Read React Review

My Take in Brief: Very unique and very enjoyable, despite the editing (or lack thereof). Have I found my go-to Harlequin line in Kimani?

Cover Comment: How awesome is this cover? Look at her: No makeup, flat chest, short natural hair. Beautiful!

Plot: Philandering music mogul Russel Stone disappeared when his plane crashed six years ago, leaving behind his not-exactly-grieving wife, Madeline, and his two young children. Now he’s back, with no memory of where he’s been. The new Russell is kind, generous, loyal and loving. Should Madeline give him another chance?

Heroine and Hero: Once she made the mistake of marrying for money, but since Russell’s death, Madeline has been a devoted single and celibate mom, ready to launch her own clothing line. (Echoes of Kimora Lee Simmons?) Russell was once the king of the music business, known for his drinking, whoring, and wild ways. Now he wants to start again with Madeline, but when he learns that she will lose her financing for her line if they divorce, thanks to his airtight prenup, he begins to wonder what her motives are for staying in the marriage.

Setting: Wealthy New York City, mainly expensive homes and the headquarters of a thriving hip hop label and fashion house

Word on the Web:

The Grits Book Club, very positive

Amazon, 5 stars after 14 customer reviews

Racy Romance Review:

Byrd says that she got the idea for this book after watching the Richard Gere movie, Sommersby. This disheartened me at first, because everyone knows that the original, The Return of Martin Guerre, with Gérard Depardieu, was far superior, but once I tucked my film snobbery firmly away, I realized the return of a lost husband was a really great premise for a romance novel.

I knew I was not in Kansas anymore when the book began with a labor and delivery scene which had the heroine saying this:

“Relax?” she barked, her head ready to twist in a complete circle. “Don’t you dare tell me to relax when I know my husband is out screwing his big-booty, singing protege while I’m trying to squeeze out this child alone. … Drugs, I want drugs.”

To Love A Stranger was one of the most exciting category romances I have read, and from the opening scene I was hooked. I can honestly say I was surprised out of my socks at several points.

It was very sweet watching the romance develop between Russell and Madeline. They had always shared a physical attraction, which returned in full force, but conflict was generated by their sordid past: she really had married him for his name and his money, and he really was a lousy husband and father. I liked it that Madeline’s character was flawed — even to the present day, she wants very much to have her financial independence and own fashion line (although I must admit that latter was not well developed). And Russell’s memory loss, his shock at being treated like the swine he once was, and his desire to be close to a wife and children he couldn’t remember were very touchingly portrayed.

I had read one other “African American” romance prior to this one, and I couldn’t see any difference at all between it and all the other romances I had been reading. This novel definitely was more obviously about African American characters. Not only were Russell and his brother rap moguls, but terms like “hoochie mama”, and “ghetto” (as an adjective) were sprinkled throughout. Also, many of the hair references signaled the race of the characters:  Madeline’s hair is described as “silky ‘good hair’”, Russell’s hair is “low-cropped”, and some have finger waves, etc.

Probably the most interesting thing to me about the book was the way wealth was coded as immoral. This was so different from, say, the Harlequin Presents books, which read to me like a Milton Friedman wet dream, so full are they of capitalist propaganda (Sorry. My reddish stripes do show sometimes.).  A clear message underlying the text was that the wealth of the hero and heroine (in his case, born with it, and augmented by his business acumen; in her case, married into) was morally bankrupting in some way. The heroine’s money obsessed mother, and another minor female character who tried to use Russell to her financial advantage were also treated as corrupt.

At the end, some of the plot points got resolved a little too quickly and tidily, but such is the way of the category romance. A more annoying problem was the editing: way too many typos.

I don’t know how representative this book is for the Kimani line, or for the author, but I promise I will be reading more from both.

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