Contemporary African American Fiction

Award-winning authors Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley are both beloved for their strong female leads and juicy plotting. In Sinners & Saints, Murray and Billingsley join forces to tell a tale packed with drama, scandal, and redemption. Jasmine Bush and Rachel Adams both want their husbands to be elected president of the National Baptist Association, and they’re willing to use plenty of low-down tricks to win. But when another woman joins the fray, she proves more devious than either of them could imagine.

Los Angeles talent manager Benita Hawkins has returned to tiny Trinity Falls, Ohio, to visit her elderly great-aunt Helen - and hopefully convince her to move to assisted living. But that's not the only move Benita hopes to inspire. After years of hometown hookups with her childhood sweetheart, university band director Vaughn Brooks, Benita wants more: for Vaughn to move to LA and settle down with her. She even gets involved in his work, planning to lure him to the City of Angels....

Fortysomething and still single, music-video exec Pia Jamison has given up her grandiose ideas on men and marriage - but not motherhood. Her biological clock is on red alert, but after years of self-imposed celibacy she has no clue how to attract the man she needs to get the baby she wants. Help comes in the form of Pia's savvy assistant, who tricks her boss into attending, under the guise of a business conference, a flirting workshop called Weapons of Mass Seduction.

Essence best-selling author Vanessa Davis Griggs is not afraid to tackle controversial subject matter in her faith-based fiction. Forever Soul Ties follows Butterfly and Ethan - two high school friends mired in unhappy marriages. After a chance encounter, they embark on an illicit affair. But when Butterfly is found out, stress is placed on her already struggling marriage and her standing in her church.

After a taste of Broadway stardom and a failed marriage, Francine Tanner is rebuilding her life back home on Cavanaugh Island. She's done with acting - and anyone who isn't genuine about real life and true feelings. But the mysterious newcomer who's bought land outside her hometown of Sanctuary Cove is as down to earth as he is handsome...and he may be her second chance for the real thing.

When middle-aged divorcee Emily Yancy moves home to be with her ailing mother, she's not expecting to find romance. But Aaron Merritt is a handsome doctor with all the right moves - except when it comes to the bedroom. Then there's Teddy Simms, her former crush whose only skills seem to lie between the sheets. What will Emily choose - happiness or sexual fulfillment?

Down on her luck and broke, Jennifer Dudley long ago traded dancing in the chorus line for swinging from a stripper pole to make ends meet. She’s hoping an offer to come back home and teach dance at her old performance academy will be the opportunity she needs to fix her life. When she moves in with—and falls for—a fine software developer with brains and a boyish smile, she decides she might be well on her way to a second chance at success—and love. But her X-rated past may come back to haunt her, compromising her newfound happiness and hurting the ones she loves the most.

Arriving in Washington, DC, to start his own company, with the help of his friends Jada and Wellington, 22-year-old Darius Jones hires a woman from his past, Fancy Taylor, to oversee his West Coast offices, which leads to trouble. Still harboring the wounds of his mother's deception and a childhood without his biological father, caught between an all-consuming pride and the call of his own untrusting heart, Darius has a lot to learn: about life, women, and what it takes to find and nurture real love. And if he's not careful, he might just end up on the bottom of everything.

Atlanta's mayor, The Honorable Josiah J. Bishop, has an addiction to his wife, Mink, that is just as powerful as her toxic love affair with heroin. As her life spirals out of control due to her obsession with the needle, his love and devotion to her is slowly shredding his soul into tiny pieces. But he just can't let her go. The brotha's loyalty to the love of his life and the mother of his two young, adorable daughters is deeper than any ocean.

Tia, Ton'ya, and Tammi are not only making moves in the game, but they're doing it in the bedroom too - and anywhere they need to get what they want. Tia is quick with her razor-sharp mouth, and she carries an equally sharp razor to slice a throat if need be. Ton'ya is loyal to a fault but will fight back if threatened. Tammi is the brains of the operation. They have collected more bodies than a Manhattan hooker working the lower East Side. What happens when the heart gets in the way of making money?

She cheated with one of her best friends' husbands - and turned scathing publicity into cash-money celebrity. But Jessa Bell has reformed. She's trying to make amends to those she did wrong, and she's started a successful business catching rich unfaithful spouses. Her agents are beautiful lost girls who get a shot at the good life. And when Jessa's sizzling affair with private detective Hammer turns into love and marriage, she's sure she's finally doing things right, until she catches Hammer sleeping with one of her agents just months after their wedding.

Five years after his beloved wife's death, wealthy Quentin Chambers still hasn't returned to the church or his music ministry. Even his home is now devoid of music, and without his attention, Quentin's five children are getting out of control - until his mother stepsin and hires him a live-in nanny. Montana is pretty, compassionate, church-going, and even has a beautiful singing voice. The children take to her right away, and soon enough Quentin finds his heart opening to faith - and love - once more. But not everyone loves Montana....

Coach Damon Kilpatrick believes that he has finally found Ms. Right in sexy corporate executive Nichole Adams, that is, until he realizes that she is already in a relationship. Nichole Adams has been involved with police officer Deacon Miles for two years. When he's shot in the line of duty, she leans on her friend Damon for support. She arrives at the hospital only to discover that Deacon, the man she planned to marry, already has a wife. Unable to deal with his lies and betrayal, Nichole leaves him, but Deacon can't accept it. Obsessed with Nichole, he will do anything to keep her.

One thing about me? I don't play games. Another thing about me? I don't waste time. In my role as Mr. Black Detroit, my focus is supporting my community and planning the city's annual Juneteenth celebration. Again, my time is valuable. I should've ignored the text. But . . . there's something about Daphne that makes me want to engage. Maybe it's the way she commands a room and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Or maybe it's the glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes. It's probably just her. Whatever it is in the beginning quickly morphs into something else entirely, though.

I think my best friend just proposed to me . . . am I tripping? How could he remember, he can't be serious. A pact that we made when we were only teenagers couldn't still ring true . . . could it? I promised my best friend that we would get married if we were both thirty-five and still single. At the time, I was a teenager and believed that I would be married long before that age. But I was wrong. So very wrong. I'll be thirty-five on my next birthday and still single.

Sophomore Kalvin Shmelton has finally perfected his underground candy-selling hustle at school. He keeps his prices reasonable, his inventory fresh, and himself out of the drama. But when a heartbroken Sterling Glistern—Kal’s longtime crush—barges into the storage closet where he keeps his candy supply, a new source of income unexpectedly presents itself: relationship therapist. He only meant to help Sterling realize she’s dating a jerk—and maybe win her over—but news spreads fast that Kalvin’s not just the master of sweets…but hearts, too!

Daisy Baker has a kind heart, a fierce mind, and a brave spirit. Those qualities were what caught the attention of firefighter, Ayden Parker. Every Wednesday at noon for two years straight, they meet the same way, inside of Luxe Flower Boutique, where Ayden makes the same purchase each time. One question, complimentary flowers, and a promise was all it took to shift the dynamic between the two. And right before their eyes, a romance began to bloom.

Fate brought Terrence Montgomery and Tiffany Tate into each other’s lives. They seem like the perfect match. However, they couldn’t have met at a more inopportune time. Terrence is considering divorce from his wife, Patricia, who he’s never truly been in love with, while also struggling with the recent and sudden death of his father. Tiffany just got wind that her ex-fiancé, David, is battling cancer—supposedly. His dying wish is that she’ll give him another chance at love. Her heart wants to be there for him, but will this cost her newfound love with Terrence?

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.

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.