URBAN BOOKS – serie

Beautiful, charismatic, and deadly, these three women are bound by blood to do whatever it takes to stay afloat and keep each other alive.Aries: The oldest sister and reluctantly responsible for cleaning up her sisters’ messes. Before their father died from cancer, she made a promise to look out for them all. She is trying to juggle her career, a new romance with a charming stranger, and a war brewing in the streets with her family in the middle of it.Kema: The middle sister and hot head. She takes after her father with her love for the drug game. When her father dies, she is sprawled in a game of tug of war with her cousin to take over the empire. Mynk: The troublemaker little sister. She has always been known to act first and think never. And that’s precisely what she does when she walks in on her older cousin conspiring to have Kema murdered. Now, her trigger finger has caused a war to be ignited between two of the most prominent families in Houston and put everyone at risk.

Reign’s life seems perfect if you’re on the outside looking in, but the reality is far from it. She is full of secrets. As they begin to reveal themselves, she is abruptly separated from her family.Reign was born into a life of chaos. When she loses her drug-addicted mother during her birth, her father, Montae Jackson, a well-known drug dealer in Chicago, takes her in. Reign and her siblings are being raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where she meets her long-time boyfriend, Mikal, and her two best friends, Jayla and Marie.Demarco “Sno” Wright, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, is a kingpin in the making. His life has always been perfect as one of eight children of the infamous King Nate Wright. His father takes him, his brother, Moe, and his best friend, Blu, under his wing and molds them to be kings of the South.It was written in stone and inevitable that Reign and Sno’s lives would one day collide. Their trials and tribulations are numerous, but their friendship and love is something special.

The drama continues with the brick boyz and the women who love them…Erica must decide between being Nicole’s best friend or being by Pierre’s side when tragedy strikes. When push comes to shove and words between them are no longer friendly, will their friendship last?Pierre has been trying his hardest to protect Erica from the cold streets, even though that means hurting her in the process. Besides telling her how much he loves her, he decides it’s time to show her and her father just how serious he is. Pierre puts his street life to the side and tries to live the life that would be better for Erica and the babies.After a whole year of collecting Ls and dead bodies piling up, Mekco is surprised by a loved one who was plotting against him. After everything is out of the bag, will he get the last laugh?

When a hood prince is tasked with protecting a pampered princess, street life can get in the way of a fated romance.What happens when one night of havoc changes your life forever? When the only life you’ve ever known comes crashing down, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it?Myleena Ashik has always lived a privileged but sheltered life. Complete with guards and butlers at her beck and call, she’s never had to lift a finger. Some would say she was living the good life, but to her, it was more like a prison. Myleena dreamed of one day being free, but what she didn’t know was the price that came with freedom. One tragic night causes her world to come crashing down and she has to flee if she wants to live.Nitro has always seen himself as a king, and with his father about to retire from the game, he’s about to hand Nitro the keys. Everything in his life was going well until he came home one day to find Myleena standing in his living room. In addition to running his father’s empire, he now has the mission of protecting Myleena by any means necessary. This task would be nothing to a king like Nitro if his live-in girlfriend Latoya wasn’t raising hell at every corner. Between fighting the enemies after his legacy and his feelings for Myleena, life as he knows it will never be the same.Betrayal, sex, love, and bullets soon become the new norm for this family as they try desperately to find the person responsible for it all. With Nitro being the future king, there are a growing number of enemies who want his spot—some closer than he may think. Will he find out before it’s too late? Or will the ones closest to him be his downfall?

Three women navigate love and heartbreak, all the while scheming and plotting to get to the top of the business world, by any means necessary—even illegal.Katrina Turner, CEO of Aura Energy, is 40 years old and married with two children. Now, the children are in college, and her husband Jamel feels emasculated by Katrina’s success, leading them toward divorce. With her world rocked and everything on the line, is her true love on the horizon?Andreaka Moore is a partner in an accounting company. She and her husband, Cedric, met at an accounting convention and fell in love. They got married and now have three children, and run their business together. But when Andreaka catches him cheating, she realizes her perfect life has not been so perfect all along. Heartbroken, she sets out on a path to find what truly makes her happy.When attorney Kadasha Wright met Zach McConnell, he wined and dined her, showering her with expensive gifts and trips to exotic destinations. He soon proposed marriage, but now, two years later, Zach refuses to commit to a date for them to be married. She thinks that he has commitment issues, but Zach’s closet is full of secrets she never could have expected.These women’s love lives are messy, but the fraudulent finances behind the scene that ties them together is even messier…

In the face of an unjust system, a teenager with a bright future may lose everything over a crime he did not commit, but his mother will do anything to see her son walk free.Demarcus Jones is a star high school basketball player who earns a full athletic scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in the world, when his plans are derailed by his arrest for a heinous crime he did not commit. For seventeen-year-old Demarcus of the Bronx, New York, it feels like he is caught up in a Twilight Zone, with a positive identification by the victim, overzealous detectives driven by the motto “guilty until proven innocent,” and a charismatic, undefeated District Attorney determined to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. Certainly, the truth will soon be revealed, and everyone will see he is innocent?Unbeknownst to Demarcus, he is now the fall guy. For the real culprit, the truth can never be revealed at any cost, by any means necessary. He has too much to lose and enough resources to stay one step ahead of the law. He is wealthy and successful with a powerful family who has all the right connections to maintain his freedom. They are no match for the teenage boy and his single mother. It is a done deal.However, Naomi Jones is not going down without a fight and refuses to let any ungodly injustice take her only son’s future away. It becomes a bloody war in the quest for truth and justice. One side is out for blood while the other side is pleading the Blood. Only one side can win. Will justice prevail?

Chrystal’s life has been turned upside down, but she will do anything to stay loyal to the people she loves.This can’t be life is Chrystal's first thought when she wakes up to find herself in a smelly, dark room, shackled to a bed next to her two best friends, with no memories of how she got there.The last thing Chrystal remembered was going to that party to distract Fancy so that Blue and his crew could rescue Niyah’s kids. Her plan was an epic failure; that party was a setup.Chrystal has gaps in her memory, leaving her to wonder: Where was Blue? Was he okay? Did he know where she was? Was he coming for her? Take a journey with Chrystal on her road to discovery of what it means to really have someone's back at all costs.

This standalone novel brings back the character of Tori Billups from Zari’s Carl Weber’s Kingpins: Penthouse View.After she was set up by Jamarco and did two years in prison, Tori Billups (Carl Weber’s Kingpin, Penthouse View) returns to Atlanta with a score to settle. Once that is behind her, Tori travels to South America to solidify her connection to the product. Now, Tori just wants to sell her drugs and run her legitimate business. But when several attempts are made on her life, Tori decides to eliminate all of her competition and take over the city.The only person standing in her way is Darran Horne, who took over the market after his mentor, Ralph Chapman, was killed. Tori devises to plan to take out all of Horne’s Lieutenants, as he steps up his attempts to kill her. When an opportunity presents itself to expand her business to the West Coast, Tori is all over it. In Coming For The Queen: The Return of Tori Billups, Zari returns with her special brand of action-packed urban crime thriller.

Brothers De’Maceo and De’Mario Reed are back for more, and the only thing certain in their lives is each other.With Saiyah’s surgery pending, De’Maceo’s mind is working overtime to find out who tried to take away the love of his life. There are only two people who hate De’Maceo and Saiyah: Drew and Londo. Not knowing where neither are, Maceo is back to the drawing board, searching for the person. And with the Convention on hold, Maceo has nothing but time to eliminate those who are trying to eliminate him and everything he’s built.Mario has been through his fair share of changes, but nothing could prepare him for the words that his girlfriend is about to drop on him. The blow to his heart is one that he never expected. Severing all ties with her is what is necessary, but his heart has always belonged to this one girl and maybe that’s the problem, he needed a woman to handle his love.Erian’s heart is filled with nothing but hate and envy. With no real reason to feel the way she does, she does the unthinkable, ultimately jeopardizing everything including her life. With so many secrets lorded over her head, Erian continues to place blame on everyone around her. With all the drama that’s brewing, friends turn to foes, and no one can be trusted. Everybody around the Reed Brothers has them questioning the motives of everyone around them. The only thing certain in their lives is each other.

Julius Jr.'s childhood is far less than perfect. He is torn between his mother and father, who are going through a bitter divorce. His world is turned upside down when his father takes him from the comfort of the family home in Benton Harbor, Michigan, to the brutal streets of South Dallas, Texas. When Julius Jr.'s family is gruesomely murdered, his life takes a dramatic turn. His mother, Naje', moves to Texas to care for her youngest son and finds herself drawn into a conspiracy that threatens not only his life but hers as well. Roll with Julius as he grows into the ultimate hustler and unrelenting killer that the gang-ridden streets of South Dallas often breed. Where pimping, drug dealing, treachery, and betrayal go hand in hand.

“Hold your peace, and let me fight your battles.”At sixteen years old, high school basketball star, Jalen, is full of promise. Just weeks away from attending the junior prom with Sasha, the girl next door, he has his whole life ahead of him—until one day, he finds himself surrounded by police, with their guns drawn. His bright future is cruelly stolen in a case of mistaken identity, bringing the worlds of his divorced parents crashing down and throwing the entire city of Atlanta into upheaval.Massive protests course through the city streets, as Jalen’s grieving mother demands justice from a slow-acting police department. Distraught and seeing red, Jamera’s inner Mama Bear is unleashed, as she  vows to avenge her baby boy—by any means necessary.Before their divorce, Jalen’s father, Rick, and Jamera, were at once a symbol of the American Dream and Black excellence personified. Having attended Morehouse and Spelman, respectively, they raised their son in the suburbs, wanting to give him a better life than they had. Rick gave this all up when he walked out on his family, lured by the temptations of Atlanta’s slick and seedy underworld. Now, the former Homecoming King-turned-drug Kingpin is filled with regret and wants blood.When the city is suddenly upended by another shocking murder, the question this time is: Who’s the killer?Vengeance Is Mine follows the stories of Jamera, Rick, and a cast of police officers, detectives, students, and more, as a community mourns the tragic loss of one of its brightest stars.

Portia grew up in the ass-for-cash game, seeing the best and surviving the worst. At five years old, hungry and huddled near a dumpster, she watched a trick beat the life out of her mother for the twenty dollars she'd just made. Portia sat there for hours until the hunger pains forced her to move, her life forever changed. Portia has followed in the footsteps of her grandmother and mother, turning to prostitution. However, unlike her family before her, she has turned the game into a lucrative enterprise, becoming the madam of an elite prostitution ring in the hood. Honey Williams, aka Honey Dip, is a former junkie trick turned call girl who secretly yearns for a relationship with her daughter and a chance at a normal life. She is tired of the game but doesn't want to turn her back on the prostitutes that saved her life and welcomed her into their family when nobody else wanted to be bothered. Just when she thinks things couldn't be any more complicated, she falls in love with a man who is young enough to be her son and declared off-limits by Portia. Sex, drugs, lies, and betrayal - Welcome to the nightlife. You won't be disappointed.

The streets can turn a sweetheart into a savage. Is love, and a lot of gumption, enough to survive?Sydney was given all the right tools to succeed in life, and she was nourished and blossoming into a kind, loving soul. The rules of life are that what you put in is what you get out—but what we are not told is that it’s a cold world, even if you have a pretty face, a nice smile, and a kind heart.One day, she was living an ideal life with her mother in Atlanta, GA. But after experiencing a devastating loss, Sydney was uprooted from everything that she knew. Forced to be in the care of her wayward, drug addicted uncle, Sydney found herself in the hood of Tennessee.After being sold by her pillhead uncle, Sydney escaped into the night. She immediately began stumbling around in the night and found herself in a world that began to claw, pull, and push at her from all directions. Luckily, she met another lost soul in Mario, who was on the run for his life. With Mario’s help, she quickly turned from prey to predator.What happens to a wholesome teenager when she’s thrown to the wolves, left to survive in a city where she doesn’t have anyone? She becomes a SAVAGE!Savages aren’t born, they are created. The beast inside takes over the mind, body, and spirit. When it’s all said and done, will Sydney rely on her killer instincts to survive?As Sydney and Mario navigate their new life, how much danger are they in? How much can they get away with?