African American Southern Fiction

Trying to put past hurts behind you is hard when your ex is a fool, but buoyed by child support and alimony, Jo Walker is moving forward with her life, pursuing a career, raising her little girl, and trying to live in peace. She believes she has all the bases covered in her world. But what about her heart? Rap legend Everett "Big South" McClain is divorced, too, knows all about failed relationships, and has relegated his love life to casual connections rather than pursuing something real. That is, until he lays eyes on Jo.

A livewire debut from Dantiel W. Moniz, one of the most exciting discoveries in today's literary landscape, Milk Blood Heat depicts the sultry lives of Floridians in intergenerational tales that contemplate human connection, race, womanhood, inheritance, and the elemental darkness in us all. Set among the cities and suburbs of Florida, each story delves into the ordinary worlds of young girls, women, and men who find themselves confronted by extraordinary moments of violent personal reckoning.

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding.

***Full Standalone*** ***Re-Release*** Shatika “Empress” Tibideaux was living a Bawss’ life. Trained by her big brother, Birmingham, AL’s notorious Deondre “Show” Burns, she and her husband, Jayontae “Tae” Tibideaux, had built and empire that would set their great-great-grandkids straight. But her world starts to fall apart when the Feds kick in her door and she takes the charge for her man, like a true ridah would. She soon finds that loyalty doesn’t go both ways, when Tae leaves her to do her bid on her own. When Empress finally tastes freedom again, she discovers that ...

Khian "Khi" Prince has the ladies going crazy. He's a certified boss with what seems to be the weight of the world on his shoulders. After failing at love twice, Khi's not ready to give up yet, and when he runs into Cuba Lance, he's certain he has finally gotten it right. But when Cuba shatters his heart all over again, will Khi give up on love once and for all? Daelan "Dae" Prince is the ultimate bad boy. With the love of his life and their five-year-old son by his side, Dae seems to have his happily ever after. But things are never what they seem.

***Re-Release*** ***Standalone*** I want you all to myself I swear… Keldric “Ice” Hemmings wasn’t looking for love. In the right places, the wrong places, at all. Even with his mother breathing down his neck begging for grandbabies, he wasn’t in a rush to settle down. And, until he found a woman like his mother, he was just having fun with the thots, and focused on getting money. That is, until he meets Blaze, a thick, brainy chick, who has her head on straight, and has his mom’s seal of approval. Blaze Cooper was green to the real world. A nerd who’d always kept her nose in ...

Carl Weber brings the best of urban street lit authors together, all telling their own dramatic tales of life in the streets in known cities across the USA. The second installment continues with Treasure Hernandez telling the tale of the Dirty South.

Blanche White is a plump, feisty, middle-aged African-American housekeeper working for the genteel rich in North Carolina. But when an employer stiffs her, and her checks bounce, she goes on the lam, hiding out as a maid for a wealthy family at their summer home. That plan goes awry when there's a murder and Blanche becomes the prime suspect. So she's forced to use her savvy, her sharp wit, and her old-girl network of domestic workers to discover the truth and save her own skin.

Ya'll, let me tell you my story!Glad you could find your way here, and I welcome you to the Sellers Plantation here in the deep south of Mobile, Alabama. I'm anxious to get started with my story tellin,' so, I'm sharin' a little bout the story that I be tellin' to ya'll down below. When I wuz born, I be given the name Gertrude Ida Rollins, but as I be growin' folks just be callin' me Ms. Gertie. I wuz born in Mobile, Alabama in the year eighteen and eighty-eight. Yes, that be a long time ago for most of ya'll, but I thinks it be good to be learnin' bout the history that be comin' before you...

Since the night Atlanta mayor, self-made millionaire, and womanizer Jamison Jackson plummeted from the top floor of a downtown hotel, everyone seems to have profited, from vicious criminals to corrupt politicians. Everyone except his jilted first wife Kerry. Once a socialite, she's now the prime suspect in Jamison's alleged murder. But she swears she's no killer - and surprisingly, Jamison's widow Val agrees. For all they know, it was Coreen, the mother of Jamison's secret love child.

Back in the days when things were cool... Joseph “Joe Doe” Henry was a young man on the right path with big dreams. He was raised to always get his own, and that hard work always paid off. But when he meets Ramona, a girl that he wants to give the world, he knows that his little side hustle won’t be enough to afford her the life he feels she deserves. With his friends Beast, Ratchet, and Twin sharing his mentality, one fateful night set them up for a successful life. But with success comes envy and drama. Joe Doe soon finds out who really has his back, and who can’t be trusted. ...

On the first episode of Side Piece Chronicles... Sheila Price doesn’t look like what she’s been through. She’s a marketing exec who worked her way up to the top of her field. Her world revolves around her son and her job, and life is good, until she meets Anthony Bailey. Anthony seems to be everything Sheila’s ever wanted in a man. He's a loving, supportive entrepreneur who takes care of his kids. But when Sheila pairs him up on a business venture with her best friend, Delilah, a party girl whose motto is Seize the Day, she’s reminded of the thin line between friends and enemies. ...

Abigail was the last keeper of the house, the last to know the Howland family's secrets. Now, in the name of all her brothers and sisters, she must take her bitter revenge on the small-minded Southern town that shamed them, persecuted them, but could never destroy them.

An Essence best-selling author, Rochelle Alers also boasts a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and Zora Neale Hurston Award. Sweet Southern Nights continues the Eaton family saga, which finds Dr. Levi Eaton far from his Northern roots, volunteering at a Kentucky clinic. There he meets Angela Chase, whose sultry Southern hospitality is just what the doctor ordered. But as their relationship deepens, Angela worries Levi may discover the secrets she’s been hiding.

Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she’s dating and the life she’s worked hard to build. Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine’s Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She’s a member in a number of ladies’ auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival. Hanging on to ...

Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes.

Eric "Pharaoh" Wright is an up-and-coming producer and hip hop artist in the City of Birmingham. As his star begins to rise, he finds it harder and harder to find love. Groupies are good for one thing, and the women that he takes interest in can't deal with his schedule. Accepting his fate of being alone, he throws himself into his dream. Until he meets Gold Harris, a dope chick with a heart that matches her name. They hit it off instantly. Her not being impressed by his fame makes her that much more appealing. She accepts him as is and doesn't trip when he's not available because she's ...

When summoned to Georgetown, South Carolina, sisters Mariah Clark and Sabrina Holland both assume their ailing grandfather's health has gotten worse. Neither expects their grandmother's undeniable request—save the family restaurant. Mariah is at a crossroad in her life. After being dumped by her husband and forced to walk away from their diner that she helped rescue from bankruptcy, bitter feelings consume her. Even though the restaurant has been in the family for eighty-six years, giving her all to another struggling business isn't something she wants to do.

Neighborhood tensions reach a breaking point in the finale of New York Times best-selling author Mary Monroe's captivating series that sweeps listeners back to 1930's Alabama and into the lives of two neighboring couples whose deceitful friendships and imperfect marriages are just the beginning of their troubles...