Rating: 
Summary: Another Master Piece
Review: Bling, Bling...E. Lynn is bad.I was so excited to open the book and see that Raymond was back. Raymond is my all time favorite character. He has returned to New York and accepted a position as CEO for an Urban Magazine Bling, Bling. Zola Norwoood is the pretty and innovative editor for Bling, Bling. She seems to have everything going in her favorite except a man to call her own. Basil is Basil. I said I wasn't going to read another book if Basil was included but I was at the bookstore when they unlocked the door. I'm hooked. I can't get enough. Some fans seem to be disappointed but I wasn't. I enjoyed the story line immensely and can't wait until next summer. Stay strong E. Lynn Harris. You are still #1.
Best wishes and stay blessed!
Rating: 
Summary: It was awright, I guess
Review: This is the first E. Lynn Harris book that didn't really move me. Something about the plot left me kinda cold, or maybe it was the characters (I'm a little old to try to relate to characters in their 20s, the same age as my kids), or maybe it was the writing itself. I found it annoying that I had to figure out who the "I" was at the beginning of each chapter. And what's with all those tags? He said, I said, he said, I said. Hell, if there's only two people having a conversation most readers are intelligent enough to know who's talking without having to have it pointed out to us.
Just okay. I hope his next is better.
Rating:
Summary: Two days after finishing it, I am still confused . . .
Review: About whether I liked this book or not. I read "Not a Day Goes By" first and then "Any Way the Wind Blows" and now "A Love of My Own," which is sort of another in this "series" featuring many of the same characters . . . In this one we're introduced to Zola Norwood, who thinks she has found the formula for love - or, rather, avoiding the need for love - by having three men in her life that each has qualities found in the Mr. Right so many women seek. Zola realizes that all such qualities can't possibly exist in one man alone; she has multimillionaire Davis McClinton as her older, married lover, who buys her gifts and has her running her own magazine (titled "Bling Bling") within his corporation and buys her extravagant gifts ... he's her sugar daddy. With Jabar, her personal trainer, Zola has found the perfect lean, mean sex machine; Jabar may have no personal aspirations past being a personal trainer to Jennifer Lopez, but in bed - WOW! Like Davis satisfies her material needs, Jabar MORE THAN satisfies her physical needs. Then there's Hayden, gay and one of Zola's best friends in the world, who will listen and be there for her and tell her to stop being a wimp when she most needs to hear it. Hayden satisfies Zola emotionally. With these three men, she reasons, who could ask for more? Meanwhile Raymond Winston Tyler Jr., one of Harris's longest-running and most loved characters, has moved to NYC after the break-up of his long relationship with Trent in Seattle. Turns out Trent got a woman in his office pregnant after feeling "neglected" by Raymond for so long. This violates Raymond's ideal that that "one true love" still exists for him, so his move back to NYC is something he's actually looking forward to - although it also means being in the same town as Basil Henderson (my favorite of Harris's characters), who is a committment-phobic bisexual that Raymond has always been attracted to (and even shared an evening in a pool with in a previous novel). But Raymond has just taken a job as CEO of "Bling Bling" and is determined to start a new life ... Each chapter in the book is in the first person, with Zola and Raymond alternating chapters. Basil and Yancey, the dramatic forces behind both previous novels in this "series," are extremely minor characters in this one. I think that, while I liked this book alot, the problem I have with it is that there really isn't a plot. Basically, it reveals more of Zola and Raymond's characters and lives, in pure E. Lynn Harris soap-operatic style, but nothing really HAPPENS until the World Trade Center bombing, which changes the lives of nearly all the New Yorkers portrayed here. Zola begins to realize that maybe life can hold more for her, after all, and becomes discontent with the world she's set up for herself. Raymond begins therapy and becomes even more certain that what he wants is True Love - but also maybe even more certain that True Love may not exist. When Zola tells Davis she can no longer continue their "relationship" as is, that's when the you-know-what hits the fan. Unfortunately, this comes along pretty far into the book, and until then none of Harris's characters are particularly proactive about DOING anything! Life just sort of "happens" to them, there is no real tension or drama or conflict. Compare this to the two previous novels and you see the difference BIG-TIME; no one here is out to get the other, there is no real action in this book, until Zola ends her relationship with Davis, who in turn vows his revenge. Yancey's subplot is sort of lame - she becomes the target of what is supposedly a false and libelous article Zola publishes in "Bling Bling" about her drug use; Ava, Yancey's mother, has a tiny part where she does her usual drama, but in the end what she does seems taken right out of a bad Aaron Spelling soap opera. Basil, who seemed at the end of "Any Way the Wind Blows" to finally be on the straight and narrow with the birth of his daughter, seems through much of this book to be back to his old playa self, all cocky and bascially one big walking hormone (was disappointed by this a LOT). But, as usual with Harris, most everything turns out okay in the end. To me, though, it all felt "forced" - in some ways, this book felt like it was written by someone else; as if another author took many of the same characters and did HIS spin on them. Weird sensation. I would recommend it as a "stand-alone" book, or for the fact that it's stylisticaly not bad and is overall a decent read. But to the fans of E. Lynn Harris's characters ... well, these seem sort of pale imitations of the "people" I'd grown to love and care about in past novels; less three-dimensional. They deserve better. Yancey was reduced to a caricature. Basil seemed like the "bad seed" portion of his previous self. Ava was just totally unbelievable. Raymond, fortunately, wasn't as whiny as in past novels - I actually sort of liked him in this one. But I really liked Zola - she's awesome - and Jabar is my newest E. Lynn Harris crush, probably also my favorite character in the book because he seems (even in his small part) to be the most three-dimensional. I wouldn't mind reading about either of them again, either. But with a too-tidy ending, not enough plot, and the letdown of characters you've grown to love acting OUT of character, my recommendation of Harris's newest is lukewarm at best. Was just looking forward to such much more ...
Rating: 
Summary: This is too hard to read
Review: I bought this book on 8/12/02, and now it's November and I still haven't gotten past the second chapter. It's as if I hit a wall, and couldn't go any further. I like a book that has a story. Beginning, middle, end. I have a writing book that says you should only have ONE main character. This book broke that rule right off. First you're reading about one character, then you're reading about another one...there's no structure. I'm afraid I just can't handle episodic writing. It's as if Lynn Harris was writing a script for a soap opera instead of a novel. I own two books by E. Lynn Harris: his first, Invisible Life, and this one. The first was the best by a long shot. While it's interesting how some of the characters from that first novel had evolved...they alone couldn't hold my interest in this book. Sorry, Mr. Harris, maybe next time.
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: I have read all the books that E. Lynn Harris has written and this was the worst. The story just didn't make any sense. It was drawn out and so boring, I skipped and skimmed through the last few chapters so that I could finish it. Wish this time I had borrowed it from the library instead of purchasing it, I wouldn't felt so bad about it. Just wasted my money.
Rating: 
Summary: Was there a deadline????
Review: Well, this was not the best of the eight books that ELH has written. Believe me when I say this. It's good to have a seriously positive African American gay character, but why does Ray have to keep pining over Basil? And what's up with the hazel-eyed thing? Simialr to being color struck... Not a bad book overall. Some variety, some slight surprises, and an old story line (remember the one book by ELH that wasn't a part of this series, but is one of his eight published?). Still, I'm giving him his props.
Rating:
Summary: Less than expected
Review: This novel seemed formulaic -- following the "How to Write a Novel" guidelines. It didn't take long before I became annoyed by the name dropping. There are so many better writers in the world, I can't imagine how this one has become so popular.
Rating:
Summary: So Let Down.....
Review: I am sorry to say that I was so disappointed. I too am a very big ELH fan and this book fell way short of his others. He tried to pick it up a notch at the end but, at that point the ending was so predictable that I read on just to finish the book. Mr Harris has and can do much MUCH better than this one. No love lost though E Lynn Harris is still one of my favorite authors.
Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: Okay this is E.Lynn Harris we're talking about so he gets some credit for that alone. He hardly ever dissapoints me. The book was okay but I felt it was slow as well as kind of boring. I thought it would have been a little more interesting but it wasn't . If I were you don't waste the money on hardbook get paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Say it a'int so...
Review: Oh gosh...I am so sorry and disapointed. I am ELH's #1 fan. I wait for his books to hit the store and go for it, even without reading the review on the book. Trust me when I say I have all his books. This book was short of everything and boring. Unsually, it took me forever to finish it...that's how unhooked I was. ELH, we know your skills. Give more appeal and drama...more humph! more sex. The characters were boring to the core. And ol' boy Basil Henderson...com'on now! he is a freak in all ways, but was not depicted as such. Seems like with fatherhood, he found religion...please. Raymond Tyler was already a boring character from previous books, so I really had no expections for him. How can someone be so goody-goody? But his day dreaming kep me reading. Zola..I couldnt wait to get past her story. Quite frankly, Raymond added a bit of spark to the book that was short of intrigue. And what is up with the head shrink? what ws her motivation? what was her role? Nonetheless, I wont stop giving you and your publishers my money, but you gotta give me some juice to keep the blood flowing.
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