Contemporary African American Fiction

Yazmeen Franklin is as green as they come. Her only real friend is her older sister, who raised her after their mother died. Because of their father’s poor example, Yazmeen has little trust in men, so dating is foreign to her. During her sophomore year of college, she lets her guard down and finally gets close to a man. However, he is a known womanizer, and she keeps him in the friend zone to protect her heart.

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.

Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing is proud to present The Men of Street Lit: Omnibus Volume 1! This hot collection brings you two authors who have mastered sexy, street storytelling. Mike Sanders’ Thirsty series delves into the life of Justice and her escape from the streets toward a life of luxury. Justice is forced to dodge hurdles and change her path as she chases her future while running from her violent past.

As we explore his world in real and past time, his thirst for revenge is conquered as new challenges invade his life. Every action permits a consequence and the women in his life experience it first-hand. Knowledge never intended to allow Paris to live, but since he did, her blood is on his hands as he figures out who the culprit is trying to turn her into a memory. He's loyal to his word when it comes to her, while he's also realizing that his slow-burning bond with her invaded his space allowing his heart to feel a slight twinge for her.

Destiny Montgomery has just landed the opportunity of a lifetime to write singer and dancer, Jacob River's biography. She's more than thrilled to be a part of his project and travel closely with Jacob on his concert tour. However, Destiny doesn't expect the sparks she feels whenever she's near him and is irresistibly attracted to the sexy superstar as he slowly reveals his life and himself to her.

Grace, a budding junior accountant, desires a family and a home with the ideal mate. After three years of a torrid romance with her college sweetheart, Maurice, she fully expected he would propose. But Maurice, focused on his art career, continually negates any marriage plans. Rather than continue waiting, Grace chooses to move on.

Dylan Monroe, our favorite shopaholic, is back! She’s three months pregnant and madly in love with the father of her child, sexy heavyweight champion Angel. The only problem is the long-legged Victoria’s Secret model standing in the way of getting him back. If that weren’t enough stress, her Jack Daniels-loving mother, Candy, returns to stir up even more trouble. Unsure of how to face her future as a single mother, Dylan reverts back to the only thing she knows to comfort her pain - shopping!

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.

When you’re sitting in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower on the biggest sporting stage in the world and see the man of your dreams, he’s nothing more than a distraction. But there’s nothing like this type of distraction. And nothing like a little mental motivation to show up and show out when someone has their eyes on you. At least that's what my sister thinks when I meet professional basketball player Devin Grant, a two-week distraction that could turn into forever.

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.

Audriana Escobar, a.k.a. Audi, is the 18-year-old leader of the Gucci Girlz - a crew made up of her closest friends. Growing up in poverty, their only current goal is to find a way out of the poor town of Aetna and achieve a life of happiness, love, and luxury. When they cross paths with another crew named the Tru Aetna Boyz, all of their wants and desires seem to be coming true.

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.

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.

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.

Aphrodite Greer was born and raised in the bricks—projects in Jagoda Bay. She met the love of her life, Baguette, on that very soil. The ghetto goddess had her entire life mapped out for her, and just like most life plans, things took a turn for the worse. Infidelity, losing her baby girl Athena, and constant fights with her lover's mistress turned her from a rigid, dope boy's queen to a soft, put-up businesswoman. With five years between their failed relationship, Baguette and Aphrodite remain best friends, and since Baguette has moved on, his current girlfriend has also joined their circle.

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.

For Nyla Holmes, life is never easy. Two steps forward always end up turning into ten steps back. As the coldest female barber in Elite Cutz, Nyla wants to own her own shop. She plans for years and has set her sights on the perfect building. Disappointment settles in once again when she finds out that her dream has to be put on hold. The one person Nyla believes will never hurt her does the unthinkable.

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.