Urban Reviews - Your Source for the Best in AA Fiction!

Sasha Campbell -  Suspicions -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Suspicions by Sasha Campbell is the story of three women: Noelle, Tiffany and Candace. All three women share one thing...the man in their life has been keeping a secret. Noelle is a beautiful full-figured woman who owns an upscale hair salon called "Situations." With a son away at college, this is the time where she should be relaxing and enjoying her time with her husband. But with an unexpected package left on her doorstep, that's all about to change. Noelle automatically assumes she knows the owner of this "package," but she will soon find out that she is totally wrong. With this unexpected gift, it causes a huge rift within her marriage. Will her marriage be able to survive when it's all said and done? Tiffany is one of Noelle's stylists at "Situations." She is a 27-year-old woman that is engaged to be married to a sexy and rich man. Her gift to her husband-...

Karen Williams -  Thug In Me -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  What would you do if your life as you know it suddenly changed? Would you take the cards that life handed you, or would you fight to clear your name? Thug In Me revolves around a young man name Chance who grew up in a single family home. Even though he grew in a rough neighborhood, he was still able to beat the odds. He obtained a college degree and had a great job at Microsoft. Chance took care of his mother and just recently purchased a new home. Things suddenly change when Chance is wrongly convicted of murder and is now facing a long prison bid. Everything is slowing slipping away: his job, his girlfriend, and his life as he knows it. Will Chance be able to clear his name,  or will he waste his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit? Calhoun is Chance’s best friend and brother, and the two of them have been through thick and thin together. Chance never understood how hi...

Brandi Jenee -  The Playground Whore -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Starting The Playground Whore, I really didn’t know what to expect. The author Brandi Jenee takes us into the life of Dinah Bradley, a marriage and family therapist turned up-and-coming author. Dinah is becoming a celebrity overnight, with book appearances and lectures she gives on her book “The Playground Whore” Everything seems to be moving in the right direction, until her world is turned 180 degrees. Dinah is unable to remember key points in her life when she was working on her graduate degree. When a mysterious e-mail comes to her, can Dinah no longer suppress her secrets? The real question is whether these secrets will destroy her marriage. I had a difficult time finishing “The Playground Whore” by Brandi Jenee. The book follows a woman who has the occupation to help others, but actually needs help herself. The storyline just failed to hold my interest.  I think the ...

Tony Lindsay -  More Boy Than Girl -  Available Now! -  2.5 out of 5 books -  Dai Break Jones has always identified herself with being more of a man than a woman and has lived her life this way. Her father is a founding member of one Chicago’s largest street organizations. Dai gets into the game by being a female pimp. She runs her stable with an iron fist and there’s no room for error. But a turn of events puts Dai in a vulnerable position. More Boy than Girl by Tony Lindsay started off as a good story. But when getting further into the book, it seemed as if something was missing. For Dai to be a female pimp, there wasn’t a lot of action or drama going on to draw the reader in. There’s no real background on Dai and how she got into the pimping business. The book would have been a little more interesting if this back story would have been given. It’s as if Lindsay was going through the motions of writing this novel but didn’t put his heart and soul into...

Swift -  Motivation: Mastering The Game -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Keyshawn “Key” Watson always wanted to be a major player on the streets of Milwaukee. With his stable of prostitutes and thieves, Key quickly earns enough street credibility and prestige to expand his growing empire. But that expansion comes to a halt when a sudden tragedy in New Orleans causes Key to get some unwanted attention from the U.S. Justice Department. There’s also a mole in his organization who is trying to destroy him. Motivation by Swift is a typical street tale about a young man coming up in the streets running a prostitution ring. Key goes from being an observer of the game to being fully immersed in it. Swift did a good job with the storyline of this book especially when showing the growth of Key as a character. One of the most interesting parts of book is when the justice department starts their investigation of Key and how they go about doing it. The pac...

Victoria Vanee' Anderson -  Lady Vicious -  Available Now! -  2 out of 5 books -  Vita Truth, a.k.a. Lady Vicious, comes from a family of nothing but pimps and hustlers. So it is a given that she should have pimpin' in her blood. After putting her foot in the drug game for a brief period and instead of spending her money on the finest clothes, jewelry or other designer items, Vita stacks her money until she and her best friend have a nice stash. The question is, what are they going to do with all the money? That's when Vita comes up with the idea of an escort business with a total of 20 beautiful women. Ten are average girls that will pretty much do anything for that dollar, and the other are Lady Vicious' top ten. They are the finest of the women who will only date men with money, power and respect. Money begins flowing in and eventually Lady Vicious decides to open up a strip club. But with more money comes more problems. The previous owner is none to h...

L. L. Reaper -  Black Widow and the Sandman -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  There is a poisonous toxin that is killing the children in Cuba. But who is behind it? The Cuban government is running out of patience and thinks that the US government is conducting a horrible experiment on its citizens. Jeanette “Black Widow” Mason is a top scientist that is assigned to find a cure for this horrible toxin and to stop and capture the person that’s responsible. Roman “The Sandman” Tate is a top notch mercenary who is assigned to protect Black Widow while she’s doing her scientific work. The Sandman soon finds out that trying to tame the Black Widow is easier said than done. L.L. Reaper crafted a good mystery with Black Widow and the Sandman. This book is full of government secrets, conspiracies, and murder that will keep you guessing until the very end. Reaper did a wonderful job with character and storyline development. Black Widow and the Sandman have ...

Jvictor -  The Sorcerer's Mask -  Available Now! -  3.5 out of 5 books -  Jasson Vaughn is a successful art dealer who has just been unceremoniously dumped by his fiancée Angela. Trying to get over his heartbreak, Jasson decides to just pour himself into his work. His best friend, Ramon, has other ideas when he introduces Jasson to a beautiful woman named Marisa. Just when Jasson and Marisa develop their relationship, Marisa is suddenly caught in a dangerous situation. Now Jasson and Ramon are doing everything in their power to save her. But everything is not quite what it seems. Drug enforcement agents, drug lords, high art, and diabolical plans are what Jvictor Black brought us with The Sorcerer’s Mask. This book was an interesting tale about what happens to a man who takes that leap of faith in order to fall in love. Jasson’s relationship dilemmas serve as a backdrop to the real main plot of the story, which is Marisa’s grave situation. The beginning...

Nataisha Hill -  How Could She Do It -  Available Now! -  1 out of 5 books -  How Could She Do It by Nataisha Hill centers around the main character Kayla, a young woman fed up with her abusive and cheating boyfriend. Kayla is bound and determind to make him feel just as miserable as she does. When she comes up with a plan to get back at him, the only person she is really hurting is herself.  After careful thought, Kayla decides the best thing to do is to move far away and have a fresh start. She meets a man she thinks just may be her prince charming, yet he deceives her as well. With the back and forth relationship between her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend, it spells nothing but trouble. How Could She Do It by Nataisha Hill was a typical story about a young-minded girl who instead of just walking away from a bad situation, she keeps getting herself in the same mess over and over again. The story was predictable and unrealistic in certain si...

Donna Hill, Niobia Bryant, Zuri Day -  Heat Wave (anthology) -  Available Now! -  4.5 out of 5 books -  Heat Wave is a romance anthology featuring three stories about summer flings. Summer Fever by Donna Hill was a fun summer romance. Nina Forbes is house sitting in the Hampton's for one of her best friend's clients. Nina has planned to get a little R & R and sightseeing in while there. The last thing she expected to do was to have a summer rendezvous. But once she meets her summer neighbor, Ian Harrison, she may have to rethink her plans. Ian is in the Hampton's to oversee the summer season opening of his lounge and plans to return to Barbados once his business there is complete. However, love has a way of changing all plans. Can what started out as fling, become the real thing? One Hot Summer by Niobia Bryant was an excellent read. Nylah "Love" Lovely is a very sought after event planner that was once married to a superstar R& B artist. She...

Candice Poarch -  Deadly Intentions -  Available Now! -  3.5 out of 5 books -  Lisa Claxton wants desperately to prove to her family that she is no longer the family screw-up. In addition to starting her own cleaning service, she also wants to find her family's golden bowl that was stolen. Lisa thinks she has tracked down the bowl at a residence on the island. However, when she goes to the house where she believes the bowl may be, she finds a dead body. Thinking her day can't get any worse, she literally runs into Brian Knight while she is trying to get out of the house as fast as she can. Brian is a Navy Seal who has come to his grandfathers' house to recuperate after being injured in the line of duty. The last thing he expected to find was a hysterical woman trying to escape the dead body she stumbled upon in the house he has come to relax in. In this crazy whirlwind of events, Lisa and Brian realize that they need each other for more than just tracking ...

Nique Roberson -  Tatted On My Neck -  Available Now -  3 out of 5 books -  Chantel is a misunderstood young woman who is daddy's girl in every sense of the word. She even has a tattoo of her daddy's name. Chantel's mother, Teresa, regrets the day Chantel was ever born. Living with a mother that hates her and determined to turn her father against her is a tough pill to swallow. So Chantel eagerly gets involved with an older man and soon earns the reputation of being "a slut." Teresa ships her daughter off to live with Chantel's no nonsense brother in L.A where she soons meets the sexy, tatted up, and NFL bound Chris. The only thing is that Chris's girlfriend, Shalonda, is in the way. Chris and Shalonda have been together for four years, and Shalonda is territorial when it comes to her man. That does not stop Shalonda from having her cake and eating it too, nor does it stop the ensuing friendship laced with attraction between Chantel and Chris. ...

Tamika Newhouse -  Cookie: A Fort Worth Story -  Available Now! -  3.5 out of 5 books -  Latoya James, a.k.a. Cookie, is going into her freshman year of high school with skin the color of a hershey's kiss and a body that has curves in all the right places. Not only does Cookie have the looks, but she is also very smart to boot. Cookie is the type of girl that has her head in books but is witty, outgoing and quick to tell you what is on her mind. Hanging with her older sister, Cookie is able to hang out in all the cool spots and with an older crowd, thus older men. One takes a real shine to Cookie and is in hot pursuit of her. While Cookie likes the attention, she really has feelings for a young man that she grew up with. The only problem is that although his mouth says one thing, his actions speak another. Eventually Cookie finds herself in a position that will force her to grow up quickly. Will she be able to overcome it all and with her head held high? ...

Frederick Germaine -  Ladies' Man -  Available Now! -  1.5 out of 5 books -  Damien Hardy was an All-American athlete at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles. He had a baseball scholarship from USC and a beautiful girlfriend that he was madly in love with. But that all comes to a screeching halt when he finds out that she betrayed him. Thinking with his heart instead of his head, he rescinds the scholarship and heads off to The University of Miami for a fresh start. After 5 years of college (yes 5), he decides to follow his roomate and best-friend Mookie to Atlanta, GA, where he hopes to start his career in his chosen field. Shortly after his move, Mookie gets himself into some trouble that there is just no fixing. Damien lands himself a great job. Fast forward ten years, and Damien finds himself without a job. And on top of all that, one of the women he was sexing drops an unexpected surprise that will change his life. Not to mention that there is one woman that...

Keith Thomas Walker -  Riding The Corporate Ladder -  Available Now! -  4 out of 5 books -  Deena Newman is determine to become a partner at her law firm, even if she has to do it lying on her back. Deena is a very beautiful and intelligent attorney that thinks hard work alone won't get you where you want to be. Deena is a woman who has worked hard to get everything that she has, but she knows she is in a male dominated field so she uses her God given assets to keep men in control. This is her philosophy in the office and out. That is, until she meets her match, a junior partner by the name of David Markham. David flips the script on her and makes here rethink her whole philosophy on life, love, and happiness. The question is, will this revelation come too late? Riding the Corporate Ladder is a great read by Keith Thomas Walker. Walker has such a unique way of telling it like it is. His word choices always add an extra layer to his writing. He does a...