Travel back to a small Southern town where, before there was Duncan Motors, there were the Duncan brothers: Louis, aka Sweet Lou, a lover of ladies and life and a man you did not want to cross; Lawrence, aka Larry, a screw-up as attracted to trouble as it was to him; and Lavernius, better known as LC, the soft-spoken college boy who simply wanted to sell cars.

Memphis is the crime capital of America, and no one knows that better than the women born and raised on its mean streets. It's put sisters Ta'Shara and LeShelle on opposite sides of the street game, where blood means nothing and loyalty doesn't last long. It's also got Yolanda, an ambitious drug mule, and Melanie, a police detective, caught up with the same man - the notorious hustler Python. These four women think they've got the game figured out, but the one man they have in common will have them living double lives and wondering who will come out on top.

Karlie Houston hasn't seen a raise in forever, but the payday loan office she manages is raking in the cash. So why not get what she's rightfully owed by masterminding a heist? Once her lover Sidney's boys hit all the company's locations at one time, there's a fortune to split. But suddenly bodies start dropping - and Karlie better devise the perfect plan to survive.

She's bright, beautiful - and a criminal at heart. A Virginia Beach street hustler turned identity theft mastermind, Lauren Kelly's always had a taste for the finer things - Chanel, Prada, Amex Black Cards - and Matt Connors, her lover and accomplice. When their partner, Yancy, stumbles onto a tycoon's three million dollar bank account, everything's golden - until Lauren discovers Yancy and Matt are planning the ultimate double-cross. Fortunately, Lauren's one step ahead of Matt.

Morgan and Messiah share many things. Love, hate, lust, trauma, and children. They are bonded forever by the gift of parenthood, but Morgan's attachment to Messiah comes with immense pain. After the discovery of Messiah's condition, Morgan's conflict is intensified. She knows how healing the M&M bubble can be, but she also knows that Messiah has the ability to ruin her. Will Morgan finally take her second chance with her first love? Or will she make the hardest decision of all and let go of the past?

I Need a Gangsta: Melody Goldman isn’t about to let her rich, cheating, ungrateful husband walk out and leave her with nothing. Fortunately, ex-con Scotty Harris has no problem disposing of her problems in exchange for plenty of cold, hard cash - and hot, hard sexing. But when Scotty crosses one line too many, Melody’s revenge will be a hustle he never saw coming.… Gentlemen Prefer Bullets: Successful publicist Blake Scott survived by playing the Hollywood game…and keeping far, far away from her gangsta kingpin father. But now the only person who can protect her is his enforcer, Eli Hardwick.

Framed for a high-profile murder, Abrianna Parker finds herself hurtling down a conspiracy rabbit hole in a desperate attempt to clear her name. Her only way out is to go after the most powerful man in the country. But the powers that be play dirty - and expose her billionaire adoptive father, Cargill Parker, and his criminal activity. With charges of collusion swirling on Capitol Hill, police and federal agencies force Abrianna off the grid. But she's not alone. By her side is ex-con turned private investigator Kadir Kahlifa, a man as seductive as he is dangerous.

On a beautiful island in the Caribbean, a woman with a checkered past has retired from a life of crime. She is now raising her son, trying to spare him from the ills that her former life provided. However, in a blink of an eye it all changes. When a wealthy tourist gets entangled with her son, it forces Aries to show who she really is and her old connections are called.

Essence® best-selling authors Kiki Swinson and De’nesha Diamond are two rising stars in the world of urban fiction. Heist presents two novellas starring young women hustling their way to the top of the game through daring robbery schemes. In Swinson’s The Ultimate Heist, pampered Shannon Marshall is accustomed to a big-money lifestyle. Her world is shattered, however, when her man is thrown into prison for gun running.

At a young age, Andreka Nicholas was thrown into a dangerous world she knew nothing about, taking her from a normal teenage girl to the main chick of a street soldier overnight. What initially seemed to be the worst night of her life, turned out to be what Andreka thought to be a blessing in disguise. She had everything a girl could ask for until she didn't anymore. What she soon realized was that everything she thought she knew was so far from the truth that she'd never be able to trust again...nor would she make the same mistakes in the future.

After losing his wife to the streets, Roddy decides to move him and his family to Atlanta, Georgia. Swearing off love, he eventually falls for the beautiful socialite of Atlanta, Jia Love. With a combined three million followers across all her social media accounts, she’s that girl. Falling in love with her, he just wants to make her his wife, and a mother figure to his son and daughter. Except, Jia isn’t ready for all of that.

Asim Nour is the type of man who appreciates life and all that it has to offer. He’s been in the streets for years and is now realizing the benefit of building his legal status as well. Both worlds keep him busy and his pockets full. As much as he appreciates his status, the women appreciate it more. Kyori Spencer is the type of woman who takes full advantage of all life has to offer. Even if it’s not by way of her own bank account. It just so happens that the man she committed herself to, has loosely committed himself to several other women. When is enough, enough?

Rhythm found the true love she’s been waiting for. He was the piece to her puzzle and the perfect match in her eyes. However; the perfect relationship came with problems stemming from Kruz’s past. They moved forward after the storm Zahra brought, but is it over?

Meet the Banks sisters - Simone, Bunny, Tallhya, and Ginger. The four beauties are living under the same roof by force, but they can't stand each other. Their only common denominator is their loving grandmother, Me-Ma. When she's not at work trying to make ends meet, she's home with her girls, trying to keep them from killing each other.

A tragic beginning to life led Jah and Shauka Disciple to homelessness and poverty at such a young age that they grew into men before their time. Yet, they turned their hunger, abandonment, and suffering into diamonds, mansions, and power. The natural hustler instinct they’d inherited from their father was their driving force. Yet, this story starts when Messiah turns 18 and is finally freed from his adoptive parents. Reluctantly, he leaves his twin sister behind as he, Jah, and Shauka run the streets and break yearning hearts along the way.

Joey Diamonds is on the verge of being a “made” man, with ice-cold blue eyes that pierce through the hearts of women...and men. After being disowned by his Mafia family, losing the love of his life, and realizing the world at large is his enemy, Joey throws extreme caution to the wind on his journey of self-debauchery in the name of fame and fortune. The Purple Don is the story of how self-destruction is never simply an internal state, and everyone around can be destroyed in the process.

From over a thousand miles away, I watched on the screen of my phone as two men murdered my wife. And I was helpless to save her. Consumed by hate and rage, I spent four years running from my memories - until a shattered woman gave me a reason to stop. Cora lived in a nightmare, but through sheer force of will, she’d turned it into something beautiful. She had a smile that could pierce the darkest soul. And with one glance, she shredded mine.

In this hot and steamy mystery, Tennyson is an actor struggling to hang on to his career and redeem his sex-for-pay history, which estranged him from his family, especially his father, a decorated LAPD captain who raised Tennyson to call him "Sir". Now, in the wake of his father's sudden stroke, Tennyson has to save himself from taking the fall for a murder. In the process, he discovers his hidden talents - the hard way.

It’s a good thing Gabe Bristow lives and breathes the Navy SEAL credo, “the only easy day was yesterday”, because today, his life is unrecognizable. When his prestigious career comes to a crashing halt, he’s left with a bum leg and few prospects for employment that don’t include a desk. That is, until he’s offered the chance to command a private hostage-rescue team and free a wealthy American businessman from Colombian paramilitary rebels.

Can humanity Survive what it never saw coming? On October 15 at 2:15 a.ms Earth vanished. A scattered few woke alone in a world with no rules, other than survival at any cost. A journalist wanders the wretched reality of an empty New York, searching for his wife and son. A serial killer must hunt in a land where prey is now an endangered species. A mother shields her young daughter from danger through every terror-filled breath.

Fan-favorite author Roxanne St. Claire launches a daring new series that deftly combines action, mystery, and romance. After bearing witness to a journalist’s brutal murder, law student Samantha Fairchild is stunned when she is denied police protection.

They say everyone has either an addiction, obsession, or weakness in this world. Something that can penetrate you down to the core and influence you in a way nothing else can. I have all three. One happens to be her. Kit Bishop is in my veins. But unfortunately for me, she's the drug I'll never be able to indulge in and the high I can't chase. Because I'm a liar. A thief. And I've destroyed everything that's ever been mine.

Sometimes you don't mean to become another person. Sometimes the choice is made for you, and pretending is the only thing that keeps you going. When Alexis Romera is taken and her kidnappers find her fake ID in her purse, she must become Sophia in order to keep her family safe. Revealing her real identity to the man she's sold to would be easy enough, but can she trust him? Hell-bent on avenging the murder of his uncle, Rebel doesn't seem all that interested in playing things safe.

It was one freaking kiss with a stranger. I wasn't looking for a hero the day Brent Eden charged into my life. He saw a damsel in distress facing humiliation. We played pretend. Swore I was his. Baited sweet chaos. Blew apart everything. My dating disaster? Gone. Our kiss? Electric. Divine. Toe-curling. His mistake? Oh, boy. Dropping the ultimate F-bomb: fiancée. Especially when my gossipy cousin tells the whole family.

A prequel to Ashley and JaQuavis' New York Times best-selling Cartel series, this story follows the rise of notorious gangster Carter Diamond, taking listeners through his days on the mean streets of Michigan to his becoming the biggest drug lord Miami has ever seen. Before the cartel was ever created, he stood alone.

Alex Gentry doesn't scare easily. Working as an undercover FBI agent in the biker bar he and his brothers co-own, he hangs with deadly criminals in order to gather information. Danger is just part of the family business. But one thing has him terrified: his attraction to Madison Parker. Madison is the cousin of Ramon Alonzo, son and second in command to a notorious drug lord Alex is trying to bust. Alex has befriended Ramon as part of his cover, and Madison has unknowingly become his informant. Falling for her could risk this case - and both their lives.

A city full of lies, deceit, and cold-blooded murder, Detroit plays widow to drug cartel after drug cartel, and the Last Kings are the latest to take over the throne. It seems that nothing can crumble their empire, but when an unexpected series of events take place and blood is shed, everything spirals out of control. Can Sadie and Mocha survive the game as the head women in charge, or will disloyalty and treachery threaten to end them for good?

His proposal came in a little black envelope with 13 unlucky words: You still owe me that favor, doll, and I'm cashing in. Marry me. In a normal life, I'd never get hitched to Calvin Randolph. Not with his heart-stopping blue eyes, infamous player reputation, and an ego bigger than the part of his anatomy he loves boasting about the most. Been there, done that. All except the last part, which he's left to my shameful imagination for seven years apart. Of course, the fake fiancée contract I just signed is anything but normal.

Nicki Janssen's days are numbered, but she refuses to accept her fate lying down. Defying her father and doctors, she hits the road with a pocketful of cash, a bus ticket - and a romantic fantasy of riding off with her childhood crush. Handsome, dangerous Brad Ward is facing a different kind of sentence. Sent to prison for felony murder, he has escaped and rekindled his relationship with Nicki. But when Nicki's father joins forces with a deputy sheriff, the search for the runaways ignites a manhunt.

Bullets fly during a dangerous mission, and Major Mark Lopez is critically injured. A Blackstone soldier, Mark is transferred to the North Dakota hospital, where he meets a pretty nurse, Mia. After Mark recovers from surgery, he is discharged from the hospital with orders to rest; not that he does. But when he returns to the hospital again and again with minor - and not-so-minor - injuries, Mia suspects he’s only coming to see her. When someone from Mark’s past comes to him for help, more blood is shed, and Mark must put his life on the line to keep Mia safe.