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Ken is twenty-one, hurting people for cash to try to pay his way through college, when he lays eyes on Jimi Lee, the woman who will change the course of his entire life. What's meant to be a one-night stand with the Harvard-bound beauty turns into an explosion of sexual chemistry that neither can quit. And when Jimi Lee becomes pregnant, their two very different worlds collide in ways they never could have anticipated. Passion, infidelity, and raw emotion combine in Eric Jerome Dickey's poignant, erotic portrait of a relationship: the rise, the fall, and the scars⁠—and desire⁠—that never fade. * The New York Times","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781524744052","publication_date":"20200407","publisher":"Penguin Publishing Group","slug":"before-we-were-wicked","subtitle":"","title":"Before We Were Wicked"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC049060","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Romance","score":0.8346,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Women's Fiction","score":0.8334,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Erotica","score":0.8233,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC049060","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Romance","score":0.8346,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Women's Fiction","score":0.8334,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Erotica","score":0.8233,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC031010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Crime Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC049060","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black Romance","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Black Romance","score":0.8346,"slug":"black-romance"},{"label":"Black Women's Fiction","score":0.8334,"slug":"black-women-s-fiction"},{"label":"Black Erotica","score":0.8233,"slug":"black-erotica"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Black Romance","Good for readers interested in book club","Good for fans of Romance"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Eric Jerome Dickey"],"book_id":"9781524745219","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781524745219.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":19.1426,"title":"The Business of Lovers","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781524745219"},{"authors":["Wendy Williams"],"book_id":"9780062268419","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062268419.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":16.9693,"title":"Hold Me in Contempt","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062268419"},{"authors":["Cydney Rax"],"book_id":"9780307460097","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780307460097.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7616,"title":"Brothers and Wives","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780307460097"},{"authors":["Selena Montgomery","Stacey Abrams"],"book_id":"9780593439425","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593439425.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7563,"title":"The Art of Desire","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593439425"},{"authors":["Jerry McGill"],"book_id":"9781542030304","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781542030304.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7528,"title":"Bed Stuy","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781542030304"},{"authors":["Velvet"],"book_id":"9780312375843","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780312375843.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7485,"title":"Naughty","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780312375843"},{"authors":["Trice Hickman"],"book_id":"9780758269065","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780758269065.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7446,"title":"Unexpected Interruptions","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780758269065"},{"authors":["Krystal Marquis"],"book_id":"9780593463369","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593463369.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.7341,"title":"The Davenports: More Than This","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593463369"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:romance novels"],"label":"Romance","score":0.8381,"slug":"romance"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:romance novels"],"label":"Novels","score":0.3853,"slug":"novels"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:crime"],"label":"Crime","score":0.1494,"slug":"crime"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Book Club","score":0.0914,"slug":"book-club"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:thrillers"],"label":"Thrillers","score":0.0838,"slug":"thrillers"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Romance, Crime, Book Club.","Reading lane: Black Romance and Black Women's Fiction.","Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":987,"goodreads_ratings_count":1392,"goodreads_reviews_count":212,"quality_score":0.941}}