Uncatergorized

Books Reviews Are In The Eye of the Beholder…

Make You Mine by Niobia Bryant: Book Cover
Okay people, reviews for MAKE YOU MINE are coming in and so far its a toss up.  One reviewer hated it and another loved it.  Go figure.  I’m posting both.  Bad reviews don’t bother me because it is just one person’s opinion–and like behind’s we all have one.  I did a blog “Bad Reviews and Why I Love Them” once and in that blog I said:

I see writing as a continuing education and I look for every opportunity to make myself a better writer.”

“I personally read reviews (mine and other authors) because there is a lot to be learned by good ones and bad ones. I learned readers love steamy books with great character development via reviews. I learned readers hate stupid heroines via reviews. And I learned readers love some details– but not too many–via reviews. I could go on and on.

I truly believe this.  A writer who is open and responsive to valuable criticism can only improve as an author. [ My writer’s tip for the day. 🙂 ] 

So here is the bad review and then the good review.

Who are you to believe? The good one,  the bad one, or the best one–yourself. (Books available May1 wherever books are sold. HINT!)

Read away…

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THE BAD ONE: (Publisher’s Weekly)–asterisks represents spoilers that were removed

Newark native Bryant populates her hometown setting with clichĂ©d characters and stock plot lines. Newly unemployed secretary Caress Coleman finds solace in the arms of successful photographer Julius Jones, but their one-night stand results in Caress’s pregnancy. Mutual friends implausibly let Caress into Julius’s apartment while he is away on business. Julius allows Caress to remain despite the requisite doubts about paternity and cohabitation with a near-stranger. Their close proximity refuels their attraction, until Caress asserts her independence by moving out when she gets a new job. *** briefly raise tough issues of mistrust and responsibility that vanish in the abrupt resolution. Bryant’s fans may be pleased by connections with 2001’s Three Times a Lady, but there’s little else to recommend this tired urban romance. (May)

THE GOOD ONE: (Romantic Times Reviews 4 1/2 stars)
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Bryant’s latest turns out to be an extremely charming and intelligent take on a standard plot-line. The humor and growing love between the lead characters makes this a highly recommended read. Bryant has created two compassionate and lovable characters.
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Summary: Tamara has been trying to get Julius and Caress together for a date since forever. She just knows they’re meant to be together, but she can’t convince them. When the date finally happens, sparks fly and their one night stand is the definition of high combustion. But Julius is leaving the following morning for a three-month journey to Africa, and they both assume that it will end there. Fate has other plans, however, when Caress ends up pregnant, unemployed and homeless. (Dafina, May, 352, $6.99) 
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SIDE NOTE ALONG WITH SIDE EYE:  The PW reviewer’s mention of Caress moving into Julius’ apartment was an error. Most of the books takes place in Julius’ HOUSE–he never lived in an apartment and there was no mention of an apartment in the book.  (Okay, let it go, the writer tells herself . Relax, relate, release, Ni.)