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, ...

Wonder

Wonder. Christina C. Jones. 2019. Warm Hues Creative. 283 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I’ve grown to look forward to the new book that comes on the heels of any Christina C. Jones announcement that she’s trying something out of her comfort zone. From experience, I know that book will test boundaries, explore new ideas, and make me check my assumptions about my own worldview....

Ready

Ready. Bria Felicien. 2017. 192 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited]. Nothing makes for an interesting love story quite like the friend zone. In this story, Jade is a college senior, and a star on her college’s soccer team. It seems fitting that her closest guy friend is a star basketball player at the rival college across town. Their friendship is one based on mutual support and understanding of the significance of athletics in thei...

A Spark of Light

A Spark of Light. Jodi Picoult. 2018. Ballatine Books. 384 pages. [Source: Public Library.]  It’s hard to temper your expectations when you know a book starts off with what many consider a worst-case scenario – a hostage situation at a women’s reproductive health care center. I came into this book bracing myself for the worst, but still clinging to hope that there could be a happily ever after … of sorts ...

A Princess in Theory

A Princess in Theory. Alyssa Cole. 2018. Avon Books. 373 pages. [Source: Public Library.] A Princess in Theory is a book I couldn’t ignore. I saw frequently in passing, but not at times when I was adding to my TBR pile. Finally, seeing it on the Goodreads lists for best romance book of 2018 made me stop and check it out. Surely, there was some hype I was missing. I thought this was a cute story, but it didnR...

A Beautiful Ghetto

A Beautiful Ghetto. Devin Allen. 2017. Haymarket Books. 121 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of Edelweiss Above the Treeline.] I had chills while reading A Beautiful Ghetto. Part of it was seeing beautiful Black faces in environments that seem anything but that, based on social standards. Allen, however, captures everyday life in Baltimore with a brutal honesty that is truly compelling. There are pictures of children lounging on a ...