. .Rochelle Alers, "Love Lessons"Tyrell Hardcastle is knocked off his feet when he meets a local high school teacher. Now all he has to do is overcome her objections to him being the "younger man".Donna Hill, "Lady in Waiting"Noah Hardcastle is engaged to beautiful Tara Mitchell. However, their relationship is threatened when Noah's first love Rachel, returns to D.C. to prove to him that he is all she ever really wanted.Brenda Jackson, "Irresistible Attraction"Sydney Corbain never forgot her explosive encounter with Tyrone Hardcastle at her brother's wedding. So when she runs into him in New York City on business, they both see this as an opportunity to explore their undenaible attraction.Francis Ray, "Blind Date"Ayanna Hardcastle pretends that she is dating wealthy businessman Tanner Rafferty, in order to get her matchmaking friend off her back. But, she never imagined that Tanner Rafferty would show up to collect on that claim!

    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 a brief "glimpse" into the lives of Prototype singer/guitarist Zay Broussard and bassist Jersey Kincaid following the events in their book, 'Happiness In Jersey' —Book 1 of The Prototype Series. *This short story is best read only after you've completed The Prototype Series in its entirety. (The Prototype Series reading order: Happiness In Jersey, Finding Kennedy, Keeping Willow, and Loving Cassie).

    If erotic content and short stories are not your cup of tea, then this experience is not for you.

    What no one knows is that Sinclair used to be Detroit hustler Ms. Tracy Franklin, wife of Kwame Franklin, who is now in jail. When Kwame is released from prison, he tries blackmail. Then the tabloids get involved.

    In part one of Young Love in Memphis: Heart on Reserve – Grace, Braille, and Jessica begin their journey into womanhood. Grace’s life had never been normal. She grew up with a father who showed his love only through providing and protecting, and a mother who was so submissive that she allowed her husband to keep her from giving Grace the love and nurture every young girl needs. When Grace was sixteen she left Memphis to be with her boyfriend, Andy. Almost two years later, Grace finds herself sneaking back into Memphis, praying her parents and Andy never find out. But Andy does. And he refuses to let her go easily. Braille grew up with a single mother. Her entire life has centered around loving her Mother, getting good grades in school, and becoming a Nurse. A flat tire on one of the hottest days in Spring causes her to meet Lorenzo, a young dope boy whose life is going down a completely different path, and her life is changed forever because of it. After watching her sister love, lose, and die because of it, Jessica vowed to never fully commit herself to love or a man. Then she met Cameron. And his love and gentle pursuit of her changed her mind. When Cameron left for college she thought she could get back to her normal routine of enjoying life and messing around with whoever she wanted to, but Cameron didn’t want to let her go so easily. As she tries to enjoy her last year of high school and maintain a long distance relationship she meets Vega, Lorenzo’s best friend. Their encounter leaves her in a love triangle she’s not sure she wants to get out of. In this captivating series, these girls are all left with two options – live and love while they’re young, or place their hearts on reserve to live wild and free. Which will they choose? Join them in part one to find out!

    They are severe chronicles of gangstas, written by men and women who have starved and bled and survived by the code of the streets.Essence magazine’s #1 bestselling author Nikki Turner has earned her rep as “the Princess of Hip-Hop” with gritty urban novels like A Hustler’s Wife and The Glamorous Life. Now she lends her considerable street cred to this anthology, the first of its kind–an explosive collection featuring edgy new writers Turner handpicked for their ability to evoke the street, and the people who live by its rules, in hot, hyperrealistic stories. Turner scoured the ghetto, the prisons, and every crack and crevice around the country to bring you these impressive new fresh-from-the-street voices. Never one to disappoint her fans, Turner even throws in a raw gangsta tale of her own. From a buppie who risks her entire well-groomed world when she’s suddenly turned on by a thug (“Gotta Have a Ruffneck”), to a lesbian pimp who gets what she deserves from the women she’s turning out (“Big Daddy”), these stories will shock, entertain, and make you fly through the pages.

     Nia Winston, a young high school principal, stands in a fan line at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, hoping to get Justin Ray, the hottest R&B singer, to donate to her non-profit. When they meet sparks fly, or maybe it was just Nia's imagination. Until Nia has a surprise meeting with Justin, a month later while she is in Atlanta and Justin asks her to spend one week with him no strings attached. Wanting to escape her own problems back at home, she agrees and has the most passionate time of her life. As real love develops inexplicably between Nia and Justin, she can no longer hide the truth. And when her truth threatens to harm Justin's white-hot career, she leaves him one night with only a goodbye text. Two years later, Justin unexpectedly comes back in her life, demanding answers. All of her emotions come rushing back, but is she ready to give up everything she cherishes for a man she knew for only one week and a world she never wanted?

    The lyrical passion will caress your mind and feed your body from the first mental stroke of The Pussy Whispers verbal penetration. It will leave you craving and thirsting for more...

    It's one thing to be the girlfriend of a Demonte, but to be the wife of a Demonte is something totally different. British, Katera, and Chloe are without a doubt Married to the Mob and feeling the side effects from it. After British says "I Do" to Corleone life changes drastically for her. With the revelation that Angelo Scarelli is her father, British has to deal with Corleone creating distance between them. Despite Corleone spoiling British rotten and giving her the world she's having a hard time adjusting to being Mrs. Don Corleone Demonte. Don Corleone Demonte has always been in control of everything, but as of lately he's losing his grip on the family he's head of. Corleone won't rest until he gets revenge against the people who have brought harm to the ones he loves. With Lucci and Dominic riding shotgun, it's going down on the streets of Chicago. While the men are out holding court in the streets the wives are trying to hold it down on the home front. Follow the couples you fell in love with in this highly anticipated second installment and see why being Married to the Mob isn't a easy job!!!

    Alex has been interviewing celebrities and hangers-on long enough to know all that glitters isn’t gold, so she’s determined to get the real scoop. Still, it’s not going to be easy to get past the wives’ gilded cages... Beth Saddlebrook, wife of aging rapper Z. They have three beautiful boys and a seemingly endless supply of cash. But Beth spends her days trying to keep Z off drugs and fielding calls from women hollering she’s just a “small-town white bitch” and claiming to be carrying Z’s baby. Only one person understands what she’s going through... Kipenzi Hill, multiplatinum-selling R&B artist and Beth’s best friend. Her relationship with rap star and record label president Jake is an open secret in the industry. She knows Jake loves her, but he’d rather break up than publicly acknowledge it. Now she has learned that the newest (and much younger) R&B sensation Bunny has been signed to Jake’s label. Josephine Bennett, wife to Jamaican singer and Überproducer Ras Bennett. Josephine doesn’t just want to spend her husband’s money, she wants to contribute. Her fashion company is finally starting to get media attention when her husband admits to something she’s suspected all along — he’s fallen in love with another woman. Cleopatra Wright, every man’s dream girl, a video vixen with a story to tell and scores to settle. Cleo’s got that thing no one can put a finger on and no man (or woman) can resist. Some would call her evil or misguided or both, but Cleo always moves with a purpose and she’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants...Alex realizes she may have more in common with these women than she’d like. What if this is a glimpse of how her life will be if Birdie finally gets signed to a major label? Stuck between her loyalty to this newfound sisterhood and her obligation to write the truth, Alex is forced to rethink everything she knows about work, friendship, and love.

    Here you’ll find sexy tales from fan favorites K’wan, Joy, Thomas Long, Jamise L. Dames, Andrea Blackstone, Gerald Malcom, Euftis Emory, Kweli Walker, and Erick Gray, along with two hot new voices: Aretha Temple and Plea$ure. Noire even supplies her own juicy addition to the hard-body lineup.So beware: The heat and the drama between these pages are not fairy tales for the desperate housewife. Ride hard with Noire as her authors get their grind on and take it to the limits in From the Streets to the Sheets.

    Adam Cochran has a lot on his mind because he's recently admitted to himself that he's in love with his best friend and business partner, Alicia Fuentes. She's always been hands-off to him because they made a promise to stay friends and only friends. He'd finding it harder and harder to keep that promise because he wants her like he's never wanted anything or anyone in his life. Alicia is going through the same thing because she's been in love with Adam for years and the same promise has kept her from admitting her feelings for him. But true love will always find a way and they finally break down the barriers that have kept them in the BFF category and find their way into each other's arms. Being in love is wonderful and their passion exceeds all their expectations. Adam proposes and she accepts, but when Big Benny announces to the family that he fathered a son while he was married to his late wife, Lillian, everything changes,Adam is furious and refuses to have anything to do with his new half-brother, even though the rest of the family is willing to accept him. Benita tries to convince Adam that John is a good man, reminding him that John Flores is the man her saved her sanity and helped her reconcile with Clay after the tragic car accident that made her miscarry their first child, Even after finding how how Big Benny came to have a one-night-affair with John's mother, Adam isn't convinced that he can forgive his father and accept his brother. His angst drives a wedge between him and Alicia and causes her great distress.But when it's revealed that John is dying of the same condition that caused his mother's death and that Adam is the only one who can save him through a living transplant, Adam has no choice but to do the right thing and volunteer to help his newest sibling. Now it's Alicia who has the [roblem because she's afraid that something will happen to Adam during the surgery.Adam's tender love and infinite passion show Alicia that she has nothing to fear, that he and John will both come through the procedure with flying colors so that he and Alicia can live a life filled with love. And he's right; everything works out perfectly and they begin their new life together.Of course, there's the small matter of what becomes of John Flores-Cochran and his acerbic assistant "Miss Parker", and that's what book seven, A Fool for You is all about. Happy reading!

    She can handle just about anything she meets on the road - but this time she might be headed for a crash.

    That is, until he suffered an untimely stroke, under questionable circumstances.  Phyllis Neville sacrificed everything for her career, including her marriage to a man she'll love forever, and a positive relationship with her adult daughter.  But when she is passed over for the promotion of a lifetime, it’s just the first thing to go wrong in her once perfect life as the past rears its ugly head. Freddie Palmer is bored by the routine that her life has become.  Married thirty years to her husband, Don, the two of them have become empty-nesters and Freddie is anxious to start the next phase of her life.  After meeting successful author, Bianca Hightower, at a local bookstore signing, Freddie decides to take her passion for reading to the next level and signs up for writing classes being taught by her new author friend.  But Bianca sees potential in Freddie that transcends simply writing, and introduces her to the kinds of experiences a woman like Freddie never even knew existed. But when the past catches up to her, it becomes one more dark secret she’s not sure she’ll be able to keep. Tasha Darden has lived her life in foster care, and has finally gathered up the courage to try to find her birth mother. One of the three women holds the answers she seeks and she will stop at nothing until she gets them.