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Desert Rose Hook-Ups #1

Being Hospitable

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Some houseguests are more enticing than others...



Kiki Jenkins knows that opening her home to her best friend's younger sister means giving up some solitude. What she doesn't expect is for her new roommate to become temptation in the form of novelty panties and flirty innuendos. But Charley is off limits...for several reasons.

Charley Graham wants to be seen as more than her brother's little sister. And she wants Kiki to do the seeing. Her new internship provides the perfect opportunity. Plan in motion, she's not going to let their close living quarters go to waste.

The arrangement is supposed to be temporary, but as they grow closer a permanent change of address might be in order.

82 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2019

25 people are currently reading
1682 people want to read

About the author

Meka James

20 books285 followers
I'm a stay at home mom of 4 kids and have been happily married to my husband for 11 years and counting. I lead a pretty basic and straightforward life and use writing and reading as my escape.

Best places to find me:

Blog:
http://mekasmusings.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AuthorMekaJames

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/author_meka...


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5 stars
128 (14%)
4 stars
333 (38%)
3 stars
296 (34%)
2 stars
85 (9%)
1 star
19 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
Profile Image for mina reads™️.
642 reviews8,471 followers
June 11, 2020
I’m obsessed with this and my feelings are so hurt because this isn’t a longer story but THE SEXY SAPPHIC GOODNESS OF IT ALL!!

BLACK SAPPHICS!!!

A QUEER TWIST ON THE “BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER” TROPE!!!!

FORCED PROXIMITY TROPE

AND ITS HOTT WE WON!!!! And then we lost cuz it was only 70 pages but still WE WON
Profile Image for gloria .☆゚..
551 reviews3,703 followers
September 17, 2022
➥ 2 Stars *:・゚✧

um 😟😟😟

- no strap
- too much back and forth
- characters were too similar, i would be confused about which pov i was in
- SUCH RANDOM bdsm elements?? like how did we go from “and they were roommates 😛😛” to “be my domme pls and use nipple clamps on me!” and “sure, doll” 💀💀
- mediocre sex
- annoying fmc(s?)
- so many behind cringey situations/dialogues
- i strongly recommend reading the third of this series instead (Being Merry), it was just miles better, promise

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
Profile Image for Bookishrealm.
3,241 reviews6,429 followers
August 7, 2021
I shouldn't have been listening to this book in public place. It was too freaking hot. My only criticism (like everyone else) is that it should have been longer

I'm not sure if I should have listened to this one in a public place. It made me uncomfortable, but in a good way. I haven't read many romance books that are the "best friends brother" trope, but this was definitely a nice sapphic twist. There is also some forced proximity which made it even better. The story focuses on KiKi who is best friends with Kenny. Kenny asks KiKi if his sister can move in with her which at first doesn't seem like a big deal because the women have lived with each other for a while; however, things quickly change and it's clear that the women have an attraction to each other. Let me explain why this book is so important. There are a lot of sapphic romances that exist, but it becomes more limited when you want the leads to be Black and the story written by a Black writer. I lived for everything about this book. The respect that existed between KiKi and Charley. The fact that while KiKi was nervous about Kenny learning of their relationship she still refused to keep Charley a secret. And the sex between these two was HOT. I mean extremely hot and there was a lot of it. I really enjoyed this and it made me really excited to read more by Meka James.
Profile Image for Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud.
Author 2 books757 followers
September 5, 2020
4.5* – Why is this so short? That will be my only complaint. I could stop here but I have good things to say, so I will.

When her best friend Kenny asked her if his younger sister Charley could stay with her for three months – the length of her internship –, Kiki didn’t think twice. She loves Kenny and she’s known Charley forever. Charley has always looked up to Kiki and there’s always been a connection between them, first as kids (Kiki is a few years older) and now as adults. Kenny is very protective of his sister and having a hard time seeing her as an adult whereas the hard time Kiki is having is remembering Charley is off-limits. And presumably straight. And Charley is definitely not interested in making it easier for her.

While I put this in the romance category (on my blog), it could also go in the erotica category. There’s a lot – a lot – of sex. And it’s really hot. It’s also really sweet. Both characters are adorable and their feelings for each other feel genuine from the start. The chemistry is spectacular and the whole thing just made me happy. I love how respectful both women are of the other, and how much Kiki cares for Charley’s relationship with her brother. I love that Charley likes girls and boys and that it’s not an issue. I also love how well she and Kiki fit together, both emotionally and sexually. How bratty and independent Charley is, how forward she is when asking for what she wants. I wasn’t expecting their relationship to veer towards BDSM but it happens so organically that it just makes sense.

Meka James is a new author for me, and Phoenix McKay a new narrator. I enjoyed Ms James’ writing a lot and the narration was excellent, great voice and great rhythm. I’d like more of both, please.
Profile Image for CHAMPAGNE.
302 reviews202 followers
Read
December 23, 2021
dnf @58%

this was dry. the writing, the chemistry, everything was DRY. and that shouldn't be the case when talking about a sapphic smut.


This book is 72 pages long, I could only read until 40. I was not feeling the sexual tension, which sucks because I scoured the internet for this book only for it to end up sitting on my shelf for about a year and two months.

I've been hyping myself up to have to courage to pick this up again but after one year, I think it's finally time I kick this off my shelves. Because me reading this book? just ain't happening.

I want to say I'm sad that I didn't finish this, but fuck that because I'm not!
Profile Image for Evie Drae.
Author 4 books146 followers
July 23, 2020
One thing there quite simply isn’t enough of in this world is good lesbian romance novels. It’s a highly under-represented genre, and one I personally adore. But as we all know painfully well, there’s also a lack of access to authors of color, even in genres positively crying for more quality voices. So to stumble across a phenomenal #wlw story with two well-written Black female leads also written by a Black American woman? Well, I was basically salivating for a taste. And quite the delicious morsel Being Hospitable by Meka James proved to be. 😍

I fell hard and fast for both Kiki and Charley. They are such spunky, well-developed characters. I can sympathize with Kiki so hard (as a nurse, we lead similar hectic and crazy lives/schedules) so reading about her sleep challenges and exhaustion just really hit home for me. I can’t even begin to imagine waking up to Charley’s bouncy, beautiful butt dang near half-naked in my kitchen, even following a good night’s sleep. 😅

But it isn’t just that. These two, despite being written into a novella, are extremely well-rounded characters. Their story and character arcs weave together beautifully to create a true page-turner that will have you skipping potty breaks because you just must see how they handle the next moment together. It’s just one of those stories that carries you with it from page one to done and you don’t even realize you haven’t looked up from your e-reader in 2+ hours.

I recommend this to all lovers of romance, but especially those looking for a quality FF romance with wonderfully diverse and realistic characters that’ll suck you in and leave you wanting more, more, more!
Profile Image for Alex (HEABookNerd).
2,438 reviews
November 13, 2022
I'm trash for a best friend's sibling romance so I jumped on reading BEING HOSPITABLE. This sexy novella was a lot of fun and I really liked both Kiki and Charley. They've known each other for a long time and Charley has been crushing on Kiki but it's only been recently that Kiki has started to see Charley in a whole new light. I loved that Charley just went for it and told Kiki how she felt and while there's a little bit of angst over Charley being Kenny's sister, it's quickly worked through. This is short so it's not overly detailed on the plot but the writing was engaging, it's super spicy with likable characters, and just a really enjoyable read all around.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Favorite Quotes:

Sexy, beautiful, vibrant. Charley was all that and more. She may have been off limits, but damn if I didn’t want her. She was temptation. “This might be over stepping, but… I want to kiss you.”
Profile Image for b.andherbooks.
2,353 reviews1,271 followers
February 24, 2025
what an absolutely delicious novella; super high steam and gets right to it. The tension build up was fast but also deftly interwoven into the knowledge these two have been jones-ing for each other for a while off page. gosh i love meka james.
Profile Image for lauraღ.
2,341 reviews170 followers
May 31, 2021
“You’re being hospitable; I can follow your one rule. I'm an adult, and I know what I want.”

This was too short for me to say anything detailed about it, but omg, I really liked it. It was soooooo cute. I love a brother's best friend romance, especially when done in this way. Kiki and Charley have been friendly for years, having known each other through Charley's over-protective older brother. Charley's starting a new internship, and moves into Kiki's house for convenience, and also decides to finally put the moves on her, after years of pining. On the romance to erotica scale, this does lean more on the erotica side, but it helped that I really liked the characters, and they had really believable chemistry, and there was no insta-love here. They had great banter, and Charley's not-so-subtle seduction techniques were amazing, lol. It was super super sexy, and the epilogue was so cute I squealed a little.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Phoenix McKay, and enjoyed it even more for that reason. Truly, my only complaint is that I wish this was longer, because I could spend hours and hours more with these characters.

Very enjoyable!
Profile Image for Bri Little.
Author 1 book242 followers
June 18, 2020
Short and sexy and fluffy. So cute.
Profile Image for Etta Silby.
66 reviews1 follower
September 20, 2019
I've read every book this author puts out because I am positively O B S E S S E D with her voice and style and the style with which she crafts her characters and stories. When I heard she had a lesbian romance coming out, I went bananas. I knew Ms. James would nail it, and she did! It was utterly divine.

The development of the relationship between Ki and Charley was so seamless and smooth. Sure, they started out as "friends" (or, little sister of a friend, but basically the same thing) but there was some serious tension-packed chemistry between these two that made the transition into romance all the sweeter.

If you dig FF romance, and you want something sweet with a side order of steam, then I highly recommend this read!
Profile Image for Tara.
783 reviews372 followers
November 19, 2020
Being Hospitable is told in the first person, shifting back and forth between Kiki and Charley’s perspectives. They’re differentiated well enough that I could keep track of whose perspective we were following at any given time.

There’s a lot of sex and not a lot of plot to this story, which was perfect by me. I was looking for something to distract me from the bad news in the world and this did a great job.

Full review: https://www.thelesbianreview.com/bein...
Profile Image for Gabriella.
533 reviews354 followers
June 19, 2025
As much as I enjoyed Meka James’ full-length book, Mechanics of Love, I knew I had to give this one a chance!

Being Hospitable is shorter, but still that perfect combination of sweetness and spice. For instance, we are treated to some superb communication from Kiki about how to leep things above board:

“So, this is like an ultimatum or something?”

I shook my head. “Nothing of the sort. I care about you and your brother. I care about the friendships I have with both of you and I care about the relationship the two of you have. Am I into you? Hell yes. And because of that I’m not willing to keep things on the DL and hide. Relationships take both people being on the same page with what they want and need.” (49)


If this wasn’t a fictional character, you definitely would’ve convinced me she was a part of my book club for Love In a Fucked-Up World by Dean Spade. The relational integrity—even in romantic relationships—is top-tier!! Speaking of integrity (or lack thereof), I hated the brother’s characterization in this novella. We are in 2025, I really wish people would quit with the “overprotective” mess and just learn how to support their relatives in the ways they want—not with patriarchal scripts that fail to support anyone.

Final note: I wish Meka James gave us a bit more time for the kink part to cohere. In a full-length book, I think this could have blossomed beautifully. In particular, there is a specific act that’s teased throughout the story, but never given a full scene. In another world, I’d have loved to see that play out.

Even without this, the story we have is well worth your time. I look forward to reading other sapphic books from Meka James, and definitely wouldn’t mind if she wants to expand the story about these two characters!!!
Profile Image for Robin.
1,294 reviews314 followers
June 8, 2023
3.5⭐️ I want mooooooore
Profile Image for Charish Reid.
Author 11 books455 followers
October 17, 2019
Like all of Meka James' stories, Being Hospitable is HAWT! This was a sexy and fun quickie that delivered on its promises. I loved Charley and Kiki and their close-quarters sexual tension.
Profile Image for Rena.
523 reviews289 followers
September 5, 2022
Re-read via audiobook 7/24/20: Really enjoyed the narrator's voice.

This was a pretty superb book that gave me exactly what I needed and a little bit more in such a small amount of pages.
Profile Image for Grace✨.
207 reviews95 followers
June 29, 2021
Super sexy and cute!! I wish it was longer but I’ll definitely read more from this author.
Profile Image for Darkness.
79 reviews18 followers
August 18, 2021
This book I eat this stuff in a second. I started it and then it ended like where did it go. I need more. Like this book is good good but because I love it, I need more. Best friend's little sister who is straight with brother's best friend trope. Of course, she is not straight and not innocent like Kiki thing Charley is. This story starts as Charley move in with Kiki. So of course Charley have in mind to seduce Kiki which she does. Like, go Charley. The relationship is so good. They have this connection not just in the lover kind of connection but even friend connection. Mostly because they know each other for some time. which is rare in the brother's best friend trope I read before because they don't know each other that much or they just meet and then realise who there are. With Kiki and Charley is not the case. They know each other very well. This is exactly why when they realise what they are doing they talk and of course there is Charley's brother like they need to tell him. Like this is perfection and the ending is sweet and cute . Oh did I forgot to tell this little book have little bit of kink and toys in story and scenes are steemy.
Profile Image for Keri | Reads & Salt.
585 reviews21 followers
January 11, 2023
Kiki Jenkins opens up her home for her best friend’s little sister, Charley, for a temporary place to stay. She doesn’t expect the growing tension between them or the way Charley flirts with her on a daily basis. Charley is tired of always being known as the little sister who is off limits. Kiki gives her all the feels and she is determined to finally act on what she desires.

This one was set up to be a great novella but it fell flat for me. I was hoping there would be more flirting and tension before the first hook up. It was very insta lust without any background. Also, the conflict was resolved in a really strange way and I didn’t enjoy the ending. I’m sad this one didn’t work out but plan to try another Meka James in the future.

Themes:
- FF Romance
- Best Friend’s Sibling
- Roommates

Ratings:
Overall - 2.5⭐️
Spice - 3🌶

Profile Image for Kristen.
228 reviews1 follower
October 14, 2021
3⭐️.

As with most of these books, they’re to propel me into reading again. This was short, sexy, and fun. It served its purpose and I truly enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Taryn.
1,215 reviews227 followers
March 14, 2020
Kiki has always been attracted to her best friend’s sister Charley, but she’s kept her distance because she feels like she’s off limits. Plus, she’s pretty sure Charley is straight. When Charley needs a place to stay for a while, Kiki agrees to let her move in, and keeping things “just friendly” gets a whole lot harder in a hurry. I’ll admit that I find the whole best friend’s sibling/sibling’s best friend thing a little silly and contrived, but I still really enjoyed this short and sexy novella.
Profile Image for Lily Michaels.
Author 4 books68 followers
October 6, 2019
Now, it is pretty well known that romance is my jam. Give me all the pairings or moreings and, as long as you give me an HEA without a blankety-blank cliffhanger, I am a happy girl. I don't care if it's a short fifteen hundred word smut piece or a one-hundred thousand plus tome, I am all in for all the love. That said, FF romance sadly isn't one I've had much experience with reading so if you find yourself in the same boat at me, I want to start my review with the recommendation that I normally end with. This is a fabulous "welcome" to FF/lesbian/wlw romance. 

Being Hospitable takes a scenario that could be incredibly scary (opening your home to a friend to room with you for a set period of time... how many episodes of Judge Judy have started in just this way???) and turns it on it's sexy little tail. 

Kiki willingly offers her home to her best friend's younger sister. Not only is Kenny Kiki's BFF, but his little sister Charley has often been part of their group partly because it's what younger siblings do and partly because Kenny is an overprotective big brother. Even more than normal because Kenny takes on a fatherly role over Charley in the wake of the loss of their father. 

So Kiki isn't exactly welcoming a stranger into her home, however Charley does offer Kiki some surprises. Starting with curves that have filled out and ending with underwear adorned with bratty little messages that Kiki has a hard time looking away from. However the biggest bomb that Charley drops on Kiki—after poor Kiki has spent far too many hours kicking herself for lusting over Charley—is that not only is Charley bisexual, she is very interested in Kiki.

Hot and steamy (words that really don't even come close to accuracy but are are good as I can do) interludes follow. Ones that neither party can lie and call hook-ups between friends because their feelings quickly follow their bodies. 

One problem. Remember that overprotective big brother I mentioned? Yeah, the girls have to inform him that his best friend and the little sister he constantly worries about are now in a relationship that is growing more and more by the day.

This salacious little read hits every note in very few words. If you need a quick afternoon delight, Being Hospitable needs to be right at the top of your list.
Profile Image for Erika O’Neill.
78 reviews
June 19, 2020
A perfect read for pride month— and it’s by an author of color, with black characters! I’ve been wanting to add diversity to my reads, and I’m really finding some gems in my search. This story is cute and steamy! It’s short which is sad, but it’s a good read nonetheless!
Profile Image for QuinnReads.
3,713 reviews204 followers
November 15, 2020
Kiki may not have planned it but her invitation to help her best friend's little sister turned into a full-service adventure. Charley wants to be noticed as more than Kenneth's little sister and boy does she accomplish it. Between her panties with sayings and her B.O.B., she most definitely gets noticed. 😉 It's been a while since I've read or listened to a strictly f/f book and this was a good one to break the dry spell.

Phoenix McKay did a good job narrating.

Story: 4 stars
Narration: 3.5 stars
Profile Image for K. Sterling.
Author 102 books487 followers
November 14, 2020
This went way too fast! But in the best way. And it was so fun and easy to read. The best friend’s sister trope is always a favorite but this felt fresh and was well executed. The banter was natural and engaging and I was immediately invested in Ki and Charley and excited to see them get past the “No! We can’t!” and get down to it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews

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