Book picks similar to
The People Next Door by Bettye Griffin


aa-drama
culture-african-american-lit
family
aa-fiction

The House That Hustle Built


Nisa Santiago - 2015
    Pearla is a born hustler, and Cash was born to steal. Pearla sets her sights on Cash and motivates him to take his petty crimes to the next level.Together, the two get money throughout the tri-state, while friends and family want to be upgraded without putting in work. At first, the couple makes it rain in the hood, taking care of those they love, but a hustler always knows when to draw the line.Suddenly, Pearla proclaims the ATM closed, and a quiet storm begins to brew. When the beggars can't beg anymore and the borrowers can't borrow anymore, friends become enemies. Words and bullets are exchanged, leaving The House that Hustle Built under attack and at risk of collapse.

To be Loved by You: Mahailey Crime Family Standalone Novel


B. Love - 2017
    When his older brother dies, Kenzo thinks this is his way out – until he finds out his brother’s replacement. Isa Mahailey never wanted to be a part of her husband’s criminal organization. When Andreas dies, Isa thinks this is her way out – until he names her as his replacement. Malin Mahailey has always wanted to rule his family’s criminal organization. When his older brother dies, Malin thinks this is his way in – until he finds out his brother’s replacement. With Andreas gone, tension builds between Isa and Malin, while temptation threatens to connect her and Kenzo in a way she never thought was possible. On one side of her, Malin is trying to steal the throne she never wanted. On the other… Kenzo is trying to make her his wife and Queen. To be Loved by You is a complete 89,000-word drama packed standalone tale of love and loyalty. One where Isa’s choice between her deceased husband or his off limits brother has the power to change the Mahailey family forever. Advisory – To be Loved by You is a fast paced urban novel that contains explicit language and implied violence. If either of these offend you, To be Loved by You should be skipped in your search for reading pleasure.

REAL SISTERS


Adrian Thomas - 2016
    Which one is drinkable? Ayani has definitely been through the worse. One tragic incident turned her life upside down forever, leaving her sister, Kamille, to hate her. Kamille is now out to wreak havoc on her already messed up life. Ayani is trying her best to hold on to her fragile relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Kash, in the heat of it all. She’ll end up paying the ultimate toll for her scandalous and childish behavior. Will she take heed when her reality sets in or will she just be a product of her circumstances?

Money Is The Motive


Arabia - 2012
    Her tale isn't your average broken home, with a crack head for a mother tale either. She grew up in a two-parent household, with blue-collar working parents. However, living paycheck to paycheck wasn’t getting the job done. They were still just as poor as everyone else in the hood. Once, Gionnie meets a chick named Mecca, that’s tired of living under similar circumstances; they devise a plan to get money. In their quest for the American Dream, they have to hustle hard. There isn't anything they wouldn’t do; if the price were right. But, when one mission goes horribly wrong the price is now their lives. Together, they devise a plan that will get them more money than they have ever seen……If they can stay alive long enough to get it.If you have purchased this book be sure to visit AuthorGraph.com and request a autograph from me personally :)

Read the Warning Label First


B.M. Hardin - 2015
    She was always picky about who she gave her heart and her time to and she always paid attention to the "signs". She didn't mind being alone, but at some point everybody wanted to be loved; even a successful, arrogant, impossible to please, woman like Tori. Tori refused to be a statistic and as she finally found herself back in the dating game, finding a man that had everything on her list was like finding gold at the end of a rainbow; he didn't exist. An upbeat, hilarious story of love, lies and deceit with more than enough twists and turns to knock your socks off, this story proves why it is so important to "Read the Warning Label First"

A Kingpin's Dream


Briana Crosby - 2015
    With loving men of power comes drama and jealousy. Can Briana and Persia handle everything that comes their way or will they crack under pressure? They say that love is forever but is forever enough?

Passing


Patricia Jones - 1999
    Descended from a long line of an elite Baltimore family awash with "high-colored" skin just right for "passing", family lore told Lila that not one of them would have thought to deny their true selves and rich history in such a way. It is this sense of pride that bonds the Giles family together -- a bond strongly enforced by Lila's controlling stepmother Eulelie. But the delicate balance of this branch of the family Eulelie has so carefully engineered is threatened when Lila's brother decides to marry a woman from an oh-so-very-wrong family.A proud though severe matriarch, Eulelie Giles has ruled her four grown stepchildren with a heavy self-righteousness that could break the spirit of the most sound opponent, let alone the nearly thirty-year-old Lila. Relentlessly loyal to her privileged world, Eulelie has ingrained upon Lila and her three other stepchildren the importance of distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable blacks. Despite her strident belief in an unyielding class line, Eulelie has kept a secret about her own past that manages to affect, in more ways than a few, anyone who enters her life. As the wedding day draws closer, Lila begins to look at her reality versus Eulelie's, and what Lila finds leads to a confrontation between stepmother and stepdaughter that could finally shatter Eulelie's reign over Lila and the family, but ultimately, one that will lead Eulelie back to the truth.Filled with multi-dimensional characters and rich with atmosphere, Passing is a story of tangled family relationships; the secrets, misunderstanding, and deceptions that hold them together.

Getting It On The Down Low


Sophia Jenkins - 2016
    However, her husband Darius is too pigheaded to work on it, since—in his mind—he is not the problem. Tired of being kept under lock and key—and completely controlled by Darius, Safa makes a trip back to her old neighborhood to see her grandmother against Darius’s wishes, and everything changes. Safa meets Kordell, a sexy, street boxer who gives her what she's been missing out on. They begin an affair that pulls Safa even further away from her marriage. After some major flare ups, Safa finds herself questioning everything. Was her marriage a mistake? Is Kordell the one? Could she really give up everything for him? And what will happen if Darius finds out? So many things are shaken up when a woman gets fed up.

The Chicago Boys Box Set


Karen Deen - 2020
    THE CHICAGO BOYS BOX SET includes:Gorgeous GynoPrivate PilotNaughty NeuroLovable Lawyer

Tiny Imperfections


Alli Frank - 2020
    Now director of admissions at San Francisco’s most sought after private school, she’s chic, single, and determined to keep her seventeen-year-old daughter, Etta, from making the same mistakes she did.But Etta has plans of her own–and their beloved matriarch, Aunt Viv, has Etta’s back. If only Josie could manage Etta’s future as well as she manages the shenanigans of the over-anxious, over-eager parents at school–or her best friend’s attempts to coax Josie out of her sex sabbatical and back onto the dating scene.As admissions season heats up, Josie discovers that when it comes to matters of the heart–and the office–the biggest surprises lie closest to home.

View Park


Angela Winters - 2006
    Los Angeles-based cosmetics tycoon Steven Chase has come a long way from his humble beginnings. Steven's family, including socialite wife, Janet, and four grown children, live a life of privilege in exclusive View Park. But when Steven wants to expand his empire by adding a chain of hair salons, one woman stands in his way. Once Steven realizes he can't seduce her with money, he tries a different approach: his handsome attorney son, Carter... Meanwhile, spoiled debutante Haley Chase is busy getting into high-profile trouble on her lover's yacht, pediatrician Leigh Chase is determined to start a free clinic—against her parents' wishes—and Michael Chase is busy doing Daddy's dirty work. His only soft spot is for his wife, Kimberly, who has her own ambitions—plans that may one day shake the very foundations of the Chase dynasty—and change their view from the top forever...

Wild Western Women Mistletoe, Montana: Sweet Western Historical Holiday Box Set


Caroline Clemmons - 2016
    In New York, she meets resistance to a woman doctor and feels she is no more than a midwife. When the opportunity arises for her to go to Montana and be the only doctor in the town of Mistletoe, she grabs the chance. Riley McCallister is sheriff of Mistletoe. When he learns the new doctor is a woman, he is shocked and vows never to let her treat him—no matter how beautiful she is. Slowly, Shannon’s skill wins his respect—and more. Shannon’s expertise and dedication during a measles epidemic convinces the town she is a good doctor—but does their acceptance come too late? Mistletoe Scandal by Sylvia McDaniel Everleigh Walsh’s uncle insists she come to Mistletoe, Montana to celebrate Christmas after a devastating tragedy. Trying to deal with the horrible events she has just left behind, she is stunned to discover her uncle's neighbor, Seth Ketchum, waiting for her at the train station. Just when Everleigh decides life can't get any more complicated, an unexpected blizzard forces her and Seth to seek shelter in the most unlikely place - his home! Seth moved to Mistletoe, Montana to escape after he was left at the altar. His plans to avoid women are waylaid when an unexpected accident forces him to make a promise to help his friend and neighbor, James Walsh. He quickly curses his chivalrous offer to escort Walsh's niece back to his ranch when they are caught in a wintry storm.  The weather quickly seals them together in Seth’s warm, cozy cabin, causing sparks to fly between him and the lovely Everleigh. Two broken lives are thrust together, caught in a winter wonderland where they must decide if they can build a new future together or choose a different path. Can the magic of a mistletoe kiss change their minds? Find out in Mistletoe. Mistletoe and Moonbeams by Merry Farmer Miranda Clarke is a respectable, proper woman. So when she inherits The Holey Bucket Saloon in Mistletoe, Montana from her Uncle Buford, she is livid. She feels she has no other choice than to travel to Mistletoe and keep the place open, since that’s what her uncle wanted, but it is certainly not the life she wants to lead. Randall Sinclair is a traveling brush salesman with dreams of bigger things. That is, his father has dreams of bigger things for him. And drives him relentlessly to achieve them. Randall himself would be more than happy to live a quiet life in a quiet town with a loving wife. Especially when he finds himself faced with beautiful and inimitable saloonkeeper, Miranda. Their acquaintance seems doomed to be a brief one, two ships passing in the night…until a blizzard traps them alone in the saloon together. With nothing to do but clean up the saloon and sort through their immediate and intense attraction, the final days approaching Christmas end up being anything but cold, but with so many expectations heaped on top of them, can “Randy” and “Randi” find a way to be together after the storm? Mail-Order Merry by Kirsten Osbourne Merry Winters wants something more out of life, but she feels beholden to her sister and brother-in-law, who have given her a home for the past four years. When a fire takes their lives, and leaves her with their two young children to raise, she agrees to move to Montana to be a mail order bride as long as she can keep running her business. Clyde Bellman has a plan for his life, and he’s at the point where that plan calls for a wife. He sends a letter to a matchmaker in Massachusetts hoping for a strong, independent bride. When Merry arrives with two young children in tow, he knows he needs to be the best uncle the two children have ever seen.

Pretenses


Keith Lee Johnson - 2004
    They next day, another high-ranking member of Washington's elite circle is killed - and soon government officials are being picked off one by one. The FBI is clueless. Who is doing the killing? And, more importantly, why? Enter Phoenix Perry: a tough, smart, and savvy FBI Agent known to hold her own against even the most lethal of criminals. Phoenix is supposed to be working on a serial rapist case, but is hand-picked by the President to find the identity of the assassin. Soon Phoenix finds that the two cases may be related - and that the culprit knows her every move.

Life Without Summer


Lynne Griffin - 2009
    When their lives begin to intersect in powerful and unexpected ways, they discover that the answers one needs might be the other’s only chance for peace. Each woman’s intensely personal journey reverberates with universal themes about the connections between love, marriage, truth, and forgiveness that no reader will forget.

What You Won't Do For Love


Chenell Parker - 2015
    Arman loves Skylar to death, but he can't seem to stay faithful no matter how hard he tries. Skylar has never been a fool for a man and she’s refusing to start now. Never being the kind of woman to sit at home waiting for her man to do right, she instead gives Arman a dose of his own medicine. A series of unfortunate events take place as a result of their infidelities and things quickly go from bad to worse. Will Skylar and Arman's love stand the many curveballs that are thrown their way or will they count their losses and move on? Some say to never say never, but Skylar feels otherwise. She knows what she won't do for love and that's settle for less the what she feels that she deserves.