Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in African American

Audriana Escobar, a.k.a. Audi, is the 18-year-old leader of the Gucci Girlz - a crew made up of her closest friends. Growing up in poverty, their only current goal is to find a way out of the poor town of Aetna and achieve a life of happiness, love, and luxury. When they cross paths with another crew named the Tru Aetna Boyz, all of their wants and desires seem to be coming true.

Amina Jefferies is a wounded woman, having been raped at the tender age of 19 after a night out with people she thought were here friends. Now a mother of a six-year-old she did not ask for, Amina is still coming to terms with what happened to her. Sex, money, and control are her only escape mechanisms - playing any fool that dared to give her any of the three.

Legend is on a mission, and it happens to be one he can’t speak about. Always a man of little words, keeping things close to the heart has never been a problem. Or at least it never used to be until January began to occupy that space. Now he’s fighting a battle between his mind and his heart, and unlike any battle he’s ever fought before, this is a war that no matter how it ends, sacrifice will be required.

From the day he was born, Martavious “Tank” Young had to fight for what was his. No parents, no family, mentally and physically abused throughout his childhood. The challenges he endured only made him stronger and soon, the man who grew up with nothing had it all. Now, Tank is the man running the streets and the city, both legal and illegal. His money is long, his patience is short, and his reach is far.

Philly Girl 2 will have you re-evaluating the bonds of friendship and love. It will make you think twice about chasing street money, as loyalty is put to the test with drugs, murder, sex, and mayhem in the mix. This quick thriller will have your jaw dropping. Born and raised in the slums of West Philadelphia, Rita is no stranger to the street life. In fact, she indulges in the fast life, getting money from selling drugs just as hard as the men she competes with.

Twenty-year-old Deza was supposed to be just another hot girl emcee, but when a bonus track strikes a surprising social chord, it rockets her album to the top of the charts - and her record label promotes her to headline their first-ever all-female national tour. As Deza attempts to live up to her new reputation, her inexperience generates tour drama. And when her female DJ quits, the label replaces her with the last thing Deza needs: the sexy guy DJ she flirted with at a club.

Growing up as a classically trained ballerina with dreams of being a professional dancer, balance was my life. Everything about me depended on it; my diet, my temper, my sleep and waking schedule. I even dedicated myself to rigorous yoga and martial arts training to learn how to maintain focus by balancing my breath. Balance was literally my everything.

Having enemies was common for the Gachette witches, but they have always been able to conquer during adversity. When the demon of Gehenna rises after being locked away for a hundred years, the great sage of Black Water Bayou falls, leaving the legacy of her ancestors in the hands of her granddaughters, Merigold and Majesty.

In 2016, Lawrence Jackson accepted a new job in Baltimore, searched for schools for his sons, and bought a house. It would all be unremarkable but for the fact that he had grown up in West Baltimore and now found himself teaching at Johns Hopkins, whose vexed relationship to its neighborhood, to the city and its history, provides fodder for this captivating memoir in essays.

All his life, young Saw listened to his mom tell him how much he looked like and acted like Wink, the man she claimed was his father. Wink was a hood legend who ran the city in the late '80s and early '90s. Saw’s mother is convinced that he too will end up in a cell beside his father and grandfather — both doing life in the feds.

Ten years ago, Sheila Moore pushed Nicholas Washington out of her life because of her need to control and her inability to believe that she was worth loving. In the last book of the Prodigal series, Sheila returns more mature and the mother of two teens. Nicholas returns to Charleston to teach and reclaim the woman of his heart, but is she ready to accept his love?

LaMeka and Gavin fell for each other fast and furiously, but will it fizzle before it has a chance to get off the ground? Although Lucinda is heartbroken over Aldris, she’s also tasted the forbidden fruit, and she wonders if she can now live with the decisions she’s made. Charice is living the dream. She has her life with Ryan and her love with Lincoln, but can she continue to have her cake and eat it too? As Terrence’s life hangs in the balance, Trinity’s happiness is as uncertain as her safety.

From a single mother who gets lured into her pastor’s twisted den of lies, to a deadly revenge plot gone wrong, and an illicit affair that leaves a bloody trail of evidence, author and filmmaker N’Tyse presents Chain of Fools: Prison Bids, her most gripping, collaborative work thus far - featuring crime-of-passion tales served by best-selling authors Briana Cole, Shakir Rashaan, Brandie Davis, Erick S. Gray, and India Williams.

Mita "Sweet Lips" Cruz never had much chance to enjoy her youth because of her drug-addicted mother’s attraction to lowlife men. After she survives a vicious assault at the hands of her stepfather on her 14th birthday, Mita desperately searches for the meaning of unconditional love in the streets of North Philadelphia. When she discovers that she is carrying the child of her rapist, it’s too much for her damaged soul to bear. With an ugly future ahead of her, Mita puts the newborn up for adoption, vowing to seek revenge for the violations against her.

Flash, the son of Philadelphia drug queen pin Vickie Lopez, decides he isn't going to prison, not even for his own mother. When he’s arrested for a small amount of cocaine, he spills his guts to Philadelphia homicide detectives, resulting in the arrest and federal conviction, under the RICO Act, of his own mother. She’s staring down a life sentence.

Many have claimed they would die for what they want - but would they kill? Hollywood, California, and far away from anything and everyone who knows her name is the strikingly beautiful Monica Tyler, living life incognito and on her terms. That's until Justin enters her world and shakes it to the core. He's the perfect find, but there's one condition - he wants an heir to the Shields' throne. Just when Monica thought her scandalous days were behind her, she whips out her old bag of tricks. How far will she go to prove her love, again?

Raised by a crack addict, Lil' Bert has a chip on his shoulder and murder in his heart. As the leader of Philly's most dangerous drug gang, he is determined to keep the city’s murder rate skyrocketing to unprecedented proportions.

The streets pump blood through Rocko’s heart, but his women are the electricity that spreads and causes it to contract. Though he’s madly in love with his fiancée, Troi, he can’t keep his past mistakes with other women from catching up with him. Troi is tired of Rocko’s constant lies and cheating ways, while Heather and Mai find being Rocko’s baby mamas comes with more than they bargained for. Troi discovers she’s pregnant just as she’s wishing she could shake Rocko for the last time. Then it’s revealed that Rocko has yet another baby mama.

Darnell Carter’s heart stopped working the moment he awoke from his coma. But he had been dead on the inside for quite some time. He hopes to resuscitate it, but that depends on his wife, Latavia. The Carters have been on an unimaginable journey of lies, secrets, betrayal, and infidelity. What happened to marital bliss? Does it exist? After the death of their friends and their marriage, is it possible to pick up the pieces and move on?

It has been three months since Benita Renee Jenkins completed her first assignment for a secret organization called DTCU, the Domestic Terrorism Crime Unit. When Agent Jenkins meets young boxer Doug Gibson at a local gym in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, her sixth sense kicks in. Benita soon discovers that Doug’s grandmother has been kidnapped by a local gang, and if he ever wants to see her alive again, he must participate in an illegal underground fighting club to pay off a gambling debt owed by his brother, Sean.