shanaepraystoo's reviews
875 reviews

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of Bookmarked by Bella Jay. I recently read 12:01 by the author and was so impressed that I figured I should delve into the rest of her catalog. 

While I thought the synopsis left quite a bit to my imagination, it definitely hooked me. I am glad that I read Bookmarked, but there are a few things about the book that left me disappointed.

I'll start with my likes:

Now, for my dislikes:

All in all, I think that Bookmarked is a beautiful love story about what happens when a woman does not take the time to find herself before committing to someone or something else. Bookmarked is sad but charming, handling some really serious issues about self-image, self-love, growth, and development in Black female characters (a subject all too often ignored in romance novels). 

I really enjoyed Bookmarked and am still impressed by Bella Jay's writing. If you're looking for a spicy book featuring a book nerd and a funny MMC, I highly recommend Bookmarked.

I understand that if it were a full length novel, Finding A Wife for My Husband would be very challenging to read. However, I think the novella needed more to be a real complete story. I could not "feel" the love or connection or chemistry between the MMC, Sincere, and the FMC, Faith, who was really hard to like, even when she was at her best in the story. The ending also felt really rushed.

The author should've taken the time to show us Faith meeting Sophia and setting up Sophia's "meeting" Sincere.

All in all, the subject matter is handled so tenderly that I do think Finding A Wife for my Husband deserves a read, but it is not my favorite book from the author, my favorite novella, or my preferred way of telling such a sensitive story. 

Kimberly Brown has done it again with Hold Me While You Wait, a love story about two people with similar backgrounds raising children alone.

As usual, Kimberly Brown handles very sensitive topics, like death, grief, body shaming, and abandonment, with a lot of care. The characters are diverse, well-rounded, and balanced. The story is well-written and engaging, I finished Hold Me While You Wait in a weekend! I couldn't want to put it down - I just had to learn how the story of Xander and Somya ended. And that is my favorite thing about Kimberly Brown's books - she makes you want to finish them. Hold Me While You Wait does not disappoint.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Joia and Theodore's story based on this cover of I Think I Might Need You by Christina C. Jones (CCJ). However, a quick google search showed some an updated cover and that cover really spells it all out! That said, I quickly found myself invested in the love story of Joia and Theodore - expecting a HEA with a wedding and all at the conclusion of the story.

CCJ's storytelling is impressive, as always, but I found the depiction of Theodore to be pretty good. He and his cameraman were funny to me.

I was not really feeling the surprise pregnancy or the way Joia, who's not some young 20 something, reacted toward the entire situation. But, I really liked that CCJ drove home Joia's lack of self-love and low self-esteem, which explains the character's obsession with building her body and being fit. I found that to be an interesting take on the surprise pregnancy aspect of the novella and it also makes it a bit more worthwhile.

All in all,  I Think I Might Need You by CCJ is a solid story, but in my opinion it is not as good as book 1 of the series, I Think I Might Love You, yet it does make me want to read the last book in the series. 

Lastly, I have to celebrate the narrators who do a fabulous job of making "I Think I Might Need You" come to life. Dana La Voz and Dontavious Breighton. 

Spice: 2 out of 5 stars

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life was sooooo cute. My kinda romance story. I wish it was full length so I could learn more about Reese and Noah too. Diverse and unconventional Black characters falling in love will always be my jam. Very fast paced with some unrealistic instalove sprinkled in but what do you expect? It’s a novelette. Last Night A DJ Saved My Life is a great book to help you reach any monthly/yearly reading goals, get out of a book slump, or to help you regroup after some heavy reading. 

After reading the entire Speechless: When Love Hurts series, I can't say that I am happy with the ending but I'm not disappointed either. The story follows a group of friends, Brooke, Erica, Anthony, and David. Initially Brooke, Anthony and David are the closest, having "grown up together," but after Brooke and Anthony begin dating (and ultimately marrying), David finds love with Erica, she is brought into the friend group. 

On a drunken college night, Erica and Brooke share a kiss that really stays with Erica. She proposes to her boyfriend David that they have a threesome with Brooke. Unbeknownst to Erica, however, David has had a longtime crush on Brooke that he only put to the side out of respect for his friendship with Anthony, who he considers his best friend. The threesome happens, Brooke, Erica, and David decide to keep the night's events a secret from Anthony. 

But Brooke and David begin having a secret affair - deceiving Erica and Anthony.

Of course what is done in the dark comes to the light, relationships and friendships end, and a marriage is put to the ultimate test.

The book ends with varying perspectives from each of the main characters, Brooke, Erica, Anthony, and David, along with perspectives from secondary characters, Meechi and Markie. The end is buttoned up nicely, leaving no unanswered questions for readers, which I appreciate.

There are countless spelling and grammatical errors in this series, Speechless: When Love Hurts Book 3 has an unbelievable amount of filler writing, and the internal monologues can be a bit repetitive. And one of the worst things about the book is the ideology that people don't need therapy, just Jesus. Even as a Christian reader who is not in therapy, it is offensive to me, so I can only imagine how much worse or triggering this point could be for people who have church hurt or are in therapy. However, if you can get beyond all that, there's an engaging hood story with lots of drama that will keep you turning the pages.

Spice: 1 out of 5 stars

Speechless: When Love Hurts keeps the same energy of Book 1 and author BriAnn Danae does not let up at all. Though fast paced with some pretty stereotypical characters: gangsters, dope boys and wannabe bosses, strippers and “ghetto girls,” the story is still pretty engaging and there’s a significant amount of character development that is uncommon in urban lit. This book, book 2, ends with a cliffhanger that lets readers know that D-Rock and Brooke just might get what they deserve for being a liars and a cheaters. Hopefully book 3 does a good job at wrapping up the many loose but interconnected ends for a solid urban lit trilogy. 

I've read Behind the Scenes by Christina C. Jones (CCJ), so I am aware of her writing. However, Behind the Scenes is one of the author's newest releases and people keep recommending her previous works. Unsure of where to start, I found the Love Sisters series from CCJ on Everand and just decided to jump in with I Think I Might Love You.

I did not know what to expect, yet somehow CCJ overdelivered with this novella. Despite the length, there is so much character development with the FMC, Jaclyn Love, and the MMC, Kaden Davenport. There is even substantial scene development with the history of Blakewood, where this story takes place. The diverse cast is relatable and lovable. Phenomenal writing and great storytelling on CCJ's part.

I really enjoyed learning about Jaclyn and Kaden. I am going to continue the series knowing that there will be more of those 2 (and Miss Thing) in future books.

I listened to the audiobook, which featured two narrators I have not heard from before: Dana La Voz and Dontavious Breighton. Both did a great job performing I Think I Might Love You. I am excited to hear from them in the next two Love Sisters books. 

Spice: 2 out of 5 stars

The only thing stopping Baggage Claimed from being a 5 star novella for me is the awful twist that happens about 80% into the story. I was super invested in the instalove meet-cute of Ryan and Will, all for it to go straight to hell. I sat with the book for a second thinking, "Why did Alexandra Warren do this?" I've only read one of her previous books, I know she has a huge audience in the Black Booktok community. I was left fuming because I thought I was sold yet another bad Booktok recommendation. However, after sitting with the book for a little while, I can only assume that Warren wanted to bring something to Baggage Claimed

that made it a bit more realistic and also to drive home the point about not settling, experiencing real love, and yada yada yada

. I suppose the author accomplished what she set out to do did that but I think she sacrificed the story for it and it wasn't necessary.

I listened to the audiobook, read by [the illustrious] Winston James and Wesleigh Siobhan, who are a literal match in audiobook heaven. They're the perfect narrators for Baggage Claimed and they really bring the story to life.

I’ve never read anything by Peyton Banks before but when I saw this novella on Everand, I just had to give it a listen. 

I’m not familiar with this series but this quick read was pretty good. I really liked Rashad and Yani. If you’re looking for a quick spicy read, pick up Knockin’ The Boots. 

The narrator, Ja’Air Bush is also really good. Can’t believe I haven’t seen her name on other audiobooks in the romance and mystery genres that I read.