"Mouse and Sammy grew up as close as sisters in the notorious Edenwald Projects in the Bronx. Fighting to protect their territory and their reputation is a way of life, but the two loyal friends have goals. The girls have a passion for music and yearn to become famous someday. They perform as the rap group Vixen Chaos in local clubs, providing the only relief from their violent inner city lives.
When Mouse starts dating Rico, an up-and-coming drug dealer from the hood, he promises to finance their music career. Sammy is doubtful, seeing that Mouse is becoming too caught up in her relationship with Rico. The two friends are at odds, and Sammy’s biggest fear soon comes to light. Mouse becomes pregnant by Rico, putting their music careers on hold.
As Mouse’s belly grows, Rico becomes more absent from her. He loves the street life, constantly leaving Mouse alone in the apartment while he basks in the attention of other beautiful women. Soon Sammy gets swept up by Rico’s swag and gift of gab, and the two start dating on the down low. The friendship is ruptured when Sammy finds out that she’s also pregnant by Rico. Things turn ugly and violent, and the girls end up fighting in the middle of the street.
They realize they have much bigger problems to worry about when Rico is picked up by the feds. Now he’s serving a lengthy sentence, and his absence from the streets sparks a deadly war. Mouse and Sammy will have to raise their children alone, surviving by any means necessary."
"Sammy and Mouse were once best friends with an up-and-coming career as the rap duo Vixen Chaos. When both of them got pregnant by the same man, however, things fell apart. Now Rico, their babies’ father, is in jail, and both women are new mothers with great responsibilities and plenty of problems.
After she is kicked out of a family shelter for fighting, Mouse has no choice but to prostitute herself to survive. When she meets Tango, a hardcore thug with a soft spot for Mouse, she hopes that this is her way out of the mess she’s in.
Sammy still has dreams of returning to the music industry, but for the time being, she’s making money as a dancer. She’s also acting as Rico’s eyes and ears on the street. He has threatened to implicate her in a murder, and she feels powerless to escape his control. When Search, an old friend with connections in the music industry, makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her, Sammy feels all her hope slipping away. Will she be stuck in this dark life forever?
When she meets Power, a new man who’s better and stronger than Rico ever was, things start to look up for Sammy. It only gets better when she and Mouse bump into each other and heal their broken friendship. Both women have come to see the damage that Rico has done to them, and now they want revenge. The only one with the power and reach to pull off a hit on Rico is Power. When Sammy tells him about the plan, he’s willing to help out on one condition: Sammy will have to deliver his enemy—who just happens to be Mouse’s man Tango. Will Sammy betray her friend once again if it means she can finally be free from Rico?"
"Urban Books’ popular Girls from da Hood series continues its gritty street drama in this twelfth installment, featuring urban fiction superstar Treasure Hernandez and rising stars Katt and Paradise Gomez.
“Short Stacks” by Treasure Hernandez: Honey has been working them streets for El-Jihad, selling his wares and keeping up her end of the bargain. He warned it was “three strikes and you’re out,” and she has already come up short twice. Now Honey and her goons meet up with DeAngelo, who refuses to pay back his loan. If she can’t come up with El-Jihad’s money within days, it will be her head on a platter.
“Street Life Johnny’s in Love” by Katt: Strawberry has been a rather lucrative ho for Larry “Sir” Smalls; however, she’s been at it for a minute, and it is starting to have an effect on her mind and body. When she meets up with an old high school friend, Sir beats her nearly to death. Her friend rescues her, but will Sir let her go without a fight?
“Payback” by Paradise Gomez: Jackie spent fifteen years in the state pen for stabbing the fool that had the audacity to put his hands on her. Now she’s home, trying to turn her life around, but it’s hard to get a job as a violent ex-con. Her aunt, the powerful queen of a drug cartel, turns up and takes her in. Soon, an all-out war between the aunt and the fool who put her in prison breaks out. Will Jackie resort to the same violence that got her locked up?"
