African American Contemporary

Brady Bledsoe and his mother, Carmyn, have a strong relationship. A single mother, faithful churchgoer, and the owner of several successful Atlanta beauty salons, Carmyn has devoted herself to her son and his dream of becoming a professional football player. Brady has always followed her lead, including becoming a member of the church's "Celibacy Circle".

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.

Bruce was threatening to expose a big secret of the Yoshida family—he wasn't Lee's biological father. Aside from Lee's CEO title on the line, the real hurt was the identity of his real father. That was about to shake the entire family upside down. Also, Lee has been keeping certain details about himself from Constance. Eventually, he'll have to come clean which terrifies him that he could scare her off for good.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago. Ezekiel Edmonds relishes silence. Wounded from his days in foster care and now a single dad to a deaf little girl, the talented mechanic prefers spending time with cars instead of people. But when he meets his child’s lovely new teacher, his emotional defenses run out of gas. Cheyenne Simmons is passionate about helping the hearing-impaired. Determined to win a grant to start her own school, the fierce deaf instructor is unprepared when a student’s shy father disarms her with his kindness.

The old saying about how a leopard never changes its spots was true in Robin Delli Richardson’s case when it came to loving her son’s philandering father. It didn’t matter how good Robin looked, or that she was an educated woman with a great job with benefits, designer labels in her closet, Louboutin red bottoms on her feet, or how well endowed she was in the bedroom, Saxon Anderson had it made it clear that he was incapable of being monogamous.

What do you do if people say you are born with the “mark of the devil,” especially in Jamaica where many believe in the spirits of good and evil? If you are Isabella “Bella” Pigmore, born with a birthmark so pronounced that she faces ridicule for most of her young life, you feel bad—very bad. Growing up feeling like a freak, Bella clings to the only support she has, her mother. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances and she is left alone with her abusive father, Bella suffers dearly at the hands of the man who should protect her.

Keyon has been through more than enough drama in her young life. She tries to put as much distance between her and the past in Louisiana, taking the opportunity to move to Memphis with her longtime boyfriend, Casimere. Adjusting to their new home, Keyon thinks she’s finally getting the life that she deserves. But is she? Has she truly left behind all the things that caused her pain?

At twenty-two years old, Cece Cordell reaches the pinnacle of her career as a ballet dancer when she’s promoted to principal at the New York City Ballet. She’s instantly catapulted into celebrity, heralded for her “inspirational” role as the first Black ballerina in the famed company’s history. Even as she celebrates the achievement of a lifelong dream, Cece remains haunted by the feeling that she doesn’t belong.

Meet Simone Monroe. Months ago Simone had a fairytale wedding only to realize the actual marriage didn't fit what she had in mind. As she learns the truth behind her marriage, she is faced with realizing not all fairytales have happy endings. Meet Taylor Ross. Taylor has made a life for herself as one of the most talented artists of her generation. When Taylor tries to take on mental illness she is faced with the reality that some things in life cannot be fixed with a paint brush.

In cosmopolitan Johannesburg, three high-flying couples form the core of the elite Khula Society: part investment group, part social club, with meetings where the champagne flows, the dresses are designer and the one-upmanship is off the scale. Noma, Moshidi, Lerato and their husbands are living the dream—or so it appears from the outside. In reality, the cut and thrust of ‘keeping up with the Khulas’ is taking its toll on all three couples.

Legend is on a mission, and it happens to be one he can’t speak about. Always a man of little words, keeping things close to the heart has never been a problem. Or at least it never used to be until January began to occupy that space. Now he’s fighting a battle between his mind and his heart, and unlike any battle he’s ever fought before, this is a war that no matter how it ends, sacrifice will be required.

LaMeka and Gavin fell for each other fast and furiously, but will it fizzle before it has a chance to get off the ground? Although Lucinda is heartbroken over Aldris, she’s also tasted the forbidden fruit, and she wonders if she can now live with the decisions she’s made. Charice is living the dream. She has her life with Ryan and her love with Lincoln, but can she continue to have her cake and eat it too? As Terrence’s life hangs in the balance, Trinity’s happiness is as uncertain as her safety.

Sheryl and Grayson have been best friends a long time, and they grow stronger and stronger. Katrina and William are married, but things take a different path. Angela has a difficult time telling something to her son Grayson.

Yves worked so hard to build a better life and rid herself of her ex-husband. When she sees him in Vee’s kitchen, her entire world feels like it went back to the day her daughter died. With her ex-husband back in her life, she has to deal with all the past traumas that their marriage has caused. If Khalif re-entering her life isn’t enough, a blast from the past comes back into her life proving to still have the keys to her heart.

Aphrodite Greer is finally starting to see better days. She's slowly accepting that she can have a beautiful life despite her daughter being dead without feeling guilty. That beautiful life has a name and it's Goal Navarro—the persistent head of the Navarro Cartel. Goal Navarro sees what he wants and goes after it. Being a man who's always on the move, he's finally found the lady that keeps him grounded. Running the Cartel that was snatched from his father and handed to him by his Abuelo, nothing can stop the sexy Colombian.

With the amount of lows that happened back to back in this series, you would think that the worst is now over, but it's honestly just begun. One of the biggest lows of this series has to be Emilia's and Ramonte's betrayal of Carmen. We all know that Carmen is very short-tempered, and it doesn't take much for her to lash out. To know that a cousin of hers, who's also her best friend, is pregnant by Carmen's baby's father is a situation where Carmen will be well within her rights to handle it however she wants to.

A.J. Grayson has come a long way from adopted orphan to fast-rising executive at a cutting-edge technology firm. Now an anti-terrorist agency wants to use the revolutionary artificial intelligence system she developed to thwart a plot against Jafir's monarchy—and handsome, dynamic Damon Toca, the region's newly crowned king. In six short months, Damon has gone from gallery owner to controversial politician. When his cabinet hires A.J. Grayson—without his consent—he gets ready for a battle.