Grieving for What Could Have Been

Continuing to celebrate Black love, Black joy, Black triumphs over adversity, Black friendship, family, community is one of my coping strategies for processing anxiety. Here are three satisfying reads for encouragement and pleasure.

[front cover art of a trade paperback book: profile view of two adults embracing; only the bottom half of a woman's face is visible]

Courage to Love Again by Kimberly Brown
contemporary romance with Christian elements
Black Odyssey Media, April 2024

After a series of devastating losses, Pasha Sinclaire is grieving, anxious, and depressed. Enter Callum Ellis, successful entrepreneur and seeming guardian angel. Years of emotional abuse and the undercutting of her sense of self-worth make it hard for Pasha to believe Callum is as decent as he appears to be. She’ll need to continue working on healing herself before she can trust again. Forever friends, family by blood and by choice help her navigate this bumpy path back to her true self.

Light-hearted moments weave throughout heavy themes on loss and trauma along with occasional profanity and numerous references to spiritual beliefs, creating a familiar real-life vibe.

From chapter ten:

Sometimes, heartbreak is a setup for a hell of a breakthrough.

Content advisory: fertility struggles, death of a child, grief, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation

[two books: Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon standing spine-up next to Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi]

Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi

contemporary romance

Harper Collins, July 2024

This clever spin on a love triangle explores the tension between emotional risk, reward, and the consequences of speaking one’s truth versus staying safe and quiet. It’s also funny, sexy, and seamlessly integrates many of the most demanding elements of modern life while providing sharp commentary on the impacts of social media.

Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon

contemporary romance

Forever, June 2024

Location. Location. Location.

Themes of place and time weave throughout this love story that’s both whimsical and substantial. Sibling dynamics, assorted expressions of grief, and feeling stretched too thin between one’s obligations and desires make Pardon My Frenchie unapologetically delightful, insightful reading.

Note: The first review was written before Tuesday, November 5, 2025 and the other two were written after that.

Comments

New Arrivals Giving BRBF Vibes + BAC Issues

Even as my friends and I enjoyed a fantastic community event yesterday in and around the Bowie Branch of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, there was envy in my heart for all of the attendees and participants at the Black Romance Book Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. Reports of issues of crowding just made me happy for the event organizers' success while they posted apologies and corrective strategies for crowd control during the last day. In the meantime, the new arrivals shelves at the closest library in the neighboring county offered a variety of books by BRBF authors. "Where the Melanated Are Celebrated" indeed. [9 books, from left to right: Positive Obsession, Communion, Big Girl Blitz (atop a bookstack), The Started Ex, Fire Sword & Sea, Leave Your Mess at Home, Archangel's Eternity, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, First Sign of Danger] Currently reading Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Mo...

When What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funny

Need to laugh out loud? To feel inspired? To feel seen? To feel encouraged to pursue your heart's most ambitious desires despite overwhelming odds against succeeding? Read Zarna Garg's memoir, which offers an intimate, compelling coming of age, immigrant's journey, family saga, and keen observations about humans and life as experienced by a hilarious, intrepid individual. [front cover of "Zarna Garg, This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir" showing the Statue of Liberty holding the author in her arms with the New York City skyline in the lower half of the background] This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg non-fiction memoir Ballantine Books, April 2025 Universal themes of family love and family conflict, support and abandonment, grieving as a years' long process with lulls, parenting and being parented (or not), finding your people in friendship, romance, community presented and dissected with the author's sharp wit ...

The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen Delivers All the Feels

Black love. Black joy. Black drama. Humanity in its vast melanin array. [front cover of a paperback ARC for The Best Man: Unfinished Business; silhouette of three adults] The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen adult contemporary fiction with romantic elements Storehouse Voices, July 2025 First, dedicated fans of The Best Man franchise and its beloved characters need not fear how they’re treated in this first of three novels. In fact. One thread of Harper’s storyline seems to reflect the real-life author/screenwriter/director’s battle to protect and maintain the integrity of The Best Man universe. Mission accomplished. Second, once readers - fans or not - start this novel they won’t want to stop. The compulsion to re/watch The Best Man movies and limited series and maybe even to reread this book while anticipating the release of book two in 2026 will prove difficult to resist. Who are you? Who are your people?...

Search This Blog