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Kadeem: The Baptiste Brothers Book One

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458 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2026

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Y G Cola

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5 stars
335 (63%)
4 stars
128 (24%)
3 stars
53 (9%)
2 stars
13 (2%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Profile Image for La Shay.
67 reviews
May 15, 2026
Very repetitive 😩 "baby brother, Brooklyn under us, passing us, mine, all mine." I found the writing to be strange. The narration and the dialogue bounced between proper English and AAVE used interchangeably at the weirdest times. I enjoyed their inner monologues more than their actual dialogue.

The storyline was decent but did get to a point where it became boring and I skimmed. I couldve appreciated the storyline more if there had been no contact between them beforehand and they spent more time in the arrangement before being so enthralled. 1. Their eyes meeting at the club did nothing for the story and 2. There's no clear timeline of when they fell or what exactly made it happen.

Loved Mama Portia, Omar, and Kadeem as an MMC was chef's kiss. Once he opened up fully, he loved hard, was honest, faithful, possessive, protecting. Oh, and this author can write a love making scene. That was the best part of the book 😕 The FMC was annoying to me. One minute she knew what she signed up for, was understanding, wasn't leaving, in too deep, blah blah. Then the next, she's constantly calling, dipping her nose in stuff she knows she can't handle (@ the club to get Deja scene), asking dumb questions ("is he going to live?"), popping up where he does his "business," just putting herself in danger then when something ACTUALLY happens- she wants to leave, it's all his fault, she doesn't know if she can do this 🤦🏽‍♀️🙄

I didn't like how they made it seem like Kadeem wasn't in the interest of protecting her, especially when he communicated all safety measures he had in place. Stuff happens and she claimed to have understood that. The situation with Rashid was dragged out- like what's really going on? Is he a legit psychopath. I wasn't interested in continuing the series but to find out what happens next you have to read Omar's book. Yes, this ends in a cliffhanger.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for TheReaderVert .
934 reviews41 followers
April 24, 2026
Strong Start, Goes out in a whimper

After finishing realized this one started strong but a little over half way it's as if the author had an idea but stretched out the story. In order to stretch out the story
🫆that meant domestic scenes we technically didn't need long explanations for to prolong the street mystery.
🫆Also meant that a high level crime boss wasn't moving how one should to move the plot forward.
🫆Also means that the FMC will make an odd out of nowhere request so we can have the separation trope.

Mo' Problems and Mo' Problems

❔ A crime boss who doesn't protect his most prized possession is one way to quickly deflate the balloon. So many things happening on the crime side made it hard to follow along with Deem and feel like he is That BDE nigga.
❔Also we in the middle of a potential street war but the author is now focusing on fune arrangements. The pacing of the book felt off. The first half of the book was great, when the MINE whips out and the possessive side comes to play it's delicious fun. The author did a great job of introducing the street mystery. We have a missing dad, or is he? We have a rival street crew that's not as well known or as high up but they are making waves, or is there something much more? We have a delinquent baby brother turning to drugs and alcohol more frequently, who's a rapper kinda but is it all smokescreen? With the mysteries afoot we have so much meat on the bone but it all ends up being a mirage because the domesticity scenes will cut through the action. We have some chapters that seem aimless and unnecessary. We have immediacy created and then the next 3 chapters devoted to at-home moments that don't have a lot of depth.
❔Lots of repetition in this book. Phrases this book loves: it's handled, Malik would be/was proud of you, Mac & cheese greens cornbread. It felt like some moments were a little too copy/paste elsewhere. If the mac and cheese + cornbread + greens + fried chicken was at dang gone nearly just about every eating scene. We get certain phrases repeated constantly

The Good
🤌🏾 This does feel like a solid Urban Romance. The romance was isolated with the main couple. Both were interesting personalities. Liked that the FMC was soft but strong, smart enough to question things but still innocent. I enjoyed that the MMC was cold-hearted but knew when to bend and when to listen.
🤌🏾 The romance felt mature because we had solid communication. We had both parties coming into this eyes wide open. It was refreshing.
🤌🏾The smex scenes were ok. The yearning did burn on page a little bit before they got into it.
Profile Image for Terry Young.
631 reviews
April 26, 2026
good but had potential to be great

So his was my first book by this author and it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters and the mystery taking place. I have the book 2 stars because although it was a good book there was few things that took away from its awesomeness.
* the scene breaks weren’t needed because the scene didn’t change at all it was just a continuation of what was already happening
** The POV of the MMC and FMC of what happened after their wedding when they arrived at the Penthouse was totally different and confusing
*** they seems to cook and eat the same meal. It became predictable what was going to be for dinner and breakfast.
*** When they would get to the penthouse the elevator opened into their living space. Then in another chapter the FMC would be sitting on the couch in their apartment and she would hear him out the key in the lock to open the door.
****The list just goes on and on regarding details that kept changing back and forth. Just seemed like no editing was done. If these things get fixed this would be a 5 star banger.
Profile Image for Quarmekia.
324 reviews1 follower
May 10, 2026
Now was that really necessary? Just tell me who the informant is and make a new story line for Omar! Just say it’s STONE!!! Now, some of the timing was off but all in all I liked the book…Deem and Shay were good for each other but her leaving wasn’t needed
Profile Image for ReadnliftwithShar.
1,980 reviews
June 6, 2026
🥹

This was a pleasant surprise! A marriage of convenience, church girl meets bad boy, crime family, and an unexpected threat towards the family. I really liked Kadeem and Shanay’s relationship; it was sweet especially when they let their guards down. I was a little puzzled that towards the end Shanay started to question things, like girl you knew who this man was lol. I also really liked Omar and can’t wait to read his story but there’s something about Rashid that piqued my interest and I’m looking forward to his story too. Overall good read, could have been 4.5- 5 stars but it was a little repetitive at times. Good drama though!
Profile Image for Monique.
715 reviews34 followers
April 16, 2026
(2.5) This one is a bit of a mixed bag for me.
I really appreciated the way Kadeem and Shanay showed up for each other once things shifted from strictly business to something more real. The transition though was a little murky. I’m still not entirely sure when or how it happened, but once they got there, I enjoyed their love. Kadeem is very much the protector type, carrying the weight of everything on his shoulders, and Shanay felt like his grounding force. The one person who could steady him when things got heavy. I liked them together.

I’ll say that the pace dragged for me. I don’t feel like this book needed to be 450+ pages, especially when so much of it felt repetitive. There were moments where I was genuinely bored, just waiting for something to happen, and other times where the story would pick up enough to pull me back in. It kept me intrigued, but not consistently engaged.

There were also quite a few inconsistencies and some unclear timelines that made things feel a little disjointed. And certain scenes that should’ve hit harder just weren’t fully fleshed out, which was frustrating because the potential was definitely there.

One thing I really struggled with was the writing style. It felt like two completely different voices. Some parts were choppy and leaned heavily into AAVE, while others were super fluid and almost poetic. Neither is an issue on its own, but the switching between the two made the overall reading experience feel uneven.

That said… I’m not writing this series off. Even with all my critiques, I’m still interested enough in the storyline to keep going. There’s something here that’s working, it just needs tightening
Profile Image for Tisha.
1,360 reviews
May 4, 2026
⭐️⭐️

So much promise.

Arranged marriages storylines are one of my fav and initially I was enjoying this one.

But it was WAY too repetitive and the details were not consistent. There were moments when a character would say the name of another character they weren’t even introduced to yet.

More time editing and a good group of beta readers would have turned this into a solid 3.5-4 star read.

I wanted to love it but it fell flat.
Profile Image for Rise.
1,580 reviews
April 27, 2026
Want more

This is my first read by this author and I'm looking for the next book. I think I've picked up on who the person is connected, but heading to grab Omar's book to finish.
4 reviews
April 27, 2026
New to me author and I can definitely see the potential. The plot idea was great as well as the mystery aspect. The beginning of this book really set up for the arranged marriage trope which tends to be one of my favorites. The FMC and MMC were both alright. I think the FMC was written kinda weird because in the beginning she was all in, knew exactly who her husband was, what he did, and she had relatively no issues with it. But then I guess when feelings got involved she came with the many many questions and was having doubts about the dangerous life that she knew she was signing up for. Made her look a little weak honestly and she started off strong. I feel like right at the 50% mark is where the book really started to drag and was taking me longer to finish. I started skimming the last 30% because nothing was really happening. The pacing was just off. It just wasn’t holding my attention anymore. A lot of the home scenes were overly detailed to the point where we started to lose focus on the main plot line. Kadeem and the Baptiste family are supposed to be this strong and powerful family that you don’t cross, except people kept trying them. Not once did it feel like the Baptiste’s were on top, or powerful, or ahead in this “war” that’s brewing. It felt like they were constantly playing catch up actually. I’m also left with more questions than answers, and I understand that there’s another book but that’s supposed to focus on the next brother and this book didn’t seem complete to me. TK is this small-time man but has this ever growing power and we never met him?? Someone is funding TK but literally nobody has any clues or information on who?? No one has names for any of the people making the big moves or helping to make the big moves?? We asked questions and never got straightforward answers. We are literally no closer to finding out any information regarding Malik and his whereabouts than we were when the plot was introduced. Also, a little biased but I hate a third act breakup. The end of the book was focused on them getting back together and less on getting questions answered. This book just dragged unnecessarily for me and it left me with questions, but not really the desire to continue to unravel the mystery. Gonna try and stay optimistic for book 2 but my expectations aren’t too high.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
56 reviews
July 6, 2026
loved it and disliked it

Okay I don’t do negative reviews my mama taught me if you have nothing nice to say don’t say nothing. I gave four stars because the story plot was what I expected in an arranged marriage. Shanay started off with her eyes open but after an incident happened with her, all of a sudden she left. Like nahhhhh ma’am you knew and you was aware of the life so stop it. Her best friend Deja was also back and forth one minute girl you better take that better life the next you can get out you don’t have to do this what if.. smh However I was into this book I want to know who is in on it. Ma Bapiste is a very interesting character I love her sensibility to the situation and she was not threatening to Shanay. Rashid is the younger brother and somewhat over the top unhinged but seems to be missing a lot. Omar is solid for real definitely a great brother and right hand to the Don. Stone seems like he just a little too comfortable. Kadeem is a good character. He is strong and soft once he decided she was worth it. Yes I loved it!
Profile Image for EricaLenise.
413 reviews32 followers
July 15, 2026
This one started off strong and honestly caught me by surprise. You've got a marriage of convenience, a church girl falling for a man tied to a crime family, family secrets, and plenty of mystery. I was invested.

Kadeem and Shanay were my favorite part of the book. Once they started letting their walls down, I enjoyed watching their relationship grow. The communication between them felt mature, and I appreciated that. I was a little confused by some of Shanay's decisions toward the end though. Sis... you knew exactly who you married.

Where the story lost me was the pacing. Every time the street drama started picking up, we'd spend several chapters on everyday moments that slowed the momentum. There were also a few continuity and editing issues that pulled me out of the story more than once.

Even with those things, I enjoyed the overall premise and the characters. Omar and Rashid definitely have my attention, and I'm looking forward to seeing what their stories bring.
Profile Image for Monica.
69 reviews
May 11, 2026
Authors should have to disclose when they use AI to write books!
The repetition, conflicting dialogue and POV shifts are a clear indicator of using ai to fill in the meat of the story. The verbiage shifts from formal to aave randomly and often conflicting with events from the previous chapter. The plot was interesting, I just wish it was from an author actually writing each chapter. There were several times when a character would know others before being introduced, and the awkward moments of Shay referring to Portia as “Ma” when getting ready for lunch, but this is their first real encounter. Then she claims to know who Kadeem is and what he does but the next line she’s a sheltered church girl with no idea.
1,781 reviews7 followers
June 13, 2026
Wonderful read

This was an enjoyable read. This is my first time reading this author's books. Love the love story, the intrigue. I adore the Baptiste brothers. Mrs. Baptiste is loving and understanding and welcoming. Kadeem is the head of his family. Brooklyn new york is his family territory. He needs a wife and his mother knows just who. Shanay raised by her grandmother in the church. Things haven't been easy, but she's leaning on her faith and doing the best she can. When presented with and opportunity, it will definitely, help her. Once accepted the love story begins. Beautifully written the characters are entertaining and the story flows seamlessly. I'm looking forward to book two. Omar's book to continue the story.
5 reviews
August 15, 2026
This has potential but I lost interest rather quickly. I’m not saying this is factual but it felt very AI-ish. Very repetitive. Every time they explained how much something cost it “cost more than my rent” or “more than my entire wardrobe” but this went on and on. Also, the dual POVs after the wedding were completely different. I was so confused. To top it off, Baptiste family wouldn’t bust a grape IMO. For a tough family, they were always playing catch up.
Then it ends on a cliffhanger and you have to read the next brothers book to possibly get answers. I’m cool with a cliffhanger but only when warranted. Most of the conflict could have been wrapped up in this book, especially in 400 pages.
I found myself skimming a lot and didnt miss much tbh.
Profile Image for BookTalesTink .
188 reviews
May 11, 2026
Waiting on book 2: Omar the middle brother

This was my first time reading this author, and they definitely did not disappoint. This slow-burn romance follows three brothers searching for answers about what happened to their father, while focusing on oldest brother Kadeem and church girl Shantay. What starts as an arranged marriage of convenience slowly turns into something real and heartfelt. The story gave a perfect mix of plot, spice, and twists that kept me invested the entire time. And baby, the mystery surrounding Malik definitely has me ready for the next book.
Profile Image for Lia.
350 reviews10 followers
April 7, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I'm excited to learn about Omar next. I have nothing bad to say. I couldn't put the book down. I absolutely loved Kadeem. He exceeded my expectations and surprised me too. I like that Y G Cola did that. He was a softie under all that alpha energy and I loved every second of it. It wasn't a sickeningly sweet romance. It was grounded in reality and I appreciated that. Highly recommend!
209 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2026
Phenomenal Read!!!!

The author pulled you in for every single thing. And I lived every minute of it. I’m thinking Omar and Deja need to hook up but not quite sure about the woman from Omar past. So I’m definitely looking forward to reading his story. And I’m thinking I know who the culprit is that’s after Kadeem’s family empire. So I’m diving straight in…. Keep writing and I’ll definitely keep reading!!!! Amazing job to this author!!!!
275 reviews2 followers
August 10, 2026
Stepped Up

I l9ve all of this. Kadeem falling quick was everything. The arrangement to true ❤️. He didnt hesitate at all. Shanay is the quiet church gurl with a backbone noobe sees but the Mom. Strober and dan gandle it. She just want to be let in and not surprised. The break in almost took her out. She needs to learn too shoot. I think Stone is the bad guy. I guess well see in Omar.
82 reviews
August 23, 2026
Forced Marriage

5. Grammar errors 6. Some misplacemebt of characters 7. Repeated lines. Now thats out the way. 1.Great storyline 2. Good development of characters. 3. Kept me interested and entertained. 4. Spice 🌶🌶🌶🌶. If you like arranged marriage this is one with a twist. Innocent vs. Dangerous, undeniable chemistry. A couple that not only has to learn each other and tear down their walls so love , security and safety can prevail.
Its actually 3.5 stars for me.
7 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2026
I am all in!

This is the first book I have read by this author and I am eagerly anticipating the next installment in this series. There were a few grammatical errors, but not enough to take away from the story. This author is being added to my list of "must reads". Enjoy the ride!
75 reviews1 follower
April 12, 2026
Kadeem

I loved this book and can't wait For the next one with Omar. After I read this book I decided that I wanted to read more about this writer because I was impressed with the flow of the story. I think the dad is still alive I hiding. I also think the baby boy of the family will get his life together. Great book!
Profile Image for Shareka Brown .
157 reviews1 follower
May 9, 2026
First read!

This is my first story from this author and this book was so good. The writing, the connection between Kadeem and Shanay. I loved Mrs. Baptiste, she was a sweetheart. Kadeem had his flaws but the way he loved Shanay proved he was willing to hold on to what he needed most, her.
26 reviews1 follower
August 19, 2026
Hmmm

I just didn’t like this book. Kadeem was an overall great MMC, Shenay on the other hand was just not strong enough to be a part of this world. How are you still unsure of what this life entails and what your man can do?! Really 3.5, but Kadeem working hard to “fix” things and reunite helped bump my score up.
36 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2026
Loved it!!

This author is new to me, ans i loved this book. It had some of everything in it. I'm looking forward to reading about the other 2 brothers, and more of the author work.
Profile Image for Dominique  Love.
151 reviews
April 2, 2026
2 For the Storyline

I really tried I got all the way to page 149, but the repeating I can’t take it But if u can get past that the storyline is worth it… I’m not bad mouthing the book
377 reviews10 followers
April 17, 2026
Kadeem

This is my first time reading a book by this author and it will not be my last. I loved this book and Kadeem and Shanay together. The character development was great. I loved the pace of the book and I'm ready for the next book.
Profile Image for Benita Cleaves.
453 reviews1 follower
April 23, 2026
Kadeem

I liked this book. The flow is easy, methodical, not rushed. Romance mystery type of read. I will continue to the next book since I want to know who the Judas is. I loved that the story didn't get all messy to create drama. Good read.
Profile Image for Vaughnny J.
58 reviews
April 24, 2026
good story line

Good story line. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see how all the secrets come out. Now Shanay annoyed me changing up out of nowhere, but I can’t wait for Omar’s story
157 reviews
May 6, 2026
Kadeem: the Baptiste Brothers Book One

I'm glad they moved into a new home, they both deserved to be happy together. It may have been an arranged marriage but it take long for them to fall in love..
Profile Image for shawanda Woods.
1,574 reviews35 followers
May 8, 2026
Good read

I liked this book. It was good but Shanay irked me towards the end. She knew what it was. Then in the thick of it she wants to start second guessing. Nope sat down somewhere until he gets everything straightened out. But overall great start to series
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews