A Change Had To Come

by Gwynne Forster

Leticia Langley is used to fighting for what she wants. That's how she wound up being the first in her family to graduate from college. So what if she's never had a date? All that's about to change when she gets herself a job as a food columnist for The Journal --and treats herself to a makeover that will transform her life.With her hot weave and a dazzling new wardrobe that shows off her curves, the opposite sex suddenly takes a shine to Leticia. Except for Max Baldwin--a colleague who accuses her of trying to knock him down on her stampede up the corporate ladder. But Leticia is determined to stand her ground and get her due. And as she finds herself being offered more tantalizing prospects, including a trip to Africa, she also wins the respect--and admiration--of her handsome one-time nemesis, Max. Now she'll have to decide if she wants to let down her guard, and let in the one man she could get serious about.Praise for the Novels of Gwynne Forster. . .". . .Wise and wonderful as it points out, once again, the importance of honesty and appreciating what you have while you have it." -- Publishers Weekly on A Different Kind of Blues"Touching, thought-provoking, and will make you think twice about ever keeping secrets from the one you love." --Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times bestselling author on If You Walked in My Shoes

Genres: African American Romance

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Gwynne Forster (1922-2015) was the pseudonym of American novelist, short fiction writer, demographer, and sociologist Gwendolyn Johnson-Acsadi. Forster was best known as an early innovator of the African American Romance fiction tradition. Forster was a prolific writer who authored more than 50 books, as well as multiple studies in the field of demography. Forster won a wide readership with her novels and garnered awards, including the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Black Writers Alliance Gold Pen Award.

Reviews

[Megan Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Change Had to Come” starts with Leticia Langley putting the right foot forward. She’s graduated from college, landed a great job, so what’s left but to get a great make over? The reader is quickly swept up into Leticia’s and her cousin Kenyetta’s world of friendly rivalry and the dramatic roller coaster begins. Foster writes real women with real problems that are both easy to relate to and be astonished by. There was plenty of drama and just enough ‘will they, or won’t they?’ moments to keep me hooked. This was an enjoyable read with an ending that made me smile.

[Stephanie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I luved this book, I have to admit that at first I wasn't so sure cause of some of the other reviews but I'm glad I actually read it. I'm thinking about getting more books by this author.

[Kichekodriggins]

Great Book to read....!! Recommend. This author is not only excellent but an extraordinary person.

Read early...

[Chauntae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of the book and thought my disinterest of it was based solely on my dislike of the narrator. However, that's not the case. The book was very slow for me and I only finished it because I was determined to get to the end - not my interest in the story. I'll give the author one more chance but, so far, I'm not impressed.

[KAREN MCCRAW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max & Leticia

Leticia had everyone putting her down from her 9th grade teacher, relatives and just plain jealous people. So glad she saw through Wilson & Kenyatta finally and found some real friends. Max & her kept having misunderstandings but were just what each other needed. Loved Ms. Wilma , Joel, Mark and Max's family.

[Lorraine Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lov d Story Line

I just loved how the story made many turns, I would like to find out whether or not her cousin got her life sorted out.

[JR Maxwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was willing to accept a lot of aspects of this book that puzzled me, because it's not my culture so what the hell do I know? But theeennnnn came the fat-shaming. Repeatedly. So. Nope. DNF.

[P. J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing was off as if someone else wrote it. I wasn't use to this author writing in such a way. I couldn't get pass this issue even though the topic was a great one.

[Chandra]

This book had somewhat boring parts, but I was finally able to finish it. The story line was boring.

[Limecello · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not my favorite audiobook narrator.

Also ... I was low key tweeting thoughts while reading

https://twitter.com/Limecello/status/...

It's ... on the one hand I liked the deep dive into ... the characters; not so much the relationship because there actually is very little relationship development as in talking until like 8-9 hours into the book? :X
Which ... heh - I kept thinking "Lime, you're always saying there should be more relationship development/people in their 30s don't have their shit together" and ... yeah. I think the hero is 33 and the heroine ... 30? 31? :X I thought 29, but I think she said she took care of her dad until she was 26, and then she went [back?] to college? to college? and she graduated a year ago?

:X It was long and a lot of uncertainty and characters who have been burned and have VERY hard shells.
[Also realizing I just picked up another book randomly where a main character is the main caretaker for their parent. :X So trying not to mix them up here.]

The hero lives with his mom who he's kinda caring for - his mom has a nurse; she's getting better - I thought she was disabled but it seemed in the book like she was getting back to normal? So kinda not sure why the hero felt he was going to/had to take care of his mom and her nurse for the rest of their lives? O_o


The heroine was kinda super bitchy too? :X
At some point I kinda wondered if she was on the spectrum but it didn't really read like that?
Like - the whole thing is about how she's uncertain and shy and has no backbone and stuff - so I don't know if it was just how it was written, or how it was read - but she seemed kinda shitty to her secretary. Which; I get - if her secretary was just trying to test her ... but the heroine like hangs up on people a lot, makes assumptions, is judgey ...

There's a lot of cringe. The hating fat people, judging people who are sexually active, basically ...
The descriptions of how things were in Africa were low key X: - and I didn't know if it was because I'm just not knowledgable enough, or if it was one of those "this is not for you" things ...
[Or again, how it was read with the accents and such....]

And of course the heroine is this magical unicorn.

But she and the hero CONSTANTLY misunderstand each other. I wanted to be like "JUST FUCKING TALK TO EACH OTHER"
they just get in their feelings and keep thinking there's no relationship; and they're petty.
The heroine is super petty.

SOMETIMES she makes it better/changes her mind but ... :X

Obviously I found the book compelling enough to keep listening to it. And there was a LOT and it was LONG - and again; the narrator.
Not my favorite ... it was very much more "read-y"
=> and this book was published in 09 but ...

I'm definitely not mad I read this book. But I'm unlikely to listen to it again.
And :X slightly leery of reading another GF; maybe her books are ones I'll have to read in text?

I'd say ... :X D+?

[Nicole Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book! I'm so glad that I didn't allow reviews to deter me. I think that sometimes people are fortunate to have certain life lessons or wisdom passed down to them, that they're unable to appreciate the wisdom being shared in this book. When you're in a situation similar to Leticia you lack the benefits of such wisdom.

Just a few notes and pieces of wisdom:

*How do you know that love is real, i5 to recieve love? You start by knowing that you are worth loving.

*I loved this line from joel:
"I’m telling you what I would have told my oldest daughter if she had given me the chance. Find a man who appreciates you as an individual and as a woman. And if he doesn’t make you feel great, drop him. He won’t change.”

*And finally:
“Never dim your light to accommodate ill-tempered people. Most often, the best solution to their disposition is the consistency of your shining light. People may not like people, but they love the consistency and predictability of them.”

You don't know what you don't know until someone spells it out for you. If you have wisdom to share be sure to share it. Especially if there is a willing vessel to receive that knowledge.

It's only getting 4 stars because of the many typos.

[LovelyLady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for the 2nd time . . . May, 2017! Loved it!

[L (Sniffly Kitty) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt that a lot of the book felt contrived and in many ways was quite cliche. The main character is a work-a-holic who doesn't have a whole lot of social skill. The degree to which her social skill is lacking is often to the point of laughable as is often the case with females portrayed in this way. Ignoring the social skills, everything else about her is perfect of course.

Disclaimer: I won this for free from First Reads.

[Shontel S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book! The choice of words the author uses is very formal as if this is a bad google translation. The conversations aren't believable and sound like something a person would say maybe 50 years ago. As far as I can see the main character only got a weave and suddenly her life changed? I couldn't get a sense of what her life was before but her transformation didn't seem that significant. I've heard the author's other books are better but this was the first one I've read.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was good. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad that Max and Leticia got married and had kids. It kind of surprise me that they named their kids after Joel and Allison. Also I found it funny that Kenyetta kept trying to go after other peoples men. Why couldn't she get her own? Really enjoy it.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting.... I liked the idea of a woman going through the hardship of life and deciding that she is worth more than what she thought she did.

[Andrea F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I enjoyed the story. Read e-copy.

[Stacey Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a ok book. I have read better from this author.