What do you think?
Certified Hood Love with a NC Gangsta
Shantia and her best friend leave high school with plans to go to community college, get jobs and become roommates. Shantia is living life and having fun and falls unexpectedly for the sexy, Cornelius "Capone" Johnson. Their teenage love affair quickly turns into a grown up one when Cornelius suggests they move in together. Everyone around them feels like they're rushing but they don't care what anyone has to say. Their relationship grows stronger by the day and soon the two are the best of friends. Cornelius' family friend Quan turns him on to the opportunity to make money and Cornelius is all for it, he's even all for the idea of going out of town to get money. Shantia's life is quickly turned upside down when her father is sent to jail and Cornelius leaves town promising that he's grinding for them. It doesn't take long for Cornelius to get caught up in the antics of the street life and it costs him his girl. Shantia's best friend Carmen just wants a man to call her own. She's young and impressionable and like all teenagers she makes some very bad decisions, but her bad decisions could cost her, her life. The adult world is throwing curve balls at the group of young friends left and right and when secrets are revealed, hearts are broken, and beefs are ignited, only a select few will come out on top. Follow this crew from their teenage years into adulthood where the only thing that will help them to survive is following the street code, or the hood commandments.
479 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 19, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 30, 2021
Good story
Shantia and Capone definitely went through all the ups and downs from a young love toxic relationship. I’m glad they finally got it together.
Shantia and Capone definitely went through all the ups and downs from a young love toxic relationship. I’m glad they finally got it together.
June 6, 2026
Okay story overall. I love a love story that I can actually follow. Starting the characters young and letting us watch them grow made the relationships easier to invest in.
Shantia was my girl. She was young, but she did not take no shit. She didn’t play with Capone, and I’m glad she left him when she did. Make these mf’s grovel.
Capone was really acting up when HE was the cheater. He couldn’t take what he dished out. You would think he learned the first time that Shantia doesn’t kiss his ass. If she has to go, she’s leaving him heartbroken and all.
But then she started forgiving him every time he cheated, and I get it. It’s easier said than done to leave someone, especially when he keeps begging her to take him back. That mess with Crystal was unforgivable because they weren’t broken up long, and he knows he always goes right back to Shantia. Like he always ends up groveling.
She should’ve kicked him and his outside child to the curb, but I don’t see them lasting long. Based on his track record, he will cheat again and she will eventually get fed up. He didn’t just change like that, and I’m just trying to understand the book. These people were cheating all the way to the end, and then suddenly we get proposals, weddings, and babies. FOH. I didn’t need to read the epilogue to know that’s how it would go. Hood stories mostly all follow a pattern.
At first I was rooting for Carmen because it was obvious she was searching for love and desperately wanted to be loved. I even wished she had better guidance growing up. But the more the story went on, the worse she got.
Shantia was 100% right about Carmen when it came to her brother. I don’t care how good of a friend you are. If you set ppl up, caused destruction everywhere you went, and had a track record of destructive behavior, why would I want you dating my brother? Friendship and family are two different things. Shantia basically said, “I love you, but nah, not my brother,” and I understood every bit of that.
Carmen’s sex roster just kept growing:
Brandon, Jaheem<—(brothers)….Frankie, Tee Tee ….Aseem, Akeem <—(brothers)….Boogie, Maino, Chase, Tex…. I know I missed someone or a few.
Carmen avoided accountability. She set Brandon up because he didn’t want her. She attacked Shantia out of jealousy and busted her in the head with a bottle. She got Brandon killed while acting like she was somehow different than him. Then she turned on Boogie when he no longer wanted her.
And when she contracted herpes, she still found a way to blame Boogie and Shantia instead of herself. Her reasoning was basically that if they hadn’t stopped dealing with her, she wouldn’t have looked elsewhere for companionship. Girl… WHAT?
Then she got involved with Tex while still keeping huge secrets. All I could think was, “Wait until this man finds out everything down the line.”
That leads to my biggest issue with the book. The author spent 80% of the story showing Carmen’s destructive behavior, bad decisions, jealousy, manipulation, and refusal to take accountability. Then in the last 20%, it’s like the story was desperately trying to redeem her and hand her a happily-ever-after.
I wasn’t feeling it.
Instead of a random HEA, I would’ve rather seen a healing journey. Show me growth. Show me self-reflection. Show me accountability. We spent the entire book seeing Carmen at her worst, and then suddenly she meets Tex and we get a fucking fairytale ending for her. Bye.
It was rushed, random, and out of place. I honestly skimmed most of her conversations with Tex because I wasn’t buying the redemption.
The side stories didn’t help either. I understood Dee’s storyline because he had been important from the beginning, but I didn’t understand the purpose of focusing so much on Shalia. If Jah was going to die anyway (unnecessary btw) Shalia’s storyline felt pointless and added very little to the overall story.
The editing issues also became hard to ignore. The Chase/Chance name mix-ups were constant to the point where I genuinely didn’t know what the man’s name was anymore. Then there were lines like:
“I love you, Jah,” Enya crooned into Dee’s ear…
At first I thought Dee was about to lose his mind because she accidentally called him Jah. Nope. Just another name error. Enya was only dating Dee at the time.
By 85% of the book, there was still infidelity, drama, and chaos everywhere. None of these couples felt stable enough for me to believe in their long-term success. Then Jah gets killed, the story starts spiraling, and suddenly we’re wrapping everything up.
I didn’t even read the epilogue because, the HEA’s were forced. The author was doing way too much trying to redeem Carmen in the final stretch, and I just wasn’t buying it.
This was decent enough that I may read her catalog but reading some reviews. She kills off multiple ppl in her books and I just don’t be feeling that. I mean even reading the synopsis of a few, its a loss in almost each one 😭
Shantia was my girl. She was young, but she did not take no shit. She didn’t play with Capone, and I’m glad she left him when she did. Make these mf’s grovel.
Capone was really acting up when HE was the cheater. He couldn’t take what he dished out. You would think he learned the first time that Shantia doesn’t kiss his ass. If she has to go, she’s leaving him heartbroken and all.
But then she started forgiving him every time he cheated, and I get it. It’s easier said than done to leave someone, especially when he keeps begging her to take him back. That mess with Crystal was unforgivable because they weren’t broken up long, and he knows he always goes right back to Shantia. Like he always ends up groveling.
She should’ve kicked him and his outside child to the curb, but I don’t see them lasting long. Based on his track record, he will cheat again and she will eventually get fed up. He didn’t just change like that, and I’m just trying to understand the book. These people were cheating all the way to the end, and then suddenly we get proposals, weddings, and babies. FOH. I didn’t need to read the epilogue to know that’s how it would go. Hood stories mostly all follow a pattern.
At first I was rooting for Carmen because it was obvious she was searching for love and desperately wanted to be loved. I even wished she had better guidance growing up. But the more the story went on, the worse she got.
Shantia was 100% right about Carmen when it came to her brother. I don’t care how good of a friend you are. If you set ppl up, caused destruction everywhere you went, and had a track record of destructive behavior, why would I want you dating my brother? Friendship and family are two different things. Shantia basically said, “I love you, but nah, not my brother,” and I understood every bit of that.
Carmen’s sex roster just kept growing:
Brandon, Jaheem<—(brothers)….Frankie, Tee Tee ….Aseem, Akeem <—(brothers)….Boogie, Maino, Chase, Tex…. I know I missed someone or a few.
Carmen avoided accountability. She set Brandon up because he didn’t want her. She attacked Shantia out of jealousy and busted her in the head with a bottle. She got Brandon killed while acting like she was somehow different than him. Then she turned on Boogie when he no longer wanted her.
And when she contracted herpes, she still found a way to blame Boogie and Shantia instead of herself. Her reasoning was basically that if they hadn’t stopped dealing with her, she wouldn’t have looked elsewhere for companionship. Girl… WHAT?
Then she got involved with Tex while still keeping huge secrets. All I could think was, “Wait until this man finds out everything down the line.”
That leads to my biggest issue with the book. The author spent 80% of the story showing Carmen’s destructive behavior, bad decisions, jealousy, manipulation, and refusal to take accountability. Then in the last 20%, it’s like the story was desperately trying to redeem her and hand her a happily-ever-after.
I wasn’t feeling it.
Instead of a random HEA, I would’ve rather seen a healing journey. Show me growth. Show me self-reflection. Show me accountability. We spent the entire book seeing Carmen at her worst, and then suddenly she meets Tex and we get a fucking fairytale ending for her. Bye.
It was rushed, random, and out of place. I honestly skimmed most of her conversations with Tex because I wasn’t buying the redemption.
The side stories didn’t help either. I understood Dee’s storyline because he had been important from the beginning, but I didn’t understand the purpose of focusing so much on Shalia. If Jah was going to die anyway (unnecessary btw) Shalia’s storyline felt pointless and added very little to the overall story.
The editing issues also became hard to ignore. The Chase/Chance name mix-ups were constant to the point where I genuinely didn’t know what the man’s name was anymore. Then there were lines like:
“I love you, Jah,” Enya crooned into Dee’s ear…
At first I thought Dee was about to lose his mind because she accidentally called him Jah. Nope. Just another name error. Enya was only dating Dee at the time.
By 85% of the book, there was still infidelity, drama, and chaos everywhere. None of these couples felt stable enough for me to believe in their long-term success. Then Jah gets killed, the story starts spiraling, and suddenly we’re wrapping everything up.
I didn’t even read the epilogue because, the HEA’s were forced. The author was doing way too much trying to redeem Carmen in the final stretch, and I just wasn’t buying it.
This was decent enough that I may read her catalog but reading some reviews. She kills off multiple ppl in her books and I just don’t be feeling that. I mean even reading the synopsis of a few, its a loss in almost each one 😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2025
whew chile
This was a fast-paced, emotional read about young love, friendship, and the harsh realities of growing up too fast. Shantia and Cornelius fall hard for each other, but once he gets caught up in the streets, everything changes. Her world is shaken by family issues and his choices.
Carmen, Shantia’s best friend, shows just how quickly friends can turn on you when envy creeps in. Her search for love leads to some dangerous decisions. This story is full of secrets, betrayal, and real-life consequences. A raw and gripping coming-of-age tale that shows how the streets don’t play fair.
This was a fast-paced, emotional read about young love, friendship, and the harsh realities of growing up too fast. Shantia and Cornelius fall hard for each other, but once he gets caught up in the streets, everything changes. Her world is shaken by family issues and his choices.
Carmen, Shantia’s best friend, shows just how quickly friends can turn on you when envy creeps in. Her search for love leads to some dangerous decisions. This story is full of secrets, betrayal, and real-life consequences. A raw and gripping coming-of-age tale that shows how the streets don’t play fair.
January 13, 2021
A decent read but not her best work!
This book felt like it had 1000 pages. Just when you thought it was over, another character or storyline was introduced. This is definitely not this author's best work....... but I'm still a fan.
This book felt like it had 1000 pages. Just when you thought it was over, another character or storyline was introduced. This is definitely not this author's best work....... but I'm still a fan.
May 28, 2020
Loved it
I’m absolutely loving these rereleases! I loved the original & this was no different. If you’re looking for a good read, this is it!
I’m absolutely loving these rereleases! I loved the original & this was no different. If you’re looking for a good read, this is it!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews