Previously published as part of an anthology. Cody Everett stopped celebrating Christmas when he lost his parents to an icy road at eighteen. Ever since, he lets the holidays pass as any other time of year. He figures he’ll play a few board games, hit a bar or two for an easy pickup if he gets lonely, and he doesn’t have to worry about his twin brother wanting to do the family thing because Beau feels just as he does about this time year. Everything changes when he rescues Kaleena Morgan. Kaleena can’t imagine finding happiness after a painful loss, but she’s decided to rewrite her life and the Christmas holiday, and she’s determined to drag Cody into old and new experiences too. When she shows up at his house unannounced with big plans for the two of them, will he welcome her, or run her off his ranch? ** interracial romance, erotic romance, multicultural romance, holiday, Christmas, bwwm
Previously published. When Bryah's classroom is held hostage by a wayward student, it's Gavin Crain who comes to the rescue. Bryah is immediately attracted to the ranger with eyes as clear blue as a Texas sky, but Bryah's been devistated before by the murder of her cop fiance not too long ago. Dating another man in law enforcement seems too much to ask for. On top of that, Gavin's got his own baggage in the form of his beautiful ex sister-in-law who's obviously in love with him. Bryah's not sure what Gavin feels for this woman given she was his high school sweetheart before his brother snatched her for himself. With both having obstacles in the way of their growing relationship, can Gavin and Bryah teach each other how to love again? Keywords: ** interracial romance, multicultural romance, bwwm, contemporary romance
Leila lost everything the day she found out her fiancé was a no good lying cheater. She had ignored all the signs, but the truth wouldn’t stay hidden for long. Before she could come to terms with her broken heart, her life went off the tracks—literally. A train derailment left Leila with no memory of her past or herself. She’s got no one—except Night Foster. Night made a decision he might live to regret. The day he walked into Leila’s hospital room and realized she had lost the only people who loved her, he knew he had to change things. And so he lied. He told Leila he was her best friend and began the long walk to recovery with her. Night ignored his own grieving heart to help Leila. It doesn’t matter if she learns the truth about who he is and begins to hate him. He’s not worthy of a woman like her anyway. He’ll get her to a stronger place and then move on. Unfortunately, his heart—and Leila—won’t let that happen. **interracial romance, contemporary romance, multicultural romance, bwwm, erotic romance
The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of screen music and sound studies, addressing the ways in which music and sound interact with forms of narrative media such as television, videogames, and film. The inclusive framework of "screen music and sound" allows readers to explore the intersections and connections between various types of media and music and sound, reflecting the current state of scholarship and the future of the field. A diverse range of international scholars have contributed an impressive set of forty-six chapters that move from foundational knowledge to cutting edge topics that highlight new key areas. The companion is thematically organized into five cohesive areas of study: Issues in the Study of Screen Music and Sound—discusses the essential topics of the discipline Historical Approaches—examines periods of historical change or transition Production and Process—focuses on issues of collaboration, institutional politics, and the impact of technology and industrial practices Cultural and Aesthetic Perspectives—contextualizes an aesthetic approach within a wider framework of cultural knowledge Analyses and Methodologies—explores potential methodologies for interrogating screen music and sound Covering a wide range of topic areas drawn from musicology, sound studies, and media studies, The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound provides researchers and students with an effective overview of music’s role in narrative media, as well as new methodological and aesthetic insights.
An incisive, intersectional essay anthology that celebrates and examines romance and romantic media through the lens of Black readers, writers, and cultural commentators, edited by Book Riot columnist and librarian Jessica Pryde. Romantic love has been one of the most essential elements of storytelling for centuries. But for Black people in the United States and across the diaspora, it hasn't often been easy to find Black romance joyfully showcased in entertainment media. In this collection, revered authors and sparkling newcomers, librarians and academicians, and avid readers and reviewers consider the mirrors and windows into Black love as it is depicted in the novels, television shows, and films that have shaped their own stories. Whether personal reflection or cultural commentary, these essays delve into Black love now and in the past, including topics from the history of Black romance to social justice and the Black community to the meaning of desire and desirability. Exploring the multifaceted ways love is seen—and the ways it isn't—this diverse array of Black voices collectively shines a light on the power of crafting happy endings for Black lovers. Jessica Pryde is joined by Carole V. Bell, Sarah Hannah Gomez, Jasmine Guillory, Da’Shaun Harrison, Margo Hendricks, Adriana Herrera, Piper Huguley, Kosoko Jackson, Nicole M. Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Christina C. Jones, Julie Moody-Freeman, and Allie Parker in this collection.
In Laughing Mad , Bambi Haggins looks at how this transition occurred in a variety of media and shows how this integration has paved the way for black comedians and their audiences to affect each other. Historically, African American performers have been able to use comedy as a pedagogic tool, interjecting astute observations about race relations while the audience is laughing. And yet, Haggins makes the convincing argument that the potential of African American comedy remains fundamentally unfulfilled as the performance of blackness continues to be made culturally digestible for mass consumption.
NOW FEATURING A NEW AFTERWORD, "PANDEMIC ETHICS" From two eminent scholars comes a provocative examination of bioethics and our culture’s obsession with having it all without paying the price. Shockingly, the United States has among the lowest life expectancies and highest infant mortality rates of any high-income nation, yet, as Amy Gutmann and Jonathan D. Moreno show, we spend twice as much per capita on medical care without insuring everyone. A “remarkable, highly readable journey” (Judy Woodruff ) sure to become a classic on bioethics, Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die explores the troubling contradictions between expanding medical research and neglecting human rights, from testing anthrax vaccines on children to using brain science for marketing campaigns. Providing “a clear and compassionate presentation” (Library Journal) of such complex topics as radical changes in doctor-patient relations, legal controversies over in vitro babies, experiments on humans, unaffordable new drugs, and limited access to hospice care, this urgent and incisive history is “required reading for anyone with a heartbeat” (Andrea Mitchell).
Winner, Section on the Sociology of Emotions Outstanding Recent Contribution (Book) Award, American Sociological Association, 2016 Charles Horton Cooley Award for Recent Book, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, 2017 Best Publication Award, Section on Body and Embodiment, American Sociological Association (ASA), 2018 The Color Of Love reveals the power of racial hierarchies to infiltrate our most intimate relationships. Delving far deeper than previous sociologists have into the black Brazilian experience, Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman examines the relationship between racialization and the emotional life of a family. Based on interviews and a sixteen-month ethnography of ten working-class Brazilian families, this provocative work sheds light on how families simultaneously resist and reproduce racial hierarchies. Examining race and gender, Hordge-Freeman illustrates the privileges of whiteness by revealing how those with “blacker” features often experience material and emotional hardships. From parental ties, to sibling interactions, to extended family and romantic relationships, the chapters chart new territory by revealing the connection between proximity to whiteness and the distribution of affection within families. Hordge-Freeman also explores how black Brazilian families, particularly mothers, rely on diverse strategies that reproduce, negotiate, and resist racism. She frames efforts to modify racial features as sometimes reflecting internalized racism, and at other times as responding to material and emotional considerations. Contextualizing their strategies within broader narratives of the African diaspora, she examines how Salvador’s inhabitants perceive the history of the slave trade itself in a city that is referred to as the “blackest” in Brazil. She argues that racial hierarchies may orchestrate family relationships in ways that reflect and reproduce racial inequality, but black Brazilian families actively negotiate these hierarchies to assert their citizenship and humanity.
