An Unholy Mess: A Diva Rant Review

The only disclaimer I'll offer before eviscerating this book is this:

I'm not the target audience so perhaps I am not the best critic of this book...it's from the Kimani imprint of Harlequin and intended for a primary market of sophisticated African American women whereas i am a dumpy white chick from the midwest. So if I'm missing the point, I'm sorry.  However....


I got this as a free nookbook. It's called Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson.
It was, in my opinion as a reader, a waste of brain. I finished it only so I could bitch about it more thoroughly because by the time I gave up on it, I had come too far not to care at all. Here is IF, according to Diva.

The Set Up:  Taylor, a delectable and wildly successful "money and wealth manager" from DC is 25 with a "sassy short haircut". She wants a baby to fulfill her maternal longings so she zeroes in on her biggest client to be the father of her child. She proposes that they go on a "procreation vacation" to spend a week trying to make a baby and then return to their strictly business relationship.

My Problems:

please allow me to take a deep breath before beginning because there's a lot...

1.  Male lead describes female lead as having a "sassy" haircut. In my admittedly limited experience I have never known a man to describe anything as sassy let alone a hairstyle.

2.  Female lead is preternaturally successful even by Harlequin standards. At age 25 she has graduated Georgetown (where she became fluent in several languages), joined a Manhattan wealth management firm where she was given this huge client in her caseload then decided to start her own firm in DC. Her offices now have a view of the Washington Mall which I think is a fairly high rent district. Further, the major client severed his lengthy relationship with the Manhattan firm to follow the then-24 year old financial advisor to her new digs.

3.  Shedload of characters whom I couldn't keep straight as they were mentioned but rarely and then popped back up, sending me shuffling the nook back several chapters to see if this was a sister or a colleague.

4.  Female lead decides to proposition major client despite "never mixing business with pleasure" and shows little concern that he could be offended, consider it harassment or suspect that she is clinically insane and thus transfer his business to someone sane/professional/appropriate/over age 25.

5. Male lead accepts proposition (obviously or there would be no plot) and does not lose respect for female lead. In fact he admires her aggressive pursuit of her goals and looks forward to sharing custody with her and continuing their business relationship because having a child with a near stranger won't change ANYTHING.

6.  They are both inexplicably and wildly attracted to one another (okay I'll concede that the guy did sound really hot).

7.  She chose the guy to be her baby daddy because he has all the "qualities she wants in her child" meaning that he is rich and hot and she would, I suppose, like her offspring to be wealthy and sexy? This was puzzling to me.

8.  Inconsistency: After repeatedly asserting that their previous relationship was only in the office for routine financial discussions, the author drops in a throwaway mention that the mc supposedly took the guy to Coney Island to cheer him up when she worked in NYC. Now, frankly, this young woman seems as likely to be playful and enjoy a roller coaster as, say, Mitt Romney.

9.  He is estranged from his grandfather for family reasons. She meets up with grandpa, agrees to let him in the unborn kid's life, accepts a bequest for the child from him (KNOWING that her adored babydaddy hates the guy) then TRAVELS TO FRANCE with grandpa which causes the male lead to fall in love with her and reconcile with grandpa. I about broke a hip on this plot twist, darlings.

10.  Her sister having a baby out of wedlock is scary and unadvisable and makes everyone worry but Taylor having a baby out of wedlock is fine because she is together and knows what she wants. The sister, like all the other characters in this book, is both from a rich family and independently wealthy in her own right. Holy Double Standard, Batman.

Diva felt this one was a waste of brain.