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Rosie's Curl and Weave
A beauty salon is the locus for a series of stories revolving around African-American women in love, in an anthology featuring works by Rochelle Alers, Donna Hill, Felicia Mason, and Francis Ray. Reissue.
320 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 1999
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522 people want to read
About the author
Rochelle Alers
220 books1,055 followersRochelle Alers was born in Manhattan, New York, USA, where she raised. She obtained degrees in Sociology and Psychology, before started to work. She is a member of the Iota Theta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and her interests include gourmet cooking and traveling. She has traveled to countries in North, Central and South America, and Europe. She is also in accomplished in knitting, crocheting and needlepoint.
Published since 1988, today a full-time writer, has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most prolific and popular African-American authors of romance and women's fiction. With more than fifty titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, she is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. She also wrote as Susan James and Rena McLeary.
Rochelle Alers lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island.
Published since 1988, today a full-time writer, has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most prolific and popular African-American authors of romance and women's fiction. With more than fifty titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, she is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. She also wrote as Susan James and Rena McLeary.
Rochelle Alers lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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May 21, 2022I found this book in Walmart while looking for a journal. Seriously, I am not into romance stories, but the cover caught my attention along with the first paragraph on the back of the book, which didn’t alert me to being a romance because I was happy to find a book that consisted on short stories.
As a fellow writer, I was blown away by how easily you could go from being in the head of one character to another without missing a beat or getting confused by who is talking. Secondly, it was a relief in reading a book that had minimal curse words and still be effective. Lastly, the sex scenes didn’t cause you to skip over them because they were tastefully done, allowing for your imagination to do it’d own thing.
As a fellow reader, it was intriguing to see how all the stories centered around Rosie’s Curl & Weave shop which was the only connection between the four stories. We have the opportunity to see the beginning, middle and ending of relationships in unique ways which leave you thinking about the story when you can’t read it in one sitting. Although, today I did and it kept me moving forward.
I like romance stories, well I like them better than before, after reading this book of short stories.It’s a nice intermission while looking for my next suspense or informational short story. Thinking about it now, this book had a lot of suspense. Maybe that’s the other reason I had to finish it.
As a fellow writer, I was blown away by how easily you could go from being in the head of one character to another without missing a beat or getting confused by who is talking. Secondly, it was a relief in reading a book that had minimal curse words and still be effective. Lastly, the sex scenes didn’t cause you to skip over them because they were tastefully done, allowing for your imagination to do it’d own thing.
As a fellow reader, it was intriguing to see how all the stories centered around Rosie’s Curl & Weave shop which was the only connection between the four stories. We have the opportunity to see the beginning, middle and ending of relationships in unique ways which leave you thinking about the story when you can’t read it in one sitting. Although, today I did and it kept me moving forward.
I like romance stories, well I like them better than before, after reading this book of short stories.It’s a nice intermission while looking for my next suspense or informational short story. Thinking about it now, this book had a lot of suspense. Maybe that’s the other reason I had to finish it.
May 17, 2022
Shows you judge a book by its cover. We always want our parents or grand parents had, not realizing we have to take baby steps and work at what we want in life. One must always be willing to compromise and make the mistakes to grow as a couple.
June 29, 2022
Four short stories in one. In Love Again by Felicia Mason, Just Like That by Donna Hill, The Awakening by Francis Ray, and Special Delivery by Rochelle Alers. My favorite was Francis Ray. All of them were good but hers made me lose myself in the story.
All of these are short romances that you can probably finish in one setting. They are vivid and full of descriptive narration about Rosie’s Curl and Weave plus the sights, places, and activities that New York, especially Harlem has to offer.
All of these are short romances that you can probably finish in one setting. They are vivid and full of descriptive narration about Rosie’s Curl and Weave plus the sights, places, and activities that New York, especially Harlem has to offer.
August 25, 2017
This anthology of short stories brought to mind my early years of reading Harlequin as a impressionable pre - teen. Each of the stories follows the typical romance storyline: meet, become inexplicably attracted to one another, have a disagreement, get back together, and live happily ever after. Of course, as required in the traditional romance stories, the main characters are wealthy and not only beautiful, but head turning gorgeous. However, there was one thing that was different, all of the characters were Americans of Color and all the stories passed through a specific beauty shop in Harlem. It was refreshing to meet characters of color that weren't ratchet or ghetto fabulous set in the positive Harlem that is very seldom discussed in greater society. Likewise, the stories were well written and tastefully describe the feelings of those newly in love expertly without being explicit.
If you're in the mood for a lite, entertaining, and easy read that is a break from real- life, then you might enjoy this book.
If you're in the mood for a lite, entertaining, and easy read that is a break from real- life, then you might enjoy this book.
June 13, 2022
This book was so absolutely adorable. It was exactly what I needed. Just so heart-warming and sweet. I picked this up from my city library and took it with me on vacation. I spent the week reading it on the beaches of Maine. Perfect vacation beach read.
This is a collection of four novellas and all four of them have couples who meet at Rosie's salon. I loved how all of the details were consistent in the stories: like in every novella Rosies has pink and blue floor tiles. There's also a soul food restaurant down the street that appears in multiple stories. I've never spent much time in Harlem, so I'm not sure if this is a made-up place or a real restaurant, but either way, having it appear in multiple stories really made the whole collection feel so cohesive.
My favorite story was 'In Love Again' because it's not often we see romance with couples in their 50s. Also Louis was just a great hero. I liked how the story dealt with erectile dysfunction in such a healthy way and showed that it's a normal thing men shouldn't be ashamed of.
I also really liked 'Just Like That' because Chauncie was such a great heroine. She was flawed, but it was still easy to root for her. I liked that she was a bit of a damsel in distress. I'm a little tired of every woman having to be super strong in fiction. Some women are weak and flighty. Chauncie is a bit weak and flighty and unsure of herself, and Drew is more than willing to let her lean on him. Over the course of the story, she really comes into her own and learns how to be a manager of the salon. She also teaches Drew how to relax and have a bit of fun. They had great chemistry together, and I really enjoyed watching Chauncie learn how to be a leader and run the salon in her mother's absence.
'The Awakening' had a lot of great elements to it, but I guess I wasn't much of a fan of Gabe thinking of Jess as unattractive. If a man is a gentleman, he shouldn't be constantly sizing women up and judging them for whether or not they make his pee-pee hard. Not to mention, he thinks of Jess as unattractive even after they hang out for a bit and he starts to like her. Wasn't a fan :/
That being said, I did really like Jess's whole transformation, because it was clear that she did it for her and not to impress any man. She went from a French roll to an intricate braided style. I know braids are an important part of Black beauty, so it was neat to see braiding play such a big part of at least one story.
And of course, I liked seeing that absolute turd Shelton get told off. He was awful to Jessica and I liked that she was the one to tell him to take a hike.
Lastly, there was 'Special Delivery' which is a really cute title for a romance with a delivery driver. I liked this story a lot, except for the VERY cringey scene where Zahara is basically cooming on the dance floor and Adam can tell exactly what's going on and he tells her to breathe....yech. That was painful.
Also wasn't super into how snobby Zahara was and how she looked down on Adam for being blue collar. Then she eventually decides she doesn't care that he's blue collar, only for him to reveal to her that he isn't blue collar; he's loaded and owns the company. He was just filling in for one of his drivers who is out of work with an injury. Not only that, but the guy has a PhD in Physics that came out of freaking nowhere.
Other than that, I did still enjoy the story. Out of all the stories, Zahara and Adam had the most fun dates to read. They went to a jazz club, went to watch an NBA game, went to some fancy sioree for Zahara's job. It was a good mix of dates with different fun activities that allowed us to see their chemistry together. Plus, we got all the gorgeous descriptions of luxury food and settings and Zahara's amazing silk dresses. All-around, just really fun escapism.
While this wasn't a perfect collection, every story was strong and I've never enjoyed a multi-author collection more. I definitely plan to check out each of these authors individual works.
Highly recommend if you like fluffy fun romance novellas. Each story is short enough to blow through in an hour or two. And there's a really fun shared-world element with overlapping characters and setting.
This is a collection of four novellas and all four of them have couples who meet at Rosie's salon. I loved how all of the details were consistent in the stories: like in every novella Rosies has pink and blue floor tiles. There's also a soul food restaurant down the street that appears in multiple stories. I've never spent much time in Harlem, so I'm not sure if this is a made-up place or a real restaurant, but either way, having it appear in multiple stories really made the whole collection feel so cohesive.
My favorite story was 'In Love Again' because it's not often we see romance with couples in their 50s. Also Louis was just a great hero. I liked how the story dealt with erectile dysfunction in such a healthy way and showed that it's a normal thing men shouldn't be ashamed of.
I also really liked 'Just Like That' because Chauncie was such a great heroine. She was flawed, but it was still easy to root for her. I liked that she was a bit of a damsel in distress. I'm a little tired of every woman having to be super strong in fiction. Some women are weak and flighty. Chauncie is a bit weak and flighty and unsure of herself, and Drew is more than willing to let her lean on him. Over the course of the story, she really comes into her own and learns how to be a manager of the salon. She also teaches Drew how to relax and have a bit of fun. They had great chemistry together, and I really enjoyed watching Chauncie learn how to be a leader and run the salon in her mother's absence.
'The Awakening' had a lot of great elements to it, but I guess I wasn't much of a fan of Gabe thinking of Jess as unattractive. If a man is a gentleman, he shouldn't be constantly sizing women up and judging them for whether or not they make his pee-pee hard. Not to mention, he thinks of Jess as unattractive even after they hang out for a bit and he starts to like her. Wasn't a fan :/
That being said, I did really like Jess's whole transformation, because it was clear that she did it for her and not to impress any man. She went from a French roll to an intricate braided style. I know braids are an important part of Black beauty, so it was neat to see braiding play such a big part of at least one story.
And of course, I liked seeing that absolute turd Shelton get told off. He was awful to Jessica and I liked that she was the one to tell him to take a hike.
Lastly, there was 'Special Delivery' which is a really cute title for a romance with a delivery driver. I liked this story a lot, except for the VERY cringey scene where Zahara is basically cooming on the dance floor and Adam can tell exactly what's going on and he tells her to breathe....yech. That was painful.
Also wasn't super into how snobby Zahara was and how she looked down on Adam for being blue collar. Then she eventually decides she doesn't care that he's blue collar, only for him to reveal to her that he isn't blue collar; he's loaded and owns the company. He was just filling in for one of his drivers who is out of work with an injury. Not only that, but the guy has a PhD in Physics that came out of freaking nowhere.
Other than that, I did still enjoy the story. Out of all the stories, Zahara and Adam had the most fun dates to read. They went to a jazz club, went to watch an NBA game, went to some fancy sioree for Zahara's job. It was a good mix of dates with different fun activities that allowed us to see their chemistry together. Plus, we got all the gorgeous descriptions of luxury food and settings and Zahara's amazing silk dresses. All-around, just really fun escapism.
While this wasn't a perfect collection, every story was strong and I've never enjoyed a multi-author collection more. I definitely plan to check out each of these authors individual works.
Highly recommend if you like fluffy fun romance novellas. Each story is short enough to blow through in an hour or two. And there's a really fun shared-world element with overlapping characters and setting.
June 11, 2009
LOVED it!
August 7, 2016
The stories were good, but I felt like they were all unfinished. Each of the stories could have been a full length in its own right
February 18, 2022
Three stars rounded up from 2.5
This book is an anthology of four short romance stories originally published in 1999. I didn’t check for the date until I had already read a couple but the way they use phones made it pretty obvious. Overall I liked rosie’s as a setting and enjoyed the book alright. I think that due to the short nature of the stories the characters felt pretty shallow. And add on to that several of the characters were just straight up shallow people which wasn’t super fun for me.
My favorite was Francis Rays the awakening but thought the ending was very rushed.
Overall these felt like very old fashioned romance stories and not as fun and vibrate as the contemporary romances I’m used to reading.
This book is an anthology of four short romance stories originally published in 1999. I didn’t check for the date until I had already read a couple but the way they use phones made it pretty obvious. Overall I liked rosie’s as a setting and enjoyed the book alright. I think that due to the short nature of the stories the characters felt pretty shallow. And add on to that several of the characters were just straight up shallow people which wasn’t super fun for me.
My favorite was Francis Rays the awakening but thought the ending was very rushed.
Overall these felt like very old fashioned romance stories and not as fun and vibrate as the contemporary romances I’m used to reading.
July 24, 2024
This was a very sweet and sentimental book. It’s a collection of short stories, all of which are linked through the fictional posh salon, the titular “Rosie’s Curl and Weave”. Set in the heart of Harlem, in NYC’s Manhattan borough, the book features strong black female characters set in the 1990s. There are all the romantic tropes, including opposites attract, and ugly duckling to beautiful swan, as well as many allusions to Black-American culture, including great music and films. The ladies in this novel provide an excellent example of classy black womanhood, especially for today’s society where BBLs and vulgar hip-hop is commonplace. I highly recommend this book!
January 22, 2024
So I got this book for free at this back to school event. The cover caught my eye at first especially me being a hairstylist. It surprised me by being more about love but I loved how each author tied the hair salon in each story. I can go on and on but wow such a great book ladies 💋
August 24, 2023
A great read! In each short story, love is found thanks to Rosie's. Each author had their own refreshing way of delivering you a story of romance just in the knick of time.
July 13, 2024
I loved this book :) Found it on my mom’s bookshelf and enjoyed it from start to finish 🥰
November 3, 2024
OMG! This was such a cute read. Four mini books written by four different authors, but all tied together at Rosie’s. I loved it!!!!!
May 2, 2025
Oh these stories made my heart flutter. Such an an enjoyable read.
November 13, 2017
Four stories about 4 different people from a beauty shop. The authors did a great job
November 4, 2025
Awwwwwwwweeeeee 💗!! I loved every page of this book. I haven't read a really good (imo) mushy love story (stories in this case) in a very LONG time. To find love again at any age just makes you feel all "gooey" inside. A heart-felt book 4 stories by 4 different authors, and it gave all the love and romance. All the "butterflies" in your stomach kind of read. I just picked up the book because of the cover alone, only to turn out a great read.
January 2, 2012
Great stories!
May 31, 2015
Great stories I enjoyed
March 28, 2016
my all time favorite book
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews