This Essence bestseller from an author to watch takes an unforgettable look at love, lust, and secrets that can break hearts--and destroy homes.

    Especially, when all the dogs involved are hungry! For a sheltered mama s boy like Demarcus, everything was all roses until a life changing experience showed him that every rose has thorns. After a well-orchestrated set up, Demarcus' plans to go to college are derailed by a trip to state prison. It is while in the belly of the beast, that the mama's boy has to make the choice between being a man, or being a victim. Upon his release, Demarcus tries to get his life back on track, but his felony conviction causes door after door to be slammed in his face. Going to college is no longer an option, and flipping burgers is not in his plans. With little other choice, Demarcus applies the lessons learned in prison and takes it to the streets. He gets caught up in the game of selling heroin, known on the streets as Dog Food. When all hell breaks loose between the major dealers, in Memphis, over the city s heroin distribution, Demarcus finds himself on the losing side of a bloody drug war. As he prepares for the show down with his opposition, he begins to uncover truths about his past, including what happened that fateful night of his arrest. To add insult to injury, when he finally stands face to face with his enemy, he discovers that the face is a familiar one. They say that blood is thicker than water, but when it comes to cash, sometimes even those closest to you will try to do you in.

    Original.

    Urban favorite Anthony returns with a gripping tale of a young woman who is forced to confront the dangerous lies she told as a teenager, and come face to face with some ugly demons.

    After the tragic death of her first love, she’s been financially cut off by her mother and making it on her own in Philly. Full-time college student by day and bottle girl at a popular strip club by night, India is trying her best to make ends meet but barely getting by. After the day from hell, her life is turned upside down when she meets the elusive, menacing, cocky as hell, king of Philly, Dream. Filthy rich and fine as hell, Keanu Dessalines Baptiste aka Dream, runs the streets of Philly with an iron fist. All he knows is money, madness and murder. With a snap of his fingers, he can turn his enemies into a mere memory. Born with the weight of being next in line to run the Baptiste crime family, he wants to live life on his own terms but being a Don comes with rules and allegiances he can’t forsake. For India, Dream is everything she’s been trying to avoid but the one man she can’t get out of her system. From the moment they meet, their undeniable chemistry takes over and all they can see is each other, but their past traumas, dysfunctional families and callous ways threaten to end them before they even begin. What will happen when these two broken hearts collide? Will they let go and let love in or will their pride and outside forces shatter their cracked hearts to pieces?

    Although she has a very light complexion, she is proud of her blackness, even as she takes a beating from the very sistahs she tries so hard to emulate. Her only friend, Scooter Morrison, is an upwardly mobile brother who also happens to be young, gifted, and gay. Then a chance encounter with two fine Puerto Rican men changes Juanita’s and Scooter’s lives in ways they could never have imagined. There is Conan, a hardworking man who wrestles with both his love for Juanita and his guilt over his brother’s death; and Jorge, an unscrupulous bad-boy thug who has no problem using what he’s got to get what he wants, until he comes dangerously close to getting scorched by his own flames.Fast-paced, suspenseful, and unpredictable, Chocolate Sangria explores the hearts of two lovers who get caught in the great cultural divide—and the devastating consequences of keeping secrets, telling lies, and betraying those you love.

    Joy features NOIRE, CHUNICHI, KASHAMBA WILLIAMS, B.L.U.N.T. AND NIKKI TURNER; These respected authorities have all come together for the first time ever, taking a break from penning their norm, to pen a piece of work that truly flowed from their spirits. In EVEN SINNERS HAVE SOULS, each gritty and profound story is told in a raw and real voice, luring the readers in by the poignant storylines, themes and the genuine talents and abilities of each of these prolific authors. The stories have characters who face the same struggles and tragedies that any other person growing up in the hood might endure, but what makes these stories phenomenal is the fact that although the characters might be living a dangerous, immoral and unacceptable lifestyle according to society's standards, they are not so far gone that they can't acknowledge the power of a higher being and a life changing moment that could alter their lives forever. Be prepared to be engaged, moved and compelled as in each tale you will see a side to these authors that you have never seen before. Do not expect what you are used to getting from these authors...expect the unexpected-EXPECT MORE!

    The Porters. Honing their robbery skills since their youth, were introduced to the intricate world of armed bank robbery, diamond heist and murder by their mentor and confidant Smtty, to perfection. Fearless and daring, the Porter family pulled off dozens of licks, reaping them millions over the years. But, on the eve of their retirement, ready to leave the dirty life behind them, the unthinkable happens, changing Rain and her once close knit family forever, as every federal agency submerge and arrest all her siblings. Alone, Rain wages an all out war against the City of Baltimore in order to free her family, but a sudden turn of events will soon make her suicide-like mission to free them even harder than she ever imagined

    The allure of the fast like pulled her into a world of scandal, schemes, and hustling. After Nautica comes up on a big scam and her biggest payday ever, she decided to move to the East Coast in search of a new beginning. What she thinks will be a new start turns out to be a nightmare. She meets Manny, a well known millionaire druglord who is planning his exit from the streets. Manny is ready to settle down and marry the woman of his dreams. He sweeps Nautica off her feet and introduces her to the good life, promoting her from an ex-hood chick to the queen of the streets. But when the past comes back to surface, it causes their whole world to fall to pieces. Nautica and Manny have skeletons in their closest that intertwine and cause a dilemma that turns them against each other.This story takes you through the life of a dopeman's wife and her fall from grace. Look through her eyes and prepare for a sexy, page turning classic that has an ending so unpredictable, not even Nautica can see it coming.

    . .Atlanta celebrity wedding planner Rachel Winslow has it all--except what she wants most: true love. Her friends are convinced that her college ex-turned-best friend, Ian, is her Mr. Right--even though he's in a relationship. And when Ian confides to Rachel that he plans to propose, she suddenly wonders if she's letting her best chance at happiness slip through her fingers. In a panic, Rachel becomes determined to win Ian back. But her plan backfires in ways she couldn't have imagined. . .Heartbroken, Rachel finds herself making a series of disastrous decisions--including an affair that leaves everything she values most hanging in the balance. To get her life back on track, Rachel will have to let go of the illusions of the past--and her fears about the future.Octavia pens a great tale. --The RAWSISTAZ ReviewersOctavia's writing style is in a category all of its own. --APOOO Book ClubHolds your attention to the end. This is truly an amazing read. --Romantic Times on Should Have Known BetterOctavia gives Sex and the City a smart Afrocentric update. --Publishers Weekly on Playing Hard to Get

    Jack Harker is a big-city police officer searching for a quiet life in a small town. When they collide, sparks fly. Trouble follows pretty closely behind. This is a three-book omnibus in the Ivy Morgan mystery series. It includes Wicked Places, Wicked Warning and Wicked Fog.

    He's at the top of his pimp game in Queens, New York, until he breaks one of the cardinal rules of Pimping 101 and falls in love with one of his girls. Destiny was once an innocent young girl tricked into selling her body, but now she's as tough as the most seasoned professionals on the street. Then a tragic turn of events causes her to open her heart once again. When Mack is shot, she stays by his side during his recovery, proving herself to be as devoted as any wife would be to her husband. After she sees that Mack has regained his strength, Destiny finally gathers the courage to leave the life behind her, and Mack is forced to make a decision. He won't stop her from leaving, but he must decide if he will follow her out of the game. Will he stay with what he's always known, or take a chance on love? And even if he does choose to get out, will the streets let him go that easy?

    Will she learn that love is all she needs or will the love she has be too much for her to stand? Only knowing the life of gold diggin', hustling men and rejecting love, Vera has suddenly found herself in a world where her game has "flipped... and slipped through her fingertips." While trying to retrace her footsteps in search of where her game could be, Vera discovers that the love she has for Dr. Taj Bennett won't let her go, the hatred that she has for her drug addicted mother is not easy to live with, and ghosts from her past won't seem to die. Get ready, get set, and run with Vera as Tu-Shonda Whitaker spins a plot explosive, passionate and humorous tale that is destined to be an urban classic!

    . . Set in the highest ranks of the music industry’s fame machine, Diamond Life is an intoxicating story of love, sex, ambition, money, betrayal, and the surprising realities of making it big. Alex Maxwell’s career as a journalist and celebrity ghost writer is taking off, despite the slightly embarrassing authorship of hip-hop super-groupie Cleo Wright’s memoir. And while Alex’s star is on the rise, it pales in comparison to her husband Birdie’s multiplatinum debut and world tour. Slowly but surely, everything they swore would never happen begins to come true, like leaving Brooklyn for a mansion in suburban Jersey and letting a reality TV crew into their home. Birdie is confronted time and again by the sexy groupies who pursue famous rappers like heat-seeking missiles and he’s forced to make some life-changing choices. Meanwhile, aging rapper Z, in recovery from drug addiction, is too busy trying to repair his marriage to leave much time for his son Zander, newly signed to Z’s label and struggling to maintain his appeal in the wake of a domestic violence scandal with his diva girlfriend Bunny. Record label president Jake is trying to deal with the death of his wife, multiplatinum R&B artist Kipenzi Hill, by drowning his sorrows in alcohol and women. When he meets Lily, a beautiful, quiet waitress, he can’t get her out of his head. But Lily has her own problems to handle and she wants nothing to do with the fame, drama, and baggage that Jake carries with him. This juicy follow-up to Aliya S. King’s Platinum is a scintillating roman à clef that takes readers behind the curtain once again for the real scoop on the biggest players in the hip-hop game—and the first ladies who hold them together.

    Secret, the wife of Tarron, a cheating business-man is out to re-claim her son, and husband who left her for Victoria, a woman specializing in seducing men. Tarron eventually finds himself caught in a web of lies, seduction and deceit. While he fights his brother in a custody battle for a child that is potentially not his, and disputes embezzlement charges at work, his sweet Victoria is up to her old tricks again. No one knows Victoria's underhanded intentions until she does the unthinkable. When her scandalous sexual agenda is exposed, she has to come clean and choose her lover, which will cause problems for everyone.