The Soulmate Project

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...

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Church Girl

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...

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Stuck Wit’ Chu

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...

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Flamboyants

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...

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Twenty-Four Seconds from Now . . . 

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...

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Everything I Always Wanted
African American Interest , Contemporary Black Romance , Kindle Unlimited Finds / June 9, 2017

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...

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Adore You
African American Interest , Contemporary Black Romance , Kindle Unlimited Finds / June 4, 2017

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...

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Stay With Me
African American Interest , Contemporary Black Romance , Kindle Unlimited Finds , New Releases / June 4, 2017

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...

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Bad Habit
African American Interest , Contemporary Black Romance , Kindle Unlimited Finds / June 1, 2017

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 ...

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Misconceptions
African American Interest , Contemporary Black Romance , Kindle Unlimited Finds / May 30, 2017

Misconceptions. Blu Daniels. 2014. 332 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I came across Misconceptions courtesy of Girl, Have You Read, who did a feature on favorite romance tropes on Instagram. This one seemed outlandish with a high potential for drama, and I was lucky to find it available on Kindle Unlimited. The book is told from the perspective of Alex Stone, a recent MBA graduate who has a bright future. She jets up to New York af...