Too much love, too much attention, and had too many big dreams.   It was how she ended up abandoning her two daughters, Connie and Reesy to chase after a man and the promise of a dream life.   But Charlotte never anticipated how her world would be irrevocably changed.  Now, twenty-seven years later, her whole world shifts yet again with a letter from one of her daughters.  And the past is about to bust wide open.   Reesy has always been obsessed with something.  Obsessed with finding her birth mother. Obsessed with her sister’s life. Obsessed with her own adopted daughter never finding out that Reesy is really her aunt.  With a neglected husband, who is unknowingly drifting further and further away, a sister who is trying to escape her well-meaning clutches, and a daughter becoming more and more curious about her true parentage, finding the mother she always dreamed about seems to be an answered prayer to Reesy.  That is until Reesy is brought crashing back to earth to find that her perfect life is in tattered pieces.Connie has always expected too little. Too little from the man she’s been living with for years. Too little from her modest jewelry business.  And too little from her relationships, or lack thereof, with her daughter, mother and sister. And too little from herself.  Until she discovers she is pregnant again and decides that this time she is keeping her baby, sending her life and her relationship into a tailspin.  And rediscovering the mother who left them behind is the last thing she wants.  Thrown back together again, in a maelstrom of shocking truths, Charlotte, Reesy and Connie will discover on their journey to forgiveness and redemption that you just might have to sin first in order to be saved.

    Will she get her man or destroy herself and everyone else in the process?

    She desperately needs something or someone to believe in. She plans her future around Marquise, the father of her toddler daughter. Devastatingly sexy, Marquise is currently in jail on drug charges. Terelle, however, is living for his imminent return and dreaming of the day they can start building a life together as a real family.A cunning seductress, Kai Montgomery is the bi-racial adopted daughter of a wealthy Caucasian couple. Rich, beautiful, and well-bred, Kai is Terelle's polar opposite. After being dumped by an affluent and very married physician, Kai is without a sex partner. When one of numerous trysts results in the best sex of her life, she becomes obsessed and is quickly set on a collision course destined to destroy many lives.

     A successful career. A beautiful wife and children...and his pick of the sexiest women in town. It seems Tarron has the best of both worlds as he manages to indulge in wild nights out with his lover and quiet nights at home with his family. But the party is about to end...When Tarron's cheating ways are revealed, his cool-headed wife, Secret, handles it like a pro. That's partly because, true to her name, Secret is hiding some bad behavior of her own. And now, as Secret starts to really live out her own fantasies, neither she nor Tarron may be ready for the explosive consequences... "A fascinating debut novel... There are so many exciting twists and turns to this story that you'll be begging for more once you read the very last page." --Urban-Reviews.com

    But Zoe feels helpless in the grip of an overpowering addiction...to sex. Finding a compassionate woman therapist to help her, Zoe finally summons the courage to tell her torrid story, a tale of guilt and desire as shocking as it is compelling. From the sensitive artist with whom she spends stolen hours on rumpled sheets to the rough and violent man who draws her toward destruction, Zoe is a woman desperately searching for fulfilment -- and something darker, deeper, and perhaps deadly. As her life spins out of control and her sexual escapades carry her toward a dangerous choice, Zoe is racing against time to uncover the source of her "fatal attraction" -- as chilling secrets tumble forth from the recesses of a woman's mind, and perilous temptations lead toward a climax that can threaten her sanity, her marriage...and her life.

    The novel begins as ?The Great War? is coming to an end. As Robert Parker?s body is lowered into the grave, Herman Camm introduces himself to the mourning family. He is a beady-eyed, small-framed, well-dressed man with a mysterious stare?and he is about to drastically change the lives of three women: Mae Lou Parker; her daughter, Carrie; and Pearl Brown. On Christmas Eve in Jefferson County, Virginia, trouble arrives when Carrie reveals a disturbing secret that will haunt and change their lives forever. Mae Lou is fed up with Herman spending time with other women and she goes to confront him. Everybody wants a part of him, including Willie; however, the tables are slightly turned when Willie ends up with a gun pointing directly at him. All of the stories converge when Herman is found dead from a shotgun wound. There are many people Herman has offended. And all three women are suspects in his murder. An investigation is launched. But no one really cares, including the police. Blackberry Days of Summer is a brilliantly crafted story of family secrets, complexity and the courage of forgiveness.

    from Middle English "wenchel," 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat is particularly nice in the summer when the Southern humidity is too much to bear. The main building, with its luxurious finishes, is loftier than the white cottages that flank it, but then again, the smaller structures are better positioned to catch any breeze that may come off the pond. And they provide more privacy, which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret.Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at Tawawa House. They have become friends over the years as they reunite and share developments in their own lives and on their respective plantations. They don't bother too much with questions of freedom, though the resort is situated in free territory–but when truth-telling Mawu comes to the resort and starts talking of running away, things change.To run is to leave behind everything these women value most–friends and families still down South–and for some it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds that bind them to their masters. When a fire on the resort sets off a string of tragedies, the women of Tawawa House soon learn that triumph and dehumanization are inseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances–all while they are bearing witness to the end of an era.An engaging, page-turning, and wholly original novel, Wench explores, with an unflinching eye, the moral complexities of slavery.

    Both are gainfully employed, Marcus as a detective for Chicago's Finest, and Monet as a nurse in the neonatal unit of an inner city hospital. They are faithful members of Reverend Ruth Wilcox's church, The Temple. The only thing missing from their life is a child. Doctors have been unable to explain the reason for Monet's inability to conceive, which she calls the Sarah Syndrome. Then the unthinkable occurs. Monet is brutally assaulted. Months later, she learns the news she has been longing to hear her entire married life: she's having a baby. Monet is thrilled, but Marcus is appalled by the news, and orders his wife to terminate the pregnancy. Monet refuses, and a cold war of monumental proportions breaks out in the Caldwell household. In the face of great adversity, will Monet's faith persevere?

    Randall is rich, handsome, and charming -- the true-to-life dream lover of these smart, independent women who all find themselves passionately involved with him during the same seven-month period.There's Medora Jackson, an artist who has loved Randall since college and is now desperately trying to cut him loose. But turning Randall Hollis out of her life will end up being far more difficult than she thinks. There's Ana Reese-Mitchell, a wealthy widow and art collector who is haunted by the death of her best friend and the specter of her cruel late husband. She hopes Randall Hollis will be her second chance at love. And there's ambitious Taylor Benedict, a graduate student in art history who is coming to terms with her parents' divorce and problems from her childhood that she can't chase away. She's sure that Randall Hollis will be the first rung on her ladder to success.Randall Hollis is a man for all seasons, representing a different fantasy for each of the women who love him. As the novel unfolds, each woman will discover more about herself than she bargained for. And each, along with the errant Randall himself, will finally know the true meaning of love and the peace that comes with forgiveness.

    She flees Brooklyn to start over in an upscale suburb, living among the pampered and polished women she's always envied. But beyond the mansions and manicured lawns lies a world she never would have thought possible....Sybil's exclusive catering business disguises her lucrative sideline venture: she's Delectable, a dominatrix who entertains at bachelor parties. Karla lives on a multimillion-dollar estate, and she and her husband enjoy an open marriage...but her need for male attention is starting to get dangerously out of control.And as Adina is drawn into the sizzling reality beyond her friends' perfect facades, she's also dealing with a new man, who's blissfully unaware of her not-so-innocent past. Now, each woman is about to discover that every passion has a price...and that some secrets are simply impossible to keep hidden.www.RochelleAlers.org

    I made you a girl. But that ain’t what you was supposed to be. So, from now on, you gon’ be a boy. It’ll be a little strange at first, but you’ll get used to it, and this’ll be over after while.”      From this point forward, his life becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events. Meanwhile, the Peace family is forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender, sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment.

    So when she agrees to accompany her best friend Renee to a Southside ball game, her only concern is keeping her cool around the peeps. She's not there to ogle men like Renee, but the moment Jewel lays eyes on Roman Montgomery, she begins to wonder just what she's been missing. When it comes to men, Jewel's heard it all before, but suddenly it seems like Rome's working from a whole new script. . .Renee Nightingale loves to fall in love. Right now, she's got her sights set on landing a rock from her current main squeeze, Gregory. She's not getting any younger, and she sure isn't going to reach thirty still single. And to ensure no one plays her, she's always got a game going on. So when temptation comes calling in the form of a fine, young man with a chiseled physique, she can't resist--and why should she? What Gregory doesn't know, can't hurt them--or so she thinks. . .

    BJ, a trademark McMillan heroine, already has her hands full dealing with her other adult children, two opinionated sisters, an ill husband, and her own postponed dreams—all while holding down a job delivering room service at a hotel. Her son Dexter is about to be paroled from prison; Quentin, the family success, can’t be bothered to lend a hand; and taking care of two lively grandsons is the last thing BJ thinks she needs. The drama unfolds through the perspectives of a rotating cast of characters, pitch-perfect, each playing a part, and full of surprises.Who Asked You? casts an intimate look at the burdens and blessings of family and speaks to trusting your own judgment even when others don’t agree. McMillan’s signature voice and unforgettable characters bring universal issues to brilliant, vivid life

    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.

    They are women whose lives begin in slavery, who weather the Civil War, and who grapple with contradictions of emancipation, Jim Crow, and the pre-Civil Rights South. As she peels back layers of racial and cultural attitudes, Tademy paints a remarkable picture of rural Louisiana and the resilient spirit of one unforgettable family.There is Elisabeth, who bears both a proud legacy and the yoke of bondage... her youngest daughter, Suzette, who is the first to discover the promise-and heartbreak-of freedom... Suzette's strong-willed daughter Philomene, who uses a determination born of tragedy to reunite her family and gain unheard-of economic independence... and Emily, Philomene's spirited daughter, who fights to secure her children's just due and preserve their dignity and future.Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Cane River presents a slice of American history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail.