Book picks similar to
Next Semester by Cecil R. Cross II


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A Good Girl and a Hood Millionaire


Khadijah J. - 2020
    Being the good girl that she was, she had never smoked, drank, or done any drugs a day in her life. She had never even had a boyfriend, nor a first kiss. Pilar never found anyone worthy until one eventful night where she ran into one of the most sought-after men in her town. Legacy Powers came from an unstable household and had to practically raise himself and the adults around him. Known for his striking looks and charming demeanor, he kept three women in rotation and ran from commitment. That was until he ran into a rare beauty that set a fire in his once cold heart. Despite these two being total opposites, they find themselves incredibly drawn to each other like a magnet. After the first mishap on the first night they met, time quickly passes as they try to forget each other. However, what’s meant to be will be, despite what the journey throws at them. Could Pilar handle Legacy’s lifestyle and was Legacy ready to let his past life go? Will these two figure it out together or end up going their separate ways after the chaos ceases?

After Hours


Rochelle Alers - 2008
    She flees Brooklyn to start over in an upscale suburb, living among the pampered and polished women she's always envied. But beyond the mansions and manicured lawns lies a world she never would have thought possible....Sybil's exclusive catering business disguises her lucrative sideline venture: she's Delectable, a dominatrix who entertains at bachelor parties. Karla lives on a multimillion-dollar estate, and she and her husband enjoy an open marriage...but her need for male attention is starting to get dangerously out of control.And as Adina is drawn into the sizzling reality beyond her friends' perfect facades, she's also dealing with a new man, who's blissfully unaware of her not-so-innocent past. Now, each woman is about to discover that every passion has a price...and that some secrets are simply impossible to keep hidden.www.RochelleAlers.org

A Little Piece of Sky


Nicole Bailey-Williams - 2002
    In the first few chapters we meet a little girl named Song Byrd, who keenly reports on the world around her. She is African American (in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood), unwanted (conceived during an adulterous affair), and poor in the material sense but extraordinarily rich in spirit. In piercingly insightful prose, Nicole Bailey-Williams takes readers on Song’s journey through life as she struggles against outsider status and intense guilt over her mother’s murder. Behind it all, places of pure joy, “dreaming the hurt away,” and glorious little pieces of sky shine through. Song’s tales--and Bailey-Williams’s narrative gift--are truly words to treasure.

The Throne 4


Cole Hart - 2013
    Add a mother who's back on the run from the Federal Government for a murder of a undercover agent that has been her right hand for years, along with the family main henchman Papa Bear who's now her mysterious lover. Amil Walker has set it in stone that she's definitely the head of the throne and will do whatever it takes to keep her family and their multi-million dollar empire secure. Amil has cut all ties with the Colombian Cartel and with a stroke of good luck she bounces back even stronger with a bigger and better plug with the Arabians in Dubai. And with the Feds still hot on the Walker family trail, who knows what will happen next. Will Amil sacrifice herself to save her family or will she pull the ultimate betrayal? Something that she's been known to do in the past.

Saint's Heaven: An Urban Romance


Shameka Jones - 2016
    Her kids’ father, Flex, loves playing the field and throwing his women in Heaven’s face while expecting her to remain single. Heaven still carries feelings for Flex, but still wishes to have a man that does not have her looking stupid in the streets.Saint is a reformed street king who is trying to live life on the straight and narrow. He owns a landscaping company in the Dallas area and spends his day breaking his back to provide for his gold digging girlfriend, Lailani. With his relationship crumbling, a chance sighting of Heaven at a restaurant intrigues Saint and he tries to pursue her, but encounters several challenges along the way.Saint and Heaven face many people in their way as they try to be together. They may not be able to withstand the pressure. Will they fall in love against all odds or crumble under outside pressure?

Long As You Know Who You Belong To


Bri Noreen - 2015
    New to LA with a couple mil to flip, Grey opens South Beach, the newest addition to the Los Angeles club scene. In the midst of starting his business, he meets an exotic beauty by the name of Nakami. Enamored by her beauty and fiery personality, Grey courts her not knowing that her father, Hero, is the biggest drug lord on the West Coast. Nakami and her father prove to be the connect that Grey needs in order to get back to his hustle. But at what cost? Kimani Summers, Grey's younger brother, is making a name for himself in the modeling industry and is also pursuing a career in acting. When he hears that his brother has relocated to LA, he's not happy. Knowing Grey and the trouble that tends to follow behind him, Kimani is reluctant to interact with the brother he hasn't seen or talked to in over five years. Hesitantly taking Grey up on the invitation to attend the grand opening of his new club, Kimani meets Nakami's best friend, Blu. After losing the last woman he loved tragically, Kimani doesn't want to fall for Blu, but he can't help it. When these four lives are intertwined, things get crazy! And when everything is all said and done, friends will become enemies, business and personal relationships will crumble, and lines will be crossed that will affect the lives of all parties involved.

A Brooklyn Love Affair: Vixen & Gino's Story


Tya Marie - 2015
    The fiercely devoted one she uses for her best friend, the one of a lover and confidant to her fiancé, and the real one she keeps reserved for looking in the mirror and battling her inner demons. Life is fairly normal for Vixen until her verbally abusive mother reenters her life, dredging up traumatic childhood memories, and bringing a handsome stranger into the mix with her devious antics causing Vixen to reprise her role as caregiver and bread winner.Gino Romano is infamous for many reasons: his notoriety for being one of the youngest king pins in New York City, the cold manner in which he handles business, and the notable political ties he's managed to create along the way through "profit sharing." However, the most prominent thing he's known for is the ice fortress he's built around his heart. Because of his past, Gino keeps women at an arms length, believing it hard to find one who could accept the scarred past he comes with. Until he lays eyes on Vixen.Brought together for all the wrong reasons, Vixen and Gino find a common ground that not only develops into a budding friendship, but sparks a love affair. From the moment they become one they must fight to protect their love from those who plan to destroy it by any means necessary, one of which being the very reason Vixen ran away from home ten years ago in the dead of night.Will the forces determined to see Gino and Vixen destroyed win? Or will their love prevail? Set in a spicy Brooklyn backdrop, A Brooklyn Love Affair brings to life pain, forgiveness, and the never ending possibility of finding love.

16 on the Block


Babygirl Daniels - 2009
    Sixteen-year-old Summer Flynt is forced to grow up quickly when she learns she is responsible for her older sister's debt to a thug.

Something About the Hood In Her


Nikki Brown - 2019
     Vinny’s love for Cami is unlike anything that he has ever felt before but in his heart, he knows that he’s not ready to give in to the fairytale life that she dreams of. The luxuries of being at the head of the Maler Empire affords him a plethora of “opportunities” that interfere with what he’s trying to build with her. Cami knows her worth, so the fact that she allows Vinny to do what he does shows just how much she loves him but that’s proving not to be enough anymore. In his mind, he’s young and has time but what he doesn’t know is that Cami is at her breaking point and when Skylar steps on the scene, his time may really be up. Spiff feels like he’s stuck in a relationship with the mother of his son, Porsha. Him and Cami didn’t have the best upbringing and all he ever wanted was a family to call his own. He knew early on that Porsha wasn’t the woman he wanted that with but when she got pregnant, he manned up and handled his responsibility. A situation arose and that caused a rift in Spiff’s life that left him single, and looking for care for his son. When AD Maler introduces him to Magic, he’s drawn to her instantly, but she has some dark secrets of her own. With Porsha still in the background, will the two be able to act on their attraction to each other or will LIFE intercept and end everything before it even begins. In this spin off to “He Brings Out The Hood In Me” you get to see the other side of the Maler Empire, while witnessing Spiff and Vinny battle the ins and outs of love.

Thirsty


La'Tonya West - 2013
    She doesn't give her goodies to just anyone though. She prefers wealthy Caucasian men. Brothers are not to her liking. She has a thirst for the good life that she feels they cannot fulfill. That is until she crosses paths with Thrill. Initially uninterested Kaliyah has no words for Thrill but once she finds out about the paper that he is sitting on it changes the game. Will her thirst end up being her downfall?

Scarlett 3


Tiece - 2014
    Luke loves her with all his heart, but the only thing standing in the way of their happiness is the fact that he could be April’s baby daddy. Scarlett feels hurt and finds herself drawn in an unlikely relationship with Troy as he sets out to win her heart. However, unbeknownst to him, she’s not exactly keeping things completely honest. Nina wants nothing more than to get back with her kid’s father, Stephen. However, Stephen has moved on with an old friend of Nina’s and this union threatens any type of chance that she and Stephen have at being together. Rick continues to lurk in the shadows, definitely making it hard for Nina to ever find happiness with anyone other than himself. Sheila struggles with loving Jay as Jay struggles with losing Scarlett. To add to the confusion, Jay refuses to come to terms with the possibility of being April’s other baby daddy to her unborn child. Sheila is still on a road to redemption, but finds herself questioning Scarlett’s loyalty to her as veiled secrets are slowly being revealed. Will she find out the truth about Scarlett and her father messing around or will the tables turn and reveal some nasty details about herself? There are always two sides to every story. However, in this series, there are numerous sides to a story that only one can imagine… SCARLETT3

Crack Money With Cocaine Dreams


Jahquel J. - 2014
    And so are the drug dealers that flood them. When your pockets are empty but your needs are full, you do the unthinkable. After her mother walks out on her at seven years old, Messiah Garibaldi was groomed to be a boss. Being the daughter to a mob boss and maid, she learned early to never mix business with pleasure. Messiah and her best friend, Jaylah, cook some of the best dope to man, which is how the ruthless drug lord, Tech, enters her world. Never being the one to be in love, Rasheed enters Messiah’s life and opens her to the possibility to love. Will Messiah mix business with pleasure? There’s only one thing in his way: Eli, Messiah’s companion. Eli is money hungry and broke. When giving the opportunity, Eli pulls off a stunt that might end his life. LB is a low-level nickel and dime drug dealer for Tech. Tech has been promising to put him on for years. Tired of being broke and watching Tech reaps the benefits of his labor, LB decides to step out and link up with Rasheed. Staten Island is small, everyone knows everyone…but do they really? When you have crack money but cocaine dreams, envy becomes your best friend.

TYCE 6


Shareef Jaudon - 2013
    However, the west coast’s most notorious gangster still has a plate full of problems and a big appetite for trouble. The top notch crew has their sights set on a case full of diamonds but will they get derailed by the law? Is their new employer Quiana trustworthy? Or will a rival crew led by a sadistic man named Jax beat Tyce’s squad to the punch and steal the stones right from under them? Despite the presence of insecurity, the holice, new enemies, and stiff competition…Tyce tackles life like an amped up linebacker. But can he hold everything together and avoid getting locked up for life? Once again it’s on! Try and keep up cuz Tyce moves kinda fast! Also By Shareef Jaudon: BAD GIRLZ, OPEN LATE episode one, CODE OF CONDUCT. Also Shareef Jaudon presents LADY SCARFACE 1 & 2 by author Divine Ortiz.

Money Hungry


Sharon G. Flake - 2001
    All thirteen-year-old Raspberry can think of is making money so that she and her mother never have to worry about living on the streets again.

The Purest Love For The Coldest Thug


Miss Jenesequa - 2018
    However, deep down Solána knew her stubbornness had sent her mother to an early grave. After tragedy strikes, she gets back on the right path and focuses solely on herself… until she stumbles upon a bewitching addiction like no other, with not a single cure in sight. 
Kisan, known to many as Mace, on the surface appears to be a collected, handsome, and prestigious young man. And he is… among many other things. Those that know more, know him to be bold, calculated, and extremely cold-hearted. They know how crazy he truly is; how he can lay one finger on a trigger and aim perfectly without fail; a gentle giant to not one single soul but the only woman who has his heart—his three-year-old.
 Kisan and Solána are immediately drawn to each other, sparking an uncontrollable fire between them that neither party are able to put out. However, when the attractive heavy hitter and stubborn beauty’s worlds collide, it sets off a cascade of life-changing events. Events that not only change their lives but the lives of everyone around them. Loving a man like Kisan could potentially be the most intense and intimidating thing of Solána’s life, but is she willing to risk it all for a man she should be running far away from? And is Kisan willing to let a woman access the deepest, darkest parts of him?
They say the purest love is hard to find… but now that Kisan has found it, can he make it last? Or will his inner demons get the best of him?