Book picks similar to
Please Please Please by Renee Swindle
fiction
african-american
african-american-fiction
first-novels
The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc
Loraine Despres - 2001
She's been living in stifling old Gentry since the day she was born and trapped in a sham of a marriage to PeeWee LeBlanc since she was only seventeen. In short, she's fed up, restless, and ready for an adventure. Sissy just never imagined temptation would come into her life that breathless summer day as she sat smoking on her porch swing. For although she may have been fixated on the taut muscles of the lineman shimmying down the telephone pole across the street, she hadn't allowed herself to imagine that he'd be none other than her high school sweetheart, Parker Davidson, who left town fourteen years before without so much as a wave good-bye. But suddenly, here he is, leaning in for a kiss that will stir up more excitement than Sissy could ever have imagined...
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**
Those Pricey Thakur Girls
Anuja Chauhan - 2013
Anjini, married but an incorrigible flirt; Binodini, very worried about her children's hissa in the family property; Chandrakanta, who eloped with a foreigner on the eve of her wedding; Eshwari, who is just a little too popular at Modern School, Barakhamba Road; and the Judge's favourite (though fathers shouldn't have favourites): the quietly fiery Debjani, champion of all the stray animals on Hailey Road, who reads the English news on DD and clashes constantly with crusading journalist Dylan Singh Shekhawat, he of shining professional credentials but tarnished personal reputation, crushingly dismissive of her state-sponsored propaganda, but always seeking her out with half-sarcastic, half-intrigued dark eyes. Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.
The Itch
Benilde Little - 1998
She leads a charmed life—having attended all the right schools, married the right man, and started a successful film production company with her best friend, Natasha Coleman—and seems like an ambassador from the world of perfection. It is only when her impeccable marriage turns suddenly shaky that her utopia is left in pieces…
Fly Betty
Treasure Blue - 2013
All of these women are vying for one thing – an opportunity to live a luxurious, lavish lifestyle by snagging a rich and famous singer, rapper or athlete. But being drop-dead gorgeous and super fly are only pieces of what it takes to catch one of these wealthy and highly sought after young millionaires. Where luck, timing and persistence can be determining factors on the surface – deceit, lies and manipulation are what it really takes to have a chance at catching their men. Betty Blaise, or Fly Betty to those who truly know her, was not in it to be a wife or even the baby momma of a wealthy public figure – she had her sights set higher, much higher. While most of these women use sex as their weapon of choice, Betty, a senior majoring in psychology, has developed a weapon that proves much more powerful. Up until now Betty has lived her life according to her own strict rules and standards, refusing to compromise for anyone, even if it potentially meant shielding herself from true love. But when she encounters a man that she would never have anticipated falling for in a million years, soon, the very rules Betty once lived and died by are going to be put to the test. The very tools she used so effectively against wealthy men begin to turn against her – and deadly consequences are sure to follow.
Resurrecting Mingus
Jenoyne Adams - 2001
In this stunning debut novel, Jenoyne Adams, a PEN Center USA West Emerging Voices Fellow, displays a rare talent for a first-time author: the skill and courage to write about some of the most controversial issues today in an absorbing and compulsively readable manner. Mingus Browning is a successful, young, beautiful lawyer whose life is falling apart. After a thirty-five-year marriage, Mingus's African-American father has suddenly left her Irish mother for a black woman. A daddy's girl, Mingus is torn between the father she has always been closer to, the mother she may have to defend in divorce proceedings, and a sister hell-bent on winning their lifelong sibling rivalry. Mingus is caught in middle of the three, a woman alone, and, in turn, realizes that she has probably always felt more comfortable that way because she is part of no one group, let alone a united family. Juggling her parents' grief with her own proves to be too much for Mingus as she stumbles from one questionable relationship to another, further complicating her life.After years of isolating herself from those who have tried to care for her, Mingus finally meets someone who rips through her protective defenses and exposes her need to be loved. Eric Simms, a smooth-talking television producer, is through playing dating games and is looking for love for real this time. With Eric, Mingus finally learns to forget the fear of a broken heart and opens herself completely. That is, until word starts circulating that her new love has his secrets as well, and suddenly what was a perfect relationship begins to look like yet another minefield of hurt, as Mingus is forced to choose between her man, her sister, and the truth.After facing a long, sad string of heartaches and betrayals, Mingus finally reaches the point in her life where she realizes who she is, what she wants, and how she doesn't need another man to get it. Marked by raw images and poetic prose, Jenoyne Adams's affecting first novel candidly explores the bonds of family, faith, and finding someone to love when you can't even find someone to trust.
Shades of Jade (Strivers Row)
Gloria Mallette - 2000
Louis. Wayne. Eric. Marissa had been warned: One of these days you're gonna mess with the wrong woman's husband. But she doesn't care. Aside from an occasional bout of guilt, she feels no shame, because after all, if their wives were doing what they were supposed to, then their husbands would not be seeking her company. Marissa dates married men - four of them concurrently because it's easier. She gets all of the trappings of a relationship - love, wining and dining, physical pleasure - without any of the pain - cooking, laundry, and the day-to-day maintenance of a relationship. But when it appears that one of the wives of the men she is dating is out to get her - wants her dead, in fact - Marissa begins to reexamine the choices she's made. Her selfishness gives way to vulnerability and fear, and she comes to the conclusion that she deserves a man all her own. But will she survive long enough to find Mr. Right?From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Accidental Diva
Tia Williams - 2004
Just ask Billie Burke. Brainy, beautiful, and at the top of her game, she's the beauty editor at the world's leading fashion magazine, where paying tribute to the perfect pink lip gloss is serious business. Trouble is, all this corporate climbing and party-hopping has left her with migraine headaches-and a long, lonely bout of celibacy.Enter Jay Lane-a gorgeous performance artist who came up in a grisly 'hood in a part of Brooklyn completely foreign to Billie. In no time, this beauty expert's nights are bubbling over with hot passion-and she's caught in an affair that's as addictive and crazy as the city itself.
Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-fix Remedy
Bertice Berry - 2002
Louella, fed up with her lackluster love life, decides to contact her departed ancestors for some advice. Conjuring up her mother, grandmother, and aunt in a dream, she receives a delightful lesson in the art of reigniting the fires of love.Even more startling, the Johnsons discover they can help others rejuvenate their passions, heal their hearts, and mend their soulsWritten in language that is folksy yet eloquent, Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy is an uplifting and flat-out funny celebration of the connections between past and present, the importance of family, and the pleasures of the body and the heart.
Power Part 2
Deja King - 2014
Alex is determined to seek revenge for the death of his fiance but can a new love heal the pain from losing his first love? Deion continues on his path of destruction but will the streets finally deal him a hand he can't win? As both men struggle with personal and business difficulties their once unbreakable bond seems to be on the verge of complete devastation. More lives are lost and secrets are revealed that will give only one man all the power.
The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Monk Kidd - 2001
When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
Split Image
Anna Black - 2012
She thought giving him the one thing that his wife Lisa couldn't would make him leave and marry her, but instead it made the situation worse and Reginald went to the extreme to cover his infidelity and secrets. Putting her identical twin sister Julia who no one knew of into a situation she d never thought she be in. Unwilling at first to go along with Reginald's evil scheme, he is forced to threaten the lives of Julia s loves ones to keep his secrets hidden and Miles, her twin sister's other lover is the only one who can help Julia escape the snare that Reginald has trapped her in.
Perfect Peace
Daniel Black - 2010
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.
Summer by the Sea
Susan Wiggs - 2004
For Rosa, though, there has been no real romance since her love affair with Alexander Montgomery ended suddenly and without explanation a decade ago.But Rosa's life takes an unexpected turn when Alexander arrives back in town and asks for her help sorting through his late mother's affairs. Reunited at the beach house where they first met and fell in love, Rosa and Alexander discover that the secrets of the past are not what they seem. Now, with all that she wants right in front of her, Rosa searches for happiness with the man who once broke her heart --- and learns that in love, as in life, there are second chances.
Skin Deep
Kathleen Cross - 1999
Proud to be black and serving as faculty advisor to the Black Student Union in a small Arizona college, she discovers that looking white can complicate her life...especially her love life. Disappointed by a colorstruck fiance who loves impressing the brothas with his "white" woman, Nina falls hard for Ahmad, a handsome black man, with plenty of reason to be hostile toward whites. His dangerous past is one he may not be able to escape and the little daughter he's raising alone has plenty of questions. But Nina hides her own vague and troubling memories and the family secrets that haunt her dreams. Yet neither Nina or Ahmad can know that the tumultuous circumstances which bring them together are about to unlock mysteries from the past that can open doors to a future they never thought possible.