“His game was superb, he had vibes like no other, and had given me a wonderful night to remember, but Luke Derringer wasn’t at fault for me falling for him. It was my mistake for thinking he was different.”
Sometimes love isn’t enough, and Odette Dixon has reached her breaking point. The man who she thought she was destined to spend the rest of her life with has shown her for the last time how little he respects their bond. With an impressionable young daughter to consider, Odette leaves Marquel and their volatile relationship behind to start over. Having no money, job, or the piece of paper she sacrificed by becoming a teenage mother, Odette is forced to return back to her childhood home, her unwelcoming mother the added motivation she needs to land on her feet. As luck would have it her alluring beauty lands her a job at a nightclub and in the path of rap heavyweight Luke Derringer. Taken aback by her nonchalant demeanor, Luke pursues Odette with vigor, and she wonders if her luck with men has changed. In the end she makes a discovery that Luke is no different, but it doesn’t matter: she’s already fallen for him.
With a velvet tongue to compliment his rough edges, Lucas “Luke” Derringer is on the way to becoming one of the most prolific rappers to ever do it. As the face of Capital Murda Records, Luke lives a luxurious lifestyle—one that affords him an unlimited supply of women, money, and respect in every room he enters. The arrogant rapper has his work cut out for him when he discovers the one woman impervious to his name and the reverence that comes with it: Odette Dixon. Unable to use his access to woo the silent beauty, Luke relies heavily on his charm to make Odette his. However, on person stands in Luke’s way—his girlfriend, Byrd Santiago. Starting at the bottom with the rap icon, Byrd has put in the work necessary to become Mrs. Lucas Derringer, and expects her engagement ring any day now. But when she hears of a new woman encroaching on her title, and even worse the cold-hearted gangsta she promised her heart to has given his to someone else, Byrd learns that her dream of being a mogul’s wife is in jeopardy and threatens to destroy Luke’s relationship with Odette. The question is will it be enough?
In the midst of Odette and Luke’s budding relationship is Odette’s best friend Kaylar Vasquez. The daughter of a sticky fingered drug addict, Kaylar grows up resenting the hard knock life and aspires to be more than a “crackhead’s daughter.” When Stephon, the son of an infamous drug dealer, falls in love with Kaylar, she ends up on the other side of the game, living in the lap of luxury while still feeding her mother the same poison that kept them in poverty. History repeats itself when Kaylar must once again become the caretaker in her relationship, taking over Stephon’s operation when he ends up at the mercy of his product. Even with Kaylar at the helm, their luck takes a turn for the worse when a huge debt must be repaid to Stephon’s plug. In the end, the couple, along with Odette, hit a lick that changes the lives of everyone involved. Kaylar has to decide if she’s going to continue playing the loyal girlfriend or begin her journey to becoming the biggest drug dealer in New York City.
Girl, Have You Read
Black Romance, Center Stage
