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?

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.

They say that good girls like bad boys, and this was especially true for Pearl Stone, a child born of privilege to a drug baron and reputed killer known in the streets as Big Stone. Although the flashy, fast-paced nature of the streets calls to Pearl, she's been brought up to look but not touch. Yet when a young hustler named Diamonds crawls up from the swamps of Louisiana and sets up shop in New York City, everything Pearl was taught flies out the window.

Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore who's more concerned with getting her next high than she is with Tayshawn's well-being. His stepfather hates him so much, he literally treats him like an animal, forcing him to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them.

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.

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.

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.

Bernadette "Bernie" Hunt excels in life, but love is another story. Being gorgeous, smart, and from a well-to-do family, she has no shortage of high-society suitors vying for her attention, but when measured against her father, none seem good enough. This changes when she meets Keith Davis, a hotshot lawyer recently hired at her father's firm. Being new to Atlanta from New Orleans, Keith's past is somewhat of a mystery. The day Keith proposes to Bernie is one of the happiest of her life. She has found a kindred soul who seems to bring everything to the table, including a dark secret.

"Run away from the boy that gives you butterflies, he's going to break your heart." Morgan Atkins had been told that phrase ever since she was a little girl, and still she allowed herself to fall for the boy that made her heart flutter. After losing her first love, Morgan is terrified to love again. She's settled for a comfortable life with a respectable man. She has everything. She's living in the lap of luxury, and although she's comfortable, she's bored out of her mind. When a ghost from her past blows into town, she finds herself entangled in an illicit affair.

Jonas, the only boy in a family of four children, has always been a fighter. From the neighborhood bullies to the stepfather who uses him and his siblings as punching bags, his life has always been one battle after another. When he crosses paths with rogue homicide detective Louis "Lou" Ceavers, he's offered a bargain that will change the course of his life. Detective Ceavers becomes like a guardian angel and surrogate father to Jonas, teaching him the game and guiding him in his quest for power.

Six months before aging out of foster care, 17-year-old Tori meets a local hustler who makes her an offer she can’t refuse. At first, she enjoys the benefits of being Ricky’s “new girl,” but it’s not long before he’s looking for a return on his investment. After a confrontation with Ricky spirals out of control, Tori goes on the run. Halfway across the country, she meets Dana, a street-wise woman in a similarly desperate situation. The two become quick friends and hatch a plan to move to Reno. But soon Tori is on her own again - and out for revenge.

Cold-hearted Keema takes the world by storm as she navigates her way through every trick and scam she can pull off. With four kids in tow, living off the welfare system had become her life along with the extra cash, sex, and violence her gangsta boyfriend Dupree brought into her life. Soon, chaos erupts, causing Keema’s secret past to become a problem. When the chips fall, they fall hard, leaving Keema willing to do whatever it takes to keep money in her pocket. She’s willing to go that extra mile, even if it means selling her kids or setting up her man.

Law grew up in the trenches. Hustling since the age of 12, his focus was making life better for his mother and brother. Finding intimate love was never a priority because he didn’t have many examples of that around him. Instead, he was taught to focus on getting money, not finding the one. Yet upon seeing her, Zuri pulled something out of Law that was foreign to him. Though he had been with his girlfriend, Whitney, for a long, exhausting decade, he had never experienced a woman taking his heart so mercilessly.

Hidden away near the end of Long Island, New York, is a community where affluent African Americans, their friends, and the wannabes have secretly vacationed for more than 75 years. Unlike the bluffs of Martha’s Vineyard, black folks here own five miles of prime beachfront. With a mix of legacy families, new money, hangers-on, and thirsty developers, drama can never be far behind in a place called...the BLACK HAMPTONS.

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.

Parish “Pain” Wells is a man freshly reintroduced to society, after serving time in state prison. Prior to his fall, Pain had been a heist man who showed the promise of someone who could go on to be a legend. His trajectory changed on the night he had made the mistake of accepting a ride from a friend, and found himself behind bars for the one crime he hadn’t committed. Several years later, Pain returns home to a world that wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire. The only one who still remains in his corner is his ailing grandmother.

The only family Eve Panelli has ever known is the infamous Twenty Gang. Orphaned as a small child, Eve quickly learned the art of the hustle, and by age 17 she had spent two years in prison. But now Eve is 18, back on the streets of Harlem with her gang, and up to one of her old tricks: strong-arm robbery. Despite her edge, she's got a soft spot for Felon, the up-and-coming street king. Eve's life takes a serious turn when the powerful DeNardi family, the city's biggest drug supplier, tries to tighten its hold on Harlem.

Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore who's more concerned with getting her next high than she is with Tayshawn's well-being. His stepfather hates him so much, he literally treats him like an animal, forcing him to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them.

Persia Chandler doesn't know the meaning of the world struggle. After the arrest of her notorious father, she is whisked away from Harlem, the only place she has ever called home, to be raised in an affluent neighborhood in Long Island City. Her mother and stepfather shower her with the best that life has to offer. During her senior year in high school, she convinces her parents to let her transfer from Catholic school to attend public school. That is the start of her problems - but it's hardly the end.

They say that good girls like bad boys, and this was especially true for Pearl Stone, a child born of privilege to a drug baron and reputed killer known in the streets as Big Stone. Although the flashy, fast-paced nature of the streets calls to Pearl, she's been brought up to look but not touch. Yet when a young hustler named Diamonds crawls up from the swamps of Louisiana and sets up shop in New York City, everything Pearl was taught flies out the window.

Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men's hearts as well as their pockets. But she learns the hard way that all that glitters isn't gold. Billy, a former high school basketball star, is at the end of her rope with the opposite sex. To her, all men are dogs, so she secretly seeks comfort in the arms of women - until she meets a man who makes her reevaluate her feelings.

Daruis, aka Rio, the only child of a singer turned alcoholic, feels he has nothing to hold on to except the idea of escaping the ghetto. Years ago he took a gun charge for a friend and did some prison time. Unable to find a job when he gets out, Rio turns to hustling and finds escape in the arms of his soul mate, Trinity. When Trinity's mother dies, her abusive father looks to her to play the role of housewife and bedmate.

Six months before aging out of foster care, 17-year-old Tori meets a local hustler who makes her an offer she can’t refuse. At first, she enjoys the benefits of being Ricky’s “new girl,” but it’s not long before he’s looking for a return on his investment. After a confrontation with Ricky spirals out of control, Tori goes on the run. Halfway across the country, she meets Dana, a street-wise woman in a similarly desperate situation. The two become quick friends and hatch a plan to move to Reno. But soon Tori is on her own again - and out for revenge.

Jonas, the only boy in a family of four children, has always been a fighter. From the neighborhood bullies to the stepfather who uses him and his siblings as punching bags, his life has always been one battle after another. When he crosses paths with rogue homicide detective Louis "Lou" Ceavers, he's offered a bargain that will change the course of his life. Detective Ceavers becomes like a guardian angel and surrogate father to Jonas, teaching him the game and guiding him in his quest for power.

Detective James Wolf earned the nickname Lone Wolf from his inability to work with a partner. He's a hard cop who doesn't mind bending the rules to the breaking point to make a case, which is why Internal Affairs is digging in his backyard, looking for buried bones. People are starting to wonder which side of the law the Lone Wolf really hunts for. With his career hanging by a thread, he needs a major show of good faith to stay employed and out of prison. That's when he gets the call....

Bernadette "Bernie" Hunt excels in life, but love is another story. Being gorgeous, smart, and from a well-to-do family, she has no shortage of high-society suitors vying for her attention, but when measured against her father, none seem good enough. This changes when she meets Keith Davis, a hotshot lawyer recently hired at her father's firm. Being new to Atlanta from New Orleans, Keith's past is somewhat of a mystery. The day Keith proposes to Bernie is one of the happiest of her life. She has found a kindred soul who seems to bring everything to the table, including a dark secret.

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!

Bleu Montclair knew as a young girl that she would one day escape the hard, unrelenting streets of Flint, Michigan. When her desperate prayers are answered in the form of a scholarship to UCLA, she knows she's struck gold. But soon after arriving, all her beautiful, bright dreams begin to fall apart. Endless temptations abound in the form of cars, clothes, booze, and drugs, and Bleu cannot keep up. When her roommate gives her the opportunity to make a lot of money fast, Bleu goes all in.

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

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.