An entertaining erotic novel with punchy prose that gets at the emotion underneath the raunch.
Members of Alabama’s Black upper crust pursue sexual intrigues in this frisky romance.
Johnson’s story charts love lives amongst Birmingham’s financially successful Black bourgeoisie. The players include Dana, a call-center manager and poet who gives readings at fashionable nightspot Lucky’s Lounge; she’s having an affair with the venue’s owner, Token, a wealthy architect. Though she is raptly attentive to Token’s sexual demands—his nickname for her is M.B., which stands for “My Bitch”—Dana’s anger at him for refusing to divorce his wife Tiara is not appeased by gifts of jewelry or even an Audi R8 with a giant red bow on top. Then there’s Giselle, also known as DJ Jazzy G at radio station V99.4, who’s getting over a heartrending breakup when her pal Amber sends her a luscious nude photo of attractive car salesman Monty Jones; her flirty direct-message exchanges with Monty quickly escalate to phone sex. Giselle is momentarily put off when she learns that Monty is also a “sexual development companion” who had been hired by Amber to help her get her groove back, but she shrugs it off and signs up for Monty’s hands-on development services. Amber treats herself when she goes on a cruise with her boring bank-owner husband Gene and meets handsome private eye Leo on the Lido deck. After drugging Gene with a sedative, Amber repairs to Leo’s cabin for an assignation in which the illicit couple is joined by Leo’s cousin Ethan. The only one not seeing any action is poor Tiara, whose 20-year marriage to Token has frayed since she was waylaid by major depression and gained 60 pounds—her 8,000 square foot mansion feels like a “prison.” When Tiara and Dana both show up at Lucky’s 10th anniversary bash, the stage is set for tense confrontations that culminate in passion and fire.
Johnson’s yarn is cheerfully lubricious, with much parading of lingerie and lots of explicit sex. The characters are energetic and sharply drawn, if a bit two-dimensional—the two dimensions being lust and greed. (Contemplating marriage to Token, Dana “imagined getting her own black card and shopping limitlessly….getting to leave the workforce to be a stay-at-home housewife….it made her climax harder than she ever had before.”) There’s plenty of tawdry atmosphere, conveyed in evocative prose that sneaks some intelligent reflection beneath the characters’ impulsiveness. (“It took all I had not to burst out of there and beat her ass. But what would that do, huh? Get me banned from the club and lose out on my dream, that’s what.”) While the story is awash in sex, Johnson can also deftly evoke the plangent feelings that accompany a dying relationship: “When Token does make it home for dinner,” Tiara muses, “the conversation is scarce. We sit on opposite ends of our long, rectangular table, barely making eye contact.” The result is a fun, erotic romp that has a heart as well as a healthy libido.
An entertaining erotic novel with punchy prose that gets at the emotion underneath the raunch.Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2021
ISBN: 9798752074394
Page Count: 147
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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