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.

Anthony: Unshackled by Joan Vassar

Joan Vassar’s captivating Black series picks up on the gritty streets of New York City during the height of the Civil War. Anthony, mired in pain and still reeling from the death of his best friend, travels to Manhattan on an errand for the legendary Black. Once the task is complete, he finds himself at a brothel specializing in dark women.

When circumstances lead Anthony to steal a young woman from the infamous Hen House, he forever changes the course of his life and the lives of the people of Fort Independence. Fresh out of options, Anthony is forced to seek assistance to right the wrongs his actions have caused. Black comes to his aid and the men ride out to keep peril away from the fort.

Anthony: Unshackled is a gripping tale of redemption, love and liberty. Join Joan Vassar, Black and the men on yet another nail biting, heart-pounding journey.

 

Anthony: Unshackled by Joan Vassar
Download here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087DXP39B

 

Books In The BLACK Series (4 Books)
Download here:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074CJGBRD

 

 

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.

 

Books in the Hallelujah Love Series by Lutishia Lovely

Sex In The Sanctuary (Hallelujah Love Series –  Book 1) by Lutishia Lovely  

As first lady of Kingdom Citizens Christian Center, Vivian Montgomery has it all: a beautiful home, lovely children, and a pastor husband who makes her shout hallelujah–and not just in church. There’s no doubt Pastor Montgomery has a healthy appreciation for the Lord and for the pleasures of the flesh, namely his wife’s flesh. If only Vivian’s best friend, Tai, was so blessed. . .

A first lady herself, Tai’s husband, King, is pastor of Mount Zion Progressive Baptist Church. But with two affairs under his belt, Tai wonders just what “progressive” means. In fact, she strongly suspects her husband is at it again. Now, she can follow her mother-in-law’s example and threaten to shoot any would-be-husband-stealing floozies, or she can take Vivian’s advice and listen for God’s instruction.

But Tai’s husband isn’t the only one fighting temptation. . .

About Lutishia Lovely

Lutishia Lovely is the best-selling award-winning author of almost thirty novels, including romances penned by her alter-ego, Zuri Day. In addition to the wildly popular HALLELUJAH Series (formerly Hallelujah Love), Ms. Lovely has a trilogy about a soul food dynasty called THE BUSINESS, and a thrilling threesome of romantic suspense, the SHADY SISTERS Trilogy.

Prior to becoming a full-time author, Lutishia enjoyed many different careers. They all, however, had one thing in common – a link to the “world of words”. From radio personality to actor to managing editor and senior writer for a holistic magazine,words have always been the magic that made her world turn.

One claim to fame that would probably most surprise readers is that Lutishia was a rap artist! In the 90s she billed herself as “The Rhaptress” (the combination of a rapper and an actress), and toured with other singers and musicians throughout southern CA and London. While she’s happy to beat out a rhythm on her computer keyboard…songs in the key of “writer” – one that she hopes will inspire and entertain – she recently pulled out her songwriter, producer and rap cap to pen and produce the title soundtrack to A Date With Destiny, the 9th Hallelujah installment and her latest release!

View all of the books in the series, click here.

Bound by Passion by Makayla Smyles

Breanna Lee moved away from Brooklyn, New York, to escape her gossiping neighbors and quarrelsome family. But most importantly, she left to escape the memories of her son’s father, Munda Young. Breanna and Munda were a match made in heaven. Then one day he disappeared without any warning while she was carrying their unborn child. Now, years later, Bre is a striving social worker and a full-time mom living in Savannah, Georgia, where she’s dating Charles Long, a man who loves her completely. Their relationship is filled with emotions, and their passion is explosive. Just when everything is perfect in Bre’s world, an unexpected visitor shows up and turns her world upside down.

Munda wants his family back, and he will do anything to win Breanna’s heart once again. While truths unfold, Breanna and Munda become closer, and old emotions resurface. They rediscover an intense sexual relationship and a raw passion that they cannot ignore. Breanna is emotionally torn between two lovers. She knows she must make a choice. It’s a difficult decision when she craves the erotic pleasures of both men. Breana is totally happy with having her cake and eating it too.

Bound by Passion is an erotic tale of love, the importance of family and friendship, and the unbelievable heights love can take one to, but who will Breana choose?

Capital Sins by Cheryl Mattox Berry

Lust…Betrayal…and Dirty Deals

Savvy newswoman Jan Malone finally earns a coveted anchor spot at a Washington, D.C., television station when unforeseen circumstances turn her world upside down.

To regroup, she and her best friend Kelly Mahoney take an adventurous African vacation where they meet wealthy businessman Abdou Nyassi. He and Jan begin a hot and heavy romance that has him talking marriage.

Jan’s socially connected mother does some digging and gets a tip about Abdou that sets off alarms. Her warning prompts Jan to put her investigative skills to use.
Soon, Jan unravels a nefarious plot that thrusts her into a world of crime, corruption, and political deceit. She turns to Kelly and street hustler Darius Hooks for help, but will their motives be pure?

CAPITAL SINS exposes dark truths about ambition, greed, and human nature.

Casting the First Stone by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Readers and critics alike can’t resist New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby’s beloved Reverend Curtis Black series. Now the classic novel that introduced the trials and triumphs of a church family and their congregation is available in a beautiful new edition—and includes a letter from the author.

Tanya Black has everything a woman could want: a fulfilling career, a beautiful daughter, an elegant home, and a handsome, charismatic husband who is pastor of a prominent Baptist church. And yet, none of it can hide the growing turbulence in her marriage.

Her husband, Reverend Curtis Black, once a loving, devoted, and passionate partner, has grown remote, and Tanya is thrown into doubt about what she once cherished. When she uncovers disturbing truths, confirming scandalous rumors about Curtis, she questions all that she’s ever believed in.

But it is when Tanya is dealt the worst kind of betrayal a woman can face that her life is changed forever. Plunged into a bittersweet journey of discovery, she finds herself learning painful new lessons about love, loyalty—and sensual temptation—and is forced to make some very hard decisions for her daughter, herself, and her future.

 “Roby writes with high-octane levels of emotion.” —USA Today
 
“Roby is the queen of redemption.” —RT Book Reviews

Closer To You by Sheryl Lister

Located an hour away from San Diego, the small town of Blackmont, California is known for its peaceful surroundings and majestic lakes. However, secrets and danger lurk just below the surface. And some secrets could prove to be deadly.

Love may be a distraction neither of them will live to enjoy…

When Zahra Chandler unexpectedly inherits her grandfather’s small-town home and bookstore, she jumps at the chance to leave LA. There’s just one problem: she also, unknowingly, inherits a long-buried secret that someone would go to any lengths to protect, including murder. The only thing standing between her and a killer is the town’s arrogant, but irresistibly sexy sheriff—a man who ignites in her a passion she’s never felt.

Kendall McKnight takes his job as sheriff seriously and is always prepared for anything…except his instant attraction to newcomer Zahra. As they’re drawn together in their search for clues, protecting her becomes less about civic duty and much more about carnal desire and he’s in danger of losing the one thing he vowed never to risk again—his heart. But the threat is closer than they realize and the truth, when revealed, could tear them apart forever.

Purchase Closer To You by Sheryl Lister

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Mystery

Amazon: http://bit.ly/CloserToYouSL

Find all of the information, graphics and excerpts on the author’s Seducing the Pen Tour page: https://www.smore.com/shbwd-books-by-sheryl-lister

Sheryl Lister is a multi-award winning author and has enjoyed reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She is a former pediatric occupational therapist with over twenty years of experience and resides in California.

Sheryl is a wife, mother of three daughters and a son-in-love, and grandmother to two special little boys. When she’s not writing, Sheryl can be found on a date with her husband or in the kitchen creating appetizers.

See all of Sheryl’s published books by visiting her books page.
http://sheryllister.com/books-published

Dangerous Consequences by Lisa Renee Johnson

Dangerous Consequences by Lisa Renee Johnson


“Hold on for the ride of your life…with unimaginable consequences.” –Mary B. Morrison

Debut author Lisa Renee Johnson delivers an edgy, sexy novel about a man who has it all—until one night changes everything…

Dubbed the “ Sex Doctor” on his local radio show, psychologist Donathan James advises callers on their sexual issues. With his gorgeous and brilliant neurosurgeon wife, Sydney, at home and women flirting with the hot doctor everywhere he goes, Donathan is living the high life. But when he wakes up naked and drugged in a hotel room, with no memory of the evening before, the doctor suddenly has problems of his own.

Soon, Donathan’s sexy stalker is sending him photographic evidence of what they did that night, turning up in his office to rant about her unstable past, and demanding they meet again and again. All Donathan wants is his life back—and for his wife not to find out. But when the relentless stranger goes too far, it leads him to discover his beloved wife has secrets of her own. Now, to save their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. James will have to hold on tight to survive the bumpiest ride of their lives.

 

 

Lisa Renee Johnson is an author, foodie and closet mixologist! After co-founding and running a book club for almost two decades, Lisa Renee took the plunge into the world of fiction writing with her debut novel Dangerous Consequences. Lisa Renee also captured the country’s attention with the hashtag #laughingwhileblack that ignited a media firestorm and prompted global conversations about race, power, privilege and bias.

In addition to writing, Lisa Renee, a self-proclaimed Sunshineologist, created the I Got Sunshine movement to inspire women to define success and happiness on their terms. A true sunshine girl at heart, Lisa Renee was born in Florida, reared in Texas and now resides in Northern California with her family. Her highly anticipated follow-up novel Surviving the Chase, will hit the shelves soon. Visit her online at www.lisareneejohnson.com.

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.

 

 

ELBERT: THE UNCAGED MIND (The Black Series Book 2) by Joan Vassar

Canada, 1860—While on a mission for Black, Elbert notices the lovely Anna Baker for the first time. Unable to think of much else, he leaves Canada to pursue the beauty that has captured his thoughts.

Anna is unnerved by the man with the lifeless eyes, who is relentless and forward in his approach. She offers nothing of herself to the intimidating stranger, but fate has a different plan.

When Anna is assaulted by slave catchers on the streets of Boston, Elbert finds his manhood tested to the limit. He steps in to help, but the consequences prove devastating, and both are sold into bondage. As Anna learns the horrors of slavery, she comes to understand there is more to the foreboding stranger than meets the eye.

Elbert and Anna manage to escape—with the help of the legendary Black. But freedom is not enough to satisfy Elbert’s bruised ego. He wants the pound of flesh owed, and he will stop at nothing to collect.

The Uncaged Mind is a passionate story of love and healing despite the ugly backdrop of slavery. Native New Yorker Joan Vassar is an avid storyteller who enjoys weaving a great tale.

 

 

Emancipating James by Joan Vassar

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.

Joan Vassar is now an Author on BookBub

Embers on the Wind: A Novel by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg

The past and the present converge in this enthralling, serpentine tale of women connected by motherhood, slavery’s legacy, and histories that span centuries.

In 1850 in Massachusetts, Whittaker House stood as a stop on the Underground Railroad. It’s where two freedom seekers, Little Annie and Clementine, hid and perished. Whittaker House still stands, and Little Annie and Clementine still linger, their dreams of freedom unfulfilled.

Now a fashionably distressed vacation rental in the Berkshires, Whittaker House draws seekers of another kind: Black women who only appear to be free. Among them are Dominique, a single mother following her grand-mère’s stories to Whittaker House in search of an ancestor; Michelle, Dominique’s lover, who has journeyed to the Berkshire Mountains to heal her own traumas; and Kaye, Michelle’s sister, a seer whose visions reveal the past and future secrets of the former safehouse―along with her own.

For each of them, true liberation can come only from uncovering their connection to history―and to the spirits awaiting peace and redemption within the walls of Whittaker House.

 

Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel by Victoria Christopher Murray

Gabrielle Wilson has the perfect life: a Beverly Hills mansion, a loving family, and a massively successful PR firm. When her father admits that an affair he had years before resulted in a daughter, Gabrielle is shocked, but is actually happy. Could this be the sister she has been praying for all her life?

Keisha Jones’s life is a struggle. Her late mother worked on the streets, and school was its own nightmare. When Gabrielle offers to fly Keisha out of Arkansas to meet the family, Keisha instantly agrees. But Gabrielle doesn’t realize that Keisha has known about the Wilsons for years. Keisha is determined to have everything she has always envied, and nothing can stand in her way.

Read the First Chapter

Praise for ENVY

“[Envy] captures the drama of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills while also bringing this well-developed work of urban fiction to a satisfyingly redemptive conclusion.”
Booklist

Praise for LUST

“Murray has penned hot, steamy scenes in which her protagonist’s imagination runs wild, followed by the consequences of her realizing her dangerous dreams. A jarring twist at the end has the reader wondering who the good guys really are.”
Booklist (starred review)

“Murray mixes quite a bit of passion, a touch of treachery, and some good old-fashioned revenge.”
Library Journal

“A topsy-turvy tale of passion on steroids.”
Essence Magazine

Greed: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel by Victoria Christopher Murray

Passion, money, and a deliciously devious twist: Greed is the newest novel in award-winning author Victoria Christopher Murray’s Seven Deadly Sins series—“the drama of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (Booklist)—and soon to be a Lifetime movie.


You can’t put a price on love…

Zuri Maxwell isn’t happy. Her job is a grind, and money is always tight. Her boyfriend Stephon is the best part of life, but between his income as an artist and her commission-based paycheck, they are barely scraping by.

When Zuri meets a sleek entrepreneur eager to pick her brain, she jumps at the chance to talk business with someone who has everything she wants. As he wines and dines her, Zuri starts moving in elite circles, and she faces a crossroads: Will she give up the stable, loving life she knows for one that glitters, but may not be gold?

The Seven Deadly Sins 3 Books…3 Movies…Coming to TV on Lifetime!

 

Read the entire Seven Deadly Sins series at: https://amzn.to/2T7BMW7

Lust: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 1)
Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 2)
Greed: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 3)
Wrath: A Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 4) by Victoria Christopher Murray, coming Dec 1, 2020

Her Passionate Promise: Women Of Park Manor by Sheryl Lister

Her Passionate Promise: Women Of Park Manor by Sheryl Lister

Order your copy today: http://bit.ly/HerPassionatePromiseRGP

After kissing one frog too many, Kathi Norris is content to remain unattached. But her well-ordered plans are turned upside down the moment she meets Eric Dawson. The skillful attorney by day and soulful musician by night, fires her up in more ways than one. The closer she gets to him, the more she realizes he’s her prince charming …if he can let go of his past.

Eric risked his heart, only to see his world shattered by tragedy and betrayal. He’s spent years running from relationships, but with Kathi’s tender embrace and sultry kisses, Eric finds her hard to resist. He’ll have to come to terms with his deepest hurts to win her trust and claim a love that promises forever.


Be sure to order the other books in the anthology. They can be read in any order.

Her Forbidden Fantasy: bit.ly/HerForbiddenFantasyRGP

Her Essential Love: bit.ly/HerEssentialLoveRGP

Her Little Secret: bit.ly/HerLittleSecretRGP

Her Undeniable Distraction: bit.ly/HerUndeniableDistractionRGP

Explore Books by Sheryl Lister
https://www.smore.com/shbwd-books-by-sheryl-lister

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

 

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, Honor, Betray by Mary Monroe

Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers the latest thrillingly scandal-filled novel in her Depression-era saga of a church-going lady and her oh-so-upstanding husband racing to cover up their many sins—and gambling on one scheme too many. . .

With mysterious serial murders putting peaceful Lexington, Alabama, on edge, Jessie and Hubert Wiggins’ steadfast calm and devotion to each other reassures everyone that faith will see them through. But Jessie and Hubert have paid a terrible hidden cost to maintain their devout facade and respectable standing. Nothing can allay the guilt they feel—or stop the growing distrust between them . . .

Hubert thought he and his secret lover, Leroy, could continue seeing each other on the down-low in peace. But when Leroy’s ex-wife moves back in with him, a heartbroken Hubert is driven to distraction trying to keep Jessie in the dark—and quell his mounting jealousy. And his need for satisfaction is driving Hubert to reckless extremes—and desperate risks. . .

Jessie believes the struggles between her and Hubert will all be worth it if she can connive him to finallyconsummate their marriage—no matter what she has to do. But his erratic behavior and her frustration soon has her trying yet another new lover, who is as charming as he is unreliable—and unexpectedly dangerous. . .

Now with their secrets out of control—and the police perilously near—Jessie and Hubert discover who might be behind the deaths plaguing their town. But can they risk a pursuit that could expose their own web of lies? When their only choice pits them and their suspicions against each other, their next move will either bury their deceptions deep for good—or reveal the one truth they can’t escape.

 

 

 

 

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

 

Love’s Sweet Kiss (Sassy Seasoned Sisters Book 1) by Sheryl Lister

Nzinga Carlyle has finally gotten her life together after her divorce and is happily single. However, the moment she sees her teen crush at her high school reunion, old feelings start to rise. Nzinga isn’t sure she’s ready to move forward, although she can’t deny the attraction between them. And after one sweet kiss, she has to decide how far she wants the relationship to go.

Byron Walker can’t believe his good fortune when he runs into the woman who stole his teenage heart. Once he realizes their chemistry is still explosive, he vows not to let Nzinga get away a second time. Circumstances forced them apart over thirty years ago, but Byron intends to show her they were always meant to be.

Loving You by Jessica Tilles

Sixteen years ago, Julian knew he would marry Grace the first day they met. He imagined living and loving his Gracie forever, never anticipating the unexpected would occur. Now, Julian’s struggle to come to terms with the inevitable battle of losing the love of his life pushes them both beyond physical and emotional pain.

Loving You is a gut-wrenching story of unconditional love that shows how one can go beyond living for the moment to enable a deeper value of an innate love beyond the surface.


Listen to reading from the book: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C8w8HL8X

 

 

About the Author

Jessica Tilles is publisher, speaker, and an award-winning, best-selling author of ten books: Anything Goes, In My Sisters’ Corner, Apple Tree, Sweet Revenge, Fatal Desire, Unfinished Business, Erogenous Zone: A Sexual Voyage (an anthology), Loving Simone (a 2013 Black Expressions® Book Club Best Seller), Crossing Sisters, and Loving You. She also penned a short story, “Julian’s Grace,” in The Triumph of My Soul Anthology, and co-authored No One Has To Know with critically acclaimed, Essence® bestselling author William Fredrick Cooper. In addition to penning her own novels, she has written many books as a ghostwriter under http://www.LiteraryGhostwriter.com.

In 2000, Jessica founded TWA Solutions and Services (formerly The Writer’s Assistant), a full service, creative design firm offering services in graphic design, book design, web design, editing, book/self-publishing, packaging/branding and ghostwriting. Her design skills have garnered her the Best of Upper Marlboro in Graphic Design Services Award in 2015.

In 2006, Jessica opened her publishing company, Xpress Yourself Publishing, to talented authors, growing her roster to more than eighty authors. In 2008, she received the prestigious title of Independent Publisher of the Year awarded by the African American Literary Awards Show.

In addition to her many accomplishments, Jessica is a staff writer for Black Men In America.com. She has contributed the article “Third Shift Blues” to Black Romance Magazine, is the recipient of the Memphis Black Writer’s Guild’s Rising Star award, the Jackson, Mississippi Reader’s Clubs’ Outstanding Contributor to Literature award, and is listed in Heather Covington’s Top 100 Literary Divas. Jessica resides in Maryland with her furbabies: Piccachu, Chelsea, and Chanel.

Lust: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel by Victoria Christopher Murray

From the NAACP Image award winner and national bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray, a novel inspired by the seven deadly sins about a woman caught between an entertainment mogul with a shady past and his childhood friend who is out for revenge.

Tiffanie has lived a sheltered life in a very strict household with her pastor-grandfather and grandmother in Washington, DC. But when she meets Damon King, she falls for the successful entertainment business man despite his history as a drug dealer. Everyone sees nothing but the brightest future for the couple—but there’s one person who wants to destroy them.

Trey Johnson is Damon’s childhood best friend with whom he built quite a successful drug business. But when the game got hot and Damon decided to leave, Trey stayed and continued to sell drugs, until he was arrested and spent seven years in prison.

But now he’s out and able to attend the wedding. While Damon is thrilled to have Trey back and hopes to bring his best friend into his business, Trey has other plans. He blames Damon for his demise and plans to ruin him, even if that means bringing Tiffanie down as well.

Trey is sure he will succeed, but he doesn’t know that there will be deadly consequences. And at the end, there will only be one man standing…

Man of the Year by Caroline Louise Walker

Beware the Man of the Year. You may praise him, resent him, even want to be him: but beneath the elegant trappings that define him, danger looms.

 

Caroline Louise Walker’s stunning debut novel, for fans of Herman Koch’s The Dinner and Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door, delves into the increasingly paranoid mind of a man whose life as the most upstanding of citizens hides a relentlessly dark heart.

Dr. Robert Hart, Sag Harbor’s just-named Man of the Year, is the envy of his friends and neighbors. His medical practice is thriving. He has a beautiful old house and a beautiful new wife and a beautiful boat docked in the village marina. Even his wayward son, Jonah, is back on track, doing well at school, finally worthy of his father’s attentions. So when Jonah’s troubled college roommate, Nick, needs a place to stay for the summer, Hart and his wife generously offer him their guest house. A win-win: Jonah will have someone to hang with, and his father can bask in the warm glow of his own generosity.

But when he begins to notice his new houseguest getting a little too close to his wife, the good doctor’s veneer begins to crack. All the little lies Robert tells—harmless falsehoods meant to protect everything he holds dear—begin to mount. Before long, he’s embroiled in a desperate downward spiral, destroying the lives that stand in his way. It’s only the women in his life—his devoted office manager, his friends, his wife—who can clearly see the truth.

Biting and timely, Man of the Year races along at an electric pace, with a wicked twist that you won’t see coming.

 

Book Review

“This is THAT book. You know the one I’m talking about…the one hidden under your teetering should-read, have-to-read, said-I-would-read-months-ago pile. The one you grab at the end of the day because, damnit, you earned this deliciousness, and it reminds you of why you loved reading in the first place. Not only because it’s a blisteringly intelligent, breathtaking debut, drenched with a masterful understanding of human nature, brimming with twists, surprises, suspense and razor sharp language, but because it’s witty and hilarious and also – long lost thing – the book is a blast to read: it’s fun. So go grab a copy and disappear yourself, I’ll understand completely.” — Erica Ferencik, author of The River at Night

 

Caroline Louise Walker grew up in Rock Island, Illinois. For her fiction and nonfiction, she has received fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, The Kerouac Project, and Jentel Arts. She holds an MA from NYU. Man of the Year is her first novel.

 

Memphis Blues by Cheryl Mattox Berry

Set in the powerful backdrop of the 1960s civil rights movement, Memphis Blues will test the loyalty and strength of three people whose dreams were deferred. Will the women and the handsome doctor who controls them find their true callings? If so, at what price?

Nadine was looking forward to getting her first real job, then starting a business. But when she finds herself pregnant before she even finishes high school, the young man’s mother forces them into wedlock. It was not the life she had planned.

Carrie also saw her plans for a better life derailed after a fling leaves her pregnant with twins. At the center of their angst is Cyrus, a man not yet ready to be a father…with his wife…or his girlfriend. Still, Cyrus manages to keep the two lives separate while coveting the life he really wants.

What’s Done in the Dark
Secrets don’t stay buried for long. Years later, when the three of them accidentally meet at a protest rally, everything changes. The fireworks that ensue suddenly alter the dynamic of these relationships forever.

Mine by Courtney Cole

Tessa was prepared for the hurricane. Lindsey was the storm she didn’t see coming.

When Tessa Taylor unlocked her husband Ethan’s iPad to discover nude photos from a twenty-six-year-old bombshell named Lindsey, her seemingly perfect life came to a screeching halt.

With a hurricane barreling toward Florida and Ethan stuck on a business trip, Tessa finds herself imprisoned in her own home with a choice to make: Does she ride out the storm until she can confront Ethan in person, or does she take matters into her own hands?

Increasingly restless and desperate for revenge, Tessa resolves to act. And when she lures Lindsey over a few hours later, there’s no turning back.

What ensues is a battle of wills between two well-matched opponents, blinded by love for the same man but driven by demons of their own. Like storm-ravaged Florida, neither woman will be the same when the skies clear.

He’s mine. Both wife and mistress would stake their lives on it. But only one of them can be right.

 

My Name Is Ona Judge by Suzette D. Harrison

New Hampshire, 1796. “My name is Ona Judge, and I escaped from the household of the President of the United States. I was the favored maid of George and Martha Washington, but they deemed me a slave and thought me property, and I hear ten dollars is offered as reward for my capture. Now I must write the truth that I have lived, and tell my story…”

Chincoteague, Virginia, present day. Rain soaks Tessa Scott as she runs from her car to the old, vine-covered property she has been called to survey. She’s too busy to accept a new job, but doing this favor for the grandmother of her childhood sweetheart delays a painful decision she must make about a future with her controlling boyfriend.

But when Tessa finds a tattered journal carefully hidden inside the house’s ancient fireplace, the tragic story of how Ona was ripped from her mother’s arms to live and work in the palatial Mount Vernon, and the heart-shattering betrayal that led her to risk her life and run, has Tessa spellbound. Could discovering this forgotten scandal at the heart of her nation’s history force her to confront her own story? As she races to reach the final page, will anything prepare her for the desperate moment when Ona’s captors find her again? Will it inspire Tessa to take ownership of her own life and set herself free?

A completely heartbreaking tale of love, loss and redemption, based on an astonishing true story from the founding of America. Perfect for fans of Before We Were Yours, Marie Benedict and America’s First Daughter.

 

 

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.

 

One Blood: A Novel by Denene Millner

One Blood: A Novel by Denene Millner
https://a.co/d/4Wh9zli

 

Inspired by her own adoption journey, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Denene Millner delivers a symphonic and emotionally transfixing epic set in pivotal moments in American history about three women with an indomitable spirit.

ONE BLOOD. THREE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN, LEGACY, AND SURVIVAL.

Join New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner as she explores the lives of three generations of women tied together by love, hope, dreams, ambition…and family secrets in this epic novel.

 

Meet Grace: raised by her beloved grandmother in tension-filled, post-segregation Virginia, Grace is barely a teenager when she loses her grandmother. Shellshocked, she is shipped up North to live with her formidably ambitious Aunt Hattie―a woman who firmly left behind her Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility. Feeling like a fish out of water in the high society world filled with fancy teas and coveted debutante balls, Grace’s only place of comfort is with the smart, handsome son of one of the society’s grand dames.

Meet Delores: beautiful, intelligent and fierce, Delores a.k.a. Lolo has never had it easy. Once she makes it north, she puts aside her dream of being a model to do what she has to do to survive as a woman with little money and no mooring: get married and have a family of her own. When secrets start to spill out and she and her family slowly begin to unravel, Lolo is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her dream intact and those she loves together.

Meet Rae: when Lolo’s headstrong daughter, Rae discovers that she is adopted, it’s just one secret among others that her family is keeping. When Rae finds out that she’s about to become a mother herself, she knows that there is an important reckoning that must be faced about herself and her two mothers.

Potent, poetic, powerful, told with deep love, and spanning from the Great Migration to the civil unrest of the 1960s to the quest for women’s equality in early 2000s, Denene Millner’s beautifully wrought novel explores three women’s intimate, and often complicated, struggle with what it truly means to be family.

Purchase One Blood here: https://a.co/d/2oeyw61
https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/one-blood/

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Saving Her Shadow by Lutishia Lovely

Lutishia Lovely is back and it’s a matter of life and death in this witty, wise new novel where family, fanaticism, and the rebel spirit of young adulthood collide . . .
 
When eighteen-year-old Raina Reed is given an ultimatum—her family or her first love—she chooses the latter, leaves the rigid cult community she’s grown up in and finds herself shunned, ex-communicated . . . ghosted. Not seeing her parents is tolerable. Raina is happy for more time with her sweet, talented boyfriend Bryce, and enjoys the freedom found in living with him, his free-spirited cousin, Jackie, and Jackie’s mom Valerie, a struggling attorney. But her heart breaks at the thought of not seeing her baby sister. Abby is ten years younger and they’ve never spent one day apart—until now.

While Raina embraces her new life, she can’t shake her concern about Abby, especially when a lingering illness worsens and her parents refuse to seek medical help. Raina is determined to break through the religious rules that stand in the way of her sister’s well-being. Drawing on her new family and support system, including chanting, angel-card reading Jackie, justice-seeking Valerie, loving Bryce—and his eccentric, praying grandmother—Raina finds her own kind of faith, one built on a love strong enough to move mountains . . .


Praise for the novels of Lutishia Lovely
 
“Vibrant characters, artful storytelling, and an original voice make Lutishia Lovely worth every moment.” —Donna Hill
 
“The scintillating brew of sex, faith and sharp humor will have Lovely’s fans breathless for more.” —Publishers Weekly on A Preacher’s Passion

Saving Raine by Marian L. Thomas

Saving Raine by Marian L. Thomas
Read more: https://a.co/d/2sEv9KS

Raine Reynolds stands at the crossroads of despair and opportunity.

When the life you’ve built crumbles and the past refuses to release its grip, sometimes you need a fresh start-a new beginning that promises hope and redemption.

Once a celebrated author, Raine’s life unraveled, sending her fleeing to the picturesque streets of Paris to escape the tormenting heartache that threatened to consume her. Yet, no matter how far she traveled, the pain remained her unwelcome companion.

Returning to bustling Atlanta as a senior VP for an ad agency, Raine is forced to confront a city steeped in memories she’d rather forget. But as life would have it, an old friend resurfaces, offering a glimmer of healing in the midst of her turmoil. Can she summon the courage to trust once more?

In a world where everyone yearns for the saving grace of love, Raine is no exception. Her story is a testament to the enduring human spirit, a reminder that a path to love can be found even in the face of the darkest storms.

  • Inspiring contemporary fiction
  • Stand-alone novel
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs

 

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

 

Something New: An Interracial Romance by Janie De Coster

Follow the journey of an interracial couple who are not only from different worlds but worlds that goes beyond the color of their skin. Tobias Benton- a handsome, white rich and successful businessman who is soon to inherit his father’s billion dollar company.

Tobias has been dating Sharon English, a beautiful and wealthy lady who owns several Art Galleries. From the world point of view, they are the Barbie and Ken couple who are destined to marry and have a wonderful life together that is until…

Brylane Robinson- a beautiful, bright and intelligent black sister who lives in the housing projects on the South side of Chicago, steps into the picture. Brylane fights for survival and a better life for herself in the hood.

One morning on her way to work, a handsome man literally runs into her. When their eyes met so did their hearts. Will Brylane and Tobias venture into Something New?

 

Something New: An Interracial Romance by Janie De Coster
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBCJVYQ

 

Something New 2: An Interracial Romance by Janie De Coster
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBCJVYQ

Fiction > African American > Women’s Fiction > Romance > Multicultural & Interracial

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.

 

 

 

Telling Stories by Cheri Paris Edwards

Sometimes life throws you a curveball…

Navigating middle-age is a challenge for 45-year old Genelle “Gigi” Golden. First the death of her mother, then her long time live-in boyfriend abruptly trades her in for a new model. Determined to restart her life Gigl packs her bags and heads to the Southwest. When things don’t go as planned, Gigi finds herself caught between the proverbial ‘rock and a hard place’; and an impulsive decision turns her life in an unexpected direction.

Then ex-military man Desmond Wright enters her life. Although physically changed by a skin disease it hasn’t dampened Desmond’s confidence or lessened his appeal to the opposite sex. But, Desmond’s life is complicated by an spoiled adult daughter, who treats his home like it has a revolving door, and a mother who won’t let him forget that he’s yet to find the love of his life. When things falls apart, Gigi discovers that true friends reveal themselves in the toughest times and that grace comes when you least expect it.

 

 

Telling Stories by Cheri Paris Edwards
Listen to a reading: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C2sNcFyX

 

About the Author

Cheri Paris Edwards is the author of four novels, including Plenty Good Room, which was praised by Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly. Edwards earned a Master’s in Composition and Rhetoric from Texas Woman’s University in 2014, and is a Doctoral Candidate in American Literature at the University of North Texas. She hopes to complete her dissertation, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine: Voices from the Other Side of the Color Line,  in early spring 2019.

She is an Associate Professor at Tarrant County College-Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas. Edwards is the mother of two adult sons, and lives with her toy poodle Mocha in the Best Southwest area of Dallas County.

The A List by J.A. Jance

In the next “devilish page-turner” (People) from New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance, Ali Reynolds learns that no good deed goes unpunished.
More than ten years after the abrupt end of her high-profile broadcasting career, Ali Reynolds has made a good life for herself in her hometown of Sedona, Arizona. She has a new house, a new husband, and a flourishing cybersecurity company called High Noon Enterprises, where her team of veritable technological wizards hunts down criminals one case at a time.

But the death of an old friend brings Ali back to the last story she ever reported: a feel-good human interest piece about a young man in need of a kidney to save his life, which quickly spiraled into a medical mismanagement scandal that landed a prestigious local doctor in prison for murder.

Years may have passed, but Dr. Edward Gilchrist has not forgotten those responsible for his downfall—certainly not Ali Reynolds, who exposed his dirty deeds to the world. Life without parole won’t stop him from getting his revenge. Tattooed on his arm are the initials of those who put him behind bars, and he won’t stop until every person on that Annihilation List is dead.

In this gripping suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author praised for her “inimitable, take-no-prisoners style” (Kirkus Reviews), Ali Reynolds and her team race against the clock to stop this ruthless killer—before her own name is crossed out for good.

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 Designated Ones: From Jerusalem to Ethiopia by Karen Sloan-Brown

It’s 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.

Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God’s promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years, beginning with Aaron, God’s designated high priest during the Exodus, and explores the line of designated ones through the times of King David, Solomon, the exile in Babylon, the crossing of the Arabian Desert into Saba, the migration across the Red Sea into Axum, the birth of Christ, and the lives of the generations that have followed.

In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger’s challenge?

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 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 Key to My Pain by Antoinette Davis

Have you ever shared your deepest darkest pain with someone you love and someone you thought loved you? 

The Key To My Pain takes place in Baltimore City in the early to mid-seventies, when racial tension is still high from the late nineteen sixty’s riots.The family of five are living just enough with Mr. Batchler being a police officer after leaving Vietnam and Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is a loving mother and wife to three aspiring sons.

Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is in love with her husband Rodney Batchler Sr.  He promised to give her the family she never had but always wanted but she didn’t know her dreams of a happy ever after would unlock doors she never dreamed of.

Rodney Batchler Jr. the eldest of the three sons, he wants to be a basketball superstar, Edwin Batchler wants to be an artist and the youngest of the three Corey is just trying to find himself.

Rodney Sr. runs his house like a jail and his family like a warden. Carolyn is forbidden to work because Rodney Sr. wants to keep her subservient and he controls his sons with pure fear.

Verbal, mental and physical abuse happens every single day in the Batchler home. There is not day Carolyn can open her eyes and enjoy the beauty of the sun nor the sound of the rain.  Rodney Sr. has single handedly  put her internal light out with abuse and now her sons are starting to look at their mother as weak, helpless and a fool.  The abuse is not limited to Carolyn, oh no. Rodney Sr. keeps his sons in line with the same mental, physical and emotional abuse he uses for his wife.


Experiencing abuse will and can lead you to the arms of people you think you can trust until the day that person unlocks the pain you gave them the key to. Love, Pain, Forgiveness and Hurt is all wrapped up in this 230 page novel.

Follow the journey of the Batchler family as they discover life through tainted vision.  The Key to My Pain is available as a paperback novel, on audiobook and Kindle Unlimited ebook.


Sample The Key to My Pain by Antoinette Davis


Read an excerpt and the author’s interview:
https://www.smore.com/3v8bp

Listen to a reading from The Key To My Pain:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C4rGnBPX

The Last Tribe of Levi: Richmond, Virginia by Karen Sloan-Brown

It’s 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.

Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God’s promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years.

In part three, The Last Tribe of Levi, her ancestors gain their freedom in Virginia. Her great- great-grandfather, Thomas Freeman begins to build on the legacy that she hoped to continue. Except her father won’t accept her calling to preach God’s word.

In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger’s challenge?It’s 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.

Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God’s promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years.

In part three, The Last Tribe of Levi, her ancestors gain their freedom in Virginia. Her great- great-grandfather, Thomas Freeman begins to build on the legacy that she hoped to continue. Except her father won’t accept her calling to preach God’s word.

In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger’s challenge?

 

 

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 Struggle: From Kenya to Jamaica by Karen Sloan-Brown

It’s 2014. Grieving the loss of family members and friends killed in a plane crash, renowned megachurch pastor Priscilla Sinclair sits on her patio, prepared to take her own life. But before she can end it all, a stranger shows up at her Virginia home and changes everything.

Trying to strengthen her faith, the stranger challenges Priscilla to lean on God’s promises and on the examples of faith left to her by her ancestors. He tells her a story she has never heard before. The story goes back over 3,000 years.

In part two, The Struggle, in the year AD 490, Priscilla’s ancestors battle in religious wars for 1000 years until the beginning of the Transatlantic slave trade. They are sold as slaves and shipped to a sugarcane plantation in Jamaica. Two hundred years later, Adam is sold and shipped to a tobacco plantation in Virginia.

In this thrilling journey through history, Priscilla is given a chance to go from failure to faith and live to fight another day. But will she accept the stranger’s challenge?

 

 

The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore

From the author of the bestselling The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues, an exuberant and poignant new novel of passions, family, and forgiveness

 

When a late life love affair blooms between Mr. Forrest Payne, the owner of the Pink Slipper Gentleman’s Club, and Miss Beatrice Jordan, famous for stationing herself at the edge of the club’s parking lot and yelling warnings of eternal damnation at the departing patrons, their wedding summons a legend to town. Mr. El Walker, the great guitar bluesman, comes home to give a command performance in Plainview, Indiana, a place he’d sworn―and for good reason―he’d never set foot in again.

But El is not the only Plainview native with a hurdle to overcome. A wildly philandering husband struggles at last to prove his faithfulness to the wife he’s always loved. And among those in this tightly knit community who show up every Sunday after church for lunch at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, are the lifelong friends, known locally as “The Supremes” ―Clarice, facing down her longing for, chance at and fear of a great career; Barbara Jean, grappling at last with the loss of a mother whose life humiliated both of them, and Odette, reaching toward her husband through an anger of his that she does not understand.

Edward Kelsey Moore’s lively cast of characters, each of whom have surmounted serious trouble and come into love, need not learn how to survive but how, fully, to live. And they do, every one of them, serenaded by the bittersweet and unforgettable blues song El Walker plays, born of his own great loss and love.

 


Listen to the Pearl Page audio showcase:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/C2NKkWYk

 

 

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.

 

To Find You by Cerece Rennie Murphy

Two Souls
One Desire
To Find Each Other…Again

How many times would you die to find your one true love?

The journey begins with Ama and Ekow ~ Two lovers betrothed, then torn apart by an enemy disguised as a friend. And in the midst of an unthinkable bargain, their freedom is sold for a bag of gold. But what their enemies thought would break them only unleashed a power greater than life itself.

From the ancient shores of Ghana to the streets of pre-colonial India, from the burning embers of Oahu to the heart of a nation’s capitol, their souls risked war, death, and betrayal to bend destiny to their will. Will they survive?  Will they succeed?  Join them on this timeless journey and see…

 

Touched by You (Wellspring Series) by Elle Wright

Unimaginable luxury. Longstanding wealth. A powerful family empire that controls the town of Wellspring, Michigan. But three heirs are done—with all of it. Now one by one, these very different siblings are seizing control of their lives . . . and daring to find real hometown love. 

Brooklyn Wells has fought her dominating father, CEO Parker Wells, every step of the way. Instead of taking her appointed place in the boardroom, she’s a social worker. Instead of living for diamonds and designer gowns, she helps her community’s poor and lost. And now she’s falling hard for the troubled newcomer who saved her life—and holds dangerous secrets . . .

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.

Two-Sided Heart by Patricia Anne Phillips

For Randal, it is love at first sight when he lays eyes on Leah. After a short, whirlwind romance, Leah leaves all she knows behind in New Orleans and moves to Savannah, Georgia to marry her newfound love, only to exist in secrets. Now seven years of bliss, Leah and Randal welcome beautiful, twin daughters—Leanne and Brooklyn. After several hours of intense labor, Leah falls madly in love with her babies. Randal, on the other hand, not so much.

With a heart of ice, Randal makes an unconscionable decision that changes Leah’s life forever and eventually determines his demise. After Randal being the breadwinner and taking care of everything, Leah now finds herself heartbroken, clueless, betrayed, and alone.

With only Brooklyn by her side, she embarks upon a new life, with Randal’s secret constantly haunting her. “Two-Sided Heart” is a mother’s worst nightmare.  Read an excerpt from the book.

 

Unfortunately Francine (Unfortunate Series Book 1) by Joan Vassar

Georgia, 1995–A gentle push from her sister causes Francine Adams to agree to one date with the handsome, Jalal Dorsey. When his ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, a perfect evening takes a turn for the worse. Blinded by humiliation and desperate to put distance between herself and the drama, Francine flees the upscale eatery. Unfamiliar with Atlanta, she wanders down a dark side street and encounters a series of unfortunate events.

Troy Bryant has spent seven years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Upon his release, he realizes the man he was before prison is gone. Now, he’s everything he was wrongfully accused of. After witnessing a young woman running from a restaurant in the heart of Atlanta, Troy follows her hasty retreat down an unlit side street, forever changing the course of both their lives.

Troy decides to keep her–no matter the cost, and Francine is forced to need the man who stole her from her life. Two souls collide, and a dark romance begins to bloom. Unfortunately Francine spins an erotic tale of anger, love and acceptance.

Unlawful Desires (Lawyers in Lust Book 1) by Sassy Sinclair

In this erotic suspense romance, sparks fly when a handsome lawyer falls hard for a smart, seductive woman who thinks like a man and acts like one too. Sparks fly when a handsome lawyer falls hard for a smart, seductive woman who thinks like a man and acts like one too.
Sharla Ratliff is done with having her heart broken. Her new dating rules are simple. No emotion. No expectation of commitment. Sex purely for her own physical enjoyment. Then she meets Marcel Dennard. The attractive lawyer has all the trappings of success: a thriving career, women at his beck and call, and enough money in the bank for the finer things in life.
Their lust for each other doesn’t just create sparks, it sets off explosions. The sexual attraction between them is so passionately erotic they behave in ways that can only be called reckless. After a shocking series of events place both of their careers in jeopardy, can they restrain their sexual desires long enough to keep everything they’ve worked for from going up in smoke?
Warning: For mature audiences only! You must be at least 18 years old to read.
2018 Emma Award Winner at the Romance Slam Jam Book Lovers Convention

BEST EROTIC ROMANCE: Unlawful Desires (Sassy Sinclair)

Unveiled by La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson

Attorney L. Morgan Franklin finds her well-ordered life at a prestigious New Orleans’ law firm turned upside down when her younger half-brother, Winston, dies of a heart attack in their small hometown of L’Ouverture, Louisiana. When it becomes evident Winston’s death may be a homicide, Morgan begins a search for answers that lead her to new discoveries and expose long-hidden secrets about the people she loves the most.

The mysteries of family, life, and love all converge in this story of one woman’s refusal to accept things as they appear.

 

Listen to a reading from the book: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CTbnBLTX

 

About Author La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson
La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson is a contributor to the award-winning Life Spices From Seasoned Sistahs anthology series and has also published work in Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women Write To The New First Lady, Sassy, Savvy and Bold After 50, Jubilee’s Journey an e-book, serial novel, and All The Women In My Family Sing edited by Deborah Santana.La Rhonda is co-founder of Ideate Publishing, LLC. Ideate’s debut project, an anthology of short stories by women writers titled Where’s My Tiara? was released in the fall of 2017. Unveiled, her first novel was released in 2019. Read more: www.ideatepublishing.com

 

Viral Xgressions: Tainted Souls, Hacked Spirits, Wretched Deals, and Flatlines (Whiskey House Trilogy Book 2) by Marc Lacy

Viral Xgressions (pronounced “transgressions”) is the second book of the Whiskey House Trilogy whose first book, Curse of the Whiskey House set the tone of the trilogy with a thunderous boom. Viral Xgressions picks right up where its predecessor left off with non-stop action, front to back drama, and “edge of your seat” anticipation of what’s taking place on the next page.

 

It is no mystery that Lazarus, Alabama truly needs Jesus. But with what went down at the whiskey house last spring, one would never hesitate to ask the question, “Why would Jesus even consider coming to Lazarus…period?” Lazarus Police Department and Hawthorne County Sheriff’s Office had their hands full with the cataclysm at the Hawthorne County Whiskey House. After having to deal with false prophets and violent death, a serious toll was taken on the Lazarus authorities and leadership. So by now all citizens of Lazarus and Hawthorne County definitely know, it’s not just an urban legend. “If you choose to enter the whiskey house, if you should ever come out, then your life will go south.” It doesn’t matter if a person is good natured, has good intentions, or is drama free.

 

Passage through the whiskey house produced a magnitude of tainting in the life of every bold soul who braved its interior. The misgivings of Mayor Samuel Justice have proven fatal as it was he who oversaw the treachery and deceit going on at the whiskey house. It was he who benefited financially as young men were drawn into that wicked whiskey house and losing their innocence.

 

Brock’s younger brother Pierre, and Brooklyn’s aunt, Destiny were the leading voices for their lost loved ones. The Taylors and Fontroys were practically at war with one another, naturally based on what happened to Brock and Brooklyn. Then, somehow, Pierre and Destiny fell in love. Together, they began to do what they could to quell the curse. Meanwhile, after having avoided the impact of all of the tragedy and mayhem, Mayor Justice was finally caught red handed and arrested. However, would this mean the curse would have officially ended? Well, not so fast, because according to the whiskey house prophecy, “If the seed shall live, three angels shall perish, and the children will be lost for generations to come. Plagued will be the land of the cursed seeds as one dead spirit roams.”

 

So welcome to present day Lazarus, Alabama. Back in the spring, if a person did not get murdered, violated, or incarcerated, they were immensely mentally impacted. Or in some regards, they may have been stricken with some sort of physical ailment. Either way, Lazarus and Hawthorne County have limped into the fall. And with severe budget issues, lack of leadership, and open wounds, one would have to assume that there would be many challenging days ahead for the area. Apparently, most people don’t seem to get it. When things happen in Lazarus, they occur at cataclysmic levels. If it seems like a curse, feels like a curse, and impacts like a curse, it’s probably a curse. However, in this day and age of “viral” occurrences, the last thing Lazarus needs is more transgressions running rampant through the city bearing semblance to that of an incurable virus.

 

Braxton Bradley a local paralegal, Pierre, Destiny, the Whiskey House Boys, and the former members of the Central Baptist Sisterhood managed to survive. They hold the key to putting an end to the vicious curse that originated in the whiskey house. But are they too war-torn and perhaps tainted to carry on? Or could Lucy, Black Abe’s lone surviving offspring assist in bringing an end to the curse? Maybe her boyfriend Romeo “Bo” Vega who just returned to Lazarus from Dallas, Texas could take a stab at it as well. One thing’s for certain, in Lazarus, Alabama, the devil does more wheeling and dealing than croupiers at a gambling casino.

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.

 

Wherever You Are (The Jacksons of Ann Arbor) by Elle Wright

Take a second chance on me…

Avery Montgomery created a hit show about her old neighborhood, but there’s one secret she can’t reveal: the reason she left town. Avery felt like an outsider in Dr. Elwood Jackson’s world, thanks to his brother’s disapproval. Elwood has never forgiven Avery for leaving. But when a crisis lands her in El’s emergency room, passion sparks hotter than before. Will it be too late for another chance at love?

Wrath: A Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 4) by Victoria Christopher Murray

The award-winning author of Lust, Envy, and Greed—soon to be Lifetime movies—delivers a passionate and unforgettable exploration of a marriage caught in the crossroads of rage.

When Chastity Butler and Xavier Owens first meet, they instantly connect over their shared dedication to activism. After all, Xavier is a civil rights attorney and Chastity uses her business degree to work with a local foundation that helps battered women. Together, they work to make the world a better place and find themselves falling deeper in love. Even though friends and family warn them to slow down, Xavier and Chastity marry within a year.

But their marriage is soon strained by the intense differences between their backgrounds. Chastity, the only child of a prominent popular pastor in Philadelphia, was raised with privilege. Xavier, meanwhile, never knew his father, was abandoned by his mother, and shuffled between houses, leaving him feeling isolated and inadequate. As an adult, he was determined to leave his past behind.

As time goes on, Xavier is slowly overcome with resentment about his past. Soon, Chastity finds herself on the receiving end of his increasing rage. It starts with verbal abuse and escalates until the physical abuse makes Chastity feel like she’s living in a prison. She has built a career on helping women in similar situations, but her religious upbringing, her position at the domestic violence foundation, as well as her family’s high social profile all work to keep her in their home, praying that Xavier will change.

Things only get worse when the local Democratic Party asks Chastity to run for office, and Xavier can’t handle the amount of attention his wife is suddenly getting. When his rage explodes at a level Chastity has never seen, will their marriage survive or is this finally the last straw?

Purchase Wrath: A Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 4) by Victoria Christopher Murray
https://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Novel-Seven-Deadly-Sins/dp/1982142928/

 

Read the entire Seven Deadly Sins series at: https://amzn.to/2T7BMW7

Lust: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 1)

Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 2)

Greed: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 3)

Wrath: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel (The Seven Deadly Sins Book 4)