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

Award-winning author, Vanessa Riley, writes Regency and Historical Romances of dazzling multi-culture communities with powerful persons of color. Vanessa’s books are crafted for historical romance reader who admires books that showcase women who find joy in sweeping kisses and strong sisterhoods. Even in the darkness, she promises to give you laughs and to show you how light always prevails and how love always, always wins.   Vanessa juggles engineering, mothering a teen, cooking for her military-man husband, and speaking at women's and STEM events. You can catch her writing from the comfort of her southern porch with tea. For decades (maybe centuries), during the winter holidays, from Christmas to Kwanzaa to Hanukah, romance novels have enjoyed a special place in the hearts of readers who put happy ever afters at the top of their must-have gift list.   This holiday season will include a wonderful list of feel-good romances titles, but historical ro...

4 out of 5 books Baggage, baggage, and more baggage! Those are words suitable to describe Parker and Kennedi’s lives. Parker’s life is a sophisticated web of tangled lies and deceit that he is trying to weave through courtesy of his comatose father, Parker Wells Sr. Kennedi’s life has been full of heartache. She was trying to create love in her heart where she knew there was none. However, through all that they have been through separately, Parker and Kennedi are both stronger than ever from it. But they need each other so they can feel the kind of love they have both been craving. They need to see what they can experience and accomplish together. Enticed By You is an excellent read by Elle Wright. It is a great follow up to Touched By You . The Wells family is one that you can easily find yourself intertwined with. Wright is a skilled author who can pull you into the lives of the characters she creates. With this sequel, Elle Wright has you asking what’s next? Enti...

MARC AVERY is a Philadelphia native and Redemption Lost is his debut novel. He is currently working on a thriller series. He lives in Delaware with his wife and children. You can visit him at iammarcavery.com .   Radiah :   Tell us about Redemption Lost. Marc: Redemption Lost deals with alcoholism, love, heartbreak, decision making, and the consequences that come with those decisions. It is also a story of risk, restitution, and retribution. Radiah:     What inspired you to write this story? Marc: I wanted to write a story that reflected inner struggle and turmoil. Most people are fighting for something. Whether it be something they want, or something they lost. Anthony represents the faction of people who are in a constant battle with themselves to achieve the dreams they so desperately want to achieve. Ultimately, the decisions he makes will have consequences for him, and the people closest to him. Ra...

    5 out of 5 books Cruel…ruthless…just down right evil, is how majority of the town of Wellspring, Michigan would describe Parker Wells Sr. Brooklyn Wells is not even safe from her father’s cruelty. He has left her homeless, penniless, and even tried to force her to marry for the betterment of his company. Brooklyn can’t take it anymore. Carter is trying to put the pieces of his shattered life back together. He has lost his wife and his daughter in a fire and everyone wants him to get on with his life. Carter is not sure how to do that. Maybe taking lead on the next project he and his partner have for their company will help him start living again. Carter never thought that saving the life of a beautiful stranger would turn his life upside down. Brooklyn never thought that being saved by the handsome new stranger in town would give her the confidence she needed to start living her own life to the fullest. The two needed each other to start living. Tou...

 4.5 out of 5 books Anthony Porter has a lot on his plate. He’s a young screenwriter battling a secret alcohol addiction and depression. Anthony’s world is crushed when he finds out about his father’s infidelity. While working and waiting for his big break, he meets the perfect woman named Essence. Essence is older with a college degree and seems to be everything that Anthony needs. But their relationship turns out to be a nightmare when Anthony finds out Essence is not the woman that she pretended to be. Just as his screenwriting career takes off, Anthony is hit with a secret that’s so disturbing that it may change his life forever. Will he be able to recover from this? Redemption Lost   is a fresh and interesting take on a coming of age story by Marc Avery. Avery created a main character that was flawed but still had redeeming qualities. You get so emotionally invested in Anthony that you will root for him throughout the book. This book would not be co...

“I’m in love with my best friend’s boyfriend.” It seems to be a trend, but for 25-year-old Matise Jackson, it is an ugly truth. When she told her college best friend the type of woman she thought he should be with, she was describing herself, but instead of falling into her trap and becoming her Prince Charming, he shows up at her doorstep with a new princess. As much as Matise wants to hate Lia, she can’t. They’re so much alike that gradually they become the best of friends. Still, no sisterhood can stop Matise’s heart from wanting the thing she desires most—Jordan. He is sexy as hell, smart, funny, and the two of them are so in sync with each other it scares her sometimes. Matise knows he is the man designed for her, but there is one thing standing in the way. When she finally gets the chance to act on her heart’s desires, will she rip apart a seemingly happy home, or will she live her life constantly wondering, “What if?” Preorder Your Copy Today!

With his father ailing and incapacitated, Parker Wells, Jr. has a bold new vision for the company he now heads. For starters, he wants to heal the rifts his father’s ruthless tactics have created in the community—and within his own family. But when Parker is rear-ended by a gorgeous stranger, he finds himself torn between business and pleasure . . .   Crashing her car is not how corporate attorney Kennedi Robinson wanted to announce her return to town, especially since the man she hit is the same one who’s trying to rip her aunt’s livelihood and land out from under her. Kennedi knows better than to fall for Parker’s charms—and she’s primed for battle.  Preorder Your Copy Today!

From childhood games to career challenges, Trymm, Dallas, Kohl, and Blitz have stayed the best of friends—and each others’ toughest competition. These bachelors live to party up, sex it down, and get it all. And now they’re betting on which of them can “date-and-dump” the most women in a month—and post the proof on social media. Winner takes all: a cool million dollars. But this game is about to get all-too-real . . .   Trymm has no problem bedding married women looking for quick-and-dirty satisfaction . . . until he falls hard for one he can’t have. A cynical ex-soldier battling PTSD, Dallas woos a hopeful bride to exhaust her savings for picket-fence promises—just to humor his boys. Kohl enjoys his best one-night stand with a mysterious beauty—but his recklessness backfires big time after he exposes her. And Blitz thinks he’s giving a powerful Fortune 500 executive the business—until he gets played . . .   Now everything they care about most—money, family, and friendship—...

From the  New York Times  bestselling author of The Family Business crime series comes a deliciously provocative legal page-turner about the Hudson family. When famed attorney Bradley Hudson learns of his youngest son Langston’s arrest for drug trafficking, he immediately assembles a team of lawyers and investigators, including members of his own family, to build a defense. With his reputation for being a shark in the courtroom, Bradley is confident he will get justice for his son—until he realizes he will be going up against an old foe, Assistant District Attorney James Brown. Is the ADA allowing his personal history with the Hudsons to influence his handling of the prosecution? To complicate matters, Bradley discovers that his older son, Lamont, a young lawyer and Bradley’s right-hand man, has secretly been planning his exit from the family law firm to get out from under his father’s shadow. Desiree, Bradley’s only daughter, is ...

All of Chenille Abrams’ dreams came true the day she married NFL star Brayden Carpenter.  He’s the down-to-earth, loving, and protective man she never thought she'd find. And with her own successful career, Chenille plans to be more than just a famous athlete’s wife. She's determined to balance work, marriage, and motherhood, as the couple awaits their first child . . .   Until their son is born with a crippling heart ailment. Until a devastated Brayden starts putting his career above everything else. And when tragedy strikes, Chenille struggles to find a reason to go on—as Brayden takes comfort from anywhere but home . . .   Little by little, Chenille picks up the pieces as she and Brayden try to make their marriage work once more. But when he fathers a baby that the mother can’t keep, will this be the final blow? Or can they find a way past betrayal into unexpected hope—to at last have a future worth  everything? Preorder Your Copy Today!

Abeo Kata lives a comfortable, happy life in West Africa as the privileged nine-year-old daughter of a government employee and stay-at-home mother. But when the Katas' idyllic lifestyle takes a turn for the worse, Abeo's father, following his mother's advice, places the girl in a religious shrine, hoping that the sacrifice of his daughter will serve as atonement for the crimes of his ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abeo for the fifteen years she is held in the shrine. When she is finally rescued, broken and battered, she must struggle to overcome her past, endure the revelation of family secrets, and learn to trust and love again. In the tradition of Chris Cleave's  Little Bee , this novel is a contemporary story that offers an eye-opening account of the practice of ritual servitude in West Africa. Spanning decades and two continents,  Praise Song for the Butterflies  will break your heart and then heal it. Preorder Your Copy Today!

NAACP nominee and  USA Today  bestselling author Beverly Jenkins continues her beloved Blessings series with a new heartwarming novel set in Henry Adams, Kansas. Malachi “Mal” July has run into trouble in the past. With a reputation as a player, he’s now a recovering alcoholic and has made progress in redeeming himself in the eyes of his family and the citizens of Henry Adams, Kansas. He’s not only turned his diner into a profitable business, but also mentors the town’s foster kids. And he’s even staying true to one woman—Bernadine Brown. But all it takes is a moment of pride to blind Mal to his blessings—a moment that makes him betray his friends and family, and lose Bernadine’s trust and love. Will he ever be able to win her forgiveness? Meanwhile Homecoming Weekend is fast approaching, and store owner Gary Clark is reunited with his high school sweetheart. All it takes is a few minutes for them to realize the spark is still there, but is it too late for second cha...

Jamison “Kango” Watts was once known as an invisible man, a quiet “fixer” who always got the job done with clean hands and cash in his pocket. Now he’s living the quiet life in DC, running a soul food restaurant and doing the occasional job to scratch his old itch. All that changes when Jelly, his old yoga teacher, blows into town with the ultimate score, one that will take Kango first to London and then back to Brooklyn to face old enemies and ghosts from his past. After a rain of gunfire, Kango’s retirement ends, and he’s back in the game.     Caught between a crew of arsonists who go after Brooklyn historical landmarks, and flashbacks of his time with the love of his life he lost to his own demons, Kango stands face to face with the forces that led him into exile.  But there is still an enemy in New York that Kango still doesn’t see, one who after fifteen years has become the unexpected foe at the center of it all . . . Preorder Your Copy Today!

    4.5 out 5 books Twenty-years-ago F.I.R.E, a female R&B group, hit the music industry with a force that couldn’t be recognized by any other of its time. Their songs had dope beats and lyrics, and each girl seemed to ooze seductiveness. Four high school friends would have never imagined how huge their group would become and that they would have a least a decade in the industry as a group. The more they were in the limelight of stardom, they seemed to lose themselves among conflicts between each other, egos and addiction. The group began to fall apart. When the lead singer, Shai decided to go solo and leave the group…that was the end of F.I.R.E. From the outside looking in (from what the tabloids and magazines showed) it looked like Shai was happy in all she had and had accomplished. I mean she did have 5 solo albums and had over 8 million in sales. Money was good. She has 2 beautiful children and married to one of the best basketbal...