Adult Urban Fiction

Urban fiction is a genre portraying African American, or sometimes Latino, characters on the gritty streets of the city where their lives are often circumscribed by racism, drugs, violence, and sex.

Brice, Carleen. Orange Mint and Honey. 2008. (Fiction Brice.C)

African American Shay Dixon, a burnt-out grad student, has visitation/fantasy/fever dream featuring Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul, who counsels Shay to “go home”.

Bryant-Woolridge, Lori. Weapons Of Mass Seduction. 2007. (Fiction Bryan.L)

Forty something and still single, executive Pia Jamison, has given up on men and marriage but not motherhood. As her biological clock is on red alert, she has no clue how to attract a man. Help comes in the form a flirting workshop called Weapons of Mass Seduction.

Burney, Claudia Mair. Death, Deceit & Some Smooth Jazz : An Amanda Bell Brown Mystery. 2008. (Mystery Burne.C)

Amanda Bell Brown, a thirty-something psychologist, is having issues over her childless, single state and has decided the only way she'll ever be a mother is by becoming the owner of a squirrel-like exotic pet.

Dickey, Eric Jerome. Sleeping With Strangers. 2008. (Paperbk Fiction Dicke.E)

Killer for hire Gideon drifts through relationships and interacts with a range of con artists, prostitutes, and broken-hearted clients, including three very different women wishing to capture his heart.

DuQuesne, Aisha. Soul Siren. 2007. (Fiction Duque.A)

Erica Jones is the R&B singer at the center of this erotic thriller that revolves around love affairs, men, women and risks that could lead to a destroyed career and the murder of a lover.

Flake, Sharon. Money Hungry. 2007. (YA Fiction Flake.S)

Obsessed with money, Raspberry Hill is determined that she and her mother will never be homeless again.

Foxx, Nina. No Girl Needs A Husband Seven Days A Week. 2007. (Paperbk Fiction Foxx.N)

A spouse is fine as long as he doesn't screw up the rest of your life.

Goines, Donald. Black Gangster. 1991. (Paperbk Fiction Goine.D)

A tale of a teenager who becomes the king of Detroit's organized crime.

Jackson, Brenda. What A Woman Wants. 2007. (Fiction Jacks.B)

A profoundly passionate and sensual read full of witty dialogue and richly drawn characters showing women having fun, embracing life, taking charge, and doing the things they want. Along the way they discover that everyone deserves to kick the routine every once in a while.

McKinney-Whetstone, Diane. Trading Dreams At Midnight : A Novel. 2008. (Fiction Mckin.D)

Fifteen-year-old Neena and her younger sister, Tish are certain their mother will return, flush with the promise of a new man.

Miasha. Never Enough. 2008. (Fiction Miasha)

After surviving being shot in the face, former gold-digger, Celess struggles with the loss of her best friend and lover, but emerges with a promising new career and a determination to hide her dark past.

Miller, Karen E. Quinones. Passin' : A Novel. 2008. (Fiction Mille.K)

Born with blue eyes and blonde hair, smart and beautiful Shanika Ann Jenkins represents years of passing down fair skin and marrying well. But Shanika's mother insists that her daughters’ name reflect not only her African American heritage but also pride in her identity.

Monroe, Mary. Deliver Me from Evil. 2007. (Fiction Monro.M)

In Mary Monroe’s wildest and most entertaining novel yet, greed, betrayal and murder intersect as Wade Eddie Fisher and Christine Thurman fake a kidnapping to escape a marriage.

Monroe, Mary. God Don't Play. 2007. (Paperbk Fiction Monro.M)

In Monroe’s third novel in the God Don’t series, former madam Honey Thomas has come into her former pimp’s money fortune, courtesy of semi-crooked cop Sapphire Blue.

Rhodes, Evie. Street Vengeance. 2008. (Fiction Rhode.E)

The beating of her best friend Q by the L.A.P.D. transforms bright, young Brandi Hutchinson, into the militant leader of one of the fiercest female gangs in history.

Simone, Nea Anna. Reborn. 2007. (Paperbk Romance Simon.N)

Five years have passed since Mignon Samuels first discovered a priceless family journal chronicling the lives of the strong women who preceeded her. Now she's ready to add her own history to the previous generations documented there.

Souljah, Sistah. The Coldest Winter Ever : A Novel. 1999. (YA Fiction Souljah 2006)

After a black drug dealer goes to jail in Brooklyn, his ruthless 17-year-old daughter takes over his empire

Stringer, Vickie. Still Dirty : A Novel. 2008. (Fiction Strin.V)

More street wise adventures of ladies of the hood.

Strauss, Darin. More Than It Hurts You : A Novel. 2008. (Fiction Strau.D)

Josh Goldin is a happily married TV airtime salesman with an eight-month-old son who has been treated twice for mysterious life-threatening symptoms.

Thomas, Trisha. Nappily Married : [a Novel]. 2007. (Fiction Thoma.T)

Thomas' nicely-turned sequel to Nappily Ever After finds Venus Johnston at a beauty salon, throwing around hundred dollar bills and requesting that her natural hair be straightened immediately.