Rating: 
Summary: Short but sweet
Review: Each writer who contributed to the anthology has a distinctive and perceptive voice and they all lend themselves well to the literary flavor of Got to Be Real. E. Lynn Harris does a marvelous job with Money Can't Buy Me Love. As usual, his writing is sensitive, funny, engaging, and shocking. Harris always delves into areas that might not be common knowledge as far as non-heterosexual relationships, yet the required emotional bond is there: pain, love, fear, and hope, so readers should be able to identify with this moving and memorable story; one that made me sad to see it end. Marcus Major heaps more of his hilarious writing with Kenya and Amir. He has a fine flair for male/female relationship issues and tackles them with much humor and sophistication. Major's writing gets better and better, and if you enjoyed Good Peoples, you should also love this novella. In Cafe Piel, Eric Dickey throws us a curve. What? No L.A. streets and freeways? Not exactly. This time he shows us that love and longing can happen even in the most foreign places (Mexico). The story includes some mad drama, and as a warning, you'd better brush up on your Spanish because the love connection here takes place between a brother and a woman whose English ain't so great, but her ability to captivate the main character, Bobby Davis, is what counts the most, so it seems. Colin Channer is like a word master. His words took me places I've never been before. His writing is thoughtful and detailed, and his story is a like a ride through the park on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. All in all the stories were wonderfully written, a must have for any collector of African-American stories at its grandest.
Rating: 
Summary: They have done it again....
Review: These stories will touch your heart. Real men talking honestly about falling in and being in love. You've got to read this ! For EJD lovers...this is Bobby's story !
Rating:
Summary: Got to be Good!
Review: This collection of four short stories does not disappoint. Written by four of the leading African Ameican novelists of the past few years, it offers many intriguing perspectives on love and romance in the modern world. Especially as a fan of Eric Jerome Dickey and E. Lynn Harris (and thereby more familar with their work), I was curious as to how they would make the transition from novel form to the novella, or short story form. In both cases, they were able to pull off the character and story development very well. As for the other two contributors to this anthology (Colin Channer and Marcus Major), they have found a new fan! In particular, Mr. Major's novella left me wanting more. Here's to a job well done. In the future, I hope that many other best selling authors follows suit and treats their readers to such a sampling of their work.
Rating:
Summary: Reeled me in
Review: Got to Be Real was a good introduction for me to the "ethnic" romance genre. I've not had the time to indulge in romance novels and this was a good read. The Eric J. Dickey story I didn't enjoy as much because it felt more like an outline of a work in progress, or maybe it's his style? however he can really turn a phrase! And although my baby bro' has had copies of E. Lynn Harris' books around I never got a chance to read it. He's a very good story teller, though honestly it feels strange to read about males who have "'tude and talk" like a woman?? Now for my favorites: Unlike other reviewers I thought Marcus Major's Amir and Kenya to be truly real, it had me turning pages and keeping my fingers crossed! Colin Channer has got the gift! He is one talented brother and can weave descriptive visuals with teasing emotion. I give his story 5 stars! This collection of stories, though uneven in quality, was definitely worth my time and has made me want to seek out other books by most of the authors. Go ahead Reader, indulge!
Rating: 
Summary: Let's Be Real!!
Review: I had to give this book only three stars because it wasn't really what I expected. I don't really like ERIC JEROME DICKEY'S writing but I thought he did a good job with this one. I have to say that it was a little slow at first but it picked up and turned out to be pretty good. The stories by E. LYNN HARRIS and MARCUS MAJOR were absolute page turners! I didn't want them to end!!! On the other hand, it took me forever to read COLIN CHANNER'S story! It wasn't my idea of a love story and it was poorly written.
Rating:
Summary: The Soul of Men
Review: In "Got to Be Real", four African-American male authors give us their different views on love and relationships. All four authors present fascinating stories of hard to forget characters. The writing style of these four authors offers up enough variety to keep the reader interested enough to stay up half the night flipping pages to get to the next story. I reread Marcus Major's story of Kenya and Amir 3 times because I worried so much about these folks and what happened when I turned the last page. He wove a story of two lovers who you want to see succeed so bad that you fear the end and yet want to experience the pain or joy anyway. I already preordered his next book "Four Guys and Trouble" due out shortly. E. Lynn Harris shares a love story that also demands your emotional involvement. I appreciate having a deeper understanding of what my gay friends experience and being reminded that love is love. Colin Channer is a new author to me but one which I will continue to follow as his story took me into a land I am not familiar with, but have now developed an appreciation. Eric Jerome Dickey serves up another tale of man's struggle with following a dream and finding the right woman along the way. This book belongs in everyone's library. Don't be the only one without a copy and don't loan it out either.
Rating: 
Summary: One story in this whole books is really good.
Review: Eric Jerome Dickey - Cafe Piel
Marcus Major - Kenya and Amir
E. Lynn Harris - Money Can't buy me love
Colin Channer - I'm still waiting
I saw the reviews for this book, and seeing so many who thought this book was worthy of a 4 or 5 rating, I thought I would enjoy this book. I was very, very, very, very disappointed, and this book is not as great as a lot of the reviews state. The only story I really enjoyed was Marcus Major's story. This was the best story in the book. I laughed a lot while reading this story, but this story felt real. It's something I've been through. I know exactly what Kenya's character was feeling "guard your heart". Kenya is the type of woman who guarded her heart, and when she allowed herself to open up and allow Amir in, and when he hurt her she was ready (even though she loved him) to keep him out of her life. Amir's mother is a wise, wise woman, and her suggestions to him really made Amir think. Kenya and Amir is the only story out of the four I enjoyed. The stories love scenes were great, I think it's really wonderful to read the male point of view regarding sexuality. This story alone I give a 5 stars.
I did not like Eric Jerome Dickey's story at all. The story is about Bobby who is a freelance photographer going in search of another man for thousands of dollars he is owed, and he ends up in Mexico. While there he ends up falling for Alejandria, who for some reason is dating the very sleeze bag that Bobby is looking for. The story is about forbidden love, but it was slow, and very, very dull. This story was so slow paced and uninteresting, it took me 5 long days to read it. This story lacked substance, and I had to really struggle to finish, and by the end of the story I almost put the book down. The best part of the story was the end of the story. I gave Eric's story 1 star.
The last story in this book is by Colin Channer and I just couldn't get in to this story. I really, really tried to give the story a chance, but I gave up and stopped reading the story. I seriously doubt I will attempt to read a book by Mr. Channer in the future. Being that you can't give zero ratings, I will be giving Mr. Channer a 1 rating.
E. Lynn Harris is an okay author. I've read some of his work, but for me this was not a story I could relate to totally. James is a man looking for a love all of his own, and one of his friends hooks him up with an escort of sorts, and he finds himself drawn to this man. The story is about accepting a person for who he is, who he was, and who he will become. However, the story did keep my interest, so I gave that story a 1 rating.
The average rating for this book will be a 2 being that three of the stories received a rating of 1 for me. I will be donating my copy of this book to my local library. This book is not worth keeping my collection for just one story. Even though it's a good story, this book is still not worth keeping. I would not recommend this book to be purchased. If you have a friend who owns this book or can get it from your local library I suggest borrowing this book.
Rating:
Summary: Still a Memorable Experience
Review: I received this book in 2000 as a gift, and the story that still stands out in my mind is "Amil & Kenya" by Marcus Major. I was ending a difficult relationship in my life, and the words of this particular short story were very theraputic at that point in my life. The perspective and advice delivered by Amil's mother was priceless. This story was the show stealer of the entire book. I definitley think it says something when you can recall the details and emotion of a story after owning the work for 4 years.
I was not impressed by Eric Jerome Dickey's short story. There were quite a few grammatical errors, and the story was rather slow and left much to the imagination. E. Lynn Harris' segment was not as easy to relate to given the sexual orientation of his characters, but it was still a good read. I don't recall the details of the work of the fourth author.
I think this book is worth the money, especially if you are not familiar with any of these authors. I think it is a good way to give you an idea of each writer's individual style. I am definitely a new Marcus Major fan because of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Be Real
Review: I almost want to give this book 3.5 stars, but I'll give it 4 only because I like the Marcus Major story. I attempted to read the Colin Channer story a couple of time but gave up. The EJD story was ok, and E. Lynn was typical. I guess he writes what he knows. But the Marcus M. story introduces two characters you will read about in Good Peoples, then you have to read 4 guys and trouble. But overall the book was just ok. It's a summer read.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: E. Lynn Harris never disappoints and he steps up to the plate once again. I loved the story by Jerome Dickey...the characters Kenya and Amir were such a great pair. The Cafe Piel was good...the ending was a bit unrealistic, but the storyline was good. The short story by Channing was awful...I could not finish reading it...I did not know where he was going with the story...this story is why I rate the book a 4 and not a five.
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