Was this a clamouring for entry into houses or lives? Looking on then, looking back now, I wish I could have been more definite. It might have made me a different, better person, a player not a spectator." Ophelia Street, 1970. A street like any other, a community that lives and breathes together as people struggle with their commitments and pursue their dreams. It is a world we recognise, a world where class and gender divide, where set roles are acknowledged. But what happens when individuals step outside those roles, when they secretly covet, express desire, pursue ambitions even harm and destroy? An observer in the midst of Ophelia Street watches, writes, imagines, remembers, charting the lives and loves of his neighbours over the course of four seasons. And we see the flimsily disguised underbelly of urban life revealed in all its challenging glory. As the leaves turn from vibrant green to vivid gold, so lives turn and change too, laying bare the truth of the community. Perhaps, ultimately, we all exist on Ophelia Street.

    

    An even better listener. And handsome as heaven on earth. He is God's Gift to Women. Julian Payne gets into bed with millions of women every night. As an after-hours radio talk-show host, Julian captivates his female audience with his deep voice and sensitive spirit. Women can't get enough: They call in, begging for his advice about love, lust, commitment, and betrayal. Julian provides his listeners with the blunt male perspective, and he always has the right thing to say. But when it comes to his own romantic life, or lack thereof, he's at a loss for words. A widower and father to ten-year-old Samantha, Julian wants nothing more than to settle down again with the right woman. Just when he thinks he's found her in Dr. Terri Ross -- smart, stunning, and with her own counseling practice -- Julian is confronted by a ghost from the past: Olivia Brown, a woman with whom he had a one-night stand. Suddenly Julian finds himself in a situation with a woman who's determined to win him over...or make his life a living hell. Michael Baisden's hottest offering yet, God's Gift to Women is a compelling tale about the consequences of sex with a stranger.

    With a bleak outlook on life, he finds himself teetering between two worlds—a seedy one where he’s not guaranteed to see his twenty-second birthday and a promising one that might bring him recognition for his talent. After a chance encounter with a peculiar waitress, he finds himself engulfed in a friendship he never knew he needed. However, his complex life and reckless decisions challenge their already complicated bond.

    This Essence bestseller from an author to watch takes an unforgettable look at love, lust, and secrets that can break hearts--and destroy homes.

    Conspire with a hitwoman to murder my husband’s lovers.2. Frame my husband for their murders.3. Tell no one and to hell with the church.This is just the beginning of a vengeful to-do list for beautiful pastor’s wife and successful salon owner Lavender Wallace. After all, it’s not every night she finds her husband of almost twenty years, Pastor Quincy Wallace, with a prominent deacon kneeling before him in the pulpit—if only it were in prayer. With God taking entirely too long, Lavender satisfies her growing contempt by teaching her husband a malicious lesson that his faith never could. But trying not to fall for the detective investigating the case of her husband’s disappearing lovers proves difficult for a lonely and scorned wife. Shielding a doting teenaged son from his father’s secrets is even harder. As old lies are exposed and a deadly plot backfires threatening to destroy those she loves most, Lavender is forced to make a life-altering decision—the bible or the bullet?

    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.

    Multigenerational saga of Alex Haley's father's family through his grandmother, Queen, the proud daughter born of a slave and a white slave owner.

    While she knows racism is a problem (occasional brushes with the uglier side of people don't let her forget it), Naomi is, at heart, just like any other teenage girl. All of that changes when Joshua, Naomi's older brother, is killed in an accident on his way to a civil rights demonstration in Chicago. Racism becomes a personal issue, and Naomi decides that she needs to help bring about changes in the system. At college in Atlanta, she becomes immersed in politics, organizing protests and butting heads with school administrations as well as with her boyfriend, who isn't too friendly to the cause. Disillusioned by authority figures and betrayed by the man she loves, Naomi returns home, confused about the world and her place in it.

    Nestled in his lavishing home in Chesterfield, Missouri, he captures women with his wealth, charm, nine-plus inches of goodness and amazingly good looks. Although his bed is never empty, his heart is. He feels nothing for the women who love him dearly and continues his search for the perfect one. When Scorpio Valentino, an attractive, seductive and charming woman saunters into his view, she offers Jaylin a life of altering changes. Her intention is to make his life a living hell, however, Jaylin is not about to take the fall. Surprisingly, soon, love presents itself. Not for the women in Jaylin's life, but he experiences love through becoming a father to Scorpio's five-year-old daughter, Mackenzie. She's his guardian angel and is there for Jaylin through the tough times he's bound to face.

    The central couple's biggest challenge is timing: He works days; she works nights. Instead of growing together, they're rapidly drifting apart, coexisting on stolen phone calls from work, punctuated by occasional bedroom encounters that leave them both feeling even emptier and more alone. When she finds out about his affair-and starts her own-the delicate fabric of their marriage is torn irrevocably asunder. Or is it? In Dickey's expert hands, what begins as a seemingly unforgivable betrayal segues into the sexy and searing story of a man and a woman at a pivotal turning point in their relationship. Only time will tell whether they'll let it all go...or can hold on to the love that drew them together in the first place.

    This season meet Brianna and Natalie. Best of friends but both deal with similar issues they both desire a man who isn’t actually theirs. Episode one- Meet the cast, get wrapped up in the sex, and guess the next secret as the drama unfolds as the Na Na rips havoc on these characters lives.

    The love they once shared has been replaced with his love for another woman and the feeling of his fists. Tahari sees no way out that is until she meets Ka'Jaire "Thug" Kenneth. He is every woman's dream come true and every nigga's worst nightmare. The relationship between them develops instantaneously. Tahari has fallen victim to Thug's Passion, but can she handle the pitfalls of being the ride or die chick he needs by his side. Past loves and enemies' vengeance and murder in mind threaten to tear down what they have built. Follow Tahari and Thug on a rollercoaster ride as they fight to save their lives, freedom, and their relationship.

    But he was the one thing that she didn’t mess around with…he was a cop. Law doesn’t care about Alauni’s attempts to stay away from him. He knows what he wants, and given the way that her body responds to him, he’s pretty sure that he can get it. But his need for her goes beyond the physical. He sees Alauni in a way that she doesn’t even recognize. He knows her heart, and he’s determined to convince her that he can take care of it. But when he finally steps into her world, he soon realizes that it might be more than what he bargained for. What happens when it’s no longer just fun and games, and things get real? Will Law be able to handle the challenge and be all in? Or will Alauni give him every reason to walk away and never look back?

    Although she has a very light complexion, she is proud of her blackness, even as she takes a beating from the very sistahs she tries so hard to emulate. Her only friend, Scooter Morrison, is an upwardly mobile brother who also happens to be young, gifted, and gay. Then a chance encounter with two fine Puerto Rican men changes Juanita’s and Scooter’s lives in ways they could never have imagined. There is Conan, a hardworking man who wrestles with both his love for Juanita and his guilt over his brother’s death; and Jorge, an unscrupulous bad-boy thug who has no problem using what he’s got to get what he wants, until he comes dangerously close to getting scorched by his own flames.Fast-paced, suspenseful, and unpredictable, Chocolate Sangria explores the hearts of two lovers who get caught in the great cultural divide—and the devastating consequences of keeping secrets, telling lies, and betraying those you love.