Showing results by narrator "Nicole Small" in All Categories

WINNER OF THE 2021 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY O MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER, THE WASHINGTON POST, REAL SIMPLE, THE GUARDIAN, AND MORE FINALIST FOR: THE STORY PRIZE, THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE, THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE, THE CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE “Sublime short stories of...

Janelle Doesher never wanted to be a hustler's bitch. She wanted to be a bitch that hustled, bottom line! She watched in awe as her father became notorious on the vicious streets of Detroit, and silently waited for a shot under his umbrella. After tragedy strikes her family, Janelle is black-balled to the bottom. However, she's determined to regain control of the streets and take possession of the throne. The underworld ain't never seen a female boss like her. Hold on tight, as you are about to embark on a ride unlike none other!

Pearl Baines is a straight Harlem stunna. She and her twin sister, Diamond, are chased by some of the most notorious ballers in New York City. But while their father, ex-gangsta Irish Baines, devotes his life to rehabilitating young thugs, his sexy twin daughters fall hard for the glamour and glitter of strip clubs and street life. Unlike Diamond, though, Pearl is able to shake off the trappings of the hood in search of a better future.

Dionysus "Dio" Jackson is off to a fresh start. So he thinks. From his troubled past left behind in California, he has now been sent to New York to spend time with his cousin. The trip to the big city is for growth, but for Dio, it's a place to explore and discover. As Dio navigates his way through the city that never sleeps, neither does he, as he fights his demons from his past and meets new people along the way.

Morgan Atkins is used to losing, but losing Messiah Williams was the most tragic of them all. Surely, after Messiah, no other man could compare. Settling with Sebastian Fredrick didn't seem like such an impossible task. He treated her well enough, he accepted her children, and he offered her entrance into a well-connected world. There was only one problem: He wanted to change her into someone else. The rules that went along with his lifestyle suffocated her, and when Morgan reconnected with Messiah's crew, she no longer wanted to play by Bash’s rules.

In this urgent outpouring of American voices, our poets speak to us as they shelter in place, addressing our collective fear, grief, and hope from eloquent and diverse individual perspectives.

Blood is said to be thicker than water, but what happens when the blood runs cold? Every family has their fair share of problems, and Ivory Stevans’ family is no exception. When Ivory’s father goes missing for 11 agonizing days, all hell breaks loose, and the bonds that keep Ivory Stevans' family together are tested. Secrets come to light, betrayal surfaces, and trust is destroyed.

Caleb Greene has everything thanks to his multimillion dollar tech company, including a lawsuit from a former partner. Escaping the crush of responsibilities seemed to be the thing he needed. A getaway to New York for a visit with old buddy Dex Truitt was supposed to be just that, until a chance meeting with a goddess changed his direction altogether. She was so intriguing, he found himself doing things he would never consider...even masquerading as an intern at Montague. But will his part-time distraction become a full time obsession?

Gage Young is the hottest baseball player in the league. This billionaire catcher can lead the team to the World Series and win daddy of the year, but he can’t capture the heart, mind, and body of Nina Mitchell. Nina’s dealing with more than an arrogant baseball player who’s used to running the show. Her family’s business is under pressure to sell out and make room for another mall. She comes to find out Gage Young has a stake in the deal. He talks with old friends Tig and Delia for advice.

Jahzara, Honey, and Tomeka are best friends 'til the end. The three of them would die for each other and have always had each other's back. They each desperately wanted better lives and were willing to work extra hard in order to attain it. Relationship issues in their personal lives bring the girls closer together than ever before - especially when Jahzara brings a business proposal to the table. Betrayal, lies, jealousy, and murder is only the beginning of what they have to overcome.

For a sheltered mama's boy like Demarcus, everything was coming up roses until a life-changing experience showed him that every rose has thorns. After a well-orchestrated set-up, Demarcus' plans to go to college are derailed by a trip to state prison. It is while in the belly of the beast that the mama's boy has to make the choice between being a man - or being a victim. Upon his release, Demarcus tries to get his life back on track, but his felony conviction causes door after door to be slammed in his face.

Andre "Thug-A-Licious" Williams escaped Harlem’s meanest streets thanks to his stellar hoop moves and explosive mic skills. Now he dominates the rap scene and the ladies, but no matter how many women he takes to his bed, only one has his heart: Carmiesha, his ride-or-die queen, who has stuck by him through thick and thin. But Thug also has a nightmarish history with someone else. Pimp Williams, his cousin and ex-partner in crime, is a cold-blooded killer who spreads havoc all over Harlem and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Noire pens the intense tale of Eva Patterson, a tragic daughter of the ghetto who finds peril on the streets of New York. With an abusive mother and a heroin monkey on her back, Eva experiences a series of traumatizing events, forcing her to flee her Brooklyn tenement and seek refuge with her beloved cousin Fiyah in Harlem. But fate is not done wreaking havoc in Eva's life yet. Poised on the brink of progress, Eva meets King Brody, a vicious Harlem drug lord who runs Bricks, the hottest rap club in town.

Brooklyn Johnson had it all - money, jewels, designer clothes, a successful modeling career, and men falling at her feet. Now she's struggling to keep up the facade. When life was good, she wasn't always good to those around her. Even as she developed a drug addiction and struggled to maintain her sanity, she never felt she needed anyone. Now that an illness has turned her life upside down, she finds herself having to make amends with all the people she's wronged.

In this follow-up to the mega-sensation Addicted, the New York Times bestselling Queen of Erotica delivers a shocking and steamy story about a woman with a split personality who must overcome her disorder before her chance at a happy ending is forever destroyed. Jonquinette Pierce has never felt...

Malik Carter, the youngest of the Carter brothers, finds himself heartbroken, shattered, and bewildered after one fateful night shatters his world and leaves him and Bria estranged. Events spiral out of control pushing them apart to confront their demons alone.