Which one is drinkable? Ayani has definitely been through the worse. One tragic incident turned her life upside down forever, leaving her sister, Kamille, to hate her. Kamille is now out to wreak havoc on her already messed up life. Ayani is trying her best to hold on to her fragile relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Kash, in the heat of it all. She’ll end up paying the ultimate toll for her scandalous and childish behavior. Will she take heed when her reality sets in or will she just be a product of her circumstances?

    Watkins wrote Jane Doe during her freshmen year of high school and after giving birth to her son. She was fifteen years old. She wrote Jane Doe as a heart wrenching reflection of life through the eyes of the urban teenager. Jane Doe is set in the “Windy City” during the year 1996. The main characters, Lyric Caldwell, Latrice Anderson, and Victoria Renee Brown, allow you into their adolescent world of fitting in, insecurity, boys, heart break, and love. Entering their first year of high school at Kraton High, Lyric, Latrice, and Victoria find themselves battling with common factors of the urban environment; teenage pregnancy, single-parent homes, and peer pressure. Victoria was forced to move in with her estranged father after the death of her mother. Forced to work and fend for herself, “Vic” has grown a thick skin against her father’s verbal and physical abuse, and strangers have to climb the wall that she has built around her heart. Lyric has a hard time helping her best friend break down this wall as she is forced to handle matters of her own; refereeing a game of tug of war between her older boyfriend, Russell, and her virginity. With substance abusive parents, Lyric often times prefers to lean on the maturity of her other best friend, Latrice, for counsel. However, Latrice is dealing with problems of her own when she realizes that she is possibly pregnant by the neighborhood high school dropout, Taij. Now she is faced with the unfeasible task of explaining to her demanding and strict mother that she has not only been sneaking and having sex with the boyfriend that she was not supposed to have, but also may possibly become what her mother has feared the most; a statistic. Through this novel, Watkins reveals the genuine thoughts and motivations of the urban teenager. Jane Doe is geared toward the urban adolescent, but is attention seeking enough for any adult by illustrating the rebellious teenager living “ghetto fabulous” with consequence, and highlights the unexpected heroes of our urban communities. Jane Doe reaches out to that insecure and yearning teen, and illustrates the consequences of refusing to look beyond the small window of fitting in.

    Not only did Rose embarrass her, Selina; who she thought was her friend, turned on her too. In the midst of chaos, her worst nightmare showed up. Cason, didn’t understand why she was shaken up until she informed him that Roger was there to kill her. Scared and terrified, Cason told her to stay put so he could grab their things to leave. Unfortunately, Roger goes missing and so does Rose. A gun goes off, but no one knows who did it or who was hit. Cason is still fighting with Desi’s mom. She has gone through extensive lengths to gain custody. However, he isn’t giving his daughter up and will do whatever it takes. With everything going on, Cason is forced to deal with the new drama unfolding. Everything begins to take a toll on him; making him unleash the beast, he's kept away for a long time. Pierce is still unaware of where Rebel works. However; on her last job assignment, someone she least expects, will uncover her secret. In hopes to keep it from being exposed will Rebel, make a deal with the devil or come clean to the man she fell in love with?

    Now Lady must find a way to survive on the cold, hard streets. After landing a dead-end job at a donut shop, Lady wonders how she will ever make it out of a six-dollar-an-hour existence. Then she meets Cream, the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in New York City. Cream quickly decides that he wants to own this beauty and recruits her for his prostitution ring. Lady joins the "Cream Team," but she has no intentions of working the streets forever. In fact, she plans to run the show and she's willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. But the streets don't love nobody, and it's not long before Lady is deep in a game she can no longer control. The question is: Will she be able to get out of the game before the game claims her?

    Sequel to This Can't Be Life

    

    Backstage is a VIP pass to the glamorous, gritty music industry, a world Nikki Turner knows intimately–as she introduces writers you’ll want to read again and again.

     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?

    Being the eldest of three children and the only male in his family, he hustles hard to take care of them. The only thing missing from his life is a loyal female companion. The on again/off again relationship with his ex, Star, is becoming a battle that he is no longer willing to fight. When he and his younger sister, Story, make a Spring Break trip to visit their sister, Taylin, he may just find the perfect girl. Ezra is also on the hunt for a new connect, so while in Houston, he links up with an old friend about business. What he doesn’t know is that the very thing he needs is right under his nose. Emerald is sophomore at Texas Southern University. She is the first in her family to attend college, and a very important asset to her family’s drug business. Since the death of her first love, she hasn’t been able find a guy to capture her attention the way that he had. Plus, her mother is always in her ear about not letting boys distract her. She has done a good job of playing dodge ball with guys, but that all comes to an end when she is approached by Ezra. His confidence and persistence are a force that she can’t escape. Although she plays hard to get, it doesn’t take long for her to give in to his charm. Taylin is a little on the wild side. She and her friends like to turn up and party on the regular. Now that she is dating her crush, college basketball star McKinley Staton, she couldn’t be happier. Being McKinley’s girlfriend comes with more than just bragging rights; it come with groupies and an ex that can’t let go. Her run-in with McKinley’s ex quickly becomes a physical, aggravated assault. Will dating McKinley be more trouble than she bargained for, or will she be able to roll with the punches? Hollywood is little brother to Emerald, but little is something that he is not. At the age of 17, he stands at 6’3” and 200 pounds—truly a lady’s man. When he takes a trip to visit his sister for Spring Break, he has no problem with pulling college girls. The college girls aren’t the only ones that want a piece of Hollywood, though. Stormy has her young eyes on him too. His eyes are on her also, but that comes to a screeching halt when an unexpected turn of events changes everything. Hollywood is forced to make a decision on what to do while trying handling a little drug business for his father. Will he really be able to avoid Stormy, or will she take what she wants? Come take a journey to H-Town, where it all goes down. Sex is had, secrets are revealed, jealousy is felt, and drama follows each character as new relationships are formed. After reading about Ezra, Emerald, Taylin, and Hollywood, you will find out who’s really the Low-Key Boss.

    Fly, beautiful, and quick-witted Storm doesn't chase money-money chases her; But it wasn't always that way. Born into poverty then later abandoned by her mother Storm was raised by her mentally abusive drug-addicted aunt. After partaking in acts that no child should even have to witness; Storm survives her turbulent childhood and stands stronger than ever. Soon Storm begins to feel that her life is complete; she has the money, the life, and a wonderful man who gave up his womanizing ways just t be with her...

    Zayne is delivered the shock of his life when Qwinae resurfaces and drops a bomb on him that changes his life and everything that matters the most. Unsure if he can take her words at face value or not he vows to quickly find out. Asahd finally gives in to his feelings and accepts that he’s fell head over hills for Camille. Going against everything he stood for he opens his heart and welcome Camille into his world. But falling in love isn’t an easy thing to do when you have women that’s working hard to break your relationship apart. Meanwhile, Johan is finally seeing Tabitha’s true colors and secrets are revealed. When Johan is faced with the truth he vows that somebody must pay for the pain tugging at his heart. Although he wanted to step out fully of the game he’s forced to stay once a whirlwind of problems occur back to back. While the Moseley brothers are dealing with everything from the new beginnings to failing relationships they have enemies plotting to strip them of everything they’ve worked hard for. Will the brothers be able to get control of their personal lives and keep the streets under control? Will they end up having to choose between the streets and family? In the end of Camille and Kiera just might not be Mesmerized by a Street King anymore.

    With their sex appeal and rude boy ways, females love them, and dudes fear them. There’s never a dry panty in the room when the Billions brothers are around. Javier Billions, the oldest of the trio, is stern and about his business. He doesn’t play when it comes to getting this money, but his love life isn’t as controlled as his business. In fact, it’s in shambles, with secrets so deep he doesn’t see a way out of them until tragedy strikes, and he is forced to tell the truth. Jax Billions is the hothead brother of the family. He loves his longtime girlfriend, Liberty, but at times insecurities have a way of ruining a relationship. When things go haywire in their lives, Jax feels responsible for all the things that go down. In the end, will infidelities, insecurities, and distrust cause his demise? Baby brother, Juelz Billions, is the life of the party. Never looking for love, but when love finds him in an unexpected way, he doesn’t know how to feel. Taking a chance on love seems like the right thing to do, but with unseen enemies lurking, he doesn’t know who to trust. Should he gamble with his heart or gamble with his life? And lastly, the baby Billions, Jacey. Being spoiled all her life, Jacey doesn’t understand the word no. She meets a new guy, and she’s immediately drawn to him, but that just may be her downfall. While Jacey thinks she’s found her king, she’s actually found the devil. Trying to keep her sanity while trying to escape with her life will be hard to do. This powerful family is faced with the biggest battle yet, Love. Come take a ride with the Billions. As enemies lurk and tragedy strikes, the drama seems to unfold everywhere they turn. The siblings must remain strong as one in order to keep their reign in the streets. Get ready to dive into the lives of this powerful family.

    Finessing’ by definition, ‘is doing something in a subtle manner.’ But if you were to ask someone from the streets what it means, they’d tell you it’s using what you got, to get what you want...:.

    That is the mind set of Pure Adams, who learned at a young age how to use what she got to get what she wants. No man is spared, nor off limits to Pure when it comes to feeding her lavish lifestyle and need for money, including her best friend’s husband, Isaac Washington. Since the day she laid eyes on Isaac, Pure felt that he was the man she’d been looking for her entire life. She concocts a plan that will tear Isaac and Autumn apart. But even Isaac {Pure’s dream man} has secrets of his own. To the world, he is a prestigious doctor and loving family man, but beneath the surface, he is a ruthless kingpin who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, which could have deadly consequences for Pure when she unknowingly steals his drug money. Despite the close calls, Pure continues to play her hand at the street life, committing almost every sin imaginable to man from theft, to fornication, and even murder. But one ultimate act spins her precious world spirally out of control which could be a devastating end to her games involving her loved ones when she kills the brother of an ex-hustler, Carlos Sanchez, who seeks revenge. Will Pure be able to withstand the tricks of trades of the streets, or will her past sins finally catch up with her.

    We always wondered what their kids would be like when they grew up. Well, the wait is over, and these two are ready to tell their story. Zayna “Spark” Hoover is used to the fast and crazy life. Acting just like her father, Blaze, she is used to being the center of attention. However, going to college was the total opposite for her. Struggling to find her place and fit in a circle of people who judged her for who she was, being away from her family was beginning to take a toll on her until she met Lil Darryl. Darryl “Phantom” Reed, Jr has always followed in his father’s footsteps. Growing up over the years, nothing had changed. Expecting to take over the streets as his dad once did, he was surprised when his father sent him off to college. Having no regard for anything, he continued to live his life as he wanted until he met Spark. Neither had ever met anyone as crazy as them, and they hit it off right away. However, as the old saying goes, your past has a way of catching up with you. Unbeknownst to the two, the sins of their parents would come back and tear their worlds apart. The two deadliest men to ever play the game will have to come together and save their children. If they don’t kill each other first...