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...

The Crossover

The Crossover. Kwame Alexander. 2014. HMH Books. 240 pages. [Source: Public library.] In my younger days, I might not have willingly picked up a book that centered a teen boy, let alone one that also centered basketball. If The Crossover were a book I chose to pass on, I would have done myself a true disservice. I enjoyed this book; so much so that I read the original 2014 release as well as the graphic novel published in 2019. While t...

Seasoned

Seasoned. Delaney Diamond. 2020. Garden Avenue Press. 326 pages. [Source: Public Library] Delaney Diamond is back with another summer romance, and I was ready and waiting for it. I was immediately taken with her style with my introduction to her style with Johnson family a few years ago. I was more than overdue to get away with her latest, Seasoned. Seasoned is actually a set of three stories, each following a different woman in a close...

Wrath

Wrath. Victoria Christopher Murray. 2021. Simon & Schuster. 384 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Absolutely loved all of these characters!! Let me start by saying, I’ll be needing a Sisley and Kareem prequel because there seems to be plenty to tell in that redemption story. The main characters’ back story played a vital role in the dynamics of Chastity and Xavier’s relationship and I appreciated how the sup...

Quarantined: A Collection of Shorts

Quarantined: A Collection of Shorts. Sabrina B. Scales. 2020. 79 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I can’t remember how many days we’ve been in quarantine-life, but I do appreciate that authors are putting their spin on love these most dire of days. My latest quarantine read is the new release by Sabrina Scales, which features three shorts with a string of connection between each. My favorite of the three shorts was the fir...

Me + Somebody’s Son

Me + Somebody’s Son. Christina C. Jones. 2020. 84 pages. Warm Hues Creative. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve likely seen the saccharine-sweet photos of blissfully affectionate couples with the caption “me and somebody’s [son/daughter].” And honestly, who wouldn’t want to be boo’d up doing cute stuff with bae? Haven. She’s down for mutually ben...