A Chorus Rises: A Song Below Water Novel by Bethany C. Morrow
A Chorus Rises: A Song Below Water Novel by Bethany C. Morrow
Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Reading age: 13 – 18 years
A Chorus Rises is a timely confrontation of the evolving nature of popularity in a society that chooses “exceptions” and rewards “model minorities.”
Meet Naema Bradshaw: a beautiful Eloko, once Portland-famous, now infamous, as she navigates a personal and public reckoning where confronting the limits of her privilege will show Naema what her magic really is, and who it makes her.
Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw has it all: she’s famous, stylish, gorgeous–and she’s an Eloko, a charismatic person gifted with a melody that people adore. Everyone loves her–until she’s cast as the villain who exposed a Siren to the whole world.
Dragged by the media, and canceled by her fans, no one understands her side: not her boyfriend, not her friends, not even her fellow Eloko. Villified by those closest to her, Naema heads to the Southwest where she is determined to stage a comeback… to her family, her real self, and the truth about her magic. What she finds is a new community in a flourishing group of online fans who support her.
At first, it feels like it used to–the fandom, the adoration, the community that takes her side–but when her online advocates start targeting other Black girls, Naema will realize that–for Black girls like her–even the privilege of fame has its limits. And only Naema can discover the true purpose of her power, and how to use it.
“A watery and melodic crossroads of the real and the mythic, A Chorus Rises lures readers with its seductive and beautifully Black siren song. An enthralling tale of Black girl magic and searing social commentary ready to rattle the bones.” ―Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series
A View from Harlem by Tracey Fagan Danzey
#SeducingThePenTour: A View from Harlem by Tracey Fagan Danzey takes a look at our friends from Jasper’s Cafe On The Boulevard five years later. READ MORE: http://a.co/0rqMbhY
Life makes the distinction between lasting or lust and forever or not. Nearly five years ago, the contrasting lives of these unlikely friends became cemented. Through all their differences, they toiled through the grit of building friendships and finding love. Now it truly begins. Perry and Robert Nichols have finally transitioned from living a lie into living that life.
Despite her once-pretentious facade, Perry now touts a coveted life—one she never apologizes for. What matters is her marriage, her two children, and the success of her upscale business, Lux Body & Soul. Perry’s wrath abruptly becomes unleashed once being betrayed, causing her life to quickly unravel. When everything she holds dear is put at risk, Perry must call on Harlem Brooks.
Harlem Brooks, the good boy gone bad, has returned to the city. He has cleaned up his act and is no longer the judge’s prodigal son. Harlem is back at the firm, committed and living a more suitable life. As his determination increases to spare Perry from ending up behind bars and keeping her family intact, he is unknowingly blind-sided by what is awaiting his own. When he returns to the office late one night seeking any crucial evidence to turn around a plummeting trial, Harlem makes a shattering discovery. Now more than ever he longs for what his brother has . . . his own family.
Like many men, Harlem hasn’t quenched his insatiable needs. What he desires most is the one thing he can’t have. Erika Townsend’s beauty is alluring to Harlem, but what intrigues him most is her resilience. That unshakable strength is what Harlem needs now more than ever.
Torie Matthews is finally settled and happy after marrying Quinn, her best friend and kindred spirit. In the face of their marital bliss, there has been immense heartbreak. When their marriage receives yet another devastating blow, Torie questions whether their bond is strong enough to endure.
Afro-Bougie Blues: A Collection of Short Fiction by Lauren Wilson
Step into the world of Afro-Bougie Blues and walk in the shoes of different protagonists as they struggle to move through the world. Read how ordinary black women and men develop tenacity when they have to deal with the reality of their choices.
Alexis finally finds love after seventeen years of a lonely existence, but life throws a curveball into her life. Watch as she overcomes the challenge despite her past still looming over her head.
Walk with Rodney, a gulf war veteran who tries to drown the war memories with alcohol. See Bessie, overweight and stuck in life, make a decision that sets her on a journey that transforms her life in ways she never imagined.
Thirteen-year-old Aisha wants answers to her complicated question about love. And this sets her father on the task of reflecting on what the word “love” really means. Listen to Lenore and her sisters recount stories from their father’s life after he succumbs to cancer.
From depression, abortion, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), spousal abuse, addiction, and extramarital affairs to colorism. Each short story takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion as you experience different areas of life narrated from a first-person perspective.
Afro-Bougie Blues is about characters with stories that are relatable because it captures struggles people deal with in everyday life. The author’s captivating prose and incredible storytelling will plunge the reader into fascinating worlds and challenge them to take on new perspectives that in turn inspire, move and entertain.
A great read for anyone who wants to know how people with diverse problems face the toughness of the world they inhabit. How they move forward when the future is uncertain and fortunes change in the blink of an eye, challenging their reality and overcoming it.
“You will find yourself not wanting this book to end.”
Afro-Bougie Blues: A Collection of Short Fiction by Lauren Wilson
Genre: African American contemporary fiction
About the Author
Lauren Wilson is a safety consultant who is occasionally visited by a muse that allows her to write amazing stories. It only happens a few times a year, but it is a wondrous experience. The rest of the time, Lauren evaluates the safety of manufacturing equipment being sent to Europe. The machines are often the size of a room, so she travels frequently.
In her spare time, she is a voracious reader of sci-fi alien encounters, UK historical mysteries, and stories about vampires and werewolves. She’s an online spades player and has a 5-story apartment building dollhouse project that she figures will take her another 10 years to complete. One of their favorite things to do is to drive 4 hours into the Pocono Mountains in PA and visit the Cove Haven couples resort. It’s a long way to go in order to play air hockey, but it’s worth it.
Lauren and her husband, Howard love watching stand-up comedy videos and he has recently started finding online joke videos that they can laugh at together. They have one dog, a pit bull named Petey who is a major bed hog.
You can follow Lauren on her blog and on Facebook by visiting her website for more details, https://www.afrobougieblues.com.
Basketball & Ballet (California Love Book 2) by Suzette D. Harrison
He left the game. She left the dance. Will they give love a chance?
Peek inside, read an excerpt: https://a.co/2KpBRn9
BLACK (The Black Series Book 1) by Joan Vassar
In August 1831, Nat Turner leads a group of escaped slaves in a rebellion that rocks the South. The revolt comes to a quick and violent end. In November, Nat is publicly hanged, and as his body swings, a false sense of peace washes over Jerusalem, Virginia.
Unbeknownst to the world, on the day Nat Turner dies, his son, Nat Hope Turner, is born. Reared by Big Mama on the Turner plantation, young Nat’s identity is kept secret to keep him safe. As Nat grows to manhood, he leads his own uprising against slavery and is forever after known as Black.
Fate-by way of Big Mama-leads Black to rescue a young female slave, Sunday, before the plantation owner can sell her. Black has lived for liberty until the day he comes face to face with the alluring Sunday. As the two embark on a sexually charged ride toward love and freedom, they set off a chain of events that forces Black to risk his own liberty for hers.
Black shares the appealing tale of a passionate love between a man and a woman bound together to change their destiny.
Books in The Black Series (3 Book Series) by Joan Vassar
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5H67VA
Black shares the appealing tale of a passionate love between a man and a woman bound together to change their destiny.
The Uncaged Mind is a passionate story of love and healing despite the ugly backdrop of slavery.
Emancipating James reveals the complicated facets of the human soul exposed against the backdrops of Civil War, slavery, and romance.
Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
In development as a Hulu original series produced by Marissa Jo Cerar, Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Films), and Kapital Entertainment.
Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem by April Ryan
In this long-overdue celebration of Black women’s resilience and unheralded strength, the revered, trailblazing White House correspondent reflects on “The Year That Changed Everything”—2020—and African-American women’s unprecedented role in upholding democracy.
“I am keenly aware that everyone and everything has a story,” April D. Ryan acknowledges. “Also, I have always marveled at Black women and how we work to move mountains and are never really thanked or recognized.” In Black Women Will Save the World, she melds these two truths, creating an inspiring and heart-tugging portrait of one of the momentous years in America, 2020—when America elected its first Black woman Vice President—and celebrates the tenacity, power, and impact of Black women across America.
From the beginning of the nation to today, Black women have transformed their pain into progress and have been at the frontlines of the nation’s political, social, and economic struggles. These “Sheroes” as Ryan calls them, include current political leaders such as Maxine Waters, Valerie Jarrett, and Kamala Harris; LaTosha Brown, and other activists. Combining profiles and in-depth interviews with these influential movers and shakers and many more, Ryan explores the challenges Black women endure, and how the lessons they’ve learned can help us shape our own stories.
Ryan also chronicles her personal journey from working-class Baltimore to the elite echelons of journalism and speaks out about the hurdles she faced in becoming one of the most well-connected members of the Washington press corps—while raising two daughters as a single mother in the aftermath of a messy divorce.
It is time for everyone to acknowledge Black women’s unrivaled contributions to America. Yet our democracy remains in peril, and their work is far from done. Black Women Will Save the World presents a vital kaleidoscopic look at women of different ages and from diverse backgrounds who devote their lives to making the world a better place—even if that means stepping out of their “place.”
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman
#1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller
The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman
Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage.
Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, this beautifully designed volume features poems in many inventive styles and structures and shines a light on a moment of reckoning. Call Us What We Carry reveals that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future.
Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series (7 books) by Marc Lacy
Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series (7 books) by Marc Lacy
Clairvoyance – Insightful Lyrical Musings from the Poetic Vault Series. Clairvoyance is a collection of poetic works from speaker, writer, and producer, Marc Lacy. This publication is what Lacy is deeming the “ultimate discernment” of his deepest thoughts and contemplations. Clairvoyance is comprised of over 500 previously unreleased poems from Lacy’s sacred vault. These poetic gems are contained within 5 books, plus 2 bonus books of love poetry for a total of 7. The books are Crescendo Ammunition Expose Requiem Geometry With 2 Bonus Love Poetry Books: Beatific Ambrosia Enraptured Felicity.
Books Included:
Crescendo
Ammunition
Expose’
Requiem
Geometry
Beatific Ambrosia
Enraptured Felicity
Download all 7 Books in the Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series
Check out the Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series (7 books) – https://amzn.to/3L2Cf7X
Crescendo (Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series) by Marc Lacy
Crescendo (Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series) by Marc Lacy
Crescendo – Lyrics that Make You Reach Your Poetic Peak is a piece of poetic art that has been carefully crafted to tickle the reader’s lyrical fancy. Words jump off the page and mercilessly block the reader’s peripheral vision so that they have no choice but to be laser-focused on the flow directly in front of them.
Often time the poetry requires reading twice simply because the question will be spawned to the tune of, “Did he really say that?”
Crescendo is one of seven poetry books whose contents have been supplied mostly by the remaining poetry within Marc Lacy’s vault. It entails previously unreleased poems as well as a few newer ones.
The reader will certainly be able to tell the distinct difference between Lacy’s writing of the old and the style of the present day.
With a wide range of subject matter, this literary work comprised of 77 original poems, is sure to challenge the reader to look at life situations from multiple perspectives. Crescendo is all about mental elevation, colorful takes, and a serious stirring of the soul.
Check out the entire Poetic Vault Series – https://a.co/d/gjrB23U
Curse of the Whiskey House: When Life is the Principle and Death is the Practice (Whiskey House Trilogy Book 1) by Marc Lacy
Curse of the Whiskey House: When Life is the Principle and Death is the Practice (Whiskey House Trilogy Book 1) by Marc Lacy
An Intriguing Tale of Heritage, Treachery, and Redemption in the Heart of Hawthorne County
In the small yet historically significant city of Lazarus, nestled within the Bible Belt of Hawthorne County, Alabama, a captivating story unfolds. Marc Lacy’s riveting novel, “Curse of the Whiskey House,” takes readers on a journey through the tangled web of heritage, history, religion, and the enigmatic allure of whiskey. As the first installment of “The Whiskey House Trilogy,” this tale weaves together intricate characters and an atmospheric backdrop to explore the profound impact of choices and the weight of curses.
At the center of this narrative stands Lazarus, a city once renowned for being a sanctuary for Buffalo Soldiers, now forever intertwined with its thriving whiskey industry. The dichotomy between the celebrated Hawthorne County Whiskey Stop and its sinister counterpart, the Hawthorne County Whiskey House, sets the stage for a gripping exploration of good and evil. Samuel Justice, the esteemed Mayor of Lazarus, holds secrets aplenty, and the whiskey house’s malevolent influence casts a shadow over the entire community.
Reverend Jackson Jones, the spiritual leader of the Central Baptist Church, finds himself paradoxically connected to the whiskey house’s disturbing legacy. Whispers of a curse haunt the city, as unease and apprehension envelop the lives of its inhabitants. An old adage rings true: “Once you enter the whiskey house, if you should ever come out, your life goes south.” A foreboding prophecy looms, yet remains shrouded in silence, waiting for a reckoning.
Detective Brock Taylor emerges as the city’s beacon of hope, tasked with unraveling the mysteries and confronting the curse head-on. Can he break the chains of darkness and restore hope to lives scarred by the whiskey house’s maleficence? Or will he, too, become ensnared by its vengeful grasp? In a place where the supernatural meets the tangible, salvation and destruction hang in the balance, challenging the very fabric of faith and courage.
“Curse of the Whiskey House” is the inception of a trilogy that promises an electrifying saga. With “Viral Xgressions” and “The Ghost of Ace Honeycutt” to follow, Marc Lacy crafts a thought-provoking narrative that delves deep into societal issues, interlacing them with a diverse cast of characters and rich backstory. The anticipation surrounding this trilogy has been building for three years, and readers can expect a series of gripping page-turners that provoke introspection.
Lacy poses a question that resonates far beyond the confines of fiction: When faced with moral dilemmas and community injustices, do we dare to intervene? In a world where victims often suffer in silence and witnesses hesitate to act, the story challenges us to reconsider our role. As events unfold in Hawthorne County, readers are prompted to examine their own capacity for courage and sacrifice, urging us to transcend fear in the face of malevolence.
Prepare to be captivated by Marc Lacy’s “Curse of the Whiskey House.” Step into a world where heritage, darkness, and redemption converge, and where the boundaries between good and evil blur. Welcome to Hawthorne County, where the spirits of the past and the choices of the present collide in a battle for the city’s very soul.
Check out Curse of the Whiskey House by Marc Lacy – https://a.co/d/bVBa9YX
Dawn (Lilith’s Brood, 1) by Octavia E. Butler
One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower.
When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.
Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.
Duncan & the Chocolate Bar: Longtale #3 by Duane Filer
The year is 2050. The space shuttle to the moon has been a reality since 2030. There have been scientists, explorers, politicians, entertainers, and celebrities. Just about every type of scientific type person has been or has plans to go to the moon, but no ordinary people have been included. Black, white, brown, or yellow, no regular ordinary people have been to the moon. Finally, in 2050, the USA government has decided it is time to send some regular folks to the moon. A contest was held to pick three lucky souls to be sent to the moon. Each person selected could also bring a friend. And the best part is that the government claims once the lucky winners get to the moon, there would be a surprise waiting for them.
Young Duncan (Dunk) Sylers, eleven years old and from the city of Compton, California, enters the contest. You guessed it. Dunk wins and decides to take his younger cousin Drew on the exploration of a lifetime. Follow along as Duncan, Drew, and the other winners (including a wannabe hippie who brings his parrot as his guest as well as an aging actress and her equally washed up boyfriend) travel toward the moon. Do they succeed? You’ll have to read the book.
Enraptured Felicity (Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series)
Enraptured Felicity (Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series)
Enraptured Felicity, Love Poetry that Casts You into a Hypnotic Lyrical Trance, is a love poetry book that gives the reader a free pass to their heart’s amusement park so that they may get the thrill of their life on the rollercoaster of love.
Just like the sexy models on the cover, the poetry has an alluring glow that gains and maintains the reader’s attention. It’s like a foreplay session with a certain edginess to it that rubs the curiosity like a masseuse, and then the reader finds themselves right in the middle of a fantastical experience whereby literary ecstasy takes complete control.
Enraptured Felicity contains 86 private sessions in which the reader can experience lyrical love thirsts being quenched as well as poetic fixes being granted. With so much love poetry populating Marc Lacy’s vault, Enraptured Felicity is the perfect vessel through which love messaging can be channeled. Not only will this collection of poetry seduce the reader into giving up their precious attention; but it will lure them right to the edge and bam, hit them with a serious love message.
Enraptured Felicity (Clairvoyance – Poetic Vault Series)
Check out Enraptured Felicity – https://a.co/d/ezAleDZ
Download all 7 Poetic Vault Series Books Today!
https://www.amazon.com/Clairvoyance-Poetic-Vault-Series/dp/B0CC1Q89G8?ref_=ast_author_dp
Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young
The author of the award-winning thriller Anybody’s Daughter is back with an addictive read that tackles bullying and its devastating aftermath.
What Really Goes on Behind School Doors?
When the classroom is no longer a safe space for her child, a grieving mother is determined to seek justice for her bullied daughter. Enter hard-charging attorneys Angela Evans and Jenny Ungerman. From the very start, the two lawyers face more than an uphill battle.
An ambitious school principal is far more concerned about protecting her career than getting to the truth. She flat out denies any knowledge of the bullying and prefers to sweep everything under the rug. But just how low will she go?
As the battle enters the courtroom, the attorneys fight hard to expose the truth. But will a massive coverup hinder their quest for justice?
About the Author
Attorney and award-winning author Pamela Samuels Young writes fast-paced mysteries that tackle important social issues. Her thriller Anybody’s Daughter won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction. A former journalist, Pamela also writes sexy, sassy romantic suspense under the pen name Sassy Sinclair. Visit her website at http://www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.
Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes
“Garvey in the Dark is more than a beautifully crafted novel in verse. It’s a story that faces news headlines and captures the wild emotional roller coaster of the COVID-19 pandemic with honesty and courage. A must-read for young people who lived through the early days of the outbreak as well as those who will be curious about it in years to come.” —Kate Messner, New York Times bestselling author
“With deceptive simplicity, Grimes captures characters and emotions by wielding a poetic form—the tanka—with superb and superhuman strength, and the result is a beautiful and brilliant book about how faith, grace, and familial love can help us triumph over adversity…” —Padma Venkatraman, Walter Award-winning author of The Bridge Home
Capturing the shock and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through the eyes of Garvey, a beloved character, Nikki Grimes’s newest novel in verse shows readers how to find hope in difficult times.
Garvey’s finally happy—he’s feeling close to his father through their shared love of music, bullies are no longer tormenting him, and his best friends Manny and Joe are by his side. But when the schools, stores, and restaurants close because people are getting sick, Garvey’s improved life goes into lockdown as well. And when Garvey’s father gets sick, Garvey must find a way to use his newfound musical skills to bring hope to both his father and himself. Moving, powerful, and beautifully told, this remarkable novel shows readers how even small acts have large reverberations, how every person can make a difference in this world, and how—even in the most difficult times—there are ways to reach for hope and healing.
Nikki Grimes is a New York Times bestselling author who has won the ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to young adult literature, the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She has also received several ALSC Notables, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, Coretta Scott King Author Honors, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors, a Printz Honor, and a Sibert Honor.
Girl Get Up! – 21 Day Devotional by Temeka Davis
Girl Get Up!: 21 Day Devotional and Journal by Temeka Davis
Girl Get Up is a 21-day devotional and journal that will encourage, inspire and motivate you to Get Up!
Get up and go get everything God has for you! Girl get up and get moving! Get up and pray!
You have dreams, goals and visions that you need to work on. There’s a journal included in the back of the book for you to write down things as God speaks to you.
Get up and start that business. Get up and go back to school. Get up and move!
Her Last Breath by Dan Padavona
Her Last Breath (Wolf Lake Thriller Book 1 of 10 in Series) by Dan Padavona
He’s hunting a psychopath. And now the killer wants him dead.
After he’s shot in the line of duty, Detective Thomas Shepherd returns to Wolf Lake to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Living beside the water, he finds peace…until the body of a missing woman washes up on his shore and the town blames a teenage boy with a history of violence.
Is a killer stalking the sleepy resort village?
Thomas isn’t convinced the teenager committed murder. Challenging a village that wants justice at any cost, he pursues the real killer as evidence mounts against the teenager. If he fails, an innocent boy will go to prison.
Can Thomas clear the boy’s name before he becomes the killer’s next victim?
Hold You Down: A Novel by Tracy Brown
Hold You Down is an edgy novel from rising star Tracy Brown about the perils of love and the ties that bind…
New York City. Late 1980s to early 1990s.
Mercy and Lenox Howard have always only had each other. Growing up on the mean streets of Harlem with an absentee mother meant that they had to have each other’s backs. Now young, smart mothers they are determined to survive in New York City while raising their two sons, who have bright futures ahead of them.
Mercy is the quiet, straight laced hospital administrator, struggling to make ends meet. At night and on weekends, she pours her heart into her cooking and her dream of owning her own restaurant. Lenox is the diva, the wild child, looking for excitement and her big come up in life and love. Their boys, Deon and Judah, have been raised more like brothers than cousins, forging a bond that is unbreakable.
When Lenox heads down a path that she believes will bring success and power, it changes the entire course of her life and her family’s life forever. As a result of their mother’s choices, cousins Deon and Judah soon find themselves in uncharted territory.
Homecoming Chaos by Dominique Brooks
Homecoming Chaos by Dominique Brooks
Jamison Jones Scott has been out of the country and out of contact with most of her family for four years. Distraught, she had left the states previously to join a physicians’ relief organization after canceling her wedding and turning down a cushy job offer.
Now Jamie is back. It’s a homecoming where she is unsure of her family’s reception—especially her mother’s—and she walks into a murder mystery at her family’s business and a big birthday soiree. While trying to navigate her return and learning more about this case, she runs into a tall, handsome detective who is working to solve the mystery and who finds her a sexy challenge even when she interferes.
Can Jamie survive the chaos and protect her family’s business, deal with her family, and handle the dance with the hot detective without managing to get herself killed?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKXNZJ7H?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzsanklite-20&creativeASIN=B0CKXNZJ7H&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.12S9MRAGH2VIY&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin
Josephine Baker’s Last Dance by Sherry Jones
From the author of The Jewel of Medina, a moving and insightful novel based on the life of legendary performer and activist Josephine Baker, perfect for fans of The Paris Wife and Hidden Figures.
Discover the fascinating and singular life story of Josephine Baker—actress, singer, dancer, Civil Rights activist, member of the French Resistance during WWII, and a woman dedicated to erasing prejudice and creating a more equitable world—in Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.
In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones brings to life Josephine’s early years in servitude and poverty in America, her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt, her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington, to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century comes to stunning life on the page.
With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings this remarkable and compelling public figure into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor, a powerful woman who continues to inspire today.
Kairos: The Perfect Time for Love by Natasha D. Frazier
Listen to this amazing Women’s History Month interview with Natasha D. Frazier on BAN Radio Show with Ella D. Curry – http://tobtr.com/s/10676309. We discussed living The Life Your Spirit Craves and how often times God calls you to step into your purpose but you hesitate and hinder others from enjoying the gift of it.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… Ecclesiastes 3:1
Kensi Jacobson believed in that truth with all of her heart, but when she’s up for a promotion for her dream job as assistant editor-in-chief of The Big Apple Chronicle, she hits a roadblock. She put in the work and trusted God for what she believed was her season of elevation, but her boss’ idea of a promotion was to send her to Pepperton, TX for another assignment. This new assignment pairs her up with a handsome widower, Darren Shaw, who helps her learn that delay and disappointment can sometimes become a catalyst for something greater.
Seemingly burdened with the fact that she is the only one in her circle who isn’t married with children and a career that isn’t headed in the direction she planned, she begins to wonder when her time and season are coming.
Will Kensi learn that Kairos – God’s perfect timing, is much more powerful than Chronos – her chronological timetable, and trust that things will fall into place at the right time? What begins as a crush to her ego and life plan may become the perfect time for love and everything else she’s wanted.
About the Author
Natasha’s first book, The Life Your Spirit Craves won the Readers’ Choice Award in 2013 at the Christian Literary Awards. Her second book, Not Without You: 365 Days in the Lord’s Presence was nominated for the Henri Award.
Love, Lies and Consequences was nominated for the Henri Award as well and won the Readers’ Choice Award in 2015 at the Christian Literary Awards. For book releases, contests and events, please join her mailing list via her website at www.natashafrazier.com
Natasha writes to inspire readers to become all they were created to be and encourage them in their daily walk with God. Whether devotional or fictional, she desires to leave a legacy to inspire readers to take their lives to the next level.
Born and raised in Greenville, MS, Natasha graduated magna cum laude from Jackson State University with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and from Texas A&M University with a Masters of Science in Accounting. Natasha has since earned her CPA license and worked in both public accounting and the federal government. Natasha is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Houston Area Alumni Chapter of Jackson State University.
Natasha resides in Houston, TX with her husband, Eddie and their three children: Eden, Ethan, and Emilyn.
Love Like It’s Hot!
Love Like its Hot! Celebrates Independence Day – a day celebrated around the country – and will never be seen quite the same as six of today’s contemporary, nationally best-selling romance authors bring the heat in this box set filled with unique stories of impassioned love and intense romance! The Fourth has never been hotter – be sure to Love Like its Hot!
Love Like It’s Hot! is a searing, sensuous box set featuring stories of love and romance from six of today’s hottest contemporary romance writers! Each story surrounds the Fourth of July holiday, bringing passion and heat to life. This box set abounds with smart, witty, and loving characters these authors are known for and their readers have come to expect.
The featured writers for this BLISTERING e-box set are: Ann Clay, Barbara Keaton, Deatri King-Bey, Donna Hill, Nicki Night and Xyla Turner.
#UnWrappedLit: Heat at First Sight by Barbara Keaton
Listen to a reading from the book – http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/Ch9WVxrX
#UnWrappedLit: Sweet Heat Rising by Nicki Night
Listen to a reading from the book – http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C7tk5HLX
#UnWrappedLit: Love For Liberty by Ann Clay
Listen to a reading from the book – http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/Cpwj43WX
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Love, Lies & Fight by Terri D and Julie Bellatrix
Love, Lies & Fight by Terri D and Julie Bellatrix
What do you do when the love is gone? The lies are revealed. You Fight.
Valerie appeared to have the perfect family life while suffering in silence to formulate her escape plan. When a past indiscretion is revealed will she have the courage and strength to move on and what will get in her way? How will she find the ability to trust anyone again?
Joy is a successful therapist who has helped dozens of addicts over the years. When she decides to take on virtual clients including Valerie, she gets a little more than she bargained for including having to learn to face her own past.
Love, Lies & Fight is an emotionally charged story of how helping others through their pain and issues is sometimes exactly what we need. Listen to a reading from the book, go here.
Purchase Love, Lies & Fight by Terri D and Julie Bellatrix
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Lies-Fight-Terri-D/dp/0983188769
Genre: Contemporary Fiction; Women’s Fiction; Women’s Psychological Fiction
MIAMI BEAT – TV Series Written by Frederica P. Burden
MIAMI BEAT – TV Series Written by Frederica P. Burden
Welcome to Miami! Beneath its sun-kissed beaches and clear blue skies lies a city that truly comes alive when dusk falls. As darkness envelopes the city, Miami nights pulse with tantalizing temptations, drawing even the noblest souls into its seductive depths. For Sidney, this truth is all too real.
Sidney, a young and spirited woman, is not just in Miami to chase her dreams. She has a purpose, a burning ambition, that she guards closely. The tragic loss of her father to police brutality when she was just a child became a turning point, hurling her family into a spiral she is determined to reverse. But as determined as Sidney might be, her heart remains her greatest vulnerability. Torn between two love interests, her choices could either lead to her salvation or her undoing.
Marcus Mystic, the man who has Sidney’s heart, grapples with shadows of his own. His estranged wife, Vondra, blinded by her longing for a love once shared, is relentless. Vondra will do anything, even commit the unspeakable, to reclaim Marcus and the life they once had. Marcus now stands at a crossroads, with choices that not only impact his life but that of Sidney as well. As Police Chief, Mystic is caught in a web of love, ambition, and danger, especially with Vondra posing a constant threat to Sidney’s life.
The story takes a shocking turn when Sidney’s brother, Randy Jr., unveils the dark truths about Marcus Mystic and his unfathomable crimes. Faced with this revelation, Sidney’s heart battles her mind, torn between love and a haunting reality. Can Marcus, despite his newfound authoritative position, sway Sidney before time runs out? Could he be responsible for robbing Sidney of her first love? And where does Sidney’s other suitor stand amidst this chaos? Could he be the key to avenging her father’s untimely demise?
Delve into the enigmatic world of Miami Beat. It’s a tale that meanders through the complex lives of lifelong friends, the deep-rooted corruption within the Police Department, and the devastation it wreaks on unsuspecting families. In the end, some will find redemption, while others will be left with blood on their hands.
TV Series: MIAMI BEAT
Creator: Frederica P. Burden
Genre: Action/Drama/Thriller
Format: 45-60 min per episode
Production Company: Relentless Media LLC.
MIAMI BEAT – TV Series Written by Frederica P. Burden
Watch a sample: https://youtu.be/3vpCxlHUcwE
THE BOOK SERIES
Miami Beat: The Secret Society by Frederica Burden
Welcome to Miami! When the sun-kissed beaches and clear blue skies fade into the darkness things really heat up. Miami nights give way to tantalizing temptations that can excite and coerce the darkness out of even the best of us.
Sidney is learning this the hard way.
A young, vibrant woman, Sidney is on a mission to pursue her dreams. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Sidney also has a goal and she will stop at nothing to see it through.
Losing her father to police brutality at a very young age became the catalyst in Sidney’s life, setting her family on a spiral that she desperately tries to end. Once an Explorer in the police department, she learned a great deal about law enforcement, which she intends to use to bring her father’s killers to justice.
The only thing standing in her way is her heart. There are two love interests in Sidney’s life and she’s forced to choose.
Will her choice lead to happiness or her destruction?
Purchase your copy of Miami Beat: The Secret Society at https://a.co/d/dGRUrBv
Murder: Secrets Among Colleagues by Dr. Shauntey James
Murder: Secrets Among Colleagues by Dr. Shauntey James
Prestigious faculty members at Mill Run University vie for a position to work on a national grant that will make a difference in all their careers. Secrets, lies, and cutthroat resentment stemming from graduate school dominate tenuous relationships between faculty, administration, and students, especially as tensions rise with an impending sexual misconduct hearing.
What length will a faculty member go to gain membership on the research team, earn tenure, achieve higher status, or even cover up a secret?
Is murder the only viable option?
Who can be trusted? Who is telling the truth? And how does one’s past impact future goals? See if you can figure out who has the motive to kill.
About Dr. Shauntey James
Dr. Shauntey James received her Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in 2000 in sociology with an emphasis in criminology, criminal justice, and feminist theory. Dr. James received her J.D. in 2014 from Thomas Cooley Law School. In law school, Dr. James was on the National Mock Trial Team, became certified in mediation, and worked in the Ingham County Probate Court and Estate Planning Clinic. Her teaching experience has enabled her to present on the local, state, and national level. Her most distinguished honor was being an Oxford Round Table Delegate. Presently, her research focuses on women, gender identification, and sexual assault.
My Government Means to Kill Me: A Novel by Rasheed Newson
The debut novel from television WRITER/PRODUCER OF THE CHI, NARCOS, and BEL-AIR tells a fierce and riveting queer coming-of-age story following the personal and political awakening of a young, gay, Black man in 1980s New York City.
“Consistently engrossing.” —New York Times Book Review
“Full of joy and righteous anger, sex and straight talk, brilliant storytelling and humor… A spectacularly researched Dickensian tale with vibrant characters and dozens of famous cameos, it is precisely the book we’ve needed for a long time.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Earl “Trey” Singleton III arrives in New York City with only a few dollars in his pocket. Born into a wealthy Black Indianapolis family, at 17, he is ready to leave his overbearing parents and their expectations behind.
In the city, Trey meets up with a cast of characters that changes his life forever. He volunteers at a renegade home hospice for AIDS patients, and after being put to the test by gay rights activists, becomes a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). Along the way Trey attempts to navigate past traumas and searches for ways to maintain familial relationships—all while seeking the meaning of life amid so much death.
Vibrant, humorous, and fraught with entanglements, Rasheed Newson’s My Government Means to Kill Me is an exhilarating, fast-paced coming-of-age story that lends itself to a larger discussion about what it means for a young gay Black man in the mid-1980s to come to terms with his role in the midst of a political and social reckoning.
Night Wherever We Go: A Novel by Tracey Rose Peyton
A gripping, radically intimate debut novel about a group of enslaved women staging a covert rebellion against their owners.
On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys—as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself—have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.
Now each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe.
Visceral and arresting, Night Wherever We Go illuminates each woman’s individual trials and desires while painting a subversive portrait of collective defiance. Unflinching in her portrayal of America’s gravest injustices, while also deeply attentive to the transcendence, love, and solidarity of women whose interior lives have been underexplored, Tracey Rose Peyton creates a story of unforgettable power.
Passport Wife by Terri D.
Passport Wife takes you beyond the fairy tale behind the scenes straight to my journals. Here is my story about how when I stopped looking for it love found me. It’s been quite the journey and all along I’ve been asking myself how did I end up here?
Terri D’s three children have always been her inspiration to push to get to the next level. Terri D. writes as a way to express herself and to document her inner most feelings. Terri D. published her debut novel titled Yesterday’s Lies in 2011. She has since released four more novels and had a poem published as a part of an Anthology of poems about love. Her sixth novel, Passport Wife is a memoir.
Purchase Passport Wife by Terri D.
Genre: Memoir > Relationships
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPVRVW9
Listen to a reading from the book: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C701VWxX
Play to Win: A Novel by Jodie Slaughter
Jodie Slaughter’s latest rom-com, Play to Win, is a sizzling romance where a winning lottery ticket is meant to be a new start but instead becomes a second chance at love.
Miriam Butler’s life is going nowhere in the slowest, most excruciating way possible. Stuck in the same barely-paying job she’s had since she was sixteen and spending every night sleeping in the spare twin bed in her mother’s house, her existence might be hilarious if it wasn’t so bleak. One trip to her favorite Quickie Mart upends everything when she finds herself the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Unfortunately, not even life-altering roses come without their painful thorns. Hers just so happen to be in the form of an estranged husband who has the right to claim his share of her money.
It’s been eight years since Leo Vaughn has had a conversation with his wife. When she calls out of the blue, practically begging him to come back to Greenbelt, the last thing he expects her to tell him when he gets there is that she’s come into a whole heap of money. She offers him a life-changing proposition of his own. Take a lump sum, finally sign the divorce papers, and be done with her for good. Only, a forever without her is the last thing Leo wants. So he gives a proposition of his own. One that won’t cost her nearly as many millions, but will buy him the time to do the one thing he’s been hungry to do since he left — win her back.
Purple Lotus: A Novel by Veena Rao
“The dazzling tale of an Indian-American woman finding her way through the labyrinth of tradition to self-awareness in the modern world. The writer employs an energetic prose style interspersed with melodic passages to make the writing itself a hybrid. Set in particular times and places, Purple Lotus nonetheless appeals to readers everywhere, especially women, to claim the full measure of their human rights. A vivid and resplendent novel for our time.”―Elaine Neil Orr, critically acclaimed author of Swimming Between Worlds
Tara moves to the American South three years after her arranged marriage to tech executive Sanjay. Ignored and lonely, Tara finds herself regressing back to childhood memories that have scarred her for life. When she was eight, her parents had left her behind with her aging grandparents and a schizophrenic uncle in Mangalore, while taking her baby brother with them to make a new life for the family in Dubai.
Tara’s memories of abandonment and isolation mirror her present life of loneliness and escalating abuse at the hands of her husband. She accepts the help of kind-hearted American strangers to fight Sanjay, only to be pressured by her patriarchal family to make peace with her circumstances. Then, in a moment of truth, she discovers the importance of self-worth—a revelation that gives her the courage to break free, gently rebuild her life, and even risk being shunned by her community when she marries her childhood love, Cyrus Saldanha.
Life with Cyrus is beautiful, until old fears come knocking. Ultimately, Tara must face these fears to save her relationship with Cyrus—and to confront the victim-shaming society she was raised within.
Intimate and deeply moving, Purple Lotus is the story of one woman’s ascension from the dark depths of desolation toward the light of freedom.
Razorblade Tears: A Novel by S. A. Cosby
A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father’s criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.
One of Barack Obama’s Recommended Reads for Summer • New York Times Notable Book • NPR’s Best Books • Washington Post’s Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year • TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books
Sankofa: A Novel by Chibundu Onuzo
Named a Best Book of the Month by Entertainment Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar, and Time • Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Month by Goodreads, PopSugar, PureWow, LitHub, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and Buzzfeed
A woman wondering who she really is goes in search of a father she never knew—only to find something far more complicated than she ever expected—in this “stirring narrative about family, our capacity to change and the need to belong” (Time).
Anna is at a stage of her life when she’s beginning to wonder who she really is. In her 40s, she has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother—the only parent who raised her—is dead.
Searching through her mother’s belongings one day, Anna finds clues about the African father she never knew. His student diaries chronicle his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. Anna discovers that he eventually became the president—some would say dictator—of a small nation in West Africa. And he is still alive…
When Anna decides to track her father down, a journey begins that is disarmingly moving, funny, and fascinating. Like the metaphorical bird that gives the novel its name, Sankofa expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present to address universal questions of race and belonging, the overseas experience for the African diaspora, and the search for a family’s hidden roots.
Examining freedom, prejudice, and personal and public inheritance, Sankofa is a story for anyone who has ever gone looking for a clear identity or home, and found something more complex in its place.
Seeds of Deception by Arlene L. Walker
A clash between Cherokee Indians and their former African slaves comes to a head in the tribal town of Feather Falls.
On the same day Sput Louie McClendon is evicted by reviled town tycoon Goliah Lynch, her husband mysteriously vanishes. Has he fallen prey to bushwhackers or timber thieves? Or is Lynch behind his disappearance?
Alone and desperate, Sput Louie turns to town elder Two Bird for help, but with racial tension between the two factions, are his intentions pure?
As Sput Louie’s frantic search for her husband intensifies, she stumbles onto a dark twisted family secret – one that could not only have devastating implications for her, but the entire town of Feather Falls.
Reviews for Seeds of Deception by Arlene L. Walker
“Seeds of Deception has characters you’ll love, a plot that pulls you in and twists you’ll never see coming.”
— Pamela Samuels Young, author of Anybody’s Daughter and Abuse of Discretion, NAACP Image Award winner
“Hypnotic prose, vivid characters. I was blown away. A masterful first novel.”
— Dwayne Alexander Smith, author of Forty Acres, NAACP Image Award Winner
“I wish I could go back and meet all her characters again. Haven’t stopped thinking about them yet. Easily one of my favorite reads this year.” — Lisa Bobbit, reviewer, ReadInColour.com
“Ms. Walker’s writing is uninhibited and honest.”
— C. Knight, Book-a-licious Book Club
Song Below Water by Bethany C Morrow
Song Below Water by Bethany C Morrow
Teen & Young Adult › Science Fiction & Fantasy
Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water is the story for today’s readers ― a captivating modern fantasy about Black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today’s racism and sexism.
In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers.
Meanwhile, Effie is fighting her own family struggles, pitted against literal demons from her past. Together, these best friends must navigate through the perils of high school’s junior year.
But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice at the worst possible moment.
Soon, nothing in Portland, Oregon, seems safe. To save themselves from drowning, it’s only Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable sisterhood that proves to be the strongest magic of all.
“It’s beautiful and it’s brilliant.”–Jason Reynolds, #1 New York Times bestselling author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
“An enthralling tale of Black girl magic and searing social commentary ready to rattle the bones.” ― Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles
Stella Knox FBI Mystery Series by Mary Stone
Killer Smile (Stella Knox FBI Mystery Series Book 1) by Mary Stone
If looks can kill, a smile can be deadly.
Special Agent Stella Knox became an FBI agent to find the dirty cops responsible for her father’s murder and make them pay. But fresh out of Quantico, her first case has her seeking justice for a different victim—three of them, in fact.
The bodies of three teenage boys have turned up in a sleepy town outside of Nashville, TN. There’re no fingerprints, no DNA, and very little to connect the murders, except for a smiley face drawn in blood near two of the bodies. But why only two? The case makes zero sense, and the questions outnumber the answers.
Are the crimes related? Could it be the work of one calculating serial killer, or are they looking for three separate assailants?
One thing Stella knows for sure: someone is threatening the teenagers of small-town Cherry Farms, and they aren’t finished. As she and the team race against the clock to stop the nightmare that has descended upon this rural community, Stella has one more question…who will be next?
Enigmatic and gripping, Killer Smile is the first book in the new Stella Knox Series by bestselling author Mary Stone and Stacy O’Hare—a nail-biter that will make you wonder just how safe small towns really are.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.
With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.
Sweet Baby Mine by Maria Daversa
“My whole life I’ve wanted someone to believe in me, to believe I was worthy of love. I never thought that someone would be me.”
~Quote from Sweet Baby Mine
“Why is it all the bad things we’ve done in the past never stay in the past?”
Ana will do anything to hold on to Tony. He’s the love of her life–the Heathcliff to her Catherine, the Rivera to her Kahlo, the Sid to her Nancy. Without him, she’s nothing.
But Ana also has a secret–a youthful indiscretion that shouldn’t have happened. So, when her estranged daughter, Chloe, calls in the middle of the night to say she wants to come home, Ana finds herself caught in a web of deceit as mother and daughter share a secret so troubling it could destroy her marriage.
Set in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, Sweet Baby Mine is an adult coming of age tale about the collateral damage left behind when a marriage fails spectacularly. Told in real time and from the perspectives of the two main characters: Ana and Tony, the story documents the toll secrets, lies, betrayals, and mental illness can have on a couple who once believed they’d found in each other true love.
The tale is brutal, oftentimes heartbreaking, but always hopeful as it never deviates from its message. On the road to self-discovery, you will eventually learn that no matter what anyone says—no matter what flawed message you believed about yourself growing up, you are a good person and deserving of love.
A dark psychological drama, Sweet Baby Mine is unputdownable.
The Caged Butterfly by Marian L. Thomas
A new fiction book written by Award Winning Author, Marian L. Thomas, will no doubt spark fresh debate on the alarming trend of young women who have engaged in skin bleaching.
The book, The Caged Butterfly, is a fictional story that follows three characters as they navigate life’s often rocky terrain in search of hope, courage, and forgiveness. One of the main characters, Nina Taylor—is convinced that having white skin is the only way to make it successfully in the entertainment industry and thus begins bleaching her skin to hide her black heritage.
The Caged Butterfly by author Marian L. Thomas is the heartrending story of the Mayfield/Taylor family spanning four generations ranging from the 1930s-1990s. While the character-driven plot touches on relevant social issues such as child abuse, racism, skin bleaching, and suicide, ultimately it is a story of love and forgiveness.
The book begins with Addie Mayfield’s loving letter to her unborn child which plays a central theme throughout the plot. As the story unfolds, the reader is introduced to Addie’s mother, son, and granddaughter: Millie, Timmy, and Nina. Alternating between the cities of Georgia, Chicago, and New York, and told through first-person narratives by each character, the plot follows the family’s history, relationships, triumphs, and sorrows. The book emphasizes self-acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption regardless of life’s hardships.
Marian L. Thomas Seducing the Pen Virtual Author’s Tour
https://www.smore.com/sbzet-the-caged-butterfly-book-tour
THE CAGED BUTTERFLY explores the depth of family secrets, personal triumphs, and deeply rooted sorrows– while asking the question, What does it mean to love the skin you’re in?
Addie Mayfield. On one autumn night in 1949, Addie falls for the irresistible red curls and vibrant green eyes of a young man from the other side of the railroad tracks. Neither knowing that the consequences of their love would have lasting effects.
Timmy Taylor. Known as one of the greatest white jazz pianists in New York, Timmy never had a reason to question his identity – until truth and betrayal strike. Will Timmy be able to push past the pain?
Nina Taylor. Beautiful and talented, Nina Taylor inherited her father’s talent, but not his white skin. Certain that’s how he made it big, she dives deep into a deadly obsession. Will Nina learn to love the skin she’s in before it’s too late?
Get immersed in this epic tale that spans across four generations and three states–Georgia, Chicago, and New York.
Award-Winning Author and Speaker, Marian L. Thomas, has penned five women’s fiction novels to date. Her books have been seen on national television stations such as the Oprah Winfrey Network, Ovation, and the A&E Network. She has been featured in print magazines, newspapers and a guest on local, national and online radio stations.
For her book, I Butterflies, Marian ranked among the top 100 Most Popular Authors in Literary Fiction on Amazon. She spent most of her teen years in Oak Park, Illinois, but now resides in a suburb of Atlanta with her husband. She enjoys a good bag of popcorn, a plate full of pasta, and a grape pop.
The Caged Butterfly will be available in paperback, hardcover, and digital formats. The author will conduct book signings for the novel at Barnes & Noble bookstore. For further details, visit http://www.marianlthomas.com.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
Octavia E. Butler meets Marvel’s Black Panther in The Deep, a story rich with Afrofuturism, folklore, and the power of memory, inspired by the Hugo Award–nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’s rap group Clipping.
Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
The Deep is “a tour de force reorientation of the storytelling gaze…a superb, multilayered work,” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and a vividly original and uniquely affecting story inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping.
The Dictionary of Lost Words: A Novel by Pip Williams
“A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book
Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.
As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.
Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story.
The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Book 1 of 2: The Gilded Ones
“A dark feminist tale spun with blood and gold. Must read!” –Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.
The start of a bold and immersive fantasy series for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther.
The Housemaid: Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden
“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.
But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.
They don’t know what I’m capable of…
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!
The Island of Missing Trees: A Novel by Elif Shafak
Winner of the 2022 BookTube Silver Medal in Fiction * Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction
“A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. Balm for our bruised times.” ―David Mitchell, author of Utopia Avenue
A rich, magical new novel on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love.
Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited— her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.
A moving, beautifully written, and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history, and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet.
The Juju Girl by Nikki Marsh
The Juju Girl by Nikki Marsh – Reading Age 14 – 18 years
Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy
A Normal Girl. A Paranormal Gift. A Cryptic Mystery. A Dangerous Enemy.
Gabbie isn’t like other 15-year-olds. She sees things others can’t see. She hears things others can’t hear. She pierces the veil that separates the living from the dead.
When the Great Storm of 1893 rips her from her humble home on the banks of the Mississippi, it thrusts her into the dazzling world of New Orleans’ Creoles of Color High Society. It’s a world of debutantes, balls, and handsome young men in uniforms.
Superstition, mystery, magic, and conjure make of the very fabric of daily life. It counts both holy men of God and practitioners of the Dark Arts among its most honored denizens.
It’s here Gabbie learns her supernatural powers are part of something greater. But, she wants nothing to do with it.
Will that change when a malevolent ghost threatens the lives of those she loves or will it take an ill-fated romance? What will she learn on her journey of self-discovery? Will she find the courage to finally become the person she was born to be?
Winner of the 2022 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award for the best self-published eBook in fiction by an African American author.
The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Pulitzer-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s new historical page-turner is a great American tale of race and war, following three characters from the Jim Crow South as they face the enormous changes World War II triggers in the United States.
Could you find the courage to do what’s right in a world on fire?
An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman’s life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese . . . a young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war . . . a black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion.
Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone’s mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed?
Publishers Weekly Editorial Review for The Last Thing You Surrender
Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, turns again to America’s fraught history of race relations in this unflinching, gritty WWII saga. It centers on a trio of finely drawn characters, two black and one white, all from Alabama, whose worlds collide because of Pearl Harbor.
Marine Private George Simon—wealthy, religious, white—survives the sinking of his ship because Eric Gordy, a black messman, rescues him. Eric dies, and while George recuperates, he pays a condolence call on Eric’s widow, Thelma. She and her brother, Luther Hayes, a bitter alcoholic, are living with the memory of their parents’ lynching 20 years earlier.
George and Thelma begin a correspondence after he returns to active duty; she takes a job in a shipyard. Luther, deciding this is a white man’s war, tries to evade the draft but ends up serving with a tank battalion in Europe. George endures horrific conditions in the Pacific as Thelma faces growing racial hostility at work, culminating in a brutal moment of violence that compels her to make a difficult decision.
While remaining true to his characters, Pitts brings the story lines to realistic conclusions even as he holds out hope for the future, resulting in a polished, affecting novel.
About the Author
Leonard Pitts, Jr. is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who pens one of the most popular newspaper columns in America, weighing in twice weekly on controversies of race, gender, politics and popular culture. He is the author of a series of critically-acclaimed novels, including “Freeman,” “Before I Forget” and his latest, “The Last Thing You Surrender.” Website: http://leonardpittsjr.com
The Last Thing You Surrender by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Thing-You-Surrender-Novel/dp/1572842458
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-thing-you-surrender-leonard-pitts-jr/1128941167
The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
Book 2 of 2: The Gilded Ones
The epic, hotly anticipated sequel to the instant bestseller The Gilded Ones about a girl with the power to remake her world—or destroy it.
“Fans of Children of Blood and Bone, Mulan, and the Dora Milaje from Black Panther are going to adore [The Gilded Ones].”—BuzzFeed
It’s been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is… but war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera—a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop.
Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera… or if she might be its greatest threat.
The Merciless Ones is the second thrilling installment of the epic fantasy series in which a young heroine fights against a world that would dare tame her.
The Perfect Stranger by Charlotte Byrd
The Perfect Stranger (5 Book Series) by Charlotte Byrd
From USA Today Bestselling Author Charlotte Byrd comes a twisted dark second-chance romance about a secret billionaire, second-chances and escaped prisoner identities.
After a few bad relationships, I have given up on love until a man from my past shows up on my doorstep and puts a knife to my throat. He doesn’t want me to know his real identity because then I would get involved and try to protect him. What I don’t yet know is that taking this chance will lead me to an adventure of a lifetime and a love that I will never forget. But what happens when the authorities start to close in? What if we can’t prove his innocence?
****
A man breaks into my home and puts a knife to my throat. Who is he? What does he want? He takes a step closer and I realize that I know him. I haven’t seen him in years but I’ve never stopped thinking about him.
He is dark, rich and powerful and he has a secret. Anger rushes through me.
Who does he think he is coming here? But when I open my mouth to yell at him, our lips touch and I can’t pull away…
Young love doesn’t last forever but neither of us ever forgot each other. What I didn’t know, however, was that he had spent the last few years serving time for a murder he didn’t commit. He found a way to escape from prison and came to see me, the one person who could help. But what if I can’t?
From 1.5+ million books bestselling author Charlotte Byrd comes an extra steamy romance featuring forbidden love, second-chances, and secret billionaire identity. This complete series ends with a happily ever after.
The Secret Women: A Novel by Sheila Williams
The author of Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, now a Netflix film starring Alfre Woodard, returns with a riveting, emotionally rich, novel that explores the complex relationship between mothers and daughters in a fresh, vibrant way—a stunning page-turner for fans of Terry McMillan, Tayari Jones, and Kimberla Lawson Roby.
Elise Armstrong, Carmen Bradshaw, and DeeDee Davis meet in a yoga class. Though vastly different, these women discover they all have one thing in common: their mothers have recently passed away. Becoming fast friends, the trio make a pact to help each other sort through the belongings their mothers’ left behind. But when they find old letters and diaries, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee are astonished to learn that each of their mothers hid secrets—secrets that will transform their own lives.
Meeting each month over margaritas, the trio share laughter, advice, and support. As they help each other overcome challenges and celebrate successes, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee gain not only a better understanding of the women their mothers were, but of themselves. They also come to realize they have what their mothers needed most but did not have during difficult times—other women they could trust.
Filled with poignant life lessons, The Secret Women pays tribute to the power of friendship and family and the bonds that tie us together. Beautiful, full of spirit and heart, it is a thoughtful and ultimately uplifting story of unconditional love.
The Violin Conspiracy: A Novel by Brendan Slocumb
Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world.
Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.
When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place.
Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.
The Woman in My Home by Kerry Fisher
I was starting to believe it might be my turn for the fairy tale. A man who adored me, someone to return to at the end of the day and to share my life with. And Rebecca. Capable, reliable Rebecca who could help me to manage my busy home…
Finally, Cath has met someone: a man she loves, Robin, and who adores her in return. And after years of managing fine on her own, running a successful business, raising her son, and caring for her elderly mother, she feels she deserves some happiness. And who better to provide it than charming, fun-loving Robin?
She expected everyone to be delighted for her. But her friends and family are suspicious of Robin. And Rebecca, a desperate single mother who Cath has hired as a live-in housekeeper, doesn’t trust him either. He’s too slick, he’s too perfect and it all happened too fast… how well does Cath really know him?
Cath is used to taking care of herself; she’s nobody’s fool. But when things start to go wrong in the house that’s been her haven for all these years, she’s forced to ask herself whether the man she loves is really what he seems… And having let Rebecca in to every part of her life, is Cath ready to face the secrets she might find there?
From the Amazon charts bestselling author of The Silent Wife and The Woman I Was Before, The Woman in My Home is a gripping read about family secrets and lies. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.
They Come in All Colors: A Novel by Malcolm Hansen
2019 First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
An “urgent and heartrending novel about an America on the brink” (Matt Gallagher, author of Youngblood), They Come in All Colors follows a biracial teenage boy who finds his new life in the big city disrupted by childhood memories of the summer when racial tensions in his hometown reached a tipping point.
It’s 1968 when fourteen-year-old Huey Fairchild begins high school at Claremont Prep, one of New York City’s most prestigious boys’ schools. His mother had uprooted her family from their small hometown of Akersburg, Georgia, leaving behind Huey’s white father and the racial unrest that ran deeper than the Chattahoochee River.
But for our sharp-tongued protagonist, forgetting the past is easier said than done. At Claremont, where the only other nonwhite person is the janitor, Huey quickly realizes that racism can lurk beneath even the nicest school uniform. After a momentary slip of his temper, Huey finds himself on academic probation and facing legal charges. With his promising school career in limbo, he begins to reflect on his memories of growing up in Akersburg during the Civil Rights Movement—and the chilling moments leading up to his and his mother’s flight north.
With Huey’s head-shaking antics fueling this coming-of-age narrative, the novel triumphs as a tender and honest exploration of race, identity, family, and homeland, and a work that is “emotionally acute…eye-opening and rewarding for a wide range of readers” (Library Journal, starred review).
Raves & Reviews
“An urgent and heartrending novel about an America on the brink. With force, Malcolm Hansen writes about race, identity and the fleeting deceptions of youth.”
—Matt Gallagher, author of Youngblood
“This is a voice so honest and alive it feels like a stranger whispering a confession in a dark room. Malcolm Hansen’s novel is a prodigious debut of a rare literary talent.”
—Mat Johnson, author of Loving Day and Pym
“In They Come in All Colors, Malcolm Hanson is not writing about saints or monsters, just vivid human beings. And does so with humor and insight.”
—Victor LaValle, award-winning author of The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom
Two Steps Past the Altar by Patricia A. Bridewell
Pharmaceutical sales representative, Sasha Edmonds, is a motivated high-flyer with a stellar track record at Wexel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Being the top sales rep and having a fiancé who loves her is more than she could ever imagine. But it’s not enough. Her obsession with climbing the corporate ladder is the number one goal that she strives to reach by any means necessary. Until she learns that her mother requires a new medication for her life-threatening medical condition.
When she discovers that her fiancé, Damien Taylor, may be cheating, she breaks off their engagement. In the midst of healing, she becomes captivated with Wesley Dunbar, a wealthy pharmaceutical businessman that may hold the cure for her mom and Sasha’s wounded heart. Although she attempts to resist Wesley’s romantic overtures, his charm, status, and kindness open a window of opportunities to consider.
While Damien tries to woo her back into his life, her involvement with Wesley becomes complicated. A surfeit of lies and deception causes a web of mixed emotions as she struggles to help her mom and determine whether Damien or Wesley is the real love of her life.
We Lie Here: A Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall
A woman’s trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things.
TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.
The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.”
But the next day is already too late for Felicia, whose body is found floating in Lake Palmdale. Before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998. What secrets was Felicia hiding? How much of what Yara knows about her family has been true?
The deeper Yara digs for answers, the more she fears that Felicia was right. Uncovering the truth about what happened at the cabin all those years ago will change Yara’s life—or end it.
“In We Lie Here, Rachel Howzell Hall gives us a tight, lean, eye-level look at the Gibson family—flawed, normal, abnormal, and each affected by a deadly secret left buried for years—while weaving a page-turning tapestry of dread, cold-blooded murder, and nail-biting tension. What a ride. What a wonderful writer. More, please.” —Tracy Clark, author of the Chicago Mystery series
“Rachel Howzell Hall continues to shatter the boundaries of crime fiction through the sheer force of her indomitable talent.” —S. A. Cosby, author of Blacktop Wasteland
Well Behaved Wives: A Novel by Amy Sue Nathan
Well Behaved Wives: A Novel by Amy Sue Nathan
Perfect wives, imperfect lives, and upending the rules of behavior in 1960s America.
Law school graduate and newlywed Ruth Appelbaum is acclimating to life and marriage in a posh Philadelphia neighborhood. She’ll do almost anything to endear herself to her mother-in-law, who’s already signed up Ruth for etiquette lessons conducted by the impeccably accessorized tutor Lillian Diamond. But Ruth brings something fresh to the small circle of housewives—sharp wit, honesty, and an independent streak that won’t be compromised.
Right away Ruth develops a friendship with the shy Carrie Blum. When Carrie divulges a dark and disturbing secret lurking beneath her seemingly perfect life, Ruth invites Lillian and the Diamond Girls of the etiquette school to finally question the status quo.
Together they form an unbreakable bond and stretch well beyond their comfort zones. For once, they’ll challenge what others expect from them, discover what they expect from themselves, and do whatever it takes to protect one of their own—fine manners be damned.
Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias
A lush and lyrical debut novel about a Costa Rican family wrestling with a deadly secret, from rising literary star John Manuel Arias.
Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s most lucrative banana plantation burning all evidence of a massive cover-up, the future of Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family is changed forever.
Now, twenty-seven years later, Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the pieces. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa, but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that fateful night. Teresa, haunted by a missing husband and the bitter ghost of her mother, Amarga, is unable to reconcile the past.
What unfolds is a story of a mother and daughter trying to forgive what they do not yet understand, and the mystery at the heart of one family’s rupture, steeped in machismo, jealousy, labor uprisings, and the havoc wreaked by banana plantations in Central America.
Brimming with ancestral spirits, omens, and the anthropomorphic forces of nature, John Manuel Arias weaves a brilliant tapestry of love, loss, secrets, and redemption.
John Manuel Arias is a queer, Costa Rican-American poet and writer. He is a Canto Mundo fellow & alumnus of the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. His prose and poetry have been published in PANK, The Rumpus, F(r)iction, Joyland Magazine, and Akashic Books. He has lived in Washington D.C., Brooklyn New York, and in San José, Costa Rica with his grandmother and four ghosts. Where There Was Fire is his debut novel.
Women Lie Men Lie by A. Roy Milligan
Women Lie Men Lie: A Gritty Urban Fiction Novel by A. Roy Milligan
JC is an ex-convict. In a city hit hard with recession, women with money are his new hustle. But when his new gig lands him in a sordid love triangle, will he survive and come out unscathed?
JC is thrust into the perils of a city without prospects. That is, unless he wants to go back to crime and dealing drugs.
Poor and faced with the reality of urban decay, JC needs to find a way out. But recession has a choke hold on the city. Crime, larceny, and street violence are rampant. It seems he doesn’t have a choice until he finds his footing, a means out of the dangers of street life.
JC’s new game is supreme, second to none. He will use his street ways to win the hearts of unsuspecting women. Gullible women with money are his new hustle! A hustle that requires a licentious tongue. One that could pierce the soul and capture any heart.
But for every king of spades there’s a queen in waiting, and Diamond is that queen. She’s JC’s equal in every way. Once JC’s partner in crime, she’s grown to become a woman spoiled by men and riches.
The duos dangerous game, however, soon reaches a crossroads. A steamy love triangle threatens everything they’ve worked for, throwing them into a tangle of deception and sordid lies.
Women Lie Men Lie is an original urban tale plotted and told like none other. Each breath taking page will leave you wondering what’s next!