Book picks similar to
The Connect's Wife by Nako


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urban
african-american
contemporary

Gangsta Girl


George Sherman Hudson - 2011
    She was given the news that her mother had killed her father in a domestic dispute. Taking to the streets, she met her boyfriend Sherm, who soon received a life sentence for robbery.Silk, tired of dancing in the strip clubs turned to Sherm for guidance. He ran down the game to her but enforced LEAVE NO WITNESSES. Following his rules, she pulled off licks, killed the men and got the money to make her life comfortable. But her actions have confused things in the streets—the wrong people are being accused for what she's done. Women and children are being subjected to brutal treatment and these people will stop nowhere to get revenge.Now ready to retire her pistol, Sherm tells Silk he needs a large sum of money to get out of prison. She has to pull of one more lick to get what he needs.Will she make it through this final lick?Part 2Silk was determined to get the money she needed to free Sherm. After going on the big lick that she felt would set her straight, she was hit with a surprise. Her deadly secret would be uncovered, would cause her to lose a loved one and she’d be on the run. Almost out of time, Silk gets desperate and goes against the rules of the game. When Sherm finds out about her indiscretion, she’s all alone, making one bad decision after another. Now, what she thought may be her way out, may be her demise!!Part 3Silk’s situation can’t get much worse. She no longer has the man she loves who introduced her to the game, she’s being hunted by one of the deadliest cliques and her hit list keeps growing. Can she take down everyone who stands in her way? Will she ever find her way out of this lifestyle? Or, will her past come back and challenge her face-to-face for the last time?

The Story of DeLano Trevino


BriAnn Danae - 2018
    Deliberate. Menace. Executioner. Those were just a few words to describe the DeLano Trevino. For the majority of his life, he had been deemed the quiet one. Light on his toes, but swift with his trigger finger; no target was ever left untouched. No enemy ever left breathing. That was until he made the mistake of letting his best friend’s killer roam freely. Six years have gone by since he left the grimy streets of California. After the brutal killing of his best friend, Lano uprooted to the Midwest. Over the years, his rank in the streets solidified him as one of the most ruthless men to grace Kansas City. To most, especially the women, his entire persona yelled dangerous, but not to all. Attracted to what she knew wasn’t good for her, Anika was smitten with Lano from day one. His hood charm turned her own in ways no other man had ever done. Their friendship blossomed into a full-blown relationship with ease and was rocky at first, but there was no turning back now. She was invested, respected as his woman, and held as much weight in the streets as he did. That was until Samia, Lano’s ex and his best friend’s sister, pops back into their life. When a trip to his hometown ends with bullets flying leaving Lano shot, all bets are off. The notion of making peace with his past was terminated immediately. With a thirst so strong for revenge, treachery overshadowed any rational thoughts Lano has when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. If it was a war his enemies were seeking, they had better come prepared with guns blazing. DeLano wasn’t laying down for a soul. He was snatching the lives of whoever during his deadly ambush and sending them straight to their maker.

A Thug's Love 3


Jessica N. Watkins - 2016
    Who knew that he had been keeping such a secret from me? Just my luck, as I hid from him to gather my thoughts and deal with the pain, yet another crushing blow to my happiness was revealed. I then realized that I could no longer live for King; it was time to live for Kennedy. Little did I know, Jada was suffering the same heartbreak that I was. Dolla had torn her heart into two. My girl was miserable, but she didn’t run as I did; she was trying her best to inflict the same pain on Dolla as he had on her. Meanwhile, King, Meech and Dolla were constructing a plan to permanently get rid of the squad’s enemies. But will it work? Will the squad make it through this storm of deception and lies to continue ruling the streets of Chi? Some secrets should never be kept and some secrets should never be told because, either way, we were all about to suffer the consequences of secrets both revealed and untold.

Diamond Life


Aliya S. King - 2012
    . . 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.

A Dollar and a Dream


Carl Weber - 2003
    Reprint.

Natural Born Hustler


Nikki Turner - 2010
    She has more game in the streets than a basketball player does on the court, and her boyfriend, Fame, loves every single inch of her. But unlike her mother, who has been in one bad relationship after another, Desember is not going to wait on a knight in shining armor to save her, and even her love for Fame can’t stand in the way of Desember selling anything and everything—legal or illegal—that can turn a profit, so that she never has to depend on a man. The only thing Desember feels she’s lacking is a father to call her own. And her mother refuses to tell Desember who he is.When Fame finds himself at the wrong end of a gun, fighting for his life, Desember wants nothing more than to stand by her man, but Fame warns her from his hospital bed that she isn’t safe. Desember wonders if she was the real target. Her mother, concerned for Desember’s safety, arranges for her daughter to travel to Richmond, Virginia, to live with Desember’s father and his wife.And when her father’s identity is finally revealed, Desember learns that she is a Natural Born Hustler.But are her troubles really over? Or is the worst yet to come?

How the Baptiste Boys Took Over North Carolina (How the Baptiste Boys Took Over North Carolins Book 1)


Natisha Raynor - 2016
    Jules possesses the street smarts, the hustler's mentality, and the ruthlessness that it takes to come to an unknown city and take over blocks. It doesn't take long for Jules and his crew to start shining, but the more money they accumulate, the more drama that begins to unfold. The locals don't take too kindly to the Baptiste boys’ sudden arrival, and things begin to heat up in the streets. Lyric is just getting over the death of her fiancé, and all she cares about is raising her child and being successful in her career. When the charming Jules enters her life, she is smitten as well as torn. Lyric is battling herself on whether to give in to her desires and let Jules love her, or stand firm on the promise she made to herself. Will all of Jules’ drama remind her why she no longer wants a dope boy, and cause her to push him away? Will love conquer all, or will Jules’ lifestyle cost him the woman that he's fallen deeply in love with?

I'm the Queen


Tirzah Lee - 2014
    She was no ordinary hood chick. She wanted to get out of the hood and never become a statistic. But growing up in Avondale, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio wasn’t the kind of area people “made it” out of. Once Queen falls in love with a local drug dealer she thinks she has it all. She thought she finally found happiness, but once he commits a crime that lands him in prison she loses everything. Queen is forced to move outside her city in order to forget about the one place she calls home. Besides her family and friends something is keeping her from forgetting her past, so she returns to Cincinnati. To her surprise the city didn’t forget how and why she left. With her enemies trying to knock her out the game it seems she can’t win for losing. Friends betrayed her, men hurt her, and the one person she hates the most ends up saving her in the end. Does Queen finally find happiness? In the end will Queen finally get her King, or will she be the only one left on the chess board? Will she finally get her fairytale and end the game with a CHECK MATE or will she be out the game forever?

Meesh, Myself, and I


Shelli Marie - 2013
    She is raised by her mother in an urban neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Although it is known as the City of Roses, Me'Shellay manages to get stuck by many thorns of tragedy. Once she becomes of age and is able to get a grip on life, she begins her quest to seek out what she has been hungering for her whole life... love.This is when she meets the handsome and talented Kerron Suarez. What begins as a fairytale romance, turns out to be less than what Me'Shellay expects. When his close friend Sanders Torres is added into the equation, she finds herself in the middle of a crazy love triangle that lands her with an unexpected surprise.In this first book of the Repercussions of Love series, Me'Shellay exposes herself to the fullest. If it's from hustling in the streets to bustling in the sheets, she is in it. If it's from dangerous love making to cold blooded life taking, she is with it.Come along and share a portion of Me'Shellay's world, one that will leave you wanting more...

Relationship Status: We Tied Forever (1)


Deshon Dreamz - 2016
    High school sweethearts, Keyton, and Tori find themselves married and deeply in love with each other. With a list of broken promises and lies being told by Keyton; Tori finds herself at a crossroad. Does she stay and try to salvage her marriage with the love of her life or move on from all of the pain and turmoil that being with Keyton have brought her? How can you keep loving someone that causes you pain? How do you stay in a place that you know is a dead end… literally? TaNia is as independent as they come, thick and beautiful! She keeps her business in order and doesn’t depend on anyone for anything. After losing her father, she moves back home to take care of her mother, which is taking a lot of adjusting on her part. In the midst of all the changes her life is taking, Lemonte is on a mission to make her his. He kept his eye on her over the years and he’s done with just being her friend. He wants more… a lot more, whether TaNia is ready for that or not! Winter has always depended on someone, whether it was her parents or the man she was in a relationship with. She no longer wants to be that girl, so she makes some changes and learns to stand on her own two feet. She lives a lifestyle that she is not particularly proud of, but it makes her goals and dreams that much easier to accomplish. Her parents are traditional and old school so she hides her life from them, but when she lands in the scope of a Demarco, she has to make a choice between love and comfort.

Two Tears in a Bucket


Traci Bee - 2007
    While struggling to create a life for herself, her beauty and innocence captivate Kevin Kennard, a handsome, hazel-eyed felon with an addiction to all things illegal. For the first time in Kevin’s life, real love has him rethinking his criminal path. But the action on the streets won’t take a backseat to Simone. Who will win this tug of war? Two Tears in a Bucket is a soulful novel that reminds us how powerful and lasting the bonds of love can be, even among the harsh realities of life.