Platinum: A Novel - Couverture souple

You only think you want this life . . .

 

Alex Maxwell is planning her wedding to up-and coming music artist Birdie, ghostwriting video vixen Cleopatra Wright’s memoir, and she’s just been assigned the story of the year by her editor in chief at a major music industry magazine—an article about the glamorous lives of women married to platinum-selling hip-hop artists. Alex has been interviewing celebrities and hangers-on long enough to know all that glitters isn’t gold, so she’s determined to get the real scoop. Still, it’s not going to be easy to get past the wives’ gilded cages. . .

 

Beth Saddlebrook, wife of aging rapper Z. They have three beautiful boys and a seemingly endless supply of cash. But Beth spends her days trying to keep Z off drugs and fielding calls from women hollering she’s just a “small-town white bitch” and claiming to be carrying Z’s baby. Only one person understands what she’s going through. . .

 

Kipenzi Hill, multiplatinum-selling R&B artist and Beth’s best friend. Her relationship with rap star and record label president Jake is an open secret in the industry. She knows Jake loves her, but he’d rather break up than publicly acknowledge it. Now she has learned that the newest (and much younger) R&B sensation Bunny has been signed to Jake’s label.

 

Josephine Bennett, wife to Jamaican singer and überproducer Ras Bennett. Josephine doesn’t just want to spend her husband’s money, she wants to contribute. Her fashion company is finally starting to get media attention when her husband admits to something she’s suspected all along—he’s fallen in love with another woman.

 

Cleopatra Wright, every man’s dream girl, a video vixen with a story to tell and scores to settle. Cleo’s got that thing no one can put a finger on and no man (or woman) can resist. Some would call her evil or misguided or both, but Cleo always moves with a purpose and she’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants. . .

 

Alex realizes she may have more in common with these women than she’d like. What if this is a glimpse of how her life will be if Birdie finally gets signed to a major label? Stuck between her loyalty to this newfound sisterhood and her obligation to write the truth, Alex is forced to rethink everything she knows about work, friendship, and love.

 

"A juicy ride through love in the hip-hop fast lane. The plot twists will make you wince and squirm, especially when you try to imagine the real-life characters who may have suffered such indignities!”
—Erica Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author, Bling

“A perfectly delicious, devilish brew of a tale that is absolutely addictive—I triple-dog dare you to try to put it down before you finish drinking in all that gossipy, backstabbing, juicy music industry goodness.”
—Denene Millner, New York Times bestselling co-author, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man and The Vow

“I know the life Aliya writes about. An incredibly captivating read, Platinum is a dead-on depiction of how love and hip-hop aren’t always able to co-exist peacefully, if at all.”
—Faith Evans, New York Times bestselling author, Keep the Faith

“Platinum is on the money—and behind the music—and rich with the heartbreaking politics of sex and love...an exciting and authentic new voice in fiction."
—Danyel Smith, author, Bliss and More Like Wrestling

“Platinum tears the roof off of what goes on behind the closed doors of hip-hop celebrity relationships, from the jaded wives, cynical journalists, and bitter jump-offs, and how they all interlink. It's a hard, harsh look at our industry—one that's impossible to put down."
—Cheo Hodari Coker, author, Unbelievable: The Life, Death and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.

“With her award-winning reporting skills and superior writing, Aliya S. King's Platinum proves why she's one of the best storytellers of our generation."
—Mimi Valdes, Editor-in-Chief, Latina Magazine

“Platinum makes it clear that true loves goes beyond platinum albums and McMansions in the suburbs. True love can be tested by the industry. But not destroyed: It's forever; firm, indestructible and solid-just like platinum. You don't want to miss this book. And you won't want to put it down.”
—LaLa Vazquez, co-owner, Crossover Entertainment