African American Short Stories

The collection contains 12 provocative tales that explore the emotional and mental terrain of a diverse cast of characters, from the innocent to the insane. In each, Jones displays her unflinching ability to dive into the most treacherous of psyches and circumstances: the title story examines the identity and relationship conundrums of a Black man who can pass for white, earning him the name “White Rat” as an infant; “The Women” follows a girl whose mother brings a line of female lovers to live in their home.

This debut collection is a complicated love letter to Washington, DC, and to those who call it home: a TSA agent who's never flown, a girl braving new worlds to play piano, and a teacher caught up in a mayoral race. These characters navigate life's "training school" - with lessons on gentrification and respectability - and fight to create their own sense of space and self.

A young Black girl watches as her aunt’s multiple suitors disrupt her family’s privacy. The same girl, now on the cusp of adulthood, shares her family’s growing fears that her father has disappeared. Acclaimed author Ann Petry penned these and the other unforgettable narratives in Miss Muriel and Other Stories more than 70 years ago, yet in them, contemporary listeners recognize characters who exist today and dilemmas that recur again and again.

A striking mosaic of prose, poetry, and dramatic dialogue, Jean Toomer’s Cane has come to be considered a masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance. Structured as a series of vignettes ripe with longing, passion, violence, and revenge, the haunting novel gives a powerful voice to the interior lives of African Americans in the rural South and urban North. Championed for its unsparing honesty and psychological insight by such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, and Maya Angelou, Cane shines as a beacon to generations of African-American writers.

Smart Erotica for Smart Readers! Note: Dara Nichols is an erotica series; not a romance series. Please download responsibly. "Marata Eros sets the bar for heat!" ~ Erica Pillera Written by New York Times, USA TODAY and #1 Erotica bestseller, Marata Eros Dara is a cougar on the prowl. When erotic circumstances present themselves, she takes advantage in every way possible. Best friend Zoe and traveling buddy, Isabella, get wind of the fun, and the trio experience sexual fantasies of epic proportions. The exciting continuation of Dara Nichols and Zoe Scotts' adventures. Introducing new ...

Justin C. Key has long been obsessed with monsters. Reading R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps as a kid, he imagined himself battling monsters and mayhem to a triumphant end. But when watching Scream 2, in which the movie’s only Black couple is promptly killed off, he realized that the Black and Brown characters in his favorite genre were almost always the victim or villain—if they were portrayed at all.

'From the Ugly Duckling to the Beautiful Swan' is a short story of a girl (Annabelle's) experiences growing up with a much more beautiful sister (Bridgett). Her sister was not only more beautiful but was the elder of the two so she was also more catered to by their parents and grandparents. Despite this, Annabelle always knew she wanted to live a life of elegance. She hated that her sister always got the most desirable boys and the best presents but she always loved her unconditionally anyway. Annabelle's journey from Ugly to Beautiful Swan is a life account that many women can relate too. ...

Set after the events of Dead Rising: Tis The Season, Diego finds himself in the midst of a tense and dangerous situation. Diego's wife, a former employee at Doselmax, fell ill and died under mysterious circumstances. Wracked with grief and suspicion, Diego is determined to uncover the truth behind her death. But he discovers a shocking family secret that turns his world upside down. Diego has a choice to make, what will he do? This story is a standalone but is uniquely intertwined with the world of Bio-Snatched, also by Elani Roman. For a deeper understanding of the author's interconnected ...

Established by the leaders of the country's only successful slave revolt in the mid-19th century, Cross River still evokes the fierce rhythms of its founding. In lyrical prose and singular dialect, a saga beats forward that echoes the fables carried down for generations - like the screecher birds who swoop down for their periodic sacrifice, and the water women who lure men to wet deaths.

What if you were raised to be a hooker and, worst of all, your father was your pimp? In "Keepin' It in the Family", this isn't just a nightmare for the Collins daughters, this is reality. Raised without the guidance of their mother, Diamond, Essence, and Chanel were forced onto the streets at a very young age. They were expected to make that money by any means necessary or face the wrath of their daddy, Dallas Collins. Can the girls band together to free themselves from Dallas?

For successful African American businesswoman Zoe Reynard, finding the pleasure she wants, the way she wants it, is not worth the risk of losing everything she has: marriage to the man she has loved since childhood, a thriving company, three wonderful children. But Zoe feels helpless in the grip of an overpowering addiction—to sex.

In Look For Me and I’ll Be Gone, his sixth collection of stories, John Edgar Wideman imbues with energy and life the concerns that have consistently infused his fiction and nonfiction. How does it feel to grow up in America, a nation that - despite knowing better, despite its own laws, despite experiencing for hundreds of years the deadly perils and heartbreak of racial division - encourages (sometimes unwittingly, but often on purpose) its citizens to see themselves as colored or white, as inferior or superior.

In this heart-warming short story, meet wife and mother Eugeena Patterson. Eugeena has always been the glue keeping her fragmented family together. When her teenage daughter is rushed to the hospital, Eugeena’s usual attempts to maintain peace in her family reach a breaking point. Will her troubled teenage daughter rip the family apart?

Are you ready to embark on a thrilling journey of self-discovery? Dive into "17-Years," a mesmerizing short story that will leave you questioning the boundaries of time and the power of the human spirit. Immerse yourself in this captivating short story that will leave you inspired, questioning the essence of time, and reflecting on the boundless potential within us all. Don't miss out on the chance to experience the remarkable tale of "17-Years" – a story that will stay with you long after you read the final page.

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.

In Romance: Quickies (Nicole's Encounter - 6), attorney Nicole takes what she wants when she ravishes a cocky rival attorney. But has Miss Type A finally met her match? Seven friends living in New York City. One unusual competition. Who can have the most intimate encounters in a month? Ten thousand dollars is on the line... Quickies are bite-sized steamy stories that follow a group of women living in New York City who compete to see who can have the most casual hookups in a month. Which woman will sleep with the most men to win the bet? Will any of them fall in love with their conquests ...

On the heels of the best seller success of her novel The Wedding, Dorothy West, the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance, presents a collection of essays and stories that explore both the realism of everyday life, and the fantastical, extraordinary circumstances of one woman's life in a mythic time.

A group of women contemplate violence after they’re sent into foreign territory to make husbands of the enemy. A support network of traumatized joggers meets to discuss the bodies they’ve found on their runs. And a town replaces its Confederate monument with a rotating cast of local residents. Slippery but muscular, sly but electric, this stunning debut collection moves from horror to magical realism to satire with total authority. In these stories, characters build and remake their sense of home, be it with one another or within themselves.

In the city of Houston - a sprawling, diverse microcosm of America - the son of a black mother and a Latino father is coming of age. He's working at his family's restaurant, weathering his brother's blows, resenting his older sister's absence - and discovering he likes boys.

When I ventured out into a snowstorm, I never imagined I would stumble right into the sexiest white man I had ever met, much less that he would be a secret billionaire. But when the snowstorm forced us back to his apartment, we figured out a way to stay warm. I can't resist the sexy white billionaire, but it turns out he has even more in mind. He wants to make a mixed race baby and he is ready to take me without protection! Warning: This sizzling story contains some very naughty scenes between a lovely lady of color and a sexy white billionaire who wants to make a baby. Adult readers only.