Mini-Reviews of 2025: Captain of All Pleasure, Benjar, Well-Read Black Girl, and I’m Still Here

Genres: Historical Romance
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: June 1, 2023
Source: Owned
Format: ebook

In her exhilarating debut novel, Kresley Cole captures the drama, passion, and boundless adventure of the high seas—as one fiery lass finds herself caught in a tide of torrid romance.

Raised as a free spirit aboard her American sea captain father’s majestic clipper ship, willful Nicole Lassiter has never encountered an obstacle she couldn’t overcome—until she meets Captain Derek Sutherland. His sizzling kisses leave her longing, but after they share a night of passion, his subsequent disdain makes her blood boil. Nicole vows to take her revenge—by helping her father beat Sutherland in a high-stakes competition: the Great Circle Race from England to Australia.

Nicole’s scheme is thrown overboard after her father is wrongly imprisoned, yet she remains undaunted—taking to the high seas with her father’s ship. But a storm wrecks her plans, and she finds herself a virtual prisoner aboard Sutherland’s vessel. And while her mind tells her she should escape, her body urges her to surrender.

Genres: Sci-fi Romance (Alien)
Publisher:  Self Published
Publication Date: September 1, 2022
Source: Everand
Format: Audiobook

A charming alien. An adventurous female. An unexpected snowstorm… and only one bed.

Benjar learned at an early age to use his wits to live and his charm to ease his path – and hide his secrets. Even the bond he forms with his military brothers doesn’t completely soothe his troubled soul.

Inspired by his commander’s recent acquisition of a human bride, Benjar decides to find a mate for himself – a calm, nurturing woman who will bring peace to his restless spirit. Instead, he’s irresistibly drawn to a pretty, impetuous female.

No one seems to realize that Ruby has grown up – neither her loving but overprotective older sister nor the men in their small town. But as anxious as she is to find love and adventure, being taken from her bed in the middle of the night by a huge, feline alien isn’t what she anticipated.

Neither of them is who they expect. But when they’re stranded together in an isolated cabin, they might just discover they’ve both found exactly what they need.

Each book in the Seven Brides series features a different couple and may be read as a standalone, but the books do link together. This sweet and steamy series is intended for mature readers.

Genres: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
Source: Library
Format: e-book, Audiobook

An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.

Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging can stick with readers the rest of their lives–but it doesn’t come around as frequently for all of us. In this timely anthology, “well-read black girl” Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black female writers and creative voices to shine a light on how we search for ourselves in literature, and how important it is that everyone–no matter their gender, race, religion, or abilities–can find themselves there. Whether it’s learning about the complexities of femalehood from Their Eyes Were Watching God, seeing a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, each essay reminds us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her incredible book-club-turned-online-community Well-Read Black Girl, in this book, Edim has created a space where black women’s writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world, and ourselves.

Contributors include: Jesmyn Ward (Sing Unburied Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Zinzi Clemmons (What We Lose), N. K. Jemisin (The Fifth Season), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Nicole Dennis-Benn (Here Comes the Sun), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and more.

Genres: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Convergent Books / Random House
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
Source: Library
Format: e-book / Audiobook

From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value “diversity” in their mission statements, I’m Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric–from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness–if we let it–can save us all.