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, ...

Dear Martin

Dear Martin. Nic Stone. 2017. Random House. 212 pages. [Source: Public library.] If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be? I picked up Dear Martin on the recommendation of someone because I’d enjoyed The Hate You Give. This book is in a similar vein as THUG in that it follows the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting that results in a young, black teen’s death.  More than that, however, ...

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. Issa Rae. 2015. Atria. 225 pages. [Source: Public library]. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I’ve been a stan of Issa Rae since her co-worker caught her rapping along aggressively at a stop sign on Youtube.  That fandom exploded when her show, Insecure, hit HBO in 2016.  I’ve always related quite a bit to her experiences on her web-series, and (not surprisin...

Unforgettable

Unforgettable. Delaney Diamond. 2014. Garden Avenue Press. 174 pages. [Source: Public library]. “This isn’t a forever thing. It’s just a for now thing. I have plans.” These are the words that Lucas Baylor shared with socialite Ivy Johnson in the midst of a short-lived, but hot-as-fire affair nearly a decade earlier.  In that time, he has skyrocketed to fame as a self-professed permanent bachelor who makes a livi...

Before I Let Go

Before I Let Go. Marieke Nijkamp. 2018. Sourcebooks Fire. 372 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Small towns don’t often take kindly to outsiders. Sometimes, they don’t even take kindly to their own. Such is the story of Before I Let Go, which follows Corey as she seeks the truth about the sudden — and suspicious — death of her best friend, Kyra.  Corey grew up in the small town of Lost Creek...

Anonymous Acts

  Anonymous Acts. Christina C. Jones. 2017. 364 pages. [Source:Kindle Unlimited.] ​As always, I devoured a great new book from CCJ. I had been reading samples leading up to its release, but was still pleasantly surprised with the plot twists and turns of Anonymous Acts. The book focuses in Monica Stuart’s legal woes, both for her once-thriving cosmetics company and for herself, as she faces murder charges in the death of her es...