Let Me Love You by Alexandria House (A Book Review)

On the heels of her divorce, Jo Walker’s secured station in life is due to child support and alimony payments from her ex-husband Sidney. Although she has financial stability, peace is not always hers to own as she is often reminded by Sidney that he is the sole benefactor of it all. Nonetheless, she focuses on raising their daughter and advancing in her burgeoning career as a jeweler.

Everett “Big South” McClain is a rapper who has sworn off love after his divorce. Casual romantic connections are safe and less complicated for him, until he meets Jo. Like no woman he has previously met, he cannot get her out of his mind. The only issue is Jo is not exactly enamored with him or his status. But Everett proves to be persuasive and soon the attraction between the two heats up. But their relationship is met with resistance from several parties: their former spouses being the biggest opponents.

The story was entertaining. I like the care that Everett showed toward Jo. He was constantly building her up when she tended to lean toward her insecurities. I liked that Jo stood her ground in many instances during her relationship with Everett. The way their connection developed was relatively realistic by showing slight resistance. The only mark I have against the book is that the story could have been a little shorter. However, it was a good story.

Rating 9/10

Stay With Me by Alexandria House (A Book Review)

Angela Strickland has struck out twice at love. She has reconciled within herself that a future where real love reigns supreme is not in the cards for her. She settles fully in her life as a successful hair vlogger. To earn additional money, she rents the other side of her duplex.

Ryan Boye is in town on work assignment. He’s a corporate career man, who likes to keep things causal in his romantic relationships. He is the epitome of “hit it and quit it” and determines to stand ten toes down in that philosophy.

In an effort to make his stay feel a little more like home, he leases a place and his path crosses with Angela. What he finds is that Angela is not the typical woman he’s accustomed to. His fascination with her is deep and leaves him confused.

Angela may have sworn off love, but what she cannot deny is her attraction to her tenant Ryan. However, she is determined to keep things professional between them. How will things play out between these two?

This was a fantastic love story. Ryan and Angela’s mutual attraction heated up the pages (well audio for me; I listened to the audio version). Alexandria House’s books have been on my TBR list for some time. This is the first book I’ve read from her, but certainly not my last. Her storytelling is phenomenal. I am about to dive deep into her other books. Looking forward to it. I have a lot of catching up to do. I suspect it’s going to be a fun and wild ride.

Rating 10/10

Walking In My Joy In These Streets by Jenifer Lewis (A Book Review)

As Jenifer said in her own words about this book in the epilogue, ” Auntie ain’t playing in this one.”  Truer words couldn’t have been spoken concerning this beautiful collection of Jenifer’s journey of life as she lives it. There was never a dull moment reading Walking In My Joy In These Streets. It was a joy to soak in all the lovely and sage wisdom oozing through the pages.

Jenifer Lewis’ larger than life personality shined throughout this book. It was laugh out loud funny at times. Other times, it was profoundly reflective. I was inspired by her ability to always push through and own who she is in her fullness.
All of her experiences led her face to face with herself, which she revels in with raw honesty. Jenifer’s bravery of walking in her truth is a testament to the gift she truly is.

I found Jenifer’s honesty in the book refreshing. I especially love the balance she struck between the funny and weightier nuances of life discovered along the way. This book was a fantastic read.

Rating 10/10

The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West (A Book Review)

Sara King, an expectant mother, appears in Memphis under the cloak of hidden truths to start life anew. She arrives at a boarding house ran by a fiesty but warm matriarch named Mama Sugar. Shortly after Sara arrives, she gives birth to a son she names Lebanon.

They’re embraced as family by Mama Sugar, her husband Mr. Vanellys, their grandson William, the boarders and some of the people in community. Sara’s hard exterior starts to soften. It all but vanishes when she starts a romance with William’s teacher, Jonas.

Sara’s embraces her newfound joy. But when the past collides with the present, it brings with it the possibility of forever altering the future for Sara and the people in her life both now and in the future.

There were so many profound moments in this story. The writing was impeccable and poignant. This story will stay with me always. Some of the quotes that both moved me and gave me pause were as follows:

“Well, what’s done is done but I found out when people go through hard places, they don’t need tough’ an they don’t need coddling. They need mercy.” ~Mr. Vanellys

“Friendships are strange evolving collections of laughter and fights and secrets, this rarified brew of humanity you choose to share with another person. And I want that again. To feel close to someone. To share with someone.” ~Sara

“So if you struggle or see someone struggling, seek understanding. You don’t know the wars people fight on the inside. No one save the Lord knows about those inside battles.” ~ Sara’s mother.

“No one likes to own the harm they did to others, it makes them hurt in a forever kind of way.” ~ Sara

“Everything we go through reshapes us, makes us new.”~ Cora

Rating: 10/10

Mrs. Wiggins by Mary Monroe (A Book Review)

Maggie Franklin grew up in a family of ill-repute. Her mother was a former prostitute, while her father was the town drunk. She becomes really fast friends with Hubert Wiggins. Hubert, comes from a prominent family in their community of Lexington, Alabama. Both Maggie and Hubert knows deep things about each other that solidifies their friendship.

As they grow up, Hubert becomes one of the most eligible bachelors in their town. Maggie, on the other hand is not so lucky. Both of their parents however, are pressuring them to get married. Neither of them are interested in marriage at the time. However, in an attempt to stop the parental pressure, they make a pact to marry one another. Their family is complete when their son Claude is born.

The Wiggins become the most revered family in Lexington. Maggie now has a charmed life. She’s the daughter-in-law of a pastor, her husband runs the family funeral business and works part-time at the turpentine mill, and she’s the doting mother to a wonderful son.

All is going great until her son grows up and becomes involved with a young woman named Daisy. Daisy proves to be a very challenging person. Claude’s relationship with Daisy sets a domino effect of events in Mrs. Wiggins life that threatens all that is good in it.

I enjoyed this story a lot. It showed how life can turn out, depending on how the person living it perceives the circumstances that they’re faced with. It was a story loaded with life lessons. I was hooked from start to finish.

Rating 9/10

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan (A Book Review)

Jocelyn was a young girl born into the aristocratic Holt family. Her parents are Lady Virginia and Lord Alexander Holt of Lake Hall. Her young life is suddenly upended when her nanny Hannah, disappears from her life. When Jocelyn inquires of why Hannah has left, her mother says Hannah has left because Jocelyn was a bad girl. In the years after Hannah’s disappearance, the distance between Jocelyn and her mother Virginia grows deeply. She moves to the U.S, gets married, and has a daughter named Ruby. While she’s away her father dies. She did not attend the funeral. When her husband Chris dies, she reluctantly moves back to England to her childhood home, Lake Hall. When she returns, the distance is almost deafening between Virginia and Jo, a new and shortened name that Jocelyn insists on being called.

Ruby is a spirited young girl who loves her grandmother. Virginia takes to Ruby and admires her spunk. However, Jo does not want Ruby to be influenced by her mother. One day while Ruby and Jo are at Lake Hall, a skull is found in the lake. Jo’s mind turns immediately to wondering if this is her nanny that disappeared all those years ago. Many sinister developments begin to unfold. Jo can’t decide who or what to believe.

It took me longer than I wanted to read this book. It wasn’t boring, it was just slow taking off. Once it got under way, though, it was pretty interesting. As things started coming to light, I got the sense that nothing was as it seemed. My least favorite character would have to be Jo. She kept questioning her intuition. Even her daughter Ruby accepted her own intuitions more than Jo did. It took so long for her to see the writing on the wall, in my opinion. Although the book took a while for me to get into it, it was ok.

Rating 6.5/10

As a reader, are you a book snob?

What are your thoughts on listening to audiobooks? Do you turn your nose up at it? Or do you embrace it? I have a confession to make. I used to be a book snob. I felt like listening to an audiobook did not constitute as reading. I was converted years ago after joining a book club. I cannot remember the book selection where I first started listening to an audiobook. I do remember some books not being readily available in the written format when I needed them to be. On several occasions, when I tried to check out a book at my local library, it was already checked out. To avoid waiting, I swallowed my pride and downloaded the audiobook to “get started”. I was immediately hooked. I loved being able to get immersed in the stories immediately. Another bonus was being able to wash dishes, wash my car or do numerous other things where it would have been difficult to do so with a physical book.

With that said, I still prefer a physical book. It’s a beautiful feeling to sit in solitude reading with either a cup of tea, glass of wine, or just the book itself. The feel of the book or sometimes even the smell is amazing. But reading in any form, is always a magical thing. And I’ll take it any way I can.