American Short

I can't keep my eyes off my big black neighbor. He's got everything I'm looking for in a man. But is he too big for me? Can he really fall for a younger white woman like me? It's time to find out. I've got a plan…and it involves seduction. Warning: This is a naughty interracial story. Adult readers only.

“Food and travel are natural companions,” writes guest editor Padma Lakshmi. From this pairing comes “the possibility of seeing anew, of examining how we make and assign meaning.” The essays in this year’s Best American Food and Travel Writing circle the world—from Dakar in Senegal, to Michoacán in south-central Mexico, to the Camino de Santiago in Spain—and deepen our understanding of our place in it.

The American Dream is one of the most familiar and resonant phrases in our national lexicon, so familiar that we seldom pause to ask its origin, its history, or what it actually means. In this fascinating short history, Jim Cullen explores the meaning of the American Dream, or rather the several American Dreams that have both reflected and shaped American identity from the Pilgrims to the present.

Kendra Bentford has always been the type to believe in the happily ever after love story, even after experiencing heartbreak after heartbreak. Her mother always told her 'Those who practice patients, love's the hardest.' And, she didn't know how true that statement was until she ran into Ronnie her first crush and the first man that she had ever loved. She never told him because he was dating someone at the time. Then the unthinkable happened he broke up with his girlfriend and confessed his love to Kendra; she in return expressed her same love for him. Once it was all over she realized ...

A compilation of popular short stories from American literature narrated by professional voice actor Jake Phillips.

A finalist for the National Book Award, Lost in the City features 15 poignant short stories, each set in Washington, D.C. Far removed from marble monuments and the offices of rich politicians, the nation's capital that Jones captures is inhabited by self-willed African-Americans struggling to live their lives as best they can.

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation. From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own. Within this melting pot of styles, genres and wordplay one fact stands out: In the American short story, literary tradition has a strong, vibrant and almost inclusive history, if you know where to look.

Roxie Stillwater’s father gets her a job with his oldest friend, the CEO of a software company, Griffin Graham. Roxie and Griff form an instant attraction and connection – but Griff is old enough to be her father. How can she have a love relationship with her boss? What will her father say? Roxie knows her dad will kill them both if he finds out. And yet more trouble arrives when Griff’s ex-wife decides she wants Griff for her own. Sneaking behind her father’s back makes Roxie very uncomfortable, but she’s helplessly falling in love with Griff. Nor does she dare tell her dad. How ...

The stories in This Is How You Lose Her, by turns hilarious and devastating, raucous and tender, lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weaknesses of our all-too-human hearts. They capture the heat of new passion, the recklessness with which we betray what we most treasure, and the torture we go through - "the begging, the crawling over glass, the crying" - to try to mend what we've broken beyond repair. They recall the echoes that intimacy leaves behind, even where we thought we did not care.

Today is the day I marry a complete stranger. I don’t know anything about him as he was matched with me by the producers of the dating TV show, Marrying a Stranger. As I walk down the aisle, I am shocked to find out he’s white. As a black woman, I never expected to marry a white man, however the more I get to know him, the more I fall for him. Our wedding day was beautiful, but our wedding night was even hotter. This steamy BWWM interracial romance is 3,500 words long and is for mature readers only.

AN AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN ROMANCE AND BESTSELLING SERIESAfter almost six years, Maceo and Chrissy King marriage could be over with. Maceo has completely ignore his vows. Especially the part, ‘forsaking all others.’ Cheating is his side hobby, and been faithful doesn’t exist. With Maceo being extremely sexy, arrogant, and successful, it takes a strong man to turn down some wet panties. Even though he loves his wife Chrissy, he keeps a sidepiece on standby. He can’t help himself. Maceo has a weakness for fine, freaky women. The King’s marriage looks perfect from the outside looking ...

A vibrant debut story collection—poignant, unflinching, and immersive—masterfully moving between sharp wit and profound tenderness, Guatemalan Rhapsody offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of an ever-changing country, the people who claim it as home, and those who no longer do. Ranging from a custodian at an underfunded college to a medicine man living in a temple dedicated to San Simon, the patron saint of alcohol and cigarettes, the characters in these stories find themselves at defining moments in their lives, where sacrifices may be required of them, by them, or for them.

Sa’id is a man of power in the city of Atlanta and its surrounding counties. Staying low-key while ruling over majority of the region’s drug supply is the least of his concerns. With a family of nine—including himself—Sa’id has six children that he loves very much. As for his wives, Ubah and Yalina, he finds himself ineffably wanting something more that, due to their beliefs, they just can’t provide. After a night of dinner with his family, Sa’id feels the need to get out of the house as a means to cease his nagging verbal stream of consciousness. He hooks up with a trusted ...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this Century of profound change for women our Atlantic neighbours produced authors of extraordinary ability that dazzled us all with a range of ideas, characters and stories of such magnificence that literature would never be the same again. Genius is written in their names.

Minister Terrell Crutchfield of Tabernacle Baptist Church deals with life consequences when his past and present romances collide. In this African American / Black contemporary church suspense romance story, Megan Hightower, and Madeline Webster, two brazen church harlots will bring on the drama. Marital infidelity and adultery take center stage in this delightfully entertaining church tale. Sometimes in life when it rains unfortunately it pours out deceit and deception. Mixing Madeline Webster into the equation literally adds fuel to the fire. Megan Hightower and Minister's Crutchfield's ...

In a daring and fierce debut work of fiction - the likes of which comes along once in a generation - Virginia’s landscapes, emblems, and Thomas Jefferson’s historic plantation set the stage for a cast of unforgettable characters fighting for their right to exist in America. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s precisely imagined debut explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging.

Hot Mr. Scrooge is my neighbor. Hope The man loathes Christmas. What person doesn’t warm up to the best holiday of the year? The cabin I purchased mentioned it needed light work, not a gut renovation. Looks nothing like the picture. The brooding beast next door said he’d help spruce up the place if it will get me to leave him alone. Deal. Because who wants to be around the Grinch longer than they have to? Even if he’s tall. Has a gorgeous face you can stare at all day. And a body you’d love to mount on your sleigh repeatedly. Then I wondered could I help Mr. Non-Christmas ...

El 26 de octubre de 1949 el reportero Gabriel García Márquez fue enviado al antiguo convento de Santa Clara, que iba a ser demolido para edificar sobre él un hotel de cinco estrellas, a presenciar el vaciado de las criptas funerarias y a cubrir la noticia. Se exhumaron los restos de un virrey del Perú y su amante secreta, un obispo, varias abadesas, un bachiller de artes y una marquesa.

My Confession: "I'm falling for my girlfriend's dad." Cameron is straight. He planned on marrying his girlfriend Samantha after graduation, but when he caught her cheating with his best friend, Bradley, his heart broke in two and he temporarily gave up on love. Later that evening, an older, masculine, and muscular man named Clint showed up at his door. He needed assistance with a problem that only Cameron could help solve. Cameron felt a strong physical attraction and fell immediately under his charming and charismatic spell. There was only one problem, the man he was attracted to is his ...

Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family.