Black Romance Reads
Mile High Dub by Sheopatra Smith
4 Star Rating
Harper Neale is a Black culture connoisseur, an award-winning journalist, and a bonafide “It Girl” on the run from the reach of her ex’s new relationship. Anton Campbell is a German-Jamaican professional tennis star, a desirable daddy, and a certified international playboy on a mission to commandeer everything in his path. After a yearlong ghosting incident, these two planes passing in the night collide in Paris on Valentine’s eve. They choose to defy the stars by smashing amongst them at 45,000 feet in the air.
Privately, pleasurably, with the pressure on, the hard-hitting journalist and hard-hitting player form a seemingly simple Valentine agreement:
“One night. You and me. No judgment. From anyone, or anything. Just release.”
Is this daring dalliance what Harper needs to dub heartbreak? Or will Cupid’s arrow pierce her heart with pointed, palpable, personal truths?
This is NOT a love story. This is a Self-Love story.
Capturing the Soul of a Boss by Tatum James
4 Star Rating
Bored and lonely, lifestyle blogger, Brielle Simpson ventured into online dating as a means of entertainment. When she meets a guy that’s too sexy and charming to resist, she agrees to a night of fun with no strings attached. Little did she know the magnetic pull that drew them together would grow even stronger.
Rich and handsome, Tosh Daniels joined a dating site to find someone who didn’t know his status or his lifestyle for that matter. He wanted real conversation and good sex from someone that came with no expectations. He quickly becomes smitten with Brielle, but for some reason, she’s elusive. Brielle disappears just as he starts to fall for her. Brielle neglected to reveal one very important thing to Tosh. Unable to shake thoughts of the beautiful, alluring woman Tosh finds Brielle and goes all in to win her over in spite of her shocking revelation.
Throwing their no strings attached agreement out of the window, the two become one. Just when they think the coast is clear and they’re free to love, more secrets and deception come to the surface and threaten their happily ever after before it can even begin. Can the pair overcome the hurdles, or will they self-destruct?
False Pretenses: Men of Motor City: Book 1 by Jamila Jeffries
2 Star Rating
While woman across the globe have been fangirling for Desmond Cole Montague, I’ve been his ever-faithful, platonic bestie for years.
During the off-season or when he wasn’t on a five-game road trip, DC always made time for me. He would pop up unexpectedly to witness me coach my high school girls’ basketball team to a championship. Or send me flowers at the slightest hint of a bad day. He has always been thoughtful, generous. And that was the case long before his celebrity athlete status and his hall-of-fame basketball career with the Virginia Victors.
Desmond has more money than he can ever spend, and the world is at his fingertips. Now that DC’s ended his six-month sabbatical and he’s launched officially into retirement, he has more time now, too.
I should be ecstatic, right? Who wouldn’t be?
I’ll tell you who. Me, Cairo Clayton, the woman who started catching feelings for said bestie.
For some reason, I can no longer pretend that he isn’t the most beautiful man that I’ve ever seen. I can’t ignore his mesmerizing gold eyes, or his chiseled body that stretches to nearly seven feet.
And when Desmond asks me to marry him temporarily to avoid a blackmail pregnancy scandal that threatens to collapse his business ventures, I should consent, right?
So, I do. Even if it means jeopardizing our friendship and revealing my deepest secrets.
MM Romance Reads
Keeper by Nicole Dykes
4 Star Rating
Kingston Wells
I like to party. To have a good time.
Life’s too short not to. I learned that when I lost my grandpa.
He told me to have fun while I can, and I intend to.
Although sometimes when you’re having a good time, you forget others may see you as irresponsible. And sometimes you screw up.
I’ve definitely screwed up a time or two.
But I’m still determined to have fun. And along the way, I’m hoping I’ll convince my best friend, Camden, to do the same.
He’s too serious. Too focused. Too busy taking care of everyone to just relax.
And that’s where I come in.
Camden Prescott
I may only be eighteen and a senior, but I have too much on my plate to be a kid.
Too many people depend on me, but I can handle it.
I have to handle it. My mom needs my help. My little sister needs me. And Kingston, my best friend in the world—yeah, he definitely needs me.
Because while he’s busy having fun, I’m busy cleaning up his messes along with everyone else’s.
It’s not all bad though. He’s there to make sure I occasionally have fun, and I’m there for him when he needs to take life seriously.
Because that’s what I am . . .
The Keeper.
Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
5 Star Rating
They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?
Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.
Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize.
But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever. Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions— can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it?
When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself.
Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
5 Star Rating
Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves—Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.
Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.
Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?
Other Romance Reads
It Takes Time by Roxanne Riley
3 Star Rating
Love doesn’t always work out at first sight.
Sometimes it takes time for the heart to get what it wants.
Especially when it’s two men at once!
Growing up, Josh, Gabriel, and I were inseparable.
But not everyone wants to live the small town life forever.
Josh’s big city dreams took him across the country for college,
and his absence seemed to put a distance between all three of us.
We grew up, got jobs, and Josh even went and had a kid.
It’s been years since I’ve spoken to either one of them…
until Gabriel shows up where I work.
My childhood crush has now blossomed into a very adult one.
And when he asks me to dinner to reconnect,
it feels like I’ve been given back a piece of my heart.
Not to mention the way my body lights up when he touches me.
Back in high school, I couldn’t decide between him and Josh.
Now I start to think Gabriel was the one for me all along.
But then I’m shocked when we run into Josh on our date.
He’s back in town and here to stay.
And suddenly my feelings get complicated.
Mine aren’t the only ones, though.
Because Josh has come out as bi,
and he wants to get into Gabriel’s pants
just as badly as he wants to get into mine!
The feeling is mutual on my end, too.
But that brings up old fears between all three of us,
which make a hard situation even worse to navigate.
I know I’m in lust with both of these hot men.
And I think I’m in love, too.
But can we really figure out this three-sided struggle?
Will the past overpower our attempts to make this work now?
Or will our history help us create the perfect future together?
It Takes Time is a small town MMF bisexual menage romance with high heat MM and MMF scenes. (Swords do cross in this one!) It has no cliffhangers and no cheating, but it does have lots of steam and a happily ever after for everyone involved