The Branch Avenue Boys Series

Success didn’t come easy for three best friends from the streets. And now dangerous choices and reckless desire will push their bond to lethal limits . . .
 
A stint at the Branch Avenue Boys’ Youth Institute taught Ricky, Derrick, and Jamal to unite when the going got tough. But fallout from their very different adult lives is making loyalty something they can’t afford—and igniting drama they never saw coming . . .
 
Arrested during a city-wide raid, Ricky must inform on D.C’s drug king pin, Dolla Dolla—and find the woman who loved and betrayed him. But revenge is a slippery slope that’s putting a target on his back . . .
 
Institute head Derrick hopes reuniting with his fiancée will keep his secret affair with a colleague in the past. Unfortunately, one of his students is hiding Dolla Dolla’s major stash—and Derrick’s attempt to do the right thing will have shattering consequences . . .
 
Jamal’s backroom deal with D.C.’s corrupt mayor is giving him everything he thought he wanted: money, power, and women. But murder and the unexpected return of the woman he’s always loved is getting him in way over his head. His attempts to manage the damage will put him and his friends at killer odds to be the last man standing . . .
 
“Ellis makes a promising start in her new Branch Avenue Boys series, which expertly melds elements of gritty urban fiction with contemporary multicultural romance and tells a captivating tale from three different perspectives . . . Corruption, greed, lust, and betrayal set the stage for this edgy, romantic, diverse series, which is sure to please fans of De’Nesha Diamond and Victoria Christopher Murray.”
—Booklist

They beat the odds and turned their lives around. But now three best friends will go head-to-head with ambition, deception—and each other . . .
 
Derrick. Ricky. Jamal. One’s responsible; one’s still a player; one’s upwardly-mobile. Sentenced to the Branch Avenue Boys’ Youth Institute at twelve, they grabbed the chance for better futures. They stayed tight even when their lives diverged—but the times . . . they are a-changing.
 
New deputy mayor Jamal is anti–corruption, which means severing ties with Ricky, now a “criminally-adjacent” businessman. But political power plays and unrequited love will lead Jamal to a lethal choice . . .  
 
Ricky doesn’t mind running a front for DC’s biggest drug dealer, but when he pursues a sexy customer at his strip club and discovers she’s a cop, any wrong move could end Ricky’s good times permanently . . .
 
Now the Institute’s new leader, Derrick is torn between his job and his fiancée, Melissa. But when a cute new instructor who supports him and his mission arrives, he wonders if he should leave Melissa behind, not the Institute. However, this dilemma is nothing compared to a problem brewing right under his nose, and the fallout will strike at the heart of the three friends’ bond—and put more than their survival on the line . . .
 
Praise for Lust & Loyalty
 
“Ellis has created another phenomenal novel.” —RT Book Reviews
 
“The secrets, scandals, and surprises will keep fans turning at a furious pace.”  —Booklist