"A king can't be a king without the strength of his queen." After Dez is arrested, Karter is stuck on the outside trying to hold it all together, not only for herself, but for her unborn child as well. When it feels like the universe is working against her, can Karter keep her head above water? Or, will her constant stress and worrying cost her and Dez the one thing they both so desire, a child? Dez's first priority is always to protect his family, even when he's not in the best position to do so. But, with a detective on his back with an ax to grind, can Dez stay a free man? Or, will he have to get his hands dirty one last time to show why he was the king to begin with? "You'll never make it anywhere in life without a degree." The words her father said to her still rang strong in Melodee's ears, even eight years later. Setting out to prove her parents wrong, Melodee focuses on doing what she has to do to secure her future. But, will she allow Dame to step in help, or will her 'I can do it myself' attitude run him away? In this final installment, this crew is struggling to keep the family together. But, one thing about the Wright brothers, they always have some tricks up their sleeves, and for the women they love, they'll paint the town red. Find out why Karter and Melodee are still in love with the King of Chicago.

"A king can't be a king without the strength of his queen." After Dez is arrested, Karter is stuck on the outside trying to hold it all together, not only for herself, but for her unborn child as well. When it feels like the universe is working against her, can Karter keep her head above water? Or, will her constant stress and worrying cost her and Dez the one thing they both so desire, a child?Dez's first priority is always to protect his family, even when he's not in the best position to do so. But, with a detective on his back with an ax to grind, can Dez stay a free man? Or, will he have to get his hands dirty one last time to show why he was the king to begin with?"You'll never make it anywhere in life without a degree." The words her father said to her still rang strong in Melodee's ears, even eight years later. Setting out to prove her parents wrong, Melodee focuses on doing what she has to do to secure her future. But, will she allow Dame to step in help, or will her 'I can do it myself' attitude run him away? In this final installment, this crew is struggling to keep the family together. But, one thing about the Wright brothers, they always have some tricks up their sleeves, and for the women they love, they'll paint the town red. Find out why Karter and Melodee are still in love with the King of Chicago.

The King of Chicago is the story of a father-son relationship as real and hugely loving as that in Philip Roth’s Patrimony. At its heart is a young son who tries furiously to heal his father from a violent childhood inside a Chicago orphanage. The orphanage, the Marks Nathan Home, still stands today on the West Side of Chicago, marked by a tarnished, barely legible plaque. Once home to 14,000 Jewish orphans, it is now just another barely remembered relic of a great city. Using original articles from the orphanage newspaper, Friedman attempts to reconstruct and understand his father’s childhood, a time that his father never discussed. Expanding its reach, The King of Chicago becomes a multigenerational saga of Jewish life, moving from a mysterious little man named Kasiel, who arrived in the Port of Baltimore in 1903 with two dollars to his name, to the factory floor of a scrap paper business, a golf course where children played without knowing the rules, and a home on the North Shore among fellow immigrants looking for something better for their children. At its core, this memoir is both a snapshot of immigrant life in Chicago in the early twentieth century and a poignant reminder about the need to never forget who you are and where you come from.

Alexander Popper can't stop remembering. Four years old when his father tossed him into Lake Michigan, he was told, Sink or swim, kid. In his mind, he's still bobbing in that frigid water. The rest of this novel's vivid cast of characters also struggle to remain afloat: Popper's mother, stymied by an unhappy marriage, seeks solace in the relentless energy of Chicago; his brother, Leo, shadow boss of the family, retreats into books; paternal grandparents, Seymour and Bernice, once high fliers, now mourn for long lost days; his father, a lawyer and would-be politician obsessed with his own success, fails to see that the family is falling apart; and his college girlfriend, the fiercely independent Kat, wrestles with impossible choices. Covering four generations of the Popper family, Peter Orner illuminates the countless ways that love both makes us whole and completely unravels us. A comic and sorrowful tapestry of memory of connection and disconnection, Love and Shame and Love explores the universals with stunning originality and wisdom.

After Me Comes the Flood has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Love is physically addictive, and falling in love activates areas of the brain that gives you the same feelings one would get from doing cocaine. This was definitely the case for twenty-six-year-old Karter Martin and twenty-nine-year old Dezmund "Dez" Wright.Dez had been a money-making machine since he was nine years old, and he took over being the 'man of the house'. The streets sucked him in, but they didn't destroy him, like they did many before him. With his brother, Dame, by his side, they were able to take over Chicago. But, after almost twenty years, they stepped down from the throne and opened a nightclub in the heart of the city. Dez's mind was always on his paper, and he didn't think twice about love, but when he laid eyes on Karter, there was something unexplainable that drew him to her, and he didn't want to let it go. This could be the perfect love story for Dez and Karter, but we all know those don't exist.At a young age, Karter knew all about heartache. At five years old, her parents dropped her off with her grandmother and never looked back. That year, Big Mama put Karter in dance class, and she hasn't stopped dancing since. For the longest, it had been just Karter and Big Mama, until Big Mama passed, and it turned Karter's life upside down. When Karter meets Dez a year later, it gives her a reason to smile again. Even when they were hit with situations meant to tear them apart, they pushed through and proved to everyone who doubted their relationship, that they were in it for the long run. Loving a man like Dez, you need to have tough skin, and Karter learns that the hard way.Melodee's razor-sharp tongue and 'don't give a fuck' attitude is enough to run any man away. After getting her heart broken, she shuts herself down from any type of relationship. But, Damien "Dame" Wright was the guy who set out to change her mind on that. Melodee's focus was on chasing a bag, but it was hard to do with a man like Dame in the way. At twenty-eight years old, Dame was ready to settle down and be that one-woman man. After years of running through random females, he meets Melodee and changes his entire way of thinking. Trying to break down the wall that Melodee had up became too much for him, and he was ready to give up. A traumatic event brings these two together, and hopefully it'll make them realize that they needed to give their relationship a fighting chance. But, can they keep it together long enough to explore being a real couple?These brothers went from running an entire city effortlessly, to struggling to get their own lives under control. The women in their lives didn't have it any easier as they dealt with the consequences of being In Love With the King of Chicago. Can they make it work, or will these two relationships be another failed attempt at love?