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...

Sold!

Sold:! J.L. Campbell. 2016. 161 pages. The Writers’ Suite. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I was drawn to this book more because of a profile about its author than the plot itself. I wanted to check out J.L. Campbell, and the description for Sold! seemed appealing as an entry into her works.  This isn’t a bad book by any means, but it isn’t something I feel is a necessary read. Sold! features Feechi, a single mom whose s...

Please Come Home for Christmas

Please Come Home for Christmas. Kahillah Fox. 2016. 65 pages. HeartBeat Press. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] So, I love all things Christmas. Sure, I grumble about the cold, the stress of decorating and gift buying, and dinner planning.  But I also permanently change my radio station to 97.1fm the day after Thanksgiving because that’s when the Christmas music starts. So when I came across Please Come Home For Christmas last night...

The Couple Next Door
Fiction , Suspense / April 4, 2017

The Couple Next Door. Shari Lapena. 2016. 320 pages. Pamela Dorman Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Like playing a game of Clue, minus the board, the players, and the hope that when it gets to the end it’ll make sense … Ironically, the book reminded me of a notable case from Colorado where nothing makes sense and there’s a bunch of missing pieces to even the most trained eye. However, the mystery an...

Something Old, Something New

Something Old, Something New. Beverly Jenkins. 2011. 355 pages. William Morrow Paperbacks. [Source: personal copy.] Book 3 in the Blessings Series  This series can do no wrong in my eyes, but book 3 is admittedly not as captivating as the first two installments. I’m interested to know the amount of time that lapsed between book 2 and 3, as there was substantially more back-tracking and reminding in this than noticed in book 2. Wi...

The Lies

The Lies: The Lies We Tell About Love, Life, and Everything In Between. Christina C. Jones. 2017. Amazon Digital Services. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] After months of teasers through her “Sample Sundays” feature, Christina C. Jones released her latest, The Lies:The Lies We Tell About Love, Life, and Everything in Between, on March 30.  I’ve been a fan since discovering Jones last year, and her newest boasts the same ...