Dark Facade: Let The Party Begin

Dark Facade Series #1

by Sylvia Hubbard, Payton Leaf (Illustrator)

First book in the Dark Facade series explores a secret society in the underground world of Detroit.

Maxine, an AA graphic designer who has no life, realizes that her best friend and coworker disappeared the day after telling Maxine she was going out on a hot date with a man she met on the Internet.

Now it's up to Maxine to find out what happened to Lisa and who was this mysterious man, who emailed his picture to her friend that Maxine just can't stop thinking about.

Genres: Interracial Romance, Erotica, BDSM

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

With twist and turns, Sylvia will make your eyes dance and your mind shudder as you read her short stories. Find out all about this fantastic author of mystery/romance & sensual/noir.
Sylvia Hubbard, single mother of three is from Detroit, Michigan. Dreams of Reality was her first novel, and since then have published over 60 books available wherever books are sold

AUTHOR, MOTHER, SPEAKER, JOURNALIST, CONSULTANT & MORE!

Founder of Motown Writers Network & The African American Electronic Literary Network & Motown Romance Network, Editor of The Essence of Motown Literary Journal.

Owner of HubBooks Literary Service and Co-Founder of Essence of Motown Writers Alliance Literary Conference

Moderator of Detroit Writers Galore & Lulu’s Romance Writers

Board Member of National Association of Black Writers, Michigan Black

Independent Publishers

Present and Past Member of Great Lakes Booksellers Assc, National Association of Black Journalist-Detroit, Sisters In Crime, Black Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, World Romance Writers, Erotic Author’s Association, Real Sister Writers & Essentially Woman Literary Group, & Great Lakes Publishers Assc., Authors Supporting Authors (ASA), The Society of Midland Authors, The Michigan Reading Association

ABOUT HER:
Sylvia Hubbard has independently published 4 paperback books and over 10 e-books. Her foundation genre has always been romance, but she has ventured into suspense, erotic, mystery, paranormal and I/R. Always urban and contemporary styled, her writing is enjoyed all over the world by all nationalities. She’s always available for speaking opportunities at bookclubs, conferences, schools, and writing groups. In the upcoming year, she will be featured in several anthologies & will be publishing another paperback and 4 more e-books. She has a degree in Marketing/Management and minored in journalism, broadcasting (Specs Howard), drama, html programming, teaching assistant, customer service specialist, and commercial art.

Voted by Romance Book Cafe as a Favorite Author

Spirit of Detroit Winner for 2005 by Detroit City Council

2006 State of Michigan Governor’s Certificate of Tribute Emerging Minority Business Leader Award

2005 Stone’s Revenge Voted Best African-American Mystery by Mojolist.com

2006 Triumphant SPIRIT Award Winner (acknowledging Legacy of Bessie Mae Downey Rhoades Martin) by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc – Rho Sigma Chapter

2006 EbonyAuthor.com To Look Out For

2007 National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Greater Detroit Chapter’s Top 10 Michigan Business Giving Spirit Award Nominee

2007 Erotic Showdown Author Nominee by Publisher’s Market.

2007 Who’s Who In Black Detroit listing. (2nd Edition)

2007 National Inspiration Role Model Month (November) Literary Leader Award
2007 Powerful Visionary Award by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc – Rho Sigma Chapter

2008 SORMAG.com Readers Choice Award The Best Multi-Cultural Self-Published Author of the Year

2008 Facilitator at Idlewild Dubois Writing Workshop

2008 Detroit Literary Empowerment Community Champion for Motown Writers Network

2008 Distinguish Service Award Recipient from Detroit City Council

2008 NaNoWriMo Winner for Eve’s Deception @ 56992 words

2008 Metro Times The Best of Detroit Recipient – Best Literary Host and Literacy Booster

2009 Black Author Network Community Literary Legend Author

2009 Who’s Who In Black Detroit listing. (3rd Edition)

Reviews

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I can well see why Ms. Hubbard has caused such a commotion with her readers. When an author has to explain their book even before it begins, that's a BIG signal something must have gone very wrong in writer-ville. I never go into a book planning to dislike it, and even those rare times I find a novel not to my liking, there is often a saving grace which keeps it from being a waste of brain cells and my time.

I've read a few of Sylvia Hubbard's past works, so I know she's definitely got the chops. Unfortunately for her, this was far from what I know she's capable of. I'm not even going to critique the numerous grammar/spelling errors because someone else has already done so on Amazon (where this review will also be posted). I'm all about the STORY and the characters, both of which were severely lacking.

My best advice to Ms. Hubbard was for her to have left the race play aspect at the door because it just mucked-up the narrative. I had the same trouble with Eden Connor's Wildly Inappropriate. Race is already problematic enough, add the controversial lifestyle of D/s (Domination/submission) to a book which features a white man forcing a black woman to call him "Master", and we're talking about a recipe for disaster. Not that there aren't well-written D/s books featuring a black woman/white man--Bridget Midway instantly comes to mind--but those books don't focus on race or the more controversial race play. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be an example of Stockholm Syndrome or dubious consent. I can see why some readers--as the author mentions in her remarks--felt that she hated black people, black women in particular.

It truly goes a long way to do one's background research on the BDSM lifestyle. These days such research is not that hard. There are many resources, and most cities do have get-togethers for fetish groups (known as munches) which are non-scene lunches where members and interested parties can meet and chat. Authors are always welcome because fetish folks like it when you care enough to do their form of play justice. Not that there's any 'one true way' to write these kinds of books, but as a former lifestyler and avid reader, I am extremely critical of many depictions in which BDSM is treated either like something only damaged or abused people engage in or that it's all about abuse and/or humiliation. At its best, BDSM can be an enjoyable expression of sensuality and sexuality. In some instances, such as service play, intimacy is not even involved. It's also important to point out communication between a Dom and a sub happens throughout a scene, one HUGE reason I cringed when Maxine did not make her desires clear, nor had Philippe bothered to inform her what it was he expected from their relationship.

Dark Facade had all of the building blocks to make for a great and sexy mystery, but within the first few pages there were already massive issues. One, the female characters of Maxine and Lisa. Why are these two women so screwed up? I see this a lot in BDSM themed novels, right along with the past abuse trope (which is also alive and well here). Maxine is that typical sad sack of a heroine (described as having "dark caramel skin", and "thick") and her co-worker Lisa (pretty and petite of course) just made me face-palm. How is it that this grown and supposedly intelligent woman (she's a graphic designer after all) just behave like a teenager, slacking off from work or showing up drunk on the job? Screw affirmative action, she'd be so fired! Maybe it's me, but realistically, a black woman in a position such as hers wouldn't do such a thing when she knows she'll be judged far harsher. I also wanted to smack Maxine for picking up the slack, and of course she's the saving grace of the partnership. However the only reason she does so is out of some misguided need for friendship, since she's so lonesome.

I DO. NOT. want to see the word "n*gger", "n*gga" or any other permutations of the word in any form or fashion in my contemporary romance, especially by black characters. Yes, I get Lisa's frustrations but there's a better way to have written that rather problematic discussion without the use of the n-word. Unless said character is a Klan-style knuckle-dragging racist who gets their comeuppance in the end, there's really no reason for it. And the implied slut shaming of Lisa by Maxine fails The Bechdel Test.

Here's where the book completely lost it for me though: it was stated that the purpose of Dark Masquerade (the club Maxine decides to investigate when Lisa disappears after her mysterious online date), is not to demean black women because they prefer them, but have to hide such preferences to the world. What??? This isn't 1813, white men date and marry black women all the time. So what exactly are they hiding? After Maxine is accepted, she is given a set of instructions, one of which is to wear a black dress that falls to the knees and a pair of four-inch open-toed shoes. When she gets to the club, there seems to be a problem because she wore underwear. I'm like WHAT??? How about some specificity here fellas, since the rest of the instructions were rather detailed.

Then we get to the whole van with tinted windows, blindfolds and grooming thing. No explanation, no negotiation, no safewords. Finally the "hero" Philippe comes in and starts behaving like the antebellum South never died and instead of fanning myself over the sex scenes, I kept wondering does this clown have any clue as to how he should behave in this kind of role play or was he channeling his inner Gone With the Wind? Did he communicate with Maxine about what was expected (no, he orders her to obey him), and did he respect her answers if something felt wrong to her (BIG NO!). And yet as a reader I'm supposed to believe this club "respects" black women. I honestly didn't feel much in the way of respect from him and his behavior (as well as Maxine's).

Philippe is another in a long line of abusive asshats who have somehow achieved "hero" status due to their massive wealth, ability to sweep self-loathing/traumatized women off their feet and fantastic (I guess) sex skills. Oh yes, even though Maxine's appalled at his behavior and her having to refer to him as "Master", his magic tongue and fingers pretty much send her common sense flying out the window, even when he threatens to beat her or whip her for not obeying fast enough. His magic cock and fantastic abs cause Maxine to like what he does to her, even though she's scared. Really? I thought I was going to reach into the book and slap Philippe into the next century when he told her after she asked him for a 'boon': "I know what a boon is, Maxine...I just didn't realize you were so intelligent." Oh but wait, somehow he's in love with her after seeing her picture on her application...*raises eyebrow*

Okay, tell me about this club which RESPECTS black women again because I think I missed this part.

While I certainly do not believe Ms. Hubbard hates black people, this was a subject matter way out of her depth and sadly it showed. I disliked the characters, though the concept of a club catering to white men who loved black women was fine, that was not reflected in the narrative. I mean Philippe talked about purchasing Maxine at an AUCTION! Again, where's that "we're a club which respects black women" thing? I honestly don't know if Hubbard was attempting to craft an interracial version of that wretched 50 Shades of Grey, but I hated that book so I'm not surprised this too failed on so many levels. I know there are two more novels in the series, but I won't be reading them. I truly hope Ms. Hubbard takes this criticism into account and re-writes this series because it truly has the potential to be very good.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The feminist in me is horrified, but the reader in me is curious where this story is headed.

[Royalteabookclub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let the Partt Begin

WOW. Smooth read not let me get to the next book for some clarity cause something just ain't right. Lisa? This society of slaves? Master? What's really going on.

[CiCi · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Honestly race play is gross and not okay to me. There is no respect for black women from any sector of people in this book, not other black men, not white men, not even other BLACK WOMEN! I don't care how hot I find a non POC he will NEVER EVER call me racial slurs and it turn me on. This is gross and a step back from progress. They even bring up slavery and back women who were Raped and forced to bear mixed babies. This is the what the club is based on...NUTS! It's all a secret as well. I wonder why! Full of POC stereotypes and just overall a downer for black women. The high star rating is misleading. I was so surprised by this book I had to look up the author to make sure she was black.....it really do be your own people sometimes.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3. 5 stars

[Kim]

I was provided a copy of all 4 books in the series by the author in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately the series is just not for me and I stopped at book 2.