AALBC.com's 20 Best-Selling eBooks of 2013

Best Selling eBooks: #1 to #10 • #2 to #20

#1 - The Perfect Marriage
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Print Length: 193 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (January 8, 2013)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group

The #20 Best-Selling eBook in 2012

Denise and Derrek Shaw are the perfect American couple. Happily married for 15 years, they have a wonderful daughter, successful careers, and a beautiful house. They also have a shocking secret: a dangerous addiction to drugs. Denise and Derrek attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, but with Denise's job becoming more stressful, it is the drugs that allow her to get through her long days. Then Derrek, who has been clean for weeks, relapses when there is a family tragedy. Once soul mates, this husband and wife are quickly losing the immense love they once felt for each other. With her parents spiraling out of control, their daughter, Mackenzie, makes an unexpected move to take matters into her own hands. Is there still hope and a final chance to save the Shaw family?

#2 - A House Divided
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by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Print Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 7, 2013)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group

Power List Best-Selling Book - Fall 2013

THE 10TH REVEREND CURTIS BLACK NOVEL!

Life is close to perfect for Charlotte and Curtis Black--except that their son Matthew's girlfriend, Racquel, is eight months pregnant and Racquel's mother, Mona, and Charlotte can't stand each other.

On the day of Racquel's baby shower, Charlotte and Mona have a major blow up and the stress sends Racquel into early labor. Curtis is displeased with Charlotte's behavior, something that slowly but surely drives a new wedge between them. Charlotte finds herself spending just a little too much time with Racquel's father, and it's becoming harder and harder for her to resist his seductive comments.

At the same time, Curtis is consumed with church business, including the addition of two new associate ministers. Unbeknownst to Curtis, one of the new ministers secretly connects with someone from Curtis's past and sets out to destroy him so he can become the new senior pastor of Deliverance Outreach.

Increasingly furious with his mother, Matthew gives Charlotte an ultimatum--treat Racquel and her mom with respect or she'll be cut off from seeing the baby altogether. This sends Charlotte down a road of revenge. Once again, the Black household is torn apart, and it will take a miracle for anyone to recover.

The Reverend's Wife (A Reverend Curtis Black Novel)

#3 - The Reverend's Wife
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by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Print Length: 337 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 1, 2012)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group

The #1 Best-Selling eBook in 2012

From New York Times best-selling author Kimberla Lawson Roby comes the ninth installment in her award-winning Reverend Curtis Black series. It's been months since Reverend Curtis learned that his wife Charlotte had affairs with two different men, and for now, he continues to be cordial and respectful to her. But he's also made it clear that once their son Matthew graduates high school, he will be filing for divorce. Charlotte, on the other hand, continues to do everything possible to make amends in hopes of saving their marriage. Unfortunately, Curtis is ready to move on and is being propositioned by a woman who desperately wants to become the next Mrs. Curtis Black. When the situation heads down a path that is frighteningly shocking, could it be the final blow to this once blessed union?

#4 - Twelve Years a Slave
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by Solomon Northup

Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperPerennial Classics (October 22, 2013)
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers

First published in 1853, Twelve Years a Slave is the narrative of Solomon Northup’s experience as a free man sold into slavery. Northup’s memoir reveals unimaginable details about the slave markets, the horrors of life on a plantation, and the dreadful day-to-day treatment of the slaves from the perspective of a man who lived more than thirty years as a free man before being forcibly enslaved.

Written in the year after Northup was freed and published in the wake of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s story was quickly taken up by abolitionist groups and news organizations as part of the fight against slavery. The book fell into obscurity in later decades, only to be rediscovered in the early 1960’s. In 2013 it was adapted into a feature film entitled 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen and produced by Brad Pitt. Pitt also played a supporting role in the film, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Sarah Paulson.

HarperTorch brings great works of non-fiction and the dramatic arts to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperTorch collection to build your digital library.

#5 - I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang
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by Leonce Gaiter

The #4 Best-Selling eBook in 2012
The #7 Best-Selling eBook in 2011

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

Print Length: 290 pages
Publisher: Legba Books (July 7, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

In the waning days of Indian Territory, the multi-racial, teenaged Rufus Buck Gang embarked on a vicious, childish, and deadly 13-day rampage that shocked even this lawless place. Their goal was to take back Indian lands. Based on the true story, this is a tale of how real-life figures "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker, notorious half-black, half-Indian outlaw Cherokee Bill, one-quarter Cherokee "gentlemen bandit" Henry Starr, relative of the notorious Belle Starr, and the worst of them all, half-black, half-Indian Rufus Buck, collided during the summer of 1895. In lawless Indian Territory the end of an era approached.

The U.S. government continued to co-opt Indian land for settlement. Judge Isaac C. Parker's judicial tyranny over 74,000 square miles of Indian Territory was coming to an end. Against this background, the teenaged Rufus Buck Gang embarked on their mad quest to reclaim Indian lands from US settlement. Rufus is guided by a sense of religious mission, by heavenly visions made manifest in the form of the extraordinary, 13 year-old Theodosia Swain. With his angel to guide him, he sets out to do the impossible with a missionary's zeal, a child's anticipation, and a grown man's violence. In "I Dreamt I Was in Heaven," famous, historical figures dance with fictional characters to create a turn-of-the-century tapestry of violence and innocence, love and betrayal, butchery and grace--mirroring and chafing against the backdrop of a burgeoning United States, and a disappearing American West.

#6 - The Usher Board (The Blessed Hands Trilogy)
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by Jerrice Owens

Print Length: 180 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Welcome to Sims Ministries. Where on any given Sunday, you’ll be greeted by an usher. But there’s more than meets the eye to these young gents and a whole 'nother story behind their smile. Handsome playboy Devin will do anything for sex and a one night romp with a stunning bride to be. The super shy William, who is hiding secret, becomes the boy-toy of one of the widowed bench members. And the distinguished Kenneth is at the mercy of an ex who uses a child to get what she wants. Each, however, can always find solace in the comforting words of their spiritual leader. But when the ailing pastor gets caught up in a scandal, it just might bring the church to its knees.

#7 - Awaken
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by Timothy George

Print Length: 268 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: MVP Publishing Group LLC (April 8, 2012)

Thomas Jet is a successful investment banker from Chicago. His life is well ordered until his father dies, and he makes a promise to go on a fateful journey to a family reunion in South Carolina. After Thomas learns his father’s real identity and his involvement with an ancient African secret society, he starts a quest for truth that will change his life forever.

More secrets continue to emerge that force him into the shadowy world of industrial espionage where cartels control the international diamond trade. Thomas is forced to take drastic actions to save his life. Along the way, he discovers the real secret his father was hiding from the powerful forces that are chasing Thomas. A secret they will kill to possess. Every step into his father’s past delves Thomas deeper into his powerful ancestral roots as he and the African secret society search for clues to the location of a vast lost treasure.

Now Thomas is locked in a life-or-death race to find the treasure before the diamond cartel’s agents unravel the secret clues hidden for half a millennium.

#8 - Confessions of a Video Vixen
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by Karrine Steffans

Print Length: 224 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers

The #13 Best-Selling eBook in 2012

Part tell-all, part cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a former video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry - from the physical and emotional abuse that's rampant in the industry, and which marked her own life - to the excessive use of drugs, sex and bling.

Once the sought-after video girl, this sexy siren has helped multi-platinum artists, such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly and LL Cool J, sell millions of albums with her sensual dancing. In a word, Karrine was H-O-T. So hot that she made as much as $2500 a day in videos and was selected by well-known film director F. Gary Gray to co-star in his film, A Man Apart, starring Vin Diesel. But the film and music video sets, swanky Hollywood and New York restaurants and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only touches the surface of Karrine Steffans' life.

Her journey is filled with physical abuse, rape, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and single motherhood - all by the age of 26. By sharing her story, Steffans hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticised industry and help young women avoid the same pitfalls she encountered. If they're already in danger, she hopes to inspire them to find a way to dig themselves out of what she knows first-hand to be a cycle of hopelessness and despair.

#9 - January Jackson and Friends: The Premiere
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by Zonie Felder

Print Length: 183 pages
Publisher: iUniverse (February 7, 2012)

The #7 Best-Selling eBook in 2012

Beautiful women can-and will-stoop to ugly acts in the name of love, lust, and power.

In the face of unspeakable erotic betrayal, no one is safe. Behold how lust and passion can quickly cloud judgment-and how wrong choices will forever change a friendship. These lifelong friends will soon learn that beauty is truly only skin deep as the true ugliness of their souls is revealed by the most horrific of acts and emotions.

As young girls, January, Jasmine, Monica, Charlene, and Terry vowed to be friends forever. As teens, their emerging passions began to test the bonds of their friendship. As adults, lust, deception, and treachery cause their lives to come crashing down. Can their friendship survive the ultimate betrayal?

Their passion for life is what connected them as friends, but now this same passion threatens to break them apart. When the dust settles, who will be left standing and able to pick up the pieces? Can friendship triumph over betrayal?

#10 - Looking For Trouble
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by Trice Hickman

Print Length: 337 pages
Publisher: Kensington Books (October 29, 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

This story fuses the past with the present and takes readers on a journey filled with drama, love, betrayal, and mystery. Looking For Trouble is part of the Unexpected Love Series, which began with Unexpected Interruptions.

Some dreams will test your head and your heart...

John Small may be a successful Wall Street banker, but at heart he's a country boy from the sleepy town of Nedine, South Carolina. John wants to open Nedine s first black-owned bank. But big dreams can bring big problems and John s snooty New York City girlfriend is just the beginning. John is about to learn some hard truths about money, power, love, and loyalty. And when his future, and his family's legacy, is in danger, help will come from where he least expects it...

Alexandria Thornton is a hard-working corporate attorney by day, but she s passionately pursuing her dream as a spoken word artist by night. Frustrated with her career and her lackluster love life, Alexandria s ready to throw in the towel on both that is, until a man from her past reenters her life and changes everything. But her newfound happiness is short-lived when old lovers, lingering secrets, and hidden desires threaten to end it all...