One to do things by the book, Adoree Watkins has always followed the rules. Adoree wants to be a marine biologist and has every detail of her life planned. Her NFL bound boyfriend, Jerrod, has been in her life since the ninth grade. Jerrod loves Adoree, but when he starts to step out their relationship, does she find out? Does Jerrod do something drastic to keep Adoree in his life? Adoree bumps into a tatted-up stranger, who she knows she needs to stay far away from, but the more she tries to stay away, the more she is drawn to him. Will she allow this sexy man to draw her in even with her boyfriend Jerrod in the picture? Fresh from the concrete jungle, Synovus Lee Jr, is the king of the streets. Hitting the streets and making sure his girlfriend, Zaviana McCoy is well taken care of, is the only thing he knows. Synovus loves photography when he isn’t in the streets. He only knows how to hustle to make money. When he finds out his hobby could make him decent money without the consequence of being arrested, he starts to think about leaving the game. Will Zaviana be accepting, especially when she knows the cash flow might not be the same? Synovus will do anything for Zaviana. That is until Adoree steps into his life. Anyone with eyes can see that Adoree and Synovus are definitely from different sides of the track, but will that stop them from getting to know each other? Will they fall in love, or will gravity keep them in their current relationships?

Five years later, Currency is more in love with Ree than ever. After five years, your body does things that you can’t control, and Ree is currently feeling the aftereffects of pushing out Syn’s son. Working around the type of women that Currency works around does not do anything to help Ree’s insecurities, so she goes out and does the one thing that Syn forbids. Will Syn forgive her, or will Ree’s defiance make Currency commit a divorceable crime? Ree is having a great time raising KG until Zaviana decided that she wants to be a mother. Zaviana and an accomplice, close to the Lees, hatch a plan to get KG from her parents. That plan could leave them both either dead or in jail. Zaviana goes through great lengths to get her daughter back, but will it be enough? Jerrod is living the dream, playing for the NBA, taking care of his two girlfriends and two beautiful children, but he still can’t seem to wrap his mind around his first love being with another man. Jerrod is willing to let everything go if given the opportunity to be with his first love again. But when the opportunity arises, will he take it, or will he realize that his soulmate has been right under his roof the whole time?

Who knew so many secrets could come out in just one dinner? Adoree feels played after finding out that Syn’s significant other is not who she thought it was. Will Adoree be able to look past this misunderstanding and continue to be his friend, or will she drop their friendship altogether? Back at Jerrod’s college, he is going through something very unnatural. He calls on the two people that he hates the most to handle his problem, and promises them both the one thing he knows they both want. Will Jerrod’s plan comes together perfectly, or will the plan fail, and he loses everything? Currency is still trying to deal with Zaviana and her issues while trying to maintain his friendship with Adoree and keep his feelings at bay, but it becomes insanely hard for him. Zaviana goes to the extreme once she realizes that she is losing Currency. Will Zaviana’s plan work, or will it be the last straw for Currency? In this final installment of You Ain’t Gotta Be Perfect, everybody seems to be plotting and planning, but who’s plan is going to get them what they want? Will any plan be executed properly?

“Without question, this is McMillan’s best. A glorious novel....A moving tapestry of familial love and redemption.”—The Washington Post With her hallmark exuberance and a cast of characters so sassy, resilient, and full of life that they breathe, dream, and shout right off the page, Terry McMillan has given us a tour-de-force novel of family, healing, and redemption. A Day Late and a Dollar Short takes us deep into the hearts, minds, and souls of America—and gives us six more friends we never want to leave.

The Routledge Reader of African American Rhetoric is a comprehensive compendium of primary texts that is designed for use by students, teachers, and scholars of rhetoric and for the general public interested in the history of African American communication. The volume and its companion website include dialogues, creative works, essays, folklore, music, interviews, news stories, raps, videos, and speeches that are performed or written by African Americans. Both the book as a whole and the various selections in it speak directly to the artistic, cultural, economic, gendered, social, and political condition of African Americans from the enslavement period in America to the present, as well as to the Black Diaspora.

Welcome to the life of the Golden family. Al Golden, a man. A reformed drug dealer turned entrepreneur and pastor of the largest church in Newark, New Jersey. The Goldens have it all: Looks, fame, fortune, faith and God's favor. Another thing they have that is not so apparent to the untrained eye of the public that praises them, is flaws. Lauded and loved by the residents of the city of Newark they can do no wrong. Or so it seems from the outside looking in. The invisible dome that had surrounded the Golden family for so long begins to crack beneath the weight of unresolved issues and grief at the passing of their beloved Carla Golden, the matriarch. The Goldens shiny exterior begins to tarnish before everyone's very eyes as their past comes back to haunt them and bad habits hidden in the darkness; secrets held behind the closed doors and the velvet rope of the pulpit of the church are brought to light. Will they survive under the weight of the pressure of exposure? In mid fall off of the religious pedestals set so high by the community, do they have the strength to keep their composure? A microcosm for the hypocrisy that lies underneath the covers of American society, the Golden family, a sleeping giant, is about to be exposed. A tale of truth and lies; loss, lust, love, life and grace and humanity; They are left to wonder if their faith has failed them or if they are their own undoing. Can this Golden family survive the impending implosion that is their lives? This is a barrier breaking story about the rise and fall of the kings of the church. A narrative that depicts reality in the raw. It is humanity, heaven, hell and high water for the reader. Not for the faint of heart, it is an adventurous drama that reflects the real lives of the haves and the have nots. Dispelling religious dogma, this deep read serves salvation and nakedness. A must read. This work will change the life of every reader and make you rethink your relationship with yourself, God and others. You are guaranteed to never be the same after ingesting this soul food. I wrote this book to dispel myths about God, salvation, people and life. What influenced the journey to The Doors... were my experiences at various churches over the years. Me being a confused Christian having been trapped by religion. Having been beaten into submitting to man's will, not that of God. Fortunately enough, I was not raised in a religious household. In hindsight, I believe that as a youth, I may have enjoyed too much freedom. Because of such libertarian rearing or lack thereof, depending upon view, worshipping authoritative figures has never been a priority on my list. I have always been rebellious in that aspect. Keeping in mind, I believe in giving respect where it is due, in the same token, I am also a firm believer that God is no respecter of persons not withstanding, there is a time and place for everything. Even Jesus encouraged people to render to Caesar what was his. Give respect and honor where it is indeed due. There is a way to come before kings as God is a God of order. As there is God-ordained authority and leadership where in fact we must submit in many instances, We must bear in mind, dominion and authority are not given exclusively to "men" as in the sex, per se. Often times where we see "man" or "men" in biblical text, it means the whole of humanity. Not just males. Not just leadership. We all have something to bring to the table. As equally, we are all very flawed creatures who ourselves need to submit to the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.