“From page one to the last, K’wan’s Black Lotus 2: The Vow is a high-wire act with no net. A smart refiguring of hard-boiled with a nitro injection of new-age sensibilities.” —Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author
-
- Black Lotus 2
-
By K’wan
Read by L. Steven Taylor
-
Release Date: 11/10/20
Formats: Digital Audy
After the death of a police officer, assassin Kahllah (a.k.a. the Black Lotus) is forced out of retirement in an attempt to clear her name while outrunning a mysterious enemy.
It’s been months since Kahllah El-Amin, aka the Black Lotus, hung up her pistols, retired from the murder-for-hire business, and finally found peace. But when a police officer is murdered and a familiar flower is left at the crime scene, all signs point to it being the work of the Black Lotus. Someone is trying to frame her. Things get more complicated when the case is handed to Detective James Wolf, a former adversary who has since become a friend.
To clear her name, Kahllah is forced out of retirement and once again must don the mask of the Black Lotus. She races against time to catch the real killer while trying to outrun her most formidable rival. Their deadly game leads to a shocking truth buried under a mountain of lies, as Kahllah attempts to find justice in a world devoid of light.
- Black Lotus 2
-
By K’wan
Read by L. Steven Taylor
-
Release Date: 11/10/20
Formats: Digital Audy
-
All he ever wanted to be was a good son.
Shai Clark was an all-American basketball player with aspirations of one day making it to the NBA, but that all changed when his father was viciously murdered and he found himself thrust into the role of the new head of his family’s criminal enterprise.
After waging a war on the streets of New York that lasts nearly three years, it seems like peace is finally being restored to the land and Shai can get back to focusing on continuing his father’s mission to legitimize the Clark family— but little does he know it was only the calm before the storm. Not everyone respects his claim to the Clark empire, and when new and old enemies start to come out of the woodwork, Shai will find that inheriting the throne was one thing but holding onto it will prove to be a far more difficult task.
-
- Animal 4.5
-
By K’wan
Read by L. Steven Taylor
-
Release Date: 4/11/17
Formats: Digital Audy
Animal 4 reissue featuring bonus material. Also includes a sneak peek at Hoodlum 2: The Good Son.
From the moment Animal’s former lover Red Sonja showed up on his doorstep, he knew trouble wouldn’t be far behind. It wasn’t because the last time he’d seen her, he had been fleeing for his life from a strange island. Nor was it because of the little girl she had in tow, claiming Animal was the father. It was because women like Red Sonja carried trouble around with them like designer purses. He knew getting involved with Sonja again would come at a price, but he had no idea how steep the price would be until it was too late. With his wife gone and his children abducted by a ruthless drug cartel, Animal must lead a suicide mission into the lair of one of the most dangerous assassins in the world, a woman who calls herself Tiger Lily. To go against Tiger Lily and the cartel Animal would need an army, so the call to arms is put out and the streets readily answer. Leading a handful of loyal souls against seemingly insurmountable odds, Animal races against the clock to save his children and put a stop to Tiger Lily and the cartel’s plans, while trying to stay one step ahead of the two detectives following the trail of bodies. Things take an unexpected turn when Animal learns a dark truth hidden beneath what he had been led to believe that changes everything, including who can be trusted. When the Grand Design his father had always spoken of is finally revealed Animal will be forced to make the hard choice between love, loyalty, and vengeance.
- Animal 4.5
-
By K’wan
Read by L. Steven Taylor
-
Release Date: 4/11/17
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Hoodlum
-
By K’wan
Read by Honey Jones
-
Release Date: 12/20/16
Formats: Digital Audy
He set out to be the good son, but the streets had a different plan.
Born to one of New York City’s most notorious crime families, Shai Clark has always managed to be a good kid. A college hoops star, Shai shunned the world that his father had created and focused on his dreams of going pro. Tommy, Shai’s trigger-happy older brother, is next in line for the throne and rules under his father through brute force. But Poppa has bigger plans for Shai.
The situation soon turns ugly when Poppa is murdered and Tommy is removed from the equation. Suddenly Shai finds himself at the head of his father’s empire, and the streets are thrown into chaos. Unable to sit idly by while the Clarks’ underworld empire is pillaged, Shai takes up his father’s mantle and brings his game to the streets. He quickly learns that there are two sides to every coin, and the streets hold no mercy for the weak.
- Hoodlum
-
By K’wan
Read by Honey Jones
-
Release Date: 12/20/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Flirt
-
By Tracy Brown, K’wan, and Angel Mitchell
Read by Honey Jones, iiKane, and Gabe
-
Release Date: 12/06/16
Formats: Digital Audy
From the biggest names in urban fiction comes a collection of unforgettable stories of urban love and its consequences.
Flirting with Disaster by Tracy Brown
Chloe Webster is pursuing her journalism degree at Hunter College. Then she meets Trey, a handsome and well-dressed cat with hood swagger. When Trey tells Chloe that he is pursuing a degree in psychology, Chloe thinks she has finally met someone who has his head screwed on right. But as Chole’s flirtation with Trey intensifies, secrets are revealed, and she finds that she’s playing with fire.
Wild Cherry by K’wan
Gina is married to a man who more than takes good care of her, but her life of luxury comes with a price that she’s not sure she can pay anymore. Princess’ man doesn’t see her as any more than dollar signs as long as she keeps using her body to bring in the stacks. When Gina and Princess meet and realize that they share a common problem, they set into motion an unforgettable plot that will solve all their problems.
Twice in a Lifetime by Angel Mitchell
Beautiful Marley Lucas has had her heart broken before. She vows to never experience that kind of pain again—until love hits her when and where she least expects it. And this love turns out to be the most devastating of all.
- Flirt
-
By Tracy Brown, K’wan, and Angel Mitchell
Read by Honey Jones, iiKane, and Gabe
-
Release Date: 12/06/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Diamonds and Pearl
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 10/11/16
Formats: Digital Audy
Diamonds and Pearl is a gritty, compelling novel from #1 Essence bestselling author K’wan.
They say that good girls like bad boys, and this was especially true for Pearl Stone, a child born of privilege to a drug baron and reputed killer known in the streets as Big Stone. Although the flashy, fast-paced nature of the streets calls to Pearl, she’s been brought up to look but not touch. Yet when a young hustler named Diamonds crawls up from the swamps of Louisiana and sets up shop in New York City, everything Pearl was taught flies out the window.
Raised in the wild and schooled on the mean streets of New Orleans, Diamonds is no stranger to hard times and is willing to do whatever it takes to stay above the poverty line, including kill. When an armed robbery turns into mass murder, Diamonds is forced to flee New Orleans and lands in New York where he meets Pearl and, for the first time, finds something he craves more than wealth and power—love.
As the stakes get higher, Diamonds has to push away his past if he’s to grab hold of his future. But by doing so, will he show Pearl that not all that glitters is gold?
- Diamonds and Pearl
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 10/11/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
From the bestselling author of Hoodlum comes a novel about one of the deadliest women to ever grace the streets of Harlem—Eve.
The only family Eve Panelli has ever known is the infamous Twenty Gang. Orphaned as a small child, Eve quickly learned the art of the hustle, and by age seventeen she had spent two years in prison. But now Eve is eighteen, back on the streets of Harlem with her gang, and up to one of her old tricks: strong-arm robbery. Despite her edge, she’s got a soft spot for Felon, the up-and-coming street king.
Eve’s life takes a serious turn when the powerful DeNardi family, the city’s biggest drug supplier, tries to tighten its hold on Harlem. And when Eve’s best friend, Cassidy, is murdered in the crossfire, Eve seeks revenge―starting all the way at the top.
-
Hood rat: a woman of questionable repute, one who has been known to “get around” in the ‘hood
Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men’s hearts as well as their pockets. But she learns the hard way that all that glitters isn’t gold.
Billy, a former high school basketball star, is at the end of her rope with the opposite sex. To her, all men are dogs, so she secretly seeks comfort in the arms of women—until she meets a man who makes her reevaluate her feelings.
Reese is an around-the-way chick trying to keep up with the Joneses. There’s a revolving door on her bedroom as she searches for the love she always felt was missing. When her promiscuity leaves her pregnant after a one-night stand, Reese is faced with the task of breaking an age-old cycle, passed down from mother to daughter in her family, and standing on her own.
Rhonda is twentysomething with three kids from three different men, and she’s riding the system all the way to the bank. To her, work is a dirty word; between the multiple checks she gets from the government and the games she plays with men, she’s living the life of a ghetto superstar. But the game soon turns ugly when one of her “sponsors” decides to get some payback.
Harlem has never seen four friends as scandalous as these. The neighborhood will never be the same again.
-
- From Harlem with Love
-
By K’wan
Read by iiKane
-
Release Date: 5/17/16
Formats: Digital Audy
Harlem had always lived by the code of the streets and respected the rules that governed them. But when his enemies break those rules and bring drama to his family, Harlem comes up with a plan to send them a very clear message: all is fair in love and war!
- From Harlem with Love
-
By K’wan
Read by iiKane
-
Release Date: 5/17/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Love & Gunplay
-
By K’wan
Read by iiKane
-
Release Date: 5/17/16
Formats: Digital Audy
After news of the attempted murder of his estranged fiancée, Gucci, Animal has two things on his mind: love and gunplay.
With the help of his mistress, the deadly Red Sonja, Animal manages to elude his captors in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and washes up on the shores of Miami, Florida. He’s one step closer to home, but it may as well have been a world away. Animal is still a wanted fugitive, and getting to New York undetected proves to be trickier than he thought. This all changes when he meets an old friend of Red Sonja, a New Orleans refugee named Diamonds.
Diamonds promises to provide Animal with safe passage from Miami to New York and all the firepower he will need to settle his blood debt, but he also brings something far more valuable to the table, the name of the man who shot Gucci. Diamonds holds the key to unlocking the mystery of what really happened that tragic night in Harlem, but the information comes at a price.
Animal finds himself swept up into a deadly game of cat and mouse set in the glamorous Miami underworld of sex, drugs, and violence, where cash is king and death is always lurking. His only ally is a mysterious stripper named Reign, who harbors a secret of her own that threatens to change everything.
- Love & Gunplay
-
By K’wan
Read by iiKane
-
Release Date: 5/17/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Purple City
-
By K’wan
Read by Kim Johnson
-
Release Date: 4/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
#1 Essence bestselling author K’wan presents three explosive stories in one collection.
Love & Gunplay
After news of the attempted murder of his estranged fiancée, Gucci, Animal has two things on his mind: love and gunplay.
With the help of his mistress, the deadly Red Sonja, Animal manages to elude his captors in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and washes up on the shores of Miami. He’s one step closer to home, but it may as well be a world away. Animal is still a wanted fugitive, and getting to New York undetected proves to be trickier than he thought. This all changes when he meets an old friend of Red Sonja’s, a New Orleans refugee named Diamonds.
Diamonds promises to provide Animal with safe passage from Miami to New York as well as all the firepower he will need to settle his blood debt, but he also brings something far more valuable to the table: the name of the man who shot Gucci. Diamonds holds the key to solving the mystery of what really happened that tragic night in Harlem, but the information comes at a price.
Animal finds himself swept up into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse set in the glamorous Miami underworld of sex, drugs, and violence, where cash is king and death is always lurking. His only ally is a mysterious stripper named Reign, who harbors a secret that threatens to change everything.
Purple Reign
Don B is the owner and headliner of a successful yet notorious record label called Big Dawg Entertainment, whose stars all seem to meet with unfortunate ends under mysterious circumstances. Don B made his fortune off music and his name from the trail of broken lives he’s left in his wake. He is a predator in every sense of the word. Don B’s wealth and power make him believe he’s untouchable, but all this changes during a business trip to Miami and a chance meeting with a stranger who calls herself Reign.
Little Nikki Grind
After years of work on the streets, Felon has finally saved up enough money to retire from the illegal life and pursue a legitimate career in the music industry. Having just inked a distribution deal for his fledgling entertainment company, Freak Show, Felon and a few of his closest friends decide to go out and celebrate at a new gentleman’s club in New York called Purple City. It’s at Purple City where he meets a young dancer named Nikki, who has a story to tell that will turn Felon’s world upside down. When Felon is sucked into Nikki’s web of sex, deceit, and murder, it threatens to ruin everything he’s worked so hard to build and to take him out of the game permanently.
- Purple City
-
By K’wan
Read by Kim Johnson
-
Release Date: 4/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- No Shade
-
By K’wan
Read by Kim Johnson
-
Release Date: 4/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
No shade means no offense (as defined by the Urban Dictionary).
Example: Don’t tell her I told you, but your little cousin is a ho. No shade.
Every little girl dreams of a happy ending to her story; a home, children, and a man who loves her enough to share his life and last name. When Billy’s longtime boyfriend Marcus finally pops the question, it’s one of the happiest moments of her life.
Billy calls on her childhood friends Reese and Yoshi to stand with her on her special day. Several years have passed since they’d last come together, and unresolved issues have driven a wedge between the women. Nevertheless, they agree to put their differences aside for the sake of Billy’s wedding. But the truce is a short one when Billy has to decide on a maid of honor. Just when things seem to be coming together, they quickly begin to fall apart. At a time when Billy is supposed to be basking in the sunshine of her approaching wedding, she finds herself the target of shade being thrown from the most unlikely places.
While Billy is going through her drama, Marcus is dealing with issues of his own. An old crime partner of his blows into town unexpectedly, and his presence threatens to destroy the legitimate life Marcus has worked so hard to build.
Even with the universe seemingly working against them, Billy and Marcus are determined to have their dream wedding. But first they have to survive the nightmare of planning it.
There goes the neighborhood … again.
- No Shade
-
By K’wan
Read by Kim Johnson
-
Release Date: 4/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Street Dreams
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 12/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Love, betrayal, and loyalty on the streets of Harlem
Darius, a.k.a. Rio, the only child of a singer turned alcoholic, feels he has nothing to hold on to except the idea of escaping the ghetto. Years ago he took a gun charge for a friend and did some prison time. Unable to find a job when he gets out, Rio turns to hustling and finds escape in the arms of his soul mate, Trinity.
When Trinity’s mother dies, her abusive father looks to her to play the role of housewife and bedmate. Trinity finds strength to endure in Rio’s arms, and together they vow to do whatever it takes to make it out of the ghetto. But soon they find their backs against the wall when the streets come to claim their due.
- Street Dreams
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 12/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Animal 4
-
By K’wan
Read by Bobby Spears Jr.
-
Release Date: 11/15/15
Formats: Digital Audy
#1 Essence bestselling author K’wan returns with the explosive fourth installment in the Animal saga.
Animal, the gentle and kind-hearted family man, is still infamous for turning at any moment into a cold-blooded killer. Animal is the product of ruthless abuse and the unforgiving streets—he is the product of the world we all live in.
Is there anything that could push you to the breaking point of murder? Are you absolutely sure there isn’t? After all, there’s an Animal in all of us.
- Animal 4
-
By K’wan
Read by Bobby Spears Jr.
-
Release Date: 11/15/15
Formats: Digital Audy
-
The explosive sequel to Gangsta has finally arrived!
Blood answers for blood on the streets of Harlem. It's been months since Lou-loc was brutally murdered on his way to freedom and the pain is still fresh. Gutter, Lou-loc's best friend, finds himself on a path to self-destruction, vowing to eradicate the entire Blood faction in New York City in the name of his fallen comrade. Sharell urges him to abandon the suicide mission, but his oath won't allow it. Not even for the child they are expecting. But as Gutter slips further into madness, a shocking revelation brings Satin out. In the middle of all this is a man named Major Blood. He has been flown in from Cali with two very simple instructions. Shut down Harlem Crip, and execute El Diablo's murderer. Walk back into the mouth of madness in this not-to-be-missed sequel to Gangsta.
-
- Still Hood
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Only the strong survive on the streets of Brooklyn.
While Dena Jones definitely has what it takes to succeed, she wants out. She’s determined to make it out of “Crooklyn” by any means necessary and doesn’t have a problem manipulating men to get what she wants.
True has finally made it. His debut album has the streets going crazy and is threatening to spill over into the mainstream. After the murder of his group, his jump-off, and almost his dreams, True’s life is finally starting to look up—until karma catches up with him. Somebody wants him dead, and he doesn’t know why. Or does he?
Jah and Yoshi were supposed to have a romance straight out of a story, but there are no such things as fairy tales in the ghetto. Her position as a stylist keeps her in the mix and in the company of some industry heavyweights. Jah tries to be understanding, but he can’t help but wonder just how much he can trust his girlfriend. He had promised to love her regardless of her past. But in addition to wondering whether his girlfriend is creeping with her clients, Jah has a bigger problem: someone is trying to kill True, and it’s his job to make sure that doesn’t happen.
- Still Hood
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
-
- Ghetto Bastard
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 2/10/15
Formats: Digital Audy
What happens to the children that the world throws away? They become animals.
Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore who’s more concerned with getting her next high than she is with Tayshawn’s well-being. His stepfather hates him so much that he literally treats him like an animal, forcing him to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them. Because of his squalid appearance, he is also an object of ridicule by all of the neighborhood kids, who have given him a nickname—Animal. The only person to ever show him even the slightest bit of kindness is his older brother Justice. And when Justice is taken from his life, Tayshawn finds himself alone in the streets. His guardian angel gone, he is now at the mercy of the world his brother tried to protect him from. Tayshawn quickly learns that if he is to survive the jungle, he will have to adapt. Love and companionship constantly elude Tayshawn, but death and heartache cling to him like a second skin. Gradually, the layers of the frightened child he had once been are stripped away until there is nothing left—nothing but Animal.
- Ghetto Bastard
-
By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
-
Release Date: 2/10/15
Formats: Digital Audy
-
After making a promise to leave the street life behind, a shocking revelation forces Animal back into the game to face his greatest opponent yet.
When Animal's former lover, Red Sonja, shows up on his doorstep with a little girl, claiming Animal is the father, he and Gucci immediately fear it's a ploy for money. But Red Sonja has come to collect a debt of a different kind, one that can only be paid in blood. A powerful man is hunting Red Sonja and her daughter, and she calls on Animal to stop him—permanently.
Animal is forced to break the promise he made to his wife upon his release from prison and once again picks up his guns. To keep his daughter and her mother safe, Animal sets out on a mission of murder, but this isn't just any man Red Sonja has sent him after; it's one of the most powerful drug dealers in the country: her father.