Bounce

Rating:
Summary: Why You Should Order This Book Right Now
Review: *Because it is excellent
*Because of the Boo-Hoo scene
*Because the sex scenes are hot, but also meaningful, not just thrown in like in some other books
*Because the book is so good, you won't even notice half the time that you just read a sex scene
*Because of the Boo-Hoo scene
*Because you need to read a book by a brotha who can REALLY write
*Because it is hilarious
*Because it is sad
*Because of the Rub It Please scene
*Because of the two virginities scene
*Because of the Boo-Hoo scene
*Because of the Boo-Hoo scene

Rating:
Summary: Every Line
Review: Every line of this book is great. Preston L. Allen is a very versatile writer, who is extending his range into romance, crime fiction, and serious literature. I think I have read everything that he has written, including his erotica, so I can make a statement that reflects his body of work. This writer pens masterpieces of the heart. You always care about his protagonists, male or female, old or young, gay or straight, and you cheer for them hoping that they will win. I had my suspicions about Red from the beginning, so I wasn't totally surprised by his choice at the end. I know many men like him; maybe I am one of them. We are not bad guys, just overextended in our romantic obligations. I hope you will go out and buy this book right now to see just how good a writer Mr. Allen is. In terms of sheer raw talent, he is among today's best writers.

Rating:
Summary: Boo-Hoo4.5
Review: I agree about the Boo-hoo and other things. I was torn between giving this book a 5 for the writing and a 3 for the fact that it was so short and so dense, like the other reviewer said. The thing about it is that if you read books by Zane and EJD you get used to character development and exciting subplot after subplot. I kept thinking about how Zane would have written this book. I kept thinking about how there were other scenarios where people could have been having sex like, the Exhusband Tyrone, and we could have gotten some more exposure of the scenes with Red and his boss. I wanted to read a book that I could get lost in. I could not get lost in this book, but I'm still going to give it a 5. Let me tell you why.

I read every word of this book. Every word. It was like a poem to me. I was awake all the way through it, not skipping through chapters because I didn't want to miss anything. Then when I finished it, I lent it to my sister cause I wanted somebody to talk about it with. She was cracking up reading it. When she finished, we started to talk about it. She liked it more than I did because she's kinda like Cindique, except she doesn't take abuse from men (she just let's them steal all her money!) But anyway, we agreed that we both read every word, no skipping through. I gave it a 4 because the ending could have been happier. She gave it a 5, because she said that's the only real way it could have ended. Not every book has to be written like EJD. It's a tight book in its own way. We loved it. Boo-hoo, boo-hoo. 4.5

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I could not wait to get my hands on this book after reading his stories in Brown Sugar and Brown Sugar 2. I thought I was going to read a nice, little sex book as the book jacket had hinted. No such luck. A sex book usually implies dirty scenes, poor or unrealistic plotting, and below average writing skills. From the first couple pages of BOUNCE I knew that this was not going to be the case. The characters of Red and Cindique intrigue you, the plot about two lovers telling dirty stories (lies) back and forth to each other grabs and holds you, and the intense sex scenes get you hot and bothered but they also keep the plot going, do different things with sex instead of just having sex, and they make you laugh out loud sometimes. This is not like anything black people are writing out there today. You must buy this book! You must read the Rub It Please, scene. You must read the can I Keep You, scene. You must read the Boo-hoo scene. I need to talk to somebody about that Boo-hoo scene! Great. This book stands out.

Rating:
Summary: Boo-Hoo is right
Review: Thanks for the honest reviews, the boo-hoo scene was great, this is a dense book. It is not long but each sentence moves you in a way. MOves you to tears, laughter, shock and passion.

Rating:
Summary: Like John Hawkes
Review: The old saying goes: "It's not the size of the boat that counts, but the motion of the ocean." This relatively short book has a lot of motion in its ocean. This is not usually the kind of book I read; I prefer stronger things, I prefer the S/M. However, no sooner had I begun reading this one than I put my libido on the backburner and my passion up front. I was like, A man writing as a woman--give me a break--wait a minute--this is good--hey--this is really good--hey--I like this book! What this is, is a pretty good story, with powerful writing, charming characters, and real serious dramatic tension. The rough scene with the Pretty, pretty work books will make you soooo sad.

Everyone is writing about the wonderful sex scenes. Can a sex scene be wonderful? Can sex be full of wonder? Aren't we all a little bit jaded where that one is concerned? The truth is that we read these books hoping to escape for a while into a world where it is all new and surprising to us again, but most of the time we end up with varying degrees of disappointment because we are forced to do too much "escaping" and these lazy, unimaginitive writers do too little "surprising." They sure do know their formula, and they give it to us over and over again. All they mostly change is hair color, breast size, positions in bed, dirty talk. In my case, it's a different whip. A different chain. Hit me harder, hit me really harder. Yawn. Ho-hum. What I truly long for is the fresh, the original. Take me back, somehow, to when I did not know so much.

That is Preston L. Allen's most prominent strength, in my humble opinion. He makes sex new again. He puts the wonder back into it. In short, he renews the reader's virginity. That is why I love the section with the "Two Virginities." This scene, for me, sums up the book. You never know what to expect. It goes something like, "Seriously, Red, it's hard to talk about. I lost my virginity twice." What a great hook, what can that possibly mean? Red has no idea what to expect. Then Cindique goes on to explain to her dumbfounded lover just what she means.

I won't ruin it for you by giving it away. I won't ruin the magic of your first time. After all, it's your wedding night, sweety. You are about to be deflowered by the master bridegroom.

Rating:
Summary: The Bridegroom Cometh
Review: The old saying goes: "It's not the size of the boat that counts, but the motion of the ocean." This relatively short book has a lot of motion in its ocean. This is not usually the kind of book I read; I prefer stronger things, I prefer the S/M. However, no sooner had I begun reading this one than I put my libido on the backburner and my passion up front. I was like, A man writing as a woman--give me a break--wait a minute--this is good--hey--this is really good--hey--I like this book! What this is, is a pretty good story, with powerful writing, charming characters, and real serious dramatic tension. The rough scene with the Pretty, pretty work books will make you soooo sad.

Everyone is writing about the wonderful sex scenes. Can a sex scene be wonderful? Can sex be full of wonder? Aren't we all a little bit jaded where that one is concerned? The truth is that we read these books hoping to escape for a while into a world where it is all new and surprising to us again, but most of the time we end up with varying degrees of disappointment because we are forced to do too much "escaping" and these lazy, unimaginitive writers do too little "surprising." They sure do know their formula, and they give it to us over and over again. All they mostly change is hair color, breast size, positions in bed, dirty talk. In my case, it's a different whip. A different chain. Hit me harder, hit me really harder. Yawn. Ho-hum. What I truly long for is the fresh, the original. Take me back, somehow, to when I did not know so much.

That is Preston L. Allen's most prominent strength, in my humble opinion. He makes sex new again. He puts the wonder back into it. In short, he renews the reader's virginity. That is why I love the section with the "Two Virginities." This scene, for me, sums up the book. You never know what to expect. It goes something like, "Seriously, Red, it's hard to talk about. I lost my virginity twice." What a great hook, what can that possibly mean? Red has no idea what to expect. Then Cindique goes on to explain to her dumbfounded lover just what she means.

I won't ruin it for you by giving it away. I won't ruin the magic of your first time. After all, it's your wedding night, sweety. You are about to be deflowered by the master bridegroom.

Rating:
Summary: Love Hurts
Review: They gave me this book to read and analyze, knowing that I truly do not like to read much. I didn't know what to expect. I figured I wasn't going to like it at all. The title BOUNCE was neither impressive nor entertaining. I thought maybe it was a slang term I wasn't familiar with. And then I started reading. I found myself getting into the characters' lives. Cindique, a strong black woman of mized parentage, was tough on the outside, but sweet and loving on the inside. I couldn't help but feel that she was putting on a strong veneer when all she wanted or needed was to be loved. As in a lot of these youngsters' lives, they learn often too soon about life via sexual relations which escalates to something too adult for them to handle. Cindique grew up fearful and bitter. She got married for the wrong reasons. Her husband Tyrone himself had no role model and positive direction to follow. I couldn't help but feel empathy for this fesity young woman who wanted to take the world by storm and conquer it with her gifts of writing--but really 15 and 17 is too young to get married--children! She could have been a star, given a chance. They both could have been.

As we get further into the novel, we learn about another character, Tawana, a lost soul, a sweet girl, as her husband Redd reminds us throughout the story, despite what she did to him. Tawana, unfortunately, is tarnished by her stepfather's wicked intrusion into a young, tender life. You cannot help but feel anger toward this white man who has destroyed her innocence, leaving her nothing but sex as a way to cope with life's ordeals. Tawana is not the bad guy. Please do not read her like that. She is not the wicked ex. She is a victim, too. I am touched by her story.

Redd, for his part, was such a gentle man who just wanted to take care of everyone. I found him to be such a protector whose only fault is that he wanted to take care of all of the women in his life. He had compassion for all of them. he was a Christian. He confused Christian love with carnal love and ended up sleeping with too many women and complicated his life. Now what is he supposed to do? He loves them all. He doesn't want to hurt anybody. His love is his biggest weakness.

In BOUNCE, there is a sadness to all of the characters underneath all of the humor, drama, and plot twists. Everyone is longing for the one thing that we all crave--love and happiness. They go through the motions. The learn to
overcome the heartaches. They try not to repeat the same mistake over and over again. It seems they never learn. Sometimes it seems we all never learn. We want so much to have love and approval from the ones we love that we forget to love ourselves first. I couldn't help but see that in these characters. I couldn't help but empathize with the struggles they face in order to be in each other's lives. Love hurts, even if you are made of rubber and you can bounce. Love hurts. Jasmine C. Miami, Florida

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: This book had me hooked in the first two pages. Clindique is a very interesting character, and so are all of the other characters in this book. I finished reading this book in a little over an hour. It was so good that I was reading it on the bus, in the car, and even at work! This book is a must read and once you've read it will be on your list of all time favorite's. What I liked the most about this book was its realism. Unlike other novels that this book was compared to (Skyscraper) it didn't end like a fairytale. Clindique was not carried away by her prince charming on a white horse. Instead the story ended and made me think, this has to be a real story. This has to be based on someone's life. Sure most people want to see a fairytale ending, but I am not one of those people. That's the beauty of this story. The ending in unpredictable, and leaves the reader saying I never would have guessed that would have ever happened.If you don't own this book I suggest you run out and get a copy, maybe even two, one for you and a friend.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This Book is excellent! I don't think my writing skills can do it justice but here goes. I have been waiting a long time for Preston Allen to put a new book after Hootche Mama, which I liked a lot. but this one takes the cake. His hero is a beautiful confident young black and Dominican woman named Cindique who falls in love with a handsome troubled man named Red. They both don't trust each other because of bad relationships they have had so they play a game to tell each other all of the truth about each other that they are hiding. The game they play is called truth for truth. So then they tell each other these great sex stories about themselves, plus Cindique is a writer and she tells this great story about an under aged stripper named Summer Rose. Now I don't want to ruin the book for you but you have to watch the name Rose everytime it appears in the story because there are a couple secret twists tied to it you will catch through out it. Plus the word Bounce. The book has so much stuff like that in it for such a short book. I read it in one day. The ending is beautiful and sad but powerful. I truly understood the word Bounce after that. The author has just really got to write another book like this one, I am begging him please. It is excellent. Bounce!