Book excerpt: Exotic dancer, Latoya Garrett wanted to be a star. On stage she was Midnight, beautiful and sexy, with a body women envied and men would kill for. Offstage, however, she was far less confident. After surviving two heartbreaks dealing with her best friends' drug addiction and overcoming a family tragedy, she decides to take control of her life. With her dreams of stardom behind her, she concentrates her energy on her friends. Now, the four young boys in her tough Newark neighborhood, who had always looked out for her, are in trouble and it could cost them their lives. Latoya teams up with her friends: Chinadoll, beautiful and strong, Charlene, her long-time rival, and Rajean, the player and owner of Peepers, the popular go-go bar, to save the boys from the cops-who have it in for them- and the addicts, who are after them. What Latoya, her friends, and the four boys learn from one another will last a lifetime.