Urban African American

Wealthy, powerful hair salon owner Valencia McKoy is not quite so self-assured when it comes to her stunning full figure. When her marriage to star stockbroker Sean falls apart, so does she ... which leads her to the couch of Dr. Alexander Thornton III, a renowned psychiatrist.... Amber Couture has a curvaceous, bountiful body and an ego just as big. Juggling three adoring men is all in a day's play, but now she's got her hands full....

Lyfe Simmons is on top of the world. He has an empire that has been growing bigger every day, a group of friends who would die for each other, and a wife who is down for whatever. What could he possibly be missing? He has basically anything he could ever want right at his fingertips, but he doesn’t have the one thing he wants most: the woman he fell in love with and hasn’t stopped loving since he first laid eyes on her. With so many obstacles and bitter people in the way, can love really conquer all?

A life filled with fast money and violence lands 23-year-old Candice Holmes in a witness protection program. When she finds out that no one is capable of saving her from the wrath of the ruthless family she is scheduled to testify against, she finds herself on the run. With nowhere to hide, Candice ends up fleeing to New York City where she is introduced to Daddy - who owns a house where little girls are doing big things. Candice soon realizes that the street life she left behind is nothing compared to what goes on at Daddy’s House.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and if that woman is Nikki Bell, then that means everyone better jump outta the way. After giving up dancing at The Pink Palace and settling down with her family, Nikki believes she could have a normal life. She soon finds out she is wrong, and now, her past is back to haunt her. When things start to go downhill fast, she learns that Malachi Turner, a notorious drug dealer and the new owner of The Pink Palace, is the man responsible for destroying her new life. Nikki has no choice but to confront him.

Mike Brown, South Side’s resident crackhead, made a deal with the devil. He sold his soul, and now he’s got nowhere to go but down - and he’s determined to take a few others down with him, including two prostitutes and a disillusioned police detective.

Ntozake Shange’s most beloved novel, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, is the story of three “colored girls,” three sisters and their mama from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother, gone north to college and living with other artists in Los Angeles, trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories, and her dreams.

Amber Halloway is what some would call “forbidden fruit” because she is so stunning. When her father is murdered by the local kingpin’s mob, she uses her beauty to her advantage. Step 1: Infiltrate. With the help of her older brother, Dawg, she gets a job at the biggest strip club in the city to gain the attention of the man responsible for killing her father. Step 2: Make him fall in love. Amber just never anticipated that he would be so charming. Step 3: Rob him blind and deliver the same fate as he did her father.

Lamont "Hood" Mason is a fearless 19-year-old gangsta who was born and raised in the projects of Brooklyn, New York. He was an abandoned child who roamed the city streets and fought hard for survival. The only thing constant in his young life was the safety of a Brownsville barbershop owned by a father figure called Fat Daddy. The barbershop is where Hood comes of age, but cutting hair isn't the only thing Fat Daddy has going on.

After a recently failed engagement, Phillip Gooden is burying himself in work at a therapy practice to avoid dealing with his problems. Dr. Gooden isn’t the typical, dull therapist. He has some unusual ways of addressing his patients’ concerns. From anger management and infidelity to intimacy issues and marital woes, he always makes his clients feel better. Many of his female clients think of him as Dr. Feelgood; however, Phil’s biggest challenge is making himself feel good again by letting go of his past.

Clay has never depended on anyone but himself. Having been to prison twice, the veteran criminal feels he has nothing left to lose. He rules his small territory of the Detroit drug scene with an iron fist, acting as the police, the judge, and the jury. Clay is without remorse. Anyone who crosses him or jeopardizes his freedom will be dealt with, and justice will be swift. Clay has always been cursed with a short-fuse temper, but this time it causes him to make a mistake that could bring him down for good.

A young military couple from Indiana is separated by a deployment and haunted by secrets. Shamar Jackson, a sergeant in the US Army, struggles to maintain a long-distance relationship, while his wife, Jelisa, fights to escape the past she never told him about. Lies and deceit stand to ruin this young couple's family, but will the truth make things better or worse? Still tied to the streets, Shamar is determined to keep his family intact by any means necessary. After returning home from war, he is now faced with the fact that the battlefield has been at home the whole time.

Korey Taylor, a.k.a. "Killa Korey" and his ace, Hammer, were sentenced to serve two decades in federal prison, but after an unexpected change in the crack cocaine sentencing laws, Korey is released. Now he's on his way home to Charlotte, North Carolina. Like Hammer, Korey is a thug with a violent nature, nothing to joke around with in the cold streets. However, while serving his time, Korey took classes that he hoped would help him become someone other than a drug dealer. Armed with a new way of thinking and a deep desire to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Korey wants to wave goodbye to the game.

Donna and Kim Boon moved to Houston, Texas, with their Aunt Lisa when they were orphaned at 10 years old. Lisa raised the girls as her own, showering them with everything a young woman could want. The girls have grown up into beautiful and privileged Houstonites and are two of the most eligible bachelorettes in the city, with more suitors than they know how to handle. Life seems perfect, but when Aunt Lisa is gunned down in cold blood, the girls discover a family secret that will change their lives forever.

Zaria Taylor weathers the storms, accepting the bad times as temporary whenever Renard cheats. Deep down inside, Zaria prays the years invested into their relationship will be enough to keep their foundation sturdy. "Do or die" and "till death do us part" are her mottos, though her wedding ring finger is still bare. She makes the mistake of believing him every time he says he will do better, he is sorry, and his heart only belongs to her.

Meet Ceazia, a very attractive, very good girl who has just left the safety of her parents' home and entered into the world of bad boys and fast money. Ceazia thinks the world belongs to her when she meets Vegas, one of the Tidewater, Virginia, area's most notorious drug dealers. Even though a relationship with Vegas goes against everything her parents taught her, she still can't resist his bad boy persona.

The Porters are a family of young goons who have mastered every aspect of the game. From robbery to drugs to extortion, there is nothing that the infamous band of siblings hasn’t been involved in. They devise a plan to escape to Mexico and retire at the height of their career - but then the feds come in. With the authorities hot on their heels, the Porters take listeners on a wild ride as they make their way to Mexico to avoid the death penalty.

Dixyn Greene has it all. She is a hustler's wife and the mother of a beautiful girl and owns a townhouse and a nice car - she's living the life. But when the feds arrest her man, Dixyn's whole world begins to crumble. Things quickly go from bad to worse, and, as the bills begin to mount, her ability to maintain her lavish lifestyle is put to the test. She becomes strapped for cash, and her good intentions lead to bad decisions. Enter Brian Winters, B-Dub, her one saving grace - or so she initially believes.

Autumn is a sister in the infamous Porter family, first introduced in the gripping short The Circle: The Beginning by Ashley & JaQuavis. This fast-paced follow-up starts back at the beginning, highlighting young Autumn as she tries to get to the border and escape the feds.

Bradley has worked hard to be a dependable, loving man and capable automotive engineer. He much prefers debugging a new assembly line, which might help preserve a withering way of life in his Midwest industrial town, than grapple with the meaning of his black identity.

Chasing money is all Chloe has ever known. Just when she thinks she’s got it all, times get tight, and her body is put to work in the bedroom. Between sexin’ married men for hire and searching for the man who would get her out of the game, her life is shattered - and then her cousin Oshyn pulls in a drug dealer with deep pockets. Oshyn knows her conniving cousin would do anything to walk in her shoes, so she flaunts glamorous gifts and icy diamonds, given to her by new love, Brooklyn Jones. Chloe resorts to desperate measures when she can’t steal Brooklyn from Oshyn.