Empowered Narratives: Black Voices in Fiction

When No One Is Watching

A Thriller

By: Alyssa Cole
Narrated by: Susan Dalian & Jay Aaseng
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

“This is a must-read thriller rooted deeply in Brooklyn and its racist past. As the neighborhood makes plans for the annual block party, Sydney ends up battling more than the microaggressions from her new white neighbors. When her best friends go missing, her mom's prized garden is threatened, and a fake meter reader breaks into her home, she... Read more

The Rage of Dragons

The Burning: Book #1

By: Evan Winter
Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
Length: 16 hours 15 minutes

Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this blockbuster debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war, and the young man who will become his people's only hope for survival.

Winner of the Reddit/Fantasy Award for Best Debut Fantasy Novel

The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable war for almost two hundred years. The lucky ones are... Read more

The Fires of Vengeance

The Burning: Book #2

By: Evan Winter
Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
Length: 15 hours 32 minutes

In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this "relentlessly gripping, brilliant" epic fantasy series from a breakout author (James Islington).

Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a... Read more

Only For The Week

By: Natasha Bishop
Narrated by: J. Shani Michaels & Winston James
Length: 7 hours 3 minutes

“This beautiful story is about black love, family dynamics, overcoming familial trauma, and realizing your worth. Winston James and J. Shani Michaels brought Janelle and Rome to life so vividly that it felt like having a telenovela play out in my ears. The new traditional pub version of OFTW also has the bonus epilogue that was previously on her... Read more

The Dating Playbook

By: Farrah Rochon
Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
Length: 9 hours 3 minutes

When a personal trainer agrees to fake date her client, all rules are out the window in this delightful romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Boyfriend Project!

When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor... Read more

The Boyfriend Project

By: Farrah Rochon
Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming
Length: 9 hours 41 minutes

“Smart, steamy, and fun! I listened to this one through Libro.FM and loved everything from the author's voice to the female friendships to the recognition that internet fame is an emotional burden. (I was also deeply amused by the fact that the male lead had lived/worked in Vienna, in the building locals affectionately refer to as "The Toilet... Read more

The Better Half

A Novel

By: Alli Frank & Asha Youmans
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 11 hours 35 minutes

“Charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and honest, The Better Half celebrates the absurdity and joy in life, and does so with an enviable grace and good heart.” —Mindy KalingFrom comedy writing duo Alli Frank and Asha Youmans comes The Better Half, a sidesplitting spin on reaching the pinnacle of life, only to stare down a slippery slope on the other... Read more

Play to Win

A Novel

By: Jodie Slaughter
Narrated by: Lacy Laurel
Length: 7 hours 51 minutes

Jodie Slaughter's latest rom-com, Play to Win, is a sizzling romance where a winning lottery ticket is meant to be a new start but instead becomes a second chance at love.

Miriam Butler’s life is going nowhere in the slowest, most excruciating way possible. Stuck in the same barely-paying job she’s had since she was sixteen and spending every... Read more

Small Worlds

By: Caleb Azumah Nelson
Narrated by: Caleb Azumah Nelson
Length: 7 hours 23 minutes

Set over the course of three summers, this novel follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain path—a university degree, a move out of home—but when he decides instead to follow his first... Read more

Delicious Monsters

By: Liselle Sambury
Narrated by: Sandra Okuboyejo
Length: 15 hours 11 minutes

“A haunted house thriller packed with cryptic mystery, dark humor, and bone-chilling twists.” —Ryan Douglass, New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston

The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this “genuinely terrifying” (School Library Journal, starred review) psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating... Read more

Where it Rains in Color

By: Denise Crittendon
Narrated by: Mia Ellis
Length: 15 hours 37 minutes

Lileala has just been named the Rare Indigo—beauty among beauties—and is about to embrace her stardom, until something threatens to change her whole lifestyle and turn the planet of Swazembi upside down.



Colonized by the descendants of Earth's West African Dogon Tribe, the planet of Swazembi is a blazing, color-rich utopia and famous vacation... Read more

Tinderbox

By: W.A. Simpson
Narrated by: Ruthie Bowles
Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

A tinderbox, three huge hounds within, and an underground kingdom of old magic. Fans of Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black, myth and magic, fairy tales and fantasy will love the dark adventures of the Riven Isles. Isbet returns home to find the witch who raised her murdered and her prized possession, the Tinderbox, stolen. She discovers a common man... Read more

A Sweet Lowcountry Proposal

A Novel

By: Preslaysa Williams
Narrated by: Carmen Jewel Jones
Length: 8 hours 10 minutes

Preslaysa Williams, author of the “emotionally stirring debut” A Lowcountry Bride (Oprah Daily), returns to the Lowcountry with a heartwarming story about a second chance romance.
It was supposed to be the happiest day of Jaslene Simmons’ life, the day she’d say “I do” to Marcus Clark. But when her sister dies in a tragic accident everything... Read more

Someday, Maybe

By: Onyi Nwabineli
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • A BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB PICK • A LIBRARYREADS PICK

“If you are someone who gravitates toward emotional gut punch reads, allow me to introduce you to this spectacular debut…”—BuzzFeed

Here are three things you should know about my husband: He was the great love of my life despite his penchant for going... Read more

Sister Friends Forever

By: Kimberla Lawson Roby
Narrated by: Maria Howell, Mela Lee, Stacey Singleton & Inger Tudor
Length: 8 hours 46 minutes

This emotional novel from a New York Times bestselling author follows four lifelong friends as each faces a crisis in family, love, and forgiveness. 

Serena, Michelle, Kenya, and Lynette have been best friends since they were small children. And as sister friends forever, they have always been there for one another, through good times and bad,... Read more

Behind Her Lives

By: Briana Cole
Narrated by: Diana Blue
Length: 9 hours 28 minutes

Secrets, suspense, and a missing sister—who may not want to be found—are at the center of Briana Cole's latest enthralling multicultural drama. Will appeal to fans of psychological suspense, gritty drama, and listeners of De'Nesha Diamond, Kiki Swinson, Saundra, Wahida Clark, Ashley & JaQuavis, Victoria Christopher Murray, and Shelly... Read more

Hold You Down

A Novel

By: Tracy Brown
Narrated by: Patryce Williams
Length: 12 hours 10 minutes

Hold You Down is an edgy novel from rising star Tracy Brown about the perils of love and the ties that bind…

New York City. Late 1980s to early 1990s.

Mercy and Lenox Howard have always only had each other. Growing up on the mean streets of Harlem with an absentee mother meant that they had to have each other's backs. Now young, smart mothers they... Read more

Queenie

By: Candice Carty-Williams
Narrated by: Shvorne Marks
Length: 9 hours 45 minutes

“This was excellent on so many levels. It's been comped as a Bridget Jones + Americanah. But, I think that description does all three books a disservice. Queenie does have some LOL moments but it's has many more serious moments and issues. I listened to this and much of the listen, I was stressed as AF for Queenie. I listened to her make terrible... Read more

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

An Oprah’s Book Club Novel

By: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton & Prentice Onayemi
Length: 29 hours 48 minutes

“This book really won me over with its brilliant writing and entrancing story. Honestly, I was intimidated by the length and title (especially as someone who doesn't love poetry) but the blurb was so good and it sounded right up my alley. The narrators, Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton & Prentice Onayemi, all have gorgeous voices and immediately... Read more

Memphis: A Read with Jenna Pick

A Novel

By: Tara M. Stringfellow
Narrated by: Karen Murray, Adenrele Ojo & Tara Stringfellow
Length: 9 hours 23 minutes

“Centering Black joy above all, Stringfellow’s life-affirming debut follows three generations of unforgettable women in a gifted but tested family. Readers will cry, laugh, and sing. I hope we read Stringfellow for a long, long time. Read more