Book picks similar to
Momma's Baby, Daddy's Maybe by Jamise L. Dames


african-american-fiction
drama
dnl-wnr
jamise-dames

The Last Woman Standing


Tia McCollors - 2009
    After being married to their careers instead of each other for ten years, "Ace" and Lynette Bowers ended their marriage.  Four years later however, it seems as though their love never ended - to both of their surprise and denial.  Sheila Rushmore is Ace's current girlfriend and a woman who is used to getting what she wants - except Ace's commitment to marriage.  When Sheila realizes Lynette may be the cause, she launches a plan to play the hand of God, instead of allowing God to bring the love they all desire in His way.

Thong on Fire: An Urban Erotic Tale


Noire - 2007
    When her father gets popped in an armed robbery and her mother turns to drugs, Saucy is left to scratch out a life for herself on the streets of Harlem, and this city-slick vixen refuses to become a victim. Young, hot, and hungry for the spotlight, Saucy has a full package and uses her assets to get whatever she wants. 128th Street has its own rules, and she knows them well. With sex as her weapon of choice, Saucy uses her beauty and her body to hustle her way straight into the heart of the hip-hop underworld, preying upon any man—or woman—who might help her get ahead. But Saucy just can't get enough. Her calculating nature and insatiable appetite for power and prestige tempt her into dangerous waters, and before long she finds herself in too deep. The shot callers of the hip-hop world have a few tricks for Saucy—a gutter plan to force her back onto the very streets that she came from. But Saucy refuses to go down easy. She plots her revenge against some of the most powerful playas in the music industry, never suspecting that her enemies will fight back—and fight back hard.

Rozalyn 4


Shan - 2013
    She is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that this time they make it without fault.Tamar on the other hand is knee deep in the game, further than ever before. With a set of new demands; he is forced to recruit a new team that pushes him to prove why he is and will always be the boss.Taron and Journey are deeply in love and looking forward to becoming one. They thought they had everything a couple could ever want until another woman-Latoya, shows the both of them exactly what they’re missing.New couple Jamir and Erica will show you just how Justice is served.Will these couples overcome what’s being thrown their way or will they let it destroy everything they’ve built?Find out in this drama-filled 4th installment of Rozalyn.

Hunger


Erica Simone Turnipseed - 2006
    His former identity as a successful investment banker and eligible bachelor has disappeared. A beleaguered graduate student, she's got no money, no man, and no Ph.D., yet. A year of predoctoral research in Haiti leaves Noire drained. And a trip home to Côte d'Ivoire offers Innocent little more than intermittent sexual gratification. In the aftermath of 9/11, Innocent and Noire are back in New York City and find solace in each other's bed. But even that arrangement collapses under the weight of Innocent's revelation that he has unfinished business in Africa. For Innocent and Noire, patching together their unraveling lives becomes an exercise in hope and humility. With Hunger, Turnipseed lives up to the promise of A Love Noire and has matured into a writer who fearlessly explores the intersection of sex, love, identity, and loss in a cross-cultural context.

Chocolate Covered Forbidden Fruit


Trista Russell - 2006
    Not only is there a large age difference between Thalia and the middle-aged pastor, but he also happens to be the father of Madison, her best friend since junior high school. Madison isn't trying to deal with her father dating anyone after her mother's death. Thalia asks Isaac to keep their relationship a secret, but he's been intrigued by her ever since she was a teenager, and now he wants the world to know. When tragedy strikes, their love is exposed to her family, his colleagues, his congregation, and her best friend. Now it seems like the whole town is in an uproar. The gossiping church mothers in Mount Pleasant aren't the only problem that Thalia and Isaac have, though. A former lover rears his ugly head and forces their relationship to change for the absolute worst. Can this May-December romance survive when it seems fate is just not on their side?

Me & My Boyfriend


Keisha Ervin - 2000
    Louis bombshell named Meesa. With money in the bank, designer clothes in her closet and true friends by her side, Meesa still longs for more. All of her life she's wanted for one thing and one thing only, love. When she meets the infamous Black, a street pharmacist from the North side of The Lou, finally love is in her grasp. Follow Meesa and Black, this century's new notorious Bonnie and Clyde, through the roller coaster ride that their tight to death relationship brings. From ups, downs, love, hate, lies, abuse and murder, they go through it all. Like the saying goes: everything that looks good to you ain't always good for you. But in the end, love always conquers all... doesn't it?

Kiss the Ring: An Urban Tale


Meesha Mink - 2014
    From the death of her parents when she was just eleven years old to when she found herself pregnant and alone at sixteen, Naeema has had to make her own way in the world. She gave up her son for adoption and became an apprentice at a barber shop, making just enough money to pay the bills and get high. She tried being a wife, but ultimately found that she and Tank, now her ex-husband, are better friends and occasional lovers than partners. Naeema prefers to be on her own; no responsibilities, no rules.But the sudden and brutal murder of Brandon, the son she never knew, forces Naeema to reconsider the way she has lived her life. Brandon was involved with a notorious band of Newark bank robbers, and Naeema is convinced his gang life was her fault. Desperate to avenge her son's death and determined to take justice into her own hands, Naeema becomes "Queen" as she infiltrates the gang to discover her boy's killer. But when she starts to fall for the leader of the crew, will she still have the resolve to do what must be done?Filled with gritty realism and unexpected plot twists, this page-turner will keep you guessing as Naeema struggles to do whatever it takes to right her wrongs.

Say It Ain't So


La Jill Hunt - 2009
    With his talented voice, pretty boy looks, and good guy charms, Warren Cobb quickly rose to the top of the Gospel music charts with hit after hit after hit.But what's the Sensual Seductress to do when she's riding in a car that's involved in a terrible crash? And what's the Prince of Praise to do when he's the one driving?All hell breaks loose and the rumors start to fly; lives are threatened, and the truths are untold in a drama-filled tale that could only come from the imagination of La Jill Hunt.Urban Books presents Say It Ain't So. Because every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future!

The Vow


Denene Millner - 2005
    As they embark on their search to find their soul mates, they navigate the full-contact sport known as being a SSBFLA (successful, single, black, female in L.A.) and negotiate the shark-infested waters of making a name for themselves professionally in Hollywood.Can Trista, the hyper-driven celebrity agent, find the time to schedule a meaningful romance? Will Amaya, the sexy starlet, convince the married hip hop-label exec she has been seeing to leave his wife, or will the NBA star steal her heart in the final seconds? After undergoing a complete makeover, will Vivian, the jaded gossip columnist, win back the father of her child?As seductive as it is empowering, The Vow is a page-turner that will keep you cheering for these women as they discover that their desire to find a husband isn't as important as finding themselves.

We Take This Man


Candice Dow - 2008
    They are both excited when Dwight is offered a promotion at work, but the downside is that the job is located in Maryland. After much discussion, Tracey decides that she does not want to leave their new house. Dwight makes the decision to accept the position and return home on weekends. Alicia Dixon has spent her life hating and not trusting men after her father mistreated her mother, but she can't help but fall for the new guy in her company... Dwight. They both try to fight their attraction to one another, but it proves to be a losing battle-Alicia is everything that his southern wife is not. When Alicia ends up pregnant, Dwight decides to end things with Tracey, but the process proves not to be as easy as Dwight had hoped.

My Brother's Keeper


ReShonda Tate Billingsley - 2003
    After the loss of their mother at their father’s hand, Aja has kept a close watch over her siblings. The three siblings much find a way to recover from their family’s history, but it’s not clear how. Tired of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, Aja is finally ready for a change that she hopes could lead her down the path of recovery: find someone to love. Her best friend, Roxie, knows just what to do—she sets Aja up on a date with one of the most sought-after bachelors in town, handsome sportscaster Charles Clayton. Charles is everything Aja has ever dreamed of—sensitive, sexy, and charming. But "happily ever after" isn't that simple. While Aja has begun to heal from the loss of her parents, her sister and brother have not. Jada is lost in a world of silence with no way for Aja to reach her, and Eric's uncontrollable rage is wreaking havoc on his life. As Aja sees her brother heading down the same violent path that destroyed their family, she makes it her business to stop the cycle—even if it means putting her own life, and her own chance at love, on hold. My Brother's Keeper is a poignant novel about a resilient family learning that sometimes you have to forgive in order to find the strength to move on.

Chocolate Star


Sheila Copeland - 1997
    Then the way to fame was leading him toward a mistake that could send him straight to hell...She never looked back.Lies, drugs, too many men-- golden skinned singer Topaz Black would do anything to get a hit to the top of the charts, even walk away from her friends and family. But surrounded by greed and lust, the love the longed for seemed to be slipping away forever.He broke all the rules.Brought up in South Central L.A., movie producer Gunther Lawrence learned early how to get the wealth and women he wanted-- and to turn his back on his roots. Now, blinded by Hollywood's glitter, his illusions may shatter when he discovers who really controls his career.As their lives touch, ignite, and explode, three talented African-Americans pursue fame at any cost...and the price may be their happiness...or their lives..An alternate selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club

Red Light Special


Risque - 2008
    But when her husband’s thirst for high-priced sex leads them down an explosive path of passion, murder, and lies, she has to decide if her marriage is worth saving, and at what cost.Collyn Bazemore, a Manhattan madam, deals with an elite clientele, and they pay big for the best sex in the city. One of Collyn’s most important customers, the mayor, has planned an erotic extravaganza in the Hamptons, but when he sends one of his associates to seal the deal, Collyn grows suspicious of this replacement–and yet her attraction to him is undeniable. While her mind tells her no, her body aches to say yes, and just when he melts her in all the right places, it turns out he has a few secrets of his own.These two women are bound together by an erotically charged past, and when their carefully crafted facades start to crumble, neither will ever be the same.

Pretenses


Keith Lee Johnson - 2004
    They next day, another high-ranking member of Washington's elite circle is killed - and soon government officials are being picked off one by one. The FBI is clueless. Who is doing the killing? And, more importantly, why? Enter Phoenix Perry: a tough, smart, and savvy FBI Agent known to hold her own against even the most lethal of criminals. Phoenix is supposed to be working on a serial rapist case, but is hand-picked by the President to find the identity of the assassin. Soon Phoenix finds that the two cases may be related - and that the culprit knows her every move.

Eve


K'wan - 2006
    Orphaned as a small child, Eve quickly learned the art of the hustle, and by age seventeen she had spent two years in prison. But now Eve is eighteen, back on the streets of Harlem with her gang and up to one of her old tricks: strong-arm robbery. Despite her edge, she's got a soft spot for Felon, the up-and-coming street king.Eve's life takes a serious turn when the powerful DeNardi family, the city's biggest drug supplier, tries to tighten its hold on Harlem. And when Eve's best friend, Cassidy, is murdered in the crossfire, Eve seeks revenge—starting all the way at the top.