Urban African American

Cashmere and Demarco are married, own three hair salons, and have a big house in Inglewood, CA, with their timid 13-year-old daughter, Dominique, but things are far from perfect or even normal. Demarco holds deep resentment toward Cashmere and wants out of the marriage. His anger toward his wife makes him unable to have a close relationship with Dominique, who looks for a father’s love elsewhere.

A city full of lies, deceit, and cold-blooded murder, Detroit plays widow to drug cartel after drug cartel, and the Last Kings are the latest to take over the throne. It seems that nothing can crumble their empire, but when an unexpected series of events take place and blood is shed, everything spirals out of control. Can Sadie and Mocha survive the game as the head women in charge, or will disloyalty and treachery threaten to end them for good?

Gabby and Mischelle are best friends. Mischelle is despondent, unable to get over the hurt and betrayal of finding out her husband cheated on her with a younger woman - and even worse, he walked out on her and their children. Meanwhile, Gabby's relationship has imploded, and her ex refuses to believe it's over and has started to stalk her. To get away from all the chaos, the women head to Tybee Island, Georgia, looking for a weekend of fun in the sun. Once they get there, they encounter two charismatic yet mysterious men who have the power to inexplicably change their lives forever.

Best friends and blood sisters for life, Melonee Reid and Fiona White have one goal in life - to get rich and live comfortably - but growing up in the inner city of Los Angeles isn't helping them obtain that goal. That is, until Fiona comes up with a plan to marry for money and murder for even more.

If 28-year-old Monique Morrison had only one wish, it would be to fall in love with a man sent from God; a man who will cherish her forever. But Monique makes a huge mistake when she chooses to help herself. Going against her Christian values, she decides to play house and move in with her musician boyfriend, Boris Cortland. Boris is in no hurry to get to the altar now that Monique has already signed on to play the role of a wife. She's in church Sunday after Sunday, praying for God to touch Boris' heart and turn him from his wicked ways....

Sarai Emery lost her job as a radio disc jockey when a heated breakup with her wealthy drug dealer boyfriend was accidentally broadcast live. With thoughts of dodging the repo-man, past due bills, an impending eviction, and a bill from the nursing home that cares for her Alzheimer’s-afflicted father fresh on her mind, Sarai feels she has no choice but to plunge into a world where the line that separates sex and money is blurred beyond recognition. When she meets the man of her dreams, will she come clean about how she’s been paying her bills?

Once again she’s back! Keisha Ervin, that is, with her spellbinding tale of love, family, money, and scandal. In this sizzling new story, Keisha introduces you to Mina Matthews. She is not your typical around-the-way girl. Her dreams of making a life for herself outside the hood are now a reality. At the age of 25, she has her own full-service salon, Mina’s Joint, drives a CLK55, and is engaged to Andrew, the son of the mayor of St. Louis. To most, she has it all, but everything that glitters ain’t gold.

When G Double D, the founder of the gangsta rap label Explicit Content, seduces her singing partner, Leila "Fatal Beauty" Aponte, into splitting up their act to pursue solo stardom, Cassie Rivers is driven to find her own path to success, but her competitive nature could lead to danger when she uncovers dark secrets about G and his Explicit Content company.

Sassy, sophisticated, and sensual are the three adjectives Sugar uses to define her personality, her style, and her shapely curves. Fiercely confident about her luxurious, full-figured body, Sugar sashays through Chicago’s nightlife belting high notes as a well-known singing sensation. Idolized by many, only few know her secret: She and her longtime manager, Ace, share more than a common passion for Sugar’s career - they’re lovers. At Ace’s insistence, Sugar has always agreed to secrecy for the sake of her career, but now she’s tired of hiding.

Nia Hudson, fashion powerhouse and philanthropist, swore love wasn't for her because she was too busy chasing after her dreams. But when a blast from the past resurfaces and refuses to take "no" for an answer, Nia decides to give him one hour of her time. Before she knows it, the two have become a couple. East and Nia have nothing in common; he's the complete opposite of everything for which she stands. East is definitely living life in the fast lane, selling everything he can get his hands on and not knowing when the Feds - or friends disguised as enemies - might come after him.

In the tradition of Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim comes A Pimp’s Life, the story of the rise and fall of Mack Jones. He’s at the top of his pimp game in Queens, New York, until he breaks one of the cardinal rules of Pimping 101 and falls in love with one of his girls. Destiny was once an innocent young girl tricked into selling her body, but now she’s as tough as the most seasoned professionals on the street. Then a tragic turn of events causes her to open her heart once again.

As he struggles to control his drug empire and keep his cutthroat girlfriend in check, Kiley Jacoby Abrams has the next several months cut out for him. If that's not enough, he's got more setbacks than one man can handle: an arrogant and troublesome brother, a sneaky playa-hating friend, another friend who turns to him for everything, and a woman who only claims to have his back. Kiley's life is full of secrets from the past. Moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis doesn't allow him the change his heart desires....

Hassan Clarke is a self-proclaimed ladies' man with his eyes set on the prize. With his jovial ways and gift for gab, he has managed to weasel his way into the lives of two women - his wife, Destiny, and his mistress, Imani. His mistress is a gold-digging, self-serving side chick determined to be with her married lover even if it means losing everything, including her soul, to get to him. However, after putting years of hard work and her hard-earned money into building her husband's firm, Destiny doesn't plan to forgo all the benefits without a fight.

Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women help keep the order. To those from Away, Nola might seem strange. To Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Perry knows Nola’s rhythm as intimately as his own heartbeat. So when the city’s Great Magician starts appearing in odd places and essential songs are forgotten, Perry knows trouble is afoot.

On the surface, Riverview High School looks like the post-racial ideal. Serving an enviably affluent, diverse, and liberal district, the school is well-funded, its teachers are well-trained, and many of its students are high achieving. Yet Riverview has not escaped the same unrelenting question that plagues schools throughout America: why is it that even when all of the circumstances seem right, black and Latino students continue to lag behind their peers?

Angela grew up in an all-black upper-class neighborhood in Virginia Beach. Being raised by conservative parents, street life was almost nonexistent. Her college years at Hampton University would truly educate her; not only in school, but also in life. She never imagined the attention her body and beauty would bring her. Angela finds herself torn between Mac, a successful real estate broker, and Damien, a young Jamaican hustler from Brooklyn. Both show Angela love in their own way, and her choice will be her destiny.

Cobi Winslow, a handsome, well-educated district attorney, knows nothing about the life of his estranged twin brother, Eric Reed, a career criminal raised in the foster-care system. Following their parents' death, Cobi searches for and finds his brother, hoping to regain lost years. Meanwhile, Cobi navigates the pressures of society as he lives life in the closet. The stress comes to a head when he learns that, in order to inherit the wealth of his father's estate, he must marry a woman before he turns 35.

Antonio, born of an affair between a beautiful actress and a notorious crime boss, lost his mother to drugs and was forced to navigate foster care and survive on the streets of the Bronx. He is ignored by his father, the infamous head of a powerful crime syndicate, and his half-brothers are living the life Antonio used to dream about. Antonio has turned his struggles into a career in the NBA, but when a devastating injury sidelines his basketball career and he finds out he has been duped out of millions by his best friend, Antonio is forced to turn to the father who never claimed him.

After the bitter and surprising cards were dealt to her son’s father, Rasheed, in Book One of the Baby Momma series, Michelle is finally looking forward to leading a normal, quiet family life. However, there is nothing quiet about the secret lives the people around her are leading. Michelle finds herself drawn in by the allure of her budding real estate career, catering to the likes of models and basketball players and enjoying the sex-fueled spoils of the rich and shameless lifestyle.

Picking up where the suspenseful Payback with Ya Life left off, we’re plunged back into the hip-hop drama, where the men are hot and dangerous, the women know their shoes from their Choos, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. In a game of power and intrigue where the stakes are high and the rewards are dazzling, the losers are gonna discover there’s always a price to pay.