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

James Causey -  Twisted -  Available Now! -   4 out of 5 books -  Travon Brown is back with more problems than ever before. After the death of his surrogate father Willie, Travon is out for revenge against the person that’s responsible. But will he be able to rely on his street skills in order to settle the score?  He has even bigger issues when he finds out that he’s the father of Angel’s baby.  Now he needs to decide if he can continue with his relationship with Faith or try to explore things with Angel.  Will Travon be able to do what he needs to do in order to go on with his life? Twisted is a good sequel to the Twist by James E. Causey.  Causey did a good job with the development of Travon as a character. Travon is essentially a good man, but he has some things that he needs to work out.  You see how Travon struggles between doing what’s right and what he feels is the code of the street. Readers will actually feel the strong d...

Saundra -   Her Sweetest Revenge -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Mya’s world turned upside down when her father was sent to prison for drug charges. To make matters worse, Mya’s mother turned to crack to deal with the pain. At just seventeen years old, Mya has to play the adult role in order to take care of her younger brother and sister. She also catches the eye of a local hustler name Hood. But things spiral out of control when the violence of the streets hits way too close to home. As a result, Mya makes some decisions that could have deadly consequences for all involved. Her Sweetest Revenge was a decent but average hood story. This book had the potential to be something different but there were a lot of things in this story that readers of this genre have read before. The physical attributes of Mya and the plight of her family are examples of a formula that’s been used so much in other books that it’s time to break this cycle. There wer...

Michael  Beckford -  Dying To Be Straight -  Available Now! -  1 out of 5 books -  Dying to be Straight by Michael D. Beckford is the memoir of sorts of Paul Stringer. The story is a detailed account of his life from the time he was brought into the world. At around the age of five-years old while his mother (the lawyer) and his father (a chemist) worked on their careers, they had family members watch a young Paul. In the care of his father's brother and wife. Paul's uncle touched him in an inappropriate place and had Paul do the same to him. As Paul became older, he became confused about his feelings for the opposite sex. He knew he liked females, but he was more attracted to guys. More than anything Paul struggled with what he believed God felt about homosexuality and his feelings and attraction to the same sex. Paul battles within himself, wanting to be "normal" and live a heterosexual life, but the pull of his old life soon become...

K'wan -  Animal -  Available Now! -  4 out of 5 books -  For those of you following the "Hood Rat" series, Eviction Notice leaves off with Gucci being shot in the club. Animal is kidnapped on the way to a maximum security prison and taken out of the country on a secret mission. Fast forward... Animal is still out of the country and everyone thinks he is dead. When he finds out that the love of his life has been shot, Animal is hellbent on revenge. He vows to go back to the states and make sure everyone involved will be murdered. With everyone thinking Animal is dead and gone, it gives him a huge advantage to sneak up on his prey. Unfortunately, it also opens him up to be caught by the Feds and locked up for good if he is captured. Shai Clark is not only being hunted by Animal, but there is someone that is determined to move in on his territory and take over the streets that Shai's crew has ruled for so long. Big Dawg is still as shiesty as...

Kelli London -  Cali Boys (Boyfriend Season) -  Available Now! -  4 out of 5 books -  Jacobi and Kassidy are two different girls from different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common...they're wanted by the boys. After moving not too far from her hood, Jacobi finds herself in a neighborhood where she feels completely different. With her lop-sided breast, being barely developed, and her cheetah print face, Jacobi's insecurities get in the way. That is, until she meets her neighbors. Moving to Cali from NYC was the worst thing that ever happened to Kassidy. Rather than looking at the move as new modeling opportunities, all Kassidy wanted to do was return to New York to be with her first real boyfriend, Brent. First things first, Kassidy has to get her mind off Brent and scope out the city...mostly for boys. Being a player had to have some type of advantage for her...right? I really liked Cali Boys by Kelli London. The story had so much going on, inc...

L. J. Wilson - Snitch - Available Now! - 4 out of 5 books -  Seneca Allen is a typical sixteen-year-old girl. She likes to hang out with her friends, enjoys going to parties, and of course she loves to shop. She is known to rock all the latest and flyest sneakers. Her two best friends, Valencia and Darren, are dating each other. Seneca tries to stay out of the middle of their relationship, but she always seems to get caught up in it one way or another. Both want her to choose sides on who is right and who is wrong. Valencia thinks Darren might be cheating on her. Darren is having problems at home and feels pressured academically from his father. When Darren begins to act out, Seneca begins to get worried and wonder exactly what Darren is doing. When she tags along with him to a party, she is in for the shock of her life. Seneca is soon at a dilemma. She knows something about her best friend Darren that can get him into trouble, yet she is caught in the crossfire ...

Dream Jordan -  Bad Boy -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  All Kate ever wanted was to be loved & to love. Growing up in a group home for girls, all that Kate ever had to do was fight for her light. She had to tell these girls who was boss somehow. That was until Kate was brought in by The Johnsons. The Johnsons loved Kate and Kate loved them back. While living with them, Kate left her old habits behind with the help of The Johnsons and her social worker, Tisha. Tisha helped Kate realize that she was going to survive any hardship no matter what because she is a survivor. After a year of living with The Johnsons, Kate found herself back at a group home. She found herself putting up with crap from her roommates because she was the new girl. As much as Kate wanted to, she wasn't going to let these girls break her or make her . Kate's peace of mind came back to her after she met Percy, or at least she thought. Percy put Kate through misery,...

Adrian L. Mallory -  Corrupt Injustice: Art of Deception  -  Available Now! -  3 out of 5 books -  Corrupt Injustice: Art of Deception by Adrian L. Mallory is an urban tale about two best friends: Sean Williams a.k.a. S-Dot and Hector Rodriguez a.k.a. Loco. Sean is the most ambitious of the two. Even though he came into a nice lump sum of money, Sean is not deterred from wanting more. Sean convinces Hector to attend a local college and study criminal justice, mainly so they could get a feel of what the police are looking for during a crime scene. The professor, who is also the Lieutenant of the homicide division at the Rochester police department, talks both Sean and Hector into joining the police department. Since both of them are minorities and excel in the classroom and during training, the Lieutenant feels that they will make a great asset to the police department. What nobody knows is that Sean/S-Dot and Hector/Loco are known on the streets...

Takerra Allen -  There's Power In The V -  Available Now! -  5 out of 5 books -  There's Power in the V by Takerra Allen is the story of three stisters: Valerie, Vickie and Veronica. Valerie is the oldest of the three and even from an early age, she had her life mapped out. She was determined to get an education and make something of herself. Although Valerie had a crush on one of the dope boys from around the way, she was not about to go down that road with someone that in her mind had no future besides the streets. Valerie makes a good life for herself and marries well to a big time lawyer, but the thing that Valerie is missing most from her marriage is the love and intimacy that she longs for. She soon realizes that having money and stability is nothing without love and happiness. Vickie is the middle of the Bell sisters and from an early age, she staked claims on an older dope boy who all the girls seemed to want. Vickie eventually tamed him down...

Monica Mathis-Stowe -  Where Did We Go Wrong? -  Available Now! -  4.5 out of 5 books -  Three best friends have been holding down each other since college. But are there some secrets that are too much for anyone to hold? Enter the world of Gabby, Maxine and Joy, who find themselves entwined in secrets, lies, and betrayal. Will their friendship last? Gabby has always been known to get what she wants. When her plan comes to life, she traps a NFL baller, gets pregnant and makes him pay child support for the next 18 years. But things go from great to bad when Gabby pins her newborn on someone else, and marries another man who suffers from mental illness. Gabby can’t hold her lies together when confronted with the truth. A DNA test brings all of Gabby’s lies to light and what follows next is deadly consequences. Will Gabby be able to live with what her lies created? Maxine has the perfect life. A husband who is on his way to making partner, two handsom...