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SHE HAD IT COMING Dolores Reese is married to two different men at the same time in two different cities and loving it until her jealous best friend spills the beans. From the moment Dolores Reese met Floyd Watson, she knew with certainty that she and Floyd were soul mates. So when one bad decistion sends and innocent Floyd to prison for life, dolores pays clandestine visits and promises to stick by him - no matter what. While floyd's world stands still, dolores builds a life with Paul, a man who promises her the kind of future she's a;ways wanted. Dolores builds a life with Paul, a man who promises her the kind of guture she's always wanted. Dolores is sure she can continue to visit Floyd without revealing that she's also married to another man. wher her best friend Valerie as her confidante and accoumplice, dolores hopes to pull off the ultimate deception, but if she isn't careful, Dolores just might find out what happens when love, dishonesty, and dangerous jealousy collide... COMING SEPTEMBER 2008 |
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DELIVER ME FROM EVIL
But twelve years later, J.R. has become obsessed with building his video store empire and is taking his wife for granted. Feeling trapped and alone in a dead-end marriage, Christine finds herself tempted by her old haunts and the people she thought she left behind long ago. Suddenly, without J.R. even realizing it, their seemingly unshakeable bond has started fraying at the seams—and Christine will do anything to break free.
Enter Wade Eddie Fisher, a bad boy with good looks from Christine’s past. Wade left their hometown long ago to follow his Hollywood dreams, but now he’s back, penniless, and as tempting as ever. Even though Wade is far from dependable, he offers Christine something she can’t seem to resist. Soon she’s immersed in a sultry affair, and before she knows it, she’s concocted a scheme so risky that it promises to deliver everything she could possibly want—or shatter the lives of everyone close to her… |
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BORROW TROUBLE “Nightmare in Paradise” by Mary Monroe
“Bad Luck Shadow” by Victor McGlothin
Bad luck’s been shadowing handsome Baltimore Floyd ever since he hopped a train out of New York City. On the run from some of Harlem’s baddest hitmen, Baltimore’s luck takes a turn for the worse after he murders a big-time white businessman and gets thrown off the train in Kansas City. Alone and on the lam, Baltimore’s got only one shot to get out alive—the biggest heist in KC’s history. Lucky for him, Henry Taylor’s got his back, and he’ll have to use every trick he knows to save Baltimore from going down for good…
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GOD DON'T PLAY Audio interview with Bill Thompson on Eye On Books
Authors In Your Pocket(tm) Podcast Featuring Mary Monroe Discussing "God Don't Play" Click here to watch and listen to the graphically enhanced podcast! Bookclub In Your Pocket(tm) Podcast Featuring Mary Monroe and the RAWSISTAZ Literary Group Discussing "God Don't Play" Click here to watch and listen to the graphically enhanced podcast! |
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IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING
Twenty-eight-year-old Trudy Bell has never been outside her home state of California, never worked anywhere but the family liquor store—and, for the past decade, never been with any man other than James Young. Now her over-protective, emotionally manipulative father has persuaded her to commit to James and get engaged. But despite the dull, hardworking lifestyle she and James have in common, their ideas of happiness are worlds apart.
Facing a future of cooking, cleaning, and unsatisfying sex with a husband who spends his evenings slumped in front of the TV leaves Trudy deeply depressed. Maybe because of her matronly appearance, she has never attracted, or had the confidence to go after, the passionate relationships and experiences she craves. But with a few months of singlehood left, Trudy decides to make some changes—starting with a new job.
When Trudy lands a secretarial position at a travel agency, she feels like a new woman. And her warm, friendly personality soon wins her the adoration of her colleagues—with one exception. Ann Oliver is a high-level manager and the only other African American employee. She’s also an extravagant snob who despises the low-income black experience Trudy represents—especially when their white co-workers get the two of them confused. But Trudy keeps her cool. No one is going to ruin her new life. In fact, she’s found a way to make it even better. As the secretary who processes the agency’s bills, Trudy has easy access to company credit cards—including Ann’s.
At first, Trudy’s deception involves a few high-priced lunches—but it soon expands to include cash advances, a dramatic makeover, and weekend “business trips” to exotic locations. And when Ann suddenly resigns, Trudy’s spree goes to the next level. Now she’s leading a glamorous double-life—Ann’s life—complete with a secret apartment where she entertains the men she meets at upscale bars. But their worlds collide the night Trudy brings home the wrong man—one who has an angry score to settle. With Ann. Now, unless Trudy can convince him she’s not the woman he’s after, she may pay the highest price of all…
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RED LIGHT WIVES Monroe casts her eye on six extremely different women—haughty and humble,
beautiful and plain, young and not-so-young, black, white, Latina, and origins unknown. Lula Mae,
Ester, Megan, Rosalee, Helen and Rockelle are “colleagues”—in the world’s oldest profession—and
despite their surface differences, all have a gift for laughing in the face of hardship. “Managed”
by Clyde, who calls the women his “wives,” they do what wives are expected to do—take care of him,
not to mention his young daughter, Keisha, but see no way out. That is until one day, a daring act
of defiance changes everything.
Audio interview with Bill Thompson on Eye On Books
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GOD STILL DON'T LIKE UGLY
Things start to fall apart at—of all places—Annette’s own pre-wedding celebration, where a guest reveals that the beautiful bride-to-be once turned tricks for a living. When her fiancé pulls a disappearing act, Annette reunites with Pee Wee Davis—the man who has been her on-again, off-again sweetheart since childhood. It’s not a great life, but it’s a pretty good one.
Yet Annette still holds the secret of her ex-friend Rhoda’s murderous past deep in her heart. She knows it’s a burden that will torment her until she can put it to rest. So when Rhoda suddenly walks back into her life, Annette must decide what she should believe—and what she can forgive—as she tries to salvage the one relationship that she just can’t seem to let go…
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THE UPPER ROOM
With her God-fearing neighbors watching her every step, it's all Mama Ruby can do to stay ahead of the law. One desperate night, she flees to Goons, a dirt-poor migrant settlement in the Florida Everglades—and, strange to say—it feels something like home. There's folks she likes (the low-down, wild-eyed Fast Black), folks she mostly loves (like Big Red, her law enforcement “connection”), and more than a few folks she just plain can't stand. Through it all, she remains downright nuts about the one gift God gave her—her precious daughter Maureen.
But growing up with a mama like Ruby is enough to make any half-sane girl wish for
something—anything—else. And when Maureen gets the chance to explore the “real” world, you can bet
she's going to take it…and run like hell.
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GONNA LAY DOWN MY BURDENS
It’s not that Carmen hasn’t had her share of boozy pick-ups—only that they can’t compare to the one steamy night she spent with the man she’s loved since they were both kids. Now a local cop, all-too-fine Chester Sheffield keeps showing up in Carmen’s life, wanting to do something about the feelings they obviously share. But that would mean abandoning her “boyfriend” Burl Tupper, and that’s something Carmen just can’t do. Ever since a foolish teenage prank of Carmen’s landed Burl in a wheelchair, she’s been trying to make it up to him. When Carmen doesn’t take her chance with Chester, Desiree does. And although the women’s friendship stays solid, greater challenges await.
On a sultry, reckless moonlit night, Carmen commits a desperate crime of passion, and, with Desiree, hits the road running. But she can’t run from the truth. Now she has two choices—a life on the lam, or a return to Belle Helene, the place where it all began…and the only place Carmen can lay down her burdens and seize her one true chance at love and redemption.
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GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY
At the heart of the story is Annette Goode, a shy, awkward, overweight child who keeps a terrible secret. Mr. Boatwright, the boarder her hardworking mother has taken in, abuses her daily. Frightened and ashamed, Annette withdraws into a world of books and food.
But the summer Annette turns thirteen, something incredible happens: Rhoda Nelson chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, generous Rhoda, who is everything Annette is not—gorgeous, slim, and worldly—welcomes Annette into the heart of her eccentric family, which includes her handsome and dignified father; her lovely, fragile, “Muh'Dear;” her brooding, dangerous brother Jock; and her colorful white relatives—half-crazy Uncle Johnny, sultry Aunt Lola, and scary, surly Granny Goose.
With Rhoda's help, Annette survives adolescence and blossoms as a woman. But when her beautiful best friend makes a stunning confession about a horrific childhood crime, Annette's world will never be the same.
Set on the streets, porches and parlors of 1960s and 1970 Ohio, God Don't Like Ugly sparkles with
clear-eyed wit and uncompromising honesty. Readers will find this remarkable new novel full of
laughter, inspiration, and pure enjoyment.
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