She embodies every young woman’s starry-eyed dreams and heads for Hollywood. On her rugged road to fame, Charlene’s using everything in her might to erase the past–even at the point of compromising her own love story. Charlene still can’t wipe away her deepest fear that shakes her very core… Raven.Raven Shaw grows up in her mother’s tiny Christian town Bellwood, North Carolina. She’s a feisty, confident young thing who won’t hesitate to use her fist when bullies mock her as a bastard. Overcoming teen depression, she finds love. A first love, a teenage romance to die for. Now, Raven can’t be fully committed to the man that has her heart until she learns shy she’s been neglected.When their path’s collide, Raven asks to questions–two family secrets–that can ruin their lives, leading mother and child on the road of feeling like a “Miss Nobody”

    She's desperate for soccer star Mark to notice her. And when her BFF texts Mark a photo of Blaze in sexy lingerie, it definitely gets his attention. After a hot date in the back of her minivan, Blaze is flying high, but suddenly Mark's feelings seem to have been blasted by a freeze-ray gun, and he dumps her. Blaze gets her revenge by posting a comic strip featuring uber-villain Mark the Shark. Mark then retaliates by posting her "sext" photo, and, overnight, Blaze goes from Super Virgin Girl to Super Slut. That life on the sidelines is looking pretty good right about now...

    Pearla is a born hustler, and Cash was born to steal. Pearla sets her sights on Cash and motivates him to take his petty crimes to the next level.Together, the two get money throughout the tri-state, while friends and family want to be upgraded without putting in work. At first, the couple makes it rain in the hood, taking care of those they love, but a hustler always knows when to draw the line.Suddenly, Pearla proclaims the ATM closed, and a quiet storm begins to brew. When the beggars can't beg anymore and the borrowers can't borrow anymore, friends become enemies. Words and bullets are exchanged, leaving The House that Hustle Built under attack and at risk of collapse.

    Damon Johnson loves his wife, Carleigh, but she only ever treats him like a trophy. A tragic event forces Brooke and Damon to become part of each other's lives.

    Sequel to This Can't Be Life

    ADDICTION. DECEPTION. PRETTY PICTURES HIDE UGLY SECRETS. Denise and Derrek Shaw are the perfect American couple. Happily married for fifteen years, they have a wonderful daughter, Mackenzie, successful careers, and a beautiful home in a posh Chicago suburb. They are attractive, respected . . . and hiding a shocking secret: a dangerous addiction to drugs. It started innocently enough. Denise occasionally used prescription drugs to help her deal with the long hours and demanding nature of her job. Derrek, also under pressure at work, began using cocaine socially with some of his colleagues. They can quit whenever they want to. At least, that's what Denise would like to believe . . . As her job becomes more stressful, Denise can no longer get through the day without a fix. Derrek realizes his harmless habit has become anything but, and desperately wants to get clean. However, his attempts are derailed when there is a sudden family tragedy. Once soul mates, now this husband and wife are quickly losing the immense love that had been the cornerstone of their marriage. With her parents spiraling out of control, Mackenzie makes an unexpected move to take matters into her own hands. Is her sacrifice too late-or is there still hope? Is there a final chance to save the Shaw family?

    Randall is rich, handsome, and charming -- the true-to-life dream lover of these smart, independent women who all find themselves passionately involved with him during the same seven-month period.There's Medora Jackson, an artist who has loved Randall since college and is now desperately trying to cut him loose. But turning Randall Hollis out of her life will end up being far more difficult than she thinks. There's Ana Reese-Mitchell, a wealthy widow and art collector who is haunted by the death of her best friend and the specter of her cruel late husband. She hopes Randall Hollis will be her second chance at love. And there's ambitious Taylor Benedict, a graduate student in art history who is coming to terms with her parents' divorce and problems from her childhood that she can't chase away. She's sure that Randall Hollis will be the first rung on her ladder to success.Randall Hollis is a man for all seasons, representing a different fantasy for each of the women who love him. As the novel unfolds, each woman will discover more about herself than she bargained for. And each, along with the errant Randall himself, will finally know the true meaning of love and the peace that comes with forgiveness.

    Renee and her mom made a deal -- Renee could get an education, and Kendra would live with her grandmother. But now Renee's out of grad school and Kendra's in high school ... and getting into some trouble herself. Kendra's grandmother lays down the law: It's time for Renee to take care of her daughter. Kendra wants this badly -- even though Renee keeps disappointing her. Being a mother isn't easy, but being a daughter can be just as hard. Now it's up to Kendra and Renee to make it work.

    By night, they live a dangerous secret life! Carl Weber and Eric Pete deliver a thrilling underworld drama in The Family Business.L.C. Duncan, patriarch of the family, is at the age when he’s starting to think about retirement in sunny Florida. But the recession is taking a bite out of the business and, worrying more, he has to decide which of his children should take over. When his workaholic son Orlando gets the nod, Orlando’s siblings—including the favorite son Vegas, conniving daughter London, glamorous party girl Paris and flamboyant nightclub owner Rio—are up in arms. But so are the Zunigas, a rival family whose fragile business alliance with the Duncans may explode at any moment.When Vegas suddenly breaks away from the family, London’s lawyer husband, Harris, makes a play for the company and all hell breaks loose. Selling cars, it turns out, is only a small part of the Duncans’ family business. Each member of the family has a secret expertise to reveal. And now, under siege from the Mafia, Mexican drug cartels and the Zunigas, the Duncans will have to stick together—or die separately!

    Determined to stay on a straight and narrow path, he follows all the rules of his probation, and even works a full-time job as a janitor. But when the pressure becomes too much to handle, he reverts back to what he knows best. With everything under control, he's the happiest man alive--that is, until he realizes his happiness was achieved at the cost of another man's losses. This brings Breeze back to a part of his life he'd hoped never to relive. He puts his combat boots on and is ready for war, not knowing if the battle will land him back in lockdown. In order to keep his happiness, Breeze is willing to risk it all. Bestselling author Chunichi brings readers another engaging tale of life on the streets. The Streets Keep Calling will make you ask yourself, "How far would I be willing to go for survival?"

    Allison Hobbs offers a provocative look into the lives of three young girls who have been forced into sex slavery by a homicidal pimp, and the one woman who risks everything to try and save their lives. Stealing Candy by Allison Hobbs is a shocking novel about human sex trafficking. Three teenage girls from very different backgrounds have been abducted by a pimp who refers to them as “his candy” while treating them with cruelty and contempt.  Routinely battered, emotionally manipulated, the girls are brainwashed into accepting sexual servitude as their hopeless plight in life. Saleema Sparks has made it her life’s mission to provide a sanctuary for troubled teen-age girls. With dwindling personal funds, she may have to close the doors to her one-woman operation—Head Up—a safe haven for young women in crisis.  But when Portia, a member of Head Up, goes missing, Saleema does not accept that the troubled teen is simply a runaway. She is compelled to look for Portia, forcing an apathetic community to open their eyes and lend a hand in the search for the abducted teen. But can she help Portia and the other sex-trafficked girls break free from the malicious pimp who has abducted them? Determined to save three young lives, Saleema risks everything to get the girls out of the pimp’s murderous grasp.

    Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs, playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to catch glimpses of nudity on late-night cable TV. After a tragic mishap on his first day of high school—when Benji reveals his deep enthusiasm for the horror movie magazine Fangoria—his social doom is sealed for the next four years. But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals have built a world of their own. Because their parents come out only on weekends, he and his friends are left to their own devices for three glorious months. And although he’s just as confused about this all-black refuge as he is about the white world he negotiates the rest of the year, he thinks that maybe this summer things will be different. If all goes according to plan, that is. There will be trials and tribulations, of course. There will be complicated new handshakes to fumble through, and state-of-the-art profanity to master. He will be tested by contests big and small, by his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), by the New Coke Tragedy of ’85, and by his secret Lite FM addiction. But maybe, with a little luck, things will turn out differently this summer.In this deeply affectionate and fiercely funny coming-of-age novel, Whitehead—using the perpetual mortification of teenage existence and the desperate quest for reinvention—lithely probes the elusive nature of identity, both personal and communal.

    They've also been Margaret Drew's best friends since they were children. Margaret has always been the plain Jane of the threesome, living vicariously through the exploits of her friends. But when Tiffany and Chantal head to Europe on an extended vacation, leaving Margaret to tend their apartments, Margaret decides to see how the other half lives. Co-opting their apartments, their boyfriends (current and past), their fabulous lifestyles and Tiffany's very savvy pooch, Virginia, Margaret finally feels like she has found the life she has always wanted and deserved. But her double living begins to catch up with her and Margaret might soon be homeless, manless, and friendless all in one swoop.

    Farrell has got to get out of Flint, Michigan.As his best friend Sparky says, “Flint’s nothing but the Titanic.”And his mother, a.k.a. the Sarge, says, “Take my advice and stay off the sucker path.”The Sarge milked the system to build an empire of slum housing and group homes. Luther’s just one of the many people trapped in the Sarge’s Evil Empire—but he’s about to bust out.If Luther wins the science fair this year, he’ll be on track for college and a future as America’s best-known and best-loved philosopher. All he’s got to do is beat his arch rival Shayla Patrick, the beautiful daughter of Flint’s finest undertaker—and the love of Luther’s life.Sparky’s escape plans involve a pit bull named Poofy and the world’s scariest rat. Oh, and Luther. Add to the mix Chester X., Luther’s mysterious roommate; Dontay Gaddy, a lawyer whose phone number is 1-800-SUE’M ALL; and Darnell Dixon, the Sarge’s go-to guy who knows how to break all the rules.

    It's easier that way. Her needs are taken care of and she doesn't have to give more of herself than she wants to. No messy feelings involved. But when the man she's seeing poses an unexpected question, Kimera quickly realizes that she's not the only woman pulled in by his charm.Their new arrangement doesn't require much from Kimera, but she soon discovers that someone else is pulling the strings. She's not looking for complications, yet she can't help feeling that there's something devious at play.And the truth is more complicated than she could ever imagine . . .