If I Ruled the World Joy, Joylynn Jossel Kendra Norman-Bellamy, Maxine Billings ISBN: 0312328796 Format: Paperback, 289pp Pub. Date: July 2005 Publisher: St. Martin's Press BBP Sales Rank: 43,886 List Price: $13.95
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In every ghetto there is that one who stands out above the rest. In this
unforgettable novel, her name is Harlem.

Harlem Jones is a twenty-six-year-old bad-ass female who owns her own home,
her own car, and her own business. And no, some drug dealer didn't front her
the money for any of it. Nor did she have to sell herself to get what she's
got. Harlem came up the hard way. She had the perfect family until her mother
fell prey to an addiction and Harlem's whole world fell apart. After several
life-changing encounters, Harlem seems to have lost everything. But then,
under circumstance she wishes never existed, she inherits a modest fortune
and opens up her own business.
Then into her life comes an unexpected and unlikely love, a street-bred
charmer named York. Not your typical hood, York is out for Harlem's heart.
But when tragedy strikes, Harlem knows that, as a survivor, she must be the
one to decide her own destiny.