So, it is fitting that I return with a post about books. Since I was eight years-old, reading and writing books has become one of my favorite past times. I am in a book club that never meets, but averages about twenty books a month. I easily surpass that if I have the time. So, I decided to recommend three very different books, which can enlighten anyone's personal library, whether you are an avid reader or not.
Intimate Seduction by Brenda Jackson
Brenda Jackson is my favorite author - period! Her stories are legendary. While, she tends to stick to the black romance fiction, the characters are generally well-rounded, educated, multi-dimensional and provocative. In her Steele series, she finally pens the story of die hard bachelor Donovan Steele, and his quest for the mysterious Natalie Ford. It is a great read, I actually read this in two sittings. Check out the foreword:
When a man finds a beautiful woman asleep in his bed...
...he has only one choice. To seduce her with a night of lovemaking she'll never forget. Trouble is, Donovan Steele's sultry new housekeeper is just as determined not to become the legendary playboy's latest conquest.
Trading the Ivy League for down South, Natalie Ford is helping out with her ailing aunt's housecleaning service. But she finds that this powerful, potent man of Steele ignites a different kind of chemistry - one that defies every law of attraction the science professor ever learned.
Natalie knows she has to come clean to Donovan about who she really is, especially when he starts believing she's out to sabotage his family business. Will she lose her chance to love the real man behind the seductive legend?
The Hunted by L.A. Banks
L.A. Banks is a literary genius when it comes to stories of the paranormal type. Her vampire huntress series is more popular than anything Anne Rice could ever write, and it would not surprise me if this series was ever picked up by one of the premier cable networks, because it is addictive. I fought getting any of these for some time. Banks, pens under Leslie Esdaile and Leslie Esdaile Banks with stories in the romance and adventure categories respectively. Yet, when she has a new vampire book coming out, lines are out the door and around the corner of bookstores. If you are into these type of books, you won't be disappointed, in fact, you'll surely be addicted.
The foreword:
A Neteru--a hunter or a huntress--is born every thousand years in favor of the Warriors of Light as they fight against the Dark Realms. But Damali Richards is the Millennium Neteru. The one who will play a pivotal role in the Final War. The Warriors of Light had been waiting for her and the Dark Realms will do anything to either possess or destroy her. What they did not account for was the man who would love her.
Damali Richard has been to hell and back--literally--and she is not eager to repeat the trip. A Vampire civil war has been averted, but there were casualties and she believes that Carlos Rivera, former lover turned master vampire, is one of them. His death has not only shaken her emotions, but weakened her powers as well. But then Damali gets word that horrific killings are taking place in Brazil. The vampire civil war has left a small door to hell open and new and dangerous foes have risen from the Dark Realms. The leader, a deadly female, is set on a path of destruction. However, her blood lust hides a nefarious plan and the newly resurrected Carlos Rivera is at the heart of it. But Damali is not about to lose her man a second time, so she plans to send this old girl right back to hell she came from--no matter who stands in her way.
Mercy Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye by Michael Eric Dyson
I don't know if I purchased this book because I love Michael Eric Dyson and his phenomenal intellectualism, or because as a little girl I had a big crush on Marvin Gaye. I was probably about five years-old when Marvin Gaye was killed, but his music still had quite an effect on me. I mean who doesn't like at least one of his songs? My awe of him stemmed from watching the Ebony Jet Showcase when they documented his exile to Europe. They showed a man deeply troubled, disappointed with life and hurt over the pain of losing his family, being in debt and feeling disconnected from the music industry. At the time when I saw the documentary, I was taking a vocal class. The golden rule was to sit on the edge of your chair, shoulders back, inhaling through the nose and using the diaphragm to hold notes and change registers. Marvin Gaye was in a flat in London. A band was setup in the living room. A drummer, bassist, guitarist and keyboard player. Marvin was literally lying down on his side, holding a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, with a microphone stand right by his mouth. He was singing a tune and sounding so astoundingly good, I couldn't breathe while I was watching it. Marvin just had a way about him, an effortless swagger that was as natural as breathing. So, I said all of that (sorry) to say that led me to buy Dyson's book.
This book doesn't disappoint. Dyson boldly delves into Gaye's troubled childhood, the suffocating strictness of being raised by Pentecostal parents, his rebellion against his father and distancing from his family as a teenager to travel with his doo wop band. He even discusses Marvin's tumultuous relationship with his wife, Anna Gaye and of course, his tense relationship with his brother-in-law, Berry Gordy. This book is interesting from start to finish. It provides an intimate glimpse that we don't hear about or see, check it out!
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