Tag: Contemporary Fiction

Sister Girls by Angel M. Hunter

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Publisher/Date:  Kensington Publishing Corporation, May 2006
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Straight Books with Lesbian Characters
Pages:  304

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Interracial dating, drug abuse and lesbianism run rampant in SISTER GIRLS, the novel written by Essence best-selling author Angel M. Hunter. These four distressed sistahs have their problems cut out for them in this cookie-cutter plot that comes out a little flat.

Crystal, Susie, Elsie own the New Jersey law firm where Jewell works as a secretary. Although not exactly enemies, the ladies aren’t really that familiar with one another outside of work. But each has her own problems that eventually lead them to create a fast friendship.

Crystal is the former rape victim still holding on to the pain of that unfortunate act. Her nights are sleepless, and when she does lie down, her nightmares begin. By all appearances, she seems put together, but her pain leads to destructive behavior like drinking and dating a married man.

Hard-nosed Susie knows she has a drug problem, but doesn’t know how to stop. It’s all she can do to make it through the day without a hit. But when her fiancé returns with a marriage proposal, she knows she has to give up the white horse.

Elsie, the most easy-going of the four, is trying her best not to move in with her lesbian lover, Summer. It’s not that Elsie doesn’t love Summer; it’s just that she loves her privacy more. And now that Summer’s daughter has come to stay with her permanently, she definitely doesn’t want to step into a ready-made family. Her decision is made all the more complicated when her ex, Jenay, returns to town.

And single-mother Jewell finds herself uncomfortably dating a white man for the first time. But does her discomfort come from being with him or the fact that she still has feelings for her baby daddy?

Hunter’s characters and problems were the center of this sordid tale, but they didn’t exactly shine. Although you could easily relate to their problems, the women seemed one dimensional. And the ending leaves you hanging at the end. You could tell Hunter left it open for a sequel, but I wanted a better conclusion than what I got.

Sister Girls is an easy read, one you could probably finish in a few hours on a lazy afternoon.

Reviewed June 2006

Silk Sheets by James D. Jackson

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Publisher/Date:  Regal Publishing, May 2002
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Pages:  178

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Though silk is one of the world’s most luxurious fabrics, you wouldn’t know it by these SILK SHEETS, James D. Jackson’s story about a woman’s sexual awakening. While Sheets isn’t a total disaster, the story didn’t keep me warm.

The tale involves three points of view: Tanya, the naïve protagonist who discovers her sexuality later in life; Charlene, the woman with a little more lesbian experience under her belt; and William, the man who surprises them all in the end.

When Silk Sheets begins, Tanya is an over-achieving high school student, destined to make something of herself and escape from the derelict neighborhood in which she grew up. Her father, a lousy provider, shifted all the financial responsibilities to her mother, and left her without a strong male role model. But her dreams will not be deferred, and she strives to create her own public speaking company.

Tanya’s neighbor is Charlene, a sexually-charged young lady who gets kicked out her house after her father finds her with woman’s head between her legs. Soon after she heads to Clark-Atlanta University, where she begins having an affair with her biology professor. It’s when that relationship takes a wrong turn that Charlene runs into Tanya, now a student at Howard University. They share a sultry night after, one that leads Tanya in questioning whom she is. She gets over her fear, and the two move in together after graduation.

William comes into play awkwardly as a blast from Charlene’s scandalous past, now about to get
married to Tanya’s best friend, Donna. His character doesn’t provide much else.

Jackson creates a couple of love scenes that will ruffle your Sheets, but as a whole, the story just didn’t do it for me. He doesn’t effectively capture the essence of a black lesbian, and it shows as the novel progresses; when Tanya seeks advice from Donna’s mother, a sociologist, she has some outlandish thoughts about homosexuality that don’t make much sense. The plot was also jumbled and clunky, and the characters came out of place, with no transition as to who is speaking.

Silk Sheets may be a quick read, but it’s one that leaves me cold.

Reviewed March-April 2006

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley

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Publisher/Date:  Northeastern University Press, Oct. 1994
Genre(s):  Romance, Mature Lesbians
Pages:  187

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

That which we call a rose by any other name is just as sweet, and the love between a black musician and a white writer can be just touching in LOVING HER, Ann Allen Shockley’s tragic story about an interracial romance.

When the novel begins, Renay Lee is packing her suitcase and trying quietly to escape with her daughter, Denise, to escape her abusive, alcoholic husband, Jerome. The mother and daughter run to Terry Bluvard, a wealthy white woman Renay’s fallen in love with. They live together quite nicely and Renay finally feels free from Jerome Lee’s suffocating grasp.

Renay met Terry while working as a musician in an upscale supper club, and introduces herself to the writer after she requests a song. It was something Terry that drew her to the woman so different from herself, a woman who grew up with a silver spoon her mouth, compared to Renay’s meager upbringing. Here was a woman who with one touch could make her feel things she never though possible, after years of detached feeling with Jerome Lee. Things at home with her husband are worse than ever and the last straw comes when Jerome sells her beloved piano, the one thing her hard-working mother was able to give her daughter.

So she runs to Terry, a woman who is able to give her what she’s been missing: love. They make a great home together, for themselves and Denise. Jerome Lee is a miserable mess, and tries his hardest to make life a living hell for her, terrorizing her and stalking their home at every turn. He can’t fathom that Renay can actually make it without him, and tries his hardest to get her back.

It all comes to a head when Jerome Lee discovers whom she left him for, and his outrage is evident: Renay’s left him for a woman! His anger leads to tragic events, and Renay has to figure out whether her guilt will allow her to love a woman despite the pain their relationship has caused.

Shockley makes it quite clear that love has no boundaries in Loving Her. Black or white, genuine affection is what’s most important. She doesn’t sugarcoat the romance between Renay and Terry, as they encounter many roadblocks to their love. Shockley spells out their pitfalls and outlines their sensitive love story with care. Flowery writing is still her trademark, and although it makes the story too long-winded at times, it kind of works here, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Loving Her is a great love story for anyone who believes in beating the odds.

Reviewed February 2006

My Woman His Wife by Anna J.

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Publisher/Date:  Q-Boro Books, Dec. 2004
Genre(s):  Contemporary Fiction, Drama
Pages:  240
Website:  http://www.askannaj.com

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Scandalous folks abound in Anna J.’s erotic thriller, MY WOMAN HIS WIFE, the tale of a possessed woman who’ll stop at nothing to get Jasmine Cinque, a married mother of two.

Blame it on Jasmine’s husband. After five years of marriage, kids and careers, the romance and spark has died in James and Jasmine’s marriage. Where they used to indulge in all-night, do-it-anywhere lovemaking, now the couple is lucky if they manage to get their groove on for more than five minutes. But after weeks of creative, persistent begging, James finally convinces Jasmine that a little menage-a-trois with sex kitten Monica would be the perfect pick-me-up.

It’s new and bizarre to Jasmine to be with a woman at first, even with her husband by her side. She’s not that into it at first, but then realizes that Monica can touch her better than her husband. She’s surprised that a woman could make her climb the walls.

Jasmine is now going back for more–without her husband. But as much as she loves how Monica makes her feel in bed, she doesn’t want it to go too far. She loves her husband, no matter how good (or bad) things are at home. But Monica has other plans. She wants Jasmine to herself, and her crazy ass will do it by any means necessary.

Trust me, Monica is capable. She involves everyone in her plot to snare Jasmine, even without their consent. In her plan, Monica attempts to become pregnant by James make Jasmine leave him, and even manages to strong arm Jasmine’s secretary, Shelia, to set James up.

I have to give Anna J. her props. My Woman His Wife has some off-the-chain sex scenes; you might need to have your lover by your side when reading the steamy tale. However, while My Woman wasn’t entirely bad, there wasn’t much plausible about it. How could these people not know that one was sleeping with the other, including the husband and the wife?

And it’s hard to believe that Monica, even as fine as she was, could make everyone fall under her spell, when they all had some notion she was crazy. You also didn’t get a real feel for any of the characters except Monica, whose troubled background was greatly detailed.

You almost feel sorry for Monica…but not quite.

Reviewed September 2005