A Hustler's Wife (Urban Books)

This publishing company needs to be hiring because they must not have enough proofreaders. This book is similar to B-More Careful by Shannon Holmes and True to the Game by Teri Woods. They are all about street life. If you aren't familiar with or dont understand the things that go on in the streets (the projects) then this is definitely not the book for you. The book is titled The Hustler's Wife and this is why. The wife in any situation is supposed to be devoted to her husband and in this situation young Yarni proves she has what it takes to stand by Des's side. Des tells her to "do what you gotta do to survive" and she does just that. I admire Yarni because she goes through hell from such a tender young age of 17 til she's all grown up and receiving her law degree. Des stresses the importance of education no matter what may come in life and he, although he is behind bars, continues to be Yarni's inspiration. Yarni gets involved with a guy named Benjee who from the beginning doesn't seem right. You can tell by the way he's introduced that he's up to no good but Yarni ends up dating him any way. Benjee ends up setting Yarni up and leaves her to fend for herself in prison. She has learned from Des that in this game you keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Yarni does 9 months in jail and when she gets out she learns that Benjee is seeing others but has kept their place immaculate. Yarni goes on to meet Rich only to find out Rich is more crooked than Benjee. He's the one who kidnapped her... any way if you read the book you'll find that through it all Yarni is devoted to one guy and that guy is Desmond Taylor her husband. She never finds out why Des ended up serving time for a crime that he didnt commit but you do. Pick it up and enjoy it but only if you understand the loyalty of the streets. P. S. You never know who your friends are. You know the saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Here's why.

For those of you debating whether or not you should purchase this book, I would recommend not to. I would suggest searching for it at your local library because this book is not worth the money charged. The plot of this story was sweet but I believe it could have been better.

The novel "A Hustler's Wife" written by author Nikki Turner is based on the character "Yarni". Yarni is a young beautiful girl who doesnt realize how much her looks influence those dirty looks she recieves from men. Her body grew in faster than her age, and she's caught the particular eye of an older man named "Des".

Des and Yarni finally get things "poppin" after a while but unfortantely, Des gets popped and is spending some hefty time in the joint. Now that Yarni is by herself, she needs to figure out a way to make ends meet and care for herself because all she ever did was rely on Des.

Follow Yarni on the journey to self independence while she fights for her mans freedom.

I have some basic observations...
1. When you are writing a book about a specific time period, check to find out what actually was going on during that time. I found numerous references to fashion, songs and styles that were way off on the time scale (meaning, some happened early-mid 90's and the cross references happened earlier or later).
2. When spelling someone's name, again, check the correct spelling. I cannot believe that these publishing companies do not seem to hire qualified proofreaders.
Now, with that out the way, let me say that I did enjoy reading this book. Yarnise Pittman is an interesting character. While I still prefer "The Coldest Winter Ever" by Sistah Souljah, the character of Yarnise was eaiser to relate to. Her mother is an entrepreneur with her own catering business (usually the mother is a [ ] drug user, or a abused victim). Yarnises' mother had instilled positive traits and values as well as spiritual guidance in her daughter. However, Yarnise did what unfortunately a lot of young women do; get caught up in the man, the paper, the lifestyle and and along the way, suffer for it. All of this was in the name of love, and many women can relate to the relationship Yarnise has with her relationships. I don't believe in telling the whole book's story in my reivew, but I will say that I read this book in a day, this past Saturday. It was worth it.

I just finished reading this book and it is really a good story. Nikki Turner is a very good writer, however there were many, many, many typographacial errors, misspelled words and the grammar was really messed up. There were too many to count. I don't blame Ms. Turner, but I do blame the publishers because the editor did a horrible job. It looked as though there were sentences that were 1/2 way deleted and just thrown together and the sentences did not flow at all. I would have given this book 5 stars if there were not so many editing errors, however because of that, I rated this book 4 stars.

On the outside of that, Ms. Turner's story was very interesting. Some of it was far fetched, however it's a very good story and it's worth while reading.

If you could get through the very bad editing, you really will enjoy her book.

Thank You.

While reading this book,I could really tell that this was one of Nikki Turner's earlier novels.Thank God her writing has improved over the years.Even though this book wasnt great it was still an ok read. There were quite a few errors and some things seemed a bit repetitive. Yarni was very mature for a 15 year old girl but some things and scenarios were very unbelievable.

I really thought the story was gonna focus more on Yarni and Des..but it was focused on Yarni and "other dudes".

I felt like something was missing but I cant quite put my finger on it.The ending was ok..nothing really that blew me away.But Im glad that after all these years I finally got a chance to read this novel.

This book is some bull.... Nikki should have left it alone. The things that happen in this book was a joke.

The way Des treated Yarni.... NEVER would have happen..

How she gone have Joyce and Yarni beefing... They was VERY tight at the close of the last book.

Where did Des get a brother and a nephew from????

Bambi mother was a chef????? NO she was a DRUNK!!!!!!!!!

Why in this book Yarni talk to her mom 3 times????? They was VERY TIGHT!!!!

How she gone say that Lava felt like family and looking at her she could see it but NEVER said who her people were????

How did she had Lynx coming home from Jail but he was home at the end of The glamorous life????

How did she having Yarni popping pills and she was so against drugs.....

I'm going to stop cause I can go on... Nikki should have left this a classic!

At the end of the day I'm going to say Tisk! Tisk! Tisk!

Okay, first off...I give credit for the cover and title, nice job, but the book itself, I just didn't see the hype about it...the plot was mediocre, if not dull and preditable. Yarni was supposed to be a hustler's wife, but I felt that she kept getting played throughout the book, and the book was poorly edited...fo' real. I give Nikki her props for trying and pushing it out there, but there were some scenes that were not believable and maybe just too over the top and c'mon...I just don't see the moms black mailing all these big time officials just to get Yarn's man out of jail...dude was doing like life or sumthin...and that whole happy ending thing for a drug dealer, finally being let free and reuniting with his girl...c'mon...the moms would have been dead and so on...but once again, I just don't see the hype in this book...

I see all of these reviewers complaining about this book because of all the grammatical and proofreading errors. But you have to realized that the company that published this book is an up and coming independant minority owned publisher that probably does not have a lot of money yet to hire a "professional".

Overlooking the errors, the book was off the chain. Yarni held true and did not slump in the end. She stood by her man through good and bad times. She even did time herself to prove her love.

If someone needs to learn how to love unconditionally, this is the book to read.

I read it over the weekend. I just couldn't put it down because it was so interesting. I think Nikki Turner did an excellent job with her first book. It should only get better with the next. Keep up the good work Nikki Turner.

Rating this book is somewhat difficult. Nikki Turner did an o.k. job to me. Now if you compare it to The Coldest Winter Ever, it is garbage. But just to read, it will do. I gave the book a 3 which is an average rating. But The Coldest Winter Ever deserves 10 stars! You can tell Nikki is familiar with the streets. Some of the events were funny and real. I was getting ready to say that her being fifteen and all she went through is unrealistic, but it isn't. Plenty of girls fall in love with men that sell drugs and go for the ride of whatever the dope game brings. That is what this book is about. A girl who falls in love with an older drug dealer and what happens in her life when he is locked up. The book is worth reading, but it has a long way to go to reach the level of Sister Souljah's book.

Rating this book is somewhat difficult. Nikki Turner did an o.k. job to me. Now if you compare it to The Coldest Winter Ever, it is garbage. But just to read, it will do. I gave the book a 3 which is an average rating. But The Coldest Winter Ever deserves 10 stars! You can tell Nikki is familiar with the streets. Some of the events were funny and real. I was getting ready to say that her being fifteen and all she went through is unrealistic, but it isn't. Plenty of girls fall in love with men that sell drugs and go for the ride of whatever the dope game brings. That is what this book is about. A girl who falls in love with an older drug dealer and what happens in her life when he is locked up. The book is worth reading, but it has a long way to go to reach the level of Sister Souljah's book.

Nikki Nikki Nikki, in the beginning of this book you sent out a special message, to your readers, regarding how hard it was for you to write this book. Well I want to say, I really enjoy reading your books, but this one was a very big disappointment..... I tried to keep up with your characters in this book, but to my surprise I didnt know where these folks came from... I do have the majority of your books, but I refused to go back and read every one of them to figure out where certain folks came from...Im glad I got Forever a Hustler's Wife from the Library and I didnt purchase it myself.... Maybe the next book will be better..

Reading this book reminded me so much of my teenage years in the very late 80's and early 90's. It was as if Nikki Turner knew about all of my issues, as if she was living as me. I thought this book was very interesting. I thought the story of young Yarnie meeting Des was lovely. I once loved a man like Des and it brings back so many memories, some really great memories of the times we shared. Also other memories of the times that I shared with guys like Benji, terrible memories that I hate to think about. Yarnie had to learn just like the rest of us learned. The street life was not all that it was cracked up to be. She finally realized that without GOD in her life, no good thing would last but with GOD everything great was hers. This book was sweet at times and very hurtful at other times.I loved this book and I recommend it to everyone that is considering getting caught up in the game or has been a victim of it. Trust me, none of the money is worth it. I think GOD I was forturnate to get out without any serious problems, such as being addicted to drugs or going to prision. I loved this book and it encouraged me to keep pressing on!

Did anyone even bother to proofread this book? There are numerous grammatical errors, missing words, transposed words, misspelled words and typos galore. All of these glaring errors made it difficult to get through this first-time trash novel.
If that wasn't bad enough, the plot sucked! I can dig an urban fairy tale, but everything in this book was un-friggin'-believable. The heroine is the dumbest person on the planet, yet she's supposed to be brilliant and beautiful. What I saw was a gold-diggin', opportunists who allowed herself to be used over and over again and never woke up to the "game." But then again, she did find God at the end and that makes it all good, right?!
Wrong! None of the characters were sympathetic. The twists were outrageously stupid and illogical. This was a ho video in book form with plenty of bling-bling, designer name-dropping and an ending only an idiot would buy.
My advice to someone looking for a good book, look elsewhere. My advice to Ms. Turner, try taking a remedial English class! And ask for tips on verb-subject agreement.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Yarni's character was well thought out and the author really gave you an insight into the trials and tribulations Yarni had to go through. I do not believe she made the characters in the book heriones, as one reviewer suggested, but she gave us an insight into the life of a hustler and their girlfriends. I've never dated a hustler, so I wouldn't know what they go through, let alone their families, friends and girlfriends.
Although hustling is their life, they still are human and have human emotions like anybody else. Yarni's mother Gloria was a rock. Many of us have mothers/sisters/aunts who we all can depend on no matter what because they love us unconditionally. The love Gloria had for Yarni was unconditional, as the love Yarni felt for Des.
I truly enjoyed the book. Great job Ms. Turner. Can't wait for the next one.

One of the most obvious characters that had a lot of heart was Yarni and her determination to stand by her man Des. How even when falling in love with someone other then her soulmate Des she still had mad love for him. The way her mam Gloria stood by her when times was hard show that Nikki Turner witness a lot or seen a lot regaurdless of which she made sure she showed the passion of the characters and how ugly life can be(Benggie a cruel character)yet show the beauty of the uglyness. Must Read Book

I certainly wasn't mad at Nikki Turner's "Forever a Hustler's Wife". I, for one, am happy that she wrote it. However, I didn't recall many of the characters: Bambi, Lynx, Nasir, etc. I should've re-read "A Hustler's Wife" before reading the sequel.

I actually enjoyed this book. Des and Yarni are still hanging in there. I found Des' stunt as a Pastor hilarious. I think he portrayed a slimy pastor rather accurately. LOL

Overall, I'd rate it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I really liked this. In the beginning the author says that she wants to paint a story about how the struggle really is, but to me I really didn't feel like she painted a good way of telling how it was to be a hustler's wife, unless that is the way it is. But other than that it's a good story, it maybe a regular, a girl hooks up with lots of guys story but I really like it. I must say that I was a little upset with the ending (it wasnt that i want happy with it i was) I just wanted a little more info about what happened after everything.

I thought Forever a Hustlers Wife was a GREAT come back. Of course I thought it wasn't as good as A Hustlers Wife, but it was good enough to ease my craving to know where Des and Yarni end up. Reading the Special Message at the beginning really gave me a new respect for writers! This was a great story despite all the struggles Nikki has gone through, and although it wasn't the best I have faith in her that she will come back with something that will blow her fans away!

I really liked this. In the beginning the author says that she wants to paint a story about how the struggle really is, but to me I really didn't feel like she painted a good way of telling how it was to be a hustler's wife, unless that is the way it is. But other than that it's a good story, it maybe a regular, a girl hooks up with lots of guys story but I really like it. I must say that I was a little upset with the ending (it wasnt that i want happy with it i was) I just wanted a little more info about what happened after everything.

I thought Forever a Hustlers Wife was a GREAT come back. Of course I thought it wasn't as good as A Hustlers Wife, but it was good enough to ease my craving to know where Des and Yarni end up. Reading the Special Message at the beginning really gave me a new respect for writers! This was a great story despite all the struggles Nikki has gone through, and although it wasn't the best I have faith in her that she will come back with something that will blow her fans away!

I thought this would be an interesting read but instead it took a lot of effort to finsih the book. There was nothing in the book that made you want to read more. This book needs some major editing; inconsistent narration, innumerable typos, etc. Also, the story line was totally unrealistic. There were too many themes incorporated into the novel that were not totally complete. At the ending of the book you are like ok so what happened to so and so etc. I would recommend borrowing the book rather than purchasing it for full price.

I love happy endings,being that i live in Richmond V.A.you rarelly find a happing ending with a drug related relationship.This book was excellent to read because i was curios about all the known spots she talked about.I't held my attention knowing the game i could really relate.I'm really not a reader but after reading this book i decided to pick up a "Project Chick" also, and that to was very interesting.I plan on reading all of her books because i love to support the "Richmond" female.I just hope i don't get frustrated like i did reading these two.In "A Hustlers Wife" there were madddddd typos.I would laugh at the thought of the azz whose job it was to proof read it "boy did he slip off".But i still chose to just read it adding or eliminating whatever words were missing or had been typed twiced.Overall if you did that then the book was great.And with "A Project Chick" it also had madddddd typos including the mix up with chapter numbers it really threw me for a loop when i could have sworn i had read chapter 19 but then it came again then it skipped to 22 then i didn't even see chapter 15, but i did see 16 twice....(lol)chapter 16 twice...chapter 19 twice then chapter 22 then chapter 21 then 22 again...lord help whomever job that was to correct that.It really threw me off.But like i say you add the missing word or take out the word that doesnt belong and then you have a great book..............KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND KEEP WRIGHTING NIKKI,....BUT PLEASE LET SOMEBODY ELSE PROOF READ TO SAVE YOU THE HUMILIATION..

Nikki did a wonderful job in writing Yarni and Daz story. This is a story of a young woman who starts out being an innocent teenager in a very stable home. But one day, the tables turn and Yarni finds herself hung up in the games of the streets. Will Yarni get herself together?
Daz is a hustler and heavily involved in the streets. The players of the game will eventually forsake him and he finds himself behind bars. Will he loose the love of his life? Will it be Yarni or the game of hustling?

The glamorous life of money, cars, designer clothes and envy was the sell of being with a hustler. The intrigue of danger and outside the lines living, brings a dark side that is such a heavy price to pay. Taylor brings the street life to your reading room with complex characters and true grit drama.

This story of survival is happening in every city USA, the reader should be careful not to assume otherwise.

Reviewer: VRS

At first when reading this book, I thought it was going WAY to slow and I thought that I was going to struggle to finish it. BUt I contnued to read and I HAVE to say, the drama came towards the ending and I could not put the book down! Sister Khadijah was a trip!! Although I have had Hustler's Wife sitting in my bookshelf unread for 5 years or so, I think it's time to dust it off & see where it all began with Desi & Yarni. Nice Read.

This book was something else. I really enjoyed it! At the beginning I could not put the book down. Poor Yarni, she went through something with her man Des being locked down. But she did what she had to do to stay on top. Her mom Gloria was real cool, and she stuck by Yarni through it all. I know Yarni was so happy to finally get the outcome she was waiting for. Nikki Turner you have done it to me, you got me hooked!

I just finish reading this book A Hustler's Wife. At first I was a little skeptical about reading this book because I thought that I hustler's wife ended with the first book, but Nikki Turner proved me wrong. I could not believe how Des hustled the church. I guess he said if others can do it why can't he. But he soon realize that God don't play. Can he change his ways before its too late or will Yarni be Forever A Hustler's Wife.

Nikki Turner is an excellent writer. A Hustler's Wife is not your "typical street fiction" book. It is more than that. Nikki introduced several character and some how managed to complete each of their story lines from the beginning to the end. Each time you thought that you had the story figured out a new twist would occur which made you want to read more and more. She used several strong MALE and FEMALE characters. The use of promoting education regardless of your situation was excellent. The best feature was the underline religious aspect. The main character went through several situations, but in the end she was connected to her spirituality and all of her "street ways" came around for good. It was very well written!
Our Book Club (A Sistah's Expression) recently had a phone discussion with Nikki and we enjoyed her personality as much as we enjoyed reading her book. Kudos to Nikki Turner!

The sequel didnt do any justice for the first novel. You have Des who is back in jail and being framed for murder. He has his nephew is coming up in the drug game and his uncle introduce him to a connect that will change his life forever.Then you have Yarni who is so thr lawyer helping this guy get off she is a new mother and and letting Des mother walk all over her. I can't even go on. Because this was not the Yarni in the First book who didn't let people walk all over her.

This book should never be compared to "The Coldest Winter Ever." "A Hustler's Wife" was annoying and irritating to read. I only purchased it because a good friend of mine recommended it. And I definitely had to get my money's worth by reading the entire book. The details of the protagonist's outfits were unnecessary and even silly. Wow, airmax sneakers and nine west boots... who cares??? The story itself was OKAY. The book's biggest problem is its editing. It was POORLY written and it doesn't seem to have been edited EVER. The writing quality is that of a middle schooler. The incorrect grammar was definitely not intended for style purposes. Who just puts two words together that don't make sense? For example, this isnot style. It's horrible. I would never recommend this to anyone. It seems like a book a teacher would assign to his or her students for the sole purposes of finding the numerous errors and fixing them. Triple Crown Publications definitely needs to step their game up. And, once again, I'm appalled that "A Coldest Winter Ever" would ever be used as a comparison to this garbage. In conclusion, "A Hustler's Wife" is a good ROUGH DRAFT- nothing more.

Nikki should give Essence magazine a high five or I would have never bought "Hustler's Wife" and the sequel, "Forever a Hustler's wife". I was really into the characters of Des and Yarni. I felt I knew them personally. Nikki Turner did a superior job in giving those with limited street knowledge an opportunity to connect with the real world. Nikki must do another sequel!

This book was wonderful. Although the subject matter appears to be negative, the story that the author was telling is - VERY REAL. Yani took bad situations and turned them into good situations. She really wasn't selfish to those who really needed her. I think she deserved all of the extravagant gifts that she received from those guys.

I JUST FINISHED READING THIS BOOK. I FOUND IT TO BE VERY INTERESTING. MY ONLY PROBLEM IS YARNI JUST KEPT HOOKING UP WITH THE WRONG GUYS TIME AND TIME AGAIN IT WAS LIKE SHE HAD THIS RADAR ON HER THAT SAID I LOVE BAD BOYS. I WANT TO BE HURT YOU KNOW IT TOOK HER TOO LONG TO REALIZE THE FACT THAT SHE DIDN'T NEED A MAN TO TAKE CARE OF HER. SHE WAS MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DOING IT HERSELF.

I Love Nikki Turner's writting style and have enjoyed her books...this was the weakest I have read so far. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it and will be reading part2 to see how things end and all but, uh...let's just say if I would have read this book first? I probally wouldn't of read anything else from her unless it really caught my eye. Not a must read but a ok read for true Nikki Turner fans.

I picked this book up mainly to support an african-american author, while I do not regret supporting her I do regret buying the book I truely felt this was a waste of my time and hers. There were many words left out of the book, many grammar errors and the list goes on. I also felt the author started out writing a love story then changed her mind and tried to turn this into a mystery/horror story. I would not recommend buying this title.