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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The Loud House #1: There Will Be Chaos
Advance Reader Copy , Children's , Graphic Novel , Middle Grade , Upcoming Releases / March 20, 2017

The Loud House # 1: There Will Be Chaos. Chris Savino. 2017. 64 pages. Papercutz Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] The Loud House is no stranger to my household, so it was a must that we check out its first graphic novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this graphic novel is more like an anthology, with the stories focusing on a different child of the Loud household. Admittedly, the idea of a house filled with...

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Orange is the New Black
Memoir , Non-fiction / March 19, 2017

Orange is the New Black. Piper Kerman. 2010. 322 pages. Spiegel and Grau. [Source: personal copy.] I’m not a fan of memoirs, which trumps whether this was good or not, because it was a self inflicted torture. Her account was realistic, honest and enlightening but extremely boring at times. I’ve never had to use the dictionary so many times when reading a book and wonder if this is her everyday vocabulary or if she became bes...

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Her Secret Life
Advance Reader Copy , Upcoming Releases , Women's Fiction / March 17, 2017

Her Secret Life. Tiffany L. Warren. 2017. 320 pages. Kensington Books. [Source: ARC provided couresty of NetGalley.] It’s been awhile since I’ve been so conflicted about a protagonist. To say that I wanted to see Nikki lose isn’t entirely accurate, but I definitely wasn’t rooting for her happily ever after, either. Nikki is portrayed as a flawed, yet persistent woman. I can always understand her choices, even if I didn’t alwa...

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A February Bride
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance / March 16, 2017

A February Bride. Betsy St. Amant. 2014. 80 pages. Zondervan. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] A February Bride is a fast, fun read that tugs at the heart-strings. Allie is a runner, at least, she ran from her groom-t0-be on their wedding day. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Marcus, it’s that she didn’t want to ruin his life. After all, wearing the hand-me-down wedding dress that followed your mother...

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Madly
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance , Upcoming Releases / March 7, 2017

Madly. Ruthie Knox. 2017. 273 pages. Loveswept. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Ruthie Knox has, once again, created a story that snatched me in from the beginning. What’s not intriguing about a young woman jetting off to find and drag her mom back to Wisconsin from New York when she’s disappeared … yet again? The story then follows Allie’s nuanced relationships with her family and the new relations...