Rating: 
Summary: I loved this Book
Review: A great read, Romance was off the hook, we need more books exploring the interacial issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Readers looking for truly engaging characters may be disappo
Review: First if you're looking for other novels that feature interracial couples you should check out Stephen J. Cannell's new book "Riding the Snake" which features a black female detective and a spoiled rich white Beverly Hills playboy who team up to solve a murder. There is also Carl Hiassen's "Lucky You" which features a white male reporter and a black woman with a winning lottery ticket who join forces to get the ticket back when it's stolen.Given the dearth of quality accesible mainstream fiction with an interracial couple at its core it's hard not to recommend "Shades of Desire". However for readers looking for fully rounded, dimensional characters you may find this book a disappointment. This novel features two mixed couples (black woman/white man). Taylor and Cameron are together at the beginning of the novel and through the course of the book Jasmine and Jeremy get together. Both sets of couples are attractive, employed upstanding citizens with virtually no flaws. And that's the problem. The primary couple Jasmine and Jeremy are almost too perfect to the point of unrealism. The depiction and description of Jeremy never seems to get much beyond his initial introduction. He's gorgeous, has money and a great job. We never get a sense of him as a real person. Does he snore? What's his favorite color? We only know him in relation to Jasmine and she doesn't really know him at all. After having sex with Jeremy, Jasmine wonders about the other women in his life then quickly dismisses it as irrevelant because he is entitled to his past as she is to hers. And that might be fine if this had taken place in the sixties to early eighties but it doesn't and AIDS is a reality. This nonchalance about a man she barely knows makes Jasmine seem a little stupid. Sure it's romanctic fiction but what about a tiny bit of common sense to make the heroine realistic. Wouldn't she have concerns about getting pregnant at least. We do find out a little bit about what makes her angry but Jeremy is on an even keel all of the time. He doesn't even appear to have any friends except Jasmine. Late in the book he mentions asking his best friend for a favor but it comes so far into the book it takes the reader by surprise that he has a best friend.
Rating: 
Summary: A Risk Taken...With Interesting Results
Review: First, I would like to give the author, Monica White, an "A+" for writing a romance novel featuring interracial characters. I was a little disappointed in the execution of the story. I would have preferred for Jasmine, the female protagonist, to have been a bit more gutsy, and less concerned about how other people think. Being in an interracial relationship myself, the only issues that concern me is my happiness. Of course, the crux of the story is how other people deal with interracial relationships, and Ms. White handled this issue rather well, and at times the sentiments expressed by some of the characters (like Jasmine's brother), made me squirm with recognition. All in all, a brave first novel. I hope Ms. White continues to write, and grow into her own as a novelist.
Rating:
Summary: A mystical picture of interracial love
Review: For a first time author, I thought Monica White did an excellent job. As a writer myself, I understand that the first novel can be the toughest. I do think that she could have done a little more with the characters but like I say, for a first-timer, this was probably all she could do right now. I read this book twice and the second time, I got a rush of feelings I never knew were inside of me. I think that in the late 90s, interracial love isn't the huge taboo it was say ten or fifteen years ago. I see many interracial couples when I travel in the downtown area of Chicago, my hometown. God wants us all to love one another. Jeremy to me is a man that is like a prince on a white horse, truly!
Rating:
Summary: Weak plot, characterizations. I still liked it.
Review: I believe the reason romances get such a bad wrap is because of plot, characterization weaknesses. I felt like the author had something else to do and wanted to finish the story as soon as possible to get to it! The plot could have been so much more flushed out, and therfore, more enjoyable. What about the Cuba angle? Why have him go there if its not important to the story. He could have traveled to Minnesota! The characters had no depth and I never felt like I knew them. How did his sisters feel? For that matter, what were their names? Any nieces/nephews? What happened at the bridal shower? Did she have one? Did Jemery have any friends that would create a conflict for him? This story lacked significant conflict. Although, it had the seeds for it. There could have been so much more to this story. But what I really want to know is...is that Janet Jackson on the cover!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: It was great
Review: I bought the book on a Thursday evening and started reading it and finished it the next day.It took me through several emotions from happy,angry,crying, and ended with a wonderful feeling that no matter what color a person is as long as you love them for who they are and how they feel about you
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: I do agree with the other reviewers who said that Jeremy and Jasmine's relationship was rushed, but it just did not bother me all that much. I think that Monica White did a fairly good job confronting the issues that white and black biracial couples face.
Rating:
Summary: i could have written this book myself....
Review: I found the book way too short and it sounded like something that i could write myself. The author could have made this book a lot better, but it was okay, not even close to great, but okay.
Rating:
Summary: I'm looking forward to another book from Monica White
Review: I have read other interracial books by different authors, but this is the only one that I've read twice. What I truly liked about the female character is the fact that she spoke like she has some sense.
Another book that I read (which will be nameless)every other word that came out of the black female was vulgar and she was shown as overdemanding and was a bully in her relationship. Not to mention saying stupid things like "I can talk white."
Shades of Desire was nothing like that. Jasmine was classy.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED IT!!!
Review: I have read several books lately but this was my favorite love story! The only complaint was that the storyline was short and rushed. Monica this would really need another novel. We would love to see how their lives work out.
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