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

My Other Husband By Dorothy Koomson (A Book Review)

Cleo Forsum, a novelist, is relatively successful in most aspects of her life. She writes best sellers, turned those best sellers into a successful TV show, and has a loving husband and extended family. So why does she want to abandon it all to start anew? When people close to her start turning up hurt or dead, it is evident that something sinister is lurking in the shadows beckoning her to leave it all behind. These criminal acts are almost identical to the crimes in her best-selling novels, which gives reason to the police to be doubtful of Cleo’s innocence.

Cleo just wants the violence to end. Will her compliance with the demand from a figure from her past be enough to stop the bloodshed?

This book was a slow burn. The story became predictable quite early on. About the halfway mark, the predictability was laid right out in the open only to twist ever so slightly and on to another trajectory making this a beautifully treacherous ride. My only grievance was that the book was a bit too long, it could have been shorter. I will be reading more from Dorothy Koomson though, she has tickled my fancy for her other work.

Rating 8/10

Holler, Child by Latoya Watkins (A Book Review)

Eleven powerfully rich stories are the building blocks that compile this masterpiece.

In “Cutting Horse”, a story set against the backdrop of the recent police killings towards black citizens, introduces us to a former drug dealer/ horse breeder who gave up life as he knew it for his college educated wife. Although, he got a piece of the American dream for himself and his family as a homeowner in a HOA community, his free spirit is chained and stifled. When a horse breaks loose and stumbles onto his property, he and the horse connect, and he is reminded of the inner freedom he tucked away so long ago.

Highlighted quote: “Black boys need two things, a man to help form them and something they could look away to.”

In “Sweat”, a woman’s resentment of her husband’s existence grew to epic proportions one evening.

Highlighted quote: “He always choosing the wrong damn thing”.

In “Everything’s Fine”, a young pastor openly expresses his displeasure in his wife’s downward spiral. He ends his diatribe of disappointment in her by entertaining thoughts of a separation. She in turn blames him for ruining her life. She blames her biological daughter for her sudden hate of children. All this juxtaposed with the outward display of her seemingly gracious service of being a foster mother. She silently seeks retribution in the most sinister way.

Highlighted quote: “God make folks just the way he want them.”

Highlighted quote: “Makeup couldn’t cover the ruin of her life.”

This collection of stories blew me away. I often had to sit in a reflective state after reading. Judgement is turned inside out as the characters present the depths of their reality. Watkins knows how to get to the heart of a matter and arrest the reader and make us invested in what is being shared.

Watkins is a fearless writer who reached down in the crevices of the human experience to extract choices, pain, regret, sorrow, and trauma and fine-tuned it to create literary gold.

I am in awe of her stories and looking forward to reading more from her. She is a force to be reckoned with in the literary world for sure. Now, I must back track and check out her debut novel, Perish.

Rating: 10/10

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie (A Book Review)

Afi is a young Ghanaian girl who marries Elikem in a marriage arranged by his family, the wealthy Ganyos. Afi, her mother, Elikem, and his family are all in agreement with the arrangement, but for very different reasons. Afi feels an obligation to restore her mother’s status in society after her father’s death contributed to their lowered status within their community and family. Afino, Afi’s mother, has agreed to this arranged marriage because she feels an obligation to the Ganyo family due to the matriarch of the Ganyo family helping her and her daughter financially in many ways after the death of her husband. Elikem Ganyo agrees to this marital arrangement because of the obligation he feels not to go against his mother and family’s wishes in public. The Ganyo family arranged this entire marriage because of their disapproval of the relationship Elikem has with a Liberian woman named, Muna. She is the mother of his young daughter, Ivy and by their accounts does not respect their traditions or their family.

After Afi marries Elikem in a traditional Ghanaian ceremony, in which he did not attend, their life as a married couple begins. Afi starts to see the comfort and status symbols of what it is like to live as a wealthy young wife. However, certain things become very apparent within her marriage to Elikem. Reality comes into focus when she makes her desires for an ordinance marriage known to Elikem. She has tough decisions to make that will carry a lot of weight no matter what she chooses.

I loved seeing different things unfold within the story. The cultural aspect of the story was very intriguing to read. As a person from another country whose culture is very different from that of the characters, I had to allow myself to sit in that reality and feel the weight of all the challenges several of the characters faced. It was a great experience reading this. It forced me to view several events within the story through a different cultural lens. I recommend reading this rich and well written account of a young woman’s decision of what she will accept and embrace in her life.

Rating: 8/10