Life is great for thick-boned Keisha Jackson. With a good education, well-paying job, and a promising future, she has everything a young woman could ask for, including high self-esteem. But after a chance meeting with Rico, the neighborhood “bad boy,” her fairy tale life is quickly dismantled. Blinded by emotion, she gives in to all his cruel intentions. Under the false claim of love, Rico vindictively tears down all that good-girl Keisha has built. His sole purpose seems to be to make her miserable. Rico has no limits on the grief he causes and the disrespect he shows. Having endured physical, mental, and sexual abuse, Keisha finally sees the light, and she’s not having it anymore. The tables are turned, and Rico feels her well-deserved wrath. It ain’t no fun when the rabbit got the gun, and Rico will soon find out what A Big Girl’s Revenge truly feels like.

Simone knows if she plays with fire, she runs the risk of getting burned, but she just can’t help herself. Living large off the paternity scam of a lifetime, she has two baby daddies cashing her out for her infant son. Even her own best friends are getting tired of her low-down, manipulative ways.

Unfortunately, the streets begin to talk, and the out-for-self mother’s luck taps out. Not in the mood for apologies, each man wants his child support back in pure blood, no matter who gets hurt or who gets in the way.

When Simone’s “meal ticket” son gets older, he discovers he is no more than a pawn and a product of the system. This dramatic tale by street lit master Ms. Michel Moore shows that family can turn on you fast, sometimes even before strangers.

Around the Way Girls 10, like its predecessors, is a fast-paced look at the lives of some street-smart women who think they know it all, but are about to get the lessons of their lives.

Sasha Eubanks lived the perfect life. Whatever she touched seemed to turn to gold, until she met and married Mario. He was a parents’ worst nightmare and everything you wouldn’t want a husband to be. Yet Sasha loved him, sacrificed for him, took care of him, and would do anything for him, including going to jail. While she is doing hard time for Mario’s crimes, he soon shows his wife that loyalty is just another word in the dictionary. Sasha has to get revenge if she wants to have any pride left, but can she overcome the mental hold Mario has on her?

Family ain’t no good; at least in Rissa Ford’s world. Forced to live with her aunt and predator-in-disguise uncle, Rissa feels as if her life was cursed from birth. Fed up with being tortured, she exposes the truth and is cast out into the mean streets of Detroit. Doing whatever she needs to make due, Rissa and her “newfound family” devise a plan for the ultimate revenge on those who have brought her the most harm.

Ajanay, Sheika, and London were born and raised in one of Richmond’s most ruthless housing projects. Faced with horrific home lives, all three girls turn to the streets and each other for comfort. Ajanay concocts a plan for them to get money out of Amir, one of the biggest dope boys from a rival housing project. However, Amir is a stone-cold killer with a long criminal history, and Ajanay has put them in harm’s way with no solid plan on how to escape. Will their love and loyalty for one another keep them together, or is it every woman for herself?

Urban Books’ popular Around the Way Girls series is back, bringing readers more dramatic tales about the lives of some tough, resourceful women who can hold their own when things get rough on the streets.

Growing up poor and biracial, Shannon never quite fit in. Not truly accepted by either side of her family, the confused teenager turns to the one thing that loves her back unconditionally–the streets. With a bottle of liquor at her side and a worthless mentality in tow, Shannon allows the local strip club and the pole to become her new family. When one of her best customers turns out to be her long-lost brother, all hell breaks loose.

For Brionna “Breezy” Lee, life has been hell for as long as she can remember. Being mentally, verbally, sexually, and physically abused at the hands of her mother, it seems as if she will never get a break. The only thing keeping her sane is her best friend King, who’s always been by her side; but even he is starting to become frustrated, as she says she’s fed up with the abuse but continually makes excuses for why she won’t seek help. Will Breezy’s loyalty to a mother who couldn’t care less about her cause even more tragedy, or will she listen to her friend and get out before it’s too late?

Cori and Nique are tired of living bottom barrel in Detroit, with shut-off notices and eviction threats a constant reality. Seeing no other way out, the duo sets a plan into motion, becoming the go-to girls from the hood. From robbing an off-duty cop to running stolen gas cards, smash and grabs, or stealing bundles of expensive weave, they definitely don’t play about their grind. In their world, sometimes being “down 4 whatever” is your only option!

Kalif is everything his adoptive family wanted him not to be: treacherous, conniving, and coldhearted. As much as he wishes to please them, he can’t deny who and what he is destined to be. The hot-tempered young man is indeed his father’s son. While off his meds, Kalif discovers the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of his birth parents. In a matter of seconds, he totally snaps, ignoring the possible consequences. His rage and thirst for power increases. Deep off into the zone, Kalif develops zero tolerance for nonsense. Quickly, he rises through the ranks of the Motor City crime underworld, proving to everyone, including himself, he deserved the hard-earned title of kingpin of Detroit.

When their parents are discovered brutally murdered in a ditch, Kenya and London are left orphaned and forced to navigate the unforgiving streets of Detroit. They might be identical twins, but they are as different as night and day. While one of them fights relentlessly to make it out of the ghetto, the other eagerly embraces true hood life and everything their parents believed in–selling drugs, living fast, and even dying young (if it means getting paid!)

Kenya is coldhearted and crazy, just like her Pops. Nothing is off limits, and no one else matters–not even her sister, if she gets in her way. Blood may be thicker than water, but in one sister’s eyes, cash is king–her only true family, and most definitely the head of her conniving household!

Three Urban Books authors have teamed up to bring the drama in this latest installment of the popular Girls from da Hood series.

Get It, Get It! by Ms. Michel Moore: Monica was conceived on a pile of dirty clothes in the corner of a trap house. Cursed with a mother who worshiped the crack pipe more than her children, she quickly learned a Detroit reality: get it how ya live or die trying. The young teenager is forced to beg, borrow, and steal to make sure she and her siblings survive to see another day. Cutthroat and conniving, Monica will make it, no matter who she has to step on or step over.

You Can’t Break Us by Treasure Hernandez: Voodo and his girl, Moni, are inseparable. Like a modern Bonnie and Clyde from the hood, they let no one, even family, get in their way. When the people they do “around the way” business with turn out to be verified snakes, the ruthless couple gets revenge the only way they know how–street justice. With the law in hot pursuit, it’s Voodo and Moni against the world, just like they always knew it would be.

So Far Gone by Katt: Sometimes love is the best feeling in the world, but the wrong kind of love can turn you into an entirely different person. When good girl turned bad Renee gets together with Keithon, it’s them against the world, until the streets get to talking and their fairy-tale relationship turns into a full-blown nightmare. Karma steps in and has her way with the couple, and their lives will never be the same.

Life is definitely not meant to be this hard. His mother tragically dies of cancer, his once perfect world is turned upside down, and the cold-hearted streets of Detroit couldn’t care less.

Now Lonnie McKay, homeless and alone, is caught up in the system at the mercy of others. Faced with women who could possibly help him but refuse to do so, he soon develops a vindictive dislike for every female he comes in contact with.

Under the influence of anything he can take to get high, a delusional Lonnie sets no limits to what he’ll do to make these women pay—including murder.

When he is released on parole, Stackz wants nothing more than to mind his own business and rebuild his empire. However, when he is forced to kill again, he links up with Ava, an eyewitness to the scene unfolding before the slaughter of her sister’s boyfriend. Having one major thing in common–murder–the pair becomes inseparable, hoping love can conquer all.

Their belief that they can live a happily-ever-after existence is soon shattered when his victim’s crew wants the ultimate revenge–they want Stackz’s life, and they’ll take Ava’s as well if she gets in the way.

Welcome to Kapri James-White’s world. Walk the streets of Detroit with her, and learn what it truly means
to be married to the shooter!

Kapri James wasn’t born into the struggle of the game, but she craves it. Despite pleas from her mother, the uppermiddle-class teen is addicted to “slumming” and living the fast life. Everything about the blackhearted mentality of
Detroit draws her in with ease. Drug dealing, carjackings, home invasions, snatch-and-grabs, and mayhem in general
have to be on a man’s resume to catch her eye.

Hardcore criminal Nolan White, known citywide as a shooter, fits that description to a tee, and Kapri has to have
him. She is a hood Bonnie to his gangster Clyde, and the streets often run red when the couple is involved. Theirs is
a union inked in cold blood.

Identical twins Kenya and London return in the highly addictive Essence bestselling Say U Promise series, and now things have gone from bad to worse for the tragically troubled sisters. They are caught in the middle of a deadly drug war that was started by one of them, and the streets run red as lives are drastically changed forever. With an illegitimate baby on the way and a price on her head, one twin fights to avoid the dangers of the game she despises, while facing the vindictive wrath of her sister for what is deemed to be the ultimate betrayal. This time around, no one is safe when it comes to revenge—not even an innocent child.

Ms. Michel Moore is back with another gripping installment of the dramatic Say U Promise series.

Forced to flee Detroit, ruthless and rotten Kenya and her identical twin, London, have dodged the bullets of a vicious hired hitman and endured the pain of a brutal rape. Now, due to mistaken identity, the girls must deal with Storm’s strange disappearance and his partner’s heinous murder before it’s too late and they’re next.

Once again the sisters’ lives are turned upside down. This time, the consequences could land them both in jail—or dead and unclaimed in the county morgue.

Clay has never depended on anyone but himself. Having been to prison twice, the veteran criminal feels he has nothing left to lose. He rules his small territory of the Detroit drug scene with an iron fist, acting as the police, the judge, and the jury. Clay is without remorse. Anyone who crosses him or jeopardizes his freedom will be dealt with, and justice will be swift.

Clay has always been cursed with a short-fuse temper, but this time it causes him to make a mistake that could bring him down for good. Feeling betrayed, he explodes, committing cold-blooded murder on a crowded city block. In an ironic twist, he leaves seven eyewitnesses alive. They were always forced to live by his strict street-code commandments, but now they will be the ones to testify. Ultimately, Clay’s fate is in their hands.

Terrell wasn’t raised in the corrupt streets of Detroit. After being abused and left for dead by his violent, psychotic father, he was raised by his aunt and uncle in a loving home in the suburbs. But he never lost touch with his mother, whose selfish scheming sparked the fire that led to that fateful night when Terrell became disabled. Now that he’s an adult, his tainted bloodline has other plans for the wheelchair-bound teenager.

Throwing away his silver spoon, Li’l T easily favors an oversized .40-cal he keeps tucked on his lap. With Simone, his wicked-minded mother, cosigning his every criminal move, Terrell hopes he can rise to be half the man he believes his deceased father was, even though Kamal was the one to put him in the iron-wheeled casket. A product of the system, Terrell is haunted by his past, but he’s determined not to let anything stop his shine.

Terrell wasn’t raised in the corrupt streets of Detroit. After being abused and left for dead by his violent, psychotic father, he was raised by his aunt in uncle in a loving home in the suburbs. However, he never lost touch with his mother, whose selfish scheming sparked the fire that led to that fateful night when Terrell became disabled. Now that he’s an adult, his tainted bloodline has other plans for the wheelchair-bound teenager. Throwing away his silver spoon, Li’l T easily favors an oversized .40-cal he keeps tucked on his lap. With Simone, his wicked-minded mother, co-signing his every criminal move, Terrell hopes he can rise up to be half the man he believes his deceased father was, even though Kamal was the one to put him in the iron-wheeled casket. A product of the system, Terrell is haunted by his past, but he’s determined not to let anything stop his shine.

Having kidnapped her twin sister’s newborn right out the womb and leaving her once beloved fiance for dead, this Detroit-born rebel’s tragic fate is practically sealed.

Mentally drained and on the run from reality, Kenya has no options left, and she is ready to explode. No guilt or consequence is great enough to stop her inner rage. She is willing to do anything to anyone at any given moment if they dare to get in the way of her true happiness.

No more than a ticking time bomb with a short fuse, Kenya is on a path littered with doom, death, and destruction. Hang on to your seats for a wild ride in this explosive finale.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …

Not only is the city of Detroit bankrupt, it also has one of the highest murder rates in the country. When government-enforced power restrictions are applied, hell on earth becomes hotter in the already anything-goes, cutthroat city. Even the predators become prey. No loyalty, no respect, and no limits! It’s now neighbor against neighbor, sister against brother, friend against friend, and people’s true colors are tested and revealed by nightfall.

The only thing that could help Detroit at this point is a miracle, and even God is scared to visit the Devil’s playground.

Ms. Michel Moore and Marlon P. S. White deliver a gripping tale of disloyalty, murder, and mayhem against the backdrop of one of America’s most troubled cities.