Book picks similar to
Around the Way Girls by La Jill Hunt


urban
african-american
urban-fiction
around-the-way-girls

Groove


Geneva Holliday - 2005
    This funny, sexy book has something for everyone!

Disappearing Acts


Terry McMillan - 1989
    She was pretty and independent, petite and not too skinny, just his type. Franklin Swift was a sometimes-employed construction worker, and a not-quite-divorced daddy of two. Zora Banks was a teacher, singer, songwriter. They met in a Brooklyn brownstone, and there could be no walking away... In this funny, gritty urban love story, Franklin and Zora join the ranks of fiction's most compelling couples, as they move from Scrabble to sex, from layoffs to the limits of faith and trust. Disappearing Acts is about the mystery of desire and the burdens of the past. It's about respect, what it can and can't survive. And it's about the safe and secret places that only love can find. --

Chasing Destiny


Eric Jerome Dickey - 2006
    She can handle just about anything she meets on the road - but this time she might be headed for a crash.

Something on the Side


Carl Weber - 2008
    There's only one rule to being a member. You must be at least a size 14…BGBC president Tammy loves everything about her life-especially taking care of business for her husband, Tim. This year, she intends to top all his past birthdays by having a threesome with her best friend, Egypt. Now, if only Egypt will agree …And then there's Coco, who has a habit of messing around with married men. But now that she's hooked up with a man who makes his living being every woman's fantasy, all she cares about is making sure he doesn't stray.As insatiable about books as they are about love, these friends are about to discover how tough it is to keep it real when they all have something on the side.

It Chicks


Tia Williams - 2007
    Welcome to Louis B. Armstrong, New York City's most prestigious performing arts school, where the gifted, wanna-be starlets, and It Chicks are "all" on the rise. But when rehearsals give way to hot and heavy after-school sessions away from the barre and without the mic, the" real" drama begins. Meet the hottest cast in town: Tangie, the Dreamer. Skye the Drama Queen. Eden the Bombshell. Trey the Bad Boy. CJ the Thug with the Heart of Gold. Izzy the Wild Child. Regina the Silent Threat. And the Entourage: Marisol, Kamillah, Blackadocious, Vineet, and Lyle. They're all playing the fame game and will do whatever it takes to nail it.

Wifey


Kiki Swinson - 2004
    She lives in a nice home in an exclusive community with her husband Ricky, an infamous, well-known drug dealer from the rough streets of D.C. He is also known to be one of the most feared men in the South. Because of Ricky's drug-empire, Kira finds herself in the most dangerous situation ever. Ricky forces Kira to believe that he's going to call on his reinforcements, so everything will end in his favor. However, unknown to Ricky, Kira felt the need to devise an escape plan on her own. Will she choose loyalty or her life? In a world where everyone wants to be Wifey the question is - can you play your position and handle the drama the streets will throw your way?

Married on Mondays


HoneyB - 2010
    But at night, they become Vanilla Cream, Cherry Cream, and Sugar Cream, and run an upscale swingers club called Creamé. Their clientele include everyone from judges, lawyers, politicians, and police officers, to soccer moms and housewives. Business is booming at the hottest club in town. Until the police chief extends an indecent proposal to Foxy: sleep with him, or go to jail. With the whole town standing behind Creamé (and not just because they all happen to be clients), the women must decide whether to stand together and fight, or risk losing their business.

The Dopeman's Wife


JaQuavis Coleman - 2009
    The allure of the fast like pulled her into a world of scandal, schemes, and hustling. After Nautica comes up on a big scam and her biggest payday ever, she decided to move to the East Coast in search of a new beginning. What she thinks will be a new start turns out to be a nightmare. She meets Manny, a well known millionaire druglord who is planning his exit from the streets. Manny is ready to settle down and marry the woman of his dreams. He sweeps Nautica off her feet and introduces her to the good life, promoting her from an ex-hood chick to the queen of the streets. But when the past comes back to surface, it causes their whole world to fall to pieces. Nautica and Manny have skeletons in their closest that intertwine and cause a dilemma that turns them against each other.This story takes you through the life of a dopeman's wife and her fall from grace. Look through her eyes and prepare for a sexy, page turning classic that has an ending so unpredictable, not even Nautica can see it coming.

Bedroom Bully


Trista Russell - 2009
    Shaken with fright when he nudges a gun to her body and demands protection, Audra has no clue how deeply the murderer's rough, tender touches will penetrate the hardened layers of her heart.Dean Casey can't believe he's on the run after shooting two cops. But he never dreamed that his young daughter would be molested, either, a crushing reality that pushed the hardworking father to the brink of insanity. With the entire city of Miami on the hunt for him, Dean must figure out a way to save his daughter before vanishing from her life forever. To complicate matters, his hostage is a sexy, thick beauty whose attraction to him is impossible to ignore.Overcome with the thrill of their forbidden lust and imprisoned in the walls of her home, Audra and Dean lose themselves in an addictive, erotic haze - until sudden tragedies and shocking twists force them to escape Miami. As the fugitives set sail on the tranquil Caribbean Sea, their treacherous journey will, once and for all, test the limitless bounds of their passion.

In Sheep's Clothing


Mary Monroe - 2005
    Facing a future of cooking, cleaning and unsatisfying sex, Trudy decides to make some changes while she still can.

Life


Leo Sullivan - 2002
    All her life, Hope has dreamed of becoming a lawyer and one day helping her people out of ghetto oppression. By some uncanny fate, Hope meets the handsome thug, Life, in the midst of his desperate attempts to elude a massive police manhunt. Their brief encounter leads to a liaison of lust and passion, but with vast differences they soon part ways. Years later, Hope and Life meet again on opposite sides of a courtroom. Life, one of the biggest drug kingpins in the United States, is on trial for his life. On the other side of the courtroom is Assistant US District Attorney Hope Evans, who is holding a deep, dark secret. The infamous kingpin, Life, is the father of her child. Life is the ultimate tale of murder, sex, drugs and betrayal.

In My Hood


Endy - 2006
    As a once successful businesswoman, Desiree "Rae-Rae" Johnson use to avoid driving through that section of the neighborhood--until she fell on hard times. After becoming a crack addict, she starts living with her soul mate Bilal "Bunchy" Wilson, the man who introduced her to cocaine. After witnessing a double murder and struggling to survive the everyday dramas to support their drug habits, they manage to pull off one of the biggest robberies in New Jersey's history. Bilal is sentenced to life for murder and armed robbery and meets his sudden death in prison, leaving Desiree to face the demons of her past alone. After turning her life around, she meets one of the top men in the game, Ishmael Jenkins, and falls for him, not knowing his secret past. Ishmael is comfortable in his position in the hood and falls for Desiree just as hard. All hell breaks loose as Ishmael's loyalty is tested and Desiree struggles to maintain her sobriety. Between love, murder and a possible relapse, will they survive? Or will they be another statistic in this society in which we live? Have you seen this in your hood? Well, this is what happened In My 'Hood.

Platinum


Aliya S. King - 2010
    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.

Resurrecting Mingus


Jenoyne Adams - 2001
    In this stunning debut novel, Jenoyne Adams, a PEN Center USA West Emerging Voices Fellow, displays a rare talent for a first-time author: the skill and courage to write about some of the most controversial issues today in an absorbing and compulsively readable manner. Mingus Browning is a successful, young, beautiful lawyer whose life is falling apart. After a thirty-five-year marriage, Mingus's African-American father has suddenly left her Irish mother for a black woman. A daddy's girl, Mingus is torn between the father she has always been closer to, the mother she may have to defend in divorce proceedings, and a sister hell-bent on winning their lifelong sibling rivalry. Mingus is caught in middle of the three, a woman alone, and, in turn, realizes that she has probably always felt more comfortable that way because she is part of no one group, let alone a united family. Juggling her parents' grief with her own proves to be too much for Mingus as she stumbles from one questionable relationship to another, further complicating her life.After years of isolating herself from those who have tried to care for her, Mingus finally meets someone who rips through her protective defenses and exposes her need to be loved. Eric Simms, a smooth-talking television producer, is through playing dating games and is looking for love for real this time. With Eric, Mingus finally learns to forget the fear of a broken heart and opens herself completely. That is, until word starts circulating that her new love has his secrets as well, and suddenly what was a perfect relationship begins to look like yet another minefield of hurt, as Mingus is forced to choose between her man, her sister, and the truth.After facing a long, sad string of heartaches and betrayals, Mingus finally reaches the point in her life where she realizes who she is, what she wants, and how she doesn't need another man to get it. Marked by raw images and poetic prose, Jenoyne Adams's affecting first novel candidly explores the bonds of family, faith, and finding someone to love when you can't even find someone to trust.

I Know I've Been Changed


ReShonda Tate Billingsley - 2006
    Less than a decade later she's a top-rated talk show host, a celebrity news anchor, and fiancee to Houston's star councilman. But now that she's reached the top, her ragtag family comes knocking. Mama Tee, the grandmother who raised her, calls with unwelcome family updates; and Shondella, her jealous older sister, guilts her into sending money. To Rae, nothing could be worse than an unexpected reunion with her over-the-top relatives. But when her picture-perfect life falls apart, can Rae forgive the past and open her heart to the healing that only faith and family can provide?