Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.Doris’s criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn’t contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris’s fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: “It beat being a teacher or a maid.” A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?—Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.Diamond Doris features 20-30 color photographs.

    On his first night in his new home, Warren spies two figures outside in the grass. When he screws up the nerve to confront them, they disappear. The next day he encounters ghosts of a different kind: In the face of a teenage girl he meets at a comics convention he sees the mingled features of his white father and his black mother, both now dead. The girl, Tal, is his daughter, and she’s been raised to think she’s white. Spinning from these revelations, Warren sets off to remake his life with a reluctant daughter he’s never known, in a haunted house with a history he knows too well. In their search for a new life, he and Tal struggle with ghosts, fall in with a utopian mixed-race cult, and ignite a riot on Loving Day, the unsung holiday for interracial lovers.A frequently hilarious, surprisingly moving story about blacks and whites, fathers and daughters, the living and the dead, Loving Day celebrates the wonders of opposites bound in love.

    The groundskeeper is part of the household’s all-black staff, along with “Miss Mamie,” the talented cook, pretty new maid Jennie Williams, and three young kitchen apprentices—the latest orphan boys Mr. Barclay has taken in to "civilize" boys like August.But the Barclays fortunes have fallen, and their money is almost gone. When a prospective business associate proposes selling Miss Mamie’s delicious rib sauce to local markets under the brand name “The Rib King”—using a caricature of a wildly grinning August wearing a jewel-encrusted crown on the label—Mr. Barclay, desperate for cash, agrees. Yet neither Miss Mamie nor August will see a dime. Humiliated, August grows increasingly distraught, his anger building to a rage that explodes in shocking tragedy. Elegantly written and exhaustively researched, The Rib King is an unsparing examination of America’s fascination with black iconography and exploitation that redefines African American stereotypes in literature. In this powerful, disturbing, and timely novel, Ladee Hubbard reveals who people actually are, and most importantly, who and what they are not.

    Their world is contained within the little house they share. The four of them are devoted to Mother Roberta and to their quiet, purposeful life.But when the parish goes broke, the sisters are forced to move. They land in Woonsocket, a former mill town now dotted with wind turbines. They head up a halfway house, where they live alongside castoffs like the jawless Tim Gary and the headstrong Lawnmower Jill. Agatha is forced to venture out into the world alone, to teach math at a local all-girls high school, where for the first time in years she will have to reckon with what she sees and feels all on her own. Who will she be if she isn't with her sisters? These women, the church, have been her home--or has she just been hiding?Disarming, delightfully deadpan, and full of searching, Claire Luchette's Agatha of Little Neon offers a view into the lives of women and the choices they make. It is a novel about female friendship and devotion, the roles made available to us, and how we become ourselves.

    Years later, Faith is a successful literary agent. Her twin, addled by drugs and prostitution, struggles through life on the Harlem streets. When Hope seems to have set her sights on Faith's man, the tender bonds of sisterhood are cruelly tested. Will the truth about their darkest hour finally be revealed? I'm Telling "deftly shares the pain and desperation of a family shaken to the core" (Booklist). For anyone who has ever chosen between speaking up and backing down, this impassioned novel lights the way toward love and redemption.

    Growing up in a notorious South Augusta neighborhood called Barton Village, infested with goons and heavy weight drug dealers. Summer made it her business to get in where she fitted, using her well-shaped body and looks to get her where she wanted to be. Regardless if it was male or female, Summer was taking all invitations and wasn't turning nothing down but her collar.Highly motivated by the streets and the material life that came with it, Summer becomes a mother of twins at sixteen and a mother of four before she's twenty. Soon tragedy strikes for Summer and she looses her first real love along with her dear brother and furthermore she looses her mind. That's if you let the public tell it.As she picks up the ball where her brother and baby daddy fumble she begins to evolve into one of the most treacherous women that the city of Augusta would see. After being released from a women federal prison. Summer is back and she feels that the world owes her. With a new mind frame and ambition out the roof, Summer is heartless and ruthless towards any and everyone. The Pawns are set in place but when she make one wrong move all hell breaks loose.Crazy Summer is a captivating tale that's written from the imagination of Cole Hart with strong dialect and believable characters that'll keep you on your toes from the first page to the last one.

    However, once he was released, there was no time to chill and enjoy the riches that his brothers had acquired at his left and right hand at the king’s throne of the Savage empire. No sooner than City was released, complete mayhem ensued. His brother, Shon, and his greed causes the Savage empire to be in debt with the Columbian cartel of over a million dollars. Yet, being the man that City is, he quickly handles that… just to be thrown in the middle of more mayhem when one of his family members fall victim to the streets. Now, City and his left and right-hand men, Money and Shon, are intent on finding out who had the audacity to come against the Savage family, and they are ready to make the streets of Chicago bleed in repentance of taking one of their own. In the meantime, Bliss is dealing with choosing to put on the engagement ring that Money gave her during his beautiful, yet awkward, proposal. Akira finally has the man that she has yearned for for ten long years. However, now that she has City, she isn’t ready to endure the hurt that comes along with being the connect’s woman. Zoe spent some time back and forth between brothers Shon and Money, but now that her scandalous secret has been revealed, she has been outcast from the family. Yet, she is banking on the DNA test results proving that the father of the baby that she is pregnant with is Money so that she can keep the man that she feels Bliss has taken from her and maintain the lavish lifestyle that he has been providing her with. Will Bliss say yes, or is she finally tired of Money’s inability to choose her? Who is the father of Zoe’s baby? When the Savage family endures yet another family tragedy, will Akira decide that she isn’t willing to continue to mourn the loss of her loved ones? Find out the answers to questions and more in this third installment of the dramatic, urban, romantic tale of the irresistible Savage brothers!

    This funny, touching, and surprising novel follows Bess on her cross-country odyssey to learn about her oft-wed fiancé from the eight ex-spouses who came before.Stolls, an acclaimed author of Young Adult novels and winner of the Parents’ Choice Gold Award brilliantly explores the very grown-up world of male-female relationships and family dynamics in the delightful, unforgettable new masterwork of contemporary women’s fiction.

    But when an employer stiffs her, and her checks bounce, she goes on the lam, hiding out as a maid for a wealthy family at their summer home. That plan goes awry when there’s a murder and Blanche becomes the prime suspect. So she’s forced to use her savvy, her sharp wit, and her old-girl network of domestic workers to discover the truth and save her own skin. Along the way, she lays bare the quirks of southern society with humor, irony, and a biting commentary that makes her one of the most memorable and original characters ever to appear in mystery fiction.

    Supreme Court.Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together--excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn--the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases--has slipped into a coma, Avery's life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court--a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm's way in order to find the truth. While Justice Sleeps is a cunningly crafted, sophisticated novel, layered with myriad twists and a vibrant cast of characters. Drawing on her astute inside knowledge of the court and political landscape, Stacey Abrams shows herself to be not only a force for good in politics and voter fairness but also a major new talent in suspense fiction.

    Now nearly twenty years later they've both begun to ask themselves if that long-ago romance was the enduring love that they've been searching for.

    But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend...After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other... They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

    Everyone who is anyone in Atlanta knows the Galleria family and their influence in Atlanta. Paul has three daughters – Jade, Kharisma & Happy Galleria. This is Happy’s story. Twenty-nine-year-old Happy Galleria is unhappy with the way her life is going. Her life plans were to be married, excelling in her career, and pregnant with her first child. However, her boyfriend, Phil, has other plans. Trying to make partner at his law firm, his plans don’t include a family, marriage or setting roots anytime soon. Happy has always been good with remaining emotionless, but will her emotions start to show once Phil ignores her pleas for wanting more in their relationship? While rushing to her gate for her birthday trip to Bora Bora that her sister surprised her with, Happy bumps into a man – literally. Peeved that the man has delayed her from making her flight, she yells, curses and continues to her gate. That man is her pilot. Colt Wright is a pilot who has worked himself from the ground up and has just moved his family from New York to Atlanta to work with a top airline. A single father to a ten-year-old girl, and trying to keep his eye on his aging mother, Colt Wright doesn’t have time for small talk. After losing his child’s mother to cancer, he wants more than casual talk or one night stands. He wants a woman – the Wright woman. These two cross paths and nothing may remain the same. Happy has baggage, but Colt is used to dealing with baggage, being a pilot and all. Will Happy remain Emotionless?

    Every time clarity seems to be within reach, something shifts, and in a single moment, focus is lost. Once again, they’re in limbo. Between them, there is only one secret, with the power to permanently alter their relationship. For good or bad, neither of them knows – nor are they willing to take that risk. Through the pain of past tragedies and the pressure of current dramas, they always find solace in each other’s arms. Inescapably connected by the interminable bond of friendship, Tariq and Kora navigate family, life, and love, searching for separate answers to a problem that has only has one, unavoidable solution.

    In The Connect’s Wife 7 the tables have been turned and Chanel Cavette is now sitting at the highest throne in the Underworld…or so she thinks. Chanel Cavette learns to eat, sleep and breathe for The Cartel but is her position even real or is she being used as a decoy? Chanel digs a hole all on her own and when her perfect life comes crumbling down there is no one to point the finger at other than herself. Farren Knight is living life in London, her children are finally healed mentally from losing so many of their loved ones in one period of time. Farren isn’t interested in the business dealings of The Cartel, after not being able to ignore the warning signs for her sister’s sake she moves back to the States. Farren is forced to pull out the “all-black” once again to ensure her familly’s safety and freedom. But she doesn’t have too, Kool, her lifetime lover is basically begging to join The Cartel. After losing too many of her loved ones she refuses to allow him access to what she calls “the dark side” Farren Knight, the woman of such high caliber, style, class and grace. The epitome of a black woman, the woman that has literally stood tall in every situation she found herself Farren continues to reign supreme. In The Connect’s Wife 7 the real meaning of family is exploited and Farren Knight is compelled to show her little sister a thing or two about loyalty and what being a woman of your word truly means. The Connect’s Wife saga is finally coming to an end in this explosive finale.