Book picks similar to
The Small Blades Hurt by Erica Dawson


poetry
college
college-books
african-american

Saved by A Billionaire


Miss J. - 2021
    

The King Cartel: Love & War


Frank Gresham - 2014
    DAMAR KING, the heir to the throne, is a young, brash leader who is intent on solving the riddle of his brother's murder and taking the organization to new heights. And whoever opposes him will be eliminated with no regard as he searches for the enemy from within his own crew.When the hidden opposition becomes strong, Damar becomes stronger, and the gunplay becomes fierce. However, the treachery that surrounds him is just as lethal as Damar's gun.To avoid the snakes that slither in his garden, Damar learns he must use brain over brawn as loyalties are forged and broken to remain on top.Will Damar learn that lesson in time? Or will his enemies bring him down to his knees? Will the burgeoning love that sprouts amiss all of the bloodshed become Damar's strength or his ultimate weakness? The only thing that's certain is that nothing is sacred in Love and War, and that Damar will go to any means to protect THE KING CARTEL.

Ballad Of A Bad Bitch 2


Ms. Bam - 2013
    Mia – All any kid ever wants is for their parents to love them. True... I made mistakes, but how could I not? No one but me knows what it was like growing up in a home with Terri. Yeah she paid the bills, fed and clothed me but she never loved me. The man she moved in got all my mother’s love, time, and affection. So as a kid, when you don't get the love you feel you deserve at home... You'll try and get that feeling from anyone. I was young. I made mistakes, I was also taken advantage of. I just hope I don't have to pay for those mistakes for the rest of my life and lose the only people that really love me in the process.Terri- Kids don't appreciate shit nowadays. I worked my fingers to the bone to give that child of mine everything I could. I gave Mia anything a child could want! It's not like she was some starving child living in the projects. So what I moved a man in! Didn't I deserve to have a life? Yeah, Quinton's a little rough around the edges and he's young, but hell I like a young buck! If I'm not happy... no one is going to be. Least of all my bitch of a daughter Mia, and Quinton; the man who I've given up everything for.Quinton- I almost lost the woman I loved messin' around with Terri's crazy ass, but she came back like I knew she would. Who wouldn't wanna have Quinton Jones as their man? Hell you see I got her mama going crazy! I don't give a damn what anyone says... even Mia. What we share is special. Everyone thinks they know me, “ Quinton ain’t shit,” but they can all go to hell. I was the one there for Mia in her darkest times and now Jeremiah's bitch ass thinks he can just have my woman Mia and my son? Anyone who thinks that is as crazy as Terri! Jeremiah- I fell in love with Mia the day I met her and when she needed me I was there for her. Three years ago I walked away from my own life to create one with her, and I've never regretted it. I know her deepest and darkest secrets; and she trusts me not only with her life, but with her child's life also. Blood does not make a family... Love and and loyalty does. The love, loyalty, and bond that Mia and I share could never be broken. I don’t think.

A Hood Affair


Shmel Carter - 2013
    Shaneice, bka Neicee and her boyfriend Quentin, known as Q takes you on a whirlwind of surprises. Q loves Neicee with everything in him, but he can't remain faithful. Neicee is from the hood and she grew up the only girl of 6 kids. She was determined to never have to go back to the hood. Despite where she is from, she graduated from law school and has built the reputation as the baddest hood lawyer to ever grace the streets of Charlotte. Now, someone is out to kill Neicee. Could it be one of Q's sideline hoes? Unbeknownst to Q, Neicee has her own secret. Will Q lose Neicee or will she remain his ride or die chick?

On Earth


Robert Creeley - 2006
    When Robert Creeley died in March 2005, he was working on what was to be his final book of poetry. In addition to more than thirty new poems, many touching on the twin themes of memory and presence, this moving collection includes the text of the last paper Creeley gave—an essay exploring the late verse of Walt Whitman. Together, the essay and the poems are a retrospective on aging and the resilience of memory that includes tender elegies to old friends, the settling of old scores, and reflective poems on mortality and its influence on his craft. On Earth reminds us what has made Robert Creeley one of the most important and affectionately regarded poets of our time.

Allure of the Game


Danielle Santiago - 2009
     Twenty-year-old Arnessa didn’t grow up on the streets. But when her mentally ill mother abandons her and her older brother is murdered, Arnessa has no choice but to hustle just to keep herself and her little sister alive. Kisa “Kane” Montega, on the other hand, has a wonderful marriage, two beautiful children, and lives in a stunning home on the outskirts of Charlotte. Her cousin, Kennedy, has spent two years away from the volatile music industry, focusing on her children and building a solid foundation with her rap star fiancÉ, Chaz. But in spite of their success, both Kane and Kennedy are gravitating back to their old ways and the game they thought they’d left behind. After a chance meeting, Arnessa goes from being a low-level dealer to partner in their cartel. But the bigger their empire gets, the more haters they have to contend with—and the more each one of them stands to lose. Sexy, suspenseful, and unflinching, Danielle Santiago’s Allure of the Game gives fans exactly what they’ve been hoping for—a deeply satisfying conclusion to an unforgettable trilogy, packed with insight into the mean streets she knows so well.

For the love of ATL


Desiree M. Granger - 2014
    All combining to make one full series. When you take the Urban life of Atlanta, and combine it with the drama filled life of students on HBCU (Historically black colleges, and Universities," anything can happen. Black Greek probates, parties, love, heartbreak, cheating, and men on the down low. All goes down in this 4 part series. No other words to describe this book. Better than Reality TV.

Loving You: The Scotch and Sammy Duet


Emilia Finn - 2018
    I met the love of my life when I was just fourteen years old. We had all the time in the world, we were in no rush to get where we were going, and we had the world at our feet. Those were the perfect conditions for young love to grow and thrive. Sammy Ricardo walked into my first period science class with long limbs and awkward angles, and I knew in that instant, she’d someday be my wife. I wasn’t wrong. Book 2 - Without You:Sammy: I left because I thought I was doing the right thing. I was falling on my sword. I thought I was saving everyone a lot of heart ache, and in exchange, I took all that ache on my own. I was supposed to be the hero, but instead I was the villain. He hates me with every fiber of his being… It’s been thirteen years since we last saw each other. It turns out ghosts can’t be buried. This is a second-chance romance that no-one saw coming!

Khiaere & Phy: A Charleston Love Story


Mel Dau - 2018
    He has the success portion mastered through hard work, education, street smarts and straight hustle. After hitting a massive roadblock with his girlfriend, Gina, he is forced to get off the highway to travel a different route. Will that route lead him to a love that's as sweet as Pie? Phy (Pronounced Pie) Washington who is of no relation to Khiaere has made the decision to move back home to be close to her mom. This is a move she didn't want to make, but it was necessary. A late-night run in with an old college friend may be just the motivation she needs to make the decision to actually enjoy her new life in Mount Pleasant, SC. Will this reconnection be the answer to her lonely heart, or the cause of a murder charge? Trell Smith is a man about his business. If it doesn't make dollars then it won’t make sense. Period. With no room for females because they can’t be trusted, there is an ice box where his heart used to be. Will someone be able to melt that ice and get the most vital organ pumping to the tunes of love? What does he do when love catches him off guard? Will he fight love like a G or surrender like a man? Tae Laing is the hottest interior designer on this side of the Mason Dixon Line. She steps out on faith and decides to move to Charleston, SC to start her on design firm and be close to her best friend. She’s not looking for love or commitment. With a traumatic past, love is all she ever wanted, but is she worthy? What do you do when love comes rudely knocking at your door and you didn’t send for it? Will an unacquainted love bring happiness in the lives of people who are unsure of what love is? Will the block that hinder win the battle, or will love flow victoriously? Will outside elements threaten what they may build, or will all threats be eliminated? Find out in this Charleston Love Story.

Ghetto Girl Games


torica tymes - 2013
    She didn't give a fuck about men and she only cared about their money. She swore that the way that she lived was the only way, and often attempted to convince her close friend Samantha to give up on having a traditional love, and join in on her Ghetto Girl Games that she plays. Shockingly engaging, and filled with jaw dropping scenes that will leave you speechless. The lustful infatuation for money, and the unbelievable thirst for the shiny life will keep you shaking your head at these women. And in case you were wondering...if you sell your food stamps so that you can go to the club; then you are also playing Ghetto Girl Games. But that's just the game for beginners, so check out these pros and how they navigate through life in the projects.

The Vixen


W.S. Merwin - 1996
    "Merwin writes, " J.D. McClatchy has said in THE NEW YORKER, "with one of the most distinctive and original voices in American poetry."

Cuffed


Taisha S. Ryan - 2014
    After serving a 3 year bid, Marquez swore to himself that he would never step foot in another prison. Determined to turn his life around, Marquez occupies his days working at a local car shop. Despite the low pay and endless hours, Marquez does not let that deter him. His world is then shaken up the moment he meets Breanna, a cute, around the way girl, whose main focus in life is attaining her degree and escaping the gritty projects of Brownsville, Brooklyn, for good. Both from troubled pasts, they find themselves drawn to each other in ways they would’ve never fathomed. Breanna becomes the light to Marquez’s life as she opens his heart to something foreign to him. Love. Marquez then begins to realize the possibilities of obtaining a better life outside of the hood. It is until he is faced with an unexpected tragedy that shatters his world for the worst. His dark past now becomes a reality as the grim streets claw at every ounce of his sanity. Now, Marquez must decide whether to continue on the right path he vowed to take or succumb to the dangerous lifestyle he has always known. The streets.

Goest


Cole Swensen - 2004
    Likewise Swensen’s lyrics, which, with elliptical phrasing and play between visual and aural, change the act of seeing—and reading—offering glimpses of the spirit (or ghost) that enters a poem where the rational process breaks down.From “The Invention of Streetlights”Certain cells, it’s said, can generate light on their own.There are organisms that could fit on the head of a pin.and light entire rooms. .Throughout the Middle Ages, you could hire a man.on any corner with a torch to light you home. were lamps made of horn.and from above a loom of moving flares, we watched.Notre Dame seem small. .Now the streets stand still. .By 1890, it took a pound of powdered magnesium.to photograph a midnight ball.“Goest, sonorous with a hovering ‘ghost’ which shimmers at the root of all things, is a stunning meditation—even initiation—on the act of seeing, proprioception, and the alchemical properties of light as it exists naturally and inside the human realm of history, lore, invention and the ‘whites’ of painting. Light becomes the true mistress and possibly the underlying language of all invention. Swensen’s poetry documents a penetrating ‘intellectus’—light of the mind—by turns fragile, incandescent, transcendent.”—Anne Waldman

One Times One


E.E. Cummings - 1944
    The poems in One Times One have as their theme "oneness and the means (one times one) whereby that oneness is achieved—love," in the words of Cummings's biographer Richard S. Kennedy. Besides new expressions of universal concerns, Cummings writes here in a lyric and optimistic mode, drawing portraits of people dear to him in New Hampshire and New York City's Greenwich Village. This new edition joins other individual uniform Liveright paperback volumes drawn from the Complete Poems, most recently Etcetera and 22 and 50 Poems.

Sex & Love &


Bob Hicok - 2016
    Throughout, poetry is discovered to be among our most effective tools to examine the delirium of making contact."Hot":The sexiest thing a woman has ever doneto or with or for me—while wearing the loose breezeof a dress or standing inside its red zero on the floor—while bending over and pulling her shorts downon a racquetball court or to reach the watershutoff valve behind the fridge—as Satiewhispers against our thighs or hummingher brain's native tune as we touchthe smudged glass protecting extinct beetlesin a museum—with her lips swaddling my tongueor finger up my ass—is tell the truth—which makes my wife the hottest womanI've ever known—her mouth erotic every timeshe speaks—she is an animal when it comes to sexand love—comes to us—in that she doesn't primpin front of the mirror of what she thinks I wanther to say or be—the only real flesh—only nakedthat matters––how she looks at meBob Hicok's poems have appeared in the New Yorker, Poetry, and the American Poetry Review. His books have been awarded the Bobbitt Prize from the Library of Congress and named a "Notable Book of the Year" by Booklist. Hicok has worked as an automotive die designer and a computer system administrator. He is currently teaching at Purdue University.