A sizzling, smart, and utterly engaging novel about sex, love, folklore, and family history from the author of Redemption Song and The Haunting of Hip Hop. With her characteristic sense of humor and a good dose of motherly wit, Bertice Berry spins the endearing tale of Jim and Louella Johnson, an elderly couple in a southern town who have settled into a marriage that has long lost its pizzazz. Louella, fed up with her lackluster love life, decides to contact her departed ancestors for some advice. Conjuring up her mother, grandmother, and aunt in a dream, she receives a delightful lesson in the art of reigniting the fires of love. Even more startling, the Johnsons discover they can help others rejuvenate their passions, heal their hearts, and mend their souls Written in language that is folksy yet eloquent, Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy is an uplifting and flat-out funny celebration of the connections between past and present, the importance of family, and the pleasures of the body and the heart.

A ghost story with a beat . . . Bertice Berry follows her finely pitched Blackboard bestselling debut novel, Redemption Song, with a mesmerizing cautionary tale about urban hip hop culture. In ancient West Africa, the drum was more than a musical instrument, it was a vehicle of communication–it conveyed information, told stories, and passed on the wisdom of generations. The magic of the drum remains alive today, and with her magnificent second novel, Berry brings those powerful beats to the streets of Harlem. Harry “Freedom” Hudson is the hottest hip hop producer in New York City, earning unbelievable fees for his tunes and the innovative sound that puts his artists on the top of the charts. Harry is used to getting what he wants, so when he’s irresistibly drawn to a house in Harlem, he assumes he’ll be moving in as soon as the papers can be drawn up. The house, after all, has been abandoned for years. Or has it? Rumors are rife in the neighborhood that the house is haunted; that mysterious music, shouts, and sobbing can be heard late at night. Ava, Harry’s strong-willed, no-nonsense agent, dismisses it all as “old folks” tales–until she opens the door and finds an eerie, silent group of black people, young and old, gathered around a man holding an ancient African drum. They are waiting for Harry and bear a warning that touches his very soul: “We gave the drum back to your generation in the form of rap, but it’s being used to send the wrong message.” The Haunting of Hip Hop is a reminder of the importance of honoring the past as a means of moving safely and firmly into the future. It is sure to raise eyebrows and stir up controversy about the impact, good and bad, of rap culture.

Three African-American men--each at a very different stage in his life--confront the challenges, emotional upheaval, choices, and problem relationships in their lives. Reprint.

Karim Spencer, raised in the home of a bootlegger in a run-down neighborhood, has gone on to become a successful businessman with a tony home, a beautiful girlfriend, and a son. But memories of tragedy and betrayal have kept him entrenched in the past, as have the living reminders of his former life, including his down-on-her-luck sister, Nadiah; JaQuan, Nadiah’s thugged-out teenage son; and Karim’s older brother, Omar, serving a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. As emotions reach a boiling point, does Karim have what it takes to set JaQuan on a straight path, clear his brother of a bogus indictment without jeopardizing his own future, and hold together the family that he so desperately loves? As Travis Hunter skillfully draws us in with strong, believable characters with endearing flaws and broken dreams, A Family Sin, full of riveting twists and turns of plot, unravels the mystery of a long-buried secret that threatens to tear a family apart.

Nasir Lassiter is a college basketball star with a promising future–until a murder rap lands him in prison with a life sentence. Without hope, Nasir shuts down. But after five years he’s suddenly free and surprised to see how much the outside world has changed. He discovers he has a daughter, Brandy, who believes her father has been away in the army all this time. His girlfriend, Ayana, is now involved with Alonzo, a wealthy, possessive man. Nasir’s life takes another turn when he finds out that his mother has taken to drugs to ease the pain over his fate. Ayana, meanwhile, struggles to break free of Alonzo’s jealous grip and gets a taste of his seemingly endless rage. Nasir would love to right the wrongs his absence has brought the women in his life. And when his daughter is kidnapped, he will risk everything to save her–even if it means putting his newfound freedom on the line. A riveting novel of love, loss, and reconciliation, Something to Die For follows the twisted path of a man desperately fighting for the good life he deserves–and for the family who needs him now more than ever.

Bestselling author Travis Hunter returns with a stunning new novel about family, success, and just how far a man will go to protect those he loves. Dallas Dupree is a one woman man. A handsome and successful teacher, he is both worshipped and envied in his Atlanta neighborhood and chooses to live and raise his daughter, Aja, in the ghetto where he grew up rather than desert his roots. The only problem is that the one woman for him—his beloved Yasmin—passed away giving birth to his daughter. Now Dallas struggles through a string of empty relationships, unable to commit his heart because no woman can measure up to Yasmin. However, when Dallas plays with the wrong woman, he finds the consequences may cost him much more than he can afford. Dallas’s sister Carmen has issues of her own. All of her life she has struggled with a weight problem that had caused a lack of self esteem. Now she is an affluent doctor who lives in the suburbs with her handsome new husband, Sterling. When a family crisis forces her to take in her wayward niece, she realizes that the picture perfect world she worked so hard to create is an illusion. Their older brother, Priest, is pretty secretive about how he makes his money—and he does make a lot of it. He has been a father figure to both Dallas and Carmen, but now that they are all grown up, they want nothing to do with their shady older brother. But when Dallas and Carmen are in trouble, they turn to the one person who has always been there for them—and learn there is more to Priest than meets the eye.

New from the author of the national bestseller The Hearts of Men: a novel about one man’s quest to end his cheating ways. Women have flocked to Genesis Styles ever since he was a teenager. He’s a good-looking, smooth-talking former pro-basketball player, but he has a problem: He has never been satisfied with just one woman. Then he meets Terri and everything changes. Sort of. Genesis knows that Terri is perfect for him, and he asks her to marry him. But Genesis just can’t seem to stop cheating on Terri nearly every chance he gets. Genesis’s best friend, Prodigy, constantly warns him that he’s going to mess up the best thing ever to happen to him, but Genesis is not ready to listen. After dealing with a family crisis, Genesis realizes the importance of his relationship with Terri, and he begins to change his cheating ways. He knows that once he says “I do,” everything will fall into place. But it may be too late, because one of his past indiscretions comes back to haunt him, and now Terri may have a few surprises of her own. . . .