Brooklyn. Tracy Brown. 2024. Griffin. 324 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]  So thankful to have been chosen to give a review of this book. I’ve been a fan of Tracy Brown and knowing this was her last piece of work made it extra special. Very “Coldest Winter Ever” – esque, I both loved and loathed Brooklyn. Life dealt her a bad time but she has a special knack for turning a bad hand into the worst possible scenario. The book had moments of intense momentum and other times it felt like it dragged – something I find consistent with Tracy Brown’s works. Thankfully, she endears you so strongly to the characters that you ride the wave with no objections. 5 stars.

  Anonymous Acts. Christina C. Jones. 2017. 364 pages. [Source:Kindle Unlimited.] ​As always, I devoured a great new book from CCJ. I had been reading samples leading up to its release, but was still pleasantly surprised with the plot twists and turns of Anonymous Acts. The book focuses in Monica Stuart’s legal woes, both for her once-thriving cosmetics company and for herself, as she faces murder charges in the death of her estranged husband. As much control as she exerts over the quality of her nail polishes, she can’t figure out why she’s getting nothing but bad reviews for her upcoming “Wicked Widow” line. This is followed, coincidentally, by the vicious murder of her philandering husband, leaving people to guess whether she took her new product line a little too literally. To make matters worse, her virtual friend with benefits, whom she’s never met, is arrested on suspicion of the murder.

The Bed We Made. Ivy Symone. 2016. 343 pages. [Source: Amazon Kindle Unlimited.] The Bed We Made is messy. Remarkably so. Nene is unhappily married to serial philanderer Tavion. When Tavion tells her about his new baby — with a side-chick — Nene decides she’s reached her breaking point.  She goes out with the intent of a one-night-stand, but doesn’t anticipate that being at the hands Asad “The Lion” Crawford, her nephew by marriage. The rest of this book follows Nene’s tumultuous relationships with Tavion and Asad.  She decides a side-baby is too much, and divorces Tavion, but she can’t seem to shake him from her life in any capacity.  Her conscience is guilty, but not so much so that she can leave Asad alone for good.   The two are constantly drawn to each other, and have explosive passion with worrisome results.  Not only does she have to contend with her role in the family after her divorce from Tavion, she also has to grapple with how her relationship could change if she decides to be with Asad.

The Heart Don’t Lie: Jewels’ Dilemma. Yasheca Lasha. 2016. 220 pages. Yasheca Lasha Publishing. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I’m not sure where to even begin, which I genuinely believe was the author’s main problem with this novel. A hard to follow plot, too many characters, and bad editing were the main issues, yet I think the true problem was the author tried to combine every novel she’s thought of and read into this one book. As an avid urban lit fan, I find the characters to be believable – in the “I can’t relate but I’m sure there’s people out there living this life” way. Perhaps an outline and some unbiased editors would have helped filter through the inconsistencies 16and awkward dialogues that made this book so taxing.