Book picks similar to
Playing Dirty by Kiki Swinson


contemporary
urban
urban-fiction
kiki-swinson

Changing Faces


Kimberla Lawson Roby - 2006
    However, this devoted troika is about to discover a wave of unexpected troubles. Whitney is a plus-size woman who just can't turn down a box of Krispy Kremes or find a man who will stay put. Taylor is in a long-term relationship with a boyfriend who's allergic to commitment. Charisse is married, with two adorable children, but somehow doesn't have what she really wants or needs. Then suddenly Charisse spins out of control. Her doormat husband manages to stand up to her and even threatens to go public with a very shady secret Charisse had hoped to keep hidden, especially from her interfering mother. Desperate, she decides that only a very risky scheme will save her. One constant for these women has been the support they've offered one another. But this time, how far can friendship go? In this witty, rollicking, deeply poignant story, Kimberla Lawson Roby demonstrates the storytelling magic that has won her legions of adoring fans and made her novels bestsellers.

Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore


Walter Mosley - 2014
    Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn't going to "do it anymore." But executing her exit strategy from the porn world is a wrenching and far from simple process. Millions of men (and no doubt many women) have watched famed black porn queen Debbie Dare—she of the blond wig and blue contacts-"do it" on television and computer screens every which way with every combination of partners the mind of man can imagine. But one day an unexpected and thunderous on-set orgasm catches Debbie unawares, and when she returns to the mansion she shares with her husband, insatiable former porn star and "film producer" Theon Pinkney, she discovers that he's died in a case of hot tub electrocution, "auditioning" an aspiring "starlet." Burdened with massive debts that her husband incurred, and which various L.A. heavies want to collect on, Debbie must reckon with a life spent in the peculiar subculture of the pornography industry and her estrangement from her family and the child she had to give up. She's done with porn, but her options for what might come next include the possibility of suicide. Debbie . . . is a portrait of a ransacked but resilient soul in search of salvation and a cure for grief.

The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa


Kayla Perrin - 2001
    Now, ten years later, they seem to have it all. Jessica is in the limelight, a TV personality whose star is on the rise. Ellie is an optimist, happily engaged in the quest for love. Shereen is a stunning and powerful executive, and Yolanda, the strong-willed leader of the group, has defied her roots to capture her vision of the American dream. But years before, these four women banded together to keep a devastating secret-and now, ten years later, someone will do anything to see the secret brought to light. None of them anticipated the consequences of keeping the secret-and now, someone is trying to shatter all their lives. Intense, powerful, page-turning, and emotional, The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa will keep you guessing and will make you think about the depths of friendship, the price of loyalty, and the bonds of sisterhood.

The Millionaire Mistress


Tiphani Montgomery - 2006
    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 the game; her life is shattered when 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 icey diamonds, given to her by new love, Brooklyn Jones. Chloe gets senseless and resorts to desperate measures when she can't steal Brooklyn from Oshyn. When her wild sexual escapades don't work, she uses the ultimate betrayal as her weapon. But her plan is destroyed when a tragic moment happens that shocks everyone. Will Chloe look past her evil ways and change for the better, or will their fate be a replica of their dark family secret? There's a reason why their mothers are locked down and six feet under.

Say It Ain't So


La Jill Hunt - 2009
    With his talented voice, pretty boy looks, and good guy charms, Warren Cobb quickly rose to the top of the Gospel music charts with hit after hit after hit.But what's the Sensual Seductress to do when she's riding in a car that's involved in a terrible crash? And what's the Prince of Praise to do when he's the one driving?All hell breaks loose and the rumors start to fly; lives are threatened, and the truths are untold in a drama-filled tale that could only come from the imagination of La Jill Hunt.Urban Books presents Say It Ain't So. Because every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future!

Daddy by Default


Pat Tucker - 2010
    Who’s your daddy? The Parkers’ best friends, James and Serena, are in the final stages of a bitter divorce. Just when James thinks his nightmare is over, he learns his daughter has a different daddy… For the love of money… Single mom Lachez Baker is a ghetto-fabulous mother of three who seems to have it all, thanks to money from her children’s fathers. But soon, her life of designer clothes, endless parties, and steady cash collides with the man who’s been the target of her carefully crafted paternity fraud. From author Pat Tucker comes a drama-filled tale of lies, schemes and consequences as these men discover the importance of knowing the paternity laws in your state.

What's Done In the Dark


ReShonda Tate Billingsley - 2014
    But after one perfect storm of a night, it happened…and she can hardly believe it herself. To top it off, when she woke up in the morning, she found that the man to whom she guiltily made passionate love died of a heart attack overnight. Felise, who is a nurse and a good citizen at that, leaves the hotel room without reporting his death. When her best friend, Paula, finds out about her husband’s sudden death a day later, Felise is overcome with guilt and grief. She must be there for her friend and her family, but when her husband repeatedly tries to apologize for his absentminded behavior and Paula starts investigating who Stephen was with the night he died, Felise finds it hard to hold herself together. Should she come clean and tell everyone what she did? Or should she just let it go and move past the mistake on her own?

In My Bedroom


Donna Hill - 2004
    What everyone doesn't know is that behind closed doors, the picture isn't so perfect. And in the recesses of Rayne's mind she harbors a dark past that even she in unaware of.Then tragedy strikes, and Rayne slowly discovers that the story of her life is just beginning and nothing and no one are as they seem. . .

Grindin'


Danielle Santiago - 2006
    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.

Back on Top


Angela Winters - 2011
    . .Sherise, Billie, and Erica will do anything to penetrate the capital's shimmering social circle of movers and shakers, even if it means engaging in some risky business. Sherise's dangerous game with a ruthless powerbroker is putting her on the White House fast track--and derailing her marriage. . . High-powered lawyer Billie will use any weapon to battle her sexy ex-husband between the sheets so she can move on after heartbreak. . . Erica's prestigious new promotion at the Pentagon means bad news for her former-hustler boyfriend that may wreck her dreams for good. . . And when drama even these divas never saw coming turns explosive, they'll have to fight fire with fire, and prove their loyalty to each other--because in D.C. you always need someone to have your back. . . Praise for Angela Winters "Entertaining. . .the pacing is fast and the drama (is) unrelenting." --Publishers Weekly on Never Enough "A Dynasty-esque mix of money, power, sex, and crime." --Washingtonian.com on View Park

The Fix


K'wan - 2014
    After the arrest of her notorious father, she is whisked away from Harlem, the only place she has ever called home, to be raised in an affluent neighborhood in Long Island City. Her mother and stepfather shower her with the best that life has to offer. During her senior year in high school, she convinces her parents to let her transfer from Catholic school to attend public school. That is the start of her problems—but it’s hardly the end. In her new school, Persia is reunited with the friends she was forced to move away from, and starts to drift further and further from the life her mother and stepfather have built for her. To the sheltered Persia, the Harlem underworld is like one big adventure. Things promise to get even more interesting when she starts dating a dealer named Chucky. He introduces her to his world of sex, money, and drugs, dragging Persia along with him on a long and bitter ride into the bowels of addiction.

Exclusive


Sandra Brown - 1996
    Then, suddenly, she receives an invitation from First Lady Vanessa Merritt for an off-the-record conversation. Barrie's reporter's instincts are instantly aroused. During a furtive, emotionally charged meeting, Barrie sees that the President's beautiful wife is stunned by grief after the crib death of her infant son. Vanessa's motive for meeting Barrie seems to be to share her heartache with another woman. What Barrie overlooks in her excitement at hearing the confidences of the First Lady are the questions she should be asking: Why would Vanessa Merritt call her? And why would the President's wife hint to an unknown reporter that her child may have been murdered? Blind to everything but getting her exclusive, Barrie is determined to investigate the death of the President's child. But she soon realizes that getting her story will test her ethics and her patriotism. Would she expose information that could topple the presidency? She confronts this problem when she tracks down Gray Bondurant, a former presidential aide and war hero who shunned the politics of Washington in favor of life on a remote Wyoming ranch. And when they both begin to follow a trail of lies and intrigue right to the White House door, Barrie's exclusive puts at least three people on the firing line: the First Lady, Gray, and herself - as crimes and ambitions combine to endanger their lives and the future of the nation.

Sweet Georgia Brown


Cheryl Robinson - 2008
     After eleven years of marriage, Georgia Brown is fed up with her husband, Marvin, a popular radio personality. It's not just because she suspects he's having an affair, or because she's suddenly expected to raise his thirteen-year-old daughter, Chloe-whom she never even knew existed. It's because of the comments he makes about her weight, their marriage, and their sex life...on national radio! Now, to save their marriage, Marvin invites Georgia to the station for an on-air rebuttal, having no idea it will launch her career. Or that what began as a battle at home will now be a blistering war for all to hear....

A Love of My Own


E. Lynn Harris - 2002
    One is editing his hot new urban style magazine Bling Bling. The other is more personal. As Zola and Raymond Tyler, Jr, Bling Bling's CEO, pursue their ambitions and search for love, secrets from the past and events out of today's headlines (plus the shenanigans of John Basil Henderson and Yancey B.) keep the action moving.

Unexpected Interruptions


Trice Hickman - 2001
    She's enjoyed her hiatus, the peace, quiet--and no unexpected interruptions. But now she's ready to have someone to come home to. And her timing is perfect, as not one, but two, handsome possibilities enter her life. . .Ted, a powerful, blue-eyed CEO sends a thrill of excitement through her that shocks Victoria out of her comfort zone. Meanwhile, Parker, a talented surgeon, melts her defenses with his warmth and ebony good looks. The men are as different as can be--inside and out--but they have one thing in common: they both want Victoria. And as she struggles to decide what--and who--she really wants, Victoria will have to face her deepest fears, secrets, and desires--and decide if she's brave enough for true love, no matter what color it comes in. Her answer just may surprise everyone, including herself. .