The setting this time is the Badlands, one of the toughest and poorest communities in Philadelphia.Bad Girlz takes you into the mysterious and often dangerous lives of young women who turn to the streets and strip clubs as a means of survival. These are girls who, along the way, suffer bad breaks and find themselves ripe for exploitation by men and women who pretend to be their saviors.Tender and Goldie were taken under wing by Kat, a veteran stripper, who enjoyed the life and the risks she had to take to stay in the mix of the sex trade. Both of these young and beautiful girls had ended up in dire straits and in need of Kat's help in different ways, but ultimately for the same reasons: They lacked the love and support that most of us expect to get at home and in our communities. Where they live, illegal money is often the only money to be made, and the difference between the law and the outlaw is tough to discern.Holmes tells a page-turning story of sex, money, and murder in the name of survival and reveals the many ways that good girls, trying to get by in desperate situations, become Bad Girlz.

    She lives by one rule: keep it strictly sexual. Octavia is living her life just the way she wants. No man. No issues. No drama. When she meets the handsome Damon Whitmore, everything changes. Octavia soon finds that Damon has become a part of her world and her heart. However, when temptation comes in the form of a sexy- hardcore thug named, Beau, Octavia finds herself caught in a deadly love triangle. She soon learns in life and love, there are no rules and she s surprised at what she herself, will not do for love.Show More Show Less

    There isn't much else she could possibly want . . . except the man who got away while she was climbing the ladder of success.Satisfy Me by Delilah DawsonShauna Williams finds out that Max Jackson, her childhood crush, is back in town for their friends' wedding. Shauna's all grown up now, and she has no intention of letting him slip through her fingers again.Ice Princess by Joy KingBeautiful, successful, and deadly in the boardroom, Madison always gets any man she wants. As a matter of fact, she seems to have more than she can handle. But when she moves into her fabulous new loft and meets the building's owner, Marcus, she realizes that she has finally met her match.The Morning After by Maryann ReidAlexis is tired of the pampered well-to-do men of her social set and wants to take a walk on the wilder side. So when she steps out of her Park Avenue comfort zone and meets Rasheen, straight out of Bed-Stuy, she gets everything she could ever want…and more.

    Can this exotic dancer turn a customer into the love of her life?

    Choir girl Elise thinks she's found a good man in Jay, a truck driver who came blowing into her life one sultry night. Irresistible and sensual, he's caught up in romancing Elise. However, when she's ready for happily ever after, he realizes that he can't just walk away from his wife and two children. And Elise just can't seem to let him go. Everyone knows that singles ministry leader Renee is full of herself. When she starts her latest interior decorating project, she thinks her client's husband is hot, and together, they're on fire. Meanwhile his wife wants to be friends, and it's not long before a twisted game starts to unravel. For twenty-five years Tess's life revolved around her unfaithful husband (who sits on the deacon's board) and their two wonderful sons. But now the kids have left the nest and Tess wants to spread her wings. While busy seeking her first job and creating a new social life outside the church, Tess meets a new man--a most forbidden man--who rides into the picture to rock her world off its steady axis. All the while, First Lady of the church and counselor, Faye is keeping a secret of her own that is much deeper than any one of them could ever imagine.

    Whitaker’s steamiest novel yet, we meet the four deliciously dramatic, designer-clad divas from prime time’s new hit reality show, The Millionaire Wives Club.Evan: Married to a pro-football star who isn’t in love with her anymore, Evan is digging her freshly manicured nails in ever deeper as she fights to keep the husband who loves someone else.Milan: Half Dominican, half black, and beautifully exotic-looking, Milan is watching her has-been husband’s fortune fade fast–while her romantic attachment to Evan’s husband is heating up.Jaise: Divorced from a former boxing star who’s now married to a white woman, Jaise is trying to raise her sixteen-year-old son on her own. Will her huge alimony checks keep her from falling in love?Chaunci: Editor of the hottest black women’s magazine, Chaunci is now engaged to the high-powered man who helped finance her magazine when she was just a struggling single mom. But when a onetime passionate flame reignites, Chaunci may not be able to resist its charms.When these starlets’ private lives run as wild as their emotions, their relationships with one another inevitably turn into high-profile catfights. Through it all, the cameras never stop rolling on TV’s guiltiest pleasure, where power–and diamonds–are always a girl’s best friend.

    She partied hard, and life seemed good when she was with Born, the neighborhood kingpin whose name was synonymous with money, power, and respect. But all his love couldn't save her from a crack addiction. Jada goes from crack addict and prostitute to survivor and back again before she finds the strength to live for herself and come out on top. And her stormy romance with one of the fiercest hustlers on the streets makes White Lines one of the most unforgettable urban loves stories of the year.

    Brought together again by fate and an arranged marriage, she must try and win the trust of LeVeq--the man she truly loves.

    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.

    That is, in the eyes of young Lottie and Celia, members of the respectable Holden family who like nothing more than escaping the family home to explore.So when a group of Bohemians move into Arcadia, a grand Art Deco house on the seafront, Lottie and Celia are tempted into their alternative way of living . What ensues at the house has tragic and long-lasting consequences for all.Now almost fifty years on, Arcadia is being renovated, once again arousing strong feelings for the town's veterans. And as the house returns to life, so do the secrets buried within it from all those years ago, prompting the question: can you ever leave your past behind?

    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?

    Any normal woman would flip if her man even thought about trying a threesome with another woman. Jasmine is that woman, and more. It's not until her husband James pressures her into having a threesome that their once happy lives get turned into nothing but drama.

    Now she takes you to Washington, D.C.'s most notorious neighborhood, where a young woman has one chance to escape-and too many ways to lose . . . SILENCED She gets lost in the fantasy of books and poetry. But in Tinka Hampton's all-too-real world, her mother Nicola has lost her job and is struggling to stop her family's fall into poverty. With her sons turning to drug dealing-and worse-Nicola wants better things for her daughter. Yet the more pressure she puts on Tinka to do everything right, the more she drives her away . . . straight into the arms of Nine, a man as irresistible as he is lethal. Now Nicola must make unimaginable choices that will put Tinka at a dangerous crossroads. Will standing up for her seemingly impossible dreams be her way out-or will they trap her on D.C.'s merciless streets forever?

    After finding out their beloved foster mother, Claudette McPhearson, was anything but the sweet old woman they thought her to be, Javon, Shanelle, and the rest of their siblings hit the ground running in order to keep the Syndicate operating and to keep themselves alive. That also means they have to lose some of the people they love the most.With the legacy of their mother and her plans for them in motion, the McPhearson children are operating on a broken foundation. Attacked on all fronts, Javon and Shanelle are struggling to keep the family normal, while following the criminal plans of their dead mother. The Syndicate is growing, and Javon is determined to bring in new blood while looking for those who killed Claudette. Not to mention, something odd is going on with all of his siblings that threatens to rock the family to the core. Will the McPhearson clan fall in order for the Syndicate to rise, or will the truth end the legacy before it can even begin?

    Whether it’s securing a dinner reservation, a fleet of limos, or a record deal, or protecting her clients from the paparazzi, there’s nothing Beijing can’t do. She’s stacked up an impressive pile of IOUs from the world’s elite—and one day she decides it’s time to start cashing in. Before long, she’s a five-star diva running her own lucrative business, where she secures her clients their most outrageous—and increasingly illegal—desires.But Beijing has her own addiction: a man named Lootchee, who lavishes her with even more diamonds and luxury than she already has. But behind Lootchee’s charm and over-the-top romantic gestures is a selfish, high-stakes hustler who lures Beijing into a dangerous web that takes even this seasoned enterpriser by surpise, and breaks her heart in the process.Once the ball finally drops, it’ll take a ghost from Beijing’s past to rescue her—not only from those who are out to seriously harm her, but from herself.