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...

Twenty-four Seconds from Now … Jason Reynolds. 2024. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books. 253 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher courtesy of Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.] How many times do Black boys get to be the center of a love story? I don’t mean a coming of age novel with hints of dating among the minutiae of teen life. I mean a story that is completely focused on the evolution of a romantic relationship and i...

Road to Love

Road to Love. Nicole Falls. 2018. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] This book starts with its main character crying her mascara off in a club bathroom stall. I didn’t know where Road to Love would go from there, but I was along for the ride (pun intended). Emerson Parker has odd luck with men. She didn’t date a lot in high school, thanks to her devout religious upbringing. The one serious relationship she had ended with a swinging...

The Wanderer

The Wanderer. Nia Forrester. 2018. Stiletto Press. 202 pages.  [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Blu — short for Bluebell — has finally come home, sort of. She’s a wandering soul, the product of two “hippie” parents who never quite focused their life energy on her and her younger brother. She’s spent most of her adult life on the go, working for relief organizations in developing countries.  When she land...

The Seduction of Dylan Acosta

The Seduction of Dylan Acosta. Nia Forrester. 2012. 380 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Dylan lives a fairly normal life before a chance meeting with an up-and-coming baseball player, Mark Acosta.  She has a singular goal – get into law school — when Mark more or less barrels into her life. He’s thrust into the spotlight when he becomes the hot rookie for the Mets and she’s dragged into the spotlight with him...

Acceptable Losses

Acceptable Losses. Nia Forrester. 2016. 226 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Lena and Quentin are work BFFs. For years, they’ve had a standing afternoon coffee date that helps guard them against the strain of being high-achieving black attorneys at their firm.  Where Quentin sees himself as a mentor to Lena, she buries feelings toward him, knowing he is someone whose interest will always be unrequited.  Quentin’s failing...

The Makeover

The Makeover. Nia Forrester. 2018. 223 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] This book is delightfully messy. Not crudely so, but just enough of a mess to keep my butt glued to a chair to finish.  The Makeover follows best friends Colton and Samantha, who’ve been thick as thieves since they were toddlers. They know each other inside and out, so when they finally decide to explore their mutual attraction, it seems like the next natu...