Urban African American

After the tragic and bloody end to The Cartel's reign, Carter is forced into isolation to evade the law. With his wife, Miamor, facing federal charges and his dear brother six feet under, Carter has never been more alone. His empire is at his feet, and he has no idea how to rebuild his kingdom. The only thing that is certain is that he has to stay out of the way and off the radar of the feds until he can figure out how to get his lady out of prison.

Jake Billings is usually cool under pressure, but when two stick-up kids rob his record store, Jake opens fire on them, landing him in prison. Five days in, he receives an anonymous letter telling him that his days are numbered. But before he can find out who's behind the threats, Jake is stabbed and ends up in a coma. When he wakes in a hospital bed two years later, things have changed: His prison sentence has been commuted, his girlfriend is fiercely independent, and his side piece has gotten out of the street life altogether. But one thing remains: Jake's enemy still wants him dead and is powerful enough to track him down....

Inner-city Black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk. The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong, loving, decent family, and we meet many heroic figures in the course of this narrative.

The Witch Sphere is in turmoil. In the years since a stunning betrayal sent shockwaves through society, the Sphere was hit with another crisis: witches are giving birth to more typics (non-witches) and their numbers are diminishing. Nadia is determined to help but finds hers efforts at the Witch Health Organization entangled with the political machinations of her powerful mother.

After finding out that Glockman has betrayed her in the worst way, Lyle is furious and ready to handle him fatally. Unfortunately for her, Glockman feels he has worked too hard to obtain her and refuses to let them end. He and Lyle must work together to deal with a common enemy, and they also have to face the repercussions of their rekindling, especially once a traitor in their circle reveals their murderous secret. Will they be able to overcome the odds stacked against them? Or will the guilt of disloyalty, being immoral, and envious outsiders be the death of their relationship?

Mia thinks her life is completely normal. She has a loving boyfriend, great and supportive friends, and a close relationship with her mother. Things take an interesting turn, however, when she is almost run down by a car one day. Then come the messages from an untraceable number. Not to mention the heartbreaking secret that is revealed shortly thereafter. Suddenly, everything that Mia thought was right in her life goes wrong. She has no idea why, but she needs to find out before her secret stalker decides her time is up.

As a painter travels the world and creates his art, he also mourns the death of his queen, his wife. He is secluded from the world and finds an escape through the drawings in his work. Not until he gets an unexpected knock at his door does his life take a drastic turn. The guest presents a problem that traps them inside of a home for 72 hours and this quiet suburban estate becomes the devil’s playground. The painter is then thrown into a psychological game that has twists and turns, which leads to an unforeseeable ending.

"Sex and bad decisions. That's how Jada had been surviving the multitude of bad luck that had been hurling her way, as of late. The only thing positive in her life, the only thing that made her smile, was her kids and Brooklyn. However, just as her luck had been, both are at risk of being taken from her permanently. Brittany is still clinging to life, while Brooklyn fights to keep his.

The lives of Frankie, Tommie, and Olivia (Livvy) haven't turned out quite as planned. Frankie has a pair of stalkers. The life that Tommie had dreamed of having with Blue has become anything but perfect, and Olivia, despite her efforts, hasn't been able to get over the psychological barrier caused by her husband's affair in Naughty or Nice.

Out of all the divas at New Day Temple of Faith, Unique has to be the most colorful one - she and her mother, Lorain, that is. Never one to hold her tongue in the name of keepin' it real, it's no surprise that Unique has not been saved all her life. It's safe to say that Lorain wasn't born on the church pew either. Let the church folk tell it, the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree when it comes to Unique.

In 1948, the Orioles, a Baltimore-based vocal group, recorded "It's Too Soon to Know". Combining the sound of Tin Pan Alley with gospel and blues sensibilities, the Orioles saw their first hit reach #13 on the pop charts, thus introducing the nation to vocal rhythm & blues and paving the way for the most successful groups of the 1950s. In the first scholarly treatment of this influential musical genre, Stuart Goosman chronicles the Orioles' story and that of myriad other black vocal groups in the postwar period.

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.

Betrayal hurts worse when done by the ones you showed the most love to. The saying couldn't be truer for the Priest Brothers. In this finale, the three men learn more about themselves than Duke could've ever taught them. While Krypt is figuring out who the woman was that hit their stash spots, Khrome is learning what it really means to be a single parent. It was never in his plans, especially this way. With a pending homicide case hovering over his head, Kavalli promised to never let another woman catch him slipping. He didn't care how solid she seemed.

A riveting, groundbreaking account of how the war on crime has torn apart inner-city communities. Forty years in, the tough-on-crime turn in American politics has spurred a prison boom of historic proportions that disproportionately affects Black communities. It has also torn at the lives of those on the outside. As arrest quotas and high-tech surveillance criminalize entire blocks, a climate of fear and suspicion pervades daily life, not only for young men entangled in the legal system but for their family members and working neighbors.

This national best-seller chronicles the true story of two brothers coming of age in the Henry Horner public housing complex in Chicago. Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers are 11 and nine years old when the story begins in the summer of 1987. Living with their mother and six siblings, they struggle against grinding poverty, gun violence, gang influences, overzealous police officers, and overburdened and neglectful bureaucracies. Immersed in their lives for two years, Kotlowitz brings us this classic rendering of growing up poor in America’s cities.

Is love really the only thing O'Asia needs to save the waters? Or, is that just the tip of the iceberg? O'Asia and Zale need to fall in love, but they're currently surrounded by angry guards ready to uphold the law. Can Odessa succeed in protecting them both? With Emperor Seera now back in open waters, they quickly become more dangerous for one merm in particular, and O'Asia soon realizes that the prince and his love aren't the only things she needs to protect. She has to protect them all.

The children we meet through the deepening friendships that evolve between Janathan Kozol and their families defy the stereotypes of urban youth too frequently presented on TV and in newspapers. Tender, generous, and often religiously devout, they speak with painful clarity about the poverty and racial isolation that have wounded but not hardened them. "It's not like being in a jail," says 15-year-old Isabel. "It's more like being hidden."

Ashley Antoinette, of the Ashley & JaQuavis writing duo, steps out on her own once again with the next installment of her scandalously sexy Prada Plan series! When you've been labeled crazy all of your life, it's easy to commit a murder, and now street fiction's most infamous bad girl, Leah Richards, holds the fate of an entire family in her hands. After coming insecond place to YaYa in the race to win Indie's affection, Leah decides that enough is enough and kidnaps the loving couple's baby girl.

Marcus vows to spread a positive message with his upbeat flow. After one too many dead-end relationships, he plans on ditching the distraction until he meets the alluring Desta. Struck speechless by her passion and drive, he agrees to feature his mission in her documentary and secretly hopes to capture her heart. My Light: An African American Romance is the first stand-alone book in a series inspired by hip-hop songs. If you like simmering chemistry, driven characters, and Black love in motion, then you’ll enjoy Ebony Rose’s soulful novel.

Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation’s hub of radical abolitionism. In fact, the city was far from a beacon of equality. In No Right to an Honest Living, historian Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small—a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive. Highlighting the everyday struggles of ordinary Black workers, this book shows how injustice in the workplace prevented Boston—and the United States—from securing true equality for all.