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...

Prudence

Prudence. Michele Kimbrough. 2014. 356 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Prudence, I’m pleased to say, was a more substantial book than I was expecting. From its description, I figured I’d read a largely predictable, yet entertaining story about a woman who falls in love with her long-time friend while trying to comfort him through their mutual grief. That is, at best, an oversimplification of the story; it’s honestly...

Everything I Always Wanted

Everything I Always Wanted. Stephanie Nicole Norris. 2017.275 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] It’s a long-known “fact” that men and women can’t be platonic friends. Shelby and Sebastian, however, have bucked that assumption for decades. Instead, they’ve been each others’ rock, supporting the other through the ups and downs of life.  Now they’re at the height of their careers — Sebasti...

Adore You

Adore You. Nicole Falls. 2016. 166 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Love is messy. Sleeping with your ex’s brother is messy squared.  Alas, that’s where Devorah finds herself. She grew up with the Taylor brothers, Ellis and Everett, along with her friend Cadence. The four were nearly inseparable due to their mothers’ sorority bond.  It seemed to go without saying that she and Everett would marry after dating throug...

Stay With Me

Stay With Me. Alexandria House. 2017. 194 pages. Pink Cashmere Publishing. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] As the first book in the “Strickland Sisters” series, Stay With Me introduces the lively bunch while focusing in on Angela’s most recent foray into romance.  She’s a naturalista turned Youtube starlet, but can’t seem to get it right in her love life.  When the ever-so-gorgeous Ryan Boye rents the vacan...

Bad Habit

Bad Habit. Blu Daniels. 2015. 168 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. I devoured Misconceptions, and I just had to know more about Braxton Earwood.  He left a bad taste in my mouth in the first book, because he treated his girlfriend (?)/babies’ mother so horrifically while she was pregnant.  I came into this book expecting him to have had a “come to Jesus” moment ...