African American Contemporary

Teagan Montgomery, an independent acquisitions curator, enjoyed negotiating for her clients and returning those prized possessions to the people those treasures belonged to. With a fulfilling balance between her business and her family, Teagan’s life feels complete. She firmly believes in leaving the past behind, convinced that it should remain where it belongs. But when Simeon Banks' involvement challenges the status quo, the past is suddenly the present, stirring long-dormant emotions within and challenging her resolve to keep history at bay.

Ever had a man to put you first? Prioritize your presence. Emphasize your existence. Maintain his focus... on you? Over everything? As if it was nothing? I hadn’t either, not until him. Not until Harlem Knight.

In this day and age, one would believe that skin color would not matter, but in this coming of age novel, Sandra Ray learns that it still matters in a painful way. Although she is twenty three, attends college full time and works as a sales associate, she has a little growing up to do. She realizes she can't live with her sister and brother-in-law forever and is angry and bitter from feeling a lack of control of what happens in her life. When her sister and brother-in-law try to set her up with a successful Pediatrician she resists with all her might.

Dismayed at what she now has to consider her life, Loriana tries her best to balance it all. The unforeseen death of her mother has her suffocating in grief, feeling as if she’s lost it all. While struggling internally, she smiles on the outside to save face. That’s until she can no longer keep up her façade. When she least expects it, the breath of fresh air she was desperately gasping for is given. On a rollercoaster with her emotions, wondering how her first love became her first heartbreak, she finds herself. Those good days she prayed to God for had finally came around.

Jakari Bolton: protector and provider… He takes on those roles when his father gets incarcerated for hideous crimes that are still bothering him ten years later. Jakari is so busy taking care of those he loves he forgot that he needed care too. Anger, guilt, and hurt have guided his life’s trajectory, and he doesn’t know any other way to be. So when he has to pick up his cousins from school and runs into librarian, Yendi Odom, he doesn’t know how to handle her.

Holland Davenport is ready to go beyond her small-town existence. Her plan involves moving into an apartment in Charleston—not inheriting a run-down brownstone in Brooklyn from a relative she never knew. Yet in a burst of daring, Holland meets the challenge head-on, moving to New York to learn more about her family and renovate the place. Add to that a gorgeous next-door neighbor who turns out to be a board member at her new job, and she’s definitely out of her depth.

Dakota Buck, a rough-around-the-edges music executive, strides through life calling the shots with an aura of grit. Yet beneath his rugged exterior lies a complex man shaped by a past marred by betrayal and disappointment, leaving him guarded against true connection and trust. Although willing to open his heart, Dakota yearns for a bond that transcends the superficial or nothing.

Cali falls in love, fast and hard. It’s intense, emotional, and then he is gone. This is what happens when you give your heart to a man who lives recklessly. Months pass and she finds herself falling again. This time will be different, but there’s something about this man that feels familiar. Something about him that makes her feel safe. He’s not the love she lost but he is someone who makes her feel alive. Someone who makes it easier to smile, to breathe, to exist.

She loved and lost. Losing him shattered her to pieces. She can be whole again. He’s the reason. He’s also the reason why her life fell apart. Now, she needs him more than she needs air to breathe.

Coparenting is easy for Elias and Amanda. Having sex is even easier. When Amanda begins to feel the tether of their bond loosen, she prepares for things to change between her and her baby’s daddy, though her heart has always belonged to him. For Elias, Amanda was too shallow to take seriously as a romantic partner. However, lust joined them for life because of their son. He’s sure they will always be friends and nothing more, until a failed romantic relationship shows him the woman that’s always been by his side—Amanda.

As a charter-school director, Olivia Cameron is no stranger to everyday unexpected surprises. But when she finds money (and lots of it) hidden behind false walls in the home she inherited, an extremely unusual problem falls into her lap. Now, she's under the watchful eye of local FBI agent Sloan Kendrick as he investigates where the money came from. But with Sloan in her life, Olivia stumbles upon something even rarer than accidentally discovering millions of 1929 dollars: true love.

Chandler Gray never imagined during her journey to earn a nursing degree, she would encounter a distraction, in the form of firefighter, Moses Lawson. With the chaos of supporting her mother after her father’s passing and completing her internship and practicum, Chandler had no time for a relationship. However, Moses’ persistence, charisma, and rugged good looks made her think again. Perhaps a summer fling with no strings attached was just what the doctor ordered.

Marquise "Que" Gates isn't just the typical reformed thug. He's refined in all ways favorably, still with an irresistible swagger and much more. Just when he switched the game and attempted to go legit and take a backseat to his operation, his world gets shaken up with a tragic event that leaves him heartbroken and with unexpected responsibilities he never knew he was ready for. That isn't until he meets Meleehia "Mel" Rush, who's laced with flaws and insecurities owing to a fragile past. Yet, her authenticity and vulnerability captivate him in a way he hadn't felt since…

Zahi was young and living life to the fullest. Then, he was thrust into fatherhood and forced to change his outlook on life, love, and happiness. The self-proclaimed bachelor did not expect to be swept up in emotions he'd never felt. However, caring for his daughter, Zuri, charged a part of his heart that he thought was dead. The spark awakened a need for more out of life. From the moment he laid eyes on India, he was drawn to her. The pull was so intense, and no matter how many times he told himself to stay away from her, he just couldn't follow his own command.

Juleena doesn't know who she can trust anymore. She is truly in a battle of her heart over family. Who does she choose, and what does she do? Her brother has always been her right hand, someone she could trust with her life. When that changes, who can she truly depend on?

In Sunrise, Javier De Barre, a young Haitian-American and top graduate, faces the harsh realities of the IT industry during the late ‘90s. After losing his best friend and love to a tragedy in Elizabeth, NJ, he embarks on a desperate journey south in search of a fresh start. He confronts his grief, unfriendly towns, and financial instability along the way. Finding a job in a small town in South Carolina, he clings to hope and believes he’s finally back on the path to his dreams.

Embria Taylor is an expert on fixing the lives of others but can’t seem to make sense of her own. When a handsome stranger forces his way into her world, she quickly learns that being open to new possibilities just might be the missing ingredient to securing her happily ever after. Rahshon Allen is a man that speaks his mind and makes no apologies for who he is or how he feels. Those characteristics are what land him right in the middle of the chaos that seems to be just what he needs to escape his dark past.

Adonis "Drayko" Loving had been trouble since he learned to walk. Living a risky lifestyle finally catches up with him, forcing him to suddenly leave Ohio and find a fresh start elsewhere. After relocating, he finds himself struggling with adjusting to his new surroundings. Living a single, drama-free life by getting money and staying out of the way comes to an abrupt end when Nyoka crosses his path. Her slanted, sly eyes pull him in and make him rethink and reevaluate his entire life.

Unsettled… That is the word Desire Chambries uses to describe how she feels. Although her preschool students bring her joy, her personal life needs resuscitating. She’d love to get married, but the dating scene lacks quality men. Most were barely boyfriend material and definitely not fit to be someone’s husband. At thirty-five years old, her hope of finding the man of her dreams and becoming a wife is fading fast, as is the idea of having children of her own. One lonely Friday night, after being stood up for the third time, she sees an ad for Arranged Hearts on social media.

Suvi Summers never had luck in the love department. Failed relationship after failed relationship leads her to an unforgettable interview with the matchmaking service. Blaze Snow was a ladies' man. He’d never had any trouble finding a woman, but keeping her was a different story. When his best friend signs up for a matchmaking service, he goes for moral support but ends up in an interview of his own. Neither of them expects to gain much from the service, but when they meet at the alter a few weeks later, they are forced to come to terms with feelings neither of them were prepared to reveal.