Book picks similar to
A Rich Man's Baby by Daaimah S. Poole
african-american
urban-fiction
fiction
paperback
Diva Diaries
Janine A. Morris - 2006
She's a successful marketing executive who still believes in sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
The Brightest Star in the Sky
Marian Keyes - 2009
. . In the top-floor flat lives music exec Katie. She spends her days fighting off has-been rock stars and wondering how much cheesecake you'd need to eat yourself to death. Below her, a pair of muscular Poles share with a streetwise cabbie named Lydia, who has a sharp tongue, an even sharper brain but some unexpected soft spots. On the first floor is Fionn - a gardener who prefers the company of parsnips to people. But he looks like a fairy-tale prince and when he's offered his own television show, he's suddenly thrust into the limelight. And at the bottom of the house live Matt and Maeve, who are Very Much In Love and who stave off despair by doing random acts of kindness. But a mysterious visitor has just landed at 66 Star Street, bringing love, friendship and heartbreak, and a new-found optimism. Old secrets are working their way to the surface and all their lives are about to change in the most unexpected of ways . . .
Shyt List
Reign - 2007
When Yvonna's ghetto fabulous would is rocked after the brutal murder of her high school sweetheart Bilal Santana, at the hands of her father, she learns a lot about the people around her. Behind her back they conceal a sultry secret involving her best friend and deceased boyfriend.Unable to move past her anger, which eventually causes her to get into a major car accident; she leaves D.C., fleeing only to Baltimore. There she remains nourishing the hate she feels inside.Four years later, angrier and crazier than ever, she decides to return home to one by one exact revenge on those who made what she affectionately refers to as her "Shyt List". From defecating on a gravesite, to murder, she reigns supreme at completing her mission of destroying their lives. That is until she reaches the last name on the list. With him her plans are difficult to carry out. Will the love she feels for him prevent her from following through with her plan? Or will old memories push her to go even further? In the end all will be revealed, and you'll be blown away!
Satin Nights
Karen E. Quinones Miller - 2006
. . Essence and Blackboard bestselling author Karen E. Quinones Miller returns with the follow-up to Satin Doll, her debut novel about four sassy women from Harlem. Puddin': Yeah, y'all know I'm gangsta wit' it. And that's why I don't give a hot damn about swindling these stupid wimps for whatever-be it a drink or their precious platinum credit cards. I may not have a college education like Gina and Tamika or a bougie job like Yvonne, but my sexy ass gets the job done.Yvonne: Let's face it: I'm too fine to be alone. I'm intelligent, gainfully employed-and did I mention how fine I am? Well, it's a lot harder to find a good man than you'd think. So why does everybody have a problem with me getting back with my ex? Please! He'd almost be perfect if he didn't still have a wife.Tamika: I guess I'm the most quiet out of all my girls. Marriage, motherhood, and med school will do that to a sista. And, hell, having a full-out drug war land in your home will certainly do the trick. It'll also keep you stressed, angry, and maybe even a little judgmental of your friends when they're sleeping with the enemy.Regina: Yeah, Little Joe ran the game twenty years ago. But it was that same game that helped me jump off my writing career. And after seeing him for the first time in years, I've got to at least talk to the man. Never mind that he looks better than ever and still has that same sexy swagger that I found irresistible. Or that he might not be the best example for my daughter...or that I'm still feeling my politician ex-hubby (just a little bit). Never mind all of that. Because talking never hurt anybody, right? Blending themes of friendship and street angst with tough, sexy, independent female characters, Satin Nights captures the edginess of urban grit and celebrates the strength of sista-hood.
My Daughter's Boyfriend
Cydney Rax - 2004
Now that Lauren is seventeen herself, Tracey is pleased to see that her daughter has taken her advice to heart: Lauren wants to wait instead of having sex with Aaron, a college student and her first real boyfriend. But Lauren’s decision causes a chain reaction that no one could have anticipated. In a few chance encounters, sparks fly between thirtysomething Tracey and twentysomething Aaron. Coming off yet another disappointing relationship with a cheating bachelor her own age, Tracey is surprised to find that her daughter’s boyfriend is mature and understanding beyond his years, and Aaron discovers that his girlfriend’s mom is smart, womanly, and, well, very sexy. Eventually, what begins as a harmless flirtation turns into something much, much hotter. And that’s when things really get complicated . . .Told in the alternating voices of the three lovers, My Daughter’s Boyfriend is the spicy tale of an impossibly tricky love triangle, full of sharp, lively observations about mothers and daughters, black men and women, and the truth about love and lust. Audacious and compelling, it’s the book everyone will be talking about.
Dirty Money
Ashley Antoinette - 2005
Consumed with her desire for revenge, she and her best friend Monica enter a life of drugs, fast money and betrayal - adopting the lifestyle that pushed them into the game in the first place. Hiding their true identities they quickly rise to the top of New Jersey's dope game. Using everyone who crosses their paths, nothing - not betrayal or addiction - will stop them from dispensing their street justice.
Afterburn
Zane - 2005
When Washington, D.C., chiropractor Yardley Brown goes to his local bank, it isn't only to make deposits into his account. He has long since accrued some interest in Rayne Waters, a bank employee who's too beautiful to be true -- and too beautiful to be single. At least that's what Yardley believes, which is why he has never approached her. Little does he know that Rayne is anything but taken. Not for want of trying, of course. But after barely surviving a dating disaster with her hairdresser's brother and then falling for a member of her church band who, it turns out, is celibate, she's on the verge of giving up. That is, until Yardley -- discouraged by his own slew of dead-end romances -- finally works up the courage to give her a try. The true craziness, however, is just beginning, thanks to a cast of characters who seem bent on botching the young couple's relationship. There's Rayne's erratic mother, who constantly boasts about being a "good whore"; Yardley's playboy buddies, always trolling for sex; and, worst of all, past lovers who make a habit of popping up and ruining things as only old flames (or previous mistakes) can. Weaving the carnal and the comical in true Zane fashion, Rayne and Yardley's struggle to find love in a world gone mad is a timeless talk about everything that can go wrong in the dating game -- and a few things that can go right.
Between Friends
Debbie Macomber - 2002
A story in which every woman will recognize herself...and her best friendJillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds become best friends in the turbulent O60s, but their circumstances and choices--and their mistakes--take them in opposite directions. Lesley stays in their hometown. She marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, never enough money, and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.But they always remain friends.Through the years and across the miles, Jill and Lesley confide everything to each other--every grief and joy. Because the quality of a friendship is the quality of a life.
Stately Pursuits
Katie Fforde - 1997
Hetty doesn't mind; at least she can be miserable in private. But 'private' is a relative term in a village which revolves around the big house. Particularly when you are expected to thwart Great Uncle Samuel's awful heir, and his nefarious plans for his inheritance.Pitchforked into the community's fight to save the manor, Hetty has no time to wallow. And once she has shared her troubles with one neighbour (Caroline: a very understanding shoulder, despite her glamorous appearance and impossibly long legs), and cast an appreciative eye over another (Peter: equally long-legged, but offering rather more practical help), she wonders if her heart is irretrievably broken after all...
Rush Home Road
Lori Lansens - 2002
Although Sharla is not the angelic child Addy Shadd had pictured when she agreed to look after her, the two soon forge a deep bond. To Addy's surprise, Sharla's presence brings back memories of her own childhood in Rusholme, a town settled by fugitive slaves in the mid-1800s. She reminisces about her family, her first love, and the painful experience that drove her away from home. Brilliantly structured -- and achingly lyrical, this is a story about the redeeming power of love and memory, and about two unlikely people who transform each other's lives forever.
A Natural Woman
Lori Johnson - 2009
From the fresh new talent behind "After the Dance" comes a sparkling novel with charm, wit, and a side of Southern hospitality.
Breaking All My Rules
Trice Hickman - 2013
But despite her good fortune, she's still missing someone special to share her life with—until a chance encounter changes everything... Handsome, rugged Jerome Kimbrough is hard to miss among the fellow citizens serving jury duty with Erica. And as the two get know each other over the course of a two week trial, their relationship soon extends beyond the courtroom and into a full-on passionate romance. Although they come from opposite worlds—Jerome is a working class, city sanitation employee—they’re both hard working dreamers with big ambitions. Yet while their differences aren't an issue for them, their friends, family—and Erica's ex-fiancé—disagree. As all involved are forced to confront their hidden stereotypes, can Erica and Jerome endure the challenges in store for them—including a startling secret from their pasts?...
I Still Dream About You
Fannie Flagg - 2010
To others, Maggie’s life seems practically perfect—she’s lovely, charming, and a successful real estate agent at Red Mountain Realty. Still, Maggie can’t help but wonder how she wound up in her present condition. She had been on her hopeful way to becoming Miss America and realizing her childhood dream of someday living in one of the elegant old homes on top of Red Mountain, with the adoring husband and the 2.5 children, but then something unexpected happened and changed everything.Maggie graduated at the top of her class at charm school, can fold a napkin in more than forty-eight different ways, and can enter and exit a car gracefully, but all the finesse in the world cannot help her now. Since the legendary real estate dynamo Hazel Whisenknott, beloved founder of Red Mountain Realty, died five years ago, business has gone from bad to worse—and the future isn’t looking much better. But just when things seem completely hopeless, Maggie suddenly comes up with the perfect plan to solve it all.As Maggie prepares to put her plan into action, we meet the cast of high-spirited characters around her. To Brenda Peoples, Maggie’s best friend and real estate partner, Maggie’s life seems easy as pie. Slender Maggie doesn’t have to worry about her figure, or about her Weight Watchers sponsor catching her at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. And Ethel Clipp, Red Mountain’s ancient and grumpy office manager with the bright purple hair, thinks the world of Maggie but has absolutely nothing nice to say about their rival Babs “The Beast of Birmingham” Bingington, the unscrupulous estate agent who hates Maggie and is determined to put her out of business.Maggie has heartbreaking secrets in her past, but through a strange turn of events, she soon discovers, quite by accident, that everybody, it seems—dead or alive—has at least one little secret.I Still Dream About You is a wonderful novel that is equal parts Southern charm, murder mystery, and that perfect combination of comedy and old-fashioned wisdom that can be served up only by America’s own remarkable Fannie Flagg.
If I Could Turn Back Time
Beth Harbison - 2015
She made her fortune and now she hob nobs with the very rich and occasionally the semi-famous, and she enjoys luxuries she only dreamed of as a middle-class kid growing up in Potomac, Maryland. But despite it all, she can't ignore the fact that she isn't necessarily happy. In fact, lately Ramie has begun to feel more than a little empty.On a boat with friends off the Florida coast, she tries to fight her feelings of discontent with steel will and hard liquor. No one even notices as she gets up and goes to the diving board and dives off...Suddenly Ramie is waking up, straining to understand a voice calling in the distance...It's her mother: "Wake up! You're going to be late for school again. I'm not writing a note this time..."Ramie finds herself back on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, with a second chance to see the people she's lost and change the choices she regrets. How did she get back here? Has she gone off the deep end? Is she really back in time? Above all, she'll have to answer the question that no one else can: What it is that she really wants from the past, and for her future?
Beautiful Day
Elin Hilderbrand - 2013
Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride s late mother, who left behind the notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter s future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event but in reality, things are far from perfect. While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in "Beautiful Day" into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honor our commitments. "