African American Literature Fiction

In a hood loaded with sex, brutality, and crime, three friends are at a turning point. They can surrender to the streets - and the murderous men who rule there - or walk a totally different path. But nothing is simple for women addicted to life on the edge. And everything has consequences.... Angel, Jaz, and Kyra are all leading double lives, torn between working hard to leave the ghetto behind and being dragged back in by the lying, pimping, drug-dealing men they can't seem to let go.

When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members of an Ethiopian sect traded their humanity so they would never die, a secret he must protect at any cost.

Welcome to The Manors of Harrington Point; enter at your own risk. These mansions are home to the elite, the famous, the successful, and the eccentric. From the millionaire mega-pastor and his wife to the former child star turned porn star, this neighborhood is filled with old money, new money, and everything and everyone in between. The tale of what goes on behind these gates is as entertaining and unforgettable as the neighbors themselves.

It's been two years since Johnny Mayfield's murder rocked Amber, Alabama. His death, along with the illicit personal scandals that preceded it, created more drama than the town had ever seen. But now life is back to normal, at least for his widow, Geneva. Or so it seems. Happily remarried, Geneva has to admit her life is better than ever. Her upscale salon is thriving, and she finally has the baby she always wanted.

Naughty is as naughty always does, and Jaylin Jerome Rogers never disappoints. The aftermath to the Naughty Series picks up nearly three years later, and the tables have clearly turned. Brenda Hampton delivers another pause-resister full of the dramatic antics of bad-boy Jaylin and the women who can't resist him.

Helen wasn't just born the devious vixen of New Day Temple of Faith. There had to be something rooted deep within her to make her inflict and feed off other people's pain. Perhaps it was her own pain that she had suppressed for so many years - an unimaginable pain - that created an internal prison of which her mind was the only captive. But once the demons within her break free, those around her better beware, as Helen surely becomes the epitome of the saying, "Hurt people, hurt people".

In God Don't Play, trouble comes a woman's way just when she thinks she's finally got it all figured out. Annette Goode couldn't be happier with where she is in life. She has a good job, a comfortable home, and a wonderful husband and daughter. But tough times lie ahead. Out of the blue, Annette begins receiving anonymous hate mail and threatening phone calls. It seems her life isn't as settled as she thought, and demons from her past surface in unexpected ways.

Annette Goode has finally found a man who loves her. But at a pre-wedding ceremony, her ugly past is revealed, and her world falls apart. When she reunites with her childhood sweetheart, it seems like everything might be fine - until her long-absent friend, who hides a deadly secret, comes back into Annette's life.

Persia Chandler doesn't know the meaning of the world struggle. After the arrest of her notorious father, she is whisked away from Harlem, the only place she has ever called home, to be raised in an affluent neighborhood in Long Island City. Her mother and stepfather shower her with the best that life has to offer. During her senior year in high school, she convinces her parents to let her transfer from Catholic school to attend public school. That is the start of her problems - but it's hardly the end.

A piercingly raw debut story collection from a young writer with an explosive voice; a treacherously surreal and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it's like to be young and black in America.

Life is great for thick-boned Keisha Jackson. With a good education, well-paying job, and a promising future, she has everything a young woman could ask for, including high self-esteem. But after a chance meeting with Rico, the neighborhood "bad boy", her fairy-tale life is quickly dismantled. Blinded by emotion, she gives in to all his cruel intentions. Having endured physical, mental, and sexual abuse, Keisha finally sees the light, and she's not having it anymore. The tables are turned, and Rico feels her well-deserved wrath.

Tressie faithfully prays every night that God will send her a thug. It isn't long before her prayers are answered, and she meets a handsome ex-convict named Payce Boyd. He is a fine roughneck, everything Tressie imagined and more - that is until Tressie experiences firsthand the reality of being a thug's girl. Seeking solace and comfort in the sanctuary, Tressie soon learns valuable lessons and shocking truths about herself and others.

Neil McClain is the screw-up, the one everyone hopes will win but expects to lose. He wants to live a better life, one that his late mother would be proud of, but his belief in himself is weak. Sage Moniba is in need of a major miracle, or she'll be forced to give up the only life she's known. Neil is searching for freedom from the demons of his past. Sage is in desperate need of help. Could it be that what each one needs resides in the other?

In this stirring prequel, New York Times best-selling author Mary Monroe returns to the “cold-blooded yet fascinating” ( Publishers Weekly) character from her acclaimed novel The Upper Room. Ruby is a wild youth, with a thirst for boys and booze by the age of 15. When she discovers she’s pregnant, the only person she can confide in is her best friend Othella. But Othella talks Ruby into giving up the child, leaving Ruby emotionally shattered and adamant that Othella is to blame for her loss.

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

The Warmest December is the incredibly moving story of one Brooklyn family and the alcoholism that determined years of their lives. Narrated by Kenzie Lowe, a young woman reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, as she visits her dying father and finds that choices she once thought beyond her control are very much hers to make.

The stark grief of a brother mourning a brother opens this novel with a stunning, unforgettable experience. Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that inflames his nonfiction work.

On Christmas Eve, 1951 in New Orleans, fifteen-year-old Johnnie Wise is sold into prostitution by her domineering mother, and her dreams of being an Evangelist or nightclub singer like Billie Holiday vanish like the notes of an old song. In her new life, surrounded by powerful men with even more powerful secrets, Johnnie finds that she can use romance with the men that pay to sleep with her to her advantage, and the teenage girl finds herself thrown into a world of wealth, bribery, and cold-blooded gangsters. But, the underbelly of New Orleans in the fifties isn’t without its dangers.

Mary Monroe is a New York Times best-selling author who pens tales of life’s emotional tapestry. Lost Daughters follows Maureen Montgomery and her daughter, Loretta, as they strive to make a life after the death of Maureen’s domineering mother. Forever scarred by Mama Ruby’s tyrannical ways, Maureen longs for a quiet, simple life. But Loretta has something far different in mind. Dreaming of fame and fortune, she embarks on a modeling career. Mama Ruby, however, casts a shadow with the power to darken their lives.

In this compelling urban tale, Karim Spencer becomes a successful businessman - despite being raised by a bootlegger in a bad section of town. His sister is a down-on-her-luck stripper with a gangsta-wannabe son, and his despondent brother is serving a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit.