a child, too, who had been a kind of salvation to him. Then they were gone, leaving Ellis to carry on with the burden of what he had done to them, of the ruin he brought down upon them all.In The Sweet Everlasting, Ellis is seventy-four. Moving back and forth over his life, he recalls his Depression-era boyhood, the black family who worked the neighboring farm, his time in prison, and the subsequent years adrift, working at jobs no one else would take and longing for another chance to rejoin what is left of his family. Ever in the background are the memories of his wife, Susan, and their boy, W.D.--how Ellis drew on her strength and his innocence to resist everything that threatened to harden him: the shame that others would have him feel, the poverty he had known, and the distorted honor and pride he had seen in others and that he knew was inside him, too.Like the hero of William Kennedy's masterpiece, Ironweed, Ellis Burt is a man of uncommon personal dignity and strength, always moving toward, but never expecting, redemption.

    Until, that is, the new neighbours arrive - just what is it about Brad Betancourt that Lisa finds so familiar?

    It centers around two sets of best friends who succumb to true love after overcoming a series of obstacles to their relationships. Desiree Hagan is a voluptuous counselor whose ex-husband left her because she gained weight. She spends her days comforting clients but all that comforts her is the remote control as she cuddles up with a series of romance novels. Does someone finally bring her comfort? Brandon Hughes life is too busy for commitments. The only commitment he is willing to make is to his career as a security analyst. Climbing the corporate ladder, and not romance, is his number one priority. Is he willing to change?Sparkle Mason's aggressive style and independence wards off the bravest of men. Professionally, she is very successful, but her personal life leaves a trail of failed relationships. Does she meet her knight in shining armor? Eric Lawson, a casualty of a long, draining relationship is looking forward to bachelor hood. The last thing he wants is another woman trying to pressure him into marriage. Will he be a lifelong bachelor or will the right woman change his mind?This is the reissued version with a new cover for Kindle.

    . . and done with trying to find “perfect” husbands. So why can't Hahna, Twila, and Kimberly have men strictly for friendship, companionship—and especially mind-blowing sex? Their solution: be sugar mamas to gorgeous young studs who promise the best of having it all. But the ladies soon find that real lust and no strings is way more complicated than they thought . . . All-business and all about the money, Hahna is drawn to Jovan, an aspiring writer. He's content with his work and Hahna, but her determination to make him appreciate the finest things in life could easily tear them apart. Cautious Kimberly is swept off her feet by handsome adrenaline-junkie Shawn—but an old flame from her past sparks an even more dangerous passion. And for Twila, a smokin’-hot Instagram model is fulfilling all her scandalous, insatiable dreams . . . until his high-maintenance demands and jealousy throw her life into chaos. Now Hahna, Kimberly, and Twila need to trust their instincts and their hearts to reclaim their joy—and the love they truly deserve.

    When Geneva, Crystal, Chevy, and Noah get hot and bothered, they get way more than they ever bargained for…Geneva is busy caring for her daughter—and robbing the cradle with her son’s business manager. Chevy is working for a diva who requires assistance that’s way too personal for Chevy’s liking. Crystal is in for the surprise of her life when her mom (!) conspires to get Crystal’s engine purring like a kitten again. And Noah hears everyone’s secrets, miles away in London, but with these friends, secrets don’t stay secret for long! After all, what are friends for?So slip into something slinky and get ready to catch the Fever!

    In this dramatic page-turner from the author of "Deep Deception," a family is reunited 10 years after the murder of their father, and each member is struggling with his or her own demons.

    They vowed to be friends forever, but Peaches, Sally Mae, Jan, and Roach drifted apart. It is Peaches's sudden death that brings them together again. The hip-swinging Sally Mae is a new grandmother; the beautiful and once-shy Roach has become a devout Muslim named Rasheeda; and the levelheaded Jan has launched her own business.Troubles like ours.The Justus Girls soon find out that they need each other now just as much as in the old days. Jan's husband has died and her business is faltering. Rasheeda faces the battle of her life, trying to keep custody of her two sons. And though Sally Mae doesn't know it yet, her past is about to catch up with her.Friendship we could all use.The JG's make a pact to find out what happened to Peaches, to meet once a week, and to reclaim their own lives. It's a pact that will take them through the old neighborhood, with all its characters, and reveal secrets that have remained unspoken for too long. Through it all, the Justus Girls rediscover the love, laughter, and support they had forgotten, but that rescues them just in the nick of time.

    In contemporary mores and humanity, they investigate and celebrate the gender gap.

    . . she says. A smart, successful woman of substance, she is willing to be a friend to Gavin Mathis, who plays pro football for the Detroit Lions and is the finest specimen of the African-American male she's ever laid eyes on. Gavin's been tight with her brother Wesley for so long he's almost family.So Anna's happy when she can help Gavin out of a personal jam -- and the fact that he's setting fires inside her has nothing to do with it.Gavin feels the heat too, but he can't trust himself to love Anna. Her folks, who've always been good to him, would be enraged. Besides, if he marries, he's afraid he'll become an irresponsible deadbeat like his dad, who just dumped Gavin's little brother on the ballplayer's doorstep. But sparks are definitely flying and this sexy lady's got his heart pumping like mad -- and it's telling him to go for it . . . and to hell with the consequences.

    Even when he considers it, life throws him a curveball that causes him to take an entirely different path. The last curveball, a pregnant friend with benefits, caused Lucas to make an illegal move that led to his sister, Luana, being bound to Jaxon Jeffries. At first meeting Jaxon, Lucas considers him to be a man that will never be worthy of his respect and admiration, but there is one thing that Jaxon shares with Lucas that changes his life forever – the importance of choosing a wife instead of letting something as reckless and irrational as love choose one for you. Hali Davison has never been the type to step out of the traditional route with anything in her life. Even when she considers it, life throws her a curveball that causes her to return to the safe, predictable path she grew up on. The last curveball, finding out the man she’s loved all of her life practically was getting married to a woman that wasn’t her, has Hali reconsidering her safe and predictable lifestyle. If her last chance at letting Lucas know how she really feels for him is at his wedding… so be it. Lucas is stuck between doing the right thing and following his heart. His childhood has made it difficult for him to believe that true love exists, which is a great deal of the reason why he’s fought his feelings for Hali over the years. With his natural hair product line reaching heights he never thought were possible, Lucas is determined to secure his life mate now before his money, power and status make it impossible to choose a woman who wants him for him and not who he is and what he has. There’s just one question he’s faced with on the day of his wedding; is that woman Shanice, the woman responsible for giving him his first child, or Hali, the woman responsible for giving him his first taste of love – no matter how much he thought he didn’t want it. *Please note, Lucas and Hali first appear in “Just Say You Love Me”. While their story can be read on its own, it is suggested that you read about their backgrounds in “Just Say You Love Me” first.

    Lisa Miller has a wonderful life while her sister and their friends have been searching for love in the wildest of places. She invites them to join her in Jamaica where she plans to share heart-wrenching news, and hopes the pain in her life will give them a reason to stop taking theirs for granted. Renee Moore is a best-selling author with an insatiable appetite for men. She plans on spending her vacation, engaging in a fling that will give her reason to exhale. Unfortunately, she soon finds out it’s not always sunny in paradise. Attorney Nadine Hill has been living in denial for far too long. By the end of the trip, she needs to decide if she’s going to continue to live for everyone else or take a chance at her own happiness no matter the consequences. Kayla Sparks has always dreamed of being a preacher’s wife. When a handsome minister walks into her life, she thinks God has answered her prayers. Only his wife would probably disagree. **this book was originally published in 2006**

    And after spending one night in complete darkness because "pretty didn't pay the light bill," Gerry and I broke up and are no longer speaking.Marshall wasn't a viable suitor because when he finally revealed himself to me, I found out that his breasts were larger than mine because he used to be a she. Marshall and I are no longer speaking.Keith could have been the one. I met him at a taco stand and I was certain he was the "It Man." He was beautiful, articulate, and one my favorite things on earth, employed. When I was in his presence he felt like the last man on earth. But on our first date I became extremely irritated by this simple fact: his wife kept paging him during our meal.So, Jesus, I am down on my knees begging for mercy. I ask for an eligible, employed, nonviolent single man with no current wives or husbands who has more teeth than felony convictions to enter my world and escort me to the rest of my life. Amen.---from Michael (a woman, craving her "It Man")

    One follows Joanna Aronson as she cares for her father, Clyde, during his latest struggle with cancer while butting heads with her stepmother, Brenda, a cold woman whom Joanna suspects of neglecting him and even trying to kill him. Interspersed are Joanna’s memories of growing up in suburban Baltimore with her sister and parents in the ’60s, a life that seems idyllic yet seethes with subterranean discontents. Clyde, an English teacher, dominates the family with his charisma but undermines it with his affairs, including a liaison with one of Joanna’s teenage acquaintances. Joanna’s mother, Evie, feels trapped in housewifery and longs for the fulfillment she felt as a Communist Party activist. Joanna, though drawn like Clyde to the life of the mind, feels slighted because of his wish that she had been a boy. A colleague of her father’s seduces her at age 14. Threading through the story is Clyde’s memoir of growing up with his brother, Harry, in New York’s National Hebrew Orphan Home after his father abandoned the family and his mother placed the two boys there in 1924. It’s a Dickensian story of cold, hunger, loneliness, frequent beatings, and sexual abuse, but it’s lit with friendships and intellectual ambitions. Cherubin’s bittersweet tale is an epic and indelible character study of Clyde from frightened cub to kvetching lion in winter, with overtones of King Lear and an occasional queasily incestuous vibe. She writes in evocative prose that mixes astringent reality with glowing reverie. (“I sized up the three agents,” recalls Evie of a visit from the FBI during the Joseph McCarthy era. “Cold, smug, and bored. They could not begin to understand how alive I was during the war, how urgent and meaningful my life was thanks to the CP. How engaged I was with the world… I still miss those days.”) As Joanna grapples with her clan’s vexed legacy, the author shows how both betrayal and forgiveness can propagate across generations.An alternately dark and luminous, wounded and affectionate portrait of a family in crisis.