Contemporary African American Fiction

Catch my gaze means your eyes better always find mine.

Two years ago, Zara Miller found herself heartbroken and stranded in a New Orleans hotel bar with a sexy stranger named “Saint.” One thing led to another and to a night of unforgettable pleasure. Though contact info wasn’t exchanged—no strings attached—Zara hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him or that one scorching night ever since. Now she’s returned to her hometown of Catalina Cove only to discover that her brother’s new hire is Evans “Saint” Toussaint, the one-night man she can’t forget.

When we left Alexis and the crew, lives were hanging in the balance and their enemies were celebrating their victories. Old relationships were strained, and new ones started to form. But they were quickly threatened by danger and drama from jealous exes and bitter enemies bent on revenge. Will Alexis and Kevell be able to survive and come to the rescue of their loved ones who need them the most? Or will the losses and damage their enemies have inflicted be too much for them to handle?

When Shelly Brockman walked into his office, Sheriff Dare Westmoreland could almost taste the sweet, steamy passion they'd once shared. Then Shelly informed him he was the father of her son, the unruly preteen he'd arrested that day, and his fantasies turned to fury!

With Samad’s target on her back, Liberty must survive the harsh streets alone. But when a chance encounter pushes her into the arms of a new friend, Po, the two take on the California kingpin - and step full force into the game. As bullets and sparks fly, the unlikely pair embarks on a serendipitous journey back to where it all started: Sierra Leone. With a new overseas connection, Po sees an opportunity that is too good to pass up. When his pursuit of the American dream conflicts with Liberty’s past, will they be able to survive, or will the drug empire that they’ve built together come crashing down?

Ava couldn’t believe she’d let her best friend talk her into coming to a mind numbing holiday party on the night before Christmas. As Ava counts the minutes before she can leave, all she can think about is how much she wants to snuggle up on the sofa with a crappy holiday movie and drink too much eggnog (with rum). That is, until an old classmate, Elias Young, sits next to her at the party. Elias is way too charming to be any good for her, but fate forces Ava to put that tired theory to the ultimate test. Is it happenstance? Serendipity?

When Miriam's fireman husband, Chauncey, dies while rescuing students from a school fire, Miriam feels like her life is over. How is she going to raise her three children all by herself? How will she survive without the love of her life? Luckily, Miriam's sister-friend Emily and Emily's husband, Jamal, are there to comfort her. But all the time that Miriam and Jamal spend together - grieving, sharing, and reminiscing - brings the two closer in ways they never planned...

Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they fit together - even though she's Jewish and he's black.

Lyra Hart, a teacher’s assistant working her way through college, lives a simple life. Her sister Natalie is a constant reminder that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. After a lifelong trail of arrests and stints in rehab, Natalie lands on her sister’s doorstep with a promise not to end up like their mother, who overdosed just a few years prior. Lyra’s first mistake was trusting her younger sister. Her second was the one-night stand she thought would drown her sorrows.

Bam Mosley, keyboardist for the alt-soul band The Prototype, knows who he is. He just wants to make good music and see the people he cares about win. Then he meets her. Sure, Cassandra is gorgeous and smart, with hypnotic eyes, but his bandmate's sister wasn't supposed to be this...disruptive and break down all his defenses. She sees what he hides from everyone else. He allows her to take off her mask. But is their connection powerful enough to survive life's low notes? Or maybe the true test of love is knowing when to let go....

Gaia Wilson: I wanted nothing to do with him. His eyes were lifeless. His demeanor cold. His actions too harsh. Ricardo Carter wasn't the kind of man you fell in love with—he was the kind you ran from. Ricardo "Rocco" Carter: I wanted everything to do with her. Her eyes were full of life. Her demeanor soft. Her actions thoughtful. Gaia Wilson was the kind of woman you fell in love with—she was the kind you ran toward.

Following a chilling winter of revelations and newfound relationships, sunshine breaks through, and Koya Priest finds herself basking in its rays. Before truly enjoying them, dark clouds warn her of a brewing storm. Coming to terms with what she didn't want to accept, the fearless beauty despises that she may be more like her father, Duke, than she realized. Having been referred to as intimidating and downright ruthless, Parish Sneaux doesn't let the opinion of others worry him. Parish makes no exceptions regarding his respect, family, and the gang. That's until he gets a rude awakening.

Celeste Styles is starting over. After losing her cherished salon in a suspicious fire, she has finally left her adulterous relationship and her drama-filled life in Brooklyn for the peace and tranquility of Atlanta, Georgia. But when Rah-Lo heads down south after deciding to leave his wife Asia, Celeste is floored and isn't quite sure if she wants to rekindle their affair.

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.

Once upon a time, in a small town, lived a young girl who was abandoned by her mother. She was left with a pensive heart because she watched her father die at the hands of his brother. Beauty was left to fend for herself, along with the heartache of having not a soul to genuinely care for her. Daily, she would dream of being rescued by a prince, and he would take away the pain her past life caused. Until this day, Beauty still had those same dreams as she slept. Yet, instead of the knight in shining armor, the tribe of fairies delivered Tuson.

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.

Life at the Houston Report for investigative journalist Desiree Stevens is no longer a fulfilling one. She's contemplating moving back to Chicago where her family resides, but Desiree can't deny that returning to her hometown for the sake of employment isn't her only reason. Just a few weeks prior, Desiree had the pleasure of meeting philanthropist Julian Alexander Rose, awkwardly enough, at the hospital. And since the strange encounter, getting Julian off her mind has been Desiree's biggest failure.

Skylar Addison is one of the best sports attorneys in the city, so when the firm she worked for “reallocated” her out of a job, she felt as if the rug had been snatched from up under her. Finding out that her ex had her terminated after she decided that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship, only made matters worse. After a pity party at a local bar and grill, Skylar found herself falling for the type of man she swore she would never think twice about.

Symone Davenport is a 22-year-old college senior who has set herself up for a very secure future, but all her achievements feel more like a duty than a labor of love. It takes the help of Jaylen Richards, the handsome new choir director, to not only unlock her talent and try to bring her into the spotlight but to unlock her heart. Janice was never very thin. With a gorgeous face, personality, and brains, she isn't lacking friends, but her insecurities about her weight gain get in the way of things reaching the next level with men.

Koda Perry is a self-made millionaire who can't seem to form his own identity as anything other than a spoiled rich kid. Determined to build his own legacy, he branched out on his own, built a company from the ground up, and became a millionaire before the age of thirty—but for his billionaire father, that's not good enough. In his mother's eyes, Koda's life will never be complete until he gets married and has kids. All Koda wants to do is live his life the way he sees fit on his own terms.