Although they've tried to keep it together, there comes a time when you have to move on. As they strive to start over and make new lives, there are hurdles to leap over, not to mention something about the ex that keeps pulling them back in. Will these women finally find happiness, or will the side effects of their exes, keep them stuck in an unhappy rut? Will they let the new opportunities to be free of their past into their lives, or slip through their fingers? See if they will they fight for their independence in The Side Effects of You

    She is the darkest-skinned among them and therefore the ugliest in her mother, Rozelle's, estimation, but she's also the brightest. Rozelle--beautiful, charismatic, and light-skinned--exercises a violent hold over her children. Fearing abandonment, she pulls them from school at the age of twelve and sends them to earn their keep for the household, whether in domestic service, in the fields, or at "the farmhouse" on the edge of town, where Rozelle beds local men for money.But Tangy Mae has been selected to be part of the first integrated class at a nearby white high school. She has a chance to change her life, but can she break from Rozelle's grasp without ruinous--even fatal--consequences?

    With enormous compassion, Dr. James Delaney tends to his hurt, sick, and poor neighbors, who include gangsters, day laborers, prostitutes, and housewives. If they can't pay, he treats them anyway. But in his own life, Delaney is emotionally numb, haunted by the slaughters of the Great War. His only daughter has left for Mexico, and his wife Molly vanished months before, leaving him to wonder if she is alive or dead. Then, on a snowy New Year's Day, the doctor returns home to find his three-year-old grandson on his doorstep, left by his mother in Delaney's care. Coping with this unexpected arrival, Delaney hires Rose, a tough, decent Sicilian woman with a secret in her past. Slowly, as Rose and the boy begin to care for the good doctor, the numbness in Delaney begins to melt. Recreating 1930s New York with the vibrancy and rich detail that are his trademarks, Pete Hamill weaves a story of honor, family, and one man's simple courage that no reader will soon forget.

    Since this is Beverly's third engagement in the past five years, after breaking off the previous two at the last moment, everyone's happy that she's finally settling down. For Beverly and Julian, nothing could be better than being in love and planning their wedding. That is until Beverly's oldest sister's marriage falls apart and dampens the mood of what should have been the happiest time in Beverly's life. Now, second-guessing her impending nuptials, Beverly is forced to wonder if marriage really works. Will she stick it out? Or will her fears cloud her judgment once again?

    But nothing could be farther from the truth. For the deadly secrets she thought were long-buried are now on the brink of being exposed…Have A Way…Someone has a vendetta against Rachel. Someone whom she betrayed a long time ago. Someone who is determined to make her pay—no matter the cost …Of Coming Back With A Vengeance …Now Rachel knows it’s just a matter of time before her dangerous past meets up with her present—and destroys everything she’s worked so hard for. Because if there’s one thing that can be counted on—her enemy never forgets or forgives and will do whatever it takes to see Rachel suffer…

    Four children, running in the woods behind their school, stumble upon a partially buried female body, eyes and mouth glued shut. Close behind the children is their teacher, Anne Navarre, shocked by this discovery and heartbroken as she witnesses the end of their innocence. What she doesn’t yet realize is that this will mark the end of innocence for an entire community, as the ties that bind families and friends are tested by secrets uncovered in the wake of a serial killer’s escalating activity. Detective Tony Mendez, fresh from a law enforcement course at FBI headquarters, is charged with interpreting those now revealed secrets. He’s using a new technique—profiling—to develop a theory of the case, a strategy that pushes him ever deeper into the lives of the three children, and closer to the young teacher whose interest in recent events becomes as intense as his own. As new victims are found and the media scrutiny of the investigation bears down on them, both Mendez and Navarre are unsure if those who suffer most are the victims themselves—or the family and friends of the killer, blissfully unaware that someone very close to them is a brutal, calculating psychopath.

    His boss, the district attorney, attractive but hard-charging, is planning to run for governor, and as a showcase she's planning to use a new crime initiative called At Risk; its motto: "Any crime, any time." In particular, she's been looking for a way to employ cutting-edge DNA technology, and she thinks she's found the perfect subject in an unsolved twenty-year-old murder—in Tennessee. If her office solves the case, it ought to make them all look pretty good, right?Her investigator is not so sure—not sure about anything to do with this woman, really—but before he can open his mouth, a shocking piece of violence intervenes, an act that shakes up not only both their lives but also the lives of everyone around them. It's not a random event. Is it personal? Is it professional? Whatever it is, the implications are very, very bad indeed ... and they're about to get much worse.Sparks fly, traps spring, twists abound—this is the master working at the top of her game.

    On the same day his wife died, the body of a teenage girl was pulled from the extensive and perilous cave system beneath Southern Indiana. Now the man who rescued the girl, who was believed to be her killer, begs Novak to uncover what really happened.Garrison is much like any place in America, proud and fortified against outsiders. For Mark to delve beneath the town's surface, he must match wits with the man who knows the caverns better than anyone. A man who seemed to have lost his mind. A man who seems to know Mark Novak all too well.Last Words is a pulse-pounding thriller of one man's undoing; you just may not know which man.

    . .Cara Lee Henson knows no soldier can be trusted to stay in one place—and that includes handsome Sergeant Chase Jefferson of the Tenth Cavalry. Dallying with the dashing man in blue could cost the pretty, independent Kansas schoolteacher her job and her reputation. So Cara is determined to repel Chase’s advances—even though her aloof facade barely masks her smoldering desire.A Blazing Passion . . .Never before has Chase longed for a woman the way he ached for lovely Cara Lee.The strong-willed ebony beauty, however,will not surrender easily. But with tender words and soulful caresses, Chase intends to conquer the reluctant schoolmarm's misgivings—and teach her how to love fully,sensuously . . . and forever.

    They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge... and someone else is urging her to jump. How did things come to this?As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

    Now, Bryn faces being terminated--literally, and with extreme prejudice.With the help of corporate double-agent Patrick McCallister, Bryn has a chance to take down the bigger problem--pharmaceutical company Pharmadene, which treats death as the ultimate corporate loyalty program. She'd better do it fast, before she becomes a zombie slave--a real working stiff. She'd be better off dead...

    He won't even help take care of their son, leaving Nicole to run the house and work full-time at her Mischief Bay Pilates studio. Can she say enough is enough without losing the man she loves? Sacrificing a personal life for her career is how Shannon Rigg rose to become vice president in her firm, but she wonders now whether she made the right choice. An exciting new relationship with a great guy convinces her that it might not be too late—until he drops a bombshell that has her questioning whether she can have it all. And if she can, does she want it? Although Pam Eiland has a beautiful house and a husband she adores, she feels… restless. She wonders who a stay-at-home mom becomes after the kids are grown. Finding sexy new ways to surprise her husband brings the heat and the humor back to their marriage, but when unexpected change turns her life upside down, she'll have to redefine herself. Again. Through romance and heartbreak, laughter and tears, three very different women will discover that friends can become family, and that life is richer with sisters at your side.

    No matter how hard he works at his job at UPS, it is never enough to take care of himself and his long-term girlfriend. After continuous pressure from his older cousin, Ching, Omari finally traded in busting his ass for working under Ching hustling three major blocks on the Westside. All is good as Omari juggles work and the drug game. That is, until Ching involves him in the murder of, who ends up being, the Governor’s nephew. As he dodges homicide detectives, Omari is also trying to dodge getting caught between two loves. He’s been committed to Aeysha for seven years, but is falling each day for Simone, an older more established woman who is at his every beck and call. After years of playing the side chick, Simone finally finds love that she thinks is all her own. Just as she settles into loving Omari, she finds out about Aeysha and her desperate mind begins to plot on how to finally win her man. Simone’s best friend, Tammy, thinks Simone is crazy as she herself is running from an obsessed ex-boyfriend who is persistent in trying to kill her. Tammy lives in hiding for months as she asks herself this burning question; how can a man love a woman with the same hands that he is willing to kill her with?As the murder investigation leads to arrests, the walls come down on these lovers. Murder, sex, and indictments lead to unforeseen tragedy and unexpected love.

    One choice. Someone must die.From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes this pulse-pounding thriller that starts with a terrifying decision we all might face one day: Help—or run. Timothy Carrier is an ordinary guy. He enjoys a beer after work at his friend’s tavern, the eccentric customers and amusing conversations. But tonight is no ordinary night. The jittery man sitting beside him has mistaken Tim for someone else—and passes him an envelope stuffed with cash and the photo of a pretty woman. “Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she’s gone.”Tim Carrier always thought he knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. But tonight everything he thought he knew—even about himself—will be challenged. For Tim Carrier is at the center of a mystery of extraordinary proportions, the one man who can save an innocent life and stop a killer as relentless as evil incarnate. But first he must discover resources within himself of which he never dreamed, capacities that will transform his idea of who he is and what it takes to be . . .

    . . 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.