Book picks similar to
What's Real by Daaimah S. Poole


paperback
spicy
urban-books
urban-fiction

Everybody Lies


B.M. Hardin - 2019
     Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. What really happened? No one has a clue. Twenty-two people are questioned, but nothing is found. So one by one, Pepper narrows the suspects down. It becomes clear that everybody has something to hide. The closer Pepper gets to truth, the more everyone lies. Somebody saw something. Someone knows the truth. Someone is a murderer. The question is…who?

Imagine This


Vickie M. Stringer - 2004
    . . and their lives.

An Ordinary Woman


Donna Hill - 2002
    So I may as well say it now. I slept with my best friend's husband. There is no explanation. Not a real one, anyway, not one that people will accept, especially people who know me. . .But I want to tell my side. . .Just hear me out. . ."Asha and Lisa have been best friends since grade school and they have always shared everything. A beautiful and accomplished photographer, Asha never seems to lack excitement or a man to share it with. Yet, for a woman who appears to have it all there is always "that something" she needs to make her feel whole. . .worthy.Lisa, "the good girl," has always dreamed of the perfect marriage to the perfect husband. Now she has both with Ross Davis and she has their future planned to the last, perfect detail.Ross didn't want to believe that he and Lisa had married too soon. He didn't want to believe that each day the man he thought himself to be was being stripped away by the woman he loved--leaving him feeling like a kept man instead of the man of the house.And then--betrayal. No one knows how it happened, how they could have done this to each other. But now, they each want to tell their side of the story.As Asha, Lisa and Ross travel down the road to discovery, you will root for them, hurt for them, hate them and love them. But you will never forget them.An Ordinary Woman is about the betrayal of the most sacred of trusts. It is about the that one moment when a single choice will change lives forever. It is a cautionary tale that dares to look deep inside the hearts and minds of the characters involved. Most importantly, An Ordinary Woman attempts to answer the question: How?

All or Nothing: What Wouldn't You Do to Get Ahead?


Blake Karrington - 2006
    Lead character Shantell Byrant has lived the hard knock life, blessed with a gorgeous figure and good looks, Shantell decides to use what she got to get what she wants

Congratulations


Darrin Lowery - 2007
    That's why no one is more surprised than her when she starts dating Thomas Anthony Young, the fit and handsome office heartthrob. After eight months together, Tiffany is sure that he's about to propose at any minute.Instead, she's taken off guard when they have a senseless argument. Thomas abruptly departs for a business trip, leaving Tiffany hurt and confused. In an effort to cheer herself up, she calls her friend Alicia for some company. Alicia already has plans to attend the wedding of a cousin she's not too fond of. She suggests that Tiffany go with her. They'll make a brief appearance and then spend the rest of the day together, shopping and catching up. Neither one of them is prepared for the pandemonium that breaks loose when they get to the wedding and Tiffany discovers that Thomas is the groom!

This Is Life


Shakara Cannon - 2012
    Sequel to This Can't Be Life

The Flip Side of Sin


Rosalyn McMillan - 2000
    "The Flip Side of Sin" takes readers on a journey through the lives of a group of unforgettable characters who must overcome life's toughest challenges to find true happiness. It is a book in which worlds collide and people are forever transformed by the tumultuous changes that occur in one man's life. The story begins with Isaac Coleman, a man whose tragic mistakes cost him years away from everyone and everything that mattered to him -- especially his wife and son. Alone, confused, and bitter, Isaac can only become whole by learning to love again. But when he re-enters the world he left and attempts to get reacquainted with his now teenage son, Peyton, he finds heartbreaking rejection.As Isaac struggles to understand and change his plight, his only form of self-expression is found in the keys of his saxophone. When he later meets up with Miracall Lake, a woman with whom he shares a painful past, she surprisingly helps him to face his fears and reach for his dreams. In this case, love indeed conquers all -- or so it tries to in this tale of good versus evil and love versus hate. "The Flip Side of Sin" is a poignant and memorable work from a writer of immense talent.

A Hustler's Promise 2


Jackie Chanel - 2012
    The price they have to pay for the decisions they made as kids is steep. But the pair are ready to face whatever the streets bring them..as long as they have each other.

Ida B.


Karen E. Quinones Miller - 2004
    Wells-Barnett Tower. The place held such promise when it was built in the late 1970s. It was Harlem's hope for a new beginning -- an affordable, safe residence for people who couldn't afford to live downtown. But that was more than twenty-five years ago, before the devastating crack scourge hit. But the residents of Ida B. are resilient. They've built their own community and they look out for one another to the best of their abilities. Neighbors may argue, and even fight, but whenever one of them is in trouble, the whole building rallies around.Twenty-five-year-old Brenda Carver is a welfare mother of four children who longs to be a writer; Rosa Rivera is an aspiring actress who will let nothing stand in the way of her career; Sharif Goldsby is a political activist determined to change the world, starting with Harlem and the Ida B. There's also Miss Jackie, the middle-aged, back-stabbing gossip; Vincent, the former bank robber turned scam artist; Mrs. Harris, the elderly neighborhood fence; and high school honor student Ricky, who hopes to be one of the scramblers on the corner -- hawking crack to passersby.When a building resident kills herself and two of her children, the tenants make a collective vow to care for her surviving child.But that's just the beginning of the tragedies facing the residents of the Ida B. A shocking crime occurs in the building, and everyone becomes a suspect. With accusations flying, the tight community of the Ida B. begins to collapse under the strain. And, to top it all, they learn that their home of more than twenty years is about to be torn down.As the search for the killer intensifies, unsung heroes step forward -- at greatpersonal risk -- to right the wrongs that have been done. In Karen E. Quinones Miller's world, the people who stand out are the people who survive, and go on, against all odds, to share their wisdom and find their dreams. In a modern take on the classic sentiment, "There's no place like home," "Ida B." affirms that home is a place we love, even when it is less than perfect.

Queen


Cynthia White - 2007
    Born and raised as Princess of The Black Mafia, an organization founded by her father, she wants for nothing except the love of her cruel, cold-hearted mother. When the police arrest Queen's father for her mother's murder, Queen's perfect life is shattered. Holding a dark secret, Queen must decide if she can reveal the true identity of the killer in order to spare her father's life. With her father gone, she searches for security in the arms of a series of lovers, who all have their own agendas. Just as her life seems to be spinning out of control, she learns to face her own demons and take control of her destiny. But when Queen finally realizes that she is so much more than the criminals and thugs who surround her, it may already be too late.

Sexcapades


HoneyB - 2008
    Justin Flint has the power to persuade the Board of Directors. He is bisexual and attracted to both Nick and Natalie, but he doesn't know that they are lovers. After secretly sleeping with both of them, Justin announces his decision. Natalie has gotten the position in Paris. Nick is furious because he has sacrificed his sexuality and his manhood for this position. Natalie is now torn between the love of her life and her dream job. She chooses to move to Paris. Although she is in Paris, she is miserable without Nick, so she creates a position for an assistant so that he will come to Paris also. Will Nick follow her? Will past skeletons come back to haunt her and Nick?

Candy Licker


Noire - 2005
    Harlem. 145th Street. Grab a seat and brace yourself as I show you the kind of pain that street life and so-called success can bring. . . .Nineteen-year-old Candy Raye Montana, an ex—drug runner for the Gabriano crime family and a former foster child, dreams of becoming a hip-hop superstar, if only someone will discover her talents.Someone does. Mega music producer and king thug of Harlem, Junius “Hurricane” Jackson, CEO of the House of Homicide recording studio, cuts a deal and puts Candy on the stage. Suddenly she is a hot new artist on the notorious Homicide Hitz record label. Her career takes off and she blazes the charts, but it’s not long before Candy realizes that the man she thought was her knight is nothing more than a cold-blooded nightmare.Caught between the music and the madness, between the dollars and the deals, Candy belongs to Hurricane–body and soul–and must endure his sadistic bedroom desires while keeping his sexual secrets hidden from the world. But Candy has some strong desires of her own that simply cannot be denied, especially when she finds herself turned on by a brilliant investment baller who just happens to be Hurricane’s right-hand man. Candy longs for her freedom, but if Hurricane gets wind of her betrayal the blowback will be lethal–and not only will she risk losing her recording contract, she just might lose her life.

The Ugly Side of Me


Nikita Lynnette Nichols - 2015
    It was lust at first sight, and Rhapsody isn't going to let young Malcolm leave her presence without a promise to fulfill her fantasy.Malcolm had no idea when he accepted Rhapsody's invitation to her bedroom that he was selling his soul to the devil. Malcolm thinks he can bed Rhapsody and simply walk away, but she is not one to settle for a one night stand. Rhapsody goes to desperate measures to keep her cub extremely close to her. Gifting Malcolm a very expensive SUV, filling his belly with home cooked meals and funding a trip to Cancun are just a few of the tactics that Rhapsody uses to ensure that Malcolm spends his nights in her bed and no one else's. However, when Rhapsody finds a mysterious package on her doorstep containing proof of Malcolm's betrayal and deception, she seeks revenge and seals her own fate.

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.

Ghetto Love


Sonovia Alexander - 2013
    She has a love and hate type relationship with everyone she’s in contact with including her three children. She knows that she hasn’t been the perfect mother, but due to unfortunate circumstances in her life with her children’s father, she tends to take her anger out on the ones that love her the most. Lisa is Pam’s twin sister and the total opposite. She’s also the mother of three children and finds herself taking the fall for her sister due to mistaken identity. Knowing that her sister has always envied her, she finds out a few secrets that have been kept from her and the rest of the family. Ghetto Love is the true meaning of love and hate. Hating a person one day, ready to stab them in the back then waking up to them the next day as if nothing happened. Take a look into the world of these twins and find out how this love and hate relationship turns out.