Can’t Get Enough. Kennedy Ryan. 2025. Forever. 448 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an unbiased review, and I was dancing a whole jig at the “invite” to read it after missing the “read now”. I’d only been stalking the author and site for months. Since the beginning of the Skyland series, I’ve been saying “Ken...

The Soulmate Project. Reese Ryan. 2024. Forever. 304 pages. [Source: Public library.] I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers story, so The Soulmate Project was right up my alley. The book starts with a New Year’s Eve love confession by “girl next door” Emerie to her best friend Nicholas. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned and he doesn’t return her affections. Instead of ringing in the new year in a new relationship...

Church Girl. Naima Simone. 2024. Afterglow Books. 264 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] Admittedly, the cover of Church Girl drew me in, and the story held my interest. Aaliyah is a runaway bride who left her small Alabama hometown to get out from under the thumb of her bishop father. She convinces her cousin to take her back to Chicago, where she’s planning to reinvent herse...

Stuck Wit’ Chu. Olivia Shaw-Reel. 2020. 149 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Stuck Wit’ Chu is essentially a story about a broken marriage and a couple at a crossroads. Keith and Marlow have been married over a decade, are parents to three young children, and have somehow lost their way. They’re navigating the Covid-19 pandemic while facing their own crisis at home, and the book follows their attempt to figure otu whether to s...

Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known. George M. Johnson. 2024. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 127 pages. [Source: Public library.] The Harlem Renaissance was a remarkable period in American history, but was pivotal within Black America. The “New Negro Movement” launched the careers of countless scholars, photographers, musicians, and dancers and ushered in a rebirth of racial pride and solidarity, in addition to le...

My Soul’s Reflection

My Soul’s Reflection. AshleyNicole. 2020. 117 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] The Mason’s are back, this time crashing a tropical resort for some family fun. Mirror — or Kharon, one of the triplets — is ready for two weeks of relaxation and antics with his siblings and cousins. He’s up for a good time, but not expecting a connection with anyone. His stoic demeanor also makes him somewhat unapproachable o...

Forbidden Promises

Forbidden Promises. Synthia Williams. 2020. HQN Books. 270 pages. [Source: Personal copy.] This book was drama with a capital D. What else could it be, with one sister silently in love with her sister’s ex-husband? India is the baby of the Robidoux clan, a family whose legacy is rooted in a successful and long-lasting tobacco company. Family loyalty is held above all else and has dictated the lives of generations. India thought sh...

Bless Your Heart

Bless Your Heart. Ashleynicole. 2020. 174 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Nothing beats a small town romance. The nosey natives. The mysterious interloper. It always makes for a a special kind of messy that I find hard to resist. In this case, the interloper is Charadee, a Connecticut-raised romance author who sets up shop in a house on the outskirts of Preto Village, a town so small it’s not even on the map. She, quite by acci...

Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes. Christina C. Jones. 2020. Warm Hues Creative. 363 pages. [Source: Personal copy.] Add this to your shelf. I’m not quite sure where else to start with Behind the Scenes, but that’s pretty important. When Logan Byers agrees to take on a client as their executive concierge, she doesn’t quite know what she’s getting into. What she doesn’t fathom is that it would be Pierre Perry III, someone w...

The Rose That Got Away

The Rose That Got Away. Christina C. Jones. 2020. 91 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] In a follow-up to Deuces Wild, Jones follows Tamra, a former Rose, and Wilder, a former Thorn, who cross paths and end up assuming that the other is out to kill them. Their meeting (and re-meeting) actually puts them on the same path to protect a woman and child who are about to become collateral damage in an upcoming election. But everything isnR...