African American

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.

Entertainment journalist Dawn Roberts has a lot to work through: a widow’s grief, betrayals of family and friends, and scandals that almost tanked her reputation. Not that Dawn dwells on the past. Well, hardly. When she returns to Baltimore with her husband’s ashes, she can’t avoid it. In fact, she’s diving into decades of backstabbing and treachery for her first trip home in years. She’s looking at you, Joe Perkins. Her former mentor, whose explosive exposé about big-city corruption is being turned into a slanderous movie, is also back in town.

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.

Camilla’s childhood was immersed in love and chaos, and steeped in perfection. As an adult she hasn’t looked back, refusing to acknowledge the people and places that scarred her so many years ago. But a cancer diagnosis forces Camilla to turn to the past, and all its pain, to save her daughter. As Camilla discovers the bittersweet limitations of motherhood and reconciliation, she also awakens an inspiring message about the mortality issues we all must face.

A critic explores the paradox of finding community in “the dozens” while grieving. A violent town ritual causes an all-too-familiar moral panic. An email thread between friends on why we need an updated Green Book but for public toilets. All across the nation, “Karens” become illegal overnight. These are just a few of the hilarious worlds contained in Damon Young’s groundbreaking anthology featuring the best, funniest, and Blackest essays, short stories, letters, and rants.

Percival Everett's long-awaited new collection of stories, his first since 2004's Damned If I Do, finds him traversing the West with characteristic restlessness. A deaf Native American girl wanders off into the desert and is found untouched in a den of rattlesnakes. A young boy copes with the death of his sister by angling for an unnaturally large trout in the creek where she drowned. An old woman rides her horse into a mountain snowstorm and sees a long-dead beloved dog.

How to Dodge a Cannonball is funnier than the Civil War should ever be. It follows Anders, a teenage idealist who enlists and reenlists to shape the American Future—as soon as he figures out what that is, who it includes, and why everyone wants him to die for it. Escaping his violently insane mother is a bonus. Anders finds honor as a proud Union flag twirler—until he’s captured. Then he tries life as a diehard Confederate—until fate asks him to die hard for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. Barely alive, Anders limps into a Black Union regiment in a stolen uniform.

Twin sisters Clara and Dempsey have always struggled to relate, their familial bond severed after their mother vanished into the Thames. In adulthood, they are content to be all but estranged, until Clara sees a woman who looks exactly like their mother on the streets of London. The catch: this version of Serene, aged not a day, has enjoyed a childless life.

I had my chance at love and I threw it away. I don't deserve another. I've dedicated my entire life to my community. There's no time for anything else. But then I met her. Ciara Jeffries is everything I told myself I didn't want but she might be everything I need. If I can just hold on to her.

Since his mother’s death and his brother’s imprisonment, Maven Gold has been in a vicious cycle of sleeping with a different woman every other night to numb the pain. Frequenting a local sex club gives him access to various flavors to satisfy his palate. When a chance encounter with a blast from the past arouses more than his libido, he vows to make her his.

Michelle and Kelsie have never had it easy, but the one thing that has remained consistent in each of their lives are each other. Both in their early twenties and with the stress of the world on their shoulders, they both manage to still be there for each other through it all. Michelle's dream is to be a top stylist, well her dream was a reality until she was fired from Naomi's shop because of her boyfriend. Tasheem is all Michelle knows, and that's being physically and mentally abused by the man she has loved since she was younger.

After the untimely death of his father, Rosier "Zoo" Boudreaux rightfully inherits Boudreaux Enterprises. Although he anticipated being in charge his entire life, he could have never prepared for the dark secrets, dirty money, and unethical practices that lived after his father's demise. Though thrown for a loop, he wastes no time claiming his seat at the head of the table and demanding the respect of his constituents. After all, Zoo was trained for it.

In 1945, Charlie Trammell steps off a cross-country train into the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles. Lured by his cousin Marguerite’s invitation to the esteemed West Adams Heights, Charlie is immediately captivated by the Black opulence of L.A.’s newly rechristened “Sugar Hill.” Settling in at a local actress’s energetic boarding house, Charlie discovers a different way of life—one brimming with opportunity—from a promising career at a Black-owned insurance firm, the absence of Jim Crow, to the potential of an unforgettable romance. But nothing dazzles quite like James “Reaper” Mann.

Considerada la obra cumbre de Ralph Ellison y una de las cien mejores novelas de lengua inglesa del siglo XX, esta novela es el relato en primera persona de quien se describe a sí mismo como un «hombre invisible», no por una anormal condición fisiológica, sino porque la sociedad permanece ciega ante él; se niega a verlo.

In this urban love story filled with betrayal, jealousy, shocking revelations, and forbidden obsessions, will the good girl and extra rude bad boy be able to develop a true love? Or will Camarih's negative outlook on life and love, continue to be true? But how easy is it for her to walk away when she gave him her all, and when there wasn't much left to begin with?

Halani Henley experienced a shocking and devastating loss. At six months pregnant, she loses the child she is carrying, and it turns her entire world upside down. To make matters worse, she feels she is the only one taking her miscarriage as seriously as it is. Her boyfriend of three years, Onyx Sawyer, is moving through life as though he hasn't just lost a child as well. When a secret comes out, Halani is faced with the fact that she may not have known her man as well as she thought she did.

These are the tenets that rule the De Santis family—until an arranged marriage potentially threatens all three. Born into the most ruthless crime family in the South, Azreal De Santis is bred to lead, dominate, and rule. When a strategic marriage forces him to take Natoi Kingston as his wife, Azreal learns power is not always defined by strength, blood is not the strongest bond, and loyalty isn’t always black and white. Sometimes there are shades of gray.

One random encounter. One electrifying conversation. One night of passion. Is that all it takes for two strangers to fall in love?

Gambino Nahtahn takes over the family organization with plans to take it to new heights. Before he can settle into his new position, an arranged marriage request is put at his feet. There’s no way he will approve the marriage for his ex. She’s the one who got away, and Gambino is determined to use his new position to secure a second chance.

Nate Noble has it all--a thriving business, a loving fiancée, and a bright future. But his world takes an unexpected turn when he crosses paths with Marvin Waters, the childhood best friend he hasn't seen in thirty years. Marvin is a man beaten down by life, haunted by a troubled past and barely scraping by. Driven by guilt and a desire to do the right thing, Nate extends a helping hand, offering Marvin a job and a fresh start.

Independent businesswoman Trisha Maxwell has made good despite a difficult upbringing. She runs her very own escort agency, catering to New York’s elite businessmen. When billionaire Russian mobster Andrei Barinov enters her world like a hurricane the pair appear to have met their matches. Andrei demands every girl on the agency's books to accompany his entourage for one wild long weekend, with the whole deal hinging on Trisha herself shutting up shop to join the party.

What started as a trip to the mall to pick up a birthday present turned into a mother's worst nightmare... Nadine strapped her son Benji into his car seat, then went to put her gift bag in the trunk. As soon as she closed it, she was struck from behind and everything went black... When Nadine regained consciousness, her health was intact but Benji was gone. Who could have taken him? Nadine has no clue, but come hell or high water, she's going to find out.

In the wake of her grandmother's passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden photograph of a little girl who looks more like Sydney than her own sister or mother. She soon discovers the mystery girl in the photograph is her aunt, Carol, who was one of six North Carolina Black girls to go missing in the 1960s. For the last several decades, not a soul has talked about Carol or what really happened to her. But now, with her grandmother gone and Sydney looking to start a family of her own, she is determined to unravel the truth behind her long-lost aunt’s disappearance.

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.

Habitual cheater Xavier Richardson likes his women naive, subservient, and plus-size. Hope Richardson, his wife of five months, is all of the above, in addition to being a homebody who's self-conscious about her weight; something Xavier takes full advantage of.