Near Perfect

Rating:
Summary: entertaining contemporary character driven tale
Review: Roxanne Steele knows her life has turned out NEAR PERFECT as she loves her spouse and knows Jamal reciprocates. Jamal's work as a professional football player has enabled Roxanne to have financial security. The only thing Roxanne lacks is a child though not for the lack of trying, but her need has turned obsessive and caused a clink in her relationship with Jamal.

Jamal becomes involved with stripper Honey Brown who threatens him with a paternity suit. He does not worry about himself bur fears the impact on Roxanne if she learns the truth as all her previous relationships were filled with deceptions so that trust is critical to her. Tragedy strikes when Jamal dies from a stroke. When Roxanne learns about Jamal's indiscretion, she turns to her best friends for solace and ultimately to her deceased spouse's teammate Linc Weaver. As she recovers from Jamal's death and his impropriety, she falls in love with Linc, but also finds out he knew and wonders how she can trust someone who hid the truth from her.

NEAR PERFECT is an entertaining contemporary character driven tale. The audience understands what makes Roxanne who she is with her high standards of morality and her quick to dismiss those who fail to attain and maintain her level. Fans of modern day relationship dramas will relish Sharon Mitchell's insightful novel, but will appreciate the cast more by reading the prequel NOTHING BUT THE RENT first as the support characters become better understood though this book can stand alone. Fans will want more stories starring the other members of the sisterhood quartet with fewer gaps between publications.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Too Long
Review: The book was long and dragged out. This is my first time reading one of her books, never again. I am glad I brought it for a few bucks and not for the full price.

Rating:
Summary: Near Perfect
Review: This book did start out slow but it picked up towards the end. It was kind of predictable but it was still a good story. It just goes to show how there is no such thing as perfection, it also shows how people and relationships change over time.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect story
Review: What does a happily married wife do when her seemingly perfect world crumbles, when the stability that she shares with her spouse is snatched from her, and the dreams she's had for her life disintegrate with some of the troubles ending up as front-page news? Roxanne Steele, a sassy, loving, and vivacious woman who is married to Jamal, a wealthy and famous football player, deals with this and more in this delightful story about love, commitment, friendship, trust, betrayal, and family.

Fortunately, Roxy doesn't have to bear her troubles alone. First of all there is Lincoln, her handsome and protective best friend that she's known since childhood; Linc has also become Jamal's teammate and good friend. Then there are her female buddies, Cynthia, Monique, and Gayle. And let's not forget her mother who is dealing with her own troubles but tries to be there for her daughter.

Near Perfect, the sequel to Nothing But the Rent, is a solid and magnificent effort from writer Sharon Mitchell. It's filled with everything I love in a novel: Humor, suspense, an array of emotions, tension, romance, eroticism, believable dialogue, fully developed, vibrant and realistic characters, a unique plot with several twists, and fluid action. Each of these characteristics makes it easy for me to declare that, thus far, Near Perfect is my favorite read of 2001. It's the kind of story where you wish you did know the characters, not just the men, but the women too. These people are smart, upwardly mobile, sassy, go-getters, and they're human, prone to err, yet lovable. It's a feel good novel, one that makes you regret you've come to the story's end, but glad you were fortunate to read such a wonderful novel in the first place. It's highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Near Perfect is Near Perfect
Review: What happens when a NEAR PERFECT life comes apart? Roxanne has the life others dream about. She was raised by her grandmother and nurtured with love and caring. She has four best friends, a wonderful handsome wealthy husband and a beautiful home. When tragedy strikes, Roxanne faces the most difficult time of her life. She emerges herself in her neighborhood community center 'Hope Springs.' As she struggles with death and scandal she learns to forgive and to accept that no one is perfect not even those we love. Her journey is hard and heartbreaking but along the way she learns to love and accept her mother and see the goodness in her. She also learns things about herself that she did not know or refused to see. Through it all her friends and family are there.

Sharon Mitchell's NEAR PERFECT is a wonderful spellbinding novel. When the unexpected happens you reach for a tissue but you don't stop reading. The ending of this novel is not 'they lived happily ever after' it is a realistic uplifting looking toward the future beginning. Highly recommended.

Vannie(~.~)