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

Fiona Lewis -  Dreaming in Color -  Available Now! -  3.5 out of 5 books -  Life has been anything but great for Carlene (a.k.a. Cee-Cee) since she moved to America from her home in Jamaica. In Jamaica, life was as close to great as Cee-Cee's life would get. She had friends, an art scholarship at a summer camp...and she had a life. Life in America was completely opposite. She had no friends, no art scholarship...and she had no life. All there was, was a pack of high school wolves ready to devour any prey that even dared walk past. The prey they had in their sights happened to be Cee-Cee. Dreaming In Color by Fiona Lewis was a good book, but it wasn't the most exciting. The beginning was slow and not very interesting. The end was better, but it seemed like the author was trying to end the book too quickly. There were many spelling errors, but they were easy to look past. If you are looking for a quick read, then Dreaming In Color is the book to...

Lutishia Lovely -  Taking Care of Business -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  The Livingstons are back, and when they come back, all hell breaks loose. In this third installment of the Business Series, there is suspense, jealousy, and of course drama. Taste of Soul Restaurant on the West Coast called Taste of Soul Tapas Style (TOSTS), is a complete success and about to celebrate its one year anniversary when an unfortunate accident occurs at the restaurant. There are a series of characters that you'll read about in this novel, and you'll start to wonder did they do it? The Livingstons start to wonder if this was a simple accident, or did someone deliberately set out to sabotage the restaurant? Bianca  Livingston was climbing up the ladder in the family business. It was her business plan  to run the restaurant on the West Coast  that beat out the plan of her brother, Jefferson. She worked hard to...

Damon Darrell -  No Escape Vol. 1: The Last Days of Diego Black  -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Diego Black is the former muscle for an old drug cartel dubbed "The Brick Boys." He was the inforcer of all things lethal or the go to man when someone needed to be handled. With the demise of the Brick Boys after the Feds shut them down, Diego is trying his hardest to become a nine-to-five working man, regardless of how little he makes. Although the money is not like he is used to, he is determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But when the past catches up to him, he may be pulled back into his old lifestyle whether he wants to or not. Hiram Bricker is a former Brick Boy, while his brother Quenton is serving time in a Northern State prison from when the Feds shut their crew down. Hiram was lucky enough to flee before getting caught...or was he? When someone from his past resurfaces and demands an exhorbant amount of money in a short period ...

Cynthia White -  Boss Bitch Swag -  Available Now! -  2 out of 5 books -  One would assume by the title, “Boss Bitch Swag” that Cynthia White has written a book about the wife/girlfriend/wifey of a boss, but instead it is about a young man nicknamed Boss. Yes, Boss is a drug dealer who has a number of women. Throughout the book Boss has a few serious relationships, but he is never faithful. The main love of his life was a teenager named Meesha and by the title it would have been nice to hear more of her story. In the first chapter, we learn that Meesha is 21, faithfully married but diagnosed with HIV and already pregnant with her third child, so I knew I was in for a very typical hood story. As stated in the headline, Cynthia White has a good concept, but there were too many editing issues for me to really enjoy the story. Ellipses are used and while they are fine to use during informal communication, they were overdone throughout this book. Another iss...

Silk White -  Tears Of A Hustler 3 -  Available Now! -  1 out of 5 books -  Tears of a Hustler 3 by Silk White gives you a refresher in what happened in the last chapter of the previous book. Ali is still locked behind bars, and Nancy is still his ride or die chick and willing to stand beside him, even during his life sentence. A new drug dealer comes on the scene by that name of Marvin. Marvin is trying to take over the streets even if he has to step on the toes of one of the most ruthless drug dealers, Paulenna. Marvin has no respect whatsoever for a woman and thinks that the rumors about Paulenna and her crew are all just that...rumors. Marvin soon finds out about how treacherous Paulenna really is.   Paulenna is not about to let anyone step on her turf. And she will do ANYTHING to keep intruders away. "ANYONE can get it" is Pauleena's philosphy. Tears of a Hustler 3 by Silk White fell short in so many ways. Although Mr.White makes for an a...

Erica Hilton -  From Mistress To Wifey -  Available Now! -  4.5 out of 5 books -  Jasmine was a smart pretty girl who liked the bad boy type. Having had a series of dead-end relationships with broke drug dealers, Jasmine is determined to place a claim on the winning prize. That prize is Nico, who was the interim head of the “Ghetto Mafia.” A chance encounter leads to to the title of mistress, accomplice, murderer, and ride or die chick.Will Jasmine get her prize and be able to take her position, or will she lose her freedom to keep Nico in her life? Mia has been loyal and down for Nico for many years.  Mia knows her role as a wifey and also understands that Nico has his flock of other women. There are two rules that Nico must follow: don’t bring anything home and no form of blatant disrespect. Exotic trips, money at her disposal, and luxury cars are nothing new to Mia. But things can’t replace companionship. When Mia finds out who Nico’s latest co...

Ericka Williams -  The Robbin Hoods -  Available Now! -  2 out of 5 books -  The Robbin Hoods by Ericka Williams is a story of a young man named Chance Major who is from Brooklyn, NY. The only thing he’s into at the time is smoking a small amount of weed. His mother moves Chance and his siblings to Teaneck, New Jersey in order to escape her abusive boyfriend and to pursue a better life for her and her children. The fact that she is unable to find a job stimulates Chance to take on the job as head of the house. He starts breaking and entering and stealing, then progresses on to cocaine. After doing a brief stretch in a prison camp, his lifetime of crime continues. With the glitz and the glam of fast money, drugs, and all the luxuries money can bring, Chance knows deep in his heart he should stop while he’s ahead, but he is drawn into the lifestyle. He continues to tell himself, just one more time. When will enough be enough? Will he be able to get out u...

Victoria Christopher Murray -  Destiny's Divas -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  Raine, Liza, and Sierra are a new, up-and-coming gospel group called Destiny's Divas. Their singing and their testimonies are the rave across the country. In their songs, they tell their audience how great God is, but behind close doors, they sing a different tune.  Raine Omari claims she loves everyone and could not dislike a soul...well, except her mother-in-law. Raine, tries everything she can to compromise, but it just does not work. Raine decides on a different route. Will she succeed, or will it all just cause more problems in the long run? Twenty-something Sierra Dixon preaches that she's celibate until she can find that one true love she can marry. Not sure what celibacy means to Sierra because each man she meets, she's hopping into bed with him, and thinking he's the one...and he most definitely is not.  Liza Washington tries to be a faithful wif...

A'ndrea J. Wilson -  Wife 101 -  Available Now! -  4 out of 5 books -  Amber Ross is a beautiful, independent woman whom not only owns one business, but three. The only thing missing is someone special to share her life with. When Amber's ex-boyfriend comes back into her life and tells her that he is engaged to get married, Amber feels crushed. Questions begin to fly through her head like what is it about her that her ex did not see that was good enough to want to settle down with her? Was she not a good catch? Frustrated, she enrolls in a course called Wife 101 at her church. The class is geared towards teaching woman how to have a long lasting relationship. Amber soon realizes that she has many qualities that make her a good catch but in taking the course at the church, she also sees that she has many flaws and slowly begins to work through a few things. In the meantime Amber has three men vying for her attention. One is someone from her past,...

Darrell King -  Deadly Phine -  Available Now! -  2 out of 5 books -  Deadly Phine tells the story of Larry a.k.a. Lucien Octavius Valentino, who’s a carrier of HIV5X, a highly aggressive and drug resistant strain of the disease that quickly mutates into full blown AIDS within a few months after transmission. He knowingly goes around infecting women with the deadly disease. I understood some of the messages the author was trying to convey about HIV/AIDS, but the story fell flat very quick. One of the things the author could have done without was putting statistics in the beginning of a new chapter.  It made me feel as though he was introducing new characters in the story, when in fact he was just giving another statistic. The author’s lack of transition of time, scene, and characters only made this a very hard read. I do applaud the author for tackling the subject of HIV/AIDS. Deadly Phine will serve as a reminder to never be fooled by someone...

Teyawna Jones -  Purple Silk -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Layah McAllen and Leshey Baker were both born into horrible situations. Layah’ was born in jail to a crack addicted mother. Leshey’ mom left her in a garbage can at two months old so she could continue getting high. Both was raised in the foster care system, which resulted in Layah creating a tough exterior for coping and Leshey searching for meaning. Layah was bounced from one foster care system to the next until she came upon life with Ms. Tracy. In Tracy’s house, she received exactly what she needed to become a returning citizen into family life. Unfortunately she didn’t escape the system unscathed; it’s her hustler’s mind and strong personality that is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is how she became owner of Purple Silk gentleman’s club at age 24. But we understand karma and how this universe doesn’t forget and neither does haters. As you make your way to the top, some...

S. B. Redd -  Warped Intentions -  Available Now! -  2 out of 5 books -  Garner Davis is the first black sports director in Columbia, South Carolina. He asks the questions that everyone really wants to know but no other reporter will ask. Garner is successful in his career but has little time for a relationship. But that does not stop his old friend, Spencer, from trying to fix him up with women. When a fan by the name of Vernise Aikens calls Garner out the clear blue letting him know how much she enjoys his views, the two decide to meet for lunch. The two quickly hit it off. After a brief time together, Garner starts to notice some of the odd behavior that Vernise displays. When Garner tells her that they should not see each other anymore, Vernise refuses to leave him alone. She also refuses for any other woman get close to Garner. In her mind, Garner is her man and any woman that gets too near will be dealt with accordingly. Warped Intentions ...

Ann Christopher -  Deadly Desires -  Available Now! -  4.5 out of 5 books -  Kira Gregory is on the run for her life! The wife of a drug kingpin, she has known the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of life. Kira married Kareem Gregory to get out of her father's house. When she married Kareem, she had no idea that she was going from bad to worse. After 4 years of marriage and all the physical and emotional abuse she could take, Kira left Kareem the same night he was indicted on federal charges. Kira knew this was a death sentence, and she would live in fear as long as Kareem was alive. So when his mansion mysteriously exploded while he was home on house arrest, Kira could not believe her luck. However, she refused to believe that he was dead. She knew it couldn't be that easy. With the help of DEA Agent Dexter Brady, who had been working with Kira and other informants to get Kareem off the streets, she came to terms with Kareem's death. Dexter has loved...