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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A Tale of Two Mommies
Advance Reader Copy , Children's / May 5, 2015

A Tale of Two Mommies. Vanita Oelschlager, Mike Blanc, ill. 2013. 40 pages. Vanita Books. [ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] A Tale of Two Mommies is a look at a little boy who answers his friends questions about his “non-traditional” family structure. It’s a cute look at same-sex headed households from the view of children. The questions and responses are innocent and I found them useful when talking to my own chil...

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We Are the Goldens
Advance Reader Copy , Young Adult / May 5, 2015

We Are the Goldens. Dana Reinhardt. 2014. Wendy Lamb Books. 208 Pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Unsettled. That’s the immediate feeling I had when I finished We Are the Goldens. This is a book that subtly sucks the reader into the emotional turmoil the narrator experiences but doesn’t give the neatly packaged happy ending that one is wont to have. Here, that’s not a bad thing – the entire book is an explorat...

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Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries
Advance Reader Copy , Children's / May 2, 2015

Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries. Vanita Oelschlager. 2011. 4o pages. Vanita Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] How exactly do you explain common idioms to a kindergartner? I never really put a lot of thought into that question, but Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries is definitely a go-to for any parent or teacher who struggles to explain the nuances of not-so-literal language to a little one. This book takes extremely com...

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Roman Holiday 1: Chained
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance / May 1, 2015

Roman Holiday 1: Chained. Ruthie Knox. 2014. Loveswept. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] The first part of Ruthie Knox’s serial is a good start to what could be a great story. It pulled me in right away and left me hanging all too soon.Knox presents a story that is easily spread across several books, though I’d like to get them all in one sitting. I will absolutely be checking out subsequent books in this collection...

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Nobody’s Side Piece 1-3
African American Interest , Kindle Unlimited Finds / April 29, 2015

Nobody’s Side Piece series. Niyah Moore. 2014. David Weaver Presents. [Source: Kindle Unlimited]. This review will actually cover the Nobody’s Side Piece series by Niyah Moore.  I picked these up on Kindle Unlimited because I was looking for something away from the romance books I’ve been into as of late.  These books are definitely interesting, and I appreciated being able to pick them up from Kindle Unlimited as soon as I fi...