Aya de León

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About Aya de León

Aya de Leon teaches creative writing at UC Berkeley. Kensington Books publishes her Justice Hustlers feminist heist novels, UPTOWN THIEF (2016), THE BOSS (2017), THE ACCIDENTAL MISTRESS (2018), and in 2019 SIDE CHICK NATION the first novel to be published about the hurricane in Puerto Rico. She has received acclaim in the Washington Post, Village Voice, SF Chronicle, and The Establishment. A graduate of Harvard College, with an MFA from Antioch University, Aya has been an artist in residence at Stanford University, a Cave Canem poetry fellow, and a slam poetry champion. She publicly married herself in the 90s, and from 1995 to 2012 hosted an annual Valentine’s Day show that focused on self-love. Her work has also appeared in Ebony, Essence, Guernica, Writers Digest, Huffington Post, Catapult, The Root, The Toast, VICE, Ploughshares, Bitch Magazine, on Def Poetry, and she's an advice columnist for Mutha Magazine. In 2020, Kensington will publish her first spy novel about FBI infiltration of an African American political organization. She is currently at work on a YA spy girl series featuring African American and Latina teens called GOING DARK, as well as a picture book to help talk to children about racism. She blogs and tweets about race, gender, and culture at @AyadeLeon and ayadeleon.com.

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Paperback
Thieves in the Temple (A Play)

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Heart 2K: Sober Love Poems

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Author Updates

Titles By Aya de León

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Berkeley Noir (Akashic Noir) May 5, 2020

by Jim Nisbet, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Barry Gifford, Susan Dunlap, Shanthi Sekaran, Jerry Thompson, Owen Hill

( 18 )

$10.99

Sixteen storytellers shed light on the darkness that lurks in the California city in this fun collection of crime tales.

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city.

With stories by: Barry Gifford, Jim Nisbet, Lexi Pandell, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Mara Faye Lethem, Thomas Burchfield, Shanthi Sekaran, Nick Mamatas, Kimn Neilson, Jason S. Ridler, Susan Dunlap, J.M. Curet, Summer Brenner, Michael David Lukas, Aya de León, and Owen Hill.

Praise for Berkeley Noir

“Each story evokes the dark side of a Berkeley neighborhood and pays tribute both to the city's history as a haven for outcasts and as a literary metropolis. If you race through it, consider picking up San Francisco Noir and Oakland Noir.” —Diablo Magazine, a Top Ticket choice

“In “Lucky Day,” Thomas Burchfield reveals the evil that can come when a well-meaning aide breaks his boss’s cardinal rule never to allow patrons into the library early. A worried mom from Holloway wangles her son a prized place in the Berkeley school district in Aya de León’s “Frederick Douglass Elementary.” . . . . J.M. Curet’s “Wifebeater Tank Top,” the tale with the firmest criminal pedigree, is the most violent, but its poetic language and come-from-nowhere ending make it the best.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The 16 stories set in Berkeley, Calif., in this above average Akashic noir anthology offer little actual noir but a heaping helping of crime, with almost every entry featuring at least a murder or kidnapping . . . . Readers will be glad that many of these tales are fun in a way that traditional noir isn’t.” —Publishers Weekly

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

A Spy in the Struggle: A Riveting Must-Read Novel of Suspense Dec 29, 2020

by Aya de León

( 152 )

$9.17

An Amazon Best of the Month Selection
The Washington Post Featured Thriller That Will Have You On The Edge Of Your Seat
Bustle’s Most Anticipated Reads for December
Book Riot Featured Hispanic Heritage Month Book
CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime Books of Fall 2020
Novel Suspects Featured December New Release

"A passionately felt stand-alone with an affecting personal story at its center."
—The Washington Post

Winner of the International Latino Book Award, Aya de Leon, returns with a thrilling and timely story of feminism, climate, and corporate justice—as one successful lawyer must decide whether to put everything on the line to right the deep inequities faced in one under-served Bay Area, California community.

Since childhood, Yolanda Vance has forged her desire to escape poverty into a laser-like focus that took her through prep school and Harvard Law. So when her prestigious New York law firm is raided by the FBI, Yolanda turns in her corrupt bosses to save her career—and goes to work for the Bureau. Soon she's sent undercover at Red, Black, and Green—an African-American “extremist” activist group back in her California college town. They claim a biotech corporation fueled by Pentagon funding is exploiting the neighborhood. But Yolanda is determined to put this assignment in her win column, head back to corporate law, and regain her comfortable life...

Until an unexpected romance opens her heart—and a suspicious death opens her eyes. Menacing dark money forces will do anything to bury Yolanda and the movement. Fueled by memories of who she once was—and what once really mattered most—how can she tell those who’ve come to trust her that she’s been spying? As the stakes escalate, and one misstep could cost her life, Yolanda will have to choose between betraying the cause of her people or invoking the wrath of the country’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

“Part of a new wave of espionage fiction from authors of color and women, many of whom place emphasis on the disturbing nature of being forced to spy on one’s own.”
—Crime Reads, Most Anticipated Books of Fall

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Audio CD

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Side Chick Nation (Justice Hustlers Book 4) Jun 25, 2019

by Aya de León

( 23 )

$8.81

Winner of the Internation Latino Book Award

A Justice Hustlers Novel

She’s beautiful, unpredictable—and on the run from dangerous men. But this
ex-side chick is ready to risk everything to help others in trouble . . .

Fed up with her married Miami boyfriend, savvy Dulce has no problem stealing his
drug-dealer stash and fleeing to her family in the Caribbean. But when she gets bored in rural Santo Domingo, she escapes on a sugar daddy adventure to Puerto Rico. Her new life is one endless party, until she's caught in Hurricane Maria—and witnesses the brutal collision of colonization and climate change, as well as the international vultures who plunder the tragedy for a financial killing, making shady use of relief funds to devastate the island even more. Broke, traumatized, and stranded, Dulce’s only chance to get back to New York may be a sexy, crusading journalist who’s been pursuing her. But is she hustling him or falling for him?

Meanwhile, New York-based mastermind thief Marisol already has her hands full fleecing a ruthless CEO who’s stealing her family’s land in Puerto Rico, while trying to get her relatives out alive after the hurricane. An extra member in her crew could be game-changing, but she’s wary of Dulce’s unpredictability and reputation for drama. Still, Dulce’s determination to get justice draws Marisol in, along with her formidable Lower East Side Women’s Health Clinic’s heist squad. But their race-against-the-clock plan is soon complicated by powerful men who turn deadly when ex-side chicks step out of the shadows and demand to call the shots . . .

Praise forAya de León and her novels

“Staking out space for women of color in the heist-fiction genre, Aya de León’s smart, sly writing is a knockout.”
—Andi Zeisler, Bitch magazine

“This well-written and enjoyable installment in de León’s unique, feminist, urban crime-fiction series . . . infuses satisfying power in both plot and character.”
—Booklist on The Boss, STARRED review

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

Uptown Thief (Justice Hustlers Book 1) Jul 26, 2016

by Aya de León

( 46 )

$2.99

International Latino Book Award Winner

In this sexy, heart-stopping tale, one smart, sizzling mami robs the rich and protects the exploited--until one heist too many puts everything at stake. . .

Marisol Rivera barely survived being abused with nowhere to turn. So there's nothing she won't do to keep her Lower East Side women's health clinic open and give disadvantaged women new lives. Running an exclusive escort service for New York City's rich and powerful 1 percent is the perfect way to bankroll her business--not to mention the perfect cover for robbing corrupt CEOs. And when times get even tougher, pulling a heist on a mega-billionaire will secure the clinic's future--and her gorgeous crew's--for good. . .

There's just one problem: Marisol didn't anticipate bad news even more dangerous than her curves. A seductive ex-cop who's too close for comfort, and a powerful thug with a score to settle, are turning Marisol's precise planning and seductive fail-safes into insidious traps. Now this beautiful modern-day Robin Hood will have to play some lethal wild cards without rules or limits to save those she loves--and live to steal another day. . .

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback , Audio CD

The Boss (Justice Hustlers Book 2) May 30, 2017

by Aya de León

( 15 )

$1.99

A Justice Hustlers Heist Novel

She won't back down. She'll never stop. And in this seductive, suspenseful novel, one gorgeous sister puts her future on the line for the exploited—even as her past and present collide, threatening to take her out . . .

Tyesha Couvillier will never forget the rip-offs and brutal treatment she endured as a sex worker. So as the new director of the groundbreaking Lower East Side Women's Health Clinic, she'll take on the Ukranian mob and corrupt strip club bosses to stop local exotic dancers from being pressured into selling sex. And if she and her crew can pull off an elaborate heist, the evidence they steal could upend this vicious game—and give exploited women a chance at justice . . .

But suddenly Tyesha's traumatic past and high-drama family are back on the scene—and turning up the heat to explosive. With a notorious celebrity ex-lover out to win back her heart, and a drug kingpin from her Chicago past in the mix, crucial scams go dead-wrong, and buried secrets bring wrenching betrayal. Now this fiercely compassionate beauty must gamble on tricks she never dared to protect those she loves—and survive to carry on the fight.

“This well-written and enjoyable installment in de León’s unique, feminist, urban crime-fiction series . . . infuses satisfying power in both plot and character.”
—Booklist, STARRED review

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback , Audio CD

Queen of Urban Prophecy Dec 28, 2021

by Aya de León

( 1 )

$9.99

Stardom crashed like an avalanche onto this female rap artist. Now getting justice, real power, and true respect will be the hardest fight of her life . . .

20-year-old Deza was supposed to be just another hot girl emcee, but when a bonus track strikes a surprising social chord, it rockets her album to the top of the charts—and her record label promotes her to headline their first-ever all-female national tour. As Deza attempts to live up to her new reputation, her inexperience generates tour drama. And when her female DJ quits, the label replaces her with the last thing Deza needs: the sexy guy DJ she flirted with at a club.

But in battling to prove she deserves her success and embracing her power as an activist for Black Lives, Deza starts to feel she can face anything that comes her way—until her label prepares to undermine the all-female lineup in the name of mega-profits.

Now, up against brutal industry misogyny and corporate big money, Deza will need the drive of that scrappy emcee from the South Side of Chicago and the bulletproof cool of a seasoned music professional if she wants to claim a space of respect in hip hop, not just for herself, but for everyone and everything she believes in . . .

Praise for Aya de León and her novels

“Gripping feminist heist fiction about turning the tables on the disaster capitalists in the jaws of climate apocalypse? Improbably and thrillingly, Aya de León has pulled off exactly that with Side Chick Nation. I couldn't put it down.”
—Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

“Staking out space for women of color in the heist-fiction genre, Aya de Leon's smart, sly writing is a knockout.”
—Andi Zeisler, Bitch Magazine

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Accidental Mistress (Justice Hustlers Book 3) May 29, 2018

by Aya de León

( 8 )

$7.59

A Justice Hustlers Novel

Two gorgeous sisters. Only one plays by the rules. But now they’ll have to put their differences—and their lives—on the line, to help the exploited.

Sisters from Trinidad, Violet and Lily have never had much in common. Stunning Lily arrives undocumented in New York and makes her way as a stripper. But Harvard-educated Violet is this close to the perfect assimilated life, thanks to a prestigious job, and her rich bougie fiancé. . . . Until she aids a woman in trouble, and is mistaken for a notorious strip-club mogul’s mistress. And when she’s wrongly accused of helping him embezzle millions of his workers’ earnings, Violet loses everything—except the determination to get her life back.

Now Violet’s on his track with the help of his vengeful ex-wife and the Lower East Side Women’s Health Clinic’s resourceful crew—which includes Lily. But a dashing longtime friend hungering for Violet’s love, along with the mogul’s all-too-real psychotic mistress, put the group’s killer schemes at risk. And as Violet and Lily struggle to finally understand each other, they have only one shot to get justice for those who need it most.

“This well-written and enjoyable installment in de León’s unique, feminist, urban crime-fiction series . . . infuses satisfying power in both plot and character.”
—Booklist on The Boss, STARRED review

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback , Audio CD

That Dangerous Energy Dec 27, 2022

by Aya de León

$9.99

Author of the award-winning Justice Hustler series, Aya de León continues her unique blend of commercial fiction, timely social commentary, and sexy,
page-turning storytelling in a novel of climate change in which the personal and the political collide for one woman torn between her own survival and the survival of the planet.

Marrying a billionaire will fulfill this struggling artist's dreams—and enable her to make a difference. But exposing the truth will put all her convictions on one dangerous line . . .

Coming from a troubled youth, Morgan Faraday grabs every opportunity to up-level her life. So she definitely plans to keep oil company heir Sebastian Reid interested . . . all the way to the altar. He’s brilliant, supportive, and is turning his billion-dollar company green to make up for his ancestors’ exploitation. With him, Morgan can have love, money, and the power to make the world better. And securing her future is far more important than the attractive environmental activist she suddenly has unexpected feelings for . . .

But once Morgan gets a glimpse of Sebastian’s secret allies and confidential emails, she’s stunned to find he’s only talking a good game. His company is responsible for several ecological disasters, and a chance encounter makes it clear to Morgan the lengths he’ll go to stay on top. To gather enough evidence to expose him, Morgan will have to rely on her quick wits and new friends to stay one step ahead of a corporate conspiracy. But as the danger comes closer, will Morgan put herself first and run—or face down the risk, even at her cost of her life?

Praise for Aya de León and her novels:

“Gripping feminist heist fiction about turning the tables on the disaster capitalists in the jaws of climate apocalypse? Improbably and thrillingly, Aya de León has pulled off exactly that with Side Chick Nation. I couldn't put it down.” —Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

“Staking out space for women of color in the heist-fiction genre, Aya de Leon's smart, sly writing is a knockout.” –Andi Zeisler, Bitch magazine

Other Formats: Paperback

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