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. . .

    Unfortunately, her life is filled with an amount of busy that precludes her from dating and finding Mister Right. Her best friend’s sudden nuptials, however, place an unexpected opportunity for love within arm’s reach. Kirk Langley is suddenly thrust into being a single parent upon the untimely demise of his brother and sister-in-law. Balancing caring for his six-year-old niece in addition to running his own business leaves little time for dating. But when his closest friend drops the bomb that he’s getting married, Kirk’s forced to spare some time to get to know the maid of honor. Neither were looking for love, but their close proximity during the wedding planning process draws Calista and Kirk close, allowing them to find in the other what they didn’t know was previously missing.

    Shameek A Speight takes writing to a new level ! • A must read! This is an amazing work of literature! He watched as she screamed and yelled with every strike that the man, made to her face. From her mouth, she spit blood that was rolling down her face. He continued to watch the 6'2" dark skin man repeatedly hit and kick the woman in the stomach, again and again. Noooo stop! please stop!" as she yelled his closed fist went upside her head. Michael knew he had to do something to stop the man from beating the beautiful brown skin woman, with tears running down his own face he yelled, Daddy stop! Daddy stop!, as he ran his 6 year old frame between his father and mother. "Daddy stop hitting mommy!", All he felt was his father's big black hands grasp him around his neck and squeeze until he couldnt breathe and threw him across the room. Micheal sat on the floor crying. Partly because of the pain he felt, but mostly because of the beating his mother was getting. How does Micheal, child of a crack head, fight to stay a live ? what will he face and those he truly love ? and do they survive the terror of the man they call Black ice. This story tells the countless beating's, killing's, lies, infidelity and betrayels of a crack head and how a mother and child survive the street life.

    In a perfect life, these promises are easy to keep. When faced with spousal betrayal, idealistic oaths take a back seat. Justine Charles made the ultimate sacrifice for her dying husband. Will she rally after his death or be forced to give up a final chance at happiness?

    Even so, when she is called back to help at the Havenbury Arms when her godfather Patrick suffers a heart attack, she is unprepared for the welter of emotions her return provokes. Psychologist and ex-army officer Ben is sure he can help Maddy to resolve her fears, until he finds himself falling for her, and struggling with a recently uncovered family secret of which Maddy is blissfully unaware. Then Maddy's mother, Helen, arrives and Patrick himself must confront a few uncomfortable truths about his history and the pub's future.

    Hank Murphy discovers an alien artifact on the Moon, corporate interests are quick to get involved.A discovery like this could change everything, but more importantly, someone stands to make a fortune.But Murphy just wants to understand what this thing is and how it works. After months of research, he finally manages to locate the power source.The gate is soon activated...And Murphy is pulled through.Moments later, he finds himself in a war-torn corner of the galaxy where strangers like him are called Orphans...and they are considered extremely dangerous.Somehow altered by the experience, the archeologist now has enhanced strength, speed, and agility. He is more than human. He is an Orphan. And he must survive a deadly new reality unlike anything he can imagine.Worse still, Murphy is not the only so-called Orphan in this region of the galaxy. There are many others.And not all of them are created equal.

    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?...

    Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby, "the kind of pretty it hurt to look at," has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city--the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village--all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby Bell finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town's dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom's Juke, to Celia Jennings's kitchen where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby. Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man's dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love.

    When my mother died and my father vanished, everything changed.I planned to graduate high school and leave my dark past behind me, until I met two very different guys... bad boy Thames, and football captain Cairo.Except there's more to these two men than meets the eye. Without warning, I'm caught up in a dangerous love triangle straight out of a storybook, trapped in a world where angels and demons are fighting for the souls of mankind.I find myself in the middle of a holy war, hunted by a monster that's emerged from the underworld. My life has been turned upside down, and I don't know if I'll survive long enough to taste forbidden fruit...

    and maybe just a little magic. Depending on the time of day, Regina Burns is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown or an overdue breakthrough. One shattered heart and six months of rehab have left her wary and shell-shocked—especially with the prospect of taking a temporary consulting job in Atlanta, a move that would allow Regina to rescue the family home that she borrowed against when she was “a stomp down dope fiend.” Her stone-faced banker has grudgingly agreed to give her sixty days to settle her debts or lose the house.Returning to Atlanta is a big risk. Last time Regina was there, she lost track of who she was and what she wanted. There’s a lot of emotional baggage with her new employer, Beth Davis. Can she really forgive Beth for breaking up her wedding plans on New Year’s Eve because she just didn’t think Regina was good enough to marry her son?Meanwhile, Regina’s visionary Aunt Abbie has told her to be on the lookout for a handsome stranger with “the ocean in his eyes” who has a bone to pick and a promise to keep. Then a blue-eyed brother appears on the streets of Afro-Atlanta wearing a black cashmere overcoat, flashing a dazzling smile, and lending a helping hand when Regina needs it most. But between falling for Blue Hamilton and dealing with Beth, secrets will emerge that will threaten to send her life twisting in surprising new directions.Like a conversation with a good friend, Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do shares hope, love, and laugher. As always, it is Pearl Cleage’s unforgettable characters and her gift for dialogue that will earn this provocative new novel a place in the hearts of her growing family of readers.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Her lethal grace, steady shot, and unmatched accuracy have made her the absolute best and most sought after killer in the game. But when the killer without a conscience is faced with an unknown emotion.... LOVE. Her whole perception is thrown off course and in a profession where second guessing can mean life or death ....will the queen reign supreme or be overthrown?

    It started while he was doing military service in Korea and ended with his murder at the age of thirty nine. He had worked up to a hundred dollars a day habit and out of the agonizing hell came Dopefiend. It is the shocking nightmare story of a black heroin addict. Trapped in the festering sore of a major American ghetto, a young man and his girlfriend- both handsome, talented, and full of promise- are inexorably pulled into death of the hardcore junkie!

    Just when she's resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life--Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn't imitate art. Tormented in school and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, Davie finds it bittersweet to dream of Molly Ringwald endings. When a cruel school prank goes too far, Davie leaves the life she knows and reinvents herself in the glittery world of Hollywood as a beautiful and successful lounge singer. Just as she's about to ride off into the L.A. sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to crush Davie's dreams--and break her heart again.With wholly original characters and a cinematic storyline, 32 Candles introduces Ernessa T. Carter, a new voice in fiction with smarts, attitude, and sassiness to spare.

    She quickly realizes that life is a force to be reckoned with once she is abandoned by her mother and forced to live with a father who doesn't want anything to do with her. Seeking love, Rozalyn is pushed into the arms of the baddest boy on the block, Tamar Andrews. He shows her there is a thin line between love and hate. Nothing appears to be strong enough to tear her away from Tamar. Go on a journey with Rozalyn as she takes you through her struggles to find out if she will be trapped into fighting for a love that was never hers to begin with; or will she find out the true meaning of til death do us part?

    I’d been in bed for days in immeasurable pain from a broken heart. I was literally past my breaking point and done with this life. How do you keep living when your best friend is brutally murdered and the love of your life may be responsible? Lying in the dark with nowhere to hide from my thoughts and emotions, I felt alone, betrayed, deceived, hoodwinked, bamboozled, and lead astray! I needed to release the pain by any means necessary.” When the repressed traumas of Simone Johnson’s childhood resurface through a recurring dream, secrets are unveiled that explain the negligence of her mother and her deep distrust of men. The support of her best friends, Stacey and Talise, gives her strength, but when tragedy strikes, leading Simone into a chasm of darkness, who will be there to help her find her way out?Simone, Stacey, and Talise are your typical best friends navigating life. They brush shoulders with entertainment’s elite and experience great successes.Simone is living an extravagant lifestyle, which some may say has come to her easily. She doesn’t trust men and is willing to remain guarded to protect herself. Even though star NBA player, Deon Bradford ? a good guy, looking for a woman to love him for him – has her in his sights, and is making every effort to bring down her guard, Simone remains distrustful. She feels that she can do without a man’s love, until an unsuspecting man comes into her life and shows her what true love is really like, but is he who he portrays himself to be or will Deon win her heart?Talise is the romantic, who dreams of a marriage just like her parents. When she meets a man that she knows is her soul-mate, but later finds out that they stand on opposite sides of religion, will this be a deal breaker?Stacey is the brother, the shoulder, and the comic relief, but when Stacey falls in love, he falls hard. Will his need to give into his heart cost him the ultimate price?Once the secrets start tumbling out of the closets and no door is able to contain them, who do you turn to when your reality feels like a dream and you are sure that this can?t be life?