The Replacements. Shae Sanders. 2022. 223 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] When Savannah finds out, quite unceremoniously, that her husband of more than a decade is cheating on her, she knows exactly how to respond. She immediately goes into planning mode so she can get a divorce and move on to a replacement.  Using the connections she’s honed as a CEO’s wife, she lands herself as assistant to another CEO, the ever-brusque and grumpy T...

Love and War. Shae Sanders. 2020. 56 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] This short-and-sweet novella is a blast from the not-so-recent past. Covid-19 just started to wreak havoc on the world, and that includes Jade’s home and work life. Her job is newly remote, her kids have switched to homeschool, and the cherry on top is that her estranged husband wants to move back in so he won’t have to quarantine away from their young sons.  Seeing ...

Candidly Yours. Reese Ryan. 2020. Sinfully Sweet Publishing.174 pages. [Source: Personal Copy.] Layla St. John is the quintessential example of a woman who lives for others. She gave up her college experience to return home and care for her younger siblings when their father fell into grief after their mother’s untimely death.  The following 20 years have followed the same sacrificial pattern, with Layla frequently rescuing her younger thr...

Her Exception. B. Love. 2023. 188 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Shalom and Mecca thought that at 18, they were ready to take on the world and its obstacles together. But when reality dropped into their laps, they ended up on separate paths, each nursing their own confusion and anger at losing the version of forever they’d imagined. Fifteen years later, they’re thrust together when Shalom’s specialized experience is key to Mecca winning...

Before I Let Go. Kennedy Ryan. 2022. Forever. 400 pages. [Source: Public library.] Before I Let Go isn’t the first book I’ve read by Kennedy Ryan, but it is absolutely the one that’s solidified her among the authors whose releases I’ll run to. This story of a newly divorced couple finding a new normal is an emotive read that pulls back a curtain on grief and healing. Yasmen and Josiah Wade thought they’d be forever, ...

The Pleasure Principle

The Pleasure Principle. Nicole Falls. 2020. 167 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] The Pleasure Principle is a memoir on love. A journey through sex, if you will. Throughout it, the main character, DJ, recounts her relationships — romantic or sexual in nature — and the growth she saw along the way. DJ, whose full name is Damita Jo, like the singer, doesn’t just reminisce on the good and bad sex she had. That is part of...

Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country. Matt Ruff. 2016. Picador. 330 pages. [Source: Personal Copy.] I was late to the party on this one. I saw advertisements for the HBO series prior to its release and knew I’d check the show out on the strength of who was connected to it. I was not, however, committed to reading the book until I actually saw the first episode. Now I’m pretty invested. Lovecraft Country is centered on Atticus, a young Chicago ...

Fans Only

Fans Only. B. Love. 2020. 118 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] B. Love has capitalized on current events, and Only Fans is definitely a part of it. What started as a friendly discussion among friends turns into a proposition that Aries is loathe to turn down — start a strictly platonic Only Fans with frenemy Merrick. On the surface, it’s a mutually beneficial plan — for 6 months, the two will run an anonymous Only Fa...

The Crossover

The Crossover. Kwame Alexander. 2014. HMH Books. 240 pages. [Source: Public library.] In my younger days, I might not have willingly picked up a book that centered a teen boy, let alone one that also centered basketball. If The Crossover were a book I chose to pass on, I would have done myself a true disservice. I enjoyed this book; so much so that I read the original 2014 release as well as the graphic novel published in 2019. While t...

Seasoned

Seasoned. Delaney Diamond. 2020. Garden Avenue Press. 326 pages. [Source: Public Library] Delaney Diamond is back with another summer romance, and I was ready and waiting for it. I was immediately taken with her style with my introduction to her style with Johnson family a few years ago. I was more than overdue to get away with her latest, Seasoned. Seasoned is actually a set of three stories, each following a different woman in a close...