RM Johnson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.
After high school, he served five years in the United States
Army. After which he received his Bachelors degree in science,
from the University of Louisiana. He worked as an x-ray
technologist, and radiation therapist for a number of years
while continuously working on his writing, and earned a Masters
degree in creative writing from Chicago State University\
In 1996, RM wrote THE HARRIS MEN, and in 1999
it was published by Simon & Schuster. It was received with
critical acclaim and quickly became a best-seller.
Since then, RM Johnson has written nine
novels, to include the best-sellers, THE HARRIS FAMILY, DATING
GAMES, and THE MILLION DOLLAR DIVORCE. STACIE AND COLE was his
first young adult novel, published in December 2007 by Hyperion
Books.
In 2009, RM threw his hat into the non-fiction
ring, with the release of WHY MEN FEAR MARRIAGE, a detailed look
into the hesitation and explanations as to why so many men are
reluctant to marry.
The Million
Dollar Demise
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Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 22, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416596267
ISBN-13: 978-1416596264
In the final installment of The Million Dollar
trilogy, RM Johnson delivers a juicy and shocking conclusion to
his fan-favorite saga.
Without thought, Freddy squeezed the trigger of
his gun, shooting Mr. Kenny in the chest. He shot him again in
the belly.
There was something comforting about the gun
going off in Freddy’s hand, something calming. Freddy fired two
more times, his arms absorbing the shock of the small gun’s
kick, a lifeless expression on his face. He shot the man in the
thigh, again in the chest.
Kenny staggered back, horror in his eyes, blood
stains blooming large on his white shirt.
You're out there, you're dating, and you're looking for marriage
material. But is he? Believe it or not, many men -- especially
men over thirty -- do have the strong desire to settle down and
embrace the marriage package. What stops them? How can you tell
if the guy who's wining and dining you tonight has (somewhere
deep inside his complex male machinery) the potential to make a
lifelong commitment to you?
#1Essencemagazine
bestselling author RM Johnson, who has brilliantly portrayed the
provocative dance of the sexes in his acclaimed fiction, now
delivers his first work of nonfiction, explicitly designed to
shed light on the surprising secrets of the male psyche and
unravel these timeless and perplexing questions: Why do men fear
marriage? And what can you do to significantly increase your
odds for finding Mr. Right?
Why Men Fear Marriageis
the new dating bible, and it begins with one essential golden
rule:If a man is
interested, he'll let you know. From there, RM Johnson
explains, with wit and honesty, what menreallyfeel
and talk about when it comes to looking for a life partner and
tying the knot. You'll learn to recognize thefive
types of guys--
yes, every man fits one of them -- and discoverhow
men's opinions of marriage are shaped in childhood...what men
fear might happen after you're married...how men deal with your
children from a past relationship...why some men see marriage as
giving up control...when a man is really ready and when he's
still playing the game.
Every page brims with advice women can take to the bank:
Ten steps to make him pop the question without an
ultimatum
How to spot opportunities to meet marrying men -- at the
gym, at the market, and elsewhere
When to take his phone number, and when to give him
yours
How to let a guy down...gently
Where you should meet on your first date
An instant way to win his respect...and much more
Finally, this enlightening book will empower women to decide
if a man is truly worth considering for marriage or if it's time
to move on -- and, in facing the most important decision of
their lives, to make the longest, strongest, and best match
possible.
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416540407
ISBN-13: 978-1416540403
Almost five years after his critically acclaimed novel The
Million Dollar Divorce, Essence bestselling author RM
Johnson returns with the sequel that fans have been waiting
for...and in The Million Dollar Deception, Nate Kenny,
Lewis Waters, and Monica Kenny still have not buried the
hatchet.
When readers last closed the book on Nate Kenny, his scheming
had backfired, and he not only lost a great fortune in a messy
divorce but his wife ended up with the very man he paid off to
seduce her into infidelity. Now, four years later, it's time for
payback.
Meanwhile, Monica Kenny has a decision to make -- stay with
and marry Lewis Waters, the younger man she knows may not be
right for her? Or leave him, venture out on her own, and face
the possibility of falling for another man who may leave her as
her ex-husband did, because she cannot bear children?
Lewis Waters recognizes that he's in a much better position
than he ever was, now that he's with Monica. She takes care of
him and his daughter and provides them with financial stability;
but Lewis fears she is also starting to notice the pair's
fundamental differences. In an attempt to repair the
relationship, Lewis vows that he'll never return to his former
thuggish life -- he intensifies life in the bedroom and promises
to finish school and start a successful real estate business.
But Nate is prepared to use all his cunning, expertise, and
money to destroy Lewis, and take Monica back.
Unbeknownst to all three, there will be life and death
repercussions.
A stirring saga of romance, loyalty, and friendship, The
Million Dollar Deception is an explosive escapade of
betrayal, sex, and suspense that will leave you breathless for
the next, and final, installment.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 19, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743285204
ISBN-13: 978-0743285209
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
RM Johnson, the Essence bestselling author of
Dating Games and The Million Dollar Divorce, once
again creates a riveting and enthralling new novel that explores
the testing of a bond between two childhood friends when they
both fall in love with the same woman.
Pete and Wayne grew up side by side. After Pete's mother
abandoned him, Wayne's family took him in and treated him as
their own son. Through adolescence, college, medical school, and
in their shared orthopedics practice, Pete and Wayne have lived
their entire lives as best friends -- as brothers. And as
brothers, they have always been rivals when it came to women.
The fateful night when Carla walks into the bar where Pete
and Wayne are having drinks brings Wayne his customary, more
fortunate, luck with the ladies. Even though Pete spotted her
first, it is Wayne who seals the deal, and soon enough, Wayne
and Carla are engaged. But Wayne's need for one last conquest
tempts him into bed with another woman, and the ensuing guilt
leads him to confide in his best friend -- a mistake that will
haunt the three of them forever.
Jealous of his friend's relationship, Pete tells Carla of
Wayne's infidelity and provides more than just a friendly
shoulder to cry on. As a result, Carla leaves Wayne and further
breaks his heart by accepting Pete's marriage proposal only one
year later.
Just when old friends seem to be finally settling down with
their choices, old feelings surreptitiously sneak to the
surface, and a rift between husband and wife leads Pete astray
and drives Carla into the most familiar arms she can find. In
the ensuing days, tensions erupt, and relationships, already
tenuous, begin to break down. Finally, guilt, lust, and
redemption come together in a heartbreaking and tragic love
triangle, and Pete, Wayne, and Carla are forced to face the
consequences of decisions that may end up being their last.
Do You Take This Woman? is a sexy blend of friendship
and romance that will take you on a startlingly real and
emotional roller-coaster ride of betrayal, sex, lies, and,
ultimately, love.
The Million
Dollar Divorce
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Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 23, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743258177
ISBN-13: 978-0743258173
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
RM Johnson, the Essence bestselling author of
Dating Games and The Harris Family, delivers an
absorbing and provocative new novel about the lowdown schemes
and broken dreams that follow a fractured marriage.
Successful business entrepreneur Nate Kenny is thrilled to
get married to the beautiful and intelligent Monica, chiefly
because it means he can at last fulfill his lifelong dream of
having a family. While he isn't happy about it, he agrees with
Monica to wait three years before trying for pregnancy. Once
those three years are up, the couple discovers that she is
unable to bear children. Any love he once felt for Monica is
gone, and Nate wants out of the marriage. But he's worried about
losing half of his sixty-million-dollar fortune in a divorce
settlement. Desperate for an out, he searches for a way to
exploit the infidelity clause in the couple's prenuptial
agreement.
Enter Lewis Waters. With his baby's mother addicted to drugs,
Lewis is already seriously down on his luck when he accidentally
smashes his car into Nate's Bentley. Without auto insurance or
any way to pay for the repairs, Lewis is at the end of his
financial rope. But the scheming and conniving Nate sees another
way for the attractive young man to repay his debt: as sexual
bait for Monica. And so Nate sets up Lewis with all of the
accessories he believes Lewis will need to earn Monica's love,
or at the very least her lust: a big house, a fancy car,
expensive clothes, and a full bank account. But as is often the
case when it comes to matters of the heart, things don't unfold
according to plan. When Monica falls hard for Lewis, Nate panics
-- was protecting his fortune more important than trying to save
his marriage? As he finds himself overwhelmed by second
thoughts, Nate is willing to do anything to get Monica back.
An inspired fusion of realism and romance, The Million
Dollar Divorce is an unpredictable caper of lust, betrayal,
and family ties.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 31, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074346480X
ISBN-13: 978-0743464802
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
Though both gorgeous, the two Rodgers sisters couldn't be
more different. Hennesey, a brilliant straight-A student, is
soon off to college on a full scholarship. She's in a strong
relationship with Rafe, a recently released convict who's trying
to turn his life around after being unjustly jailed. He took a
drug rap for his old friend Smoke, who has since become the most
ruthless drug dealer in Chicago. Rafe wants nothing more to do
with his old friends -- especially when he falls for Hennesey.
On the other hand, Alizé is perfectly comfortable relying on
her undeniable sex appeal to get what she wants. When Livvy, the
girls' mother, announces that they have to move out of her
apartment because she is getting a smaller place to save up
money and go back to school, Alizé panics as she is in desperate
need of some money of her own. She and her girlfriends come up
with an outrageous plan to score some fast cash -- persuading
the men with fat pockets they meet at clubs to take the girls to
a hotel and then drugging them and making off with their wallets
and jewelry. Unfortunately for Alizé, one of their first victims
is none other than Smoke, Rafe's old buddy. Once robbed, he's
bent on revenge -- and the violent chain of events that follow
will change the Rodgers family forever.
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743448731
ISBN-13: 978-0743448734
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
Jayson Abrahms is tired of dating, tired of the games
involved, and wants nothing more than to settle down.
Thankfully, in less than a week he will marry Faith Sheppard,
the love of his life. But there is one minor issue -- Jayson's
longtime best friend, Asha Mills. Not only is she gorgeous, but
Asha and Jayson also used to be lovers. Concerned about Asha's
intentions, Faith delivers an ultimatum to Jayson, forcing him
to face the toughest decision of his life: Either Asha goes, or
there will be no wedding.
Jayson reluctantly sets out to end the friendship but cannot
bring himself to do it. When he lies to Faith and tells her Asha
is out of the picture, he never expects Faith to learn his
secret, but Faith bumps into Asha and, discovering the truth,
decides to get even with Jayson for his betrayal. Meanwhile,
Jayson still believes that things are as they should be and, a
few days before the wedding, sets out to meet Faith at a hotel
room where a surprise party is promised for her. Hoping to
surprise his fiancée with a gift of roses when he walks into the
room, Jayson instead receives a horrible shock.
When a videotape of that night's painful events surfaces,
Jayson finally starts to unravel the web of lies that has been
cast around him. Because it is not just Faith who has been
harboring secrets from him; Asha is also turning out to be a
very different woman from the one he fell in love with years
ago.
Never turning away from the harshness of reality, Love
Frustration candidly confronts what happens when people have
what they don't want and love what they can't have.
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 8, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074342302X
ISBN-13: 978-0743423021
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
The unforgettable crew of characters that made RM
Johnson's debut novel The Harris Men a bestseller return in
this riveting story of love, loss, and second chances.
Life hasn't been easy for Julius Harris since he walked out
on his wife and three sons twenty-five years ago. He may be
blessed with the love of a wonderful new woman and a beautiful
home in California, but not a moment passes that he isn't filled
with regret for the fateful choice he made so many years ago.
What's worse, he's now fighting for his life against an illness
that leaves him with little hope of ever rebuilding the family
lost to him. Julius has learned the hard way that there's
nothing more precious than family -- and nothing more painful
than being estranged from those you love.
But suddenly Julius receives news that gives him fresh hope
of making his family whole again: his cancer has gone into
remission. Overjoyed, Julius is grateful for this miracle and
the time it affords him to make up for his past mistakes.
Fulfilling his dream won't be easy, however.
Across the country in Chicago, life isn't exactly simple for
his three grown sons -- now in their thirties and busy with
families and romantic entanglements of their own. The oldest
son, Austin, a handsome and successful attorney, struggles to be
a good father to his two children despite his ex-wife's
determination to turn them against him. Marcus, the middle son,
a self-employed graphic designer, wrestles with a fear of
commitment that leads him to drive away the woman he loves. And
Caleb, the youngest, just released from prison for armed
robbery, tries desperately to rebuild his life and win back the
wife and son lost to him as a result of his past mistakes.
Between the struggles of romance and career, these three
brothers have a difficult enough time being there for one
another -- let alone a father they haven't seen in so many
years. Nor are they so sure they're ready to let him back into
their lives.
Filled with intrigue, romance, and shocking twists, The
Harris Family is a deliciously gripping story of
contemporary black relationships and, ultimately, a moving
testament to the power of family, love, and forgiveness.
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074341246X
ISBN-13: 978-0743412469
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
With the same passion and insight he brought to The Harris
Men, RM Johnson offers a gripping look at a pressing social
issue -- and a rare window into the contemporary male psyche.
Father Found
As founder of an organization that tracks down deadbeat dads
and holds them accountable to the children they abandoned, Zale
Rowen is no ordinary nine-to-fiver. Fiercely devoted to Father
Found and its mission, he is all but obsessed. And though Zale's
heart is in the right place, his life begins to spiral out of
control as he is pulled further into Chicago's underbelly in his
pursuit of homeless youth and delinquent dads. Soon he is
ruining his most valued relationships, jeopardizing his life,
and undermining the very organization for which he has
sacrificed everything.
Forced to take a step back and examine his behavior, Zale is
finally beginning to face the dark, long-repressed secrets
motivating him when he is blindsided by a shocking revelation
that challenges everything he holds true.
As in his acclaimed debut, RM Johnson weaves a deeply
engaging novel of family and self-sacrifice. Unflinching yet
compassionate, Father Found is a testament to the power
of forgiveness, and a striking commentary on our times.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743400593
ISBN-13: 978-0743400596
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
He took slow steps to the building, feeling as though he
was being marched, blindfolded, to his place in front of a
firing squad. Payment for the debt of leaving his children to
grow up without a father, without love, without the knowledge
that he even cared....There was no turning back at this
point....He would handle the fear that he'd been escaping for
twenty years, now.
From RM Johnson, a breathtaking new talent in American
fiction, comes The Harris Men, the powerful, stirring
portrait of one father and the three sons he walked out on years
ago.
Fifty-five-year-old Julius Harris has one year to live after
being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Though devastated, he has
known there would be some form of penalty to pay for leaving his
wife and three sons twenty years ago. Since that time, he has
made no form of contact with them. But now he has made a promise
to himself: find his sons, reconcile with them, and make his
family whole once more before he takes his last breath.
But there will be difficulties...
Marcus, the middle son, hates even the memory of his
father and wrestles with fears of abandonment that prevent him
from committing to the one woman who has turned his life around.
Caleb, the youngest son, couldn't care less about his
father because he is too busy struggling to support his son,
prove himself to his girlfriend, and make his way in a world
that seems relentless in trying to keep him out.
And then there's Austin, the eldest son, who adores
his father's memory and seems to be taking after him, abandoning
his own wife and children as his father did twenty years before.
Drawing inspiration from experiences familiar to him, RM
Johnson explores the world of the Harris men -- and the
ever-growing problem of absentee fathers -- with arresting and
deeply moving compassion. As his characters grapple with the
fears that haunt them and the choices that lie before them,
Johnson skillfully gets to the heart of a complex, real-life
issue that will forever be the source of much debate: what it
means to be a man.