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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My Good Morning
Advance Reader Copy , Children's , Multicultural / January 26, 2017

My Good Morning.  Kim Crockett-Corson, Jelena Brezovec, ill.. 2017. 32 pages. Clavis Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] For any parent who has a spirited child who has their own style and timeline of doing things (especially on those rushed mornings), this book will be heartwarming and reassuring. It follows a little girl who pops up one morning ready to go! She recounts all of the things she does to get ready for the...

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Shanti Saves Her Money
Advance Reader Copy , Children's , Multicultural / January 25, 2017

Shanti Saves Her Money. Lisa Bullard, Christine Schneider, ill. 2013. 24 pages. Millbrook Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] It can be hard to articulate concepts around money to children. However, Shanti Saves Her Money is a cute, easy-to-understand exploration of saving & spending. It explores family spending, taking into account research on cost. I also appreciate how it factors in simple math, such as having t...

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The Heart Don’t Lie: Jewels’ Dilemma
Kindle Unlimited Finds , Urban Lit / January 25, 2017

The Heart Don’t Lie: Jewels’ Dilemma. Yasheca Lasha. 2016. 220 pages. Yasheca Lasha Publishing. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I’m not sure where to even begin, which I genuinely believe was the author’s main problem with this novel. A hard to follow plot, too many characters, and bad editing were the main issues, yet I think the true problem was the author tried to combine every novel she’s thought of and rea...

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Move It, Miss Macintosh!
Advance Reader Copy , Children's / January 22, 2017

Move It, Miss Macintosh! Peggy Robbins Janousky. 2016. 32 pages. Annick Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] I wish I’d had this book when I was sending my baby off to kindergarten. It’s a cute story about a teacher who’s nervous for her first day of kindergarten, but it’s clearly a tool to ease the jitters of youngsters heading off to school. Miss Macintosh is a ball of nerves and decides she...

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Tailored for Trouble
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance / January 19, 2017

Tailored for Trouble. Mimi Jean Pamfiloff. 2016. 368 pages. Ballantine Books. [Source; ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Bennett Wade is a man you love to hate. At least, you would if you could bring yourself to fully dislike him. Like Rhet Butler, he’s a man used to getting what he wants when he wants it. He’s definitely a control freak without a filter who runs roughshod over those around him. Unfortunately, there’...