1:09 a.m.
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Ten years ago, Ayva Lenox did something she never does: she stopped planning and said yes.
A Bentley arrived.
A stranger waited.
And for two days, she remembered what it meant to feel alive.
Now, success surrounds her, but satisfaction does not. Between company launches and late-night loneliness, Ayva can’t stop asking herself the same question: when did wanting become something to be ashamed of?
When the past resurfaces in unexpected ways, Ayva must decide whether calling on O again is a mistake or the beginning of who she was meant to be.
January 9, 2026
A Beautiful Disaster
Talese Nicole
Don’t Go in There!
A gripping and emotionally tense psychological thriller that lures readers into the mind of a woman who gives everything to a man... only to be left empty in return. Nicole Asberry is the proud owner of a botanical shop in the metro Detroit area. She has always loved deeply and beautifully. Her pure heart and nurturing spirit have been taken advantage of time and time again... nevertheless, she gives her all. But each time a man hurts her—he disappears. Detective Eric Robinson is an honorable man living up to his father’s legacy. He is investigating the disappearance of a local poet when he meets Nicole. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and her warmth, but he learns she is guarded and hiding more than just grief behind her eyes. He finds himself falling fast, unaware that he’s getting too close to the truth: Nicole doesn’t just get her heart broken, she gets even. Can Eric survive a woman who is willing to let her garden of grief burn to the ground just to make something beautiful grow?
June 27, 2025
A Black Girl and Her Braids
Jaylene Clark Owens
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Join author Jaylene Clark Owens as she pens an ode to Black girls and braids, a dynamic duo. This empowering picture book shines a light on what braids mean to Black girls of all ages and shows how Black communities have managed to continuously make space for braids, paying homage to their origins while making fun and futuristic styles, despite rules and regulations attempting to condemn them. Braids of all lengths, colors, and styles are brought to life with detailed illustrations from Brittney Bond, crafting a timeless book which honors creativity, encourages confidence, and calls for Black girls to proudly show off their braids no matter what!
January 6, 2026
A Breathless Sky
Veronica G. Henry
Black to the Future
The impending destruction of a forest triggers a battle between two siblings, and nature and humankind, in a gripping and provocative novel by the author of The Canopy Keepers. As climate disasters wreak havoc, a sister and brother take opposing sides on the fate of the human race. Syrah Carthan wants to save it. A tour guide for the Sequoia National Park, Syrah has an affinity for the millennia-old giants that extends to Rhiza, a subterranean world as ancient as Earth itself. Syrah is the reluctant heir apparent as its Keeper. Her duty is to maintain a balance between nature and humans. But Syrah’s greatest adversary has his duty as well. Romelo, Syrah’s brother, wants humankind to get what it deserves. To protect the forests, he’s already instigated one battle that ended in chaos and death. To reverse the near extinction of the magnificent trees, Romelo’s next move is to conspire with the sequoias themselves. If all goes according to plan, it will leave human beings absolutely breathless. The siblings are going to battle. In the worlds above and below, only one of them can emerge victorious.
December 17, 2024
A Brew for Chaos
Esme Addison
Don’t Go in There!
Pumpkins, craft beer and mermaid magic! Alex Daniels must solve a puzzling
serial killer cold case in the magical third Enchanted Bay Mystery, set in a
cozy small coastal town.
It’s fall, and Aleksandra Daniels is settling into her new hometown of Bellamy Bay in
North Carolina. She loves her job at her aunt’s herbal apothecary, and is enjoying
getting to know her new boyfriend, local detective Jack Frazier. But she’s still trying to
figure out her newly discovered magical powers, inherited from a mermaid ancestor.
Leaves are changing, pumpkins are being picked, and the small coastal town is caught
up in the excitement of the approaching Oktoberfest and craft beer competition. But
Alex’s good friend, local journalist Pepper, is more excited by the upcoming anniversary
of a spooky cold case she’s helping her boss, Jonah, investigate. Back in the eighties, a
serial killer nicknamed The Fisherman abducted ten local women. He was never caught,
and the women never seen again.
Alex isn’t surprised when Pepper asks for her help, but she’s done solving mysteries.
She’d much rather be strolling down main street with Jack, sharing a hot cup of apple
cider, and that’s not going to happen if she keeps meddling in his investigations.
But when Jonah’s body is discovered on the beach, Alex is forced to reconsider. Soon,
she’s caught up in a complex, troubling plot that places not just her own life, but the
lives of everyone she loves, in terrible danger.
An intricately plotted, quirky and charming book that gives you an enticing
genre-blend of cozy mystery, contemporary fantasy and a hint of sci-fi. Fans
of Esme Addison’s An Intrigue of Witches as well as Iris Beaglehole, Amanda
Flower and Ellery Adams shouldn’t miss this “enchanting read” (Kirkus
Reviews).
September 2, 2025
A City Dreaming
Maurice Broaddus
Black to the Future
“Not to be missed.”—Washington Post on Sweep of Stars Maurice Broaddus returns with A City Dreaming, the third book in his Astra Black trilogy, which explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano Empire—a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from Earth to Titan and beyond—as it faces renewed threats to its progress. We received a signal. Everything has changed. The Interstellar Alliance are coming. A new empire approaches and the Muungano, already facing foes much closer to home, will have to contend with what it means for their future. Across the solar system, from Earth to Mars and Titan, beyond the Orun Gate, and across time and space itself a battle will rage. Their soldiers, scientists, diplomats and leaders will all have a role to play if their empire is to live on.
June 30, 2026
A Fairy Blue Moon
Nikki Clarke
Love Jones & Situationships
“This isn’t the end. The blue moon will light the way.”
Those were the last words spoken before the elves of Southwood were massacred by their fae cousins, who scorched their lands and polluted their magic, driving the survivors into the secluded wilds to go extinct.
In the decades since the culling, a brotherhood of elves, led by Pasha, Wave, and Bliss, has dragged themselves from the ruin, rebuilding in secret, slowly restructuring, and undermining the fae’s control beneath their noses. They fear nothing, and they’re ready to reclaim their seat at The Gathering, where they’ll face those who tried to destroy them.
The only thing left is to take The Wood–the ruthless, uninhabited heart of Fourwood Forest–where an ancient magic waits for the one brave enough to claim it.
The elves have a vision, but a runaway fairy with shimmering brown skin sparks a hate and a passion that shakes the future they were promised.
December 1, 2026
A Family Worth Fighting For
Jacquelin Thomas
Love Jones & Situationships
The sweetest reunions…
Can be worth the wait
Photojournalist Patrick Brown has spent years chasing stories across the globe. Writing an article about his college girlfriend London Worthington’s honey farm brings a welcome change—and a shocking discovery. He’s a father! Now all that matters is making up for lost time. London hadn’t planned to keep four-year-old Bella a secret. But when Patrick’s determined mother forced them apart, leaving her pregnant and alone, she vowed to build her own life. Bella adores having her daddy around, and London can’t deny he still makes her heart flutter. Even if she doesn’t trust him to stay on tiny Polk Island. Can Patrick prove he’s serious about rewriting their story…with a happily-ever-after?
June 30, 2026
A Forever Kind of Love
Farrah Rochon
Love Jones & Situationships
Mya Dubois left Gauthier, Louisiana determined never to look back. Broadway gave her the career she dreamed of, but coming home means facing the one thing she cannot design her way around… the man who shattered her heart.
Corey Anderson was once the town’s reckless bad boy, the one everyone warned her about. He chased glory on the baseball field, became a professional, and has since returned to the bayou with scars, wisdom, and unfinished business. Seeing Mya again reignites the kind of passion neither time nor distance could dim.
In a town where family ties run deep and every neighbor has an opinion, Mya and Corey collide in a second chance romance that burns hotter than ever. But forever does not come easy, and this time it will take more than sparks to claim the love they both walked away from once before.
August 28, 2012
A Hex for Danger
Esme Addison
Don’t Go in There!
The annual Mermaid Festival is the setting for Esme Addison's sunny-yet-sinister second Enchanted Bay mystery, perfect for fans of Heather Blake and Bailey Cates. *The small town of Bellamy Bay has its share of skeletons in its closet, but it isn't used to bodies turning up in the local history museum. After all, this coastal North Carolina town is much like any other...except, of course, for the mermaids.
Helping to run the family business, an herbal apothecary while keeping her supernatural secret hidden is no easy feat for water witch Aleksandra Daniels. But somehow she's still found time to help her friend Celeste, who has her own Caribbean mermaid heritage plan the annual Mermaid Festival. As fun-seekers throng the beaches, Alex gets to know and is intrigued by renowned artist Neve Ryland, who's in town to decorate the local park with a mermaid-themed mural. Celeste, however, is less enamored with the artist, as Neve has been spending entirely too much one-on-one time with her boyfriend Jasper, director of Bellamy Bay's history museum. Then, a reception for Neve ends abruptly when the artist is found dead in his office.
July 13, 2021
A Hitman's Gift For Christmas
Nai
Love Jones & Situationships
Single mother Thyri Anderson is navigating her first holiday season after divorce while caring for her teenage son and recovering father. A job as a nanny introduces her to Enzo Sullivan, a devoted single father and businessman with a dangerous second life as a contracted hitman. As the holidays unfold, Thyri and Enzo connect through their shared devotion to family and discover that the best gift may be finding someone who truly understands your world.
January 4, 2026
A+J: The Teachers of Hardwood High
Nina High
Love Jones & Situationships
Everyone at Hardwood High knows Miss Julie as sharp, funny, and full of life. But when the halls empty and the lights go off, she goes home to a husband who spends more time in the yard than with her. Antonio Carter loves his wife, but somewhere along the way they stopped knowing each other. What once felt effortless now feels like work. Julie, tired of waiting for him to notice, takes matters into her own hands. Her Christmas gift? A cozy weeklong retreat in the woods that's secretly an intensive couple's retreat with scheduled therapy sessions and trust exercises. He thinks it’s ridiculous. She’s not sure it will help. But between the awkward icebreakers, the laughter they can’t quite suppress, and the long nights in front of the fire, something old and tender starts to stir. They’ve built a life together for over 30 years. They’ve raised kids, loved grandkids, and weathered storms. But can years of distance really be mended in just one week?
December 12, 2025
A Pair of Aces
Victoria Christopher Murray
Our Stories, Our Terms
In 1930s New York, Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, Eunice Carter, sets her sights on notorious Mob boss Lucky Luciano. When traditional approaches fail, she finds an unlikely ally in Polly Adler, a successful madam whose own business and employees are threatened by Luciano’s reach. Despite coming from vastly different worlds, the two women build a network of women and gather the evidence needed to take on one of organized crime’s most powerful figures. Inspired by remarkable true events, A Pair of Aces tells the story of an extraordinary alliance that helped launch one of New York City’s most sensational trials.
June 2, 2026
A Poor Man’s Prose
Jahid Wilson Jr
Black to the Future
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Seventeen-year-old Kaldur's heart has always beat in two places: on the page, and in the community he holds dear. Those precious to him keep him afloat in a world dedicated on seeing him drown. But when he accidentally unleashes soul magic that kills four boys, that love is tested. Kaldur's closest friends rise to the occasion and do what is necessary to protect him. When all is said and done, the bodies disposed of, they swear a blood promise to carry the weight of this secret like they do all others: together.
But together does not mean forever, and one year later Kaldur and his friends are still grieving the tragic car accident that turned their infamous quintet into a quartet. Worst of all, suspicion and scrutiny around the case of the missing boys has forced Kaldur's family to relocate to Georgia. Blaming himself, Kaldur attempts to use magic to resurrect their lost companion. His efforts backfire in the worst way, leading to a dangerous pact with a demon: write fifty magic-infused poems and he will undo his friend's death. As Kaldur and his friends strategize to complete the pact, he discovers his powers connect him to a mysterious woman in his dreams, one who is aware of the deaths he has caused and sends her monstrous emissary to hunt him down.
Even as he faces supernatural conflict in the waking world and dreaming one, Kaldur's new life in Georgia is filled with the messy vibrancy of being a teenager - forming bonds in his first writing community, meeting a woman who shows him it's not about who he was, but who he can be, and leaning on the friends who still stand by his side, hundreds of miles away.
Through laughter, healing, and a love with the deepest roots, Kaldur and his loved ones -both chosen and given -push back against the forces trying to unravel them, proving that even in the face of grief, there's a reason for love, hope, and joy.
July 15, 2025
A Psalm of Storms and Silence
Roseanne A. Brown
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
The highly anticipated second—and final—book in the immersive fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore that began with the New York Times bestselling A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, from author Roseanne A. Brown. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Renée Ahdieh, and Sabaa Tahir. Karina lost everything after a violent coup left her without her kingdom or her throne. Now the most wanted person in Sonande, her only hope of reclaiming what is rightfully hers lies in a divine power hidden in the long-lost city of her ancestors. Meanwhile, the resurrection of Karina’s sister has spiraled the world into chaos, with disaster after disaster threatening the hard-won peace Malik has found as Farid’s apprentice. When they discover that Karina herself is the key to restoring balance, Malik must use his magic to lure her back to their side. But how do you regain the trust of someone you once tried to kill? As the fabric holding Sonande together begins to tear, Malik and Karina once again find themselves torn between their duties and their desires. And when the fate of everything hangs on a single, horrifying choice, they each must decide what they value most—a power that could transform the world, or a love that could transform their lives.
November 2, 2021
A Sky Full of Love
Lorna Lewis
Our Stories, Our Terms
Following a harrowing disappearance, a woman returns home to her
family—and a life-changing secret in a powerful novel about betrayal,
resilience, and love’s unbreakable bonds.
After fifteen years in captivity, Nova Lefleur is free, back home, and reunited with her
Louisiana family. Through her ordeal, she never forgot them. They never forgot her
either. But things have changed since Nova’s been gone.
Nova and her encouraging seventeen-year-old daughter, Skye, are getting to know
each other for the first time. Her husband, Quinton, is rebuilding a relationship with a
wife he thought was gone forever. And Nova’s sister, Leah, is overjoyed—and
overwhelmed.
Leah shares a secret with Quinton neither can bear to tell the woman they cherish. Not
yet. Five years ago, bonding over grief and finding a reason to smile again, Quinton
and Leah were married. When it’s time for the truth to come out, they could lose Nova
all over again.
As Nova is eased back into a life both familiar and unfamiliar, she and her family must
confront their deepest fears, the choices they made, and the choices to come that will
reshape each of their lives forever.
June 1, 2025
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin
Roseanne A. Brown
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
An instant New York Times bestseller! The first in a gripping fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction—from debut author Roseanne A. Brown. This New York Times bestseller is perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Renée Ahdieh, and Sabaa Tahir. For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts his younger sister, Nadia, as payment to enter the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom. But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a heart-pounding course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death? "Magic creates a centuries-long divide between peoples in this stunning debut novel inspired by North African and West African folklore. An action-packed tale of injustice, magic, and romance, this novel immerses readers in a thrilling world and narrative reminiscent of Children of Blood and Bone." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List") Don't miss the second book in this epic duology, A Psalm of Storms and Silence!
June 2, 2020
A Spell for Trouble
Esme Addison
Don’t Go in There!
Aleksandra Daniels hasn’t set foot in the quiet seaside town of Bellamy Bay, North Carolina in over twenty years. Ever since her mother’s tragic death, her father has mysteriously forbidden her from visiting her aunt and cousins. But on a whim, Alex accepts an invitation to visit her estranged relatives and to help them in their family business: an herbal apothecary known for its remarkably potent teas, salves, and folk remedies.
Bellamy Bay doesn’t look like trouble, but this is a town that harbors dark secrets. Alex discovers that her own family is at the center of salacious town gossip, and that they are rumored to be magical healers descended from mermaids. She brushes this off as nonsense until a local is poisoned and her aunt Lidia is arrested for the crime. Alex is certain Lidia is being framed, and she resolves to find out why.
Alex’s investigation unearths stories that some have gone to desperate lengths to conceal: forbidden affairs, family rivalries, and the truth about Alex’s own ancestry. And when the case turns deadly, Alex learns that not only are these secrets worth hiding, but they may even be worth killing for.
July 7, 2020
A Terrible Strength
Dr. Kemi Doll, MD MSCR
Real Life | Real Talk
Black women are facing a systemic gynecological health crisis. This book gives them the tools needed to unlearn the medical normalization of their suffering and offers a path forward to healing—by a foremost physician, surgeon, researcher, and gynecological cancer expert. When Dr. Kemi Doll first began training to be a gynecologic cancer surgeon, she quickly noticed that the level of care being offered to women was rarely equal. She started to ask herself: Whose pain was believed? Who was “high maintenance” vs. “angry and non-compliant”? Who died? White women’s pain was doubted, but Black women’s pain was often outright denied. And the locus of this crisis was the womb. Day by day, fibroids, bleeding, inflammation, and cancer struck Black women the hardest, yet the medical field cared very little about their fate. When student physicians would explicitly bring up these alarming disparities, Dr. Doll's teachers would reply: “Black women just don’t do well with this,” followed by, “We don’t really know why.” Since then, Dr. Doll has made it her goal to give Black women the tools they need to unlearn what she calls “womb suffering.” For all women navigating gynecologic care, and the medical professionals who care for them, this comprehensive, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience covers: The mechanisms behind the four primary conditions that affect the womb—often with fatal consequences—including Endometriosis, Fibroids, Heavy Bleeding, and Endometrial cancer. An overview of the research conducted on reproductive health outside pregnancy—the lack of which has caused healthcare inequity and obstructed access to care Gripping stories of smart, successful women struggling with and overcoming Womb Suffering What good gynecologic health looks like and why it is vital to reclaiming a full, healthy life; how to feel and respond to your body’s signals; and the tools and vocabulary needed to help advocate and prepare for medical visits. A Terrible Strength links women’s health care to timely conversations on racial justice and healthcare inequity, arming women with the power to secure vibrant health and well-being for the rest of their lives.
May 5, 2026
Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold
P. Djèlí Clark
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
The Children of the Night are free.
Abeni and her spirit friends rescued them from a terrible fate in the Witch Priest’s army of monsters. But when Abeni is asked to return home to rebuild her village, she refuses. She must carry on with her mission until all of her people are safe.
When Abeni is captured and imprisoned by the legendary Kingdom of Gold Weavers, she must win her freedom by retrieving the mystical Golden Throne—or risk becoming a living statue of gold forever! Legend says the throne is guarded by a dragon who can only be defeated by a magic sword.
But stories are not always what they seem. And the truth can change everything.
To reclaim the throne, Abeni and her spirit companions must travel to a city of light high in the mountains and a lost kingdom beneath the sands, fight frightening monsters and a golden army, all while evading the Witch Priest’s daughter, who hunts them at every turn.
Without courage and strength, even a kingdom of gold will fall to darkness. Will Abeni and her song be enough to save them all?
Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold is the second epic adventure in Abeni’s tale of magic, monsters, friendship, and courage.
April 29, 2025
Across the Tracks
Alverne Ball
Drawn + Written
In the graphic novel history Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre, author Alverne Ball and illustrator Stacey Robinson have crafted a love letter to Greenwood, Oklahoma—also known as Black Wall Street—a community whose importance is often overshadowed by the atrocious slaughter that took place there in 1921. Across the Tracks introduces the reader to the businesses and townsfolk who flourished in this unprecedented time of prosperity for Black Americans. We learn about Greenwood and why it is essential to remember the great achievements of the community as well as the tragedy which nearly erased it. However, Ball is careful to recount the eventual recovery of Greenwood.
With additional supplementary materials including a detailed preface, timeline, and historical essay, Across the Tracks offers a thorough examination of the rise, fall, and rebirth of Black Wall Street.
May 4, 2021
Address: House of Corrections
Monice Mitchell Simms
Our Stories, Our Terms
Award-winning writer Monice Mitchell Simms' engrossing debut novel, "Address: House of Corrections" seamlessly shifts through time and locale to follow the empowering, entertaining journey of Merry, a stubborn 32-year-old ex con and recovering addict, who moves to 1947 Detroit as a spunky twelve-year-old with her estranged mother and comes full circle as Merry fights to stay sane, stay straight and make peace with her children and her torrid past. Gritty, yet hopeful, Mitchell Simms ingeniously births refreshing characters in this, her first book in a trilogy series, and elevates what could have easily become a stereotypical hard luck tale into a literary triumph.
March 1, 2010
Ah'dan
Nikki Clarke
Love Jones & Situationships
Left by his soulmate and forced to watch his brothers build lives with their true loves, Ah'dan finds new promise in the beautiful eyes of a human woman, Niya. Still bound to his lehti for life, Ah'dan hopes he isn't too broken for another kind of happiness. But when your heart isn't really yours, can you ever truly give the woman you love what she deserves?
Your favorite big brother finally has a story.
November 5, 2019
J vs. K
Kwame Alexander
Jerry Craft
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
A New York Times and IndieBound bestseller!
Created by real-life rivals and #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kwame
Alexander and Jerry Craft this hilarious illustrated story features two talented
fifth graders going head-to-head in a competition for the ages.
J and K are the most creative fifth graders at Dean Ashley Public School (DAPS). J
loves to draw and his wordless stories are J-ENIUS! K loves to write and his stories are
K-LASSIC!! Both J and K are determined to win the DAPS annual creative storytelling
contest or at least get in the top five. And when they find out that they are both
entering The Contest, it's the beginning of one of the most intense rivalries the world
has ever seen.
It’s artist vs. writer with plenty of shady double crosses as J and K plot their way to the
top. This epic match-up from Newbery medal winners Kwame Alexander (The
Crossover) and Jerry Craft (New Kid) celebrates comics, creativity, and the magic of
collaboration.
May 6, 2025
All American Boys
Jason Reynolds
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature.
In this Coretta Scott King Honor Award–winning novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?
There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.
Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviews tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken from the headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.
September 29, 2015
All That We're Thankful For
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
When Kylah Harris drives to her Memaw's cabin in the Poconos for Thanksgiving, she's hoping for peace, three quiet days of family, food, and pretending to be fine.
But a sudden snowstorm traps everyone inside: her sharp-tongued cousin Sharelle, her nosy teenage niece, her ex-husband who still craves control, and the one man she vowed never to see again - her younger cousin Kellen's childhood friend, Marquise Bennett.
As the snow piles high outside, tension thickens within. Secrets stir beneath the hum of dinner conversation, old wounds open with every glass of wine, and gratitude gives way to confession. Over three long days and three uneasy dinners, truth becomes impossible to contain.
When the storm finally breaks, nothing around Memaw's table will ever be the same.
November 7, 2025
Almost There
Farrah Rochon
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
The 13th installment in the New York Times best-selling series asks: What if Tiana made a deal that changed everything?
Sometimes life in the Big Easy is tough. No one knows that better than Tiana, though she also believes that hard work can go a long way. But when the notorious Dr. Facilier backs her into a corner, she has no choice but to accept an offer that will alter the course of her life in an instant.
Soon Tiana finds herself in a new reality where all her deepest desires are realized: she finally gets her restaurant, her friends are safe and sound, and most miraculous of all, her beloved father is still alive. She's got everything she's ever wanted. . . .
But after a while, her hometown grows increasingly eerie, with new threats cropping up in unlikely places. Navigating through this strange new New Orleans, Tiana must work alongside Naveen and Charlotte to set things right—or risk losing everything she holds dear.
September 6, 2022
Always and Forever
Farrah Rochon
Love Jones & Situationships
After a run of lousy luck, Phylicia Phillips is finally close to reclaiming her cherished girlhood home in Louisiana. But before she can buy it back, Jamal Johnson beats her to the punch. The renowned architect plans to completely renovate the old place...and he wants Phylicia to help him! She doesn't trust Jamal, but she's helpless to fight the passion building between them.
Hiring the home restoration specialist to help convert the stately Victorian into a B&B was a stroke of genius. Until Jamal finds out the house was in Phylicia's family for generations. Blindsided by his desire for this alluring beauty, Jamal vows to transform their working relationship into an intimate one. But will threatening troubles from the past keep them from building a blueprint for love?
December 18, 2012
American Ghoul
Michelle McGill-Vargas
Don’t Go in There!
A wildly entertaining debut from Michelle McGill-Vargas, American Ghoul deftly combines horror and social commentary—with a dash of buddy comedy—in an innovative twist on the vampire genre. You can’t kill someone who’s already dead. That’s what Lavinia keeps telling her jailer after—allegedly—killing her mistress, Simone Arceneau. But how could Simone be dead when she was taking callers just a few minutes before? And why was her house always so dark? Lavinia, a recently freed slave, met Simone, a recently undead vampire, by chance on a plantation in post–Civil War Georgia. With nothing remaining for either woman in the South, the two form a fast friendship and head north. However, Lavinia quickly learns that teaming up with this white woman may be more than she bargained for. Simone is reckless and impulsive—which would’ve been bad enough on its own, but when combined with her particular diet, Lavinia finds herself in way over her head. As she is forced to repeatedly compromise her morals and struggles to make lasting human connections, Lavinia begins to wonder, is she truly free or has she merely exchanged one form of enslavement for another? As bodies start to pile up in the small Indiana town they’ve settled in, people start to take a second look at the two newcomers, and Simone and Lavinia’s relationship is stretched to its breaking point …
September 3, 2024
An American Marriage
Tayari Jones
Our Stories, Our Terms
A profound and intimate novel about a couple whose lives are completely altered after one of them is wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
“A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.” —Barack Obama
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.
A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book a 2018
Best of the Year Selection of NPR • Time • Bustle • O, the Oprah Magazine • the Dallas Morning News • Amazon
Oprah’s Book Club 2018
Selection Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction
February 6, 2018
An Intrigue of Witches
Esme Addison
Don’t Go in There!
Introducing the Secret Society mystery series, and kick-ass red-headed heroine Sidney, a Black historian poised on the brink of discovering her true past . . . and her hidden witchy powers!
Thirty-year-old Black woman Sidney Taylor is a talented early American historian, working in fast-paced Washington DC, with her eyes on promotion. She’s also currently persona non grata. Who knew that making an inconvenient historical discovery would see her stuck at her desk, shuffling paper?
So when she receives an anonymous and very cryptic invitation to visit historic small-town Robbinsville, North Carolina and hunt for a missing archaeological treasure – with a million-dollar pay out at stake – it’s one she can’t refuse. Besides, her beloved grandmother lives in Robbinsville, and it’s been too long since she’s paid her a visit.
Soon, Sidney's on an exciting treasure hunt, following two-hundred-year-old clues that lead her ever closer to the artefact she’s searching for. But what is the artefact? And why is Sidney starting to feel like she’s at the heart of a terrifying conspiracy she doesn’t understand?
The answer blows Sidney’s world apart, plunging her into a dark, glittering world of secret societies, ancient bloodlines, witches and magic, linked to an ages-old conspiracy that could destroy the very principles upon which America was founded.
May 7, 2024
And Then There Was Me
Sadeqa Johnson
Our Stories, Our Terms
Bea and Awilda have been best friends from the moment Awilda threw her fourteen year-old self across Bea’s twin-sized bed as if they had known each other forever. Bubbly, adventurous Awilda taught sheltered, shy Bea how to dress, wear her hair and what to do with boys. She even introduced Bea to her husband, Lonnie, in college, who pledged to take good care of her for the rest of their lives. But philanderer Lonnie breaks that promise over and over again, leaving Bea to wrestle with her self-esteem and long time secret addiction.
Recently Lonnie has plopped the family in a New Jersey upper class suburb, which lacks the diversity that Bea craves but has the school district and zip code envy that Lonnie wants. The demands of carrying a third child and fitting into this new environment while pretending that her husband is not cheating on her again, is more than she can handle. And just when she thinks things can’t get any worst, the ultimate deception snaps the little thread that was holding her life together and all comes tumbling down.
And Then There Was Me is the story of love and friendship, heartache and betrayal. It’s the journey of a woman stripped down to her lowest point and needing to find the will to press on.
March 16, 2021
As Long As We’re Together
Brianna Peppins
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
A heartstring-tugging, uplifting, modern spin on Party of Five -- a love letter to family, hope, and finding strength in unexpected places. Even though she has six siblings, sixteen-year-old Novah still knows what it's like to feel lonely. Her friends never remember to invite her anywhere because they assume Novah will be too busy overseeing dinner, baths, and homework -- tasks that fall to her when her parents are at work. She wouldn't mind it so much if her "perfect" older sister, Ariana, wasn’t always excused from helping out. She's the star of the volleyball team, and their parents don't want anything to jeopardize the scholarships she'll need to become the first member of their family to attend college. Needless to say, Novah feels like she's been given a raw deal, especially when she's forced to cancel a maybe-date with her crush, Hailee. Then one terrible night, their parents don't make it back home. A car accident takes their lives and leaves seven heartbroken kids on their own. The Wilkinson siblings have no grandparents, no aunts or uncles. Since Ariana has just turned eighteen, she manages to convince the judge to give her temporary custody. If she can keep her family running smoothly, they'll get to stay in their home. If not, they'll be placed into foster care. Novah will do whatever it takes to keep her family together but finds herself in a constant power struggle when Ariana refuses to take her advice, even once it becomes clear that they are all in way over their heads. Will Novah find her voice and summon the strength to do the impossible? Or will she be forced to say the hardest goodbyes of all?
May 16, 2023
Ashes at the Altar
LaDarrion Williams
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
At a hidden magical HBCU a teen boy must confront evil spirits, family secrets and tested loyalties. In this haunting finale to the New York Times bestselling Blood at the Root trilogy, bloodlines, betrayal, and legacy collide in a battle that may cost everything.
Malik Baron has learned a lot since he first came to Caiman University: History is power. Family is more than just blood. You can't escape your past. And magic always comes with a price.
But nothing he's been taught could have prepared him for what this semester will bring. Even after he risked it all to trap the evil spirit Marinette that has been possessing his mother, her power continues to grow. And with her and the Bokors still at large, the cracks in the magical community have reached a breaking point. Just as Malik begins to get to know his father's family, the Bonclairs' power is challenged, leaving him to decide where his loyalties lie. And it's not just the future of Caiman at stake, but the very magic that runs in his veins.
In the propulsive and emotional conclusion to this powerful trilogy, the future and the family Malik has fought so hard to build and protect is in greater danger than ever. But with the power of ancestors and the strength of his loved ones behind him, can he fight for what the world has always said is impossible for a Black boy like him—a happy ending?
Series Overview: This is the final book in the trilogy
September 15, 2026
August Lane
Regina Black
Love Jones & Situationships
A Southern small-town romance about the visibility of Black women’s voices in country music, perfect for fans of Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.
"The best romance I've read all year." —The New York Times
A New York Times Notable Book
Every Thursday night, former country music heartthrob Luke Randall has to sing “Another Love Song.” God, he hates that song. But performing his lone hit at an interstate motel lounge is the only regular money he still has. Following another lackluster performance at the rock bottom of his career, Luke receives the opportunity of his dreams, opening for his childhood idol—90’s era Black country music star, JoJo Lane, who’s being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. But the concert is in Arcadia, Arkansas, the small hometown he swore he’d never see again. Going back means facing a painful past of abuse and neglect. It also means facing JoJo’s daughter, August Lane—the woman who wrote the lyrics he’s always claimed as his own.
August also hates that song. But she hates Luke Randall even more. When he shows up ten years too late to apologize for his betrayal, she isn’t interested in making amends. Instead, she threatens to expose his lies unless he co-writes a new song with her and performs it at the concert, something she hopes will launch her out of her mother's shadow and into a songwriting career of her own. Desperate to keep his secret, Luke agrees to put on the rogue performance, despite the risk of losing his shot at a new record deal.
When Luke’s guitar reunites with August’s soulful alto, neither can deny that the passionate bond they formed as teenagers is still there. As the concert nears, August will have to choose between an overdue public reckoning with the boy who betrayed her, or trusting the man he’s become to write a different love song.
An instant USA Today bestseller An NPR 2025 Book We Love A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 A Book Riot Best Book of 2025 A Publishers Weekly Best Romance Book of 2025 A Chicago Public Library 2025 Must-Read Romance
July 29, 2025
Autumn
Norian Love
Love Jones & Situationships
Norian Love presents a gripping novel that explores the line between love and loyalty - a romance for the ages of star-crossed lovers faced with an impossible choice.
In the final year of pharmacy school, all of Tatum’s dreams are about to come true. As a single father, his hard work has finally put him in a position to build a life for his son and move on from his checkered past. In a chance encounter, he meets Autumn, a charismatic, yet eccentric artist on the rebound of life. The two form a friendship in pursuit of their respective dreams that erupts into an all-consuming love. Yet as Tatum begins to embrace his future, he discovers you can’t outrun your past.
This sensually intimate and emotionally resonant novel will elicit both heart wrench and hope. If you are a fan of Zane, Ashley Antoinette, or Eric Jerome Dickey, Autumn: A Love Story is a novel you don’t want to miss!
♥ Pick up Autumn: A Love Story today and get the exclusive soundtrack to the novel for FREE. (Details inside the novel.)
May 3, 2021
B+J: The Teachers of Hardwood High
Nina High
Love Jones & Situationships
Janae Three years ago, I had one unforgettable weekend with a man who made me forget every rule I’d ever followed. Then he ghosted me like it never happened. Fast forward to now—he’s standing in front of the faculty at Hardwood High, all smug and suited up, introducing himself as our new assistant principal. Every time he walks into my classroom, opens his mouth in a meeting, or so much as breathes in my direction, I have to remind myself I like my job too much to cuss him out. Benjamin It was supposed to be just a weekend. No strings, no names, no complications. But when I walked into Hardwood High and saw Janae in the crowd, I knew I’d messed up. Now Dr. Ranley has her shadowing my mentorship program, and we’ve got no choice but to work side by side. I ran from her before because I felt something real—and that wasn’t part of the plan. But I can’t run now. And the more time we spend together, the more I’m realizing… I don’t want to. One weekend was a spark. Three years of tension made it combustible. Now, with every hallway run-in and forced collaboration, Janae and Benjamin have to decide if they’re ready to stop dodging the fire—and walk straight into it.
November 15, 2024
Bacchanal
Veronica G. Henry
Black to the Future
Evil lives in a traveling carnival roaming the Depression-era South. But the carnival’s newest act, a peculiar young woman with latent magical powers, may hold the key to defeating it. Her time has come. Abandoned by her family, alone on the wrong side of the color line with little to call her own, Eliza Meeks is coming to terms with what she does have. It’s a gift for communicating with animals. To some, she’s a magical tender. To others, a she-devil. To a talent prospector, she’s a crowd-drawing oddity. And the Bacchanal Carnival is Eliza’s ticket out of the swamp trap of Baton Rouge. Among fortune-tellers, carnies, barkers, and folks even stranger than herself, Eliza finds a new home. But the Bacchanal is no ordinary carnival. An ancient demon has a home there too. She hides behind an iridescent disguise. She feeds on innocent souls. And she’s met her match in Eliza, who’s only beginning to understand the purpose of her own burgeoning powers. Only then can Eliza save her friends, find her family, and fight the sway of a primordial demon preying upon the human world. Rolling across a consuming dust bowl landscape, Eliza may have found her destiny.
June 1, 2021
Ba'ir
Nikki Clarke
Love Jones & Situationships
“Jesus.” The horrified whisper of the woman, Karen, who is gathering the uniform I am meant to wear while employed at this large shopping center, doesn’t faze me.
At one point, many years ago, when I was still a youngling, having someone look at me and feel compelled to call upon their personal deity may have bothered me, but I long lost any sense of caring. At least when it comes to how I look. And I know what I look like.
Not only am I keenly aware of every jagged etch and groove in my skin. I can remember, like it was only a turn ago, how they were made with claws and teeth, sometimes broken metal and stone. The blunt points were the worst, poking and prodding until they finally breached the flesh.
But the memory of that pain is nothing compared to the rage I feel at my lehti, Ivy, the one responsible for my suffering. It's a rage I doubt she knows exists.
But she will soon.
November 30, 2025
Balancing Act
Paula Chase
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
When Chyna gets a scholarship to the newest, most prestigious sports school in the
city, it’s the best opportunity to do the gymnastics she loves. But between caring for
her ailing mother and dealing with the elitist girls on her gymnastics team, she’s not
sure she belongs.
Meanwhile, Jamaal is reeling from the death of his brother—who was also secretly
Chyna’s boyfriend. Becoming star of the Power Panthers basketball team is his way to
honor his brother’s memory and nothings going to stand in his way. Not even his
health.
Filled with gossip, high-stakes sports drama, and tons of heart, BALANCING ACT is
the first in a riveting new series about teens fighting for their dreams in a city where
picking a side is no game.
October 21, 2025
Bati
Nikki Clarke
Love Jones & Situationships
What's blue, black and hot all over? Bati is surprised as anyone when he is leht to his brother's mate's sister, Tiani. Even though they butt heads, she makes him feel things he's been waiting his entire life to feel. Things he wants to feel forever. Unfortunately, a few heated encounters is as far as Tiani's willing to let it go. Tiani likes to think she's smart when it comes to relationships. Don't get too close and don't make any promises. She can think of worse things than a tumble with a sexy alien. Just as long as that's all it is. We were first introduced to Bati and his Lyqa brothers in "Kwarq." Get into this second book in the Lyqa Planet Lovers Series!
January 15, 2018
Beautiful Broken Love
Shanora Williams
Love Jones & Situationships
From New York Times bestselling author Shanora Williams comes an emotional page-turner about two people still reeling from tragedy who look to each other for the strength to move forward. It’s been months since her dreams of forever were brutally shattered. Seven long months since her husband and soulmate, Lew, died in her arms, leaving her to carry on. Alone. And Davina Klein-Roberts still isn’t sure how to move forward. To escape her anguish, Davina throws everything into work, pushing Golden Oil Co., her self-built skin care line, to become a viral success. Now she’s poised to clinch a major endorsement deal too. But it’s bittersweet without Lew by her side. A meeting with Deke Bishop, the hot NBA star she’s courting for her brand, leaves Davina flustered. With his dimpled smile and warm handshake, Deke’s a natural pitchman. And he’s clearly interested—not only in her lotions. Davina soon discovers that Deke’s more than just another player and carries his own pain. But as her feelings for him grow, so does her guilt. Will the pain of a future already lost keep her from embracing hope for a new one?
December 3, 2024
Before Dusk
Morenike'
Our Stories, Our Terms
"Don't let the sun set on you in Liberty!" The day the sign was knocked down was the day the trajectory of Clyde and Jason's friendship would change forever. It was also the day that would write Tenn’s future.
Clyde Boyd has the bright idea to rebrand the reputation and appearance of Liberty. Historically, it’s an active sundown town but the fun has been slow for the KKK. Clyde convinces everyone that a rebrand would bring in more unsuspecting victims.
Jason Baker is the voice of reason. He is concerned about how Clyde’s idea affects the town. Will luring people into the trap of Liberty cause more trouble than it’s worth?
Tennessee “Tenn” Watson is a husband, father, and proud member of the Army. He’s given his country 25 years and is ready to retire. His plan? Move to a new state for a fresh start; preferably a farmhouse with a little bit of land.
When Clyde becomes mayor and Jason becomes sheriff of Liberty, the childhood friends continue to grow further apart. Clyde’s bloodthirst starts to worry Jason as Clyde ups the ante and puts one of his family’s properties on the market; a farmhouse.
July 7, 2026
Behind These Four Walls
Yasmin Angoe
Don’t Go in There!
From the author of Not What She Seems, Yasmin Angoe’s thriller explores
revenge, morality, corruption, and wealth as a woman sets out to uncover the
truth behind her friend’s disappearance and expose the powerful family
behind it.
Isla Thorne had a rough start in life. Orphaned young, she spent her formative years in
a group home where she met her best friend, Eden Galloway. At sixteen, they decide to
run away to LA…but Eden never makes it.
It’s been ten years since Eden vanished. And Isla’s determined to find her.
She begins at the last place Eden visited: the Corrigan mansion in Virginia. Eden
claimed to have unfinished business there. Posing as an aspiring journalist, Isla
insinuates herself into the wealthy family’s home and begins searching for the truth.
The more she digs, the more Isla discovers Eden isn’t who she thought she was. Was
she even a victim, or did Eden plan this all along? Desperate for answers and to keep
her identity hidden, Isla finds an ally in one of the Corrigan sons. But as she wades
deeper into this power-hungry family’s secrets and lies, she finds herself in the
crosshairs of a bloodline that’s more lethal than loyal.
January 1, 2026
Bemused
Farrah Rochon
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
The untold origin story of the 5 Muses from Disney’s Hercules is revealed in this fresh YA take on Greek mythology from Farrah Rochon, the bestselling author of Almost There.
The Muses narrated Hercules’s story. Now, they’ll narrate their own "gospel truth."
Living in a quiet seaside village with their overprotective mother, teenaged sisters Calliope, Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore, and Thalia are talented performers with no audience. If Calli had her way, she'd pursue her dream of writing epic stories in the city of Thebes. But family comes first, and as the eldest, she'd never leave her beloved sisters behind.
Then, following a disastrous public music performance, their mother reveals a shocking secret: she is Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory, and for nearly two decades, she’s been on the run from the gods of Mount Olympus, desperate to keep her daughters safe from their machinations. Before she can share more, she is kidnapped . . . and though the girls don’t know it yet, the villain pulling the strings is none other than Hades, fiery God of the Underworld.
Under Calli’s leadership, the sisters embark on a journey to save their mother and to learn more about their own divine origins. But the path ahead is filled with mythical trials and tribulations, and they’ll need to rely on both their individual talents and the strength of their sisterhood to ensure that they ascend from "zeroes" to "heroes"--or more accurately, heroines.
Penned by New York Times bestselling author Farrah Rochon, this YA fantasy uniquely blends a twist on a Disney classic with a fresh take on Greek mythology.
January 7, 2025
Beneath the Harvest Moon
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Sade Morgan’s world is built on soil, sacrifice, and the unwavering love she has for her son, Eli. As the owner of a beloved pumpkin farm in Statesville, North Carolina, she’s long since traded in dreams of romance for harvest seasons and hayrides. But when Lorenzo Tate, her childhood best friend and first love, returns to town after a failed marriage, his quiet strength stirs everything she thought she had buried.
As the crisp days of fall settle in and the scent of cider and woodsmoke fills the air, long-forgotten feelings begin to surface. But beneath the golden leaves and late-night bonfires, unresolved wounds and painful truths press in around them. Just as Sade begins to hope for a second chance at love, the past resurfaces with questions that could change everything.
Tangled in tenderness, slow-burning romance, and the resilience of a small town in autumn, Beneath the Harvest Moon is a heartfelt story of healing, homecoming, and the courage it takes to let love in when it matters most.
October 3, 2025
Best We Never Had
Kalon Michaels
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
She needs to win. He refuses to lose. Can a pretend relationship form a real shot at
success?
When 17-year-old Camryn “Cami” Knight decides to attend a comic convention as one of her
favorite characters, she never expects to leave it playing an entirely different role—her brother’s
best friend’s girlfriend.
Camryn needs to score a ton of likes and reposts in order to win her dream internship. Too bad
hardly anyone knows she exists.
Dex Carlson is a stranger to no one. He’s handsome and a star athlete. He’s also her brother’s
best friend…and he’s offering a foolproof way to increase Cami’s mentions: Be his girl.
What starts as a ploy quickly becomes a challenge for Cami on all sides: withstand the pressure
of the competition, avoid falling for the rage bait Dex’s ex constantly throws, and, above all,
keep her heart’s desires safely tucked away in her private inbox.
Can Cami and Dex make something real out of the ultimate clout-chase? Or will their
relationship go down in the DMs as the best thing they never had?
August 25, 2026
Better Than You Know Yourself
Kristen L. Berry
Don’t Go in There!
From the nationally bestselling author of We Don’t Talk About Carol comes an emotionally compelling mystery about two best friends caught at the center of a murder investigation that threatens to tear them—and everything they’ve built together—apart.
Jia and Imani’s thirteen-year, thicker-than-blood friendship has endured it all, from divorce and early motherhood to career upheavals and family betrayals. And what began as a weekend farmers market project has grown into a thriving nut butter business—and full-time careers for both women.
Imani couldn’t be happier. She’s finally made her entrepreneurial dreams come true. And she’s found herself in a steamy—though discreet—new romance, something she desperately craves after her marriage became an unexpected casualty of her ambition.
Jia, on the other hand, is crumbling…much like the roof she can barely keep over her toddler’s head, thanks to the debt from trying to kickstart her career. And she can’t bear to admit to Imani that she’s chafing to leave the business she never expected to start and return to her original calling as a chef.
When a life-changing offer to buy their business becomes the greatest test of their friendship, the only person with the power to tip the scales is their cutthroat new investor, Ravi…the man Imani is secretly sleeping with. That is, until he’s found dead on Imani’s kitchen island.
News of Ravi’s death and months-long affair with Imani ignites a major public scandal, and everything Imani and Jia have worked toward threatens to implode. When the investigation into Ravi’s death points to foul play, Imani becomes the primary suspect, and worst of all, victim to Jia’s cold shoulder.
As pressure mounts and more people in their circle die under mysterious circumstances, the two must decide whether to stand together—or lose each other for good.
March 2, 2027
Between Friends & Lovers
Shirlene Obuobi
Our Stories, Our Terms
"Between Friends & Lovers was an absolute joy to read, with messy, realistic,
and deeply lovable characters... Obuobi’s perfect balance of humor and
wisdom made this one a true standout.” — Emily Henry, #1 New York
Times bestselling author
An influencer, an actor, and a writer navigate the messy ins and outs of
friendship and romance in a world where social media demands perfection—or
at least the appearance of it—in this swoon-worthy love story for readers of
Kennedy Ryan and Carley Fortune.
To her thousands of Instagram followers, Josephine Boateng is the brilliant, dazzling
self-love expert, Dr. Jojo. But off-camera, Jo’s grappling with the intense pressures of
her career and her love life is nonexistent thanks to an unrequited crush on her best
friend, rom-com heartthrob Ezra Adelman.
Then Ezra shows up to his thirtieth birthday party with her childhood bully on his
arm—and Jo realizes it’s finally time to take her own advice. Enter Malcom Waters, the
world’s newest literary darling. An introvert by nature, he would rather be home than
trying to impress execs and celebs at a swanky Hollywood party. Until he bumps into
Jo, and the two of them quickly realize their chemistry is too good to ignore.
But for all three, the line between private and public is as blurred as the one between
friendship and love—especially when Ezra decides he might want something more with
Jo. The question is, can any of them risk defining those lines to create something real?
July 30, 2024
Bibliophile: Diverse Spines
Jamise Harper
Drawn + Written
It's time to diversify your reading list.
This richly illustrated and vastly inclusive collection uplifts the works of authors who are often underrepresented in the literary world. Using their keen knowledge and deep love for all things literary, coauthors Jamise Harper (founder of the Diverse Spines book community) and Jane Mount (author of Bibliophile) collaborated to create an essential volume filled with treasures for every reader:
• Dozens of themed illustrated book stacks—like Classics, Contemporary Fiction, Mysteries, Cookbooks, and more—all with an emphasis on authors of color and own voices
• A look inside beloved bookstores owned by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
• Reading recommendations from leading BIPOC literary influencers
Diversify your reading list to expand your world and shift your perspective. Kickstart your next literary adventure now!
EASY TO GIFT: This portable guide is packed with more than 150 colorful illustrations is a perfect gift for any booklover. The textured paper cover, gold foil, and ribbon marker make this book a special gift or self-purchase.
DISCOVER UNSUNG LITERARY HEROES: The authors dive deep into a wide variety of genres, such as Contemporary Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Sci-Fi, and more to bring the works of authors of color to the fore.
ENDLESS READING INSPIRATION: Themed book stacks and reading suggestions from luminaries of the literary world provide curated book recommendations. Your to-read list will thank you.
Perfect for: bookish people; literary lovers; book club members; Mother's Day shoppers; stocking stuffers; followers of #DiverseSpines; Jane Mount and Ideal Bookshelf fans; Reese's Book Club and Oprah's Book Club followers; people who use Goodreads.com; readers wanting to expand/decolonize their book collections; people interested in uplifting BIPOC voices; antiracist activists and educators; grads and students; librarians and library patrons wanting to expand/decolonize their book collections; people interested in uplifting BIPOC voices; antiracist activists and educators; grads and students; librarians and library patrons
October 18, 2021
Big Girl Blitz
Danielle Allen
Love Jones & Situationships
"Nothing is hotter and more fun than Danielle Allen’s writing." -- Ali Hazelwood
Because life’s too short, and mean girls ain’t sh… Jazmyn Payne fled her hometown—and the fatphobes who made her life hell– the minute she graduated high school. Growing up, her haven was her Aunt Addison, and when her health takes a drastic turn, she insists that Jazz should spice up her life. Emphasis on spice.
But dating is the last thing Jazz had on her mind.
Until Lamar Anderson sits next to her at the local sports bar. He is sexy, fun, and refreshingly drama free. With him she's able to pretend that everything is alright. But as real life intrudes, Jazz has to decide if she can leave the past where it belongs… for a love that she deserves.
April 14, 2026
Black Enough, Man Enough
Gee Smalls
Real Life | Real Talk
One man's riveting, contemporary journey through multiple comings-out to authentically live his unique identity.
Black Enough, Man Enough
Embracing My Mixed Race and Sexual Fluidity
I knew I was different, called 'faggot-ass half-breed, ' teased for my light bright skin, soft curly afro, freckly face, and feminine ways. Growing up the child of a Black daddy and white momma in the Gullah Geechee culture on James Island, South Carolina in the 80's, I was an outsider.
My adolescent identity crisis of racial and sexual confusion led to a trip down the aisle with my high school sweetheart, the joy of fatherhood, and then into the shadows of the down-low before divorce and a tumultuous custody battle. As I embraced all of who I am, I developed my voice, using it to speak out on the racial and LGBT equality movements, as well as to say 'I do' to marry the man I love and create a realistic 21st century blended family.
July 7, 2020
Black Girls Breathing
Jasmine Marie
Real Life | Real Talk
As a Black woman, Jasmine Marie knows the impact that intergenerational trauma and systemic racism have had—and continue to have—on her community. Those experiences, along with her own journey through chronic stress, are why she created black girls breathing®, a movement dedicated to helping Black women understand the power of the mind-body connection and its impact on their holistic health, one breath at a time. Sharing breathwork exercises from her unique somatic philosophies, proven by data and utilized by tens of thousands of participants to date, Jasmine Marie will help you:
Connect more fully to your body
Give yourself permission to rest
Heal the chronic stress you carry in your body and nervous system
Address emotional pain
Rebuild your sense of self and your community
Black Girls Breathing is a long-overdue resource for every Strong Black Woman—the woman ready to break cycles of trauma, heal the internalized beliefs of perfectionism and conditional self-worth, and follow the wisdom of her inner voice.
December 17, 2024
Black Horror: Canonical Voices from Then to Now
Maurice Broaddus
Dr. Chesya Burke
Black to the Future
Black Horror: Canonical Voices from Then to Now is a landmark anthology offering the evolution of Black American literary horror while boldly imagining its future. The stories within recognize the legacy of Black horror, its literary milestones, cultural roots, and innovative voices, while pushing the genre into new, daring territory. Authors featured in the anthology include: Tananarive Due, P. Djeli Clark, Linda D. Addison, Brandon Massey, Justina Ireland, Jewelle Gomez, Sheree Renee Thomas, Wrath James White and Victor Lavalle. It also includes a small selection of stories chosen from open submissions. This book revels in the power of horror to unsettle, illuminate, or transform, while drawing from Black American cultural histories, mythologies, and lived experiences; it will surprise you with fresh nightmares, folklore, and futures, honoring the past while writing fearlessly toward tomorrow.
November 24, 2026
Black Joy
Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts
Real Life | Real Talk
Drawn + Written
Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional
With deeply personal and uplifting essays in the vein of Black Girls Rock!, You Are Your Best Thing, and I Really Needed This Today, this is “a necessary testimony on the magic and beauty of our capacity to live and love fully and out loud” (Kerry Washington).
When Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts wrote an essay on Black joy for The Washington Post, she had no idea just how deeply it would resonate. But the outpouring of positive responses affirmed her own lived experience: that Black joy is not just a weapon of resistance, it is a tool for resilience.
With this book, Tracey aims to gift her community with a collection of lyrical essays about the way joy has evolved, even in the midst of trauma, in her own life. Detailing these instances of joy in the context of Black culture allows us to recognize the power of Black joy as a resource to draw upon, and to challenge the one-note narratives of Black life as solely comprised of trauma and hardship.
“Lewis-Giggetts etches a stunning personal map that follows in her ancestors’ footsteps and highlights their ability to take control of situational heartbreak and tragedy and make something better out of it….A simultaneously gorgeous and heartbreaking read” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
February 1, 2022
Black Rose
Milton J. Davis
Black to the Future
The first historical fiction novel by Milton J. Davis takes takes place in 15th century East Africa and Japan!
Swahili merchant Kesi Masanja (Black Rose) takes responsibility of Danuja Tanaka after her family is killed by rival shoguns. Together they navigate the challenges of their societies while struggling with the legacies of their families.
August 8, 2022
Black Summers
Desiree Cooper
Real Life | Real Talk
A triumphant, cross-generational exploration of Black joy and resilience. Remember frolicking outside during the long, jubilant days of summer? This vibrant collection invites readers to breathe deeply and return to that "carefree" season. From riding bikes with friends through the neighborhood, to hopping the ferry to Boblo Island, catching catfish along the river, dancing on warm nights to Afrobeats and jazz music, and cooling off in the Swimmobile, those sun-drenched memories were often clouded by racism for the Detroiters in this evocative anthology. These emerging and award-winning creators of all ages recount the struggles and triumph of staking their claim to public spaces. Ranging from poetry to essay, creative nonfiction to comics, this collection blends nostalgia with struggle and resilience. Arising from the iconic city of the African American experience comes this exploration of Black joy in the urban outdoors.
April 21, 2026
Black Women in Bloom
Anayo Awuzie
Drawn + Written
Black Women in Bloom is a limited-edition coffee table book celebrating the becoming journeys of Black women across the diaspora. Curated from Carefree’s archives (with new, never-published essays!) and edited by Carefree Magazine founder Anayo Awuzie, it is both a collectible art object and an intimate reading experience.
Featuring over 30 essays from Black women writers around the world, alongside photography and original illustrations from Black artists. Each chapter follows the six stages of growth inspired by the lifecycle of a flower: Seeds, Growth, Reproduction, Pollination, Thorns, and Blooming.
Blood at the Root
LaDarrion Williams
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR
A teenager on the run from his past finds the family he never knew existed and the community he never knew he needed at an HBCU for the young, Black, and magical. Enroll in the debut of a fresh fantasy series unlike anything you've seen before.
“Brings magical living to an HBCU in an unforgettable young adult adventure.” —People
Ten years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.
At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself—one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.
In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.
Look for all the books in this unforgettable fantasy trilogy: BLOOD AT THE ROOT BONES AT THE CROSSROADS ASHES AT THE ALTAR
May 7, 2024
Blood in the Water
Tiffany D. Jackson
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
This summer, beware of sharks...
Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can't-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha's Vineyard.
Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She's spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha's Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly.
Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable--murder?
Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery. But her investigation leads her to uncover shocking secrets that could change her own life as she knows it... if she survives.
New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with this heart-pounding mystery packed with twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the end.
July 1, 2025
Bloom How You Must
Tara Pringle Jefferson
Real Life | Real Talk
Self-care isn’t a trend among Black women; it has always been a throughline in our heritage. Consider Coretta Scott King, who along with fellow activists Betty Shabazz and Myrlie Evers-Williams, would enjoy “girls’ trips” to take a break from the stress of the Civil Rights Movement. Remember their contemporary Rosa Parks attended (and led) yoga classes while on the front lines for Black rights in Detroit. Think of the enduring friendship between Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, a sisterhood in which they have leaned on each other for nearly forty years while thriving in the glaring media and entertainment spotlight. Picture Toni Morrison’s overflowing gardens and lush houseplants she tended while writing classics like Beloved and The Bluest Eye. Recall Audre Lord’s enduring declaration written after her second cancer diagnosis: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Bloom How You Must explores and expands on this self-care legacy and shows how it can help every Black woman today. Tara Pringle Jefferson excavates the roots of self-care and community care as a sustaining force for generations of Black women and transforms her findings into a blueprint women can follow in their daily lives. A blend of guidebook and journal, Bloom How You Must explores several distinct pillars of wellness. With its diversity of insights,practical skills and multigenerational focus, Bloom How You Must is a love letter to the millions of Black women who want a less stressful life but don’t know where to begin. Bloom How You Must gives them the tools they need to improve their health and their daily lives.
December 2, 2025
Blue Opening
Chet'la Sebree
Drawn + Written
Blue Opening, Chet’la Sebree’s brilliant, illuminating poetry collection, grapples with origins―of illness, of language, of the universe―as the speaker contemplates whether she, too, can be a site of origin through motherhood. Navigating chronic health challenges alongside grief and questions about the nature of knowledge and religion, she searches personal history and the cosmos for answers to the unknowable.
With startling clarity and vivid tenderness, Blue Opening calls into question not only where to begin, but how to create, across thirty-two poems that press the fluid boundaries of form through sonnets, prose poems, odes, and two unforgettable poetic sequences. As the speaker traverses loss, possibility, and the choice, or often the lack of choice, in the direction of her future, she determines to press forward even as she is “unsure of what shape this language should take / and hulling, from blue rock, faith.”
September 16, 2025
Bones at the Crossroads
LaDarrion Williams
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the sequel to the “unforgettable” (People) fantasy debut Blood at the Root, a Black teenager with magical powers returns to Caiman University only to find new dangers and new secrets.
It’s Homecoming season at Caiman University, and all seventeen-year-old Malik Baron wants to do is be a regular college student…or as regular as he can get at a magical HBCU for young, Black Conjurers. He’s ready to go to parties, hang out with his new friends, choose a major, and talk to girls. Instead, he’s reeling from a summer of revelations, heartbreak, and betrayal, and still uncovering the truth about his powers and his legacy.
The family he only just discovered is already fractured beyond repair, and a new relative who shows up on his doorstep brings even more questions. Then there’s the mother he risked everything to find, who might be the biggest threat to the life he’s trying to build. To protect his new community, Malik joins an elite secret society with roots in ancient magic.
His journey takes him even deeper into his own heritage and the history of the magical world, while bringing him closer to a classmate whose friendship might mean something more, if Malik is ready to let her in. But how can he use powers he can’t even control to defend a world he’s not sure will ever fully accept him? And as the pressure and danger builds, will he be able to confront the deepening cracks within the magical society, and those building within himself?
Look for all the books in this unforgettable fantasy trilogy: BLOOD AT THE ROOT BONES AT THE CROSSROADS ASHES AT THE ALTAR
July 29, 2025
Juneteenth
Toni Larue'
Don’t Go in There!
What happens when fear is no longer enough to hold us back?
When the justice system fails to hold his son’s killer accountable, a grieving father is pushed to the brink. Faced with an impossible choice, he must decide: accept the system’s failure—or unleash the beast the world has created.
In this gripping, heart-stopping thriller, “JUNETEENTH” explores the devastating cost of justice denied. As the line between vengeance and justice blurs, one man’s actions will challenge everything we think we know about right, wrong, and the price of fighting back.
June 16, 2025
Boom Town
Nic Stone
Don’t Go in There!
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl meets P-Valley in Nic Stone’s adult thriller debut about two missing erotic dancers from Atlanta’s most notorious gentlemen’s club and the woman committed to finding them.
When Damaris “Charm” Wilburn, a new daytime dancer, is missing for her shift at Boom Town, former headliner Michah “Lyriq” Johanssen suspects something more than a “no call, no show.” As Lyriq’s former headline partner and lover—Felice “Lucky” Carothers—also vanished under similar circumstances, Lyriq decides she’s going to find them.
Delving deeper into Charm and Lucky’s disappearances, Lyriq uncovers a tangled web of deceit, wealth, privilege, and power. The line between friend and foe blurs, forcing Lyriq to confront the question: is finding these women worth the threat to her own life?
A tantalizing thriller that takes you on a heart-pounding and page turning journey through the peaks and valleys of Atlanta’s underworld, Boom Town grapples with a troubling reality: only some missing women draw attention while others are too easily forgotten.
October 14, 2025
Breakout
Dhonielle Clayton
Tiffany D. Jackson
Nic Stone
Angie Thomas
Ashley Woodfolk
Nicola Yoon
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teen love to this interlinked novel in short stories.
A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks.
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new.
When the lights go out and people reveal hidden truths, love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.
Beloved authors Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon celebrate the beauty, joy, and complexity of Black teen love.
June 2, 2026
Breath of Oblivion
Maurice Broaddus
Black to the Future
Maurice Broaddus returns with Breath of Oblivion, the second book in his Astra Black trilogy, which explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano Empire—a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from Earth to Titan and beyond—as it faces renewed threats to its progress. A Best New Science Fiction Pick for New Scientist - Gizmodo - Book Riot Fansided - Transfer Orbit - Reactor Beyond the Orun Gate, Epyc Ro and her elite soldiers are stranded. Capturing an alien ship and searching for a way home, they discover a stowaway who may be the key to overcoming the alien forces swarming all around them. On board the Cypher, Captain Stacia Chikeke is struggling to keep her ship and its fractured crew together. But the discovery of an interstellar phenomenon and the opportunity to explore unites them in a singular purpose, for now. In the slums of Indianapolis, Wachiru Adisa works to free the children of the diaspora detained in Original Earth facilities, only to be captured and sent to a nightmarish criminal justice facility, the Panopticon. On Original Earth, Ishant Sangsuwangul is the newly assigned liaison to the corporate entity running the government there. He feels like a prisoner, but must find a way to stem the tide of conflict as animosity toward his people grows. In the Badlands of Mars, Amachi Adisa and her new teacher Nehanda begin her training to learn from her past, chart her future, and unlock the power that is her birthright. In the Dreaming City, the lunar heart of Muungano power, Maulana Buhari struggles with how to lead his people. Is now the time for isolation or aggression? Together they, and all of Muungano, will guide the empire forward by any means necessary, as enemies of old and new extraterrestrial threats mount.
November 12, 2024
Briarcliff Prep
Brianna Peppins
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
A 2024 TAYSHAS Reading List selection! Set at a luxe, aspirational boarding school inspired by the author's beloved alma mater Spelman College, this debut is a captivating celebration of the friends we choose, the family we protect, and the love we owe ourselves. It's fourteen-year-old Avielle "Avi" LeBeau's turn to do what everyone in her family has done: leave home to attend Briarcliff Prep—a Historically Black Boarding School (HBBS). And as scared as she is to say goodbye to her parents and move to Georgia, she knows her fearless big sister Belle will be there to show her the ropes. Before long, Avi settles into life at Briarcliff. New friends (and foes), challenging classes (at times too challenging), and maybe a cute tutor-turned-something-more (if her brothers don't get in the way). Meanwhile, Belle does what she always does: she runs the campus's social scene, especially now that she's dating Logan, the pride and joy of Briarcliff's sibling school Preston Academy. But something about Logan doesn't sit well with Avi, no matter how many times Belle reassures her Logan is a good guy. And when Avi stumbles across the truth, her relationship with Belle is put to the test. If Avi reveals what she knows, their sisterhood might never recover. But if she doesn't, she might lose Belle forever. Debut author Brianna Peppins deftly balances a celebration of sisterhood, self-discovery, and Black joy with an empathetic exploration of teen dating violence in this novel that is, at its heart, a love letter to Black girls.
November 15, 2022
Briarcliff Prep: Sophomore Year
Brianna Peppins
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Amelia Westlake Was Never Here meets an empathetic exploration of anxiety at historically Black boarding school Briarcliff Prep. Love triangles, friendship breakups, and slice-of-student-life are balanced with a thoughtful discussion about mental health, all in a love letter to Black girls. Avielle LeBeau is beginning her second year at Briarcliff Prep, and she's got big dreams. Top of the list? Starting her own student life magazine and rooming with her besties Rhyon and Zazie. But a housing mix-up splits Avi from her friends—and to make matters worse, she's rooming with her rival, Fallon Walsh, instead. How does one girl juggle school, a fracturing friendship, living with a mean girl, and getting caught in a potential love triangle between the ex she can't move on from and a friend who’s becoming something more? It's a lot. Made even harder by the panic attacks Avi has been experiencing lately. If one thing is true about the LeBeau family, it's that they’re always there for each other. But with her older sister Belle away at college and her brothers preoccupied chasing their own dreams, Avi must learn how to find support in new (unlikely) places. Will Avi finally find her voice? Or will her dreams be drowned out by everyone else?
November 19, 2024
Broken Glass Houses
Lorna Lewis
Our Stories, Our Terms
When secrets are unleashed, two women must navigate a friendship tested to
the extreme in an emotional novel of psychological suspense by the author of
A Sky Full of Love.
In an affluent Louisiana community, Parker Montgomery has reached the pinnacle of
success. Wealthy, influential, and unimpeachably respected, she’s attending a gala in
her honor. Amid the applause Parker sees a ghost from her past—a ghost who knows
her daughter’s dark secret. In a heartbeat, Parker’s carefully constructed life begins to
unravel. Hers isn’t the only one.
Parker’s best friend, Carmen, consumed by her own family tragedy, is at a breaking
point. Parker is Carmen’s last remaining anchor to sanity. She’s willing to do anything
to protect her, to save her from what’s hidden in the past, and to make Parker see
what’s truly important. All it takes for Carmen is one shocking decision that sends both
of them spiraling.
Two women, two families under threat, and one desperate act that forces Parker and
Carmen to confront whether their bond can survive the painful truths about identity,
loyalty, and a friendship built on lies.
© 2026 by Lorna Lewis, all rights reserved.
September 22, 2026
Broken Heir
Angel M. Shaw
Love Jones & Situationships
When you're trapped in an elevator with the hottest billionaire playboy on campus... “I don’t think you have any idea what I think of you, Shae.” And that’s it. He says my name, and the way he rolls the vowels feels as intimate as if he’d touched me. “You…think of me?” I say, and I’m grateful I deliver the words without a crack in my voice. “Oh, yes. I think about you.” He chuckles and closes the gap between us. “I like you, Shae Rivers. I like you a lot. So yes, I think about you. A lot.” The words hang between us, and the emergency lights of the elevator slash across half of his face. The Wintermint scent from the gum cools my cheeks, but still, it does nothing for the way I'm getting turned on. “Oh?” I say again and lick my lips. “Don’t do that, Sweetness,” he grinds out, and holy shhh—with him that close to me and the way the words rumble from his mouth…. “Don’t do what?” I ask. My head drops back against the wall as he comes closer. Even closer. “Don’t lick those delectable lips. Not unless you want me to lick them for you next.” Oh. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, then I whimper, because this close, I get a true glimpse of the smile that makes all the girls at Asheford University go wild. When I lick my lips again, Storm’s face transforms. Gone is his teasing, sensual grin, and in its place is…darkness. Oh, snap. What have I gotten myself into? “What did I say about you saying ‘sorry?’” Begin Shae and Storm’s journey through secrets and second chances.
June 19, 2025
Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl
Amena Brown
Real Life | Real Talk
A delightfully funny essay collection about growing up in the south, the
pitfalls of date night, the things you wish you could say to your therapist, and
why no one should ever tell a Black girl how to Black Girl.
Black women always find a place to meet: in the natural hair aisle, at Beyoncé
concerts, even online in memes and catchphrases. This book is one of those places: a
living room where readers can contemplate how a well-picked afro can defy the laws of
physics and why boob sweat has to exist in the first place. Here, Black Girl is a verb.
Here, Black women can Black Girl in every way we want to.
Brown’s book Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl blends storytelling, humor, and
pop culture commentary to traverse the magic and wisdom she's gleaned from being
raised by Southern Black women, and by being supported by the community of Black
women who hold her down today. After graduating from International Black Girl
Headquarters (the renowned HBCU Spelman College), Amena had built a career
sharing stories and celebrating Black womanhood. In her book, she shares stories of
dancing in Janelle Monae's Tightrope music video and partnering with Tracee Ellis Ross
to compose odes to natural hair. She imparts essential life lessons from the Real
Housewives of Atlanta, and from her grandmother before her upcoming swirl marriage
(“Don’t kiss white boys too hard, because they bruise easily”). She also tells hair tales,
sharing the collected wisdom from her committee of friends when it came to the ideal
style for her first speaking gig at Essence Fest (box braids, 100%).
In the end, Brown shares that Black women are a whole world. A galaxy of customs,
language, code, and unspoken understandings, all explored with humor and heart in
this unforgettable book.
Story Locale:Atlanta, New York, Chicago, San Antonio, and Goldsboro, NC
June 16, 2026
Can't We Be Friends
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
Award-winning author Denny S. Bryce and USA Today bestselling author Eliza
Knight collaborate on a brilliant novel that uncovers the boundary-breaking,
genuine friendship between Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, and iconic
movie star Marilyn Monroe.
One woman was recognized as the premiere singer of her era with perfect
pitch and tireless ambition.
One woman was the most glamorous star in Hollywood, a sex symbol who
took the world by storm.
And their friendship was fast and firm…
1952: Ella Fitzgerald is a renowned jazz singer whose only roadblock to longevity is
society’s attitude toward women and race. Marilyn Monroe’s star is rising despite
ongoing battles with movie studio bigwigs and boyfriends. When she needs help with
her singing, she wants only the best—and the best is the brilliant Ella Fitzgerald. But
Ella isn’t a singing teacher and declines—then the two women meet, and to everyone’s
surprise but their own, they become fast friends.
On the surface, what could they have in common? Yet each was underestimated by the
men in their lives—husbands, managers, hangers-on. And both were determined to
gain. Each fought for professional independence and personal agency in a time when
women were expected to surrender control to those same men.
This novel reveals and celebrates their surprising bond over a decade and serves as a
poignant reminder of how true friendship can cross differences to bolster and sustain
us through haunting heartbreak and wild success.
March 5, 2024
In the Face of the Sun
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
“Bryce excels at placing readers in a glamorous time and place…riveting and
vibrant.” – Booklist
Go On Girl Book Club 2021 New Author of the Year She Reads Best Literary
Historical Fiction Coming in 2022 BookRiot 2022 Historical Fiction to Add to
Your TBR Right Now We are Bookish Historical Fiction Novels You’ll Want in
Your Future BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Books of 2022 BookBub Best
Books of Spring 2022 & Best Historical Fiction Books of 2022 BookTrib Top
Ten Historical Fiction Books for the Spring 2022
In this haunting novel, the author of Wild Women and the Blues weaves
together two stories as they unfold decades apart, as a woman on the run
from an abusive husband joins her intrepid aunt as they head across the
country from Chicago to Los Angeles, and confront a painful and shadowy past
that has reverberated across generations.
1928, Los Angeles: The newly-built Hotel Somerville is the hotspot for the city's
glittering African-American elite. It embodies prosperity and dreams of equality for
all—especially Daisy Washington. An up-and-coming journalist, Daisy anonymously
chronicles fierce activism and behind-the-scenes Hollywood scandals in order to save
her family from poverty. But power in the City of Angels is also fueled by racism,
greed, and betrayal. And even the most determined young woman can play too many
secrets too far . . .
1968, Chicago: For Frankie Saunders, fleeing across America is her only escape from
an abusive husband. But her rescuer is her reckless, profane Aunt Daisy, still reeling
from her own shattered past. Frankie doesn't want to know what her aunt is up to so
long as Daisy can get her to LA—and safety. But Frankie finds there’s no hiding from
long-held secrets—or her own surprising strength.
Daisy will do whatever it takes to settle old scores and resolve the past—no matter the
damage. And Frankie will come up against hard choices in the face of unexpected
passion. Both must come to grips with what they need, what they’ve left behind—and
all that lies ahead . . .
“The scenes are cinematically vivid, the language fresh and vibrant, the
characters complicated and real.” – Historical Novel Society
“The author of Wild Women and the Blues is back with another historical
fiction novel to dazzle and amaze.” – Book Riot
“An engrossing family saga filled with heartbreak and love, victory,
forgiveness, and loss, and a wonderful character study of several
unforgettable women.” – All About Romance
April 26, 2022
The Other Princess
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
A stunning portrait of an African princess raised in Queen Victoria’s court and
adapting to life in Victorian England—based on the real-life story of a recently
rediscovered historical figure, Sarah Forbes Bonetta.
With a brilliant mind and a fierce will to survive, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a kidnapped
African princess, is rescued from enslavement at seven years old and presented to
Queen Victoria as a “gift.” To the Queen, the girl is an exotic trophy to be trotted out
for the entertainment of the royal court and to showcase Victoria’s magnanimity. Sarah
charms most of the people she meets, even those who would cast her aside. Her keen
intelligence and her aptitude for languages and musical composition helps Sarah
navigate the Victorian era as an outsider given insider privileges.
But embedded in Sarah’s past is her destiny. Haunted by visions of destruction and
decapitations, she desperately seeks a place, a home she will never run from, never
fear, a refuge from nightmares and memories of death.
From West Africa to Windsor Castle to Sierra Leone, to St. James's Palace, and the
Lagos Colony, Sarah juggles the power and pitfalls of a royal upbringing as she battles
racism and systematic oppression on her way to living a life worthy of a Yoruba
princess.
Based on the real life of Queen Victoria’s Black goddaughter, Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s
story is a sweeping saga of an African princess in Victorian England and West Africa, as
she searches for a home, family, love, and identity.
October 3, 2023
The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
Inspired by a real-life scandal that was shocking even for the tumultuous
Roaring Twenties, this captivating novel tells the story of a pioneering Black
journalist, a secret interracial marriage among the New York elite, and the
sensational divorce case that ignited an explosive battle over race and
class—and brought together three very different women fighting for justice,
legitimacy, and the futures they risked everything to shape.
For readers of Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher
Murray, a transporting work of fact-based historical fiction from Denny S.
Bryce, bestselling author of Wild Women and the Blues, In the Face of the
Sun, and Can't We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe.
New York, 1920s. Born to English immigrants who’ve built a comfortable life, idealistic
Alice Jones longs for the kind of true love her mother and father have. She believes
she’s found it with Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander, the shy heir to his prominent white
family's real estate fortune. Alice, too, is white, though she is vaguely aware of rumors
that question her ancestry—gossip her parents dismiss. But when the lovers secretly
wed, Kip's father threatens his inheritance unless he annuls the marriage.
Devastated but determined, Alice faces overwhelming odds legally and in the merciless
court of public opinion. But there are two people who can either help her—or shatter
her hopes for good: In the 1940s, her estranged niece, Roberta Brooks, must put aside
her disdain for her infamous aunt to combat an unexpected new Rhinelander legal
assault. And in the 1920s, reporter Marvel Cunningham lives to chronicle social change
and the Harlem Renaissance's fiery creativity, but when Alice’s story dominates the
headlines, Marvel's job is to cover it.
At first, Marvel and Roberta, in different decades, see Alice’s legal entanglements as
tabloid sensations generated by a self-hating woman who failed to “pass.” But the
deeper they investigate, the more they will learn about the reasons behind Alice
Jones’s behavior and what the three women have in common. The Trial of Mrs.
Rhinelander will bring to light stunning truths that will force these women to confront
who they are and who they can be in a world that is all too quick to judge.
July 23, 2024
Where the False Gods Dwell
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
Inspired by real-life legendary choreographer Katherine Dunham’s
groundbreaking expedition into the heart of Caribbean dance culture, this
uniquely captivating novel imagines the experiences of three very different
women who accompany her, hoping to find their destinies—yet finding
themselves forced to survive a historic event . . .
Chicago, 1935. Othella is an orphaned con artist who needs to escape the city's brutal
underworld . . . or else. Vivian Jean is a wealthy wife, student, and anthropologist
eager to prove herself professionally and personally. Zinzi is a Jamaican labor union
activist determined to bring change to her homeland's plantation system. Thanks to a
series of fortunate mishaps and coincidences, all three join Dunham’s voyage to the
Maroon village of Accompong in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country—and perhaps discover what
they desperately want most . . .
Through skill and curiosity, Othella becomes a valued member of the expedition, even
as she struggles to conceal her past. Zinzi's knowledge of the Cockpit allows the
expedition to explore uncharted territory, even as a forbidden love and fierce
resistance threaten everything she seeks to protect. As Vivian Jean’s observations help
Dunham make unprecedented discoveries, she grapples with her second husband's
guilt and accusations. Yet, amidst their private battles, nature presents an even greater
challenge . . .
When a deadly storm bears down on the island, imperiling the women’s missions—and
their lives—they must form an unlikely sisterhood. To survive, they will need each
other more than anyone or anything they’ve ever needed.
Story Locale:Jamaica, 1935
February 24, 2026
Wild Women and the Blues
Denny S. Bryce
Our Stories, Our Terms
"Perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo...a dazzling depiction
of passion, prohibition, and murder.“ —Shelf Awareness
“Ambitious and stunning.” —Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling
author
"Vibrant…A highly entertaining read!” —Ellen Marie Wiseman New York Times
Bestselling author of THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR
“The music practically pours out of the pages of Denny S. Bryce's historical
novel, set among the artists and dreamers of the 1920s.” —OprahMag.com
Goodreads Debut Novel to Discover & Biggest Upcoming Historical Fiction
Books
Oprah Magazine, Parade, Ms. Magazine, SheReads, Bustle, BookBub, Frolic, &
BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Books
Marie Claire & Black Business Guide’s Books By Black Writers to Read
TODAY & Buzzfeed Books for Bridgerton Fans
SheReads Most Anticipated BIPOC Winter Releases 2021
Palm Beach Post Books for Your 2021 Reading List
In a stirring and impeccably researched novel of Jazz-age Chicago in all its
vibrant life, two stories intertwine nearly a hundred years apart, as a chorus
girl and a film student deal with loss, forgiveness, and love…in all its joy,
sadness, and imperfections.
“Why would I talk to you about my life? I don't know you, and even if I did, I don't tell
my story to just any boy with long hair, who probably smokes weed.You wanna hear
about me. You gotta tell me something about you. To make this worth my while.”
1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest
black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to
work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the
good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar
Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And
a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.
2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree
Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink.
Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link
to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he’s right—if she can fill in the blanks in his
research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But
the links Honoree makes are not ones he’s expecting...
Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth
and nail to keep his. It’s a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions.
And as past meets present, for Honoree, it’s a final chance to be truly heard and seen
before it’s too late. No matter the cost...
“Immersive, mysterious and evocative; factual in its history and nuanced in
its creativity.” —Ms. Magazine
“Perfect…Denny S. Bryce is a superstar!” —Julia Quinn, New York Times
bestselling author of the Bridgerton series
“Evocative and entertaining!” —Laura Kamoie, New York Times bestselling
author
“Wild Women and the Blues deftly delivers what historical fiction has been
missing.” —Farrah Rochon USA Today bestselling author
March 30, 2021
Bulletproof Love
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
She was the good girl raised to follow the rules. He was the street king who made his own. Twenty years later, fate is ready to play dirty.
Chanel “Channy” Davis had plans. Graduate, leave Crestwood behind, and never look back. But the night her first love, Xavier, is ripped away in a blur of bullets and sirens, those plans fall apart.
Two decades later, she has returned home a mother and a prosecutor, hardened by grief and the passage of time. She has built a new life. One that almost feels whole. Until Xavier comes back.
Fresh out of prison, Xavier is done with the streets. But he has never been done with Channy. As past wounds reopen and dangerous secrets resurface, the two must confront what was left unsaid, unhealed, and unresolved. Their love never died. But in Crestwood, love like theirs has a price.
February 15, 2026
Burden of Honesty
Teralyn Mitchell
Love Jones & Situationships
Whoever said honesty is the best policy is a dirty liar… Aly Saucer lost her best friend eight years ago. How, you ask? By being honest. She told him not to get married, and he told her to get lost. So, when he comes back to their small town, she has no interest in reconciling with the sexy jerk. Too bad he has other ideas… Rafael Myers has a few regrets—especially where romance is concerned. But letting Aly go was the biggest mistake of his life. Good thing he has no intention of letting it happen again. Now, all he has to do is convince her to give him a second chance. And to stop hating him… With years of hurt and a ton of unresolved chemistry between them, can Aly and Rafael find the courage to take a shot at happily ever after? Or will the burden of honesty once again destroy them? Burden of Honesty, book four in the Rosa Oaks series, is a spicy, funny, lightly angsty friends/neighbors to lovers, found family contemporary romance! Each book in the Rosa Oaks series can be read as a standalone, but for the best reading experience, read each book in order.
October 17, 2024
By Divine Rage
Roseanne A. Brown
Black to the Future
In this dark and lush romantic fantasy, two women raised as pawns in a corrupt world must join forces with unlikely allies to harness their fury and break the cycle of violence—the first in the debut adult series from New York Times bestselling author Roseanne A. Brown. This first edition hardcover features designed sprayed edges and full-color illustrated endpapers—while supplies last! Every generation has a Godsgift: a young woman possessing the blood of the goddess of spring. Raised as a ward of the Church and betrothed to their immortal prophet, she is destined to fend off a devastating eternal winter. But when this generation’s chosen one, the naïve Eulia, realizes she’s been groomed as a sacrificial lamb, she flees with the help of a mysterious warlock. Left behind is Cleio, Eulia’s passionate and furious handmaiden, who, with the support of a stoic soldier, must take Eulia’s place as a false Godsgift and root out corruption from within. Society would wrest their agency away, but these two women with a sisterhood forged in fire will not sit idly by as their fates are decided for them. Power is their destiny. Freedom is their right. And by divine rage, they will claim what is theirs. Book One of The Godsgift Cycle Story Locale:Fairy tale-inspired high fantasy world
April 13, 2027
Call and Response
L. Michelle Smith
Real Life | Real Talk
In collaboration with JVL Media—a captivating exploration of why many
high-performing Black business leaders attribute their transformational
leadership qualities to their experiences growing up in the Black Church and
how we can foster these skills in younger generations despite waning church
attendance.
The Black church in the U.S. has long been a “one-stop shop” for developing Black
leaders, teaching them many of the qualities required to lead effectively in today’s
ultra-competitive, digital, and swiftly transforming corporate world. Many
high-performing Black leaders benefited from their experiences growing up in this
cultural institution steeped in rich history.
Merging cultural study with applied neuroscience and tenets of positive psychology, L.
Michelle Smith dissect how these qualities are demonstrated by leaders across
industries, from resiliency to their sense of undeniable purpose, their ability to build
community and collaborative environments, the delivery and language of their
speaking style to their unique leadership flair. She reveals how this historic institution
has served as a timeless wellspring of leadership development, empowerment, and
cultural preservation and ultimately, is Black leaders’ “secret sauce.”
Call and Response also explores whether the Black Church will be able to continue to
ingrain these skills in future generations. Smith examines how cultural shifts have
resulted in a decline in church attendance, how online attendance has risen since the
Covid pandemic, and finally, how Black leaders may—or may not—be passing these
traditions down to their children.
February 10, 2026
Chain Gang All-Stars
Nana Kwame Adeji-Brenyah
Black to the Future
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, a brutal prison entertainment program where incarcerated people compete in televised death matches for a chance at freedom. As Thurwar nears the end of her sentence, she begins questioning the system, its corporate owners and what freedom truly means. Set in a dystopian America disturbingly close to our own, Chain-Gang All-Stars examines mass incarceration, systemic racism, capitalism and the human cost of turning punishment into entertainment.
May 2, 2023
Chain of Ideas
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Real Life | Real Talk
The National Book Award-winning historian of Stamped from the Beginning charts how “great replacement theory” has moved from the margins to become the most dominant political theory of our time—and what we can do to safeguard democracy from this insidious threat.
Recall the words chanted in Charlottesville, Virginia, but heard around the world: “You will not replace us!” Recall the string of mass shooters around the world—in Oslo and Christchurch, Buffalo, El Paso, and Pittsburgh—who claimed their crimes were a defense against “White genocide.” Recall business and media figures cultivating anxiety and furor over demographic change. These incidents only scratch the surface of this ascendant idea: Popular and ruling politicians in every region of the world have been expressing some version of great replacement theory, eroding democratic norms in the name of preventing demographic change and restoring national greatness.
What is great replacement theory? Variations on the theory have existed for centuries, but it was given this name by a French novelist in 2011 who believed Black and Brown immigrants were “invading” Europe, brought by shadowy elites to “replace” Europe’s White population. From there, politicians and theorists—whether in the United States or the United Kingdom, Germany or Chile, Hungary or Australia—repackaged the conspiracy as a story of “globalists” welcoming “migrant criminals” and diversity initiatives to take away the jobs, cultures, electoral power, and the very lives of White people. Over time, great replacement theory has expanded the threat to include citizens, men, Jews, Christians, heterosexuals, and ethnic majorities in countries as distinct as Russia, El Salvador, Brazil, Italy, and India. All are targeted with the message that they are under an existential attack that only a strongman can prevent.
In our fast-shifting political landscape, most people are unfamiliar with this theory’s origins and its spread, which isn’t a coincidence. In Chain of Ideas, international bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi uses exacting and clear prose to uncover the roots of great replacement theory and its various mutations around the world. It is an unsettling but indispensable global history of how great replacement theory brought humanity into this authoritarian age—and how we can free ourselves from it.
March 17, 2026
Chanel’s Interlude
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Chanel thought love would be enough.
But after Xavier is taken from her, everything she believed in begins to unravel. Forced into silence and separation, she is pushed into a life she never chose, one where grief has no language and loss has no closure.
In the years that follow, Chanel does what she must to survive. She buries herself in distractions, chasing numbness through reckless nights and empty connections. But even in her darkest moments, the echoes of what she lost, and the girl she used to be, never fully fades.
When she meets Charles, he offers her something Xavier never could—stability, structure, and a future that makes sense. With his help, she rebuilds her life from the outside in, earning her place in law school, becoming a prosecutor, and eventually a wife and mother. To the world, she has everything she once dreamed of.
But fulfillment and truth are not the same.
June 26, 2026
Chante
Marc Avery
Don’t Go in There!
“Marc did a great job setting the table. Looking forward to the next course.” —K’WAN, national bestselling author of Animal “Avery delivers a heart-stopping thriller. Giuseppe “Discipline” Cain is a one-man crime wave.” —Dennis Tafoya, author of Dope Thief, an Apple+ TV series Chanté Morrison is a woman scarred by loss and consumed by revenge. After the death of her boyfriend, cold-blooded serial killer Giuseppe “Discipline” Cain, she makes it her mission to destroy the two homicide detectives she holds responsible: Aaden Bravo and Christian Bennett. Already suspended from active duty after losing a suspect and becoming involved in a public shootout, Aaden and Christian are watching their personal and professional lives unravel. Aaden is reeling from the collapse of his marriage and haunted by their failure to arrest Chanté when they had the chance. Christian is struggling to stay on course through therapy while fighting the temptation to fall back into the women, drugs, and gambling that once ruled his life. What neither detective realizes is that their mounting misfortunes are no coincidence. From the shadows, Chanté is meticulously pulling the strings, exploiting their weaknesses and dismantling their lives piece by piece. As her vendetta pushes both men to the brink, Aaden and Christian must figure out just how far Chanté is willing to go before there is nothing left to save. Can the partners survive the wrath of a grieving woman determined to avenge Discipline’s death, or will Chanté finish what he started?
May 25, 2027
Chimera Skin
Johnny Compton
Black to the Future
Who Among You Is Ready to Know More?
Chimera Skin is a new apocalyptic sci-fi short novel from Johnny Compton, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Spite House, Devils Kill Devils, and Dead First.
Swanson, a mutated man struggling to maintain his sanity, is civilization's last hope. Our world has been decimated after a messianic alien unleashes hell on Earth during its failed attempt to “uplift” humanity. But Swanson may have figured out how to fight back, even if his plan forces him to leave the only planet he's ever known.
Chimera Skin is a short science-fiction horror novel in the vein of The Fly, The Thing, and I am Legend.
November 3, 2026
Christmas With The Mensahs
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Five years after their whirlwind love story in Accra, Kofi and Aliza Mensah are building the life they dreamed of-careers thriving, a marriage full of passion, and hopes for a family that sometimes feel just out of reach. When Aliza's best friend Tasha joins them for the holidays and Kofi's business partner Sean crashes Christmas too, the couple braces for a house full of laughter, chaos, and cocoa-fueled nights.
What they don't expect is a knock on the door at midnight that changes everything. Old tensions spark, new alliances form, and Aliza has a secret she's not ready to share.
Over twelve unforgettable days of Christmas, the Mensahs will argue, laugh, dance, and cook their way through misunderstandings and reconciliations.
Friendships deepen, romances spark, and family ties are tested in the glow of twinkle lights and the scent of jollof rice. And through it all, Kofi and Aliza must fight for their love.
November 28, 2025
Dominion
Addie E. Citchens
Our Stories, Our Terms
Reverend Sabre Winfrey, Jr., shepherd of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church,
believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. He owns the barbershop and the
radio station, and generally keeps an iron hand on every aspect of society in Dominion,
Mississippi. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called
Wonderboy—no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. But
Wonderboy, his father, and all the structures in place that keep them on top are not as
righteous as they seem to be. And when Wonderboy is caught off guard by an
encounter with a stranger, he finds himself confronted by questions he’d never
imagined. His response sends shock waves through the entire community.
Priscilla and Diamond, two women who love these men, bear witness to their charms
and bear the brunt of their choices. Through their eyes and their stories, Dominion
offers an intricate, intimate view of how secrets control us, how shame stifles us, how
silence implicates us, and how even love plays a role in the everyday violence and
casual sins of the powerful.
A brilliantly crafted Black Southern family drama told with the captivating force, humor,
and tenderness carried in the hearts of these women, Addie E. Citchens’s Dominion
wrestles with the many brutal, sinister ways in which we are shaped by fear and
patriarchy, and studies how we might yet choose to break free.
August 19, 2025
Collateral Love
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Love was supposed to be their shelter. Now it’s the one thing that could get them killed. Kenya “YaYa” King thought marrying Zayden meant stepping into a new life, one built on healing, passion, and finally letting her guard down. But the past has a long memory, and Crestwood doesn’t forget what it owes.
When a blackmail scheme targeting his sister-in-law spirals into a full-blown war, Zayden and his brother, Xavier, find
themselves dragged back into the shadows of a 20-year-old murder they thought was buried. Enemies are circling.
Secrets are leaking. And someone is out for blood. Now Kenya has been taken and used as leverage for sins the King brothers never confessed.
Zayden will have to burn through his past to rescue the woman who became his peace. Because this time, love isn’t just the prize; it’s the collateral.
May 20, 2026
Confessional Scriptures
Biodun Abudu
Drawn + Written
Confessional Scriptures is a book filled with erotic poetry and sexual short confessional stories from different people who had a secret to share or a tale to tell. It is believed that we have three faces, one that we show to the world, the next we show to our friends, family and lovers, the last one is the one we never show anyone, which is the truest reflection of who we are. This goes for everyone- you just never know what people are into, what turns them on or what sets their soul on fire or free. While reading this book remember every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. We all have dark secrets, unclean thoughts, filthy fantasies and sexual activities that goes on behind closed doors.
September 14, 2021
Cord Swell
brittny ray crowell
Drawn + Written
How can we memorialize our dead? How can that memorialization rend the veil between the dead and the living? In her debut volume, brittny ray crowell sifts through decades of obituaries, journals, and other ephemera to exhume the generations of her family from her hometown of Texarkana, Texas. She preserves her relatives’ stories in writing and in works of collage, a style of archive that layers the past and the present literally and poetically.
This unique approach transforms Cord Swell into an altar, an artistically enshrined space where crowell communes with the past and looks to the future. The title poem, in which crowell speaks to an aunt who passed away, poignantly asks, “if there’s any such thing / as paradise . . . / better than the warmth / of your neck . . . / how close am i / to that context of space?” Her question acts as a provisional thesis statement for this collection, a poetic attempt to reveal, redress, and interpret those who came before her, especially in the absence of physical traces. Each poem imagines ways to access family members who have died and calls out to ancestors crowell never met.
In the process, crowell demonstrates capacious syntactical range, nimbly leaping from haibun to erasure poems, interviews to sonnets. She also invents forms she calls “grooves,” which are structured as album tracklists. These techniques marry form with meaning, echoing the voices of lost loved ones in indelible verse. Rhapsodic, inventive, and ambitious, Cord Swell establishes crowell as one of the most creative and dynamic new voices in poetry.
October 7, 2025
Covet
K.Danyel
Don’t Go in There!
Everly has everything Naomi has ever wanted. The career, marriage and a life that seems perfect from the outside. So when Everly asks Naomi for a simple favor, helping around the house while life becomes overwhelming, it feels like nothing more than friends looking out for each other.
But some invitations should never be accepted.
What begins as an act of kindness quickly turns into crossed boundaries, blurred loyalties, and subtle manipulation. The more time Naomi spends inside Everly’s home, the harder it becomes to tell where friendship ends and obsession begins.
As secrets surface and loyalties crumble, the line between friend and enemy disappears. Every conversation feels like a trap, every memory becomes suspect and every choice pushes them closer to a betrayal neither of them can take back.
But in a game fueled by envy, appearances are the most dangerous deception of all because the greatest threat isn’t always the person who wants your life, it's the one who has been watching you the longest.
In COVET, obsession masquerades as friendship, trust becomes a weapon, and the truth is more terrifying than anyone could imagine. Packed with shocking twists and a finale that forces readers to question everything they thought they knew, this gripping psychological thriller proves one chilling truth:
Sometimes we create the enemy we never expected.
August 14, 2026
Aren Anime: The New Realm
Jerry Craft
Drawn + Written
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
In the first of a hilarious, heartfelt new trilogy from Newbery Medal-winning
graphic novelist Jerry Craft, a kid without superpowers navigates the epic
highs and lows of a school that trains its students to become anime heroes.
Aren Anderson may be the MVP at his middle school in Connecticut, but when he and
his family suddenly get transported to a bizarre new realm, everything changes! That’s
because all the kids at his new school, Anime Academy, have real superpowers! And
they spend every moment of their lives training to become the kind of anime heroes he
has only seen on TV.
Can Aren adjust from being the kid with all the power in his old school to feeling
completely powerless in his new school? And if that’s not bad enough, he’ll also have to
learn how to survive Death Battles, giant killer trees, and the most fearsome giant
robot that any realm has ever seen!
In this action-packed adventure by Newbery Medal–winning graphic novelist Jerry
Craft, fantastic powers may change the outcome of a battle, but family and teamwork
will change the future!
March 2, 2027
Class Act
Jerry Craft
Drawn + Written
New York
Times bestselling author Jerry Craft returns with a companion book
to New Kid, winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal, the Coretta
Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. This time, it’s Jordan’s friend
Drew who takes center stage in another laugh-out-loud funny, powerful, and
important story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious
private school.
Eighth
grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard
to be just as good.” His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what
if he works ten times as hard and still isn’t afforded the
same opportunities that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School
take for granted?
To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good
friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like
everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend
Jordan doesn't know how to keep the group together.
As the
pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his
friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be
able to accept himself?
New Kid, the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal, is now joined by
Jerry Craft's powerful Class Act.
October 6, 2020
New Kid
Jerry Craft
Drawn + Written
Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus
Prize for Young Readers’ Literature!
Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely,
honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is
low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator
Jerry Craft.
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life.
But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a
prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids
of color in his entire grade.
As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale
Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two
worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new
school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers, including for
summer reading.
New Kid is a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading
List.
Plus don't miss Jerry Craft's Class Act!
February 5, 2019
School Trip
Jerry Craft
Drawn + Written
New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest
adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in
New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author
Award! In this full-color contemporary graphic novel, the gang from Riverdale
Academy Day is heading to Paris, for an international education like you’ve
never seen before…
Jordan, Drew, Liam, Maury, and their friends from Riverdale Academy Day School are
heading out on a school trip to Paris. As an aspiring artist himself, Jordan can’t wait to
see all the amazing art in the famous City of Lights.
But when their trusted faculty guides are replaced at the last minute, the school trip
takes an unexpected—and hilarious—turn. Especially when trying to find their way
around a foreign city ends up being almost as tricky as navigating the same
friendships, fears, and differences that they struggle with at home.
Will Jordan and his friends embrace being exposed to a new language, unfamiliar food,
and a different culture? Or will they all end up feeling like the “new kid”?
Don’t miss the two hilarious and powerful companion novels by Jerry Craft,
New Kid and Class Act!
April 4, 2023
Crossroads
Dre Hill
Drawn + Written
A crossroads is a series of intersecting paths, each with the potential to take a traveler to a new destination. Whether the destination is known or unknown, the journey becomes one that tests the wit, will, and working knowledge of the traveler along the way. This collection, Crossroads, is Dre Hill’s journey of discovery, identity, and sense of self. Dre is formed and remade. Lost and then found. A wayward soul in search of both the past and the future. Much like this collection, Dre’s journey is both linear and non, simultaneously unfolding sequentially and at the same time, much like the ways in which we experience and compartmentalize things in real time. The work is reflective, speaking to the progression of his journey up until now, navigating his confusion, losses, doubts, anxieties, and more. The hope is that it similarly speaks to your inner journeyman, or woman, and that you will meet Dre where the roads cross
February 3, 2023
Curvy Girl Summer
Danielle Allen
Love Jones & Situationships
“There’s got to be an easier way than dating. I want the shortcut. I just want to find my person and start our lives together.”
After a one-night stand with her clingy ex, Aaliyah James has an epiphany: this ain’t it. She knows what she wants, and she’s ready to move past casual hookups, flings, and situationships.
But for her family, the clock is ticking—after all, she’s almost thirty. And when they imply that her personality (and her body) might be too big to land a man, she lets them know they’ve gone too far—and her (nonexistent) man loves her curves, thank you very much. Now, she has seven weeks to find the perfect boyfriend to rub in their faces at the big, fancy birthday celebration she’s been planning.
After her first blind date goes wrong, charming local bartender Ahmad Williamson consoles her with a drink and some playful banter. Aaliyah takes him up on his suggestion to use a dating app—but the more she sees of his warm, funny, and easygoing nature, the less she wants to check her DMs. Will her next swipe bring her closer to true love—or is her real match closer than she thinks?
June 11, 2024
Cutthroat
Octavia Grant
Don’t Go in There!
Eden Shelton was once told that you can’t spell embarrassment without MEN. She never believed it because according to her there was nothing better than being a wife to a loving and appreciative man. Marrying her college sweetheart seemed to make everything in her life better. But, when her rose colored glasses are removed, Eden discovers that the man she planned to walk through life forever with has secrets. Secrets that will change who she is forever.
April 20, 2025
Dark Star
Tonja K. Johnson
Black to the Future
“The ancestors have only ever demanded one thing: Never forget... there is power in your blood.” Brianna Bryant has only three months before graduating from the Secret College of Magical Negroes (SCMN), and that means she is nearly out of time before her life is claimed by the same occult society that has made her their chosen one. But before the elders can perform the final ritual that will make her into a weapon forged to destroy colonizers, she has her own plan. Her three goals: Discover the magical escape route she believes is connected to campus Dip out on the blood-worshipping death cult before graduation And absolutely do NOT fall for the boy hired to keep her in line ★DARK STAR is a magical HBCU horror story set in a reverse sundown town, perfect for fans of The Secret World of Maggie Grey, Blood at the Root, and Sinners.
December 18, 2026
Dasia
Nic Stone
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Dear Martin series comes a spin-off novel written in prose and letters-in-verse about a thirteen-year-old girl. As she navigates cancer, family challenges, and newfound friendship during her initial chemo treatment, she discovers that hope can bloom in the most unexpected places.
After nineteen days of “induction chemotherapy,” Dasia Monae Riley knows no one else should be in her hospital room . . .
But there she is: Jameson “Jimmy” Jeffs. Another cancer patient who’s seemingly everything Dasia is not: rich, well cared for, and a smidge childish (in Dasia’s opinion).
However, Dasia soon discovers that their commonalities go beyond a random, incurable disease . . . like older brothers who are gone, baby brothers who need them, and struggles with friends at school.
As Dasia and Jimmy chat, Dasia’s memories unfold in the unsent “letters” (read: poems) Dasia wrote to her incarcerated older brother. And over the course of one life-changing night, two girls who are at their lowest fight to keep each other uplifted. When you hit rock bottom, what does it take to survive and allow yourself to hope again?
In a spin-off to the Dear Martin series, New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone delivers a heart-wrenching story of resilience, connection, and the fight to stay alive when battling illness and bearing the weight of difficult circumstances.
October 6, 2026
Dead First
Johnny Compton
Don’t Go in There!
From the Bram Stoker award-nominated author of The Spite House comes a bone-chilling new novel about a private investigator hired by a mysterious billionaire to discover why he can’t die.
When private investigator Shyla Sinclair is invited to the looming mansion of eccentric billionaire Saxton Braith, she’s more than a little suspicious. The last thing she expects to see that night is Braith’s assistant driving an iron rod straight through the back of his skull. Scratch that—the last thing she expects to see is Braith’s resurrection afterward.
Braith can’t die, it turns out, but he has no explanation for his immortality, and very few intact memories of his past. Which is why he wants to pay Shyla millions to investigate him, and bring his long-buried history to light.
Shyla can’t help but be intrigued, but she’s also trapped by the offer. Braith has made it clear that he knows she’s the only person he can trust with his secret, because he knows all about hers.
Bold, atmospheric, and utterly frightening, Johnny Compton’s Dead First is spine- chilling supernatural horror about the pursuit of power and the undying need for reckoning.
Story Locale:Galveston and other cities in Texas
February 10, 2026
Dear Justyce
Nic Stone
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
An NPR Best Book of the Year * The stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin. An incarcerated teen writes letters to his best friend about his experiences in the American juvenile justice system.
An unflinching look into the tragically flawed practices and silenced voices in the American juvenile justice system.
Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Wynwood Heights. Years later, though, Justyce walks the illustrious halls of Yale University . . . and Quan sits behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center.
Through a series of flashbacks, vignettes, and letters to Justyce--the protagonist of Dear Martin--Quan's story takes form. Troubles at home and misunderstandings at school give rise to police encounters and tough decisions. But then there's a dead cop and a weapon with Quan's prints on it. What leads a bright kid down a road to a murder charge? Not even Quan is sure.
September 29, 2020
Dear Manny
Nic Stone
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin comes the thrilling final installment of the series, set in college and offering a new perspective on privilege, love, and our political climate.
A YALSA BEST FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS BOOK OF THE YEAR
A CBC Kids’ Top Ten Favorite in 9th-12th grade category
Jared Peter Christensen is running for president (of the Junior Class Council at his university, but still). His platform is solid—built on increased equity and inclusion in all sectors of campus life—and he’s got a good chance of beating the deeply conservative business major he’s running against.
But when a transfer student enters the race, she calls Jared out for his big-talk/little-action way of moving. Dylan’s accusations make him question just how “woke” he really is. But what’s the right way to bring about change? As the campaign heats up, feelings are caught, and juicy secrets come to light, and Jared writes letters to his deceased friend Manny, hoping to make sense of his confusion. What’s a white boy to do when love and politics collide? Will he have to choose between his head and his heart?
March 4, 2025
Dear Martin
Nic Stone
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOKS EVER • The revolutionary debut novel about a young Black teen grappling with racism and police violence—and what it all means for his future.
“A powerful, wrenching, and compulsively readable story that lays bare the history, and the present, of racism in America.”—JOHN GREEN, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Hollywood, Ending
“A must-read.”—ANGIE THOMAS, author of The Hate U Give
Justyce McAllister is a good kid. An honor student. Always there to help a friend. So why is he the one in handcuffs?
Despite leaving his rough neighborhood, Justyce McAllister can’t seem to escape the scorn of his former peers or the attitude of his new classmates at Braselton Prep. Captain of the debate team and Ivy League–bound, Justyce has studied the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But do they hold up now? He starts a journal addressed to Dr. King to find out.
Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. And in the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.
WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD FINALIST
Look for more from Nic Stone: DEAR JUSTYCE • DEAR MANNY
October 17, 2017
Dear Vicky
Octavia Grant
Don’t Go in There!
Delusional /dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl/ (adjective) - characterized by or holding false beliefs or judgments about external reality that are held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, typically as a symptom of a mental condition Grocery store bag boy, Andrew, hates his job. No career growth, rude customers, and the forced customer appreciation greeting have taken a toll on his mental stability. Though his job gives him the flexibility to attend community college, he can find no other enjoyment there. That is until he met the woman that would change his life. During Andrew’s mundane day of grabbing and bagging, Victoria, a customer with an infectious smile and playful personality, gives him the attention that he’s been missing. Attention that now has Andrew believing that he and she are now in a committed relationship. Victoria has no idea that her friendly demeanor has landed her in the crosshairs of an unwell man. But she’ll soon learn that the old adage is true: You can’t be nice to everyone. Get to know Andrew Patterson and discover how dangerous a delusion can be.
November 30, 2023
Death at Daffodil Inn
R. L. Killmore
Don’t Go in There!
When a budding new romance is upended by the discovery of a dead body, an inn owner and a hot single dad team up to find the killer. A cozy romance filled with twists, tension, and undeniable chemistry, Death at Daffodil Inn is a must read Cinnamon Falls mystery— perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and the Dream Harbor series. Spring has arrived in Cinnamon Falls, and the annual Daffodil Jubilee, hosted by the town’s charming Daffodil Inn, is in full swing. Morgan Taylor, who is reluctantly helping her parents host the event, wishes she could be spending the day celebrating with her best friend Nia or daydreaming about Will, the dangerously hot single dad she can’t get out of her head. As the Jubilee draws to a close with the twilight Petals and Promises dance, Morgan finds herself swept into the moment she’s long dreamed of when Will asks her to dance. But it’s not long before the lustful evening air is shattered by a bloodcurdling scream. A guest is found dead at the center of the inn’s garden maze, and whispers ripple through the crowd: Murder. With the town threatening to close the Daffodil Inn for good, Morgan must solve the mystery before her family are forced to leave and gratefully accepts Will’s offer to help. Can they uncover the truth before it’s too late, or will their search for answers only end in heartbreak?
March 23, 2027
Death of an Ex
Delia Pitts
Don’t Go in There!
An Anthony Award Nominee for Best Hardcover Novel Queenstown, New Jersey, feels big when you need help and tiny when you want privacy. For Vandy Myrick, that’s both a blessing and a curse. Now that Vandy’s back in “Q-Town,” her services as her hometown’s only Black woman private investigator have earned her more celebrity—or notoriety—than she figured. Keeping busy with work helps Vandy deal with the grief of losing her daughter, stitching the seams, cementing the gaps. The memories will always remain, and they come crashing back to the surface when her ex-husband, Phil Bolden, walks back into her life. Promising everything, returning home, restoring family. Until she answers her door to the news that Phil has been murdered. And Vandy decides Phil is now her client. It’s hard to separate the Phil that Vandy knew from the one Queenstown did. She sees him—and their daughter—in Phil’s son, who attends a prestigious local high school. She sees the layers of a complicated marriage with his wife. She sees all of Phil’s various roles: parent, husband, businessman, philanthropist. But which role got him killed?
July 15, 2025
Deja Brew
Celestine Martin
Love Jones & Situationships
Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway is having a disastrous October when a desperate wish gives her the chance to live the entire month over again. This time, she crosses paths with Gus Dearworth, a former reality star trying to rebuild his reputation and mend his own broken heart. When Gus offers to help Sirena restore her faltering magic in exchange for her help deciphering a mysterious cookbook, their arrangement quickly becomes something more. With the clock ticking toward the end of Sirena’s second-chance month, they must decide whether their growing romance can survive when the wish runs out.
October 1, 2024
Demon's Dream
elle kayson
Love Jones & Situationships
Demon Montana: Clawing my way from the depths of hell to haunt the nightmares and steal the lives of many, I earned the name “Demon.” Hardened by a life that no one should live, I had rules that governed my existence. No caring. No intimacy. No love. And then I saw her… Dream. Beautiful. Brave. Bold. And for thirty days, she was mine. I would follow my rules: have her body, ignore her heart. Then, she looked at me… like she knew me. Like she saw me. Like she loved me. And I knew… thirty days weren’t nearly enough. Dream Castle: Brilliant and bad ass, I was my family’s fixer. I was the queen of negotiating and smoothing ruffled feathers. I had never met a situation I couldn’t talk us out of… until my brother crossed the wrong family and they would accept only one payment for that debt. Me. For thirty days, I was supposed to give myself to a man so brutal, they called him “Demon.” I had to follow his rules, honor his demands, be available to him only. When I met him, he had nightmares in his cold green eyes and an enemy’s blood splattered on his hard, inked body. How could I survive a month with a monster without losing myself? Except… those eyes seemed to thaw a little each time he looked at me. And his chiseled body fit perfectly against mine. There was so much more to the enigma called “Demon,” so many things that made him my “Damien.” Suddenly, the only thing I was worried about losing in thirty days was my heart.
August 25, 2022
Die for Me
Shirlene Obuobi
Love Jones & Situationships
AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER
“I'm obsessed.” —Ali Hazelwood
“One of the most compelling dark romances I’ve read in ages.” – Tia Williams
What my eyes are showing me can’t be possible. Can’t be real. Because if they
are, then I have to accept that Julian Conrad has been alive for a very long
time.
Too long to be human.
A stay-up-all-night, smart, spicy romance following a doctor who finds herself
falling for an alluring, much-younger man with a deadly secret
Sean’s not in the market for love. The only female, let alone Black, interventional
cardiologist at her hospital, she’s watched too many of her male colleagues divorce
their first wives to marry younger models—and then there’s the abusive relationship
she’s spent the better part of her early 30s healing from. Her passions are reserved for
her best friend, her goddaughter, and her job.
Then she meets Julian. Brooding, beautiful and eleven years her junior. In short: A bad
idea.
Julian pursues her in a way that sets off alarm bells in her mind, but she finds herself
unable to resist their undeniable chemistry—even starts fantasizing about him in
dreams that feel altogether too real. They also have a lot in common despite their age
gap. So, to hell with it: If men can date younger, why can’t she? But the more Sean
gets to know him, the more impossible Julian seems: He has a depth and sorrow to
him that’s beyond his years, and sometimes there’s a look in his eyes that’s less than
human, and leaves her feeling more like prey. Plus, Sean herself has been exhibiting
odd symptoms—memory lapses, a lack of restraint that's unlike her, persistent
exhaustion—that all trace back to Julian, making Sean feel more than a little afraid.
Who—or what—is she falling, irrevocably, in love with?
Extraordinarily transfixing, suspenseful, and addictive, Die for Me is nothing short of a
seduction.
Tropes:
- paranormal romance
- age-gap
- mortal/immortal
- forbidden love
Story Locale:Chicago, Illinois
July 14, 2026
Discipline
Marc Avery
Don’t Go in There!
Two homicide detectives track a brazen killer who’s dropping bodies at historical Philadelphia landmarks in this action-packed crime thriller. “Marc did a great job setting the table. Looking forward to the next course.” —K’WAN, national bestselling author of Animal “Avery delivers a heart-stopping thriller. Giuseppe "Discipline" Cain is a one-man crime wave.” —Dennis Tafoya, author of Dope Thief, an Apple+ TV series “Discipline is everything you want in a buddy cop story. Gritty, action-packed, clever, and funny.” —Delaware Today Magazine “Has Netflix series written all over it.” —Philadelphia Magazine Giuseppe “Discipline” Cain is a cold-hearted, calculated, and resentful murderer who turns Philadelphia into his own personal killing ground. As the death toll rises, city officials and the police department clamor to calm the fears of the citizens about this brazen serial killer. When an elected official’s family member is found dead, no one in the city is safe. Detective Aaden Bravo is a highly decorated officer with a legendary clearance rate. Detective Christian Bennett is flashy, reckless, and a serial womanizer. After Christian’s transfer to the Philadelphia Police Department’s homicide division, these two starkly contrasting officers are forced to work together. Despite their disdain for each other, Aaden and Christian’s skill sets complement each other. While Aaden is all about the job and Christian is all about the women, their next case is all about survival. Will they succumb to the pressure of maintaining their partnership, or can they cast aside their differences and stay alive long enough to bring Discipline to justice?
May 27, 2025
Dismantling Daddy Dysfunctions
Shannon Ford-Jefferson
Drawn + Written
This is not a book you read.
This is a book you feel.
A dismantling of inherited wounds.
A reckoning with absence.
A return to self.
If you’ve ever loved someone who couldn’t love you back...
or found yourself repeating what you swore you’d never become...
this offering is for you.
June 20, 2026
Doing It Scared
Erika Bryant
Real Life | Real Talk
One common emotion that every human being has experienced at one time or another during their lifetime, is that of FEAR. In 2016, an article published by the NYU Press announced that Americans currently live in “a culture of fear that can lead to poor decision making, depression, and poor physical health.” Nearly twenty million Americans regularly experience fear and live with some sort of constant phobia or anxiety. In addition, the past year alone has invoked a new level of fear in Americans as they face a worldwide pandemic, new awareness of social and racial injustices, and unprecedented uncertainty.
Doing It Scared is a relatable and inspiring guidebook that taps into the very fears that often haunt and cripple people, preventing them from living the lives of their dreams. Those who are plagued with self-limiting beliefs or the fear of the unknown will be challenged to push beyond their inner barriers that can be stifling. Anyone who has ever experienced fear no matter their age, culture, or background will be gently guided to take a comprehensive look at their strongholds, given tools to dismantle them, and then charged to overcome said fears.
Doing It Scared is personal heart surgery that requires note-taking, truth-telling, self-assessment, and courage. While in the midst of doing their “work”, readers will undoubtedly be confronted by the mountains of fear that lie ahead of them. More than likely, there will be multiple mountains of fear that will be revealed. As each chapter builds and precepts are layered upon one another, this book will serve as a mirror to each reader and cause them to face themselves and fully embrace themselves. By the end of the book, the takeaways and activities will have presented new methods by which the reader can use over and over as they uncover and are faced with new fears.
Each chapter is rooted in some of the basic fears that are deemed universal such as rejection, worthiness, vulnerability, validation, etc. After an anecdotal opening, a story of fear is shared that brings the reader to self-assessment questions. At the end of each chapter, there are lists of highlights and takeaways as well as hands-on exercises that will guide the reader as they uncover inner truths about who and where they “truly are.” For example, in Chapter 3 the reader is instructed to list out any fears they have adopted that were imposed upon them by others. At the end of the chapter, they will have clarity on the fears that are truly theirs and be empowered to set aside and be accountable to and for themselves and themselves only.
In essence, DOING IT SCARED is an inspiring and relatable guidebook to overcoming fears that dispels the myth of fear being non-existent or some fleeting emotion that will magically disappear over time. Our belief is that fear is an indicator of a spring-like well of potential for our lives, nudging us forward to embrace said fears. Doing It Scared provides morally sound guidelines that encourage us to not only walk toward our fears but also be inspired and empowered by them. For, beyond the mountains of fear lies a land of blessings more abundant than we could ever imagine...so cheers to Doing it Scared!
March 22, 2021
Doing It Scared in Love & Relationships
Erika Bryant
Real Life | Real Talk
What if the greatest love story you will ever experience is the one you have with yourself?
In this deeply personal follow-up to Doing It Scared, Emmy-nominated producer, television executive, and author Erika Bryant turns her lens toward the one arena where fear often speaks the loudest: love and relationships.
Through candid storytelling, hard-earned lessons, and moments of both heartbreak and healing, Bryant explores the courage required to love authentically, communicate honestly, and show up fully in relationships without abandoning yourself in the process. With her signature blend of warmth, humor, and insight, she invites readers on a journey of self-discovery, vulnerability, accountability, and ultimately, freedom.
From learning to receive love without performing for it, to naming what we need instead of silently resenting what was never expressed, to understanding when to stay and when to let go with grace, this book meets women exactly where they are.
This is not a book about finding the perfect partner.
It is a book about becoming the person who is ready to receive healthy love when it arrives.
Doing It Scared in Love & Relationships is for every woman who has ever loved too hard, held on too long, given too much, or quietly wondered if she was too much.
She is not.
Because sometimes the bravest thing we can do is love anyway.
And sometimes, the most important thing we will ever do is keep doing it scared.
September 9, 2026
Dreams of Wakanda
Black to the Future
Inspired by the cultural impact of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther, Dreams of Wakanda brings together creators, writers, artists and scholars to explore the film’s influence on representation, Afrofuturism, art, fashion, music and Black culture. Through essays, cultural analysis and original illustrations, contributors examine the film’s connections across the African diaspora and how Wakanda expanded what audiences could imagine on screen and beyond.
September 6, 2022
Drink Water & Mind Your Business
Dr. Donna Oriowo
Real Life | Real Talk
Let's be real: society was not built with the needs of Black women in mind. And as a result, we learn that the only way to feel good about ourselves is to prioritize everyone else's needs over our own. We find our value in being the perfect partner, mother, daughter, employee, and friend. But that is exhausting. Instead of feeling good about how dope we are―regardless of our service, bank account, or looks―we only feel good about what we do for others.
Supremacy culture teaches us to hate Black people, to hate women, and to especially hate Black women… except when they need us to either save them or serve them. So in a world where our service is required for acceptance, how could we ever feel good about ourselves while also giving the middle finger to systems of power? How can we possibly live our best lives? How are we supposed to feel confident, secure, and fabulous AF in our bodies?
The answer: Self-esteem. Self-esteem as we know it has been gatekept by the white and male supremacist delusions for far too long. It's time to put power where it actually belongs.
In Drink Water and Mind Your Business, Dr. Donna Oriowo helps readers understand the basic foundations of self-esteem―what it is, how society molds it, and how it affects us all―and offers real, meaningful solutions to feel like the most glorious and badass versions of themselves. Based on years of research and Dr. Donna's career as a licensed sex and relationship therapist, this book will help you set boundaries, prioritize your needs, understand your immense worth, and pursue a life that brings you pleasure and joy.
May 13, 2025
Drinking from Graveyard Wells
Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
Black to the Future
In Drinking from Graveyard Wells, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu centers African women across generations in stories of history, trauma, resistance, joy and magic. Moving from the softly surreal to the deeply fantastical, the collection features avenging spirits, shapeshifting freedom fighters, disappearing houses and women confronting the costs of immigration and generational trauma. Drawing on southern African mythology and Ndlovu’s experiences in Zimbabwe, these stories explore the erasure of African women while celebrating their beauty, resilience and limitless magic.
March 7, 2023
Early Departures
justin a. reynolds
Black to the Future
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Like Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, is a powerful and deeply moving YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist about love, death, grief, and friendship.
What if you could bring your best friend back to life—but only for a short time?
Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know that he died, and that he’s about to die . . . again. He doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven’t been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents.
But what if Jamal could have a second chance? A new technology allows Q to be reanimated for a few weeks before he dies . . . permanently. And Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin this miracle by telling Q about his impending death. So how can Jamal fix everything if he can’t tell Q the truth?
Early Departures weaves together loss, grief, friendship, and love to form a wholly unique homage to the bonds that bring people together for life—and beyond.
Second Chance: Jamal has just a few weeks to reconnect with Q, but every moment is built on a heartbreaking secret about life and death. Friends to Enemies: Two years of silence and blame stand between Jamal and Q. Can they rebuild what they lost before time runs out for good? Brotherhood: They were once an inseparable comedy duo who chose their own brotherhood. Now, that bond is the only thing that might save them from their shared past. Heartbreaking YA Romance: Jamal is torn between mending the past with Q and building a future with his girlfriend, Autumn, who deserves a truth he can’t bring himself to tell.
September 22, 2020
Enough
Fred Collins
Real Life | Real Talk
For decades, Fred Collins chased success.
The next promotion. The next title. The next accomplishment. Each milestone promised to answer the question that had followed him since childhood. But every victory was temporary. Every achievement moved the finish line just a little farther away.
In Enough, Fred shares the deeply personal journey that transformed his understanding of success, identity, and self-worth. Through stories of childhood insecurity, leadership challenges, career triumphs, personal failures, and hard-earned wisdom, he reveals how many of us unknowingly build our lives around invisible scoreboards-achievement, approval, status, performance, and comparison-believing they will eventually tell us we matter. They never do. Blending memoir with practical leadership lessons, Enough is an invitation to stop measuring your worth by what you accomplish and begin discovering who you are when every scoreboard disappears. Whether you're an executive, entrepreneur, leader, parent, or anyone striving to prove your value, this book will challenge the way you define success-and offer a more lasting foundation for confidence, purpose, and authentic leadership.
You may not see yourself in every story. But you will almost certainly recognize yourself in the question. It's time to stop chasing enough... and start believing you already are.
July 19, 2026
Even If the Sky is Falling
Lane Clarke
Taj McCoy
Charish Reid
Denise Williams
Love Jones & Situationships
It’s the end of the world as they know it, or so they think. When an international warning siren accidentally goes off, convincing everyone that a meteor shower may be the end of life as they know it, six couples, including friends, exes, crushes and rivals, must take shelter. Inhibitions are abandoned, confessions are made and love blossoms, but what happens when the world doesn’t end? Filled with humor, heat and hope, this collection of interconnected multicultural stories explores the secrets we carry and the joy we discover when we let go and reach for the stars.
May 30, 2023
Every Goodbye Ain't Gone
Dana Renee Green
Our Stories, Our Terms
The Bucket List meets How Stella Got Her Groove Brack in this joyful, bighearted novel about permission, pleasure, and choosing yourself without apology. Renie has always done what’s expected of her. At thirty-nine, she’s a devoted wife, a mother of seven, and the kind of woman who puts everyone else first. But just weeks after giving birth to her youngest child, Renie is diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer and given three months to live. She begins a journal for her children, a way to leave behind the pieces of herself she won’t be there to give. As Renie fills these pages she starts to see her life clearly—for the first time. The years of sacrifice. The dreams deferred. The woman she never fully allowed herself to be. And with that clarity comes the bold urgent decision to live on her own terms. Warm, wise, and full of heart, Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone is a moving celebration of life at its most fragile and most fierce; a reminder that it’s never too late to choose yourself.
November 17, 2026
Everything’s Not Lost
Frederick Joseph
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Sixteen-year-old Ella Washington is struggling to find her footing after the unexpected death of her beloved sister. Living with bipolar disorder while navigating grief, loneliness and someone at school determined to make things worse, Ella searches for a way through the darkness. Through her love of art, unexpected friendships and memories of her sister, she slowly begins to rediscover hope and learns that finding happiness and forgiveness can be worth the difficult journey.
October 20, 2026
Fate Be Changed
Farrah Rochon
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
What if the witch gave Merida a different spell? This New York Times best-selling series twists Disney•Pixar's Brave into a fast-paced story in which Merida is sent back in time.
If you could change your fate, would you? Merida understands that as princess of Clan DunBroch, she has certain obligations—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Especially when one of those obligations means losing her freedom by becoming betrothed to a man she has never met. Merida balks at this tradition, but her mother Queen Elinor insists that Merida must do this to embrace her role as future queen.
Determined to chart her own path, Merida follows magical wisps to a witch’s cottage, where she is given a magic pastry and promised it will incite “a great transformation” in her mother. But instead of feeding Elinor the pastry, Merida eats it herself.
Merida awakens in the past, a now-teenage Elinor holding a knife to her throat and accusing her of espionage. She’s been transported to a time when the Clans MacCameron and DunBroch are bitter enemies. And it just so happens that the timing of Merida’s arrival has kept Elinor and Fergus from meeting.
Will Merida be able to bridge the rival clans, help her parents fall in love, and change her own fate?
April 2, 2024
Fiancé Under the Mistletoe
Jacquelin Thomas
Love Jones & Situationships
Their fake engagement…
Could be a Christmas calamity!
Tami Adams can’t resist Christmas on beautiful Polk Island—but getting dumped shortly before the holidays wasn’t her plan. So, she forms a new plan to guarantee a truly happy festive season, free from her mother’s pushy matchmaking: get fake-engaged to her best friend, Aiden Worthington. Aiden’s avoiding Christmas since his dad passed, but helping Tami might help him get through the holidays. There’s only one problem—this pretend relationship’s feeling a little too real. Going from “coupled for Christmas” back to “just friends” might be harder than they thought…
November 25, 2025
Fire Sword and Sea
Vanessa Riley
Our Stories, Our Terms
"In her latest, Riley provides a fresh take on high seas adventure through the
eyes of the courageous, swashbuckling, based-on-a-real-life female pirate
Jacquotte Delahaye. The research Riley has done on this 1600s saga is truly
remarkable, second only to her depictions of the lush Caribbean setting and
the diverse, multi-faceted cast of characters. This is one to be
savored." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen
Queen
The real Pirates of the Caribbean were Black, and women! From Vanessa
Riley, acclaimed author of Queen of Exiles, comes a sweeping, immersive saga
based on the life of the legendary seventeenth-century pirate Jacquotte
Delehaye.
The Caribbean Sea, 1675. Jacquotte Delahaye is the mixed-race daughter of a
wealthy tavern owner on the island of Tortuga. Instead of marriage, Jacquotte dreams
of joining the seafarers and smugglers whose tall-masted ships cluster in the turquoise
waters around Tortuga. She falls in love with a pirate, but when he returns to the sea,
Jacquotte decides to make her own way. In Haiti she becomes Jacques, a dockworker,
earning the respect of those around her while hiding her gender.
Jacquotte discovers that secret identities are fairly common in the chaotic world of
seafaring, which is full of outsiders and misfits. She forms a deep bond with Bahati, an
African-born woman who has escaped slavery and also disguises herself as a man to
navigate the world. They join forces with Dirkje De Wulf, a fearless adventurer who
also lives as a man at sea. As Jacques, Jacquotte falls in love with Lizzôa d'Erville, a
beautiful courtesan who deals in secrets and sex. While others see their work clothes
as a disguise, Lizzôa’s true self is as a woman.
For the next twenty years, Jacquotte raids the Caribbean, making enemies and
amassing a fortune in stolen gold. When her fellow pirates decide to increase their
profits by entering the slave trade, Jacquotte turns away from piracy and the pursuit of
riches. Risking her life in one deadly skirmish after another, she instead begins to plot
a war of liberation.
January 13, 2026
Forbidden Billionaire
Angel M. Shaw
Love Jones & Situationships
He’s my client's father.
That’s the sentence I repeat in the car, in the hallway, in the dark, in the exact tone I would use on somebody else at an ethics hearing.
But then, there are the facts:
I am thirty years old, and I have never been on a date.
I have a panic disorder and a service dog named Kitty.
My locking ritual must be run three times before I can leave my own apartment.
What I do not have is my license to practice therapy, and there’s exactly one thing standing between me and it.
Practicum hours. In person. No exceptions.
So, the single-client accommodation lands me with one boy in a mansion for a single semester.
The problem there? Hunter Brigham: Six-foot-three, tattooed, burn-scarred, and absent from his son’s life for fifteen years, and refuses to explain why.
He offers me the only exit that’s not a resignation. Let's be friends, he says, like a man who has never been anybody's friend in his life.
Neither of us can keep up the ruse.
He asks before he touches me. Every time. He makes me say what I want out loud, which is the hardest thing anyone has ever asked me to do. And his son, the boy whose file has my signature on it, gives us his blessing before either of us will say out loud what this is.
I could lose the degree. I could lose the license. I could lose the ten years it took me to build a life I can stand up in.
But I’m afraid more of what I’ll lose if I don’t say yes….
Book one of a dark billionaire romantic suspense trilogy. The Devils of D.C. Dual POV, first person. She works for him, billionaire single dad, forced proximity, morally grey hero who asks first, sexual awakening, found family. Ends on a cliffhanger. Previously published as Shadowplay.
July 23, 2024
Forbidden Scriptures
Biodun Abudu
Drawn + Written
Forbidden Scriptures is a collection of erotic poetry that openly and creatively discusses sex. Sex is not really discussed as much these days due to shyness, judgment and more. This is an erotic poetry book that gives us a sweet escape, feeding our imaginative minds, giving us the pleasure of creating different scenarios with different thoughts. This book will hopefully give you power and confidence to be comfortable in your skin. Forbidden Scriptures promotes being sexy, spicy and spontaneous. It celebrates the human private parts and celebrates great healthy, safe, kinky sex and more. It’s an erotic poetry book that stimulates ones’ mind to think outside of the box and explore a sexual creative side.
March 8, 2020
Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists the Politics of Violence
Kellie Carter Jackson
Real Life | Real Talk
From its origins in the 1750s, the white-led American abolitionist movement adhered to principles of "moral suasion" and nonviolent resistance as both religious tenet and political strategy. But by the 1850s, the population of enslaved Americans had increased exponentially, and such legislative efforts as the Fugitive Slave Act and the Supreme Court's 1857 ruling in the Dred Scott case effectively voided any rights black Americans held as enslaved or free people. As conditions deteriorated for African Americans, black abolitionist leaders embraced violence as the only means of shocking Northerners out of their apathy and instigating an antislavery war.
In Force and Freedom, Kellie Carter Jackson provides the first historical analysis exclusively focused on the tactical use of violence among antebellum black activists. Through rousing public speeches, the bourgeoning black press, and the formation of militia groups, black abolitionist leaders mobilized their communities, compelled national action, and drew international attention. Drawing on the precedent and pathos of the American and Haitian Revolutions, African American abolitionists used violence as a political language and a means of provoking social change. Through tactical violence, argues Carter Jackson, black abolitionist leaders accomplished what white nonviolent abolitionists could not: creating the conditions that necessitated the Civil War. Force and Freedom takes readers beyond the honorable politics of moral suasion and the romanticism of the Underground Railroad and into an exploration of the agonizing decisions, strategies, and actions of the black abolitionists who, though lacking an official political voice, were nevertheless responsible for instigating monumental social and political change.
February 1, 2019
Forever With You
Farrah Rochon
Love Jones & Situationships
New life. New love?
The tranquil bayou town of Gauthier is the perfect place for widowed single mother Leslie Kirkland to raise her two daughters. Until she's elected president of the elementary school's Parent-Teacher Organization. Caught in a clash between the community and progressive science-teacher-turned-assistant-principal Gabriel Franklin, Leslie vows not to take sides. But it's hard to be objective when a sexy younger man is awakening such an irresistible desire.
Years ago, a teacher saved Gabriel from a one-way path to destruction, and now he is dedicated to his students and the Louisiana town he calls home. But the chemistry sizzling between him and Leslie could ignite a scandal. And when the gathering firestorm threatens both their dreams, Gabe is ready to take a stand. Can he convince Leslie that it's time to move on and make a bright future…with him?
January 20, 2015
Forever's Promise
Farrah Rochon
Love Jones & Situationships
It all begins with a kiss…
After tragedy brings her home to Louisiana, all Shayla Kirkland wants is to reconnect with her family. Between helping care for her nieces and running her recently opened coffee shop, there's no time for romance. Until the workaholic entrepreneur meets Xavier Wright, the hunky E.R. doctor who has the local females waiting in line.
The sleepy town is the perfect transition place for Xavier to heal others while trying to mend his own heart. Falling for the owner of Gauthier's hottest new hangout isn't part of his short-term goals—even if the passion Shayla's arousing in him is impossible to resist. But how will Xavier offer her forever, if he plans to leave as soon as his work is done?
March 18, 2014
Free Falling
G.G. Wynter
Love Jones & Situationships
First love, second chances, and secrets that come back to haunt.After seven years away, twenty-four-year-old Free Spalding is back in Pointe Hill, Georgia, on a mission to save her late father’s restaurant from a real estate deal that could destroy everything he spent his life working for. When it turns out her ex is the one behind the deal, Free is determined to fight him, for the sake of her family and the community she abandoned so many years ago. But just as Free begins to feel at home again, a shocking secret comes to light, challenging everything she thinks she knows about love, family, and forgiveness.
FREE FALLING is a Georgia Romance Writers’ Maggie Award finalist. It is the first full-length, stand-alone novel in the Pointe Hill Series.
December 13, 2017
Friendship Matters
Rona D.
Love Jones & Situationships
"Friendship Matters" is a critically acclaimed romantic comedy that beautifully blends heartfelt emotions with lighthearted humor. The story revolves around three relatable and endearing women who share an unbreakable bond. As you join them on their journey, you'll not only see them as characters but also as your own close friends.
Through the ups and downs they face, these women navigate life's complexities with love, laughter, and unwavering support for each other. Their friendships serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of these connections in our lives. The genuine experiences they go through and the heartwarming relationships they share will leave a lasting impact on you.
Meet Saisha, a sassy and culinary mastermind who fearlessly speaks her mind. She's on a quest for love and encounters someone who she believes will change her world. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of love, laughter, and life lessons with Saisha!
Next is Euniqé, the pillar of the friendship, who embodies intelligence and wisdom. After a tragic loss, she became a single mother and focused on raising her son while excelling in her job. Her friends are determined to help her open up to dating again, and you'll witness her transformation as she navigates love and friendship with grace and wisdom.
Lastly, we have Kandace, the dutiful one who leads a seemingly content life but is secretly unhappy. When faced with a crossroad, she must prioritize her own well-being for the first time. Brace yourself as Kandace embarks on a journey of self-discovery and makes a decision that could change her life.
Prepare to be pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns in this story, which will have you laughing out loud. By the end, you'll be fully invested in the lives of these characters, cheering them on and craving more of their captivating stories. Get ready for an unforgettable journey that celebrates the power of friendship and leaves you with a warm and satisfied feeling.
February 5, 2022
Futureland: Battle for the Park
H.D. Hunter
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
When an extraordinary flying theme park arrives above Atlanta, one boy must
stop a sinister force from stealing the park's tech and taking over the world.
An electrifying illustrated series with the Afrofuturism of Black Panther that
took the world by storm. Perfect for fans of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
"Hold on tight, Futureland will be the ride of your life . . . and maybe the
last!" —Kwame Mbalia, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Welcome to the most spectacular theme park in the world.
Everyone wants a ticket to Futureland, where you can literally live out your wildest
dreams. Want to step inside your favorite video game? Go pro in a sports arena?
Perform at a real live concert? Grab your ticket and come right in.
Yet with all its attractions, Futureland has always just been home to Cam Walker, the
son of the park’s famous creators. And when Futureland arrives at its latest stop,
Atlanta, Cam is thrilled for what promises to be the biggest opening ever. . . .
But things aren't quite right with the Atlanta opening. Park attractions are glitching.
Kids go missing. And when his parents are blamed, Cam must find the missing kids
and whoever’s trying to take down his family . . . before it’s too late.
November 8, 2022
Ghalen
Walter Mosley
Our Stories, Our Terms
An Instant Bestseller!
A beautiful coming-of-age novel from MWA Grand Master and PEN and Edgar Award-winner Walter Mosley that explores love in all forms—romantic, familial, and platonic, centered on one Black family, including a neurodivergent man, and the found bonds that helps ground them.
One of the most acclaimed writers working today, Walter Mosley spins magic once again in this beautiful novel that explores the lives of Black characters and one remarkable family through a lens both universal and unique. It touches on the lives of those whose deepest thoughts and motivations are seldom explored—including the neurodivergent, the incarcerated, and the immigrant tortured by their past—characters who will stay with you and change how you see the world.
Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother, a gifted scientist, whose own mother expected her to exceed all the achievements in her family, and his father, a gentle cook at a small vegan restaurant, whose idiosyncratic nature shows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education.
His parents’ grand love story starts it all off, setting us up to follow Ghalen and his family so deeply, that each new twist and turn feels personal.
The journey through Ghalen’s coming-of-age tale, as he ventures out into the world, is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can’t help but strap in for it all, while not wanting it to end.
Lush and cinematic, with the narrative drive and indelible power of Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, Ghalen is one of this bestselling, prize-winning writer’s finest achievements.
May 26, 2026
Ghost in the Night
Tiffany D. Jackson
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
An instant New York Times bestseller!
From mega-bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson comes this highly anticipated follow-up to her Edgar Award-winning, instant middle-grade bestseller Blood in the Water.
Ghost in the Night is another spine-tingling, can't-put-it-down murder mystery, this time set in America's Most Haunted City.
Savannah, Georgia, with its mossy trees and ornate old homes, is a place rich in history...and ghosts. Ghosts are what pique Harmony Roundtree's interest. Still reeling from her losses back home, Harmony wants to believe in ghost stories...but isn't sure what's real. When she goes on one of the many ghost tours around town, she takes a photo of what might be a ghost. Or is it a hoax?
With two new friends, Harmony sets out to investigate... and stumbles upon clues leading to an unsolved murder. The deeper she digs, the more Harmony realizes that what she saw on the ghost tour might be connected to a shocking crime. But making connections can be dangerous--even more dangerous than ghosts.
New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another action-packed mystery full of surprises and secrets that will give readers goosebumps.
August 4, 2026
Girls with Bad Reputations
Xio Axelrod
Love Jones & Situationships
Once upon a time, the pressure to be the perfect daughter her demanding mother needed nearly broke Mikayla Whitman. Desperate to find an outlet, she picked up a pair of drumsticks, forever altering the rhythm of her life. Since then, she’s been determined to make her own way, finding her home with her bandmates even as she fights to keep her past and her present firmly separate. The only thing Tyrell Baldwin loves more than his books is his solitude. Recently released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, he’s searching for a fresh start. Taking a job as a tour bus driver for an up-and-coming all-girl band might seem like a strange fit for a man allergic to the spotlight, but he can’t deny there’s something about getting a front row seat to the meteoric rise of the Lillys…especially if that means getting closer to fierce, enigmatic drummer, Kayla. Their connection is intense, but when a tabloid exposé threatens to destroy Ty’s newfound peace and Kayla’s carefully guarded secrets, Kayla’s forced to make an impossible choice: pursue her dream and risk destroying everyone around her? Or give in and let an industry famous for chewing girls up and spitting them out claim another bright young star?
February 6, 2024
Goldenborn
Ama Ofosua Lieb
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
Seventeen-year-old Akoma Addo has avoided the supernatural since a mysterious force left her father in a coma. But while investigating magical crimes in San Francisco’s AfricaTown, she encounters Anansi, the trickster god of stories, who offers her a deal: help catch a killer and awaken her ancestral magic in exchange for a chance to save her father. Rooted in Ghanaian mythology, Goldenborn is a fantasy of magic, mystery, legacy, trust and the power to rewrite your story.
June 2, 2026
Hard Times
Maurice Broaddus • Wayne Brady
Hard Times
Maurice Broaddus
Wayne Brady
Black to the Future
Nazareth Anthony Scott the Second—divorced, former PI, and retired Marine—never saw eye-to-eye with his son, Jalen. Estranged, Jalen never measured up to his expectations, especially after getting kicked out of boot camp for mouthing off. And Jalen thinks Naz is nothing but a corporate cog, working as Head of Security at VesMet, a top-tier research and development firm.
But after a mysterious email from Jalen arrives containing his case against VesMet, followed by a frantic call from Jalen’s girlfriend that he’s gone missing in North Carolina, Naz knows that he must head south to find his son. But things aren’t what they seem in Maysville: Naz learns Jalen was part of a community protest against VesMet’s proposed AI data center, and he disappeared while investigating the whereabouts of several local Black men.
Meanwhile, Jalen wakes up on “The Farm,” not knowing how he got there. His life and those of the incarcerated are ruled by the heartless whip of warden and monitored by the red-eyed gaze of robotic guards. Jalen feels like he’s been trapped outside of time, defending himself from the cruelties of a prison seemingly drawn from history books and science fiction alike.
Meanwhile, Naz must fight to break out his son before he becomes lost forever. But soon each man learns that The Farm’s location lies beyond time itself. Somehow, father and son must find a way back to each other, but breaking out—or in—will test everything Naz and Jalen have ever known.
Adrenaline-charged and culturally timely, HARD TIMES takes on the history of incarceration in the United States, and sets it to a hip-hop beat, shaking up the idea of how past injustices permeate into our present—and how we can stop them from becoming a threat to all of our futures.
March 30, 2027
Harlem Rhapsody
Victoria Christopher Murray
Our Stories, Our Terms
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR!
She found the literary voices that would inspire the world…. The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance, written by Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian.
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all.
W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor, finding sixteen-year-old Countee Cullen, seventeen-year-old Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen, who becomes one of her best friends. Under Jessie’s leadership, The Crisis thrives…every African American writer in the country wants their work published there.
When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater, and the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.
February 4, 2025
Heart of Ruin
A.C. Arthur
Love Jones & Situationships
At Blackmore Academy, a magical HBCU, history professor Asa Morgan hides her rare magical lineage, which would make her a prime target for dark casters who know the last living banshee is the key to opening the gates of hell.
November 3, 2026
Heart Of The Streets
KOLD
Our Stories, Our Terms
He Was A Nobody... He Was New To The Streets....
Romeo wasn’t born into the game — he lucked up into it.
After discovering a duffle bag, containing the keys to a world he knew nothing of, Romeo made a choice that changed his life forever. With no blueprint for the streets, he had to rely on the one woman who was willing to teach him the game — Zara. Smart, fearless, and connected, Zara molded him into a hustler the city couldn’t ignore.
Now, Romeo has his sights on chasing the crown, he’s also chasing Zara — and that’s the real war. She sees the potential in him... but every time he falls into the arms of another woman, she wonders if he’s built for more than just the streets. With dwindling ties between her and her father after learning a secret he hid all her life, her trust in men becomes even more rocky, leaving her no patience for Romeo's flirtatious words never backed by action.
These youngins have Clarksville on fire and every day is another story for Breaking News.
Romeo has a new supplier, Karma, who is deadly and powerful — but with power comes pressure. Romeo can’t tell if she’s a blessing... or the very trap that’ll take him out after learning what it takes to do business with her.
Meanwhile, Zara’s world was flipped upside down after discovering her biggest enemy — Monique — is actually her sister. Monique would love another sister, but revenge seems to be the only option after speculating how Zara got her information about their family ties.
As Romeo’s name rings louder in the city, so are the threats awaiting him. Malik wants revenge for the death of his mentor. Lazy wants to reclaim everything he lost. And both men are coming for Romeo’s head with a vengeance. Not to mention the threats beyond the city that he's unaware of.
This is Clarksville — the streets don’t play fair.
Love gets tested.
Loyalty gets questioned.
And survival? That’s earned in blood.
Now that Romeo's in this life, enjoying the perks, can he handle the smoke that comes with it?
Can he truly become the, HEART OF THE STREETS???
April 13, 2025
Hidden Heir
Angel M. Shaw
Love Jones & Situationships
Storm Sandoval is back and planning on making up for 8 years of lost time… Reaching into his back pocket, he pulls out a folded piece of paper and drops it in my lap. I scan the sheet, my brows coming together. “What’s this?” I reply, a little bewildered as I look at the lab logo at the top of the page. “My test results. Taken by my on-call doctor after you left last night and fast-tracked to get the results this morning. As you can see, I don’t have anything.” My mouth drops open, my hands shaking. He’d only give me this if he expected us to be intimate, which is the exact thing we should not do again. “I don’t know why you’re giving me this,” I say after clearing my throat. “Like I said, we’re not sleeping together.” I sit up primly, swinging my leg over the other and placing my hands in my lap as if I were being interviewed by Oprah. Storm tsks. Read the conclusion of Storm and Shae’s story of redemption and forgiveness. TROPES: Black romance Second chance romance Secret baby (x2) Dark & angsty Black billionaires They start as college lovers Spicy Note: contains intense situations. Please consider the content warnings. Book 2 of a 2-book completed Duet. For fans of Kennedy Ryan's cultural depth, Parker S. Huntington's tearjerker, Darling Venom, and J.T. Geissinger's suspense. This book was formerly published under the title Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two.
July 31, 2025
His Carolina Redemption
Jacquelin Thomas
Love Jones & Situationships
A family legacy…
Or a fresh new start?
Hotelier Shane Worthington almost forgot how much he once loved his family’s ornate historic hotel. It has all the charm of the South…and even more secrets. Now with his estranged father’s death, Shane holds the family’s hotel in his hands. And Ace Martin, the hotel’s head of security, is bound and determined to keep him from selling the grand old building. When a priceless family heirloom disappears, Ace and Shane must work together to uncover a hidden saboteur. And in doing so, they’ll test the line between duty…and love.
July 7, 2025
Homeward
Angela Jackson-Brown
Our Stories, Our Terms
The country is changing, and her own world is being turned upside down. Nothing—and no one—will ever be the same. Georgia, 1962. Rose Perkins Bourdon returns home to Parsons, GA, without her husband and pregnant with another man’s baby. After tragedy strikes her husband in the war overseas, a numb Rose is left with pieces of who she used to be and is forced to figure out what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Her sister introduces her to members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—young people are taking risks and fighting battles Rose has only seen on television. Feeling emotions for the first time in what feels like forever, the excited and frightened Rose finds herself becoming increasingly involved in the resistance efforts. And of course, there is also the young man, Isaac Weinberg, whose passion for activism stirs something in her she didn’t think she would ever feel again. Homeward follows Rose’s path toward self-discovery and growth as she becomes involved in the Civil Rights Movement, finally becoming the woman she has always dreamed of being. Praise for Homeward: "This is a harrowing novel about the push and pull of fidelity, family, and faith under the crush of history. Angela Jackson-Brown has written a deeply emotional novel that feels timeless while also speaking to the particularly troubled times in which we live." —Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of When Ghosts Come Home A stirring tale of one woman’s experience in the Civil Rights movement that changed a nation, written from Angela Jackson-Brown’s experience of being born and raised in the rural South. Stand-alone novel Includes Discussion Questions for book clubs
October 10, 2023
Hood Wellness
Tamela J Gordon
Real Life | Real Talk
“A funny, thought-provoking, and profound memoir about the intersection of Blackness and health. Gordon’s vision of a more just future feels both inspiring and possible.” — Kirkus Starred Review
What does self-care look like when struggling to make ends meet, living with a disability, or navigating intersectional marginalization? How can you prioritize well-being while divesting from systems built to destroy you? The answer: Hood Wellness, a groundbreaking exploration that challenges the oppressive systems deeply rooted in health and wellness industries in the United States.
In a world where self-care is critical to survival, Gordon offers a revolutionary perspective that celebrates individuals' unique privileges, challenges, and desires. By defying the norms of multi-billion-dollar industries, Hood Wellness illuminates the possibilities that emerge when we prioritize well-being while divesting from harmful structures.
Hood Wellness is also a deep exploration of people forced to overcome harrowing circumstances with little more than communal support and the will to get well.
From terminal illness and police violence to embracing gender identity in a society that's attacking trans and queer rights, each story reflects America's extreme political, racial, and gender climates. Gordon challenges everything we think we know about wellness by calling out the wellness industry's inability to include those outside the margins of white, heteronormative identities. She lays plain that self-care as we know it is mostly just surface-level "cute," and communal care is the call-to-action that America needs.
Drawing on elements of memoir, self-help, humor, critical race theory, and devastatingly honest storytelling, Gordon guides readers on a transformative journey toward a new paradigm of wellness.
This compelling book serves as a beacon, empowering individuals to cultivate resilience and self-love in today's world. As Gordon shares her personal odyssey, she intertwines the stories of others, revealing her profound discoveries, triumphs, and passions related to self-care.
Hood Wellness introduces readers to an inclusive and accessible self-care primer and an approach to well-being that holds the potential to bring about profound change in their lives.
June 18, 2024
House of Frank
Kay Synclaire
Black to the Future
Powerless witch Saika is ready to enact her sister’s final request: to plant her remains at the famed Ash Gardens. When Saika arrives at the always-stormy sanctuary, she is welcomed by its owner, an enormous knit-cardiganed mythical beast named Frank, who offers her a role as one of the estate’s caretakers.
Overcome with grief, Saika accepts, desperate to put off her final farewell to her sister. But the work requires a witch with intrinsic power, and Saika’s been disconnected from her magic since her sister’s death two years prior. Saika gets by at the sanctuary using a fragment of a fallen star to cast enchantments—while hiding the embarrassing truth about herself.
As Saika works harder in avoidance of her pain, she learns more about Frank, the decaying house at Ash Gardens, and the lives of the motley staff, including bickering twin cherubs, a mute ghost, a cantankerous elf, and an irritating half witch, among others. Over time, she rediscovers what it means to love and be wholly loved and how to allow her joy and grief to coexist. Warm and inventive, House of Frank is a stirring portrait of the ache of loss and the healing embrace of love.
October 15, 2024
How to be a (Young) Antiracist
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Nic Stone
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Based on the adult international bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, How to be a (Young) Antiracist will serve as a guide for teens seeking a way forward in acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice.
“Gives teens the tools they need to create a more just society and encourages them to undo some of the damage created by generations before them.”—The Root
We can let racism stand, or we can stand against it.
How to Be a (Young) Antiracist is a dynamic reframing of Ibram X. Kendi’s international bestseller How to Be an Antiracist, with young adulthood front and center.
Through the narration of acclaimed author Nic Stone, we follow a young Ibram as he learns (and unlearns) lessons that help shape his understanding of racism. Ibram’s life story and Nic’s engaging commentary throughout speak directly to the experiences and concerns of young readers, encouraging them to think critically and, in doing so, build a more equitable world.
Being antiracist is a journey, not an end goal—and now young people have a map to help them carve their own path.
January 31, 2023
How to be Antiracist
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Real Life | Real Talk
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society and in ourselves—now updated, with a new preface.
“The most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind.”—The New York Times
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Shelf Awareness, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews
Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism—and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colors to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Racism intersects with class and culture and geography and even changes the way we see and value ourselves. In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.
Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.
January 31, 2023
Huey P. Newton: I Am We
Dr. Delio Vásquez
Real Life | Real Talk
Huey P. Newton was called many things in his time: revolutionary, genius, criminal, even the most surveilled human being in world history. Yet, little of the truth about him is known today due to persistent distortions of his legacy as co-founder of the Black Panther Party.
In this much-needed intellectual history, Delio Vásquez establishes Newton as a true philosopher. Newton developed innovative theories for how the most oppressed could spearhead revolutionary change in a rapidly developing technological society. Inspired by his ideas, the Panthers forged alliances with Black student unions and street gangs, Hollywood elites and poor whites, the gay liberation movement and Third World nations.
Newton left behind dozens of unpublished manuscripts analyzing politics, feminist thought, education, philosophy, evolutionary biology, and theology – texts presented here for the first time. Vásquez also puts into proper perspective Newton's late descent into addiction and madness – a direct effect of US government techniques of cognitive war that targeted his body and mind in ways that remain all too relevant today.
September 14, 2026
A Lake with No Bottom
H.D. Hunter
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
When Sidney Cromwell moves to rural Forsyth County, Georgia from the big city of
Atlanta, all he wants is to fit in at his new high school. But when Sidney nearly drowns
in Lake Lanier, an allegedly haunted lake that is the site of numerous inexplicable freak
accidents and deaths, he becomes a social pariah as he starts to suffer terrifying
visions from the past and hauntings by apparitions calling him to Lanier.
Sidney returns to the lake for answers, and he finds in its murky depths the spirits of
former residents from Oscarville, the Black town that lies beneath the man-made lake.
They enlist Sidney to remind Forsyth of its devastating history and push its citizens to
make amends so that the souls in Oscarville can finally rest.
But Sidney soon learns that people will go to great lengths to avoid facing truths they’d
rather not hear. The people of Forsyth County refuse to acknowledge the past, and as
Oscarville’s populace starts to lose their patience, their rage and thirst for vengeance
rise like a tidal wave.
Poignant, timely, and utterly terrifying, this gripping supernatural tale is perfect for
fans of Internment and She Is a Haunting.
October 20, 2026
Futureland: The Architect Games
H.D. Hunter
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Mazes and mind games await in this epic third book about the theme park of
your dreams, where Cam Walker goes head-to-head with the villains who
have been after Futureland from the start. An electrifying illustrated series for
fans of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
"Hold on tight, Futureland will be the ride of your life . . . and maybe the last!"
—Kwame Mbalia, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Team Futureland. Their archenemies. A showdown in spectacularly futuristic Egypt.
After Futureland emerges from back-to-back scandals, Cam Walker and his family are
ready to confront the people who keep targeting their flying park. A group called the
Architects has been after them since Futureland made its Atlanta stop, and the Walkers
have had enough.
To settle things, the Architects propose the very first Architect Games, where the
Walkers and the Architects will battle in a series of challenges. If the Walkers win, then
the Architects will leave them alone once and for all. But if Cam and his family lose,
they will lose everything—including Futureland and its prized tech.
The Architects can't be trusted, but Cam doesn't have a choice. If he can lead his team
to victory, his family and friends will be free. Otherwise, there's no telling what the
Architects will do once they get their hands on Futureland. . . .
November 19, 2024
Futureland: The Nightmare Hour
H.D. Hunter
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
The theme park of your dreams is back in this action-packed sequel as Cam
Walker and his friends take on creepy carnivals, insidious tech, and a
nightmarish new enemy to save the world. An electrifying illustrated series
for fans of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
The most spectacular theme park in the world is headed to the Big Apple.
After Atlanta, Cam Walker and his family are ready to turn over a new leaf with
Futureland. This is where dreams literally come true, and the Walkers are going to
show the people of New York City that their park is back and better than ever.
But trouble isn’t done with the Walkers yet. Glitches keep happening with the park
attractions. There's a creepy carnival in town that gives Cam goosebumps. Plus, he just
can’t shake the feeling that his family is being watched. And it may be his imagination,
but are the people around him acting . . . stranger than usual?
Can Cam get to the bottom of what’s going on before Futureland becomes a
playground of terrors?
November 7, 2023
Something Like Right
H.D. Hunter
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into
his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s
only hope for redemption is to transfer to Broadlawn Alternative School and complete
the year.
He isn’t thrilled about moving schools or boarding with his aunt and her live-in
boyfriend. But he’d rather be there than deal with his previously incarcerated father
and his distant mother. Besides, Broadlawn has Feven, the beautiful Eritrean girl Zay is
starting to get to know—and fall for.
When Zay’s time in Broadlawn comes to an end, he learns that shaping yourself within
a new place is a lot harder than letting it shape you.
A tender story of first love, broken families, and healing by an incredible voice in young
adult fiction.
August 20, 2024
I Don't Wish You Well
Jumata Emill
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
A teen investigative podcaster decides to dig into the truth behind a grisly murder spree that rocked his hometown five years ago, but soon discovers that this cold case is still hiding deadly secrets—in this chilling thriller perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
Five years ago, the infamous Trojan murders turned the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana into a living nightmare. Four teen boys—all star players on Moss Pointe High's football team—were murdered one after the other by a Trojan-mask wearing killer.
Eventually, the murderer was unmasked. But the community has never forgotten—and some folks in town still wonder whether the police got it right.
Eighteen-year-old Pryce Cummings is one of them. An aspiring journalist, Pryce is pretty sure he just stumbled upon evidence that throws the killer's guilt into question. It's the perfect story for his own podcast, and a reason to go back to the hometown he's avoided since coming to terms with his sexuality while at college.
But in Moss Pointe, digging into the past is anything but welcome. There's so much more to what happened there five years ago, and Pryce is ready to crack it all wide open . . . if he lives to tell the tale.
January 20, 2026
If I Ruled the World
Amy DuBois Barnett
Our Stories, Our Terms
It's 1999, and Nikki Rose is the only Black editor on the staff of a prestigious fashion magazine she once thought would be her ticket to becoming a respected editor in chief. But after being told one too many times by her boss that “Black girls don’t sell magazines,” she quits to take over Sugar, a struggling hip hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential.
Thrown into an entirely new world of wealth, decadence, and debauchery, Nikki has just six months to save Sugar—and her own dreams. As she pulls all-nighters at the office and parties with New York City’s most influential bad boys, Nikki must prove she has what it takes to lead. But her most dangerous challenge is evading Alonzo Griffin, her very married, very powerful ex-lover and former boss, who is determined to destroy both her and Sugar. Along the way, Nikki leans on a circle of loyal friends and navigates unexpected romances that force her to reckon with what—and who—she truly wants.
If I Ruled the World is a smart, utterly immersive journey through one of the most dynamic eras in pop culture history—a story of ambition, friendship, love, and finding your own voice.
January 27, 2026
I'll Watch Your Baby
Neena Viel
Don’t Go in There!
1974. Lottie Turner is already infamous. Running a wheel of schemes and scams, she’s
willing to work for what she wants in…creative ways. But no business is more lucrative
than desperate families looking to adopt a child—and there’s only one way to procure
children quickly.
And the only way to take what’s owed you is to cross the line no one else is willing to
cross.
1994. Bless has finally found the family she deserved. After suffocating slowly with
lackluster parents and a non-starter past, she’s found the friends that mean everything
to her. That she’d live and die for. As they make their way across the country, one
smash and grab at a time, Bless is used to acting fast and thinking on her feet.
But someone is playing a long game. Someone has unfinished business. Soon Bless is
trapped in a web of horrors past and present, where the only escape hatch is a path
only she can walk, if she finds the courage to take it.
May 26, 2026
In a League of Her Own
Kaia Alderson
Our Stories, Our Terms
From the author of Sisters in Arms comes the incredible, untold story of Effa Manley, a black businesswoman in the male dominated baseball industry, and, currently, the only woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 1930s, New York City An ambitious Harlem woman’s husband upends her social climbing when he buys a Negro Leagues baseball team and appoints her as the team’s business manager. Overnight, Effa Manley goes from 125th Street’s civil rights champion to an interloper in the boys’ club that is professional baseball. Navigating her way through gentlemen’s agreement contracts, the very public flirtatious antics of superstar Satchel Paige, and a sports world that would much rather see this woman back in her “place” at home, Effa ultimately whips her team, the Newark Eagles, into the Negro Leagues Champions of 1946. But how long will she get to enjoy the fruits of her success before Major League Baseball tears it all apart? Based on the incredible life of Effa Manley, an unforgettable and inspiring story about a woman with a dream who wound up with a baseball team.
August 6, 2024
In Love with His Wife
L.R. Jackson
Love Jones & Situationships
My life was in perfect order.
I had my career as CEO of a fashion empire, a beautiful fiancée, and more money than I could spend in two lifetimes.
But that was before I met her.
Zara Price.
One look into her beautiful brown eyes and I was hooked. I was ready to burn my whole life, every careful plan I’d ever made, to the ground if it meant I could have her.
The problem is…she’s married.
And her husband just happens to be my best friend from college.
He doesn’t deserve her, though. He’s neglected and mistreated her, broken what I’d gladly devote my life to cherishing. So, I’m starting to not even care that she belongs to him.
The fact is, there’s no me without her. Not anymore.
Soon, she’ll have to make a choice. And in the end, she will choose me.
I’ll make sure of it…one way or the other…
**WARNING. This book contains triggers.**
August 5, 2020
In Pursuit of Darkness
Terri J. Haynes
Don’t Go in There!
When you can’t outrun the darkness, you pursue it.
Special Agent Will Anderson is counting the days before he transfers from the D.C. Human Rights squad of the FBI, but he’s leaving behind everyone he loves. He is asked to interview a victim of suspected human trafficking, a simple task, but finds himself deeply involved in the case.
Social rights activist, Savannah Elliott, has made a fresh start in Washington, D.C., but a routine consultation on a D.C. Human Rights case brings her face to face with a terror from her past. As Will and Savannah struggle to solve the case, they are forced to face choices, some they’ve buried for years. Will their decisions, past and present, bring them love and safety or will they lose everything, including their lives?
July 31, 2025
In Search of Autumn
Michelle Davis-Newell
Our Stories, Our Terms
Fractured by loss, haunted by guilt. Returning home means facing everything she left behind.
After a devastating divorce and career setback, marketing professional Autumn Gardener makes the last move she ever imagined: returning to Ebondale, the Chicago neighborhood she spent years trying to forget.
Back in the place where everything fell apart, Autumn can no longer outrun the ghosts waiting for her. The friend she lost too young. The guilt that's shaped every choice since. And Amir, her best friend, whose unspoken feelings have simmered beneath the surface of their friendship for far too long.
Healing doesn't come with a roadmap. It comes in raw conversations with her sister, in the familiar rhythms of her old community, and in finally facing the question she's been avoiding: What does it mean to be loyal to others when you've abandoned yourself?
In Search of Autumn is a deeply moving tale of friends to lovers, second chances, and emotional healing. Perfect for fans of women’s fiction, contemporary romance, and soulful Chicago stories, this novel reminds us that even after heartbreak, love still has the power to rebuild what was broken.
December 6, 2025
Indigent
Briana N Cox
Black to the Future
"This damning portrayal of U.S. health care doubles as a potent, unforgettable creepfest." - Kirkus Reviews
LEIGH PIERCE ESTATES is home to a diverse array of tenants: families, immigrants, students, the forgotten elderly. All working poor, and all in danger.
Because the tenants of Leigh Pierce are disappearing.
Live-in handyman Xavier seems to be the only one who notices. Or cares. After a chance encounter with the culprit leaves him infected with something horrifying, Xavier is thrust into a surreal nightmare of starvation and consumption all too familiar to his gentrifying Atlanta neighborhood.
Succumbing to his infection, Xavier is drawn into the cobbled-together family squatting in Leigh Pierce's basement. People who, through a myriad of doomed roads, fell into the same self-destructive cycle of indigency, harboring dark secrets... and darker appetites. Trapped in a dynamic of codependency and complicity, Xavier and his family- new and old- are forced to confront the cost of survival in a world that has disregarded them.
March 20, 2026
Invisible Son
Kim Johnson
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
After being wrongfully accused of a crime, Andre Jackson returns from juvie determined to reclaim his life. But COVID-19 has shut down his school, his Portland neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and his longtime crush Sierra’s brother is missing. As Andre searches for Eric, he begins uncovering troubling connections to his own arrest. Finding the truth could clear his name, but in a world where power belongs to a few, seeking answers may put him in even greater danger.
June 27, 2023
Irrevocable Love
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Jared Davis survived prison, but now he has to survive freedom.
After spending twenty-four years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, Jared is finally home and determined to reclaim the life that was stolen from him. With a mayoral campaign gaining momentum and the woman he's loved since childhood finally becoming his wife, the future has never looked brighter-until the past comes calling.
As dangerous secrets begin surfacing and enemies hidden in plain sight target the people he loves most, Jared and his family are pulled into a deadly battle that threatens everything they've built. With loyalty tested, old wounds reopened, and generations of family trauma coming to light, the Davis siblings will discover that love alone isn't enough. Sometimes love requires sacrifice. Sometimes it requires forgiveness. And sometimes it requires war.
Irrevocable Love is an emotional conclusion to the CrestwoodChronicles about surviving the impossible and finding your way back to the people who never stopped loving you.
August 26, 2026
Just My Luck
L.B. Gaines
Love Jones & Situationships
Our Stories, Our Terms
Journey Harris has always been unlucky. Spilled coffee, broken heels, and bad timing have always felt like her fate. Even her boyfriend treats her like a secret.
After three years with Cian O’Donnell, college football royalty, Journey has never met his family, has never been invited home, and has never been chosen. And when he ditches her on St. Patrick’s Day, their anniversary, to go on spring break with his teammates, something finally breaks within her.
Journey celebrates alone in Las Vegas with a pint of green beer and zero expectations. She meets a Black Irish man, and for the first time in her life, Journey's luck changes.
One reckless night turns into laughter, stolen kisses, and a decision she does not remember making. Journey wakes up married and as an O’Donnell.
Did she marry her boyfriend’s sibling? A cousin? Someone she was never supposed to touch? Journey thought she was finally lucky. Now she's not so sure.
March 11, 2025
Kamala, The Motherland, and Me
Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey
Real Life | Real Talk
Kamala, The Motherland, and Me, a captivating memoir by Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey, takes you on a journey of self-discovery and political revelation. Join him aboard Air Force Two, where he accompanies Vice President Kamala Harris on a historic voyage to Africa, the homeland of his father. As a Ghanaian-American political journalist and advocate, Quartey brings a fresh perspective to Vice President Harris's leadership and challenges assumptions about Africa's place in global politics.
Through personal anecdotes and astute political analysis, Quartey delves into Vice President Harris's visit to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia, offering insights into the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. He reflects on the significance of the trip, from discussions on human rights to female empowerment initiatives, shedding light on the complexities of African identity and the global impact of US policies.
Kamala, The Motherland, and Me not only invites readers to reconsider their preconceptions about Vice President Harris but also prompts critical examination of media representation and societal biases. Quartey's transparent narrative explores themes of belonging, acceptance, and the pursuit of progress, resonating with readers across cultural divides.
July 19, 2024
Keep Me in Mind
Nai
Love Jones & Situationships
Aura Sullivan runs his family’s empire with precision and authority, moving with intention in business and love. When he sets his sights on Danae, she quickly learns she’s never met a man quite like him. The more she runs, the more determined Aura becomes to prove he knows exactly what and who he wants. In the Sullivan family, love is guarded, protected and rooted in family, and when a Sullivan chooses you, it’s forever.
February 13, 2026
Keeper of Lost Children
Sadeqa Johnson
Our Stories, Our Terms
*INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*
In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in unexpected and soul-stirring ways.
Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI’s, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes.
Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever.
In 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark is given an opportunity to attend a prestigious all white boarding school and escape her heartless parents. While at the school, she discovers a secret that upends her world and sends her on a quest to unravel her own identity.
Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman’s vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms—familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self—can be transcendent.
February 10, 2026
Keeping It Real
Paula Chase
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
“Fun and juicy.”—New York Times
“A solid story of summer growth and exploration.”—Kirkus Reviews
Marigold Johnson is looking forward to a future full of family, friends, and
fashion—but what will she do when it all explodes in her face? When she
discovers that her entire life is a lie?
Paula Chase, the author of So Done, Dough Boys, and Turning Point, explores
betrayal, conformity, and forgiveness—and what it means to be family—in this
stand-alone novel perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Rebecca Stead, and
Renée Watson.
Marigold Johnson can’t wait to attend a special program at her family’s business, Flexx
Unlimited, for teens who love fashion. But Mari quickly realizes that she’s out of place
compared to the three other trainees—and one girl, Kara, seems to hate her on sight.
As tension builds and the stakes at the program get higher, Mari uncovers exactly why
Kara’s been so spiteful. She also discovers some hard truths about herself and her
family.
Paula Chase explores complex themes centering on friendships, family, and what it
means to conform to fit in. Keeping It Real is also a powerful exploration of what
happens when parents pick and choose what they shield their children from. Timely
and memorable, Paula Chase’s character-driven story touches on creativity, art,
fashion, and music. A great choice for the upper middle grade audience.
What happens when the girl who seems to have it all finds out her whole life is built on
a lie?
A Shocking Secret Sister: Marigold thinks her biggest problem is Kara, the new
girl at the summer fashion program who hates her on sight. The truth is much,
much closer to home.
Complex Friendship Drama: As the tension with Kara escalates, Mari’s
relationship with her best friend Justice is tested, forcing her to question who she
can really trust.
Private School and Class Divides: A powerful look at the pressure to fit in, as
Marigold navigates her elite private school, her family’s hip-hop legacy, and the
judgment that comes with both.
A Powerful Coming-of-Age Story: Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and
Renée Watson, this novel tackles tough questions about family, forgiveness, and
what it truly means to be real.
October 19, 2021
Keynan Masters
DaVaun Sanders
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
This new middle grade fantasy series follows Keynan's quest to unlock his freestyling magic and unravel the secrets of Peerless Academy.
Keynan Masters doesn't know the truth about Peerless Academy. He thinks it's just a fancy art school that can’t teach him anything he doesn’t already know (how to write fire poems) and won’t solve his problems (the massive storms that threaten his home and family).
But at Peerless, Keynan discovers:
Secret passageways and unexplainable portals
A corrupt magic that the school is barely able to contain
That he can churn up the magic by putting his poetry to rhythm
Together with his crew of new friends, can Keynan prevent the magic from destroying the school—and the world?
October 17, 2023
Khumalo Tales
Zig Zag Claybourne
Black to the Future
THE STORY YOU THINK YOU'RE TELLING
is never the one being told.
The legend of Amnandi and Mother Khumalo has grown - and rightfully so. For decades, the Khumalo family has nurtured Erah, correcting wrongs and healing the injured.
All while adhering to the unspoken but immutable rules of witches.
Yet, in the shadows of a small village, a mystic rises to tamper with new powers and shatter sacred oaths, tipping the balance of Erah toward a war between knowledge and compassion,
between the worlds of mysticism and the mundane.
A war the Khumalos will not allow.
To stop it, they must face a new challenge beyond their worst imaginings, one with the power to overtake every belief they have and every magick they hold.
A witch obeys one rule above all: Protect.
Even if that means reality itself.
The final tale of the Khumalo family unfolds.
December 2, 2026
Kin
Tayari Jones
Our Stories, Our Terms
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK • KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST • A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.
Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.
A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.
February 24, 2026
Kiss and Spell
Celestine Martin
Love Jones & Situationships
Ursula Caraway is rebuilding her life in Freya Grove, telling fortunes, selling crystals and trying to reclaim her missing magic when she meets Prince Xavier Alder. Cursed by the Faerie Queen, Xavier must find The One and receive a perfect kiss before Midsummer to break the spell. Ursula agrees to help him find his match, hoping the adventure will bring some much-needed change to her own life. But as Midsummer approaches, their growing attraction threatens to complicate the plan and make them question exactly who Xavier’s perfect match might be.
September 26, 2023
Kissing the Opps
L.M. Bennett
Love Jones & Situationships
Romi Dulce is hip-hop royalty, and she didn't keep the crown by being soft. Cam Wolfe is the newcomer everyone says came up off Romi's name. The label calls it a rivalry. The blogs call it a bloodbath. Diss tracks, red carpet shade, stand-offs nobody's bold enough to record. But most people don't take up that much space in your head. Most people don't make your pulse jump before they've even said a word. The whole industry is betting on a war. Neither of them planned on wanting the enemy.
August 14, 2026
Know the Mother
Desiree Cooper
Our Stories, Our Terms
Short, searing glimpses of how race and gender shadow even the most intimate moments of women’s lives. While a mother can be defined as a creator, a nurturer, a protector—at the center of each mother is an individual who is attempting to manage her own fears, desires, and responsibilities in different and sometimes unexpected ways. In Know the Mother, author Desiree Cooper explores the complex archetype of the mother in all of her incarnations. In a collage of meditative stories, women—both black and white—find themselves wedged between their own yearnings and their roles as daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives. In this heart-wrenching collection, Cooper reveals that gender and race are often unanticipated interlopers in family life. An anxious mother reflects on her prenatal fantasies of suicide while waiting for her daughter to come home late one night. A lawyer miscarries during a conference call and must proceed as though nothing has happened. On a rare night out with her husband, a new mother tries convincing herself that everything is still the same. A politician's wife's thoughts turn to slavery as she contemplates her own escape: "Even Harriet Tubman had realized that freedom wasn't worth the price of abandoning her family, so she'd come back home. She'd risked it all for love." With her lyrical and carefully crafted prose, Cooper's stories provide truths without sermon and invite empathy without sentimentality. Know the Mother explores the intersection of race and gender in vignettes that pull you in and then are gone in an instant. Readers of short fiction will appreciate this deeply felt collection.
March 14, 2016
Kwarq
Nikki Clarke
Love Jones & Situationships
KWARQ: I only came to this planet for a scavenger hunt, a ridiculous child’s game arranged by my twin brother to celebrate our birthday. From the moment we step from our pod, I’m not impressed. Humans are miserable, which is difficult for a species like mine that thrives on giving and receiving pleasure. This makes it even more shocking when I catch the sweet scent of a woman riding past me on a bus and a glimpse of her beautiful, brown face beneath a halo of curling hair. If I were foolish, I would deny that the woman of my heart could exist on such a planet, but I am not a fool. From the moment I see her, I am a Lyqa on a mission. And I’m not leaving this planet until she’s mine.
October 9, 2017
Laws of Annihiliation
Eriq La Salle
Don’t Go in There!
Shortly after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, FBI Agent Janet Maclin is facing her toughest case yet. She is assigned to help NYPD detectives, Quincy Cavanaugh and Phee Freeman who are investigating a series of gruesome hate crimes that threaten a city on the brink of a race war.
As the body count mounts, time is running out for Maclin in more ways than one.
October 24, 2023
Laws of Depravity
Eriq La Salle
Don’t Go in There!
New York City. Fall 2011. A priest is found murdered in the most gruesome of crime scenes. The brutal slaying is the work of "The Martyr Maker," a serial killer that for the past 30 years has left behind a legacy of torture and fear around the U.S. Every ten years, he butchers 12 clergymen in twisted scenes reflecting the martyrdom of Jesus and his disciples. NYPD detectives Quincy Cavanaugh and Phee Freeman, along with FBI agent Janet Maclin, know that they have very little time to catch this monster before he completes his final cycle of killing and disappears forever. But the investigation is made even more difficult when they discover that the seemingly unrelated clergymen are anything but the symbols of godliness they would have their community believe.
November 1, 2022
Laws of Solomon
Eriq La Salle
Don’t Go in There!
Ex-hit man Solomon Nangobi thinks he has escaped the violence of his past life. He leaves New York City and moves to California, but soon finds that it will take more than 3,000 miles to put any kind of real distance between him and his past. Then he meets Gaby, an eight-year-old boy who is the target of a dangerous man. Unwilling to give Gaby up to the people hunting him, Solomon escapes with the boy on a perilous road trip in hopes of finding a safe place for him to land—but he may be underestimating the bloodthirstiness of their pursuers. Actor, producer, and storyteller Eriq La Salle delivers another fast-paced, unputdownable thriller in the Martyr Maker series with LAWS OF SOLOMON.
September 8, 2026
Laws of Wrath
Eriq La Salle
Don’t Go in There!
When the butchered body of a cross-dresser is found in a dumpster, it’s up to Detective Phee Freeman to solve the crime. But this case is personal. The victim is Freeman’s brother.
At first, the slaying looks like the random act of a vicious killer, but Freeman, his partner Quincy Cavanaugh, and FBI agent Janet Maclin soon discover this is something much more sinister. Similar ritualistic murders are taking place across the city. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to stop the massacres—even if that means that have to join forces with The Dr. Daria Zibik, a brilliant but deranged cult leader. But what if the evil they are hunting and the sociopath they are trusting are one in the same?
May 2, 2023
Leaving Atlanta
Tayari Jones
Our Stories, Our Terms
From the author of the Oprah's Book Club Selection An American Marriage, here is a beautifully evocative novel that proves why Tayari Jones is "one of the most important voices of her generation" (Essence).
It was the end of summer, a summer during the two-year nightmare in which Atlanta's African-American children were vanishing and twenty-nine would be found murdered by 1982. Here fifth-grade classmates Tasha Baxter, Rodney Green, and Octavia Harrison will discover back-to-school means facing everyday challenges in a new world of safety lessons, terrified parents, and constant fear.
The moving story of their struggle to grow up-and survive- shimmers with the piercing, ineffable quality of childhood, as it captures all the hurts and little wins, the all-too- sudden changes, and the merciless, outside forces that can sweep the young into adulthood and forever shape their lives.
PRAISE FOR TAYARI JONES "Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear." -- Michael Chabon
"Tayari Jones has emerged as one of the most important voices of her generation." -- Essence
"One of America's finest writers." -- Nylon.com
"Tayari Jones is a wonderful storyteller." -- Ploughshares span
August 1, 2003
Legend
Tiye
Love Jones & Situationships
Football star Remick Legend has one final season to reclaim his career, while actress Ari Meadows is chasing the role that could revive hers. Years after one unforgettable night, a chance reunion leads to a no-strings arrangement. But as their careers soar, their relationship becomes something neither expected. With long-buried secrets threatening everything they’ve built, Remick and Ari must decide whether achieving greatness is worth losing the love they never planned to find.
April 27, 2027
Lift Every Voice
Phillip B Williams
Our Stories, Our Terms
From award-winning poet and novelist Phillip B. Williams, an astonishing new
collection that revels in the possibility of creating one's own light
Captivating for both its grandeur and intimacy, Lift Every Voice explores the capacity
for the past to be both a source of dread and empowerment, an unshakable reminder
of violence and an indelible testament to the endurance of love. In virtuosic poems that
are wise, musical, richly layered, and saturated with vivid imagery, Williams honors a
mother “who knew seven ways to say bitch under her breath,” a grandma whose smile
“reflects the world,” and wonders at “the impossible lift” of forgiveness. Lift Every Voice
is a staggering tribute to personal and collective evolutions, a vital chorus that answers
only to God, community, and the empowered self.
July 14, 2026
Listen to Your Sister
Neena Viel
Don’t Go in There!
Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her
brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices
to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness,
is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the
same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is
dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing.
And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her
brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.
When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run.
Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster
rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and
reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares.
They should have listened.
Razor-sharp, wildly imaginative, breathlessly harrowing, and utterly unforgettable,
Listen to Your Sister is a hilarious and terrifying speculative tale of the nightmares that
haunt us, and the deep, powerful love that can tie family together.
February 4, 2025
Long After We Are Gone
Terah Shelton Harris
Our Stories, Our Terms
The Solomon siblings are not perfect. Far from it. CeCe, the oldest daughter and an
NYC lawyer, has embezzled thousands of dollars from her firm's clients. Junior, the
oldest, married to his wife for 11 years, is secretly living in the closet as a gay man.
Mance, the second son, can't control his temper. And Angeline (Tokey), the youngest,
wonders why she doesn't seem able to fit into this family. But when their father dies,
all four siblings must return home to save their ancestral land—and themselves.
Written in alternating points of view from all four siblings, LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE
is a moving and emotional story about the power of family and letting go of things that
no longer serve you. It explores intergenerational trauma and the lessons and legacies
we pass on to our children, and is centered around the legal process called heir
property, a form of ownership in which heirs inherit interest (like stocks). The practice
began during the Reconstruction when many Black people did not have access to the
legal system and continued throughout the Jim Crow era. The Department of
Agriculture says it is the worst problem you've never heard of and recognizes it as the
leading cause of Black involuntary land loss. Without a clear title, it only takes one
family member with interest in the land to spark a sale. This is what happens to the
siblings in LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE.
Content warning: sexual violence, racism, trauma
May 14, 2024
Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Drawn + Written
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)
Jason Reynolds’s Newbery Honor, Printz Honor, and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Long Way Down is now a gripping, galvanizing graphic novel, with haunting artwork by Danica Novgorodoff.
Will’s older brother, Shawn, has been shot. Dead. Will feels a sadness so great, he can’t explain it. But in his neighborhood, there are THE RULES:
No. 1: Crying. Don’t. No matter what.
No. 2: Snitching Don’t. No matter what.
No. 3: Revenge Do. No matter what.
But bullets miss. You can get the wrong guy. And there’s always someone else who knows to follow the rules…
April 2, 2019
Love in a Carry-on Bag
Sadeqa Johnson
Love Jones & Situationships
Can a long distance love affair really survive? Erica Shaw spends her week babysitting the country’s bestselling authors for one of the top publishing companies in New York City. But on Friday nights she escapes to DC, where her sexy-lipped musician boyfriend, Warren Prince, works and performs. Their connection is fierce, and the couple promises to never miss a weekend together. But when real life walks in—an overbearing father, an alcoholic mother, office politics, and a lucrative job contract—the couple starts unraveling at the seam. Tempers flare, violence breaks, while new lovers eagerly wait in the wings—to claim both of them. Drenched in the perils of passion and the sweet-sounds of jazz, Johnson dives deep into the world of ambition and the stumbling blocks of family. Clever, fast-paced and sexy, Love in a Carry-on Bag is a modern day love story that marks the healing power of forgiveness and begs the question, how much baggage is really too heavy to carry. 2012 USA Best Book Award for African-American Fiction 2013 Phillis Wheatley Award for Best Fiction 2013 OOSA Best Book Award for Fiction Black Expressions Book Club Alternate selection for May 2012
March 7, 2012
Love In Hangtime
T. Tonette
Love Jones & Situationships
Hazel Holiday believed love was heading toward something lasting. Every word, every plan indicated a shared future she thought was certain. Yet the commitment she had been waiting for never arrived. When it was time to move, she didn’t go because love without commitment was never what she wanted. Nicodemus “Nico” Wade carries the burden of loss. It’s etched into him, changing everything he once believed. He moves through life cautiously now because, along the way, love died—and he was buried with it. What started as a favor that felt more like an obligation dragged them into a situation neither anticipated. Driven by circumstances and an undercurrent neither can explain, they move cautiously through the tension, each moment charged and every silence alive with what lingers between them. It’s the breath before impact, the stillness before the fall, where something deeper waits to determine their fate. Because even the strongest defenses can’t stop what comes next.
December 1, 2025
Love is a Contact Sport
Frederick Smith
Love Jones & Situationships
After a rough breakup, romance author Renny Ross heads to the Bay Area for a fresh start, where a university assignment reunites him with Brent D. King DuPree, his former college mentee and first love.
Recently divorced and newly out, Brent is finally embracing the life he put on hold while raising his family. Working together brings old feelings rushing back, giving them a second chance at a love that no longer has to be a secret.
June 16, 2026
Love Me Down to Christmas
Aries Skye
Love Jones & Situationships
Tender, nostalgic, and deeply romantic, Love Me Down to Christmas is a heartfelt holiday romance about first love, family, healing, and the kind of love that never forgets its way home. “Love Me Down to Christmas delivers everything we love about a cozy holiday romance—small-town charm, heartfelt moments, and just the right amount of spice. Aries Skye masterfully blends friends-to-lovers chemistry with unexpected twists that keep you turning the pages while still wrapping you in the warmth of a sweet hometown love story.” –ROBBI RENEE, bestselling author of Somebody’s Husband Amariah Luke built a successful life far away from Skye Ridge, the small town filled with memories she’s spent years trying to outrun. But when her father falls ill just before Christmas, she returns home for the holidays and comes face-to-face with the one man she never truly forgot. Jacob Gold never stopped loving Amariah. Not after the silence and not even after all those years apart. And now that she’s back in Skye Ridge for Christmas, he’s determined not to lose her a second time. When Amariah’s father makes one heartfelt Christmas wish, Jacob sets out to win her back with a holiday countdown inspired by the memories, traditions, and quiet gestures that once made them inseparable. From snow-covered nights and spiked cocoa to long-buried confessions and second chances wrapped in twinkling lights, every day brings them closer to the love they left unsaid. But as Christmas draws near, Amariah must decide whether the life she built away from home is truly where her heart belongs…or if the future she’s been searching for has been waiting for her in Skye Ridge all along. Story Locale:Fictitious town - Skye Ridge
September 29, 2026
Love on Board
Aries Skye
Love Jones & Situationships
BOOK RIOT’S BEST NEW ROMANCES BY BLACK AUTHORS “In a memorable journey of love, healing, fulfillment in one's career and family, and second chances, Aries Skye’s Love on Board is a flawlessly delivered and entertaining story that true love can weather any storm and transform lives forever.” —Yasmin Angoe, bestselling author of Her Name Is Knight and Not What She Seems “My heart is still smiling. Love on Board captures the right note of hesitancy and uncertainty layered with the giddiness and heartwarming emotions that comes with rediscovering love after heartbreak.” — TIYE, USA Today bestselling author of Madly Driven Aquila Richards-Oliver has the life many envy: a high-profile husband, two beautiful sons, and a seemingly perfect role as wife, mother, and big sister. But perfection comes at a steep price. When her marriage to a world-renowned chef unravels under the weight of betrayal and long-buried truths, Aquila chooses herself—for the first time in years—and begins the hard work of rebuilding her life on her own terms. Roman Patterson has built everything but a family. At thirty-five, the successful entrepreneur has more wealth than time and more regrets than romance. Convinced love has passed him by, he reluctantly agrees to a singles cruise, expecting nothing more than cocktails and casual distractions. What neither Roman nor Aquila expects is to find each other—on a boat in the middle of paradise. They make a pact to enjoy the cruise as friends, but their connection is instant, and the chemistry is undeniable. As sparks fly and emotions deepen, they’re forced to face the realities waiting back on land: exes, children, broken trust, and wounds that still sting. Can Aquila let down her guard and believe in love again? Can Roman prove he’s more than a fleeting escape? Or will the past sink the promise of something real? Story Locale:Miami, FL
January 27, 2026
Love on the Byline
Xio Axelrod
Love Jones & Situationships
Blake Dillon isn’t exactly living the dream. She longs to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps and make a difference in the world as a journalist. Unfortunately, her current job has her paying-off hotel staff for celebrity gossip. Tasked with shadowing a film star for an in-depth profile, Blake sees it as a chance to finally prove her worth. She never expected the interview to reconnect her with her old college crush.
Oliver Benjamin agrees to move to Los Angeles to work as the executive assistant to his best friend, a rising star. He hopes it will give him some direction. However, he soon discovers the only difference between being a frat boy and a Hollywood heartthrob is the amount of free stuff and the level of media attention. Ollie spends most of his time putting out fires, leaving little time for anything else. When Blake is sent to chronicle their lives, he finds himself face-to-face with the one that got away.
Blake and Ollie are smart enough to recognize the signs—there are enough sparks between them to melt glass—but they agree to put a lid on it until the article is finished. Much easier said than done when they’re forced to spend more time together than apart. There’s more going on than a simple interview, but they’re both professionals. They must resist temptation or risk unraveling both their lives.
August 29, 2023
Love on the Ninth Floor
Aries Skye
Love Jones & Situationships
Trending on TikTok takes on an entirely new meaning when the ‘for you’ becomes a viral love story in the making. Aries Skye makes a sizzling debut in this flirty feel-good romance, perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Farrah Rochon. Zany and vivacious Nissi Richards always had her sights set on one goal—her career. As the youngest doctor at Optimal Dentistry, Nissi is the epitome of Black Girl Magic and a #GoalCrusher. Dating, however, was a different topic, or rather more of a non-existent headline. Despite her best friend's botched matchmaking attempts and her meddlesome sisters who insist she hook a man, love and marriage were never on Nissi's to-do list—at least not that she'd admit. Kannon Jordan was a man of simplicity. Unimpressed with the whims of every short skirt that flitted by, or the sexy social media prospects, the ravishing fireman was content with the bachelor's life. A cosmic shift in his beliefs takes a nosedive once he crosses paths with a dazzling doctor in distress. When Kannon rescued Nissi from a malfunctioned elevator, she never thought she'd see the handsome fireman again. Suddenly, when a TikTok video goes viral, the two strangers are miraculously reconnected. Will Nissi and Kannon surrender to their feelings, or will they deny their chemistry and the possibility of love at first sight? “You will root for Aries Skye’s swoon-worthy characters in this powerful testament to kindred connections and destined love!” —N’TYSE, national bestselling author and film producer
October 24, 2023
Love on the Rebound
Aries Skye
Love Jones & Situationships
A romantic chase in which a fitness guru falls for a full-figured paralegal, however, her self-esteem and past relationship struggles leaves her doubting if Mr. Fitness is Mr. Too-Good-To-Be-True. “Aries Skye delivers a sexy, compelling love story with relatable characters. Kinston and Angela prove that a love worth having is a love worth fighting for, especially when it's literally been right in front of you all along.” —Tati M. Richardson, USA Today bestselling author After Angela Richards’ fiancé abandons her for another woman, she is left with the lingering aftershocks that keep her heart sealed off from love. To the outside world, she is the same fiery and sassy spitfire woman with a larger-than-life attitude of the norm, but personally, she immerses herself in a contented existence while living vicariously through her sisters, Nissi and Aquila. Besides, it’s easier to mind their business than deal with the devastation of her own. Enter Kinston Jordan. He’s quiet, handsome, rugged, and a renowned fitness instructor. He’s also the older brother of her sister Nissi’s soon-to-be husband, and he has his sights set on Angela. The only problem—Angela refuses to travel down heartbreak lane again, especially with a man like Kinston. How could a fitness guru have eyes for a full-figured woman? Unbeknownst to Angela, Kinston has his own pitfalls with love and just as many reasons to protect his heart as she does. Can these two wounded souls rebound from their past to find love in their future?
November 26, 2024
Love, Unfinished
D.A. Alston
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Aria Price arrived at Horizon Point University determined to start over, committed to her future music career. But once Chase Knight reappears, the past she assumed was left behind comes rushing back. As middle school classmates with secret crushes they never confessed, their connection was left unresolved—and unfinished.Now carrying dreams of their own, Aria and Chase are forced to confront buried feelings and missed chances along with a question yet to be answered: what if the timing had been right? Can they pursue their dreams and still find time for love?
June 1, 2026
Love You To Death
Christina Dotson
Don’t Go in There!
When two best friends' hobby of crashing weddings takes a deadly turn, they’re forced to embark on a road trip of survival in this addictive thriller. How well do we really know our friends? As the only Black women at an antebellum-themed wedding, Kayla and Zorie should’ve known this heist was doomed from the start. They should never have come, but when their financial situation became dire, they agreed to hit one last wedding. Jaded and cynical Kayla has spent the last decade trying to fix her life since an angsty teen prank led to her arrest. Now, with her housekeeping job at a subpar hotel and her disappointing, Cinderella-esque relationship with her dad and obnoxious stepsister, she hates the life she’s built. Her only bright spots are her best friend, Zorie, and their favorite weekend pastime of crashing weddings to steal the money and pawn the gifts. But what started as a lark has evolved into a greedy obsession, making each wedding haul riskier than the last. While trying to avoid the angry bride and groom, Kayla and Zorie's getaway takes a gruesome turn and suddenly the “Wedding Crasher Killers” are national news. The best friends are forced to hit the road to dodge the authorities, but their escape plan leaves behind a bloody trail of destruction from Georgia all the way to the bayou. As past grudges resurface, Kayla realizes that the best friend she thought she knew is more dangerous than she could ever have realized. Sharp, unpredictable, and madcap from start to finish, Love You to Death is the most fun—and deadly—road trip you’ll ever take. Story Locale:Road trip in the South; from Georgia to New Orleans, LA
July 22, 2025
Loving Ashley
Rhayne Coleman
Love Jones & Situationships
2 men, 1 night, 0 consequences...well, maybe not zero.
When Ashley, a people-pleasing hopeless romantic, is stood up on the night of his birthday by his boyfriend of 5 years, he must find the strength to sever ties. He realizes that if he slides back into that unfulfilling cycle, he may never be available for the fairy tale love he has wanted since grade school.
Micheaux, a no-nonsense romantic, has put much-needed distance between himself and a recent set of heartbreaks by moving back to his hometown, Costley Nance. Since laying eyes on Ashley, Micheaux has wanted nothing more than to risk another possible heartache by adding Ashley into his life full-time.
A CHANCE MEETING AT A NEIGHBORHOOD BODEGA LATE AT NIGHT HAS ASHLEY & MICHEAUX JUGGLING FAMILY ISSUES, LOYALTY, PAST MISTAKES, AND GROWING PAINS, IN HOPES OF SECURING THEIR HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
June 13, 2025
Loving Dangerous
KOLD
Love Jones & Situationships
Imagine learning as a child how cruel love could be.
And from that lesson, as well as being raised in a hood that teaches you; ‘love will get you killed’, it hardens you. Turning you into something sharp.
Something guarded.
Something…Dangerous.
But what if fate has a sense of humor? Allowing you a chance to relearn the lesson of love in it’s true form? And despite your attempts to fight it at every turn…it won’t let you go. Circling back to the very thing you swore you’d never feel again.
You can try and fight love. Push it away. Bury it. Hell, suffocate if you want…
But love doesn’t listen to logic.
It chooses who it wants. How it wants. When it wants.
Even between people who shouldn’t fit…but do.
The crazy thing about a love like that? You don’t just fall into it.
You surrender to it.
And love...the kind that changes everything—
Yeah, that kinda love…makes Loving Dangerous.
December 2, 2025
Loving Him Enough
Vivi D
Love Jones & Situationships
Drew knows what it feels like to lose love—and the fear of opening himself up again runs deeper than anything he’s ever faced.
Year ago he met a woman who stirred something real in him, something beyond the spotlight. Their chemistry? Instant. Their connection? Unmatched. But their connection was interrupted by the past. Now, fate has brought them back together, older, wiser, but still carrying the weight of past mistakes and broken trust.
In a world where vulnerability feels like the hardest play to make, Drew must decide if he’s ready to risk it all—not for the win, but for love. And she must decide if she can believe in him again. Can they learn that love doesn’t ask for perfection — just the courage to show up.
Loving Him Enough is a powerful Black romance about second chances, healing, and the courage it takes to love without fear. It’s the conclusion to Drew’s journey—where passion meets perseverance, and love demands more than just desire.
Second chances don’t come easy… but this time, his heart is all in.
August 25, 2026
Loving Me Enough
Vivi D
Love Jones & Situationships
Avery Westry is a highly focused beauty from the south who will punch first and ask questions later. Her tough demeanor and take no shit attitude is a carefully curated shelter protecting her fragile heart. She loves hard, upholds loyalty above all else, and considers herself the first line of defense for those in her circle of trust. Past experiences and personal shortcomings have convinced her that the happily ever after she dreams of may be out of her reach.
Cairo Monroe is a star athlete and heir to a family empire with a shady foundation. His priorities are football, family, and friends, in that order. He doesn’t have time for a relationship and has never met a woman who comes close to steering him off course. Cairo is a natural protector and provider who wants the best for himself and his family. He challenges me in ways I never expected. His perspective often sends me spiraling into thoughts I didn’t know I had.
Drew is a player on and off the court. He doesn’t take life too seriously and plays his cards close to his chest. Not many people know the family drama he has to deal with behind the scenes because he covers it with charm and a million-dollar smile. His longest friendship is his most precious. In Drew’s mind, everything will happen according to his timeline.
Will Avery’s unrequited love be her knight in shining armor, or will he wait too long and let another man take his spot? Will Avery let down her walls long enough to receive what her heart desires? Faced with an unspeakable tragedy, screaming self-doubt, and fierce independence, will love endure the good and bad times?
May 9, 2025
Majestic Hills
Dawn Turner
Our Stories, Our Terms
A Black couple leaves their downtown Chicago condo for a new suburban
subdivision, only to find themselves at the center of a maelstrom in this
gripping page-turner from the award-winning author of Three Girls from
Bronzeville.
Tired of the daily drama in his emergency room, Dr. Langdon Blaque is in search of a
place where he can leave the world behind. He loves his job and has no delusions
about the suburbs being perfect, but he wants peace and quiet. His wife Josephine, a
lawyer, grew up listening to her father’s stories about the Jim Crow South, and
sundown towns. She prefers the city. Still, she agrees to move with the caveat that
they stay for a year and reassess.
The tight-knit, predominantly white group of neighbors in Majestic Hills initially
welcomes them with open arms. But beneath the veneer of privileged harmony,
tensions simmer. When a horrifying crime rocks the community, the illusion of safety is
shattered, and Josephine and Langdon find themselves at the heart of a brewing storm
that pits neighbor against neighbor, exposes deeply ingrained prejudices, and threatens
to implode into violence.
As their experiment in suburban living ticks toward the one-year mark, the Blaques are
pushed to a breaking point. Can they find a way to make a home in Majestic Hills? Or
has the move put their future, their marriage, and even their safety in jeopardy?
August 4, 2026
Malcolm Lives!
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
This ground-breaking narrative biography of one of the most influential Americans of all time is a perfect read-alike to Dr. Kendi’s other #1 New York Times Bestselling books—like How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped for Young Readers—as well as Steve Sheinkin’s most beloved titles. It will be published 100 years after Malcom’s birth and 60 years after his death.
Written with a cleared-eyed, no-nonsense tone and unmatched empathy for both his subject and readers, Dr. Kendi weaves his anti-racist ideology into this propulsive telling of Malcolm X’s life—from birth to death. He provides context for both Malcolm’s choices—and those around him—not just painting an intimate picture of a famous figure, but of that time period in America. Readers will learn about the history of racism and Malcolm's journey to becoming an anti-racist in short, evocative chapters interspersed with black-and-white images of exclusive archival documents and photos from the Malcolm X Collection at the NYPL Schomburg Center.
This biography illustrates that Malcolm's true legacy is a journey toward anti-racism. And that just like history, Malcolm lives.
Includes extensive backmatter.
May 13, 2025
May a Divine Awaken
Michael A. Tinsley
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
In the first book of a heart-pounding new YA fantasy series, an orphaned teen is thrust into a divine war—and must decide whether awakening his true powers is worth risking his soul. For sixteen-year-old Marcus Azure, the unusual blemishes on his skin have always made him feel insecure and unwanted. Orphaned at a young age, stares and whispers incite rumors of him being cursed. But all Marcus wants is to gain respect as a worthy soldier and a protector for his land. Hoping to gain acceptance and silence the rumors, Marcus competes for a coveted spot in the Land of Aypha’s elite military. Before Marcus can earn his place, a mysterious group of assassins incinerate his village, destroying all he knew. On his own once again, Marcus’s quest for answers takes him on a journey across new lands where he discovers his world is ruled by Divines—powerful warriors with abilities to manipulate metals, harness the wind, and control the shape of water. As Marcus plunges deeper into the Divine world, he encounters the former Queen of the Aminas, Sinclair Bonet. She reveals the attack on his land is tied to something far worse. A war across the eight Divine Lands of Pyris is coming. If Marcus and others are to survive, he’ll need to awaken a secret yet volatile power within him. As the battle rages closer and secrets unravel, Marcus must confront the truth of whether the blemishes he was shunned for are truly a curse or a sign of something greater. Series Overview: May a Divine Awaken is the first book in a new YA fantasy trilogy. (The first title is self-published and the re-publication/packaging of this title will replace the current book on Amazon.) Book 1 - Fall 2026 Book 2 - Fall 2028 Book 3 - Fall 2030
November 3, 2026
These Heathens
Mia McKenzie
Our Stories, Our Terms
From the “razor-sharp and outrageously funny” (Taylor Jenkins Reid) mind of
Mia McKenzie comes a vibrant novel exploring how one weekend can change
your whole life.
FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE
ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE • A
CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Dear Lord, please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed. And for the one I’m still
planning to commit tomorrow. Amen.
Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife
goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the
answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy
childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help. While waiting to hear from the doctor who has
agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to,
the people who move in and out of Sylvia’s orbit: celebrities whom Doris has seen in
the pages of Jet and Ebony, civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King and Diane
Nash, women who dance close together, boys who flirt too hard and talk too much,
atheists! And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.
From the guests at a queer kickback to the student activists at a SNCC conference,
Doris suddenly finds herself surrounded by so many people who seem to know exactly
who or what they want. Doris knows she doesn’t want a baby, but what does she want?
Will this trip help her find out?
These Heathens is a funny, poignant story about Black women’s obligations and
ambitions, what we owe to ourselves, and the transformative power of leaving your
bubble, even for just one chaotic weekend.
June 17, 2025
Meet Me in Maui
Vasalona Cooper
Love Jones & Situationships
Marley Jacobs is all about her self-care trips. They’re a necessity when you work overtime as an editor-in-chief, have an overbearing mother, and are still recovering from a romance that nearly unraveled you. Her trip to Hawaii is supposed to be quiet. Restorative. Solo. But things change when she bumps into the one man she thought she’d never see again. Othello Kingston, distinguished and infuriatingly handsome, regrets saying “yes” to being the best man at his estranged cousin’s wedding. They haven’t spoken in years and for good reason. Boarding the plane to Hawaii already feels like a mistake, until a pleasant surprise greets him before the flight ever leaves the ground. When Marley and Othello’s worlds collide for the second time, neither of them can ignore the chemistry between them, although Marley wants to keep things strictly platonic. She can’t risk another heartbreak. But when Othello’s moment of panic draws them into a fake relationship, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur.
July 14, 2026
Melanin "Black": A Series of Black Stories
Dre Hill
Drawn + Written
Black. A color that is often only ever associated with negative connotations and stereotypes. A disposition that runs so deep that is has colored societal notions of black people, despite our lack of singularity in existence, our lack of monolithic state of being. Black. A color that is connected to everything and all corners of the world. A breeding ground and birthplace for life and innovation.
after all, out of darkness came the light.
Black is an exaltation to blackness, the state of living within a black body, on the most abstract of levels. Love, reflection, emotion, and divinity collide at the epicenter of the collective discussion surrounding what it means to be black, what those experiences look like, and the ways in which those experiences and meanings are constantly being redefined.
June 19, 2025
Merciless Billionaire
Angel M. Shaw
Love Jones & Situationships
Hunter and Winter's story continues in Merciless Billionaire...
Everyone assumes the billionaire saved me.
He didn't.
He came with an army of men and a private plane, but he arrived four days late to a cabin with a body in the snow outside it. I put it there. I want that on the record before anyone tells you this is a love story about being rescued.
Hunter Brigham was raised by a man who taught him there is no good and no evil. Only predators and prey. He owns a fortress in Virginia, sixteen bodyguards, and a teenage son he's still learning how to father.
He also owns a list of every man who accepted bribes to make sure I could be taken. He's working his way down it.
So this is my life now: his gates, his guards, my dog at the foot of a bed that isn't mine, and his boy who measures affection in seconds.
Hunter almost lost me once, and he vows he'll never fail to keep me safe again. He says he'll give me everything…everything but the truth.
I found out anyway.
Everyone assumes the billionaire is going to save me.
Let them.
Book two in The Devils of D.C. Saga, previously published as Oathbreaker, a dark dual-POV billionaire romantic suspense with a survivor heroine who saves herself, a morally grey hero who falls first and hard, forced proximity, found family, and an Autistic teen who steals the whole book, ending on a cliffhanger with no HEA. Explicit, open door. No cheating. The story concludes in Shattered Billionaire. Content warnings at angelmshaw.com/content-warnings.
August 27, 2024
Mermaid Season
Debbie Rigaud
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
It's the hottest summer in Newark, New Jersey's history, and all Rielle wants is to cool off. She's already on the outs with her dad and best friend, and her vacation is ruined by summer school-so turning on the long-dormant fire hydrant on her corner isn't going to change things. When the hydrant sprays, it comes on full power...in more ways than one. Rielle's mermaid powers are awakened.
She can use her powers to slip into a magical underwater neighborhood. The mermaid version of her estranged best friend is here, and so are her classmates and neighbors. And they're all happy to see her! It seems like Rielle slipped into an alternative universe where everything is perfect-except for one drawback. Underwater, Rielle can't speak.
Is the world of her dreams worth losing her voice over? And when Rielle discovers a secret about a neighbor, can she use her mermaid powers for good?
April 6, 2027
Miles Morales: Shockwaves
justin a. reynolds
Drawn + Written
An original middle-grade graphic novel from Graphix starring Brooklyn's Spider-Man, Miles Morales, by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds and Eisner nominee Pablo Leon!
Miles Morales is a normal kid who happens to juggle school at Brooklyn Visions Academy while swinging through the streets of Brooklyn as Spider-Man. After a disastrous earthquake strikes his mother's birthplace of Puerto Rico, Miles springs into action to help set up a fundraiser for the devastated island. But when a new student's father goes missing, Miles begins to make connections between the disappearance and a giant corporation sponsoring Miles' fundraiser. Who is behind the disappearance, and how does that relate to Spider-Man?
A true middle grade graphic novel starring one of Marvel's most popular characters, bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds (Opposite of Always) and Eisner award-nominated artist Pablo Leon (Refugees) create a riveting story that will connect with new and well-versed comics readers alike.
June 1, 2021
Miles Morales Spider-Man
Jason Reynolds
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”
Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man.
But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself.
As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical "benefits" of slavery and the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk.
It’s time for Miles to suit up. Complete your Marvel YA collection with these best-selling fan-favorite novels:
Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee Gamora and Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzi Lee Unstoppable Wasp by Sam Maggs Black Widow: Red Vengeance by Margaret Stohl Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster by Liza Palmer
October 2, 2018
Miles Morales: Stranger Tides
justin a. reynolds
Drawn + Written
An original middle-grade graphic novel from Graphix starring Miles Morales, by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds and Eisner nominee Pablo Leon!
Join Miles Morales in his most epic adventure yet!
Miles Morales has just about gotten used to this being Spider-Man thing. Keeping Brooklyn safe, taking down bad guys, and finishing his homework—he’s got this! But when Spider-Man is invited to a launch for a brand-new video game, things go sideways fast. Anyone who plays the game is frozen, and it’s all because of a villain named the Stranger. He’s judged humanity and found it lacking, and his idea of justice is extreme.
Left with the fate of the world in his hands, and the clock is ticking on Miles. Can he turn old foes to friends and find the answers he needs in time?
November 1, 2022
Mindful Meditations for Black Men
Jor-El Caraballo
Real Life | Real Talk
An empowering and thought-provoking collection of meditations for Black men, helping them to experience the awareness, enlightenment, and healing they deserve from licensed therapist and popular author Jor-El Caraballo. In Mindful Meditations for Black Men, mental health expert Jor-El Caraballo teaches Black men of all ages about the many benefits that mindfulness and meditation provide. From finding peace to practicing self-compassion and normalizing fear and defining success, each of the seventy entries in this book provide context and insight on a certain topic rooted in the practice. In these meditations, you will: -Learn the practice of mindful awareness and the power of presence -Discover ideas, themes, and messages that influence the health and wellness of Black men -Challenge self-criticism, internalized pressure, and self-limiting beliefs -Encounter perspectives that help them embrace their full humanity -Discover opportunities for further personal growth This book is an invitation for personal reflection and growth. With Caraballo’s guidance, this book encourages and uplifts Black men and gives them space to discover the power of mindfulness.
January 6, 2026
Mixtape: A Memoir
Johnzelle Anderson
Real Life | Real Talk
A story about the sound and silence of survival, and the rhythms that carry us home. In Mixtape: A Memoir, therapist and storyteller Johnzelle Anderson weaves a raw, lyrical portrait of resilience, identity, and healing. Born to a disengaged West African father and a volatile white mother, Anderson grows up mixed race in 1990s Roanoke, Virginia—feeling like an outsider in every room. Amid childhood abuse, neglect, and racism, he clings to the safety of his grandmother’s love and his inner voice’s promise of a better future. Told in tracks rather than chapters, Mixtape charts Anderson’s journey from trauma to triumph—from being body-shamed and silenced to building a career in mental health and forming a family of his own. Along the way, he confronts the legacy of generational pain, redefines his sense of belonging, and takes a life-changing trip to Ghana in search of the roots his father never shared. Honest, at times humorous, and unflinching in its vulnerability, Mixtape: A Memoir is a coming-of-age story for anyone unlearning and daring to rewrite the soundtrack of their life.
March 17, 2026
Murder by the Book
J.L. Campbell
Don’t Go in There!
A riveting, dark, and layered thriller that cuts through the glamorous façade
of the publishing world to expose the true cost of ambition.
Some stories are too dangerous to tell, especially when they’re your own.
Addison Comstock is a literary icon, known for her bestselling crime novels,
razor-sharp tongue, and relentless rise to the top. But behind her polished brand lies a
ruthless past filled with secrets, betrayals, and broken lives—including those of the
writers she’s employed to ghostwrite her success.
When her longtime editor collapses and dies during a team retreat in Jamaica, what
appears to be a medical emergency soon begins to feel like something far more
sinister. Tensions rise, loyalties fray, and whispers of sabotage grow louder. Someone in
Addison’s inner circle has decided enough is enough, and truth is becoming stranger
than fiction.
As the body count climbs and buried truths resurface, Addison is desperate to maintain
control of her crumbling empire. But with accusations flying and her dirty past
threatening to go public, even Addison begins to question who she can trust . . . and
how far she’s willing to go to protect her legacy.
Story Locale:Ocho Rios, Jamaica / Orlando, FL
May 26, 2026
Murder in St. James’s Park
Vanessa Riley
Don’t Go in There!
Perfect for readers who love Bridgerton with a dark twist—a vibrant historical
mystery series that embraces the true diversity of the Regency era.
Confessions from beyond the grave throw Lady Worthing into turmoil . . .
London, 1807. Lady Abigail Worthing’s marriage of convenience to James Monroe, the
Lord Worthing, is over. But James is out of her life quicker than Abigail anticipated
when she finds his body in St. James’s Park.
Shocked by her husband’s brutal murder, Abigail is determined to catch his killer. But
when she discovers that James’s transgressions ran far deeper and darker than she
thought possible, Abigail questions her own judgment. Did she make a terrible mistake
when solving a past crime, and does the key to James’s death lie in the letters he was
writing shortly before his demise?
With her neighbor and good friend Stapleton Henderson by her side, Abigail confronts
jealousy, resentment, and stunning betrayal that will shake her to her core . . .
This sharply observed, captivating Regency mystery series featuring a smart
and fearless mixed-race aristocrat heroine with a notorious family history is a
must-read for historical mystery fans.
September 1, 2026
Muse: Brown Skin
Geri Cohen Biddy
Love Jones & Situationships
What happens when the man you want only meets you in the shadows? When your body is worshiped, but your worth is never claimed?
Muse is a raw, poetic memoir loosely based on real events from the author’s life—a story of falling for someone who could never love you fully… and choosing to rise anyway. For six chaotic, passionate, and addictive years, Muse was entangled in a connection that blurred the line between pleasure and pain. Told in bold prose, journal-style reflections, and emotionally rich flashbacks, Muse captures the ache of almost being loved, the confusion of being desired but never prioritized, and the reckoning that comes with finally walking away.
This is not a conventional love story. This is a testimony. A testimony to the women who gave too much and got too little. To the ones who stayed too long. To the ones who loved deeply and lost themselves in the process. Loosely inspired by Geri’s own experiences, Muse dives into the kind of love that’s intoxicating but unsustainable—and the strength it takes to let go.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll nod in recognition. And by the last page, you’ll remember just how powerful it is to become the author of your own healing. Because Muse isn’t just about Brown Skin. It’s about you. It’s about us. This is the last time you’ll beg to be chosen. And the first time you’ll write yourself free.
September 10, 2025
Mutiny
Phillip B Williams
Our Stories, Our Terms
Winner of the 2022 American Book Award
Finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
Longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for Publishing Triangle’s Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry
Named one of the Best Books of 2021 by The Boston Globe and Lit Hub
From the critically acclaimed author of Thief in the Interior who writes with "a
lucid, unmitigated humanity" (Boston Review), a startling new collection
about revolt and renewal
Mutiny: a rebellion, a subversion, an onslaught. In poems that rebuke classical mythos
and western canonical figures, and embrace Afro-Diasporanfolk and spiritual imagery,
Phillip B. Williams conjures the hell of being erased, exploited, and ill-imagined and
then, through a force and generosity of vision, propels himself into life, selfhood, and a
path forward. Intimate, bold, and sonically mesmerizing, Mutiny addresses loneliness,
desire, doubt, memory, and the borderline between beauty and tragedy. With a ferocity
that belies the tenderness and vulnerability at the heart of this remarkable collection,
Williams honors the transformative power of anger, and the clarity that comes from
allowing that anger to burn clean.
September 7, 2021
My Governement Means to Kill Me
Rasheed Newson
Our Stories, Our Terms
"Full of joy and righteous anger, sex and straight talk, brilliant storytelling and humor, Rasheed Newson’s debut novel has given us the story of Trey, set against the history of 80s queer Black New York, AIDS, and the movements that changed the era. A spectacularly researched Dickensian tale with vibrant characters and dozens of famous cameos, it is precisely the book we’ve needed for a long time. That—and a rollicking read! What more could you want?” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize- winning author of Less
Born into a wealthy Black Indianapolis family, Earl “Trey” Singleton III leaves his overbearing parents and their expectations behind by running away to New York City with only a few dollars in his pocket. In the city, Trey meets up with a cast of characters that changes his life forever. He volunteers at a renegade home hospice for AIDS patients, and after being put to the test by gay rights activists, becomes a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). Along the way Trey attempts to navigate past traumas and searches for ways to maintain familial relationships—all while seeking the meaning of life amid so much death.
Vibrant, humorous, and fraught with entanglements, Rasheed Newson’s My Government Means to Kill Me is an exhilarating, fast-paced coming-of-age story that lends itself to a larger discussion about what it means for a young gay Black man in the mid-1980s to come to terms with his role in the midst of a political and social reckoning.
August 22, 2023
My Monsters Ain’t like Yours
R. J. Joseph
Black to the Future
Black feminist intersectional horror at its rawest...
At its core, the horror genre is an effective vehicle for exploring human behavior. From within its terrifying boundaries, and lack thereof, we can examine monstrosity. We can determine how monsters are labeled, analyze the actions of those deemed monstrous, and prophesy the impacts this labeling and actions have on the world around us.
Monsters are personal. Monsters are universal. These facts create an intriguing juxtaposition where the things deemed monstrous or frightening can be shaped by personal experiences, while also representing many aspects of the human condition; our fears are much more similar than dissimilar. This means my monsters are absolutely like yours: they are our collective nightmares.
My Monsters Ain't Like Yours reflects this irony through Black feminist intersectional horror at its rawest.
July 13, 2026
Nappily Ever After
Trisha R. Thomas
Our Stories, Our Terms
NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM STARRING SANAA LATHAN
What happens when you toss tradition out the window and really start living for yourself?
Venus Johnston has a great job, a beautiful home, and a loving live-in boyfriend named Clint, who happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous doctor. She also has a weekly beauty-parlor date with Tina, who keeps Venus's long, processed hair slick and straight. But when Clint—who's been reluctant to commit over the past four years—brings home a puppy instead of an engagement ring, Venus decides to give it all up. She trades in her long hair for a dramatically short, natural cut and sends Clint packing.
It's a bold declaration of independence—one that has effects she never could have imagined. Reactions from friends and coworkers range from concern to contempt to outright condemnation. And when Clint moves on and starts dating a voluptuous, long-haired beauty, Venus is forced to question what she really wants out of life. With wit, resilience, and a lot of determination, she finally learns what true happiness is—on her own terms. Told with style, savvy, and humor, Nappily Ever After is a novel that marks the debut of a fresh new voice in fiction.
December 26, 2001
Nemesis
Harper Black
Don’t Go in There!
Amara never fit inside the life her mother built, one dripping in wealth, secrets, and pills she’s forced to swallow “for her own good.”
Her mother, Paige, has spent years trying to silence the voice haunting Amara’s mind. But the voice hasn’t faded. It’s only getting louder.
And it wants to tell a story.
A chilling message leads Amara to a photo tied to a past Paige refuses to acknowledge. Paige is in the picture. So are four strangers. Five faces. Six Greek names scrawled on the back . . .
One is Sophia, the voice in Amara’s head.
Another is Nemesis, goddess of revenge.
As Sophia’s story pushes Amara down the trail Paige tried to bury, the past starts to bleed through the present: a betrayal that never died and a reckoning decades in the making.
Amara digs deeper. Paige’s perfect world crumbles. Secrets claw their way to the surface, and Sophia insists she knows exactly what happened back then . . .
And what must happen next.
But as old sins breathe new life, one terrifying question stalks Amara's every move: Is she uncovering a legacy of revenge, or is she losing herself to a darkness that exists only in her mind?
May 18, 2026
Never What’s Expected
C. Wynter
Our Stories, Our Terms
When Nila, a brilliant young ophthalmologist, meets NFL superstar Keon Jones during a birthday trip to Jamaica, the chemistry between them is instant and intoxicating. Within days, their whirlwind romance turns into a spontaneous marriage and a life most women only dream about. Luxury. Fame. Endless money. But fairy tales can hide dangerous truths. Behind Keon’s charm lies a man driven by control, secrets, and manipulation. When betrayal, devastating loss, and a life-altering diagnosis shatter Nila’s world, the perfect life she thought she found quickly turns into a nightmare she never saw coming. Forced to walk away from everything she once believed in, Nila must rebuild her life from the ground up learning painful lessons about love, trust, and her own strength. Just when she begins to believe her heart may never heal, she meets Langston a man whose patience, loyalty, and quiet strength challenge everything she thought she knew about love. But healing from the past isn’t easy, and trusting again may be the hardest battle of all. Never What’s Expected is a powerful urban drama about love, betrayal, survival, and discovering that sometimes life’s greatest blessings come from the paths we never planned to take.
March 14, 2026
New To The Streets
KOLD
Our Stories, Our Terms
What would you do if you found a duffle bag full of 7 kilos of pure cocaine, $80,000, and 3 guns under your porch?
For Romeo Washington, a 16-year old unpopular high school kid from Clarksville, TN, with dreams of winning the heart of Zara Brown, the most popular girl at school, the answer was simple.....Get Money By Any Means.
Romeo's never sold a drug in his life so when his friends, Lil Tim and Ace, decide they don't want any part of helping him sell the drugs he found, he decides to become a dopeboy all on his own.
It doesn't take long for the reality of the street life to set in for Romeo. He he learns that what started out as a chance to get the attention of the girl of his dreams, and the respect of his peers who never knew he existed, throws him in the middle of a street war, which eventually brings him the wrong attention from Javion, a street hustler looking to take over the city, as well as the attention of another street hustler, Lazy, who's on a mission to find out who stole his duffle bag that he stashed while running from the police.
After living a life at the bottom and being treated like a nobody, Romeo gets a taste of a better life and his entire world takes on a drastic change. But is it, for better or worse?
Romeo must find a way to survive the streets as he tries to take on a lifestyle that most people don't survive, especially when they're NEW TO THE STREETS...
February 23, 2025
(No) I am (not) okay
Dre Hill
Drawn + Written
No one can see the world that exists inside one's head. Sometimes you might wish you could close your eyes and never wake, drifting off peacefully into an eternal slumber. (No) I am (not) okay is Dre Hill's exploration into this hidden inner world and what happens within. This chapbook centers its dialogue on suicide and ideations, mental health, along with commentary on religion, race, and gender, and how these structures further cloud the waters of the mind. Here, Hill reckons with the weight of the war waged in one's own mind. (No) I am (not) okay is raw, unashamed, and unafraid, willing to say things that many think but feel they could never articulate.
January 22, 2024
Nola and Baldwin
Donna Hill
Our Stories, Our Terms
Their Eyes Were Watching God for a new generation craving a romantic finale—a sweeping historical tale that is a journey of the heart and of the times.
Dual narration by Robin Miles and Aaron Goodson.
If it wasn’t for Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Nola Denny didn’t know how she would have survived her father’s tragic death or her mother’s descent into mental illness. Inspired by Hurston’s main character, Janie Crawford, Nola sets out to find her own voice, silenced by the weight of being a caretaker and the pains of her past. On her journey to New York, Nola stops in Meridian—a detour that unexpectedly leads to a fresh start, a home, and her own Tea Cake, a Pullman Porter named Baldwin Carter.
Baldwin escaped a loveless childhood and found a caring stranger who invited him into her home and gave him a chance at a new life. A proud, hardworking Pullman Porter, Baldwin must endure bowing and scraping to passengers who barely see him as a man. When he encounters Nola, he instinctively knows he has met his anchor, a woman who makes every inch of him stand tall.
Experiencing loss, hardship, and months of separation, Nola and Baldwin must come to terms with their pasts to share a future together. The young couple know that time and distance cannot separate them, and that the sacrifices they must make are not only for themselves, but for all those who come after them, searching for a better life.
Set during the end of the Great Depression, and shaped by real-world events, crisscrossing the country from South to Midwest to North, Nola and Baldwin is an epic tale of a love powerful enough to overcome the dark forces of racism that threatens to tear it apart.
November 10, 2026
Notes from Beale Street
Phyllis R. Dixon
Our Stories, Our Terms
When their mother, Queenie, dies unexpectedly, estranged sisters Suzanne and Paula reunite in 1980s Memphis to settle her affairs. They discover tapes revealing Queenie’s time working for Elvis Presley at Graceland and a publisher eager to turn them into a book. But Queenie had secrets of her own. As the sisters uncover their family’s hidden history, they must confront old wounds, generational sacrifices and the possibility that Queenie’s true legacy was one of healing and forgiveness.
February 23, 2027
Notes to Self: A Human's Journey
Biodun Abudu
Real Life | Real Talk
Notes to Self: A Human’s Journey is a book that has reminders, notes, words of affirmation and sayings touching on different topics concerning relationships, work, family and more which can help realize your self worth, acknowledge your pain, not to be hard on yourself when it comes to mistakes and failure.
It is a personal journey, and as you read, I hope you relate to certain things that speak to you which will therefore aid in striving for better relationships, better mindset and indulging in self care and more.
September 14, 2024
Nothing Special
Desiree Cooper
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Six-year-old Jax can't wait to leave Detroit and spend a week with his grandparents in coastal Virginia, where he's sure he'll be spoiled with the kinds of special things he enjoys at home: toys, movies, and hamburgers. As he dreams of the adventures he'll have, his PopPop has other ideas. He fills their days with timeless summer fun—crabbing, shucking corn, and counting fireflies.
Illustrated entirely of repurposed textiles, Nothing Special celebrates the enduring connection between the generations who stayed in the South and the millions of emigrants for whom it will always be home. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South, but they never forgot the culture, the land, and the family they left behind. In the decades since, it has become a summer ritual for many black families to reverse the journey and return South for a visit to their homeplaces.
October 4, 2022
Nubia: The Awakening
Clarence A. Haynes
Black to the Future
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
From beloved actor and producer Omar Epps and writer Clarence A. Haynes comes the biggest epic fantasy of the year. A powerful saga of three teens, the children of refugees from a fallen African utopia, who must navigate their newfound powers in a climate-ravaged New York City. Perfect for fans of Black Panther and Children of Blood and Bone.
For Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, Nubia is a mystery. Before they were born, a massive storm destroyed their ancestral homeland, forcing their families to flee across the ocean to New York City. Nubia, a utopic island nation off the coast of West Africa, was no more, and their parents’ sorrow was too deep for them to share much of their history beyond the folklore.
But New York, ravaged by climate change and class division, is far from a safe haven for refugees, and Nubians live as outcasts, struggling to survive in the constantly flooding lower half of Manhattan, while the rich thrive in the tech-driven sky city known as the Up High.
To many, being Nubian means you’re fated for a life plagued by difficulties and disrespect. But Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho are beginning to feel there might be more. Something within them is changing, giving each of them extraordinary powers. Extraordinary and terrifying powers that seem to be tied to the secrets their parents have kept from them.
And there are people Up High watching, eager to do anything they can to become even more powerful than they already are. Now Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho will be faced with the choice—do they use their inheritance to lift their people, or to leave them behind.
November 8, 2022
Nubia: The Reckoning
Clarence A. Haynes
Black to the Future
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
The sequel to Nubia: The Awakening, the epic fantasy from actor and producer Omar Epps and writer Clarence A. Haynes! A powerful saga of three teens, the children of refugees from a fallen African utopia, who must navigate their newfound powers in a climate-ravaged New York City.
Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho were among the first of a new generation of Nubians to awaken to extraordinary powers—gifts their parents lost when they fled their island home decades ago. And now that Uzochi has been declared a Nubian catalyst, everyone expects him to lead.
But what should be a time of rebirth and celebration is instead one of turmoil. The so-called sky king, Krazen St. John, is bent on harnessing Nubian gifts for himself, and he has assembled a special, superhuman militia to do his bidding, putting a ruthless Lencho in charge.
Facing down his cousin feels insurmountable for Uzochi, even with Zuberi at his side, but now there’s more at stake than the hostile government of Tri-State East. Uzochi’s training has led him to discover an ancient, forgotten force hungry for conquest—and it won’t stop until all of Tri-State East . . . and possibly the world . . . is under its control.
September 26, 2023
Occupational Fantasies
KOLD
Our Stories, Our Terms
Occupational Fantasies brings you three stories that pulls back the curtain on what really happens when desire collides with power, ambition, and temptation on the job.
From a hitman who hesitates when his target turns seduction into a weapon, to industrial factory floors where a “lunch break” turns into a reckless, no-turning-back affair, to an author who learns the hard way that some stories are too real…and too deadly to tell.
These fantasies don’t clock out once the shift ends.
Each of these stories explore lust where it doesn’t belong. Power where it shouldn’t exist. And consequences no one expects.
Boundaries are blurred.
Control has slipped.
And every encounter comes with a price that’s raw, risky, and unapologetically erotic.
Occupational Fantasies isn’t just about sex…it’s about what happens when desire becomes dangerous and work turns into obsession.
Be warned…
Once you start reading, there’s no safe word.
January 1, 2026
Off Balance
Paula Chase
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Hot Lipz, everyone’s favorite–or least favorite–Chatter account is back at it, stirring up
gossip among the rival schools in Da Icy City. Selena knows that it’s only a matter of
time before she finds herself on the other end of the rumors—and she has a secret.
While Selena sets out to uncover Hot Lipz’s true identity, Leesh is still reeling from the
account’s last big reveal: she has a sister, and it’s none other than her biggest
gymnastics rival, Chyna. Now somebody from Leesh’s past is calling in a favor, and if
anyone finds out, it could ruin everything she’s worked for.
The pressure is on as the Power Panthers Gymnastics team prepares to compete in the
Diamond Cup, and with a new student arriving at the Heights, loyalties will be tested
like never before.
October 20, 2026
On Rotation
Shirlene Obuobi
Our Stories, Our Terms
AS SEEN ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA!
ONE OF TEEN VOGUE'S 25 BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS THEY CAN'T WAIT TO
READ THIS YEAR
ONE OF BETCHES' "22 BOOKS YOU NEED TO READ THIS YEAR"
"As a fan of Grey’s Anatomy (and Chicago Med!), I couldn’t put down On
Rotation, and you won’t be able to, either. Shirlene Obuobi makes you feel as
if you’re actually right there with the lovable Angie, and I personally couldn’t
get enough."—Meg Cabot, New York Times bestselling author
For fans of Grey’s Anatomy and Seven Days in June, this dazzling debut novel
by Shirlene Obuobi explores that time in your life when you must decide what
you want, how to get it, & who you are, all while navigating love, friendship,
and the realization that the path you’re traveling is going to be a bumpy ride.
Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the “Perfect
Immigrant Daughter.”
Enroll in an elite medical school
Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend
Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends
But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most
important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents,
whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a
lot less proud of their daughter. It’s a quarter life crisis of epic proportions.
Angie, who has always faced her problems by working “twice as hard to get half as far,”
is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her
friendships, even why she's attracted to men who don't love her as much as she loves
them.
And just when things couldn’t get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez—brilliant,
thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of
what she can represent.
Unfortunately, he’s also got “wasteman” practically tattooed across his forehead, and
Angie’s done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks. For someone who’s always
been in control, Angie realizes that there’s one thing she can’t plan on: matters of her
heart.
June 21, 2022
One and Done
Frederick Smith
Love Jones & Situationships
Dr. Taylor James, a driven university administrator chasing his dream of becoming one of the few Black, openly queer university presidents, keeps romance off his to-do list—until Sunday Funday brings him face-to-face with Dustin McMillan. Back in his Bay Area hometown, Dustin is determined to avoid old patterns… and one unforgettable ex. One night of passion reignites what they never saw coming. But can they keep it casual, or is love getting the last word?
June 11, 2024
One is Never Enough
Naleighna Kai
Love Jones & Situationships
On a one week class reunion cruise to explore the Greece Islands, Neysa Mitchell is offered the experience of a lifetime when she’s given a “steamy” proposition by swingers Anniece and Dario Washington. Instead, Neysa pulls an “Uno Reverse” and lays down terms of her own: a poly relationship where everyone gets a little of what they want. And she’s not talking about what happens between the sheets.
What starts as a written poly contract on the ship, spills over into real life drama causing friends, family, and church members to turn their backs on the married couple for setting a standard that no one wants to succeed. Despite the odds, the trio forges ahead and soon finds themselves reflecting on their lives, past traumas and personal motivations. What started as a desire for a little heat in the sheets becomes a lesson in when going for what you want might be more than they ever imagined.
One is Never Enough will first be released as a special edition ONLY AVAILABLE at Kinfolk Lit Fest, then released to the public September 10, 2027.
September 10, 2027
One Knight's Stand
Tanvier Peart
Love Jones & Situationships
Three years ago, I decided to have my first one-night stand. The plan was simple: Find a stranger, spend one unforgettable night together, and walk away with no strings attached. Except the stranger I chose turned out to be rugby superstar Knox “The Hammer” Knight. And our one night together left me with a permanent reminder. Now, Knox is back in Buffalo, playing for the Steel, and he has no idea he's a father. I’ve spent the last three years building a life for my daughter and me. The last thing I need is a professional athlete crashing into our carefully constructed world. But Knox isn't interested in walking away this time. He wants to know his daughter. And, apparently, he wants me too.
December 18, 2025
One Summer in Savannah
Terah Shelton Harris
Our Stories, Our Terms
When 26-year-old Sara Lancaster’s father falls ill, she leaves the secluded home she’s
made for herself in Maine and returns to the Georgia home she fled after she was
raped eight years before. While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is
desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter, Alana—the child of that
rape—from the Wylers, the powerful family of the man who assaulted her. They have
no idea that Alana exists—and Sara intends to keep it that way.
Sara thinks she can succeed, but she doesn’t realize that her attacker’s identical twin
brother, Jacob, has also just returned home, there to piece together the fragments of
the Wylers’ former glory, uncovering and understanding the violation that brought
about the family’s downfall while seeking to forgive his incarcerated brother.
When their two worlds collide unexpectedly, Sara and Jacob are drawn together,
plumbing the darkness of the human spirit while healing each other.
Told in alternating points of view, One Summer in Savannah is a heartbreaking yet
hopeful story that deeply interrogates questions of redemption and forgiveness.
July 4, 2023
Only for the Week
Natasha Bishop
Love Jones & Situationships
“Sexy and oh so satisfying.” —Award-winning author Rebekah Weatherspoon
The buzzy, viral sensation Only For The Week, is the first book in Natasha Bishop’s The Forever Falling series, featuring Black love, messy family dynamics, sexy banter, and sweet and spicy romance.
You are cordially invited to the wedding of Amerie Cross and Arnold Hightower.
A destination wedding in Tulum should be a breeze, but Dr. Janelle Cross—the sister of the bride and the ex-girlfriend of the groom—can’t catch a break. Between her maid of honor duties, her sister’s Bridezilla antics, and her family tiptoeing around her non-existent feelings for her ex, Janelle is desperate to let off some steam. So, when the best man, Rome, proposes they give into their undeniable chemistry, Janelle agrees, under one condition: their affair can only last a week.
What happens in Tulum doesn’t always stay in Tulum . . .
For Rome Martin, Janelle has always been off limits. She’s his best friends ex, and Rome is nothing if not loyal. But he’s never been able to get her off his mind, and now he might finally have a chance to win her over.
As the wedding brings them together, every kiss, adventure, and stolen moment feels right. Janelle and Rome agreed to live in the moment, but are they willing to risk it all for forever?
Tropes: Friends with benefits / He falls first / Vacation romance / Family drama / Black joy / Forced proximity / Forbidden love /Fling to forever
December 10, 2024
Open Letters From Within
Biodun Abudu
Drawn + Written
Open Letters From Within is a poetry book that touches on pain, recovery and love. The poems are letters which were inspired from personal experiences. Stories from individuals I’ve met around the world, things that are hidden within our homes and hearts, new found love and the appreciation of love. The poems in this book were created when I was younger and completed as I became more mature. Acknowledging the past, appreciating the present and moving forward with the future is what this book hopes to do with its readers.
Award Winner - 2nd Place, Poetry - Love & Modern The BookFest Awards (Spring 2025).
January 14, 2022
Opposite of Always
justin a. reynolds
Coming in Hot, Coming of Age
Black to the Future
“One of the best love stories I’ve ever read.” —Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
“Read this one, reread it, and then hug it to your chest.” —Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Debut author Justin A. Reynolds delivers a hilarious and heartfelt novel about the choices we make, the people we choose, and the moments that make a life worth reliving. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and John Green.
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.
Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.
Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
March 5, 2019
Orchid
Keira N. James
Don’t Go in There!
A gifted botanical artist with southern charm and a complicated past, Orchid Blackthorn finds a chilling sense of purpose when a violent encounter pulls her into the world of bloodshed: using her mastery of toxic plants to turn vengeance into an art form.
Her precision kept her safe—until Exodus Rowan appears. A man who unsettles her discipline with questions she can’t ignore and emotions she can’t afford to feel.
He’s charming, mysterious, and inviting, but what Orchid doesn't know is behind his watchful eyes lies a secret: Exodus isn’t just drawn to her darkness... he’s hunting it.
As desire tangles with deception, Orchid and Exodus are locked in a dangerous game of predator and prey. The question is, when the final seed is planted, who will survive the harvest?
October 3, 2025
Ours
Phillip B Williams
Our Stories, Our Terms
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, People, Los Angeles
Times, NPR, and more
“An inventive ode to self-determination and also a surrealistic vision of Black
life as forged within the crucible of American history . . . [written in] lush,
ornamental prose.” —The New Yorker
“Fans of The Underground Railroad, The Water Dancer, and Let Us Descend
will devour this lyrical and surreal saga.” —Oprah Daily
From a writer of singular voice and vision, a mesmerizing epic that reimagines
the past to explore the true nature of freedom
In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic
woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all
over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a
haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from
outsiders, named Ours.
It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded
community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her
best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to
betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of
their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder
whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage.
Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American
literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning
exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of
capacious vision and talent.
February 20, 2024
P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood High
Nina High
Love Jones & Situationships
Bentley didn’t come to Hardwood High to fall in love. She came to prove something—to herself, to the people who doubted her, and maybe even to the chickens named after Destiny’s Child living in her backyard. Her plan was simple: survive her first year teaching English, build a community in her classroom, and absolutely not get distracted by anyone with a killer smile and thighs that make her rethink her professional goals. But then there’s Priest. DeAnthony Priest, the intense, focused assistant basketball coach with a body built like a problem and a heart he swears is off-limits. He’s done the casual thing, the serious thing, and the heartbreak thing—and getting involved with the bright-eyed new teacher next door is definitely not part of his game plan. They both know better. But between after-school drinks, stolen hallway glances, and one dangerously closed classroom door, the line between coworkers and something more starts to blur. And when a talented student with everything riding on basketball connects them in unexpected ways, their emotional guardrails start to crack. She’s trying to find her place. He’s trying not to lose control. Neither of them expected their biggest challenge this school year would be each other.
May 28, 2025
Pardon My Frenchie
Farrah Rochon
Love Jones & Situationships
"Farrah Rochon delivers the feel-good read of the summer." --Entertainment Weekly
Ashanti Wright is thrilled over the success of her doggie daycare, Barkingham Palace. But handling the business and taking care of her teen twin sisters is a lot. And now that the antics of her adorable French bulldog and poodle bestie are blowing up on social media, things are even more chaotic than usual. And they only get worse when the world’s worst dog hater shows up.
Thad Sims is not a dog person. He’s barely a person’s person. But after his grandmother is transferred to a senior living facility that doesn’t accept pets, the former army officer agrees to care for her annoying standard poodle, and his first move is taking Puddin’ out of daycare.
Now Ashanti’s beloved Duchess is bereft of her companion, social media is outraged, and Ashanti’s business is hanging in the balance. Her only option is to make nice with the surly, sexy Thad at all costs. But it’s gonna take a tiara-wearing Frenchie, a well-dressed poodle, and a whole lotta treats to teach these humans a few new tricks about falling in love.
An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Summer
June 4, 2024
Passages of Hope
Terri J. Haynes
Our Stories, Our Terms
Discover the Story Behind a Secret Passageway
Walk through Doors to the Past via a new series of historical stories of romance and adventure.
Gracie Kingston begins renovations on the Philadelphia house inherited from her grandmother and finds a secret room. It is connected to a house nearby, the home of William Still, the man known as the father of the Underground Railroad. As she researches, she discovers a mystery in her house’s ownership. In 1855, Olivia Kingston helps a mother and her young child by hiding them in a secret room in her home. As she helps, she learns that there may be an impostor conductor in their community. As Gracie’s and Olivia’s stories intertwine, they learn the meaning of sacrifice and love.
November 1, 2022
Patriarchy Blues
Frederick Joseph
Drawn + Written
In this personal collection of essays, poems and reflections, Frederick Joseph examines masculinity and patriarchy through his experiences as a Black man. Exploring subjects including fatherhood, vulnerability, abuse, therapy and the pressure to “man up,” Joseph considers how expectations of masculinity shape men and the people around them. Blending cultural critique with personal reflection, Patriarchy Blues confronts both the harm created by patriarchal ideas and the possibilities that emerge when men question what they have been taught about manhood.
May 17, 2022
Daughter of the Merciful Deep
Leslye Penelope
Black to the Future
A woman journeys into a submerged world of gods and myth to save her
home in this powerful historical fantasy that shines a light on the drowned
Black towns of the American South.
“Our home began, as all things do, with a wish.”
Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders
expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now,
twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the
construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.
Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with
uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he might be
the key. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a
bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His
body laid to rest in a rushing river.
Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers,
Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of
salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle
she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the
past.
For more from Leslye Penelope, check out The Monsters We Defy.
June 4, 2024
The Inevitable Undoing of…
Leslye Penelope
Black to the Future
"Another captivating, unforgettable work of art.” ―Clarence A. Haynes, author
of The Broken Hearts Agency
For four years, Zahara Douglass has been haunted by the mystery of her
sister’s disappearance—not where she went, but whether she ever existed at
all.
In April 1995, Zahara watched her twin sister, Annica, get hustled into a stranger’s car
and disappear—only to return to a world where no one has heard of Annica. Not her
mother. Not the police. No one.
Four years later, as the world braces for the looming Y2K crisis, Zahara finds evidence
proving her sister was real and hires a private investigator to dig into her family’s
shadowed past. When the investigation leads to two charismatic men who once served
with her father in Vietnam, Zahara realizes she and her sister may be pawns in a
dangerous power struggle with unthinkable consequences.
To find Annica, Zahara must face the truth about her family, her memories, and the
power lurking within her. But the sisters’ reunion comes at a price—one that could
bring about the end of the world.
"This is a true page-turner."—Publishers Weekly
August 11, 2026
The Monsters We Defy
Leslye Penelope
Black to the Future
"[P]itch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family." ―Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
"This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!"
―T.L. Huchu
NPR Best Book of 2022! Paste Best Fantasy Book of 2022!
"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.”
Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during
her darkest moments, now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world.
So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes
the chance, no questions asked. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest
woman in the District.
Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need the help of an unlikely team,
from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who
can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they race along DC’s legendary
Black Broadway, conflict in the spirit world begins to leak into the human one—an
insidious mystery is unfolding, one that could cost Clara her life and change the fate of
an entire city.
The Monsters We Defy is a timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves
together African American folk magic, history, and romance.
August 9, 2022
