Showing results by narrator "Iikane" in All Categories

From the biggest names in urban fiction comes a collection of unforgettable stories of urban love and its consequences.

After her world is brutally destroyed, Anari becomes the epitome of a good-girl-turned-bad. Consumed with a desire for revenge, she and her best friend, Monica, enter a life of drugs, fast money, and betrayal - adopting the very lifestyle that pushed them into the game in the first place. Hiding their true identities, they quickly rise to the top of New Jersey's dope game. Using everyone who crosses their paths, nothing - not betrayal or addiction - will stop them from dispensing their street justice.

Detective Grainger has finally recovered from a shaky career by closing a major case in the small town of Rock City. He goes from the fringe of being kicked off the force to a local hero. During his 15 minutes of fame, bodies with familiar faces start to turn up. In Grainger's world, there were no such things as coincidences, so he immediately starts a back-door investigation. When he finally starts to piece together the pattern, Grainger realizes that a childhood secret he thought long buried is threatening to come to light. Some scars never healed.

Nothing prepares Tyler Blake for the fast-paced living of New York City. A small-town girl from Georgia, she quickly gets caught up in the glamorous entertainment industry. While pursuing her dream of becoming an actress, Tyler continually gets sidetracked by men who promise to help her and finds herself going from one dysfunctional relationship to another. Just when Tyler finally believes she has found her ideal man in hip-hop producer Brian McCall, everything begins to go horribly wrong. Trapped in a nightmarish relationship, Tyler is determined not to go down without a fight.

Janelle, a freshman in college, is coping after the tragic death of her father in a suspicious automobile accident. Her grades are slipping, but she's offered an extra credit assignment to help get back on track. The assignment? Work as a volunteer for a suicide hotline. When she receives a call from a deranged man who knows everything about her, her family secrets are brought to light. She soon discovers that her father didn't just die in a car wreck - he was murdered, and now the killer is after Janelle and her loved ones.

Bleu is addicted to the luxe life, and it has led her down a road of self-destruction. She knows what it feels like to be turned out by the game. With a crack addiction that she can't seem to escape, she's desperate for a savior. The problem is, she has two great loves who both want to come to her rescue. When her best friend, Noah, comes searching for her, Bleu is faced with a dilemma: Will she let him save her, or will she stick with kingpin Iman, who has loved her since their first encounter? Or will both men lose her?

After news of the attempted murder of his estranged fiancée, Gucci, Animal has two things on his mind: love and gunplay. With the help of his mistress, the deadly Red Sonja, Animal manages to elude his captors in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and washes up on the shores of Miami, Florida. He's one step closer to home, but it may as well be a world away. Animal is still a wanted fugitive, and getting to New York undetected proves to be trickier than he thought.

Harlem had always lived by the code of the streets and respected the rules that governed them. But when his enemies break those rules and bring drama to his family, Harlem comes up with a plan to send them a very clear message: All is fair in love and war!

In his new position as head of the Baptiste family business, Saint faces many challenges. Nothing could have prepared him for the challenges that came with dealing with the alluring Naoki Childs. She was the insoluble problem his big brother, Jahad, talked about. A problem that couldn't be handled with a phone call, a meeting, or by simply emptying his clip. Saint thought he'd never be faced with a problem he couldn't handle, especially where a woman was concerned. But he quickly learned that Naoki wasn't just some woman. She was much, much more than that.

I think my best friend just proposed to me . . . am I tripping? How could he remember, he can't be serious. A pact that we made when we were only teenagers couldn't still ring true . . . could it? I promised my best friend that we would get married if we were both thirty-five and still single. At the time, I was a teenager and believed that I would be married long before that age. But I was wrong. So very wrong. I'll be thirty-five on my next birthday and still single.

Amara Johnson has spent her life following the rules, always choosing stability over risk. But when she returns to Memphis for her estranged grandfather’s funeral, she inherits more than just his crumbling house. She inherits his unfinished story. A once-renowned blues musician, his name has been nearly erased, his legacy buried beneath family silence and years of regret.

After opening a cultural community center in the heart of Chicago, Porter Crowne is determined to make The Blackout Fest the best Juneteenth celebration yet. Especially when chosen as Mr. Black Chicago. Partnering with influential members of the community will ensure its success. However, if you aren't following the plan, you're in his way just like the curvy, feisty vlogger who argues with every suggestion he has.

It's been five long years . . . five years since I felt his touch, five years since I saw his face and here he is in my DM. I wanted so much more for us, so much so that I haven't let another man touch me in over five years. My friends probably think I'm crazy, but they don't understand when you've had a man who made you feel like no other. Hard to settle for anything less. I could feel the heat and mad chemistry as I ran my fingers across the words on the screen of my phone . . . it was him. I need to see him. I must see him. Just have to make sure that this time I don't get burned.

Destined for marriage has always been Dr. Simone Austin's belief, and now that her career is where she wants it, she is ready for forever. In walks one sexy, Chris Alexander, apologetically late to her chemistry class. From the first moment their eyes meet, he tempts her to forget her careful approach to love and focus on their tantalizing moments of the here and now.

No one's life is perfect, but Henley doesn't have many complaints. She graduated from college, landed a great paying job in Dubai, and married a man who swept her off her feet. The only thing missing from the equation is a child. Henley and Ethan are working hard to add to their family, and when Ethan suggests an unconventional method Henley is thrown for a loop. Is the proposition weird or is her man just that loyal that he would do anything to ensure she was able to have a child?

Impossible. I can't fall for this man. He's the type that women want to brag about taming. But I don't believe in urban myths and fairy tales and have no desire to waste time on a man who doesn't know the meaning of fidelity. Especially when that man is my brother's best friend.

Dirty Red is back, and this time she’s on the run. Having apparently wounded all of her enemies, and even her beloved Q, Raven “Red” Gomez finds herself away from Detroit living the life of luxury in Arizona. She’s become a successful home broker with a bestselling book, and it seems as...

In the prequel to Let That Be the Reason and Imagine This, bestselling author Vickie M. Stringer reveals the long-awaited story of how Pamela and Chino became an urban contemporary Bonnie and Clyde. Pamela was a naive coed from Detroit, going to classes by day and clubs by night. The hottest...

Following the phenomenal success of Essence bestsellers Dirty Red and Still Dirty, Vickie M. Stringer takes readers on another bumpy ride in Dirtier Than Ever with Red, Bacon, and Q—the crazy love-hate triangle who makes the series a favorite among urban fiction fans. Q wished that Bacon had...

Saint Baptiste fell in love. That was never part of the plan. His relationship with Naoki was supposed to be purely physical. He never intended to feel anything for her, but from the moment they locked eyes four years ago, he felt something. At the time, he didn't realize that the feeling was love. Uncertain how to handle his emotions, he put up walls and tried to maintain control—the one thing he didn't have with her. In focusing on his ego, he did the very thing he never wanted to do: ignored the 'fragile' label only he could see and mishandled her.