Piatkus to publish two by Ashley Antoinette

Piatkus has struck a deal for a novel and its sequel with New York Times bestselling author Ashley Antoinette.

Dominic Wakeford at Piatkus Fiction bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Juliet Mushens at United Talent Agency on behalf of Marc Gerald at United Talent Agency. Both books will be published e-first in August and September, respectively. 

The first of the two, Luxe, published with St. Martin's Griffin, an imprint of Macmillan, in the US last September.

Luxe and its sequel Luxe 2 follows protagonist Bleu Montclair, a young girl looking to escape the hard streets of Flint, Michigan, and whose desperate prayers are answered in the form of a scholarship to UCLA. Soon after arriving, however, she's tempted by her roommate to make a lot of money fast. When Bleu goes all in – she heads straight down a path of violence and addiction that only her newest protector, Iman, can save her from.

Antoinette has co-written over 40 novels with her husband JaQuavis Coleman and wrote four-book saga, The Prada Plan (Urban Books).

Wakeford said: "Luxe and its sequel take the reader on a breathless journey into the criminal underworld, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine, Bleu. Ashley Antoinette is one of the shining lights of the street-lit genre and I couldn’t be happier to be bringing her onto the Piatkus list."