Don't Want No Sugar

by J.D. Mason

Everyone knew that Eula May had lost her mind over loving a married man. It was what drove her to kill herself and leave her only daughter, Roberta, in the care of the local mid-wife. So it was no wonder that Roberta became obsessed with Charles Harris the very first time she laid eyes on him. And she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she was the only woman in his life. So when he is forced to marry her because of her unexpected pregnancy, Roberta feels that she has everything she ever wanted.

Women have always come easy to Charles, so he's wondering how he got saddled with a wife he doesn't love, two beautiful children and a longing for something grander. Then he meets the stunning Sara Tate and discovers a love almost as consuming as the one Roberta feels for him. This deadly love triangle will result in deception and murder, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Genres: African American, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2004

About the author

Yaaaayyyy! I FINALLY found my login info for Goodreads and can update my site!!!!!! Oh happy joy :)

Reviews

[Michael Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is haunting. May I never, and I am married, meet a woman like Roberta. She is a conniving and extremely jealous character. She went out of her way to sleep with Charles who married her when she became pregnant. She murdered the married woman he was sleeping with. She murdered Charles when he was cheating on her. She almost caused the murder of his son, twice. Geez. People did not practice safe sex back then. Everyone got pregnant. Moses was a beast. He performed a terrible act and then completed a more dastardly act as a result. The Author is all of that and more.

[Tam Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very great read! Held my attention from the first page till the last page. I did not want the book to end you could actually visualize these characters very well written I must say!

[Brooklyn Darkchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roberta had a bad start in life, going from a mother who didn't love her to a foster mother who didn't love her, so it's not wonder Roberta grew up cold hearted and callous. Since her mother was also obsessed with her boyfriend, it seems only natural that fourteen year old Roberta would become obsessed with older, and wiser, Charles Harris.
Charles' problem is that, despite knowing that Roberta is WAY too young for him,
he can't say no to an available woman.
Then Roberta gets pregnant, and Charles is stuck in a stifling marriage.
Sara Tate seems like a breath of fresh air to Charles. He SHOULD tell Sara about his wife, but he doesn't. Instead, he gets Sara pregnant too, then tries to hold on to two different families in two different cities. When Roberta finds out about Sara and her child it sets off the first domino in a seemingly endless line of tragedies.

I don't know who I felt the most sorry for: Sara, or her son, the one they call "Fool." Sara's path is inextricably woven with Roberta's, with disastrous results time after time. It's easy to see why Roberta's hatred for Sara and Fool is so strong, but Roberta is never a sympathetic figure, and I just wanted to strangle her myself. Sara on the other hand exudes such a quiet strength in the midst of her circumstances that you cannot help but root for her, and her son. The ending will surprise you, and uplift you, all at the same time.

[Efundunke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a black magic type of feel. Title seems to hint at it, a bitterness, this type of approach towards the things in life that cannot be controlled, namely love. Roberta never learns this lesson, out of fear of facing her hell-bent destiny. New characters are seemingly brought into the text randomly, but their histories are interconnected. Definitely no need for a sequel. All rests in that Roberta's absence from a social life (prison), inhibits her from poisoning her children. It's a bit ironic that Charles's legacy lives on, and it's so important that his generations to come look like him. He was a womanizer made hero because he was murder victim of rage. The darkness of his eye, of his children's eyes, hint at something much deeper, but never really concluded to.

[Audrey Lee]

good read

[Demi Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so darn good! My favorite of the three! I enjoyed all of the characters. I really like how J.D. Mason connected the characters from the two books to join them as one. This was a really good read answering so many questions from One Day I Saw A Black King. Bravo to the writer for a job well done.

[Lauryn Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

*No spoilers*
I absolutely loved this book, the fact that more people aren’t talking about it is crazy. I love how the author is straight to the point; no “fluff” I can’t wait to read more books by this author. It really shows how deep rooted trauma can be. And also it shows both sides of being cheated on ex:being the ‘main’ & the ‘side’

[Louise Cousin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, wow! I've read One Day I Saw A Black King and now this. Both books are filed with trauma and drama and so good. I enjoy how J.D.Mason writes. I definitely have to take notes to keep up with all the characters. Some of the traumas are heart-wrenching but relatable to what goes on in this c]pplj mrazy worldgjp[p and in some dysfunctional family back grounds. Roberta and Adam were straight up trifling!! I am a book ahead of my book club. I should slow down, but I want to read them all!

[Carla B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sooooo amazing and so beautifully written!

[Tracy Darity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t Want No Sugar is the first book I’ve read by author J.D. Mason, but won’t be my last. I liken her style to Bernice McFadden, Gwendolyn M. Parker, and Tayari Jones. She pulled me into the story from page one.

In this tale of love, betrayal, obsession, and homicidal tendencies, Don’t Want No Sugar, proves that the mind is a terrible thing to lose, and to lose ones mind as a young child has to be the worst. Young Roberta watches her mama love a man more than she loved her. When that man dies in her mama’s bed, her mother still can’t put her child over him; and after days of willing him back to life she abandons Roberta with the stinking, decomposing body, and eventually does the unthinkable. This is the setting for a life full of tragedy for a beautiful young girl.

Roberta never recovers from her tragic beginnings. Back in the 1930’s and 40’s where the story takes place, folks might have said she was “touched” in the head. Those of the superstitious nature may have said her dabbling in Black Magic had played the ultimate trick. But today, medical professionals would diagnose her as having Paranoid Schizophrenia.

At the age of 14 she becomes mesmerized by a local whore-monger named Charles Brooks, and decides she can’t live without him. Eventually Roberta’s love for Charles leads her to do some unconscionable acts, and it’s only down hill from there. J.D. Mason wove this tale so intricately that she has the reader sympathizing with Charles Brooks for the predicaments Roberta traps him into.

As more and more lives get caught in her tormented web, it was amazing that only one horrid act was ever traced back to her. I like how Mason was able to introduce numerous characters into the story but only for the purpose of progressing, the story. However, in moving the story and the years along so swiftly, it resulted in a few letdowns, like what became of Charles and Roberta’s children. After reading more on the author I have learned that Don’t Want No Sugar is the prequel to her novel, One Day I Saw a Black King; so maybe the answers are in that book.

Aside from a few misplaced characters (using a characters name when he/she is not the current subject), the book was well written. I also loved how the majority (if not all) the characters in the book were of a darker complexion and still considered to be beautiful, sexy, handsome, and desirable. Last, once I finished reading Don’t Want No Sugar, although truly satisfied, I still could not relate the story to the title. This is no biggie, just an internal quirk I have where I try to guess what the book is about based on the title..

Much Love,


Tracy


Tracy L. Darity is the author He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! and Love…Like Snow In Florida On A Hot Summer Day. For more information, please www.TracyLDarity.com.

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.D. Mason continues to hone her craft with vigor and finesse. Rarely does a prequel deliver with such fervor and depth! To explain how One Day I Saw A Black King character, John King, came to be, Ms. Mason takes us back to 1931 Bueller, Texas to examine the intricate shenanigans of John's grandfather, the very good-looking and equally hard-working Charles. He is every woman's dream, including a conniving, teenaged beauty, Roberta, who upon her eccentric mother's suicide has resided with the local midwife for the past 10 years. Every man has a weakness and Charles has a penchant for pretty women - thus this story centers around the three beautiful women in his life: Nadine, Roberta, and Sara.

Without telling the entire story and giving away the page-turning secrets, let us just say that after Nadine's untimely death, the grieving Charles succumbs to one night of passion that results in a loveless marriage to Roberta. Charles accepts this miserable existence until he meets Sara Tate - and their instant attraction leads to scandal, another murder, and the conception of Adam (John King's father).

This is a story that had me turning pages until the very end - it was perfectly paced, contained full bodied characters with their own agendas (which usually involved sticking their noses in other people's business), and included just enough voodoo and old wives tales to keep a ethereal vibe flowing just beneath the surface as each of the main characters truly wrestled with their own demons through out the book.

I truly hope Ms. Mason keeps her creative juices flowing and gives us another wonderful story of how Connie Rogers came to be. Nonetheless, I'll be anxiously awaiting her next release (regardless of the topic)...as she has rightfully a place on my favorite author's list.

[Nardsbaby Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legacy

Roberta's life was filled with darkness from the beginning. Rumors about her mother's state of mind, her father's mysterious death and her own mental stability have been called into question on more than one occasion. But no one could deny that she'd been blessed with her mother's beauty. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing she inherited from her mother.

Charles Brooks was a handsome man that had the women all over Bueller vying for his attention. Nadine, a married woman, had captured his heart and stomped all over it. Vulnerability and temptation lead Charles to indulge in the forbidden fruit. Four years later he's married with two kids and trying to figure out what happened.

Sara Tate seemed to be what Charles needed of to jump start his mundane life. It didn't matter that he was already someone's husband, he loved her. Though he tried to bury that part of him, truth was, she was what he needed and he was what she needed.

Almost twenty years later and the story is on repeat, except this time Mattie King is in love with Adam, who people call Fool. A handsome young man a little slower than most of the boys, that's also the reason Mattie loves him so much. Most people couldn't understand what they share and that secret will cause pain for generations to come.

'Don't Want No Sugar' by J.D. Mason is the necessary prequel to 'One Day I Saw a Black King.' I absolutely love the way the story ties together. Any lingering questions readers may have had are answered. I'm now looking forward to reading 'You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.'

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FROM JACKET)Everyone knew that Eula May had lost her mind over loving a married man. It was what drove her to kill herself and leave her only daughter, Roberta, in the care of the local midwife. So it was no wonder that Roberta became obsessed with Charles Harris the very first time she laid eyes on him. And she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she was the only woman in his life. When he is forced to marry her because of her unexpected pregnancy, Roberta feels that she has everything she ever wanted.

Women have always come easy to Charles, so he's wondering how he got saddled with a wife he doesn't love, two beautiful children, and a longing for something grander. Then he meets the stunning Sara Tate and discovers a love almost as consuming as the one Roberta feels for him. This deadly love triangle will result in deception and murder, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

*I found a few continuity issues to be a bit annoying

1)In "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces" the author notes that when Adam is speaking with Mattie, he has no stutter yet he stutters every encounter in this read.

2) Also in "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces", Elizabeth makes it a point to mention how she never married because she did not want to turn out like her mother, Roberta yet at the end of this one it states she married had children and even grandkids.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll have to give this book a mixed review. I had trouble putting it down when I was reading the first 200 pages or so. I found the characters, even the ones that I didn't like, fascinating. However, a couple of pivotal actions take place when you’re about two thirds of the way through the book. After that point I really felt like the book could have been wrapped up with a chapter or two. The last part of the story would have really made an interesting sequel, but in comparison to the first portion it really dragged along. I kept wondering why new characters and story lines were being introduced. I did find it interesting that Mason had one of the major characters make another attempt at something she’d failed to do earlier in the book, but that process still seemed to end in an odd way for her. If that character had tried to bring something about more than once over the span of 20 years, why would she stop before she’d gotten the results she wanted?

All of that being said, I’d definitely consider reading future books by this author. The story was unique, the characters were quite interesting and JD Mason created a very believable world for them to inhabit.

[Laiaja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has taken us to a small backwoods town of Bueller a woman named Eula May had a daughter, Roberta but no husband. He belonged to another woman. Stil she loved Roberta father to death. She loved him so much that she couldnt bear to part with him after he died in her bed. Years later teenaged Roberta sets her sights on a man of her own a man named Charles Brooks. When Roberta gets pregnant Charles is forced to marry her but Sara holds the key to his heart.I never thought i would really enjoy it. But the first page got me hooked right away! Every part of this book was fascinating except the end. I did not like the ending. What happened to Moses? At the end of the book. it refers to Roberta children as being John half brother and sister but Roberta children should be Adam half brother and sister and they should be John's aunt and uncle. Because Adam's father was the same man that fathered Roberta children. CONFUSED !

[Qteepyee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I DON'T KNOW IF I WAS SUPPOSE TO READ ONE DAY I SAW A BLACK KING FIRST OR NOT BUT I AM SO GLAD I DID BECAUSE I LOVE THE WAY DON'T WANT NO SUGAR GAVE ME ALL THE ANSWERS. BOTH THESE BOOK WAS THE BOMB. I TRULY LOVED DON'T WANT NO SUGAR AND I WOULD READ IT AGAIN. I READ DON'T WANT NO SUGAR ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO AND I SAID THEN I KNOW SHE HAVE TO COME OUT WITH A SEQUEAL ABOUT CONNIE & RESSY AND MY MY HERE SHE COMES WITH (YOU GOTTA SIN TO GET SAVED). IF THIS BOOK IS AS GOOD AS HER OTHER TWO IT IS GOING TO BE A PAGE TURNER. i WOULD RECOMMEND ALL THREE OF THESE BOOKS HIGHLY BUT READ ONE DAY I SAW A BLACK KING FIRST THEN DON'T WANT NO SUGAR AND THEN YOU GOTTA SIN TO GET SAVED. HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL. YOU WANT BE DISAPPOINTED

[SlimmGoodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this read. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I didn't like how Adam was treated. His part of the story seemed to end rather abruptly. We didn't get a response from Mattie and how her actions affected her. I knew she was pregnant, but to try to wrap Adam and Mattie,'s story together with there son seemed kind of lazy, like Ms. Mason was just tired of the story. And Adam's story seemed like an extra thrown in it didn't really flow with Roberta and her crazy ass. Despite all that it was really an interesting story.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sad but good. A cheating man "ain't " no good. They can really mess up a woman's life esp. If they are naive and innocent like Sara and just crazy and conniving like Roberta who stooped to murder to get Charles who didn't love her. He married her because she got pregnant. She killed Nadine to get Charles who couldn't keep his zipper zipped. The characters were ignorant in this book and country. I felt sorry for Sara and Adam. A good read.

[Tramika Chatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.D. Mason is definitely one of my new favorite authors. This woman can work!!! I was sooo impressed with this book, I am going to just focus on finish all her books. This book had me laughing cying and shocked. I had to catch myself from cursing out loud sometimes!!! Than it also shed light on some pieces from "You Gotta Sin To Get Saved!!!" Man I am convinced that Ms. J.D. mason as a true gift!!!

[Deliah Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about love, lust, lies, and black magic. The author captured the feel of the times with describing the setting, the characters and the dialogue very well. But there were times when the shift in point of view threw me in the middle of a few chapters. Nevertheless, it was a good read.

[Brenda C. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

This book kept you on your toes! I really enjoyed reading this book. Can't wait to read "One day I met a black king"! This writer is very good,,,the story just flows. I look forward to reading not of J.F. Mason

[Shae · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a slow start. Once you got through part 1, the book became very interesting. I like how the author tied the story together for Roberta, Charles, Adam, Moses, and Mattie. I would recommend the book if you read "One Day I Saw A Black King." Jury is out if a sequel was necessary..

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Book. Sounds. Like. My. Life. This. Book. Is. To. Good. To. Be. True. I. Had. To. Rate. This. Book. A. 5. I. Love. This. Book. There. Is. So. Much. Good. Stuff. Here. In. This. Book. Doris.

[Shavaugn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, see comments for One Day I Saw A Black King...

[Tamieka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing...it has to be one of the best stories I've read since "The Coldest Winter Ever". It was captivating!

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.

(actual rating - 4.5)

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read by JD Mason. I think I read it out of order, but if I had to do it again, I would still read this one first. EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Book Junkie Reads . . . · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea too much damn drama.

[Babiee Lealiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Roberta is crazy lol straight psycho!

[Tanisa Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mason is so motivating, i keep pushing toward a new day waiting on her next novel:)!