A former Atlanta Hawks basketball star meets a potential love interest in Plummer’s debut romance novel.
Nehemiah Shepherd has lost faith in life. Once a professional athlete, he now lives with his aunt, who’s into the Bible, the Buddha and tarot cards. Auntie often has visions, including one about a woman she says that Nehemiah will meet, and soon he’s approached by a lady who’s “thick but sexy.” Saundra, a woman of color in her 40s, makes a move on him, which is uncharacteristic of her. It turns out that both Saundra and Nehemiah can hear other people’s thoughts, including each other’s. The two quickly become a couple, and they have a soulful, erotic connection. For a time, he turns away from other women who look to him for money and status, in order to focus on Saundra. Auntie believes that Nehemiah has a healing destiny to fulfill, to help “rebuild the wall” of Saundra’s trust in men. Both Nehemiah and Saundra find their relationship to be a source of pleasure and discomfort: Nehemiah is overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings and his own unhappy romantic past, while Saundra struggles with her previous mistreatment by men. She’s bisexual, and sometimes she and Nehemiah are joined in their lovemaking by another woman; she’s also a Christian, and often lectured by those who wish to talk her out of her sexual orientation. This novel is the first in a planned trilogy, and Nehemiah and Saundra will presumably return for the sequels. Their relationship is well-developed here, revealing their strong sexual natures in a story that’s steamy but tamer than E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey (2011). Their fear of intimacy leads to various difficulties, including extended separations; Nehemiah sometimes distances himself for months at a time, which triggers Saundra’s alcoholic relapses and her on-and-off affair with a married man. The character of Auntie is a gem, and other charming supporting characters include Saundra’s gay friend Antwon and Nehemiah’s witty pal Dante. At the book’s end, there’s a sense that Saundra’s desires and Nehemiah’s accommodations will land the pair in muddy waters in the future.
A solid, erotic story with well-crafted characters, and the promise of more drama to come.
Pub Date: March 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1483408019
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
