Rating: 
Summary: PRETTY GOOD!!!
Review: I liked it very much. It had drama and romance, two things I look for in a novel. Deana was trifling and got hers in the end. She was a trip.(...)I hope the next novel is good like this. Because even though I only commented on those characters there were some other awesome characters and story lines in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Just What I've Been Looking For !!!!
Review: I'm a African American,professional female in my 30's who loves to read."Sleeping Dogs" was recommended by a girlfriend as a well-written,hip and provocative story without the typical 'baby momma drama'that is the focus of a lot of our popular fiction today. No offense to anyone who wants to go there...it's just that those books don't reflect who I am and even if they did I can't say that I'd enjoy reading about it.Personally, I want to read about men and women who work hard and are doing really well. That's what I loved most about "Sleeping Dogs"--it was refreshing and wonderful to pick up an African American dramatic story where the characters are clearly getting paid and enjoying the material and social fruits of their labors.I applaud Tracie for helping to change perceptions that women of color are restricted to only handling their business in the bedroom and not the boardroom. Bravo,sister, and I look forward to your next novel!
Rating:
Summary: Glad I Picked This Up !!!!
Review: Ok, I am not gonna lie---I read lots of romance novels and the fiiiiine brother on the cover prompted me to pick up "Sleeping Dogs".....and am I glad that I did! I loved this book! Saxton McKenzie (the hunk on the cover)is just the type of man I dream about at night---smart,athletic,successful and well-equipped to handle his bizness in the bedroom.He's at ease handling 100 million dollar deals or putting the clamps on the schemes his fiancee Deena and her girl, Nikki cook up(I could slap them!)..... I won't divulge secrets about their scandalous plot but I guarantee you won't be disappointed...and I'll bet you'll end up LOVING Saxton as much as I do!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Solo Effort
Review: The title is catchy isn't it? This alone made me curious as to why such a devilishly handsome man and his svelte companion would be gracing the cover of a book so titled. Eagerly I picked up Why Sleeping Dogs Lie, to see what lay between the pages. I was impressed with what I read. Author Tracie Howard, has done it again.
Mallory Baylor has a secret. Forced to leave Atlanta, with a stop over in Philadelphia, she ends up as a staff writer in New York writing for their hip magazine, Heat. While on assignment to interview the cover story for this particular month's edition, Mallory comes face to face with a blast from her past, Saxton McKensie. Saxton, former ball player now top executive of a Media Relations Firm, Ingram Enterprises, is set to become an even more powerful mogul when he marries Deena Ingram. His story is notable and while Mallory has her doubts about seeing Saxton again, she does a wonderful job on the interview.
Saxton is elated to see Mallory again. Plus he's impressed with her article and decides she would make a great edition to their company. Mallory isn't all too thrilled about working so close to Saxton in light of their past, but decides the compensation is worth the switch. Sounds cookie cutter so far? I invite you to read Why Sleeping Dogs Lie. Mallory's roommate and Deena are enough to keep the drama going. You've yet to uncover the secret and the cast of supporting characters are so tightly intermingled that you'll be on the edge of your seat completely to the end.
Tracie Howard has co-authored two books and has done right stepping forward on her own and molding her craft. Why Sleeping Dogs Lie is well-written and I hope this will not be her last solo effort.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: This book read like your typical romance novel. I found it to be very entertaining. However, I was irritated by the constant deluge of designer names to describe the clothing and shoes being worn by the characters. The ending tied together nicely as expected. If you are looking for high brow literature with complicated plots and subplots, you will not find that in this book. Yet, I found this book to be a good read that held my attention to the very end.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing New Talent
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend who couldn't stop talking about the characters and story, so I picked it up for something to read over the Holidays, and couldn't put it down! The story was brisque, sexy and dramatic, holding you in its grips from the first chapter to the last. There was something for everyone. Saxton McKensie, one of the lead characters, is a charismatic, sucessful dreamboat, torn between Mallory - the good girl - and Deena, the super bad girl, with whom he's engaged. Though Deena is a media celebrity, she also has a very nasty little secret in the form of an equally bad girl, Nikki! Why Sleeping Dogs Lie is a romantic story that is also quite titaliting. I am a new fan of Tracie Howards, she is the new voice of African American fiction!
Rating: 
Summary: Too fairytale-ish to be true.....
Review: This is my first Tracei Howard book and I must say I was very disappointed. The story line was ok but the book was very rushed. Not enough description for me and a little too much fairy-tale in the story line. The main character, Mallory, the sexy and sweet young editor, had a short affair with Saxton, the rich mutil-millionaire who left her because he was scared of love only to end up with Deena the bi-sexual daughter of a southern judge who cares more about her ratings then anything else. There are other characters in the story who mingle in and out here and there but I just could not get into this book. I love the sparks between Saxton and Mallory. Black love is so beautiful. But everything else seemed to happen so fast. THere is alot of designer name dropping (Prada this, Gucci that and Brooks Brothers this no wonder people think black people are so materialistic) all throughout this book which makes it loose it's appeal even faster. Mallory was pregnant by Saxton but gave up the baby for adoption but kept close ties to the adoptive parents? THen the parents die in a horrible car accident and all parental rights are automatically given back to Mallory? Didn't she sign those over when she signed the adoption papers? And of couse there's the happily ever after ending. I don't expect all writers to be the next EJD or Terry McMillian but I do expect a good read for my money. Don't buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Just What I've Been Looking For !!!!
Review: This novel was "just okay" in my personal opinion. The author spent a great deal of time describing designer fashions. That really worked a nerve. There was definitely a lot of drama going on in the book, but I found myself getting lost every now and then because she tended to jump from one thing to another. I also thought it was pretty predictable. I need a book to grasp my full attention and this one did not.
Rating: 
Summary: Just okay
Review: This novel was "just okay" in my personal opinion. The author spent a great deal of time describing designer fashions. That really worked a nerve. There was definitely a lot of drama going on in the book, but I found myself getting lost every now and then because she tended to jump from one thing to another. I also thought it was pretty predictable. I need a book to grasp my full attention and this one did not.
Rating:
Summary: Sleeping Dog more like Dead Horse
Review: Tracie Howard's first solo novel is an average read with a misguided title. It would have been better titled, Why Beat a Dead Horse. Now don't get me wrong the story is full of bite and is the kind of thing that is sure to spark a debate around a many office coolers, but haven't we read this type of work before? Backstabbing women with hidden agendas and scandalous pasts, start an avalanche with one gossipy snowball after the other. Mallory Baylor left Atlanta years ago to take a bite out of the Big Apple. She lands a staff writing position at Heat magazine, which is beneath her drive and talent. Her chance at a much coveted feature writer slot opens for her, but she has to interview someone from her past- multimedia mogul Saxton McKenzie, the love of her life and father of the son she gave up for adoption, in order to get it. When Saxton realizes that his old flame is his interviewer he makes a careless mistake. He offers her the new executive editor position at his fiancée, Deena Ingram's Spotlight Magazine and thus, adds to the snowball building Avalanche headed for both his, Deena's and Mallory's lives. Girlfriend confidences and fireside confessions leak into the "Talk of the Town" gossip column whereby Saxton and Mallory's skeletons tumble out of their closets one by one. Who's telling these secrets? Will this ruin Deena's celebrity stardom? Will Saxton find out about his son? This novel has more things going on than an evening episode of "The Young and the Restless." So why did I give it an average rating of 3 pens? When I read this story I saw E. Lynn Harris not Tracie Howard writing this. I see stereotypical characters morphed into sleeker camouflage. Nicki, Mallory's roommate is a vindictive she-devil reminiscent of EJD's antagonist, Jessica Lawrence in The Other Woman and Sheila Moore of Jacqueline Thomas' Prodigal Son. All of these women were dark skinned morally inept women ruled by ambition over common decency. Yet, the difference between those main characters is that the reader knew what was behind the mask, but Nicki was never unveiled. As a brown skinned woman I wonder about the implied results of such characters. Nonetheless, the main witch of the novel, Deena Ingram is a bonafide BAP who would "pass" any day of the week, if it meant an increase in her ratings or her father's rise to the Supreme Court. I found this labeling worrisome as well. What does this say about our society and about the African American woman's voice? Dee Y. Stewart R.E.A.L. Reviewers
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