Contemporary African American Fiction

Darnell Carter’s heart stopped working the moment he awoke from his coma. But he had been dead on the inside for quite some time. He hopes to resuscitate it, but that depends on his wife, Latavia. The Carters have been on an unimaginable journey of lies, secrets, betrayal, and infidelity. What happened to marital bliss? Does it exist? After the death of their friends and their marriage, is it possible to pick up the pieces and move on?

Fresh out of high school and ready to focus on her true passion, teen rapper Monroe Westbrook is eager to step out of her famous siblings’ shadows and prove that she’s a star in her own right. Her lyrics are dope, her name is hot, and she’ll do whatever it takes to ride that wave. All she needs now is the support of Tailyn, the big sister who doesn’t think Monroe is ready for the gritty details of fame. Tailyn’s longtime rival sees Monroe’s boundless potential, though, and is ready to capitalize on it, forcing Monroe to face the biggest decision of her young life.

Being the daughter of a pastor, Erica Collins never got a chance to live a normal life. When she lost her mother at a very young age, she questioned her faith in the Lord. Pastor Collins tried to rescue her faith by tying her everyday life even more closely to the church. Now 21 years old, Erica’s only escape from her father and his Bible is when she hooks up with her best friend, Nicole. She finds a little freedom through Nicole’s wild stories, with most of them being about her boyfriend, Mekco. Erica is all in, craving the attention and the lifestyle that Nicole has.

When Desa Rae Jenkins ended her tumultuous relationship with Roc, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; but now she's second-guessing her decision. Roc moved away to Kansas City, leaving street life back in St. Louis up to the brothas who can handle it. He continues to live his life on the edge, though, and when he returns to St. Louis, Desa Rae shows up at his doorstep to reconcile. Roc is reluctant to go there with the one woman who ripped his heart from his chest.

Twentysomething and restless, Skye flits between cities and stagnant relationships until she meets Scottie, a disarming and disheveled British traveler, and Pieces, an enigmatic artist living in New York. The three recognize each other as kindred spirits - Black, punk, whimsical, revolutionary - and fall in together, leading Skye on an unlikely adventure across the Atlantic. They live a glorious, subterranean existence in 1990s London, until their existence is jeopardized by the rise of CCTV and policing.

Hip music critic Dwayne Robinson has two main gigs: defending rap's rightful place in the music industry and scoring as many women as possible. But this smooth-talking b-boy has yet to try working love into his lingo - until "buppie" Danielle Embry slides into and rocks his world. A Connecticut suburbanite, Danielle is as far removed from Dwayne's Brooklyn ghetto upbringing as it gets. Yet despite this clash, these unlikely lovers are drawn together.

Cashmere and Demarco are married, own three hair salons, and have a big house in Inglewood, CA, with their timid 13-year-old daughter, Dominique, but things are far from perfect or even normal. Demarco holds deep resentment toward Cashmere and wants out of the marriage. His anger toward his wife makes him unable to have a close relationship with Dominique, who looks for a father’s love elsewhere.

College Professors Grace and David Andrews are a married couple keeping secrets from each other. This is no run-of-the-mill marital infidelity, though. David doesn’t know that his someone-on-the-side shares a painful link to Grace’s past. One man's actions have resulted in the dismemberment of three families. Now that the loose ends have begun to unravel, will any of them be able to pull their lives back together?

Ebony, Phoenix, and Joi are three 30-somethings with some serious man problems!

During football season, when NFL coaches gear up for war on the gridiron, their wives are left to fend for themselves. NFL wife B.J. Almond has had enough. When she walks in to find her head-coach husband in bed with one of his assistant coaches' wives, she is livid. But what really sets her off is when she discovers the other wives knew about the affair all along. Now she's furious and hungry for revenge. And what better way to exact that revenge than to air everyone's dirty laundry in a juicy tell-all book!

Would you compromise your marriage to get out of debt? Naomi and DeShaun seem to have the perfect life, but when money runs low, they have to face the hard truth: Nothing lasts forever.

In this second edition, the hotties of Heritage State University are back and the drama is on! Kyla's sorority quest forces her to come to some stunning realizations about her sister, Kayla, and herself. Ananda's overload of classes, sports, and addiction take her down a dangerously unsteady road. Cee-Cee's working on a relationship that might prove to be detrimental to her wellbeing as she knows it. Tina's got more than just one admirer, and that's just the beginning of her troubles as she stuggles to live and fit in the skin she's in.

Every woman dreams of getting married to the man she loves. So why is the independent, vivacious Glover having second thoughts about her engagement to her rich, sexy boyfriend, Lionel? Meanwhile, Louisiana country boy Max decides moving to LA will better not only his career chances, but his love life. It’s just his luck that the beautiful woman who can help him professionally - and personally - is about to be married to another man. A chance meeting at an employment office gives new meaning to the phrase “reality check” as Glover and Max try to sort through the drama that is bound to happen if they get together.

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!

Tabitha Knicely is overwhelmed with sorrow and exhaustion caring for her beloved great-aunt, whose dementia is getting worse. When her neighbor Marcus Whittington accuses Tabitha of elder neglect, he doesn't realize how his threats to have Aunt Tweet taken away add to Tabitha's pain. Then Marcus gets to know the exuberant elderly lady and sees up close how hard Tabitha is fighting to keep everything together. Tabitha finds herself leaning on Marcus more and more. And he's becoming more than happy to share her burdens.

Carin Douglas is a fearless young girl, thrust into the role of a stickup kid alongside Brooklyn's most notorious thugs. She learns to fight, to survive, and to shine through a series of events that take her from a young girl on the verge to a designer-clad diva with a hot car, an even hotter man, and a million skeletons in her closet. When Carin meets Monty, aka "Money Monty", he sweeps her off her feet with one romantic gesture after another. Their urban fairytale soon erupts into passionate sex, bold power moves, and, eventually, devastating physical violence between them.

Cameron is back and unlike you've ever seen her before. From strip clubs to car-theft rings, you've journeyed with her from girlhood into womanhood, but the drama isn't over just yet! New faces and new situations make this new installment the most riveting of the entire series!

Ceanna is forced to bury her best friend after a sudden illness. Now she's guardian to her best friend's daughter, and Ceanna wonders if she can raise Jalisa and deal with the newly discovered betrayal by Tonya and her husband, Jaceyon. Fighting for a divorce while carrying Jaceyon's twin daughters, Ceanna tries to mask her emotions and deal with her situation. Avantae knows that loving his stepbrother's wife is wrong, but he can't deny his feelings for Ceanna. He is determined to be a better man for Ceanna. Things are finally looking up for him, until Zaria comes back to settle a score.

Eve is a recovering drug addict, who was just released from prison to a female Christian halfway house. She signed up for the halfway house not to recover but to learn how to stop using drugs so often. Eve has no intentions of staying clean until she meets Reverend Washington. Reverend Washington's wife dies during childbirth, and Eve seduces the newly widowed reverend until she becomes his new wife and the mother to the reverend's three young children. But Eve is very resentful of the deceased Mrs. Washington and plots to make her husband's first wife look like a lying adulterer.

Three men who have a way with the ladies struggle to keep their heads when each finds that love is more important than sex.