Thug In Me


Karen P. Williams - 2011
    Then Chance's upright life flips upside down when he's framed for murder and loses everything--his job, his home, his girlfriend and almost his mind. Behind bars, Chance's only ray of hope in his life is his pen pal, Deyja. . .. When he's released after seven years, he finds her, but he doesn't reveal his true identity to her. Deyja doesn't realize she's falling for her former pen pal. All she knows is she's finally found a man who satisfies her every desire. But when Chance's old friends creep back into his life, will his past destroy his future with the woman he loves?

Seasons of Fidelity: Season One


Takerra Allen - 2017
    New lust. Treasured friendships. Temptation. Escapes from dulled reality. Inevitable destruction.An anticipated reunion brings six preoccupied souls together and stirs the pot brewing with it all.Ray, Dice, and Justice have come to age, forming an impermeable bond that has stood the storms of time and hardship. When the trio unites after substantial time has passed, they find all rough waters aren’t left behind for the brotherhood.Regina’s life turned out better than what was foreseen for a teenaged, single-mother.Yet when her past is forced into her present, so are the steamy and sentimental memories.Aleeya’s chasing dreams and thrills, and there isn’t much that can seize the free-spirit;besides an older, already-claimed man who invites her into his dark, enchanting world.And there’s Yael - the broken masterpiece - held together by the glue of financial stability, family structure and the American dream.But when she meets someone who sees her well enough to spot the cracks, will she allow herself to be marveled at his mercy?Fall into a world of tests on the morals of love and commitment.What makes a person dishonest? Who governs the limits of loyalty?Are we faithful or unfaithful people or do we have faithful and unfaithful moments?Are there exceptions to the rules; cycles in a relationship that allow for forgivable circumstances?Are there Seasons of Fidelity?Disclaimer: This is Season One of a series. Part one ends with suspense and anticipation.

When You Look Like Us


Pamela N. Harris - 2021
    No one looks twice at a missing black girl from the projects because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon herself. I, Jay Murphy, can admit that, for a minute, I thought my sister, Nicole, got too caught up with her boyfriend—a drug dealer—and his friends.But she’s been gone too long now.If I hadn’t hung up on her that night, she’d be spending time with our grandma. If I was a better brother, she’d be finishing senior year instead of being another name on a missing persons list. It’s time to step up and do what the Newport News police department won’t.Nic, I’m bringing you home.

Love. Allure.


Jai Bree'nae - 2015
    Adrian has done a great job at providing for his brothers and steering them in the right direction. There's just one thing that he regrets, showing Drake and Dru how to make it in the streets. Drake took what his brother taught him and flipped that knowledge into millions of dollars. The fate of the entire family rests on his shoulders as he attempts to walk away from the game before their good fortune runs out. At the same time, a chance encounter with the most beautiful woman he's ever met, inside and out, makes him question what he has at home. Will she be able to take the number one spot...and stay there? Dru is the smoothest businessman by day and Drake's right hand by night. He has no desire for anything real with any woman until his hand is forced and what is good to him turns out to also be what is good for him. Drennen is the baby boy, or so his brothers think. He is an accounting graduate in the making, but his love of money has nothing to do with the white collar world. He stays the course for the love of his life, but will his love for her and his loyalty to his brothers be enough? Join these brothers on their journey as they go through a myriad of changes in both LOVE. and the emotional roller coasters that they find themselves on with the women in their lives. And the ALLURE. of breaking the law that may have them doing more years in the streets than they wanted.

Is the Bitch Dead, Or What? (The Ritz Harper Chronicles Vol. 2)


Wendy Williams - 2007
    Playing a clever trick of her own, Williams left her heroine on the brink of death at the end of the novel. Now the second installment of the chronicles reveals what Williams’s readers are dying to know: Is the Bitch Dead, or What?The drive-by shooting that brought her down forces Ritz to look back on her climb to the top and the people she loved, lost, used, and abused along the way. There’s the brief dalliance with Tracee, her best friend, and the romance with a man with some secrets of his own; the loss of her beloved Aunt M; and the recent appearance of the father who abandoned her and is now demanding a financial payoff and fifteen minutes of fame. At the heart of it all is Ritz’s need to figure out where the real-life Ritz ends and the radio bitch begins.For the huge audience hooked on The Wendy Williams Experience and readers itching to find out what happens to the over-the-top star of Drama Is Her Middle Name, Is the Bitch Dead, or What? is packed with all the irresistible shocks and insider dish that make Williams the hottest voice in America today.

Training School for Negro Girls


Camille Acker - 2018
    In this debut collection of stories, each of them navigate life’s “training school”—with its lessons on gentrification and respectability—while fighting to create a vibrant sense of self in this love letter to Washington, DC.

Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems


Sonia Sanchez - 1999
    An extraordinary retrospective covering over thirty years of work, From a leading writer of the Black Arts Movement and the American Poetry Society's 2018 Wallace Stevens Award-winner.Shake Loose My Skin is a stunning testament to the literary, sensual, and political powers of the award-winning Sonia Sanchez.

Intercepted


Alexa Martin - 2018
    But there's a new player on the horizon, and he's in a league of his own...Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She's definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There's just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights.Gavin fights to show Marlee he's nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her past. The team's wives, who never led the welcome wagon, are not happy with Marlee's return. They have only one thing on their minds: taking her down. But when the gossip makes Marlee public enemy number one, she worries about more than just her reputation.Between their own fumbles and the wicked wives, it will take a Hail Mary for Marlee and Gavin's relationship to survive the season.

Addicted to a Dirty South Thug


Shan - 2015
    Now that she's home, she's ready to move on with her life. Her cousin Tangie has a job waiting for her and gives her a place to stay. Everything is more than what she could've asked for. But when loneliness sets in, she feels like she's missing something. She vowed after her last relationship that she was done with thugs and all things hood, but when she runs into the sexy, Khi with the cocky and dirty south swag, she realizes that it's something about a bad boy that she can't get enough of. She's convinced herself that there is no need to stop what seems meant to be. But will it be another mistake and this time will she get away with her life?Khian "Khi" Prince is just one of the Prince brothers that has the ladies going crazy. He's a certified boss with what seems to be the weight of the world on his shoulders. His job is to ensure that he and his brothers maintain their status in the streets along with caring for his 2 baby mamas and the kids he shares with them. After failing at love twice, Khi's not ready to give up on finding his queen just yet and when running into Cuba, he's for certain he has finally gotten it right. But when Cuba mends his heart to only be the cause of shattering it all over again, will Khi give up on love once and for all, or will he fight to keep the woman that he feels is everything he's been looking for?Daelan "Dae" Prince is the ultimate bad boy with pretty boy looks and a no nonsense type of attitude. He's feared by many men and lusted after by plenty of women, which he can't get enough of. With the love of his life Amber by his side and their 5-year old son, Daelan seems to have his happily ever after but things are never what they seem. Daelan can't seem to stop messing up. After one bad decision after the other, his loved ones are always there to pick up the shattered pieces he constantly leaves behind. But what happens when Daelan makes a decision that puts he and the lives of everyone around him in danger, will his brothers be there to save him once again?Amber has been with Daelan for five long years. Her high school sweetheart was once sweet and charming, but the streets had a way of changing and hardening a person and that's exactly what happened to Daelan at least that's what Amber believes. With all the lies, cheating, and beatings amongst other things, Amber has always stuck by Daelan's side. She was addicted to him and always forgave him no matter how hurt it left her in the end. But when Daelan does the unthinkable, will Amber be able to walk away from the only love she's ever known or will she once again forgive him?Kaedee Prince, not only is he known in the streets along with his brothers, but also in the courtroom as one not to be messed with. With his wife Deonna by his side, they run the most sought out law firm in the city. Kaedee knew that getting his degree in law would somehow come in handy for he and his brothers, but never once did he think his wife Deonna would ever need his services. Hit with money laundering charges from business she did with her ex, Tyrin Walker, a drug kingpin out of Florida, Deonna learns that your past doesn't always stay behind you. When Tyrin shows up in her husband's office, Deonna finds herself in love with two men at the same time. Straddling both sides of the fence has never been good for anyone and Deonna finds that out the hard way. She's forced to pick the one to have her heart, but when that decision lands someone in a grave, are the Prince brothers ready for a war?Welcome to the life of the Prince Brothers and feel what it's like to be Addicted to A Dirty South Thug.

Feels So Right, It Must Be Wrong


Charmanie Saquea - 2014
    With the help of her brother Symir, they take over the business their father left behind which they believe is rightfully theirs. Enters Omari known to the streets as Knowledge, moving back to his hometown he links up with Symir to be down with his team. Instantly, he has his eyes set on Asia and has plans to make her his but there’s one problem. Knowledge has a pregnant fiancé at home that’s been down with him since day one. What happens when lines are crossed and secrets are revealed? To Knowledge, everything feels so right even though he knows it’s so wrong.

Material Girl


Keisha Ervin - 2006
    From the bestselling author of "Me & My Boyfriend" comes a sophisticated lovestory filled with laughter, witty banter, and excessive shopping.

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner


Andrea Smith - 2006
    Bonnie Wilder has lived here, on Blackberry Corner, all her life, and would be content but for her deep desire to have a child. She and her husband Naz cannot conceive, and he refuses to adopt. Even the support of her outrageous best friend Thora--to whom Bonnie tells everything--can't help fill the emptiness inside her. Then Naz finds a blanketed infant on the banks of Canaan Creek, and suddenly Bonnie's life is transformed. She has found her calling. Together with Thora and the rest of the hilarious, tough, and all-too-human women from her church group, Bonnie creates an underground railroad for unwanted babies. But one of these precious gifts will come back to haunt her: a deception begun in good faith comes full circle, ultimately forcing Bonnie to find the courage to confront a difficult truth at the center of her own life. Filled with compassion, humor, and tenacity in the face of almost insurmountable odds, here is a rich, inspiring tale of friendship and family, sisterhood and mother love...and of finding grace where you least expect it.

Driving Heat


Zuri Day - 2015
    --RT Book ReviewsThe Blue-Collar Lover SeriesMeet the Carter brothers, five hard-working men with a lot to offer. They may not be wealthy but they're rich in integrity and loyalty--not to mention sex appeal. They just need the right women to share their world. . .At thirty, eldest brother Byron hasn't dated seriously in a while--not since he became a single dad to his beloved baby girl. Besides, he's found that most women can't see past his job as a bus driver, and he's not interested in that type of superficial foolishness. When he meets Cynthia Hall, her disinterest is obvious. Still, there's something about her. . .Cynthia has been successful in her career and unlucky in love. But those two worlds collide when Byron ends up in her office on business. It's a coincidence that casts him in a very different light than she's previously seen. Too bad he's not the upscale professional Cynthia had in mind. Yet given the chance, she might discover that while money can't buy happiness--a loving and passionate man can. . .

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves


Glory EdimBarbara Smith - 2018
    In this timely anthology, "well-read black girl" Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black female writers and creative voices to shine a light on how we search for ourselves in literature, and how important it is that everyone--no matter their gender, race, religion, or abilities--can find themselves there. Whether it's learning about the complexities of femalehood from Their Eyes Were Watching God, seeing a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, each essay reminds us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her incredible book-club-turned-online-community Well-Read Black Girl, in this book, Edim has created a space where black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world, and ourselves.Contributors include: Jesmyn Ward (Sing Unburied Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Zinzi Clemmons (What We Lose), N. K. Jemisin (The Fifth Season), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Nicole Dennis-Benn (Here Comes the Sun), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and more.

Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do


Pearl Cleage - 2003
    and maybe just a little magic. Depending on the time of day, Regina Burns is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown or an overdue breakthrough. One shattered heart and six months of rehab have left her wary and shell-shocked—especially with the prospect of taking a temporary consulting job in Atlanta, a move that would allow Regina to rescue the family home that she borrowed against when she was “a stomp down dope fiend.” Her stone-faced banker has grudgingly agreed to give her sixty days to settle her debts or lose the house.Returning to Atlanta is a big risk. Last time Regina was there, she lost track of who she was and what she wanted. There’s a lot of emotional baggage with her new employer, Beth Davis. Can she really forgive Beth for breaking up her wedding plans on New Year’s Eve because she just didn’t think Regina was good enough to marry her son?Meanwhile, Regina’s visionary Aunt Abbie has told her to be on the lookout for a handsome stranger with “the ocean in his eyes” who has a bone to pick and a promise to keep. Then a blue-eyed brother appears on the streets of Afro-Atlanta wearing a black cashmere overcoat, flashing a dazzling smile, and lending a helping hand when Regina needs it most. But between falling for Blue Hamilton and dealing with Beth, secrets will emerge that will threaten to send her life twisting in surprising new directions.Like a conversation with a good friend, Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do shares hope, love, and laugher. As always, it is Pearl Cleage’s unforgettable characters and her gift for dialogue that will earn this provocative new novel a place in the hearts of her growing family of readers.From the Trade Paperback edition.