Showing results by narrator "Kim Staunton" in All Categories

Cara Lee Henson knows no soldier can be trusted to stay in one place - and that includes handsome Sergeant Chase Jefferson of the Tenth Cavalry. Dallying with the dashing man in blue could cost the pretty, independent Kansas schoolteacher her job and her reputation. So Cara is determined to repel Chase’s advances - even though her aloof facade barely masks her smoldering desire. Never before has Chase longed for a woman the way he ached for lovely Cara Lee. The strong-willed ebony beauty, however, will not surrender easily.

Kate Love is an ambitious reporter on the trail of a swindler who has been preying on elderly Blacks. But when her investigation leads her into danger, she is snatched by Dix Wildhorse, a Black Seminole marshal from Oklahoman’s Indian country. Kate has no choice but to flee with the daring knight her father sent to rescue her. Despite the warm simmering fire Dix’s bronzed, muscled embrace ignites, she is determined to hold on to her independence, challenging him at every turn.

Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published in London, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led one of the most extraordinary American lives. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, she was sold to a merchant family in Boston, where she became a noted poet at a young age. Mastering the Bible, Greek and Latin translations, and the works of Pope and Milton, she composed elegies for local elites, celebrated political events, praised warriors, and used her verse to variously lampoon, question, and assert the injustice of her enslaved condition.

When an old friend introduces Amanda to a handsome young man, she makes a very unusual business arrangement with him: in exchange for a generous fee, he will be her "husband" until the baby is born. The arrangement seems perfect--until an attraction grows between them that begins to radically change their desires.

Finding a soul mate was the easy part for Erica Sanders. Brian Lawson is everything she could have dreamed of and then some. Everyone agrees...everyone, that is, except for her own mother, who delights in uncovering Brian’s betrayal that implodes everything and destroys their engagement. Yet Erin has lingering doubts over her choice. What if there were more secrets, ones that changed everything?

Rhine Fontaine is building the successful life he's always dreamed of - one that depends upon him passing for white. But for the first time in years, he wishes he could step out from behind the façade. The reason: Eddy Carmichael, the young woman he rescued in the desert. Outspoken, defiant, and beautiful, Eddy tempts Rhine in ways that could cost him everything...and the price seems worth paying.

Mara Reed's been stirring up trouble since she was 18. With two thugs after her, she returns to her Texas hometown. When she's cornered, an unexpected rescuer comes to her aid - Dr. Ethan Stuart, the scientist whose heart she broke and betrayed....the only man Mara ever loved. Ethan is investigating a gruesome discovery - nearly 100 dead bodies dating back 50 years - a mystery linked to the church once headed by Mara's father. Ethan needs Mara's help; she needs his protection. And their search for a devastating truth could lead them to forgiveness, salvation, passion, and back to love.

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it's to discover he's been robbed. The only item stolen: a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it's property of the Maddox family, who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War, until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows...no one except Paris.

Critics have compared her work to that of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, but J. California Cooper has a warm, witty style that’s definitely her own. Each of her short stories is a gem of downhome wisdom, polished with a bit of gossip, some heartbreak, and lots of humor.

Ever since Bernadine Brown bought the town of Henry Adams, her relationship with diner owner Malachi “Mal” July has had its share of ups and downs. But now they’re finally ready to say “I do.” Or are they? As wedding preparations go into full swing, and families both local and extended begin to gather for the festivities, that long-awaited walk down the aisle begins to look like an obstacle course.

For Jasmine Ware, curating books for an exclusive clientele is her passion. Until an old friend, a dealer of rare books, goes missing and his partner is murdered. Linked to an artifact smuggled out of the ancient library at Timbuktu, the mystery draws Jasmine deeper into a plot that could cost her her life.

She just witnessed her uncle's murder, she's running for her life, and now Dr. Katelyn Lyda is face-to-face with a man who could be her salvation. Tall, sexy, his eyes full of promises, he seems to have the answer she needs. It's too bad Sebastian Caine is one of the bad guys.... A "recovery specialist" skilled at separating prized possessions from their owners, Sebastian is after an ancient relic. But he reconsiders the job when he finds himself on the wrong end of a gun. The lady with her finger on the trigger seems to have everything he needs - and not just the artifact.

As manager of one of the finest hotels in Arizona Territory, Portia Carmichael has respect and stability - qualities sorely missing from her harsh childhood. She refuses to jeopardize that by hitching herself to the wrong man. Suitors are plentiful, but none of them has ever looked quite as tempting as the family friend who just rode into town, and none has looked at her with such intensity and heat.

The civil rights movement has become national legend, lauded by presidents from Reagan to Obama to Trump, as proof of the power of American democracy. This fable, featuring dreamy heroes and accidental heroines, has shuttered the movement firmly in the past, whitewashed the forces that stood in its way, and diminished its scope. And it is used perniciously in our own times to chastise present-day movements and obscure contemporary injustice.

When fate brings Jazmine and the X-Man together, the only thing they have in common is a dream to make it big in the music business. Jazmine, a college student, sings in the church choir and yearns for the courage to move away from her overprotective father. The X-Man, who packs a .38 and gets high with his homies, performs his own brand of gangsta rap in the street. Suddenly Black Tie Records discovers them both, and, amazingly enough, they discover each other. These unlikely lovers are a good match, realizing their dreams together....

Muhammad Ali’s daughter captures the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic Gold medalist, activist, and philanthropist as never before in this candid and intimate family memoir, based on personal recordings he kept throughout his adult life.

The past is not past. We may think something ancient history, or something that doesn’t affect our present day, but we would be wrong. Those Who Saw the Sun is a collection of oral histories told by Black people who grew up in the South during the time of Jim Crow. Jaha Nailah Avery is a lawyer, scholar, and reporter whose family has roots in North Carolina stretching back over 300 years. These interviews have been a personal passion project for years as she’s traveled across the South meeting with elders and hearing their stories.

Eleven-year-old Raisin enjoys doing odd jobs for old Ms. Effie Pfluggins. Ms. Effie is the church secretary, and she has fascinating stories to tell about the African American history and people of Gumbo Grove. When old Miss Pfluggins asks her to help clean up the church cemetery, Raisin discovers a real-life mystery that no one wants to talk about. There’s a famous person buried in a forgotten plot, but the townsfolk seem to think that the past is better left buried. Now Raisin’s parents are watching her every move and they don’t want her nosing around in the cemetery anymore.

Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain is the remarkable story of a couple who came together during the Civil Rights Movement and made fighting for equality and civil and workers’ rights their purpose for more than sixty years, overcoming adversity—with the strength of their love and commitment—to bring about meaningful change.

For so many of us, the first introduction to Black history begins with lessons about slavery. While slavery is a crucial part of African-American history, it is not the beginning. In fact, there is a rich history tied to the continent of Africa that deserves to be told and to be marveled at—which is exactly what Maisha Oso does in Before the Ships. With sparse yet moving text, Maisha takes us back in time to before the advent of the Transatlantic slave trade.