Contemporary African American Fiction

Raising four very different daughters on her own in rural Arkansas wasn't easy for Miss Pearly Bell. And she's always regretted that the sisters went their separate ways for good - and never wanted to see each other again. But when Pearly is stricken with a terminal illness, she summons them all home - determined to somehow help them get right with each other and forgive.... But that means dealing with past secrets and lies first.

Desire raises the stakes - and the danger. This collection includes Desperate Housewife, Sinful, and L.A. Confidential.

And to Some, God Gave the Gift of Prophesy… Charity is a gorgeous youth counselor who believes in using faith and love to make a difference in the lives of almost everyone she meets. Because she’s so in-touch with her walk with the Lord, she knows that God has given her the gift of prophecy — she’s even seen prophetic dreams of hers come into fruition, more than a time or two. When Micah, the ‘fine-as-he-wanna-be’ prodigal son of her pastor returns home after years in the music industry, Charity is convinced that God has destined Micah to be a part of her family via him marrying...

He's successful, kind, and sensitive - the type of man every woman wants. And truck driver Calvin Ramsey just loves women - especially the lonely, unappreciated ones he meets online, like Lola Poole. His deceitful ex-wife taught him that women really appreciate someone who cares about their deepest feelings and problems.

Nia Ali is the successful owner of a property management company in New York. While expanding her business and selling her way to the top, she realizes her love life is at an all time low. She then meets Darion Brown, a handsome contractor and blossoms a romance. But when her business relationships take a dangerous turn, she finds herself unsure if she can maintain the balance, or possibly lose everything.

Thirty-something, Shawntriece, is a well-paid executive at a Fortune 500 corporation. Her life is practically perfect — at least to her it is. She has a beautiful home, an expensive car, a family who loves her, and two adorable twin daughters to cherish and spoil. However, despite everything that she has in the material world, she's sorely lacking in the spiritual realm. When life throws her a curve ball, will it end up being the chance she needs to find her way back to Christ? Will the relationship she develops with a saved, good-looking, single father grow into much more? Somehow, some ...

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.

In the final and most explosive installment yet, Baller Bitches: Volume 5 Full Circle takes drama, betrayal, and ambition to unprecedented heights. Blair, Diamond, and Kennedy each find themselves facing the most dangerous challenges of their lives. Blair embraces her scandalous image, leveraging it into a career-defining opportunity in Hollywood, but a growing attraction to the enigmatic Skee and a disturbing revelation about her past threaten to unravel everything. Diamond, while expanding her brand, is tormented by the fractures in her marriage to Cameron and a shocking suspicion that ...

In Baby Momma Drama, sisters Jasmine and Stephanie struggle to understand the complicated relationships they have with the men in their lives. Luckily, they’ve got each other to turn to when the going gets tough.

Touré Wallace and Niomi Spencer were close friends at Finley College, the prestigious HBCU they attended. The attraction that simmered between them every semester was a question they never got to ask or answer before soaring ambitions launched them to opposite corners of the world. Both chased their dreams of grit and glamor as high-profile journalists. They got it all...except a shot at being more than friends. Years later, Touré is an award-winning investigative journalist and Niomi is America's most popular morning-show host, but they both feel like something’s missing.

He’s young, rich, intelligent, tall and ready to settle down. I’m Louisiana thick, curvy, and I’d like to say fine because it fits, and I keep trying to talk myself out of love. And as fate would have it, I’m stuck in his home on Christmas Day. Being an assistant, to Destiny- the owner and lead decorator at Dobrielle's-has good and bad qualities. It's one of Louisiana's largest and most sought after design firms. And I'm leaning but eager for my opportunity to shine. I get big coins, but I’m still only my boss’s assistant. She gives me the job to decorate the office Christmas ...

After being shot Sevyn washes her hands with Nasir. Missing her simple life before him she tries to move on, but quickly learns it's not as easy as it seems. Nasir refuses to let her go, but with his crazy ex-girlfriend still lurking in the shadows, he may not have a choice but to grant Sevyn's wish. When more unseen circumstances are thrown at both Sevyn and Nasir, the two learn life has a funny way of humbling you.

Contains the complete Fold series: Thou Shall Not Run, Thou Shall Not Hide, and Thou Shall Not Fear.

In the previous installment, Luvleigh and Dagger has proven that not even a family feud can stop what was always meant to be. Now that the two have been secretly joined as one, they are now faced with the dreading task of telling both of the rivaling families. With hopes that the union would help put this feud at its ends, it actually did the opposite. It made things worse. Worse to a point that has left Luvleigh, incoherent and now unable to fend off her attacker.​ In this second installment, Dagger is out for blood and looking for the person who has violated his wife, but when the ...

Something's wrong with her perfect marriage, but Kiara Eason isn't sure what. Her ambitious husband, Rashad, is the last person who'd ever cheat - and she never imagined she'd stray. Still, why is she confiding so much in her handsome coworker, Eddison? And why is she wondering what would happen if she put her marriage to the ultimate test - secretly setting Rashad up with a younger woman to see if he's tempted?

Gorgeous Nicole is about to get everything she's hustled for. She's having her rich, married lover Rashad's baby. And a lucky break has made her a media heroine - and the perfect new wife material. With one more deception here, a couple more little seductions there, she'll finally push Rashad's wife, Kiara, completely out of his life. With her formidable competition gone, Nicole will lock down Rashad's ever-wandering interest and be the next Mrs. Eason for sure.

Monica, a CEO with celebrity clients, loves her life. But when her man loses his high-powered corporate job and pressures her to start a family, Monica finds herself involved with a client who wants to mix business with pleasure - or else…Successful author Keesha is blowing through her money - and cheating on her fiancé. When her new friend, Jeremiah, discovers her deception, Keesha stands to lose everything....

Raised as a debutante, ladylike and reserved, London Jones has stepped into unknown territory. From the moment her life collided with a man who should've been off-limits, a bachelor with a hot reputation - staying out of his way was the sensible thing to do. However, she finds herself caught in a tangled web of passionate fervor whenever he comes near. So much so that her ability to place a barrier between them becomes a futile battle. The heart wants what it wants, and London's heart yearns for him.

When scandal erupts, playboy and heir Darius discovers that his current girlfriend Fancy is a true friend until she reveals a secret that renews his distrust of women, plunging him back into a world of fast money and fast women until he discovers what he truly wants in life - Fancy.

Sugar arrives in the small town of Bigelow, Arkansas, like an ominous storm. She saunters down the street in a blonde wig and spiked heels, cigarette dangling between red-painted lips. Without even speaking to her, the women in town hate her. But when she moves in next door to Pearl, a woman who tragically lost her daughter 15 years earlier, the two women bond over tragic pasts.