Danielle Santiago – författare

Hustlin' for life, or is life hustlin' her? After partying and "grindin'" in Las Vegas and clearing more than $100,000 and a bag of stolen diamonds, twenty-two-year-old Kennedy Sanchez, a beautiful, street-smart single mom, and her cousin Nina fly back home to New York. Later that night, Kennedy gets a call that Nina is being beaten up by her boyfriend -- again. Kennedy rushes over to help, but it's too late: Nina dies in Kennedy's arms after making her promise to take care of her children. Stepping up to the plate, Kennedy becomes the mother of three more kids and moves them into a Harlem brownstone. She knows she needs to refocus her life, and gets her chance when she meets Chaz, a successful hip-hop artist who sees star quality written all over her. She's offered the chance to become a rapper and leave the streets behind -- or at least shift to another kind of grind. But once in the music world, Kennedy realizes that the setting may have changed, but the hustle remains the same.

Danielle Santiago''s Little Ghetto Girl: A Harlem Story was an Essence magazine #1 bestseller, a compelling portrayal of the challenges young women face in ghettos across America. Now Santiago''s putting it down again, better than ever, moving on from the little girl to the grown woman in Grindin'', the second in her trilogy of Harlem Stories. Holding the story down in Grindin'' is Kennedy Sanchez, a twenty-two-year-old beautiful, talented, street-smart single mom with a heart of gold. After partying and "grindin''" in Las Vegas, and clearing more than $100,000 and a bag of diamonds by robbing rich, white gamblers, Kennedy and her cousin Nina fly back home to New York. Later that night, Kennedy gets a call informing her that Nina is being beaten up by her boyfriend -- and it''s worse than any time before. Kennedy rushes over to help, but it''s too late: Nina dies in Kennedy''s arms after making her promise to take care of her children. Kennedy steps up to the plate, now becoming the mother of three more kids and moving them into a brownstone in Harlem. She knows she needs to refocus. Her opportunity to do so comes in the form of Chaz, a successful hip-hop artist who sees star quality written all over her. She''s offered a chance to become a rapper and leaves the streets behind -- or at least shifts to another kind of grind. Once she''s in the music world, she realizes that the setting may have changed, but the hustle remains the same.

After a successful life in the drug game, twenty-one-year-old Kisa Kane plans to retire -- settle down, find a good man, and raise a family of her own. Done with the thug life, she has everything a ghetto girl would want: plenty of money, drop-dead-gorgeous looks, and two thriving legitimate businesses. Until she falls in love with Sincere Montega, a powerful drug dealer whose down-and-dirty money pulls Kisa back into the world she is trying so hard to leave behind. With lies, cheating, and conflict, Kai, their newborn, may be the only reason for this couple to stay together, but their lives are inevitably changed in the most unexpected way, the only way the streets of Harlem can.

A superstar in urban lit, Essence bestselling author Danielle Santiago concludes her gripping Harlem trilogy with a sizzling, streetwise novel about an all-female drug cartel. Twenty-year-old Arnessa didn’t grow up on the streets. But when her mentally ill mother abandons her and her older brother is murdered, Arnessa has no choice but to hustle just to keep herself and her little sister alive. Kisa “Kane” Montega, on the other hand, has a wonderful marriage, two beautiful children, and lives in a stunning home on the outskirts of Charlotte. Her cousin, Kennedy, has spent two years away from the volatile music industry, focusing on her children and building a solid foundation with her rap star fiancé, Chaz. But in spite of their success, both Kane and Kennedy are gravitating back to their old ways and the game they thought they’d left behind. After a chance meeting, Arnessa goes from being a low-level dealer to partner in their cartel. But the bigger their empire gets, the more haters they have to contend with—and the more each one of them stands to lose. Sexy, suspenseful, and unflinching, Danielle Santiago’s Allure of the Game gives fans exactly what they’ve been hoping for—a deeply satisfying conclusion to an unforgettable trilogy, packed with insight into the mean streets she knows so well.