Contemporary African American Fiction

With his drama-filled marriage behind him, Evan Murdoch has finally found happiness with his longtime friend turned fiancee, Leila Hawkins. But when his party boy brother, Terrence, is seriously injured in a car accident, a gossiping press puts the family back in the spotlight. Soon Terrence could face a lawsuit - and much worse if his vengeful half brother, Dante, has his way. Terrence's only bright spot is journalist C. J. Aston - but is she really on his side, or does she have another motive?

It’s the summer of 2019, and Professor Pi Suleman is a Black man from Memphis with a lot to endure - not only as a Black man in Trump’s America but in his hard-earned career as an adjunct professor. Pi is constantly forced to bite his tongue in the face of one of his tenured colleague’s prejudices and microaggressions. At the same time, he’s being blackmailed by a powerful professor who threatens to claim he has assaulted her, when in fact the truth is just the opposite, trapping him in a he-said-she-said with a white woman that, in this society, Pi knows he will never win.

Pascha St. Claire has nothing to live for. After five years, her once-loving husband, Raymond, decides to end their marriage. He’s unable to deal with her mental health, significant weight gain, or the idea that she cannot seem to birth him a child. She returns home one night to find her belongings on the curb and the locks to her home changed. Her pleading falls on deaf ears as Raymond has made the decision to end their marriage. With no other option, Pascha is forced to leave and never look back.

Ojasvi "Sin" Sinclair. Fast-forwarding three years after it was finally revealed, what's in a name? Ashira now knows the man she once thought of as a felon laborer is far more than the task she'd bargained for. Yes, he's a convicted felon who works in home-building. He's also convicted in his spiritual walk, a savvy entrepreneur, laboriously supportive, a tad insane, and has possibly run out of patience for her. He's also the father of her three-year-old child.

Eric Jerome Dickey's boldly sensual new novel centers on what his fans love best - steamy romance and shocking betrayal. This is an edge-of-your-seat novel about a good man who loves his wife, Genevieve, but finds himself drawn against his best intentions into an affair - with his wife's sister. Both women have a mysterious and tragic past that raises the stakes in this fast-paced novel.

Picking up where Essence best-selling author La Jill Hunt's Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda left off, Too Close for Comfort follows Paige Michaels and her no-nonsense friends as they search for love. Paige has finally broken loose from her no-good man, and she's loving the single life - until Quincy Westbrooke shows up.

Kamille appears to have it all. As the owner of a successful business, her funds are unlimited. However, her professional life is the only thing that seems to be working in her favor. Aside from her Ari, best friend, Kamille's social life is nonexistent. As her family vacation nears, Kamille is excited until her cousins point out that she's going solo. Kamille doesn't have a problem with being single, but she gets tired of it being thrown in her face. Ari suggests Kamille uses an upscale escort service. Kamille isn't sold on the idea, but eventually takes her advice.

You ever wonder what events led up to an individual’s inability to trust in love? Rayna Brimm survives a series of betrayals and loss, only to forge ahead into self-preservation. After receiving her degree, she finds herself in California and tries to build a self-contained life. Enter Azmir Jacobs. A tall, dark, handsome, and very wealthy man, whose street credibility and executive power in the corporate world has beautiful women at his beck and call. However, only one woman has caught his eye: the resilient Rayna Brimm, who turns out to be more than he bargained for.

It's been four years since Monica disrupted the Cinque household, but starting trouble is like riding a bike for Monica, and she's pedaling full steam ahead. The foundation of Jasmine and James Cinque's marriage has been shaky ever since they dared to bring a third person into their union. Now they're trying to repair the damage they've done, to regain trust and repair broken hearts. But with so much drama in their past, it won't be hard for Monica to come in and shake things up a little.

New York Times best-selling author Eric Jerome Dickey returns to a character he created in his celebrated novel of erotic daring, Pleasure. Four years have passed in the life of Nia Simone Bijou, and she is approaching the height of her artistic powers. A film she has written is poised for international success, the studio is eager for a sequel, and the media are fascinated by her work. Yet her imaginative mind is wandering.

As the owner of WTZB broadcast station, Avery Michele was determined to make her grandfather's legacy thrive, even if her duties included being in front of the camera for Chicago's hottest events. However, Avery didn't foresee catching the eye of one determined bachelor. And after accepting his invitation to lunch, an unexpected craving for more than nutrition storms her with heat that takes her breath away. But with life outside of her profession shifting in the wrong direction, the thought of disappearing is the impetus that makes Avery run away from love.

Kazimir, the head of the Bratva, has come to New York to find the person who murdered his loyal washer. Nicknamed The Russian Lion because he's credited with over 200 kills, the death of his washer is enough to start a dark and deadly war. Unfortunately, Emily falls on Kazimir's radar. Her brother is suspected of being involved in the murder, and she's determined to do everything she can to save him.

In Low Love, Low Fidelity, we walk through Lennox's heroic journey of choosing love the second go-round. She's the only one advising her heart nowadays, and it's beating for one person. Tobias is ready to love and honor Lennox in a way she's never had the benefit of experiencing. While they get their second chance at love, we'll see them sort out the details of the baggage made from not giving their love a chance when it was first presented. We will experience their happily ever after.

In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on first through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.”

Life has never been easy for Pastel Saint, but she isn't afraid of hard work. This has always been Pastel's attitude until the load she's carrying threatens to break her. One day she's on the verge of falling to pieces when an unlikely party presents her with a silver lining in the form of a proposition.

Kyrell Knight believes life is a game to be played and thoroughly enjoyed. He rarely takes anything seriously, lives in the moment, and indulges in as much pleasure with women as possible. But the sarcasm, money, and women are an attempt to erase the memories of his past as he tries to forget what he came from. It works until his past wants to be a part of his present. Kyrell reconnects with Quinn Halifax at their mutual best friend's engagement party. They spark up a friendship that quickly turns to flames when it becomes a superficial, no-strings-attached relationship.

The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend’s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: Is it time to take it all apart?

The Witch Sphere is in turmoil. In the years since a stunning betrayal sent shockwaves through society, the Sphere was hit with another crisis: witches are giving birth to more typics (non-witches) and their numbers are diminishing. Nadia is determined to help but finds hers efforts at the Witch Health Organization entangled with the political machinations of her powerful mother.

Covina Hurley has lived a privileged life as the daughter of a retired major league baseball player. With privilege comes shelter, and with shelter comes ignorance to many life experiences. When she makes the choice to open herself up to new experiences, she never thought that love would be one of them. Will her new life experiences be damaging to who she is as a person, or will it grow her in ways that she never thought were possible? Will it do both?

Peace. That's what Synovi now had and cherished more than anything. Free from all the disturbances his chaotic life once ensued, he wanted nothing more than to keep it that way. With a thriving business and relationship, almost nothing could take him back to that dark place of no love. His Love didn't reside there. His world is still hers, and she is still his. Without warning, Torin inserted herself into Synovi's life and remained. She's the person he can run to when everything begins to fade, but there's a price to pay when you have a good heart.