Simply Cheris. . .

 It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens. You know what else you need to ring in the Christmas season? These books, boo! Check out today's offering of Holi-reads! A historical holiday story of homecoming and second-chance romance by NAACP Image Award Nominee, Beverly Jenkins. In 1883, Lydia Cooper is happily traveling back home to celebrate the simple joys of the holidays when an unexpected complication appears in the all-too-distracting form of Gray Dane, the man she loved as a girl; the man she left behind. Gray, a soldier, is finally returning home too. Seeing Lydia after fifteen years reignites all the temptations from years ago…and also the pain and regret. But as Lydia and Gray make their way home together, they get a chance to mend the past, and rediscover the joy, trust —and passion — of before; to realize that love isn’t just sweeter the second time around, it’s downright decadent. This novella was previously published ...

Sleigh bells bring some glad, glad news! Christmas and New Year's are the time to read some great books. Have you had a chance to check out these stories? Here are today's offerings for you Holiday reads! The ultimate prize this Christmas…  Former beauty queen Waverly Leverve can barely show her face in public after an embarrassing meme goes viral. But now fate and a misdelivered pizza have brought her dreams back to life. Gorgeous bad boy turned business mogul Dominic Crowne wants to sponsor Waverly in a pageant scheduled for Christmas Eve. Waverly vows to keep their arrangement purely professional—but soon their arrangement quickly takes a sensual turn…  Dominic knows that his golden touch can fix almost anything—including Waverly's tilted tiara. Against his own will, Dominic is mesmerized with his stunning new client. He's falling for the pageant princess and the vulnerable yet sexy woman within. But when Waverly's ultimate goal finally comes within reach, ca...

It's that time of the year. Chestnuts are roasting, Donny Hathaway is on repeat. It's the holidays! And there are so many love stories that capture the magic of the season. Over the next few weeks, allow me to flood your world with some of these amazing stories. For today's offering, check out these titles! Make your heart merry and unwrap these delightful stories of seasonal romance . . .   A CHRISTMAS LAYOVER Rochelle Alers  When Navy SEAL Captain Noah Crawford and elementary school teacher Sierra Nelson meet on a plane headed east from San Diego, they’re glad to pass the time in friendly conversation. But when a freak storm grounds them, Sierra offers Noah a place to spend the night—with her extended family, all of whom assume they’re a couple. And as the holiday spirit infuses every moment they spend together, they both begin to wonder if a relationship is a special gift they didn’t expect . . .   THE CHRISTMAS LESSON Cheris Hodges  Kayla Matthews isn’t ...

I was on Twitter yesterday, before all of the election results came in, and came across a link that has me questioning publishing and the gate keepers.  What did you see, you ask?  This shit :  Another rejection for another novel, another, longer quote from a legendary editor: The characters, especially the main character, just do not seem Asian enough. They act like everyone else. They don’t eat Korean food, they don’t speak Korean, and you have to think about ways to make these characters more ’ethnic,’ more different. We get too much of the minutiae of [the characters’] lives and none of the details that separate Koreans and Korean-Americans from the rest of us. For example, in the scene when she looks into the mirror, you don’t show how she sees her slanted eyes, or how she thinks of her Asianness. Huh? Now, this is from an article written by author Leonard Chang. Not only is Chang an author, he's a TV writer for a show you may have seen, Justified.  And he...

*Spoiler Alert-Who runs the world? Girls! (In my Beyonce Voice) The last time we saw Thor, the God of Thunder, it is was in the clunky movie, Thor: The Dark World.  In the latest movie, Thor is back and proves two things, men ain't shit and women run the world. Now, I'm not going to give the entire movie away. But take note of this, women kick his ass the whole movie. And what makes it even sweeter is one of the women putting the smack down on Thor is a black woman.  Valkyrie, played by the amazing Tessa Thompson, steps on the scene kicking ass, including Thor's.  And she's drunk while doing it. Get it girl!  I've decided, along with my movie partner Erica, that Tessa Thompson is living my BEST life. She got to kiss Michael B. Jordan in Creed and she had so much chemistry with Chris Hemsworth that it nearly melted the screen. We love and hate her at the same time.  What made the Valkyrie character so amazing, as my friend K.D. King and I discussed at le...