New Release Round-Up August 3rd-9th
Hey Girl!
Check out these new Black Romance releases from August 3rd-9th.
Love U Down II (Trill Loyalty Records Book 2) by ML Bash
Drix and Myome's marriage is still making headlines and their careers aren't making it any easier. With a thriving label, a failed girl group, and delusional exes who refuse to let go, the couple's foundation is cracking under pressure. Now, caught between the music industry, family obligations, and the weight of everything changing around them, they're forced to confront a hard truth: life doesn't always go according to plan. Unfortunately neither does love. As the drama closes in from every direction, Drix and Myome must ask themselves the one question they've been avoiding: is their relationship still worth fighting for?
Dominated by Love by Tatum James
When Sage Richards found herself pregnant and alone at twenty-two-years-old, her brother’s best friend stepped in without hesitation. A thousand tears and one impulsive decision later, and they were married. A week after the nuptials, Sage walked out of Klever’s life with the man she thought she was supposed to love.
Ten years later, Sage’s world comes crashing down around her like shattered glass. Her home is in foreclosure, and her dance studio is slipping through her fingers. Worst of all, her NBA star boyfriend has been living a double life and having an affair with his assistant. Humiliated and depressed, Sage crashes out and finds herself in jail. The only person she can bring herself to call is the man she left behind many years ago.
Klever Davis has spent a decade waiting for the woman he loved to see what had been right in front of her the whole time. When Sage calls him for help, he goes to her without a second thought. Now that she’s back in his orbit, he refuses to let her go a second time, even if it destroys his friendship with her brother.
Terms of the Flight: A Premier Wings Romance by Iesha Bree
Myheir Blackwell needs the world to believe he’s moved on.
Khaleya Mathers knows exactly how to sell a love story.
A month of fake dates, staged chemistry, and a wedding in Tuscany should’ve been easy… until pretending starts feelinga little too real.
Because somewhere between private flights and blurred boundaries, they forgot one important thing:
The best performances always come with consequences.
Trust Me (Audible Original) by Alexandria House
A wild night leads to the love of a lifetime in this spicy, soul-stirring new romance by Alexandria House!
R&B legend Joel "Messiah" Bell has spent three decades at the top of the music industry—but lately, he's the internet's favorite punchline. Left at the altar, he's hiding out in Romey, Tennessee, nursing his wounded pride. The last thing he expects is to find himself in a wine bar, pouring his heart out to a gorgeous, free-spirited casual acquaintance who has zero interest in performing for anyone.
Ginger Day just ended a relationship with yet another lover who couldn't handle her authenticity. She's planned a solo journey across the country to rediscover herself—but after too much wine and an undeniable connection with Messiah, she finds herself on a plane to Vegas instead.
In the wake of their spontaneous decision, neither of them can deny that what they have feels like kismet…and neither of them wants it to end. Will two people who impulsively chose each other ultimately decide to choose each other every single day?
Rum Punch And Island Love (Drunken Summer Nights Book 4) by Camille V.
Indira Jones has lost herself within her career. She doesn’t even remember what fun is anymore, but she’s determined to change that.
Azari Combs always knew love would find him. He never expected it to be in Port Isle, where he’s vacationed often, but only ever found quick flings to keep him company.
When they lock eyes on the resort, it’s a slow burn that turns into a deeper connection neither of them expected. With just a week to get to know each other, they get completely lost in their own little bubble of island vibes and plenty of rum punch.
But everyone knows all good vacations must come to an end. Once their week is up, they have to decide if they want to bring this vacation love back to reality with them. Drunken Summer Nights: Rum Punch and Island Love is a steamy vacation romance that will show you just how quickly love can form, when you least expect it.
A Major Love by Kay Shanee
Dynastie Love has always wanted to be a sports journalist, and she is living her dream. There is something about crafting questions, conducting interviews, and turning them into stories that feed her soul.
When she receives a once-in-a-lifetime offer that will take her career to the next level, she initially declines because the project will challenge not only her skills as a writer, but she isn’t sure she’s ready to face the one and only man who broke her heart.
After several years as a professional boxer, Major Lloyd decides it’s time to hang up the gloves. Although his career affords him a lifestyle he only dreamed of as a child, something is missing . . . Or is it someone?
Distance, lack of communication, poor decisions, and life caused Dynastie and Major’s relationship to fade into the background. When Dynastie accepts a job to co-write his memoir, it puts them in each other’s presence for the first time in six years.
Major is on a mission to make her a permanent part of his life again, and although Dynastie’s heart is all in, her mind wants her to pump the brakes. Will she allow him to resume his role as the champion of her heart, or will he be forced to suffer through losing the only fight that’s ever mattered?
Fated To The Gargoyle: A Black Monster Romance (Shadow Wolf Creek Monsters Book 1) by Tessa Stone
The statue outside Stanley's Diner moves at sundown.
I came to Shadow Wolf Creek with everything I own in my hatchback and one rule: I don't date coworkers. This town has shifters at the grocery store, merfolk, a dragon with a podcast, and everyone is out in the open about what they are. Fine by me. I'm here to wait my tables and save my money, not chase a fated mate.
But the gargoyle crouched on the diner's roof caught my scent on my first shift. His name is Soren. He's six hundred years old and has spent every one of those years guarding treasure that was never his to keep. Now he's outside my window at sundown, and not one soul in this town sees a problem with it.
This town, I swear.
He says I'm his mate, calls me his treasure, and intends to worship me for the rest of his life.
Yes Sir: An Age Gap Romance (Feeling Like Shooting Cupid) by Sherron Marie
At the tender age of twenty-two, Clover was spontaneous and unapologetically free. Promiscuous to some, sexually liberated to others. Untamed, unbothered, and impossible to hold onto, Clover never imagined one man could quiet the chaos she wore like a crown.
Then Sir entered her life.
He was Magnetic. Fine. Older. Charismatic. Seasoned in ways Clover didn’t know she craved until he chose her. And for the first time, she considered submitting more than just her body to a man.
But men like Sir don’t usually stay. They thrive on lust, feed off sexual chaos, and need variety like oxygen. So was Clover just another indulgence for him? Or had he finally met the one woman rare enough to make him toy with the idea of monogamy?
How to Love a Virgo by Reece Dean
Savannah just turned 40 and her list of recent accomplishments includes:
· Survived divorce without putting voodoo on her ex
· Didn’t combust after her only child moved away for college
· Started over in a less-than-desirable neighborhood (and tax bracket)
· Entered a situationship with an imaginary boyfriend
· Didn’t crash out badly enough to need her Last Resort Box (yet)
As far as she could tell, she was doing just fine.
Savannah is no longer expecting a happily-ever-after for her life; she just wants to enjoy her midlife crisis in peace. However, perimenopause demons, grief gremlins, unlikely heroes, and surprise villains–including her new therapist–have different plans for her next chapter.
Savannah is a proud member of the Stay-My-Ass-In-The-House club, especially since the Virgo tendencies that always helped her hold everything together apparently expired with no option for renewal. She’s perfectly fine in her safe little bubble with her imaginary lover who literally can't live without her. That’s until a string of humbling, hilarious, and hell-nawl moments drag her back outside.
Turns out, even her horoscope couldn't predict what was waiting on the other side of her front door.
Kidnapped By The Messy Dragon: A Black Paranormal Romance by Tessa Stone
In the heart of Shadow Wolf Creek, journalist Jalen "Jay" Carter, known as the messy dragon, is on the hunt for the truth behind a suspicious cleaning solution manufactured by a powerful corporation. As he digs deeper into the company's operations, revealing dark ties to shifter magic, he never expects to find his fate intertwined with that of a curious stranger.
When Zuri Spencer accidentally uncovers the company’s sinister dealings, she unwittingly puts herself in grave danger. To protect her, Jay kidnaps the very woman whose scent awakens a primal desire he can’t resist. As their connection deepens amidst the chaos, Zuri learns about Jay's true nature as a dragon shifter and the fate he is bound to protect.
With witches, secrets, and a sizzling attraction that defies the odds, can Jay and Zuri navigate the perils of shifter society and uncover the truth before it’s too late? In this paranormal rom-com, love and laughter blaze hotter than flame.
A Desire for Love by Ka’-Dee Allen
When sisters Leah and Summer Johnson leave Washington, D.C. behind for new opportunities in New York City, they believe they're simply starting a new chapter. Neither realizes that the move will change their lives and their hearts forever.
As the older sister, Leah has always been the responsible one. Focused on her career and raising her two daughters, she's spent years putting her own desires on hold. Determined to create a better future, she embraces life in New York with cautious optimism. But when two very different men enter her life, Leah finds herself caught between two very different men. One represents the life she's always known—a relationship where she continuously sacrifices her own needs to make someone else happy. The other offers something unfamiliar: genuine care, unwavering support, and a love that places her happiness alongside his own. He sees her worth, encourages her dreams, and wants to build a future with her.
Meanwhile, Sumer is the foundation holding everything together. While balancing the demands of graduate school and working toward her master's degree, she helps care for the family. Strong, dependable, and fiercely loyal, Sumer rarely asks for anything for herself. Love, however, was never part of it. When an unexpected connection develops with a man who challenges everything she thought she wanted, Sumer discovers that the heart doesn't always follow the rules.
As the sisters navigate demanding careers, complicated relationships, and the challenges of building a new life in the city, their bond is stronger than ever. Through every triumph and setback, Leah and Sumer learn that love comes in many forms—the love of family, the love of friendship, and the kind of romantic love that changes everything.
Set against the backdrop of New York City's endless possibilities, A Desire for Love is a heartfelt story of sisterhood, resilience, and two women learning that sometimes the greatest risk is allowing themselves to be loved.
Because while finding love may be difficult, believing they deserve it may be the hardest journey of all.
Reasons to Love Again by Fallynn West
Colony Miles
After her last relationship ends in revealed secrets, Colony Miles moves to get away from the past. She opens her day care center, Center of Love, where she builds a special bond with a young girl named Kehlani Daily, who immediately steals her heart. The closeness she develops with her runs deeper than anyone can imagine. While Colony yearns for the love and fulfillment from a child, Kehlani desires the same for a mother. Their relationship pours over into one that Colony never expected.
Keondra Daily
Being a single father isn’t easy. For Keondra, it came unexpectedly when Kehlani’s mother dropped her off in the middle of the night three years ago. Between being a business owner and navigating life, Keondra becomes lost in his world to the point he shuts everyone out besides his family. The desire to guard his heart and Kehlani’s affects his love life until he meets Colony.
The attraction and connection are immediate for them both, but with the way their pasts are set up, neither of them are sure of how to act on it. With courage and hope, Keondra makes the first move after witnessing the love Colony has for Kehlani. Just as things began to blossom between the two, the past comes back to shake things up.
Juliet's Echo (The After 5 Collection Book 2) by Shanette Shanté
Juliet Everette has always been loved loudly, protected fiercely, and kept safely inside the walls of one of Havenbrook’s most powerful families. But when one cruel rumor cracks open a secret buried before she was born, Juliet is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her life, her family, and the people who raised her.
Psalm Mitchel wasn’t supposed to become her safe place. He was supposed to be another arrogant problem she could argue with and walk away from. But somewhere between the tension, the music, and the way he refuses to let her hide, Psalm becomes the one person Juliet runs to when her whole world falls apart.
As the truth about Juliet’s past resurfaces, so does the danger tied to it. And when love, family, and old sins collide, one thing becomes clear: even through the silence, real love is felt.
Set My Soul Ablaze: A Firefighter Romance by Mya
Life was all wet nose kisses and furry hugs for twenty-eight-year-old Mali Flowers. As a dog groomer, she spent long days pampering four-legged friends, which left little room for an adequate love life. Tired of loveless relationships, she chooses the companionship of animals over insecure men.
Artez “Flame” Gilliam was a thirty-three-year-old firefighter with a heart as pure as gold. He loved the thrill of running into burning buildings to fight fires and save lives. With long shifts and a family to care for, Artez rarely found time to date.
When their paths cross, it’s at Mali’s lowest, with her life on the line. With the odds stacked against them, will their attraction water the seeds of forever, or will their love burn to ashes?
Back on The Market: A Brother's Best Friend Novella by Nikki Jacquette
I have a plan.
Sell a property, pocket the profit, and start over in Mérida, Mexico, where nobody knows my name, my business, or the fact that I am currently living out of the trunk of my car.
Simple. Clean. Forward motion only.
What I did not plan for was Jacob Miller showing up to my brother's birthday cookout looking like that.
I've known him my whole life. My brother's best friend. My first crush. The man I have spent thirty years dropping into the back of my mind, where I keep the things I cannot afford to want.
But I'm freshly divorced and temporarily homeless. Fun times.
One conversation at the cooler.
One road trip I did not ask for.
One night, I absolutely did not plan on.
Jacob Miller finally says the thing he's been holding since we were teenagers.
And now I have a problem.
The fresh start I planned was supposed to be simple.
It was a lot easier before I knew what his arms felt like.
Back on the Market is a warm, witty Black Southern romance about buried secrets, unfinished love, and the courage it takes to stop running from what still feels like home.
Scribbled Excellence by Mel Dau
Tomorrow Bennett has spent her life turning broken pieces into beautiful art through her nonprofit, Scribbled Excellence. Her greatest work wasn’t painted on a wall. It was the life she built for the brother and sister she refused to leave behind. At the unveiling of her newest mural, the last thing she expects is to meet Kyro Goings, a gifted tattoo artist who sees beauty in scars the same way she sees hope in blank walls.
What begins as one unforgettable conversation becomes a love built on creativity, purpose, and peace. As two artists learn to trust each other with their dreams and their hearts, they discover that the greatest masterpieces aren’t painted on walls or inked into skin, they’re written in the lives we choose to build together. Some people leave scars; others turn them into masterpieces. That’s Scribbled Excellence.
A Love You Can't Hide (Love In Gray Book 1) by T.S. Martin
One day changed the life of two childhood best friends forever. Aceyn Carter had lived his life to forget it, but Mia Cambridge never did. It was a moment in time that shaped how they loved the ones around them, including each other.
Stricken with the pain of grief, Aceyn moved through life guarding his heart. In protection mode from a young age, he’d let you in just enough to feel your presence, but never enough to feel your loss from it. Mia had developed a heart protection plan of her own by managing the people closest to her. Everything they did had to be run by her first. It was the only way she knew how to prevent herself from having unwanted experiences.
Both thought those measures would shield their hearts. Even if that meant looking past each other to do it. That was until the anniversary of that day, several years later, caused them to look towards each other, no longer able to hide how they always felt.
Love isn’t black and white. It’s Gray.
A Don & His Doll: Monroe + Promise by Aja Nicole
What happens when you lose what you think you love only to realize what you thought was gone never went anywhere? What happens when the one person you trust turns out to be the most treacherous of them all?
Monroe Black inherited an empire at eighteen years old, but power came with a price. He’d been taught that love was a liability, and trust would get him killed. Then he met Promise Montgomery who was a woman of rare strength, beauty, and a resilient spirit. She challenged everything he thought he knew about life, family, and love. Just as Monroe begins embracing a future he never imagined possible, his past shows up in the form of a category-five storm, forcing him to confront devastating truths, world-changing choices, and the painful consequences of secrets that refused to stay buried. As betrayal collides with redemption and old wounds threaten new beginnings, Monroe must decide whether legacy is measured by the empire he built, or the family he's willing to risk everything to protect.
"She taught him peace wasn't weakness... and love wasn't something a man like him had to live without."
Lemonade & Ladders: A Cute Little Love Story by B Bewtie
Lemonade & Ladders is a heartwarming contemporary romance about love after a major loss.
At twenty-seven, Wyllo Alexander has mastered the art of keeping life small and simple. Tucked behind the counter of Nannie's Lunch & Lemonades, the café' her late grandmother inspired, she pours handcrafted lemonades, fresh pastries, and pieces of her heart into every customer who walks through the door. Quiet, bookish, and painfully shy, Wyllo has convinced herself that a peaceful life is enough. After all, it's easier to hide behind a pair of thick glasses and a welcoming smile than risk opening herself up to another heartbreaking loss.
Everything changes the morning Boaz, the respected captain of Bertie County's Engine 29, walks through her café doors.
Steady, dependable, and admired throughout town, Boaz has spent years rescuing strangers without ever expecting to be rescued himself. One breakfast order and a shy smile form Wyllo are enough to make him rearrange his daily routine just for another chance to see her. Beneath her reserved nature, he recognizes a woman carrying grief with quiet grace, and he can't help wanting to know the person hidden behind the walls she's carefully built.
As casual conversations turn into lingering visits, shared laughter, and undeniable chemistry, Wyllo slowly begins steeping back into the life she stopped living after Nannie's passing. Encouraged by her outspoken best friend, Maise, and surrounded by the warmth of a town that seems determined to play matchmaker, she starts believing that happiness might still have a place in her future.
Set in a charming Southern town filled with loyal firefighters, unforgettable neighbors, comforting family traditions, and the irresistible aroma of lemonade and homemade baked goods, Lemonade & Ladders is a tender slow-burn romance about choosing hope after loss and finding love in the most unexpected places.
Filled with heartfelt moments, gentle humor, and unforgettable characters, this story reminds readers that grief and joy can exists side by side, and that the sweetest blessing often arrive when life least expects them. Sometimes all it takes is one courageous step, one open heart, and one person willing to climb every ladder beside you.
How It Started by T.L. Harris
She rebuilt her life after heartbreak. He showed her that love was never meant to be another thing she had to survive.
Two years after a devastating betrayal, Ayanna Z. Taylor has finally found her footing. As the co-founder and CEO of Mixed Vibes, she's built a thriving business, a life she loves, and walls strong enough to keep heartbreak where it belongs.
Brandon J. Carter has everything most people dream of—box office success, international fame, and a career that's only getting bigger. But behind the cameras and headlines, he's searching for something real.
When an unexpected meeting sparks an undeniable connection, their worlds collide in ways neither of them anticipated. As their relationship deepens, they must navigate demanding careers, public scrutiny, family expectations, and the challenge of building a relationship that fits into the lives they've already worked so hard to create.
Because sometimes love doesn't ask you to become someone else.
Sometimes it simply asks you to let someone in.
The Unexpected by Riven Cross
Zoe Barrino never saw it coming.
None of it.
Not the end of the relationship she built her whole world around. Not the art that would show her who she actually was when nobody was watching. Not him.
Set against the heat and heartbeat of Miami, The Unexpectedis a story about what happens after the life you planned stops making sense. About the music that finds you in your worst moments. About love that arrives at the wrong time through the wrong door and refuses to apologize for it.
And about a young woman who has to decide, for the first time in her life, who she is when she stops being who everyone else needs her to be.
The only way out is through.
Cake-A Horror Story: A gripping southern black generational horror story by Fatima Munroe
“Mmm…nothing like a melt in your mouth Chantilly cake to end your night.” Unless your night consists of feeding your appetite for blood.
Nova is a social media superstar with millions of followers across every platform, all tuning in to watch her create award-winning cakes, pies, and whatever else her devoted fan base craves. A mother of two and wife to Jeremiah, Nova appears to have it all: a thriving career, a loving family, and a life built around caring for the people she loves. But all work and no play has made Jeremiah restless—and unfaithful. Tradition may say he should be the breadwinner, but Nova’s ambition shifted the balance, challenging the expectations society placed on their marriage.
When women in New Orleans begin disappearing alive and reappearing dead in the Louisiana swamp, it only takes someone on the outside to start counting the bodies—and connecting the clues. In the game of love and death, two plus two will always equal suspicion. Will Nova and Jeremiah find their way back to a comfortable life, or will one surrender to a beautiful death?
SIN Looks Good On Us! By Destiny Skai
A man who needs therapy.
A woman who should probably be in jail.
KAIOR has spent three years loving a man who made lying look easy. Just when she thinks she's building a future, one devastating betrayal shatters everything she thought she knew about the life she's been living.
JOKAH has never chased a woman a day in his life.
He never needed to.
In Broward County, his name carries more weight than introductions ever could. The streets respect him, his enemies fear him, and rumors about what happens to the people who cross him have become urban legend.
So, when KAIOR, the one woman who couldn't care less about his money, his power, or his reputation, walks away without looking back, Jokah becomes obsessed with proving that she's different and she's meant to be his.
What starts as unexpected chemistry quickly turns into something far more dangerous as old relationships refuse to die, secrets begin surfacing, and one jealous ex discovers exactly who he's standing in the way of.
As KAIOR gets pulled deeper into Jokah's world, she starts to realize the man chasing her isn't just wealthy and charming. He's exactly who the streets say he is. Because in Jokah's world, loyalty isn't requested...It's expected. And once he decides you're his, walking away may no longer be an option.
Some men chase you with flowers.
Jokah chases you with consequences.
The Switch- Suetta's Story by Brenda Barrett
She was never supposed to fall in love with the man who thought she was someone else.
Suetta Lyons has spent her entire life wishing she had been born into a different family. So when fate brings her face-to-face with the identical twin sister she never knew existed, an outrageous idea changes both their lives forever.
For a few short months, they'll trade places.
Suetta steps into a world filled with warmth, laughter, and the close-knit family she's always longed for. Living as Sunita means sharing a home with Sunita's cousin, architect Owen Fraser—a man she's only heard stories about, yet somehow feels she's known forever.
There is just one problem.
Owen believes she is Sunita, and the powerful feelings he suddenly develops for her leave him confused, conflicted, and questioning everything he thought he knew about the woman he grew up with.
As stolen moments become impossible to resist, Suetta finds herself living the happiest life she has ever known while carrying a secret that could destroy it all. When the truth finally comes to light, will Owen be able to forgive the woman who stole his heart... or will their once-in-a-lifetime love end before it truly has a chance to begin?
Signs of Love: Taurus by T.C. Manson
She learned early to take up as little space as possible. He's about to teach her a different lesson.
Sonia Serrano doesn't do vulnerable. Growing up bouncing between foster placements taught her exactly one rule: make yourself small enough and maybe they'll keep you. It never worked, but it's all she knew. Besides, she's built a good life in DC on her own terms. Her own business, her own townhouse, her own rules...and she doesn't plan on handing anyone the power to take it away.
Wendell isn't trying to take anything. He's an anime-loving, dog-dad with tattoos she doesn't recognize and eyes that stay trained on hers. He's patient in a way nobody in her life has ever been. He's also nowhere near as soft as she thought, not when it counts.
The closer he gets, the harder her instincts fight to keep him out. So when the fear wins, and she pushes him away, she doesn't just lose an amazing man. She loses the first person who ever made staying feel safer than running.
Now she has to decide if she's brave enough to go after what she wants, or if she's going to let the scared little girl inside her win one more time.
Signs of Love: Taurus is a steamy, slow-burn romance full of banter, found family, and a hero who knows exactly what he wants.
Book four in the DMV set of the Signs of Love series. Can be read as a standalone.
If there are any new releases that we missed, please feel free to send them our way and we will share them ASAP.