Mastering life’s principal and hellacious course of Hard Knock Life 101 was nothing to eXavier and eZekiel Yarbrough at an early age. Their wisdom and fearless innocence allocated them guardian angels over baby cousin, iYanna. Drug addictions, immorality, abuse, and evil are all cycles that these three have a vivid familiarity with, yet out of the wicked mentalities that assaulted them grew love, loyalty, hope, tenacity and nobility. Despite the licks they gave, as well as took, they found a safe haven in an old head called Diego. A man that knew the streets and the streets respected him. This family has an abundance of dysfunction, but their devotion to each other is unrestricted and immovable! Friends for life. Life has not been particularly kind to Najia Kennedy. She's had to sacrifice more than she's wanted and taken more L's than wins. But somehow, she's managed to stay on her feet with her head held high, all the while searching for where broken hearts go. Love remains elusive as her son's father pops in and out of their lives with empty promises and leftover lies. Najia's friendship with iYanna has withstood the test of time and her shenanigans, as she factors into the equation that is XYZ. Love forever. The streets don't owe him anything. He's taken everything he's wanted by omission or commission. Kreed is a new breed of boss, college educated and street smart. He's the boogeyman in a suit, encompassed in a mystical aura of strength and power that leaves many starstruck. He's so immune to the world around him that he's stunned at the foreign emotions caused by the feather-like thundering of a miniature storm called iYanna. He envisions her as his future, but her family views him as a catastrophic danger to all that they've invested in her. Love and hurt, joy and pain, good times and bad, take all as prisoners. When you have everything you want, is there room for more? When you have nothing, will you accept anything? XYZ is a spicy urban romance with charismatic characters, life altering situations and breathtaking moments that will fascinate you from beginning to end.

    And when her soon-to-be husband, Trevan "TC" Clayton, is shot to death right in front of her on the night he proposes to her, her life takes a dramatic turn for the worse. TC's mother gives all her son's worldly possessions away—including he and Nisey's Florissant suburban home—to a two-bit con-artist/ex-pimp turned reverend. Nisey is left with no other choice but to move back to the drug-infested Section 8 apartments of St. Louis' JVL.Stripped of the ghetto fabulous lifestyle, Nisey and her girlfriends pick up the scale and baggies to turn their misfortunes into a fortune. Quickly, she and her clique of "Trap-A-Rellas" become the talk of the Lou, and just as fast as she reaches the top, schemes are set in place to knock her back down.

    An unexpected temptation. And stakes so high no one will walk away unscathed…   Gorgeous Nicole is about to get everything she's hustled for. She's having her rich, married lover Rashad's baby. And a lucky break has made her a media heroine—and the perfect new wife material. With one more deception here, a couple more little seductions there, she'll finally push Rashad's wife, Kiara, completely out of his life. With her formidable competition gone, Nicole will lock down Rashad's ever-wandering interest, and be the next Mrs. Eason for sure… But there are some temptations even this sexy schemer finds tough to pass up. Especially her first love, ex-con Ajalon, who's just walked back into her life. His intense hunger, chiseled body, and mind-blowing endurance are throwing Nicole off her game and reigniting emotions way too hot to control—or resist. But he’s also handed Kiara, and another interested ex, the perfect ammo to expose Nicole and blow her world apart once and for all. Now the only guarantee for all involved is shattering scandal—and mutually assured destruction…Praise for the novels of Cydney Rax   “The book we can’t put down.”--Essence® on My Husband’s Girlfriend   “Fascinating, witty, and thought-provoking.” –Zane on My Daughter’s Boyfriend   “Filled with family drama.”--APOOO Book Club on My Sister’s Ex

    Despite his past infidelities, she pushes hard to make it work. A night of snooping brings out a few secrets that could destroy their love forever. But someone in her corner might be willing to take Bianca's pain away if she let's them. Damita Paxton had been dealt a bad hand. After losing her job and being forced to move in with her cousin, Bianca, she tries to start her life over and begin a new. But a secret that she left back in Atlanta not only threatens her happiness but her life as well. Sunset Richmond is in love with a man who may never love her the way she loves him. With two kids on her hip, all she desires is to be a real family. Is she doomed to being the side chick forever? Will anyone be able to find the happiness they so desperately seek or is this a setup for failure?

    Finally fed up with her unfulfilling relationship; Violet starts to reevaluate her life. A job opportunity lands her in Dallas where she stumbled across Cesar. If quiet and boring is what she was running from back home, Cesar’s crazy unpredictable ways may be just what she’s looking for. A petty incident lands her in Cesar’s arms, and against all better judgment, she falls for him. Is this Savage the man of her dreams or a dangerous desire that will only lead to trouble? Sometimes what we want isn’t what we need and Cesar may be more than what Violet bargained for. After finding out a shocking secret about her boyfriend of 2 years, Albany Kaye is forced to start over for the first time in her young life. Step one is getting a roommate to help with the mounting bills. What started off as two strangers sharing a roof blossomed into a beautiful friendship when Violet moved in. Soon these new found friends discover that they have more in common than they least expect. Boundaries are tested, bonds are broken, and lives are left hanging in the balance when this small town beauty takes a ride on the wild side.

    Growing up Hennessey never saw herself as anything more than a screw up, a misfit, but how could she not? Her parents were two screw ups that were too stupid enough to realize that an abortion would have been the better option. Hennessey Daniels, named after her father’s two favorite dark liquors, was doomed the moment her over aged drunk of a father decided to procreate with her teenage coke addicted mother who only brought her into this world just to neglect her every need. Forced to grow up before her time, Hennessy seek solace in all the wrong places thrusting her into a world of bad decision making. Spiraling her young life out of control. A chest burning, sip of Hennessy Daniels, will leave you in an emotional frenzy yet have you yearning for a love so deep and so hood that you’ll forget you ever had a sip at all. This is a re-release of, 'A Sip Of Hennessy'.

    She's determined to do something positive with her life, and she doesn't want to use her body to get what she wants. On the road to attaining her goals, the young, strong-willed butterfly has overcame every obstacle that was placed in her path, except one, her abusive mother, DOT. Dot would've been better off had she been born infertile. The way she treats her daughter is nothing short of trifling. Kaymee's will is unbreakable. With the help of her two best friends, POETRY and MONTY, she leaves her mother's home ready to take on the world, but the world can be a bitter, cold place. In the midst of madness, DRAY appears like a the fairy-tale lover Kaymee has always needed to help heal her wounds. Can Dray do the impossible and show her that LOVE SHOULDN'T HURT? Or is Kaymee too damaged to repair? One thing's for certain, Dot stops at nothing to see Kaymee down and out, and dragged through the mud. Ultimately, who will have the last laugh, mother or daughter?

    Without help from her daughters dad she picks up a fast and easy job which turns out to be stripping at Hot Lips Night Club. Luckily while working at the club she meets a smooth, good looking, stand up guy by the name of Midnight. Midnight is a businessman and all he wants is a real woman by his side through it all. He admires An'yah and is willing to give her the good life she's been looking for and wanting, but by then An'yah only wanted to focus on what was important in her life. An'yah figured it was absolutely nothing wrong with having Midnight as a friend, especially if he was willing to break her off and help her when she needed it the most. But after a while she couldn't hide the feelings she had for him. He made it very hard to not want him as a soulmate, but after finding out that he's the plug, she questions if a relationship with him is a risk she was willing to take.

    Erica learns that falling in love with a Rude Boy isn’t easy. The boundaries of her relationship are tested when outsiders seek to destroy the love she’s found. Will love withstand the test, or will she fold under the pressure? Erica isn’t the only one who falls for a Rude Boy. Jade finds herself slowly falling in love with the handsome, yet mysterious Detective Keenan Elba. The loving and doting father of three managed to sneak past the wall she built around her heart. There’s just one problem standing in the way of their chemistry… his wife! Will these ladies truly find happiness or will Falling in Love with a Rude Boy prove to be more complicated than they ever imagined????

    When the only woman to ever steal his heart goes against him, leaving him to become a single father, Boss puts all his emotions, time, and focus on his daughter and his empire. That was until he just so happens to run across the young, sexy, and ambitious Choyce. Sharing a similar story, Choyce was also forced to become a single mother at a young age when the father of her child switched up on her. She had no interest in finding love and just wanted to accomplish the goals she had set for herself. Falling for the sexy, dominant, and sometimes callous Boss, was nowhere in her plans, but you can't help who you fall for. Will these two broken and guarded people be able to put their pasts behind them and form a love that no one will be able to penetrate? Or will the pain from previous betrayal cause them to push one another away? Take a journey through the streets of Detroit as Boss and Choyce show us that dealing with love is not as easy as some may think.

     Nehemiah Walker and Monroe “Slim” Campbell have gone to the same church for years, but it isn’t until Slim’s life is placed on the line at work that they speak to each other. Instantly, a bond binds their souls together in a way that neither expected or desire to break loose from. Even though their union has increased their happiness, it has wreaked havoc for those around them – mainly Nehemiah’s family and the mother of his three children. Church musician by day and drug dealer by night, Nehemiah has had no desire to leave the game behind or cut ties with his scheming, controlling father and the church or his unfaithful and unappreciative baby mama. It isn’t until he met Monroe that that changed. With Nehemiah carrying so many secrets for his father and the church, enemies and threats surface from the most unexpected places, but Nehemiah is willing to go to hell and back to secure the small piece of peace and heaven he’s found in Monroe.

    Diamond is engaged to Gee, the man of her dreams. The only problem is he is in love with another woman. To make matters worse, Diamond has managed to fall in love. Her only problem is winning his heart. How will she do it? Red is starting to see that she jumped head first into this situation and moved way too fast. She insists that she doesn’t have feelings for Yazz and is only concerned with her money, but why does an extended visit from Yazz’s girlfriend, Frizzy, make her so angry? It’s only business, or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself.

    Especially when the two men you love are brothers at heart. Gizelle learns that everything that's done in the dark will eventually come to the light, after she catches the love of her life, Moe cheating with one of her friends from the past. However, she didn't expect the rule to apply to her so soon. As her relationship with Waka intensifies, the one she's attempting to build with her unborn child's father is deteriorating to the point where she's almost ready to throw in the towel. The last thing she expected was to get caught up in this love triangle between two men who have played a major part in her life at some point in time. But now that Waka is home, he's ready to claim what he feels, rightfully belongs to him. Old feelings have started to resurface and their bond is becoming stronger than ever. That is, until a secret is revealed and he doesn't want to deal with her anymore. Gizelle and Moe are still working on their relationship for the sake of their unborn child but Gizelle is unaware that he's battling with his own demons and he's still up to his unfaithful ways.

    Love doesn't seem to be his strongest pursuit. But, finding out the truth may have hurt him more than helped. Everything around him is crumbling, but he knows how to dance with the devil. When it's all said and done will he be able to fix what he's broken? Valencia can't seem to get it right as her secrets causes her both love and happiness. She's the common dominator of trouble brewing. Trying to put the pieces back together again, troubles invades paradise yet again. Will she go against the odds and fight for the love that she knows that she deserves? Or will this love affair be another that falls at the waste-side? Loso fell for Bianca, but before he knew her truths which broke them apart. Finding peace and accepting heartbreak, leaves him with his back against the very wall that held him. With demises happening to his team, he's left to fight the battles that comes full throttle. Will peace find him once again? Love for these couples seems more trouble than it's worth. But, the heart wants what it wants, even when you know it's bad.