Book picks similar to
Expensive Taste by Tiphani


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Destiny's Daughters


Gwynne Forster - 2006
    Now they're adults, thirty-three-year old women who are as different as can be. But they have one thing in common: they have never given up on the idea of one day finding each other. . .In "More Than This," by Donna Hill, we meet Leticia, whose time in group homes sharpened her street smarts and taught her to use her good looks to her advantage. Now she's on top of the world, ensconced in a lush apartment in the heart of New Orleans. Leticia knows what men want--she runs the most elite call girl operation in the Parrish. But when she learns that the new sheriff in town is planning a raid, she decides to close up shop, have some adventures, and find her family. She soon discovers that one of her sisters is a jazz singer slated to appear at Lincoln Center. Leticia buys a ticket--and gets much more than she bargained for. . .Parry "EbonySatin" Brown's [title tk] follows Jamilla, adopted by an upstanding family who loved her like their own. But despite a life of privilege, Jamilla was always haunted by a sense of foreboding. As a way to escape her demons, she turned to writing. Now she's landed a six-figure book deal. But Jamilla's joy is clouded by a series of disturbing dreams triggered by a woman she saw on television--a jazz singer with her face. . .In Gwynne Forster's "The Journey," Clarissa Holmes Medford has finally decided to kick out her cheating husband--and pick up her guitar. Maybe she can sing her way out of the unhappiness and poverty that have plagued most of her life. When she records a well-received demo, it's just the beginning of a fascinating journey that will take her far from home, and expose her to a captivating new world--and an audience that may include the family her heart has always longed for. . .

Spoiled Rotten


Brandi Johnson - 2008
    She thought she was better than everybody, or rather you thought it. But remember the day you found out that she lived in the projects/ghetto/hood just like everybody else? You were shocked, and now less envious of her, knowing she came from exactly where you did. Well, Trouble is that chick! Spoiled rotten by her brother, who has a complex occupation, and her boyfriend, the star B-ball player at their high school being sought after by colleges across the map who don't mind lacing him with SUVs and putting money in his pocket to sway him towards attending their university to play ball--Trouble seems to have it all. And what she doesn't have, she manages to get. But unlike some of the chicks in these other street lit tales; she doesn't have to use her body to get things. She uses the ghetto diva attitude that makes people believe she deserves the best and therefore they do back flips trying to provide. This urban novel has a completely different twist than any other written thus far. In Trouble's journey, she loses her brother, who she is closer to than bark on a tree, and feels as though it's the end of the world. But when she finds out that the person who murdered him had once tried to get with her, a huge scheme comes to mind in order for her to seek revenge. She pretends to like her brother's killer in order to get him right where she wants him, but her plan backfires when something happens that she never saw coming. She falls in love with her brother's killer.

Rozalyn 3


Shan - 2012
    After Tamar damn near killed Rozalyn a little over a year ago; the couple decided to cut their losses and move on. Rozalyn does her best to become a better, independent woman being she no longer has Tamar to depend on. She goes to school, opens her own beauty shop, and is even thinking of starting her own clothing line. Everything is going good especially when she meets Messiah; he sweeps her off her feet and shows her what true love is. Tamar feels since he's gotten rid of all of his enemies he's ready to jump back in the game. With a new lady on his arm, things are looking up and of course the cash is flowing nicely. That is until Messiah comes home and looks to reclaim his spot as the King of Miami. Messiah is messing with Tamar's paper and his woman. With the two men fighting for the crown and the girl; things will get rather ugly. Who will Rozalyn choose in the end? The guy that she bared three kids with and has gone through hell and back with, or the guy that treats her better than royalty? A choice must be made, but will that choice be a deadly one? This is the end and endings aren't always happily ever after.

Teflon Mafia


Drusilla Mars - 2013
    Money. Murder- and not in that order. Tiffany and Messiah are the owners of Teflon Mafia, a company that specializes in capital murder. What's the outcome when the two owners mix business with pleasure-ALL the time? Check out the growth of the company when the Mafia has to deal with trained killers, past lovers, and heartwrenching secrets. Buckle your seat belts for this emotional roller coaster. It's a murderous tale you don't want to miss out on! A heart gripping page turner that is sure to have you on the edge of your seat.

Thugs and the Women Who Love Them


Wahida Clark - 2002
    The first novel in her gritty, gripping series takes you on into a world where a wrong choice could be the last choice a person ever makes. In a 'hood boiling over with sex, brutality, and crime, three friends are at a turning point. They can surrender to the streets- and the murderous men who rule there- or walk a totally different path. But nothing is simple for women addicted to life on the edge. And everything has consequences. Angel, Jaz, and Kyra are all leading double lives, torn between working hard to leave the ghetto behind- and being dragged back in by the lying, pimping, drug-dealing men they can't seem to let go. From jealous rampages to bloody turf wars to rage-fueled vendettas, a tangled web of sex and violence binds these women to the very place that could destroy them.Get ready to enter a heart-pounding world of danger and eroticism mixed with a glimmer of hope.

Silent Cries


Sonovia Alexander - 2013
    It’s not the life that she would choose for herself, but she knows that she cannot put her family to shame. China and her girls Ryder, Q, and Jewels are four of the most notorious chics in Queens. Growing up in the same part of town they were known for cutting and shooting chics and dudes when pushed to the limit. They had looks to kill and could draw in any man. Unbeknownst to her, when China hooks up with a pimp, the reputation that she has tried so hard to upkeep is tested. When thinking with your heart and not using your head, you fall victim to things that are clearly a task that you can’t handle. China is put in a situation where her friendships, family and relationship is at risk ending with her losing some of her loved ones. Find out what Silent Cries is really about as you go inside China’s twisted world of betrayal

Karma


Sabrina A. Eubanks - 2006
    It is love at first sight as the two fall head over heels for each other, despite the influence of Justine's jealous friend, Simone. While Simone tempts Lucas with her raw sexuality, he struggles to keep his old ways in the past. Lucas and his partner, Noah, accept a dangerous undercover assignment that will topple the empire of the notorious drug lord, Nine. Can Lucas and Noah survive this dangerous bust? Will Lucas revert to his player ways with Simone's constant temptation? It's a race between love and lust, and what goes around definitely comes around as KARMA takes its toll.

Sistah for Sale


Miasha - 2008
    Beautiful and ambitious, Sienna determines that the best route to the life she wants is to become the most coveted of Chatman's call girls. When Sienna learns that her mother has been murdered and that Chatman had a role in the murder, she turns to her friend Ryan for comfort, beginning a secret relationship with the boy Chatman is grooming to take over his business. Eager to gain her independence from the man she both admires and loathes, Sienna takes steps to increase her value as a sex worker by learning her wealthy clients' cultures and languages, but her plan backfires. Chatman is more determined than ever not to let her go, and Sienna is equally intent on finding a way to break free -- no matter what it takes.

Strongholds (The Blessed Trinity Series, #2)


Vanessa Davis Griggs - 2008
    . . When Pastor George Landris, the dreadlock-wearing minister of the new mega-church, Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center, urges his congregation to approach the altar and cast off their strongholds--also known as their weaknesses--it's the start of intense soul-searching for many.From a married couple's twin addictions to gambling and gluttony, to a female member's adulterous affair, a computer expert's obsession with cyber-porn and a therapist's workaholism, the Pastor's church family is about to open the proverbial floodgates. And that's just the beginning. There's also the woman whose battle with mental illness hides a buried trauma, and the religious devotee who's so busy fearing the devil she's forgotten what faith is really about. The plot only thickens when the Pastor's wife lightens his load by helping him counsel--and finds herself at the center of a decades-long deception.Insightful, witty, and always poignant, Vanessa Davis Griggs delivers another compelling novel, taking readers behind the scenes of mega-churches, and showing the amazing power that redemption and faith can have on people's lives.

Baby Momma


Ni'chelle Genovese - 2010
    Caught up in a game of fast money, faster women, and a hustler's dream, Rasheed's secrets and lies threaten to completely sever his alliance with his baby's mother Michelle. Trapped in an emotional whirlwind of sex, love, and mistrust, Michelle attempts to hold the threads of their lives together. With the passing of each day their bond unravels further forcing Michelle closer to confronting the reality which is her life or suffering in silence. A cautionary tale for all "Baby Mommas" filled with tragedy,irony,violence and betrayal.

Afterburn


Zane - 2005
     When Washington, D.C., chiropractor Yardley Brown goes to his local bank, it isn't only to make deposits into his account. He has long since accrued some interest in Rayne Waters, a bank employee who's too beautiful to be true -- and too beautiful to be single. At least that's what Yardley believes, which is why he has never approached her. Little does he know that Rayne is anything but taken. Not for want of trying, of course. But after barely surviving a dating disaster with her hairdresser's brother and then falling for a member of her church band who, it turns out, is celibate, she's on the verge of giving up. That is, until Yardley -- discouraged by his own slew of dead-end romances -- finally works up the courage to give her a try. The true craziness, however, is just beginning, thanks to a cast of characters who seem bent on botching the young couple's relationship. There's Rayne's erratic mother, who constantly boasts about being a "good whore"; Yardley's playboy buddies, always trolling for sex; and, worst of all, past lovers who make a habit of popping up and ruining things as only old flames (or previous mistakes) can. Weaving the carnal and the comical in true Zane fashion, Rayne and Yardley's struggle to find love in a world gone mad is a timeless talk about everything that can go wrong in the dating game -- and a few things that can go right.

Karma's a Bitch


J. Gail - 2006
    Labeled the "asshole of West Philly," Tony holds no shame in having other women in his girlfriend Quanisha's bed. There is little remorse after he knocks off a convenience store and beats the cashier down with a gun. He'll rob from his girl, his friends, people he doesn't know and ya mama. He doesn't care who he hurts. The question is when will Tony figure out that Karma's a Bitch? Maybe when he starts getting his Karma instantly and mercilessly he'll get the hint.Will a heavy dose of 'Instant Karma' show him that not contributing to society in any positive way is guaranteed to get him a one way ticket to no where? Or will he just keep digging himself deeper in a hole that could end up being his final resting place...This book will give you a chuckle, a laugh -- or at the very least a smile. But hey, don't laugh too hard... Karma is one persistent bitch that doesn't rest.Want more J.Gail books? Check out Thugs Are for Fun on Amazon (a 3-part series).

Heartbreaker


Erick S. Gray - 2010
    In 'Heartbreaker', three of the hottest names in street lit team up for an anthology on women who are dead-set on getting everything they want.

Trading Dreams at Midnight


Diane McKinney-Whetstone - 2005
    But Freeda's disappearance on the cold February morning in 1984 soon stretches from days to months and from months to years. Raised by their stern grandmother Nan, the two sisters quickly learn to look after themselves, fiercely reinventing their lives in the wake of Freeda's absence.Two decades later, at age thirty-six, Neena has moved away from Philadelphia and supports herself by blackmailing married men. When one of her stings goes terribly wrong, she decides to return to her childhood home. Unable to face her grandmother, Neena attempts to pull one last hustle on a prominent local lawyer. But when she learns that her younger sister has been hospitalized with pregnancy complications, she must decide how to come to terms with the woman who raised her. Reunited, Neena, Tish, and Nan each confronts her own memories of the past, and together reveal their dreams for the future.Shifting seamlessly through time, Trading Dreams at Midnight is the story of three generations of women bound to each other by shared joy and pain. In the evocative prose that has become her signature, Diane McKinney-Whetstone captures in exquisite detail our lingering, ever-hopeful desires for redemption and rebirth—and reminds us of the possibilities the future may still hold.

Swamp Man


Donald Goines - 1974
    George Jackson, "Swamp Man," was born and bred in Mississippi as a gentle young man who turned deadly after he saw what four hill boys did to his sister.