African Saga

Essence best-selling author Keith Lee Johnson’s fifth installment in his ongoing "Little Black Girl Lost" series picks up where the fourth book left off by continuing the diary of Josephine Baptiste. As more details about Josephine’s past come to light, the African heritage of modern-day Johnnie Wise is further explained.

The Road Beasts: Gator – A Slow-Burn, Enemies-to-Lovers MC Romance 💀 He’s a silver-tongued flirt. She has strict rules. But when hearts and minds clash, will love rewrite the rules? 💀 Joseph "Gator" Zenek has a reputation—charming, cocky, and always up for a good time. As a loyal brother in the Road Beasts MC, he’s never had trouble attracting women. But lately, the thrill of casual flings is wearing thin. He wants something real. Something lasting. Then he meets Tiffany Brigman—fiercely independent, blunt, brilliant, and completely uninterested in his advances. She runs her...

Coreen Treadwell heads a prominent social welfare agency, but she is haunted by her past. Raped and impregnated as a teenager, she gave up her baby without ever seeing her. Now the legacy of violence continues in her daughter's life. Abused by her adoptive father, the young woman has vowed vengeance on Coreen for abandoning her.

The year is 1985. Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs, playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to catch glimpses of nudity on late-night cable TV. After a tragic mishap on his first day of high school, when Benji reveals his deep enthusiasm for the horror movie magazine Fangoria, his social doom is sealed for the next four years.

The year was 1877 and Reconstruction was working until Presidential politics removed the union troops from the South unleashing violent cold-blooded men to pray upon black Americans. Bertha and Tucker were raised in the ways of the Elders: maintain your dignity, know your history, and never compromise your values. Their children were more than sharecroppers. Junior, the oldest, was an astute businessman and new leader. Joan was a teacher. Joseph, the brother, no one wanted to fight. Rose fell in love with the wrong man. Gladys, the youngest, helped Rose through tough times. "If the Elders ...

Luke Valente is the perfect stranger. A bit of a sweet-talker and good looking. I mean, so good looking I nearly forgot how much my night sucked before he walked up. I swear he came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t just that heartbreaker smile of his that made me melt. It was the two little words that tumbled from his lips. “Marry me.” I know … I know. It all sounds crazy and I should have taken off running as soon as he suggested it. Especially when it became clear the proposal wasn’t an act. But one-hundred-percent real. With the question lingering between us, I knew I should have ...

Jennifer was tired of holding her head down and rolling with the punches. Lawrence had long reinvented himself as a trap king before the young woman could fit into a training bra. A chance encounter forces Jennifer to play a role just to be saved and taught by the man who seemed like he had it all together. Though she becomes transfixed, even after being exposed to the cruel underbelly of the dope-dealing and pimping lifestyle, she’s faced with the task of reinvention now that she’s officially a runaway. Lawrence “Polo” Cree blesses his protégé with a new name that fits with how ...

The Yusef sisters are settled and happy in Philly. Their weekly family affair turns into a nightmare after the true nature of Eli's millions is exposed by an unknown snitch. The sisters' better halves are marched out of the family estate in cuffs facing life in prison from a high-profile witness with no proof and much hearsay. Lola is given the option to walk away and move back to Chicago or stay in Philly and take her man's crown. Lola reflects her father's character, so she stays in Philly. She is tasked with protecting the family while replenishing the millions that the government seized...

IThe Road Beasts: Panther – A Gritty, High-Stakes MC Romance 💀 He’s never wanted more than a night. She’s never had the freedom to choose. Now, danger is closing in, and their only chance is each other. 💀 Panther has always been a player—a smooth talker who takes what he wants and walks away before things get complicated. But when he meets Haimari Bhatt, a stunning woman with fire in her eyes and secrets in her heart, something shifts. For the first time, one night won’t be enough. Haimari has spent her life under the control of her powerful family, expected to obey without ...

The Road Beasts: Finale – Part One Of The Explosive Conclusion to the Series 💀 One last ride. One final betrayal. A love that refuses to die. 💀 Goose thought he knew everything about the woman he loved—until the day she vanished, leaving behind a letter that shattered his world. Cherie, the woman who stole his heart was an undercover cop named Cassidy Jones, sent to expose the Road Beasts MC. But instead of finding criminals, she found family, loyalty, and a love she never expected. Now, Cassidy is trying to solve the case that put The Road Beasts on the Police Chief’s enemies ...

Armand Blackstone wants very little in life, and needs even less--he's a millionaire in his own right, and scion of the Blackstone Empire. He has everything at his fingertips, everything a man could want--except Jo Dawson. His borderline obsession has lasted for over a decade, and he manages it the same way he controls everything else around him: with icy perfection. Simultaneously distancing himself and yet staying constantly aware of her, he's managed to keep his dignity intact and stay away from the one woman that drives him past the point of control. But now she's at risk, his younger ...

Growing up poor in Texas, Vera Lomax used every gold-digging trick in the book to land a rich husband. Now living in the lap of luxury in San Francisco, her only job is to fawn over her much-older husband, so it's been easy for her to balance a life of shopping and affairs with younger men with a major secret: the 16-year bribery of one of her husband's mistresses to keep her pregnancy under wraps. Vera figures that a little hush money every month will ensure her husband's fortune is hers alone....

The gripping story of 200 freed Mississippi slaves who sailed to Liberia to build a new colony - where the colonists' repression of the native tribes would beget a tragic cycle of violence. When a wealthy Mississippi cotton planter named Isaac Ross died in 1836, his will decreed that his plantation, Prospect Hill, should be liquidated and the proceeds from the sale be used to pay for his slaves' passage to the newly established colony of Liberia in western Africa.

A debut of extraordinary distinction: through the trials of one unforgettable family, Ayana Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration, a story of love and bitterness and the promise of a new America. In 1923, 15-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented.

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie's story - Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.

Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, despised by the society around her and abused by her own family. She strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate, and while Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, Celie is left behind without her best friend and confidante, married off to an older suitor, and sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and brutal husband. In an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear, Celie begins writing letters directly to God.

Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.

Rylan Douglas, a calf roper and assistant CFO for Henderson Ranch and Farms, finds himself in a predicament. He’s fallen in love with a woman eight years his junior. That wouldn’t be a problem if they were older. While she’s an adult, he’s still hesitant about pursuing her. He doesn’t want anyone to think he’s taking advantage of her, especially since she’s extremely trusting of him. Her intellectual disability makes her even more vulnerable. However, he can’t seem to move on because he knows his heart belongs to her.

Matteo Valente … where do I begin. Best friend, up-and-coming filmmaker. And, oh yeah, did I mention he’s a total distraction? Falling for him wasn’t in my plan. I had dreams and goals beyond the small town we came from. So, I did what any ambitious girl would do. I friend-zoned him. Hard. It’s been years now and we’ve settled into a groove. All thoughts of trying to be more have faded. Or … at least I thought they did. My resolve to keep this wall between us is weakening, making it clear that my plan was flawed. I forgot to leave room for fun, for love … for him. Hopefully, ...

Catch my gaze means your eyes better always find mine.