Book picks similar to
Guilty Pleasures by Donna Hill


aa-fiction
african-american
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Knowing


Rosalyn McMillan - 1996
    The higher she climbs, however, the more her jealous, controlling husband tries to pull her back down. Desperate to hold onto the things she loves, yet driven to achieve more, Ginger must make choices that are both extraordinary difficult--and ultimately freeing.

Getting to the Good Part


Lolita Files - 1999
    Misty's work life is thriving & she has found Mr. Right at last. Although Reesy's trying to be happy for her friend, she is troubled by this intrusion into the one friendship that has always come first for both women. Nonetheless, Reesy's dreams of a dance career have become reality & she is also seeing a man who might be a keeper. Unfortunately, her self-destructive tendencies threaten to destroy her, until true love & friendship save the day.

Rocking the Babies


Linda Raymond - 1994
    Martha Howard is prim, educated, and middle class. She's had many advantages in life, but she's stuck in the past, ruminating about the death of her infant son. Nettie Lee Jones is fat, poor, and caustically outspoken. She's raised five children and two grandchildren, including her daughter Yolanda, who's addicted to crack and who, as the novel opens, has just given birth to, then abandoned, her premature daughter. Although these women at first view each other with suspicion and contempt, they soon discover a profound mutual need. What begins as animosity ends in understanding.

Other Men's Wives


Freddie Lee Johnson III - 2005
    The good life wasn't handed to him on a silver platter, though. Growing up in the Cleveland ghetto, his father was shot by a drug addict, he worked the streets to help his sister through college, and he made his fair share of enemies along the way.Yet not even his tough upbringing prepared him for the mysterious DVD that showed up on his doorstep, its contents revealing an explicit sexual encounter between his wife and another man, whose face was purposely blurred. Sierra's betrayal is heart wrenching, and Denmark's on the warpath to find out the identity of the man behind it. One thing's sure: It's someone close to him.Suddenly everyone is suspect, especially his two best buddies, and he'll stop at nothing to exact his revenge-even if it means sleeping with their wives to get it. But when Denmark takes justice into his own hands, he discovers a truth even more shocking than his wife's infidelity. . . .In this gritty revenge tale, Freddie Lee Johnson III takes us into the mind of a man consumed with grief and rage. Full of jump-off-the-page characters and fast-paced drama, Other Men's Wives is an explosive ride fueled by love, lust, and deceit.

Do You Take This Woman?


R.M. Johnson - 2006
    After Pete's mother abandoned him, Wayne's family took him in and treated him as their own son. Through adolescence, college, medical school, and in their shared orthopedics practice, Pete and Wayne have lived their entire lives as best friends -- as brothers. And as brothers, they have always been rivals when it came to women.The fateful night when Carla walks into the bar where Pete and Wayne are having drinks brings Wayne his customary, more fortunate, luck with the ladies. Even though Pete spotted her first, it is Wayne who seals the deal, and soon enough, Wayne and Carla are engaged. But Wayne's need for one last conquest tempts him into bed with another woman, and the ensuing guilt leads him to confide in his best friend -- a mistake that will haunt the three of them forever.Jealous of his friend's relationship, Pete tells Carla of Wayne's infidelity and provides more than just a friendly shoulder to cry on. As a result, Carla leaves Wayne and further breaks his heart by accepting Pete's marriage proposal only one year later.Just when old friends seem to be finally settling down with their choices, old feelings surreptitiously sneak to the surface, and a rift between husband and wife leads Pete astray and drives Carla into the most familiar arms she can find. In the ensuing days, tensions erupt, and relationships, already tenuous, begin to break down. Finally, guilt, lust, and redemption come together in a heartbreaking and tragic love triangle, and Pete, Wayne, and Carla are forced to face the consequences of decisions that may end up being their last."Do You Take This Woman?" is a sexy blend of friendship and romance that will take you on a startlingly real and emotional roller-coaster ride of betrayal, sex, lies, and, ultimately, love.

Please Please Please


Renee Swindle - 1999
    Always has. Always will. After all, she's been spoiled rotten ever since she witnessed her mother's death as a child, and she's made the most of it-especially with her dad. So when her oldest friend, Deborah, begins to date a fine-looking, fine-acting man named Darren-Babysister doesn't think twice: she wants Darren for herself. And what Babysister wants...There are just a few little problems with their secret love affair. Babysister's devoted boyfriend is one. And Darren's lingering doubts about dumping Deborah--light-skinned, church-going, beautiful--is another. But Babysister won't let go, even after Darren crawls back to Deborah--and marries her. Following her love-crazed heart, Babysister jeopardizes friendship, family, and her own self-esteem, until a little dose of reality shows her how much she's been missing all along.

Sweet Georgia Brown


Cheryl Robinson - 2008
     After eleven years of marriage, Georgia Brown is fed up with her husband, Marvin, a popular radio personality. It's not just because she suspects he's having an affair, or because she's suddenly expected to raise his thirteen-year-old daughter, Chloe-whom she never even knew existed. It's because of the comments he makes about her weight, their marriage, and their sex life...on national radio! Now, to save their marriage, Marvin invites Georgia to the station for an on-air rebuttal, having no idea it will launch her career. Or that what began as a battle at home will now be a blistering war for all to hear....

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

Three Sides To Every Story (In Laws and Play Cousins)


Robyn Gant - 2011
    She shut down and sold the successful movie production company they ran together and fled the country, refusing to hear his excuses. Now she is in hiding, but is she hiding something as well? Her best friend Tracie has undergone a dramatic transformation in order to elude Angelo Gonsales, head of the Internet Crime Division of the FBI. He has discovered her identity, and tracked her location. Will she be convicted of her alleged crimes? "In-Laws and Play Cousins: Three Sides to Every Story," reunites four childhood friends, brings closure to the unfortunate circumstances and renders bittersweet justice for the true villains.

The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa


Kayla Perrin - 2001
    Now, ten years later, they seem to have it all. Jessica is in the limelight, a TV personality whose star is on the rise. Ellie is an optimist, happily engaged in the quest for love. Shereen is a stunning and powerful executive, and Yolanda, the strong-willed leader of the group, has defied her roots to capture her vision of the American dream. But years before, these four women banded together to keep a devastating secret-and now, ten years later, someone will do anything to see the secret brought to light. None of them anticipated the consequences of keeping the secret-and now, someone is trying to shatter all their lives. Intense, powerful, page-turning, and emotional, The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa will keep you guessing and will make you think about the depths of friendship, the price of loyalty, and the bonds of sisterhood.

Who Does She Think She Is?


Benilde Little - 2005
    At twenty-six she is still the "baby girl," the indulged only child of Camille and the only grandchild of Geneva. As the wedding draws closer, the Branch family is turned upside-down -- a $7,000 designer wedding dress? A fiance who's a "white boy"? But that turmoil is nothing compared to what happens when Aisha falls hard for another man.All the excitement stirs up old feelings in the Branch women, and they reflect separately on their own lives and relationships, and the things they wish had turned out differently. Geneva, a seventy-year-old powerhouse who always strove for "Negro respectability," has never approved of Camille's decisions -- single motherhood, a career in social work, dreadlocks. Aisha, the light of Camille and Geneva's lives, is a bright, beautiful, impulsive woman who is used to getting what she wants, even if she has to fight for it. Her real father's absence still looms large in her imagination, but her stepfather, who came into her life early on, has always treated her like a princess. Now Aisha has to choose between marrying her staggeringly wealthy fiance and pursuing an elusive older man. For her part, Camille grapples with watching her adored daughter live the kind of life she didn't dare to dream of, and is just a little bit resentful of Aisha's ignorance of how hard Camille worked to make it possible. As the drama of Aisha's love life unfolds, the three women take turns narrating their own stories inLittle's most expansive novel yet.Stylish and smart, "Who Does She Think She Is?" tackles difficult questions about close family ties -- relationships characterized by abiding love but often fraught with regret and resentment. With her signature dry wit, quietly resonant insight and sharp yet compassionate eye, Little deftly explores one family's expectations and anxieties against the frenzied backdrop of wedding planning. The result is a wise, funny and beautiful book about three generations of irrepressible women.

Back on Top


Angela Winters - 2011
    . .Sherise, Billie, and Erica will do anything to penetrate the capital's shimmering social circle of movers and shakers, even if it means engaging in some risky business. Sherise's dangerous game with a ruthless powerbroker is putting her on the White House fast track--and derailing her marriage. . . High-powered lawyer Billie will use any weapon to battle her sexy ex-husband between the sheets so she can move on after heartbreak. . . Erica's prestigious new promotion at the Pentagon means bad news for her former-hustler boyfriend that may wreck her dreams for good. . . And when drama even these divas never saw coming turns explosive, they'll have to fight fire with fire, and prove their loyalty to each other--because in D.C. you always need someone to have your back. . . Praise for Angela Winters "Entertaining. . .the pacing is fast and the drama (is) unrelenting." --Publishers Weekly on Never Enough "A Dynasty-esque mix of money, power, sex, and crime." --Washingtonian.com on View Park

In the Company of My Sistahs


Angie Daniels - 2006
    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**

Flyy Girl


Omar Tyree - 1993
     Tracy Ellison, a young knockout with tall hair and attitude, is living life as fast as she can. Motivated by the material world, she and her friends love and leave the young men who will do anything to get next to them. It's only when the world of gratuitous sex threatens heartbreak that Tracy begins to examine her life, her goals, and her sexuality.

Platinum


Aliya S. King - 2010
    Alex has been interviewing celebrities and hangers-on long enough to know all that glitters isn’t gold, so she’s determined to get the real scoop. Still, it’s not going to be easy to get past the wives’ gilded cages... Beth Saddlebrook, wife of aging rapper Z. They have three beautiful boys and a seemingly endless supply of cash. But Beth spends her days trying to keep Z off drugs and fielding calls from women hollering she’s just a “small-town white bitch” and claiming to be carrying Z’s baby. Only one person understands what she’s going through... Kipenzi Hill, multiplatinum-selling R&B artist and Beth’s best friend. Her relationship with rap star and record label president Jake is an open secret in the industry. She knows Jake loves her, but he’d rather break up than publicly acknowledge it. Now she has learned that the newest (and much younger) R&B sensation Bunny has been signed to Jake’s label. Josephine Bennett, wife to Jamaican singer and Überproducer Ras Bennett. Josephine doesn’t just want to spend her husband’s money, she wants to contribute. Her fashion company is finally starting to get media attention when her husband admits to something she’s suspected all along — he’s fallen in love with another woman. Cleopatra Wright, every man’s dream girl, a video vixen with a story to tell and scores to settle. Cleo’s got that thing no one can put a finger on and no man (or woman) can resist. Some would call her evil or misguided or both, but Cleo always moves with a purpose and she’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants...Alex realizes she may have more in common with these women than she’d like. What if this is a glimpse of how her life will be if Birdie finally gets signed to a major label? Stuck between her loyalty to this newfound sisterhood and her obligation to write the truth, Alex is forced to rethink everything she knows about work, friendship, and love.